Friday, January 19, 2018

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court Western District has disbarred an attorney for misconduct as a judge in a full opinion rather than its usual practice of adopting the report of the Disciplinary Board

In this matter, we consider the request of Petitioner, the Office of Disciplinary Counsel (ODC), to disbar Respondent, Paul Michael Pozonsky, from the practice of law in this Commonwealth. Pozonsky was a commissioned judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Washington County who presided over criminal trials, juvenile delinquency hearings, and also directed the rehabilitative disposition of drug offenders in that countys Drug Court, which he founded. Using his position as a jurist, he directed police officers and court personnel to bring cocaine, which was evidence in the cases over which he was presiding, to an evidence locker in his courtroom; whereupon, for over a year, he stole quantities of this illegal drug from that locker and used it for his own recreational purposes, all while continuing to preside over criminal prosecutions and imposing sentences on defendants for committing crimes which he himself was contemporaneously engaging in. After Pozonskys illicit activities were discovered, he resigned his judicial commission and was convicted for his crimes. After considering all the relevant facts and circumstances surrounding Pozonskys egregious misconduct while a commissioned judge, and taking into account the mitigating evidence he offered, the Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania (Disciplinary Board or Board) issued a unanimous report detailing its factual findings and its recommendation that he be disbarred. Because the evidence of record amply supports the Boards findings and corresponding recommendation of disbarment, we order Pozonskys disbarment to both protect the public and to preserve the integrity of the legal profession.

The specifics

Beginning sometime in late October or early November 2010, and continuing through January 2012, Pozonsky exploited his position as a judge to steal powdered cocaine  an illegal controlled substance  that was the principal evidence in criminal or delinquency hearings held in his courtroom. Specifically, he ordered state troopers who had seized cocaine which was to be used in the criminal prosecutions or juvenile adjudications over which he was scheduled to preside, as well as a court employee  his law clerk  to bring that evidence to his courtroom, where he stored it in an evidence locker in his chambers. He then surreptitiously and regularly removed quantities of this illicit substance from that locker when courtroom staff was not present, smuggled it out of the courthouse, and used it at his home. Pozonsky attempted to conceal his thefts by substituting baking powder and other substances for the cocaine he had stolen and used.

In early 2012, Pozonsky issued an order directing the destruction of evidence from closed criminal cases he had presided over. That, and the manner in which other evidence stored in the evidence locker was being handled, generated suspicion and concern from the Washington County District Attorney, Eugene Vittone, and the then President Judge of that county, Debbie ODell Seneca. These matters were referred to the Office of the Attorney General which began a formal criminal investigation of Pozonsky. The investigation resulted, inter alia, in the search of Pozonskys chambers by the Pennsylvania State Police who retrieved all remaining evidence stored there on May 9, 2012. Pozonsky resigned from the bench in June 2012, and resumed active status as an attorney; whereupon, he moved with his family to Alaska. While in Alaska, Pozonsky secured a job as a workers compensation hearing judge, which he held from October 8, 2012, until he resigned on December 7, 2012.

He pleaded guilty to criminal charges.

On March 20, 2015, Pozonsky pleaded guilty to one count of theft by unlawful taking, obstructing administration of law, and misapplication of entrusted property and property of a government institution, all graded as second-degree misdemeanors. Four months later, on July 13, 2015, he was sentenced to 1 to 23 months incarceration, followed by two years probation. Pozonsky ultimately served the minimum term of incarceration  one month  and successfully completed his term of probation.

Justice Baer concurred

Without hesitation, the majority imposes the most severe sanction of disbarment, concluding that [t]here are few transgressions which more seriously undermine the publics confidence and trust in the integrity of their judicial system, and which are as offensive to the high standards and principles which other members of the bench and bar strive so faithfully to uphold in the performance of their duties, than those committed by [Respondent, Former Judge Paul Michael Pozonsky]. Slip Op. at 28. While I in no way condone the actions of Respondent, who founded and supervised Washington Countys Drug Court and subsequently stole cocaine from the courtrooms evidence locker for his personal use, I find this disciplinary case much more challenging to resolve.

My difficulty lies in Respondents decision not to present mitigation evidence in the form of a mental health expert to establish the causal connection between what I perceive to be his drug addiction and his misconduct. See Office of DisciplinaryCounsel v. Braun, 553 A.2d 894, 895-96 (Pa. 1989) (requiring evidence of a causal connection between the psychiatric disorder and the attorneys misconduct to establish mental health mitigation evidence in a disciplinary case). As a result of this omission, neither the lower tribunals nor the majority opinion considered Respondents cocaine addiction as a mitigating factor. Interpretation of the governing precedent of this Court compels me to join the majoritys conclusion that to prove legally cognizable mental health mitigation evidence in a disciplinary case, a respondent must present a mental health expert to establish the causal link between the attorneys mental disability and his misconduct. Considering, as I believe I must, this evidentiary vacuum, I am constrained to agree with the majority that the delicate weighing of Respondents transgressions against the other substantial evidence of mitigation, tips the scales towards imposition of the sanction of disbarment.

...In summary, I conclude that, through his own misconduct, Respondent has lost everything he once had. Had persuasive Braun evidence been presented linking his cocaine addiction to his misdeeds, perhaps the lower tribunals or even the majority would have opted for the maximum suspension of five years, rather than disbarment. Personally, I believe that Respondents ultimate triumph over his addiction and his contributions to the Drug Court and to the various community organizations he served are worthy of something. However, that value does not tip the scale away from imposition of disbarment, absent appropriate Braun evidence.

Justice Donahue joined the concurrence. (Mike Frisch)

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/legal_profession/2018/01/the-pennsylvania-supreme-court-has-disbarred-in-this-matter-we-consider-the-request-of-petitioner-the-office-of-disciplina.html
Biddeford-Saco-OOB Courier

Folks from various groups came together on a recent day to build community garden boxes at Rotary Park.
Number 37 Zirkusgasse looks like many of the other nondescript buildings in Viennas second district. But the apartment house holds particular pathos for Fritz Bittman who was born in its cellar in 1944.

Fritz often walks past the address where his parents, Josef and Sidonie Bittman bribed the janitor to shelter them from the Nazis. Nearby stands another apartment building where his mother hid until the janitor noticed her swollen belly and turned her out.

Fritzs daily routine through the citys second district is dotted with signposts recalling the terrifying years of the Anschluss: a basement here, another one there; the building where his father was interrogated by the Nazis; the attic where his mother hid her newborn son.

I met Fritz while visiting Vienna this summer. Riveted by the citys baroque streetscapes, its imperial palaces and cosmopolitan vibe, I needed context for this historic metropolis on the Danube, and the 77-year-old retired physician is one of few remaining Austrian-born Jews.

Fritz and his parents were among the handful who survived in a city that had been emptied of its Jews. Chillingly indifferent to the fate of their Jewish landsmen, local Austrians carried on unrepentantly until 1986, when world public opinion turned against Austria for its presidential election of Kurt Waldheim, a former Wehrmacht officer.

Some 200,000 Jews lived and worked in the City of Dreams during Viennas Jewish golden age. Thanks to Jewish talent that figured in outsize proportion in every sphere of its vibrant culture, touting notables like Freud, Mahler, Schoenberg, Zweig, Schnitzler and others, Vienna was in the vanguard, a world leader in the arts and sciences.

But anti-Semitism was pervasive here well before 1938, and the country was ripe for the Nazis who took Austriain the words of some Holocaust scholars, a perpetrator societyfirst. A fortunate 140,000 Jews got out before it was too late. Sixty-five thousand were sent to their deaths. And some 800 solitary souls like Josef and Sidonie went underground to escape the extermination camps.

The jaundiced detachment toward Austrias surviving Jews gave Fritzs parents, who had died in the 1970swell before Austria was forced to confront its historyno chance of redress. For them, only the citys brick and mortar (most had remained intact), stood sentinel to the ghosts of Viennas missing inhabitants.

It was a dead house, says Fritz of the yet anti-Semitic Vienna he grew up in the decades following the war. The Jews who returned after the Holocaust, and those who came up for airstill haunted after months and years of hidingkept a low profile. Some, like Fritzs father, were devoutly observant. But it would be many decades before Viennas Jews would wear their identity comfortably.

Theres lively singing at long, elegantly set tables at the Chabad House on Taborstrasse 20a. At peak times more than 100 join, but this is early June and tourist season has not yet begun. The feeling is pleasantly intimate inside the sleek, newly renovated three-story Chabad House where a handful of local Jewish families are enjoying Shabbat lunch.

A magnet for Viennas young Jews, weeknights bring students from the areas various colleges and universities to KSpace on the basement level. Discovered during renovations that it served as a Jewish youth club before the war, it is now smartly outfitted with a pool table, bar, and lounge. The buildings second floor, colorfully decorated with child-centric themes, is dedicated to social and educational programming where Viennas young set comes to celebrate Jewish holidays and traditional life-cycle events.

It might be like a hundred other Chabad Houses around the world but for the tell-tale wall that has been left exposed in the student lounge from its pre-war Jewish youth club days, and the brass plaque on the buildings polished exterior. Here you can read the names of the men and women who lived at this address until they and their children were sent to the death camps.

Lauder Chabad Campus

On the other side of town, Jewish children preK-12 at the Lauder Chabad Campus spend their school days in a pastoral setting. Tucked inside the edge of a leafy park (see sidebar page 17), the complexs modern, spacious classrooms and hallways are awash in sunshine.

I step into the fifth-floor science lab where several high school students are working independently on an experiment. The large picture windows look out over a verdant expanse interrupted by a concrete fortress. A flak tower, I am told, it was constructed by the Nazis to defend against Allied air raids. Useless now but for the pigeons that nest there, the WWII eyesore remains standing.

The high school girls are busy with their experiment. I ask them what their plans are. Some will go to Israel for a year of study after graduation. Others are going on to university. The students own their Jewish identity comfortably. They have plans. The flak tower is history.

With the support of Mr. Ronald Lauder, the school has grown to become one of the citys largest Jewish educational systems. We founded it as an afternoon school in 1982 with 52 children, recalls Mrs. Edla Biderman, director of Jewish studies. As Vienna saw an influx of Jews in the 1990s, the school added new divisions. Today, she points out, it includes a kindergarten (one of seven Chabad kindergartens now serving the Viennas Jewish children), an elementary school, middle school, high school with academic and vocational tracks, and an immersive Cheder yeshiva.

A student enrollment of 465 and a faculty of 80, gives the Lauder Chabad Campus students the benefit of a high teacher-student ratio. Rabbi Dov Gruzman, formerly director of middle studies in the Jewish division, now leads an active network of 500 alumni who meet several times a year at reunions and annual meetings. Many of the students came from unaffiliated homes. Now they are strongly identifying and feel indebted to the school, says the rabbi who continues to maintain close ties with them.

Across the road, on a triangular street in a desirable part of town that has been renamed Rabbiner Schneerson Platz, is Beit HaLevi, another impeccably designed Chabad Center from which emanates programs serving every demographic of Viennas sizable Bukharan community. A youth organization counts 300 members, including a CTeen chapter, an afterschool program, a womans club and Beit Midrash classes for adults, providing 1,200 of Viennas Bukharan Jews with a rich community life.

The Lauder Business School

Jewish music reverberates from the open palladian windows of what once was a summer residence of Empress Maria Theresa. Theres a bar-mitzvah party going on. Guests of honor are five business and finance majors, members of a Jewish fraternity at the Lauder Business School (LBS) whove completed a seven-week stint exploring Judaic electives in their off-school hours. They are now ready for their Jewish rite-of-passage.

Peter Vandor, from Hungary, a second-year student of international business administration, felt his way around his Jewish identity thoughtfully before deciding to have a bar-mitzvah. At 21, I wanted to explore Judaism and decide for myself. His fellow bar-mitzvah mate, Yvgeney Sholudchenko grew up in Germany and was attracted to LBSs international student body and its competitive business program. It was only after he arrived at the campus, skepticism in tow, that the banking major began to seek explanations for the philosophical underpinnings of a tradition he knew little about.

I wasnt interested in doing anything by rote. So over long Shabbat dinners he plied the campus rabbi, Baruch Sabach with questions. Challenging debates and discussions ensued. Eventually, says Yvgeney, adjusting the tefillin on his forehead, I came to my own conclusions.

The boutique university situated in one of Viennas best districts offers strong undergraduate and graduate programs in banking, finance, international management and leadership. It is sought out by students from a melange of countries eager to experience life in proximity to one of Europes important business hubs. Many of its graduates, observes Viennas head Chabad representative, Rabbi Jacob Biderman, have gone on to careers with major banking and consultancy firms, among them Uni-Credit, Deloitte, Price Waterhouse and other international companies such as Microsoft, Google, IBM and HP.

Underwritten by Mr. Lauder, President of the World Jewish Congress, and established by Rabbi Biderman, LBS has a small student body of about 360 but is particularly appealing to Jewish students because of its unique campus setting provided by the citys Jewish Heritage Center. Many find the family feeling of the place, with only 170 students living on campus, nurturing and conducive to their general well-being and the development of their spiritual life.

The access they have here to Jewish educational and social opportunities and to a Jewish community experience is an unusual and fascinating feature that makes LBS different from any other university, says Rabbi Sabach. And the intimacy of the LBS environment, says his wife, Chaya, as she greets parents and students whove come to the bar mitzvah, allows us to connect with all the students.

Lisa Shchapova, 19, from a small village in Germany, had mixed feelings about who I am. The daughter of a Christian father and a Jewish mother, she chose LBS for unrelated reasons after hearing about it from another student who had completed his masters degree there. That classes are conducted in English was another benefit for the student anticipating a career in mergers-and-acquisitions.

In her first year at LBS, recalls Rabbi Sabach, Lisa never attended any Jewish activities. With a non-Jewish boyfriend and an interest in the Christian traditions of her father, shed been making frequent visits to the Russian Orthodox Church, considering a formal conversion. Towards the end of her first year, she dipped into some of the Jewish events on campus.

Shabbat with the Sabach family and Chabads Sinai Scholars study program were eye-openers. Eventually, she said, I started to identify as Jewish. Now shes taking a lead role launching the schools first Jewish sorority. Lisa says sees her own story repeated among many of the students who come here struggling to find out who they are. The vibe on the LBS campus makes it an ideal place to explore personal identity. There is a strong community here and we try to help each other. No one feels that they are alone here.

Proud of the schools graduates and the positions they secure in high powered firms, Rabbi Biderman is keen to see that they come away from LBS not only with a competitive advantage in business but with a deepened Jewish identity and the feeling that they have a stake in Jewish life and the Jewish community wherever their careers will take them.

A Jewish Revival

Voted the most livable city in the world for the eighth year in a row by Mercer, the international consulting firm, Vienna is enjoying a Jewish revival. Today, the city counts 10,000 registered Jews, but according to some estimates, as many as 40,000 who dont identify, live in Vienna.

In October, the conservative Peoples Party (OVP), headed by Sebastian Kurz, won the most votes but came up short of a majority, leaving many concerned that his party will have to form a coalition with an extreme faction. But, Daniel Kapp, a political consultant working for Austrian and international businesses, maintains that in a Europe where certain Jewish rituals are often threatened, Austria has a stable legal framework and recently reaffirmed shechita (kosher animal slaughter). Its a country where you can walk the streets freely with a kippa. Anti-semitism no longer plays a relevant role in day to day life here.

The sense of security has encouraged the development of the communitys infrastructure. Kapp credits the Chabad emissaries under the leadership of Rabbi Biderman for having contributed greatly to the Jewish renaissance we now enjoy in Austria.

Eight Chabad centers in four of Viennas districts, and 22 Chabad representatives serve the citys Jewish population. Seven Chabad preschools, headed by Chani Edelman, one of them in Viennas beautiful Prater Park, are Montessori based, providing Jewish children an idyllic educational experience. Its Lauder Chabad Campus produces graduates who are giving back to the community, teaching in its schools, leading community centers, opening kosher supermarkets, restaurants and local Jewish businesses.

Once a year, some 450 of Viennas Jewish women convene to celebrate Jewish Womans Day. Mrs. Sterna Gruzman, a longtime teacher at the Lauder Chabad Campus, says Jewish women of every affiliation, among them Mizrachi, Junior and Senior WIZO, Aguda, and the Jewish Family Center, are part of this collaborative event. Many of them are graduates of the Lauder Chabad Campus. They came here as immigrants with little Jewish knowledge. Through the school and Chabads adult education classes in the community, theyve transformed the Jewish profile of the city.

The revival is arresting. Fritz Bittman, one of few remaining Jews born in the shadows of the Holocaust, offers a rarefied perspective. He considers the arc of change from the post-Holocaust years when young Jews had only negative associations with their Jewish heritage.

Without the work of Chabad in Vienna, a lot of youngsters here would not know what Judaism is. The Lubavitcher Rebbe has released a lot of sparks.
SEOULThe woman appointed to try to reverse the worlds lowest birth rates knows better than most why billion-dollar campaigns to encourage South Koreas female populace to procreate have failedshe is among the millions who have chosen to remain childless in the face of traditionalist social expectations. A history professor at a Seoul university before joining the government, family minister Chung Hyun-Back says she remained single to pursue her professional ambitions. Entrenched gender roles at home and a workaholic culture are pushing the next generation of South Korean women to follow suit, warned the 64-year-old. It was extremely difficultif not impossibleto juggle an academic career while getting married and raising children, she explained, pointing out that many female professors in their 50s and 60s are single. Rapid economic growth over several decades has seen South Koreas GDP boom, but birth rates have gone in the opposite direction. The countrys fertility ratean average number of babies women are expected to have in their lifetimestood at 1.17 in 2016, the lowest in the world and compared to a global average of 2.4. It is set to fall to a record low of 1.07 for 2017 after the number of newborns sank below 400,000 for the first time. The trend, coupled with the rapid aging of its 50-million populace, casts a pall over the nations futureits population is projected to start shrinking in 2050. Experts blame sky-high housing prices, the costs of raising children, and fears over unemployment. But Chung told AFP: For years, we have overlooked the real culprit of the problemour countrys vast gender disparity and inhumanely long working hours. South Korea has the second-highest average working hours in the OECD but women are still expected to be childrens primary caregiver, whether they work or not.Many firms prefer to drive pregnant staff to resign rather than pay for maternity leave, and those who return to work are seen as having damaged their career prospects. Under such unfair circumstances, young women usually choose their career, not marriage and childbirth, says Chung. The phenomenon has been dubbed a birth strike. Unless we tackle these problems head-on, South Koreas future will remain murky with the young generation staying away from marriagenot to mention childbirth, said Chung. A recent survey showed 68 percent of female college students intended to marrycompared to 80 percent for males. Dual burdens at home and work were the top concern cited by the women who did not intend to marry.Among the worlds advanced economies South Korea consistently ranks at the bottom of OECD surveys on gender pay gaps or female presence in senior positions. Yet the reverse is true in education: girls beat boys in scholastic achievement tests, with about 75 percent of them going to college compared to 67 percent for their male counterparts. About 70 percent of South Korean women in their 20s have jobs, compared to 60 percent of men. But in their 30s the female employment rate dives to about 55 percent, far below males 90 percent. Many bemoan the double load on working mothers. My male bosses complain that their working wives are selfish and too ambitious at work if the wives fail to pick up children from daycare on time, said one online commentator. When I leave work on time to pick up my own kids, they also complain that women are useless, selfish and lack career ambition. Even in dual-income households women spend more than three hours on household chores and childcare a day on average -- compared to a mere 44 minutes by men. Marriage is nothing but a graveyard for all smart, aspirant women out there, said another poster. Seoul has mounted billion-dollar campaigns in a effort to reverse the decline, but the drives have been criticized for doing little more than preach at women to marry and reproducein one notorious instance, an online birth map showed the number of women of childbearing age by district, city, and region. At his New Year press conference left-leaning President Moon Jae-In said his government would reduce working hours and strive to build a society where women can still lead their life pursuing their own values when they get married, give birth and raise children. Five of the 19 members of the cabinet are women, a record high of 28 percent, including Chung and Kang Kyung-Wha, the countrys first female foreign minister. Seoul has also set non-binding quotas for women in senior roles at state agencies and state-run companies, and increased financial support for men taking paternity leave and their employers, while rolling out more benefits for long-stigmatized unwed mothers. The government hopes that by changing the wider social atmosphere, private firms will be encouraged to follow suit. Chung conceded it will be a challenge to change the view that childcare is womens work but warned: Our countrys future may depend on whether we can break these social customs.
Posted Friday, January 19, 2018 2:45 am

Three Marshfield High School students were presented cash prizes by the Marshfield Optimist Club for its Shamrock Shuffle Flyer Development contest Wednesday, Jan. 10, in the high school library.

The top three entries in the contest were sophomore Walker Lininger, junior Cameron Jakob and senior Whitney Runyan. Rodney Cain, chairman of the Shamrock Shuffle event, gave each finalist a cash prize. Lininger received $200 for first place, Jakob received $150 for second place and Runyan received $100 for third place.

We created the contest as a way to promote the Marshfield Optimist Clubs 10th annual Shamrock Shuffle Run in the spring, said Cain. All the proceeds we raise go back to the kids. Our organization is focused on serving the kids.

The Graphic Design I class has participated in the contest for three years. According to Ray Fryman, who teaches Graphic Design I and II, a former Marshfield School employee affiliated with the Marshfield Optimist Club approached him a few years ago, asking him if his students would be interested in creating the print media for the Shamrock Shuffle event. Fryman, along with the class, thought the project was a great idea and started working on it.

Projects sponsored by local clubs, organizations and businesses allow high school students to develop a more applicable understanding of how the graphic design process works in a real-world setting, said Fryman. Additionally, their work is not just displayed in the school. It gets used and displayed within the community.

Since starting the Graphic Design class, students have created multiple projects through partnerships with local organizations and businesses, including the Marshfield Optimist Club, Webster County Library, Jay's Nest, The Marshfield Mail, Marshfield High School Bluejay Chatter and the Marshfield High School theatre department. The Graphic Design I class provides students an opportunity to gain digital media skills and work with programs like Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator.
The Syrian conflict braces for a new turn as Turkey prepares a military assault on the US-backed Kurdish forces in the region of Afrin in northern Syria.

Turkey dispatched its military chief to Moscow on Thursday, seeking approval for an air campaign in Syrias Kurdish-controlled Afrin region, although Damascus warned it could shoot down any Turkish planes in its skies.

Turkish President Recep Tayip Erdogan said that Turkeys planned military operation against Kurdish militia forces in Syrias Afrin region will be supported by Syrian rebel fighters.

Erdogan has repeatedly warned of an imminent incursion in Afrin after the US-led coalition said it was working with the mainly Kurdish YPG-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to set up a new 30,000-strong border force.

Both the YPG and the SDF are listed as terrorist organization by the Turkish regime who is concerned that the establishment of a Kurdish state in northern Syria will offer a rear base for the PKK kurdish organization, which has fought Turkey for decades.

We will intervene in Afrin, Mevlut Cavusoglu told broadcaster CNN Turk, adding he did not expect Russia to oppose any operation there. We are meeting the Russians and Iran on the use of air space.

The US has vowed to support an SDF border control militia of 30,000 soldiers, in a move that angered Ankara. Turkeys president said Washington was creating a terror army and vowed to suffocate it.

For their part, Kurdish leaders promised to defend Afrin and urged the international community to prevent Turkey from targeting what they said were its 1m residents.

The district of Afrin is home to about 500,000 civilians, a population, which has doubled with refugees from fighting in other areas of the country.
Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte Thursday floated a possible ban on the export of house workers to Kuwait arguing that his country will no longer stand aside and watch Filipino women commit suicide because of abuses they endure during their work stay.

I do not want a quarrel with Kuwait. I respect their leaders but they have to do something about this because many Filipino expatriate workers will commit suicide, he said in a speech at the launch of a Manila bank for Filipinos settled abroad.

We have lost about four Filipino women in the last few months. Its always in Kuwait, he added without elaborating.

My advice is, we talk to them, state the truth and just tell them that its not acceptable anymore. Either we impose a total ban or we can have this corrected, he told his foreign secretary, Alan Peter Cayetano.

Kuwait is currently hosting more than 250,000 Filipinos, who motly work as house helpers. Tens of thousands are also reported working in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and United Arab Emirates.

Over 2.3 million Filipinos are working abroad and reportedly remit every month more than $2 billion of their earnings that contribute a lot to the Asian countrys economy.
The Debt Management Office (DMO) of Nigeria on Tuesday said it expects to raise $700 million from international sources as part of a $3.5 billion in borrowing for the 2017 budget.

Late last year, Nigerian lawmakers approved the governments $74 billion expenditure plan for the next three years. President Muhammadu Buharis administration has proposed a budget of $23.9 billion for 2018.

The International Monetary Fund forecast Nigerias economy will expand by 2.1 percent this year as production of oil increases and foreign-currency availability improves for manufacturers to import inputs.

December last year, the Washington-based lender has recommended macroeconomic and structural reforms to contain vulnerability and support sustainable private sector in the West African nation.

The 2018 budget is 16 percent bigger than last years and is based on projected oil output, including condensates, of 2.3 million barrels a day at $45 per barrel.

The government forecast economic growth of 3.5 percent in 2018 and plans to reduce debt-servicing costs by almost doubling the portion of cheaper foreign borrowing to 40 percent of total liabilities.

Africas most populous nation raised $2.8 billion on the international market last year, selling $2.5 billion in Eurobonds in November and another $300 million via Diaspora bonds.
President Akufo-Addo of Ghana on Wednesday said he spent the past year stabilizing the economy, including clearing huge debt deals signed by his predecessor.

The President who was speaking to the media on Wednesday, to mark his one year in office, said it has taken a lot of hard work from his economic team, led by the vice-president to transform the West African nations ailing economy.

According to him, macroeconomic fundamentals have seen improvements through improved fiscal and monetary discipline and the government saved about $7 billion after reviewing power sector deals signed by his predecessor covering a 13-year contract.

Eleven of the contracts had been terminated. It also saved at least $200 million through value-for-money procurement reviews.

Ghanas economic growth, which had slowed from 4.0% in 2014 to 3.7% in 2015, recovered to 5.8% in 2016 and 8.7% in 2017.

In its latest report dubbed: Global Economic Prospects: Sub-Saharan Africa, the World Bank said Ghana is tipped to lead Africa as the fastest growing economy in 2018 with a growth rate of eight per cent.

Ghanas forecasts put growth at 7.8 per cent in 2018 as increased oil and gas production boosts exports and domestic electricity production.
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni on Wednesday accused the United Nations of preserving terrorism in neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo.

Museveni made the comments in a statement after meeting UN officials investigating an ambush of peacekeepers in eastern Congo.

According to him, UN peacekeepers have been unable to curb deadly attacks by Islamist rebels in neighboring Congo.

Fourteen UN peacekeepers were killed in December in the Democratic Republic of Congo, in what is called the worst attack on the UN in recent history.

The death toll is the highest since a 1993 gun battle in Mogadishu, and adds to the hundreds of UN peacekeepers killed in Congo to date.

Set up in 2010, the UN peacekeeping mission in Congo called Monusco is the global bodys largest but has struggled to neutralize rebel groups and militia factions in eastern Congo.

One of the groups is the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a Ugandan Islamist rebel group that has been operating in the mineral-rich nation for decades.

More than 5,000 people have been killed by state forces in the Kasai region alone in the past two years.

Growing violence in Congo is directly related to the failed elections process and President Kabilas refusal to leave the presidency.
Germany and the United Kingdom have renewed pressure on the Ethiopian government urging it to fulfil its promises on political reforms and opening up the democratic space in the Horn of African nation.

In a statement released on Wednesday, both embassies stressed the need to open up the political space and allow people to participate in the governance process.

The statement was released in the wake of the release of over 500 political prisoners including Merera Gudina, a major opposition figure.

Merera Gudina, the chairman of the opposition Oromo Federalist Congress, was detained in December 2016. He was arrested in Addis Ababa shortly after criticizing the government.

Rights groups and opposition groups in Ethiopia had been calling for the release of political prisoners, saying they were arrested on trumped-up charges and punished for their points of view

Tens of thousands of people were arrested, and reportedly hundreds were killed, during the protests demanding wider freedoms that began in late 2015.

Demonstrators protested against the lack of democracy, with the ruling Ethiopian Peoples Revolutionary Democratic Front controlling all the seats in parliament,

The attorney-general, Getachew Ambaye, said recently the government would drop charges against 527 people, including some politicians.
GYLA Assesses the Activities of Parliament in 2017

By Vladimer Napetvaridze

On January 10, the Georgian Young Lawyers' Association (GYLA) presented a report about the activities of the Parliament in 2017.GYLA has defined main problems in the work of the Parliament based on the reports of Parliamentary sessions and meetings. The report refers to the legislative as well as supervisory functions.According to the GYLA report 2017, several problems were identified: (1) The Parliament has not worked on legislative initiatives, which needed additional activities for further improvement; (2) The Parliament adopted some of the legislative initiatives on which the majority, the President and nongovernmental organizations have expressed their disagreements, (3) There were some attempts to demonstrate the Presidential veto as an instrument of political speculations; (4) Sometimes discussions exceeded the general standards of political debates, (5) Regardless of the majoritys willingness, in some cases, to share some initiatives in response to the Presidential veto, it was impossible due to inflexible Parliamentary regulations; (6) There have been defects in all phases of preparing the draft Constitutional Amendments, which led to the absence of a consensus over the changes in the Constitution; (7) The majority representatives were more constructive in supervisory activities and largely refrained from critical comments. They also evaluated the current government activities, in comparison to the previous government; (8) As for the minority representatives, their critical statements were mostly based on a political context.The Parliaments inability to properly use its monitoring function was also highlighted in the GYLA report. During the autumn sessions in 2016 and spring session in 2017, the Parliament has not used its right to hold a governmental hour. The governmental hour is a right of MPs to invite a member of the government to address questions at the plenary session in Parliament. According to the regulations, the governmental hour can be hold on the last Friday of each month."The members of the Parliament do not use the Governmental Hour. The minority representatives have summoned the government members to faction sessions and the majority representatives prefer to use different forms of informal communication and meetings with their government," reads the GYLA report.The head of Procedural Issues and Rules Committee Giorgi Kakhiani has proposed: to give the rights to summon the government members to the Parliamentary Committees instead of factions.The initiative of Kakhiani was criticized by the representative of European Georgia and the Vice-Speaker of the Parliament Sergi Kapanadze. Kapanadze noted that it would be a big step backward."If this regulation is abolished, it means that the political opposition will lose its tool to directly ask questions to the government and hold a discussion. No other formats allow that, no committee hearings or governmental hour," he said.The representatives of GYLA also disagree with the abolishment of the right."It is not right to abolish the regulation just because Ministers do not attend the faction sessions. This means that members of the government need to have more responsibility towards the regulations," said Nino Tsukhishvili, a representative of GYLA.According to the Rules of Procedure, a member of the government, is obliged to attend a faction session, if summoned to Parliament and answer questions of MPs. Based on this regulation, the Parliamentary opposition summoned the Ministers at faction sessions several times, but despite the obligations under the Rules of Procedure, the government members preferred not to show up.
@alextdaugherty

Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rossello is learning what happens when you challenge Marco Rubio.

In December, Rossello called out Rubio by name because he was unhappy with the Republican tax bill and said he would campaign against those who turned their backs on the U.S. territory.

Now, the Florida Republican who is often regarded as Puerto Ricos most important advocate in Washington, is throwing cold water on Puerto Rican statehood and is urging Rossello, a Democrat who won election in 2016, to spend more time governing in San Juan than campaigning in Florida. Rubios comments in Puerto Ricos largest newspaper are a blow to Rossellos hopes for Congress to act on statehood, his partys most important policy issue.

If I were the governor of a state or territory that does not have power, I would spend more time [there] than in Orlando, Rubio said to El Nuevo Dia. Sometimes, when people feel criticized and under pressure, they look for someone to blame, because they did not achieve this or that. I do not think it is smart to turn the Puerto Rican issue into a partisan issue.

Rubios comments come after Rossello was in Washington last week to announce a Puerto Rican shadow delegation of two U.S. senators and five U.S. House members who demand to be seated in Congress. Puerto Ricos shadow delegation is attempting to gain statehood through a similar plan successfully adopted by Tennessee in the late 1700s and copied by other states like Alaska.

Rossellos shadow delegation was a 2016 campaign promise, but the effort is getting more attention after Puerto Ricos power grid was destroyed by Hurricane Maria and thousands on the island are still without power months later.

Certainly the hurricane has had an influence, said Pedro Rossello, Ricardo Rossellos father and the governor of Puerto Rico from 1993 to 2001, in an interview with the Miami Herald.

Pedro Rossello said the hurricane and the federal governments slower response compared to disaster recovery efforts in Florida and Texas has raised the profile of the statehood issue.

Stateside, U.S. citizens recognize that Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens, natural born, Rossello said. That wasnt so before [Hurricane Maria]. Before, our polling shows that about 25 percent recognize that fact, after that its up in the 85 percent level. Thats a direct result of the hurricane.

But while Rubio hasnt changed his longtime position supporting statehood, a public admission that there arent 60 votes for statehood in the U.S. Senate is a blow to Ricardo Rossellos pro-statehood New Progressive Party.

Read more here.
Governor Scott being a DREAMer champion is fake news, said Cristian Avila of an immigrant organization, Mi Familia Vota. Avila, 27, is a Phoenix resident who has been politically active in Florida and is one of about 800,000 people in the program known as DACA, for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals.
@alextdaugherty

The federal government will shut down at 11:59 p.m. Friday unless the House and Senate pass a short-term spending bill.

The two U.S. senators from Florida and the five U.S. representatives from Miami-Dade County are divided on the spending bill, which faces opposition from conservative House Republicans and Democrats in the House and Senate.

Keep in mind that the calculus can change quickly if an immigration compromise to protect Dreamers  undocumented immigrants who arrived in the U.S. as children  is imminent.

Heres where the Miami-Dade delegation stands on the short-term spending bill as of Thursday afternoon:

Sen. Marco Rubio (R): Rubio said on Monday you cant shut the government down over DACA, and is likely to support a short-term spending bill. He voted in favor of a short-term spending bill in December.

Sen. Bill Nelson (D): Nelson is undecided, and is waiting to see how the House votes before deciding his vote. The Florida Democrat is facing pressure from immigration activists to vote against a short-term spending bill. He voted in favor of a short-term spending bill in December.

Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R): Curbelo will vote no unless a DACA solution is imminent. He voted against the short-term spending bill in December due to DACA.

Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R): Ros-Lehtinen will vote no unless a DACA solution is imminent. She also voted against the December spending bill due to DACA.

Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R): Diaz-Balart will vote in favor of the bill. Shutting down the government, which among other things puts the lives of our troops in danger, would be detrimental and must be avoided, Diaz-Balart said.

Rep. Frederica Wilson (D): Wilson voted against the December spending bill along with the majority of House Democrats. Shes pledged not to support any immigration compromise that includes funding for a border wall. I do not plan to vote for the continuing resolution unless it includes measures to protect Dreamers and TPS holders; critical funding for CHIP and community health centers; and additional disaster recovery funding for Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Texas, Florida, and states impacted by wildfires.
But the project hasn't been smooth sailing. There have been various delays since construction began in 2013. Since November 2017, two of the project's most prominent backers -- Saudi Arabia's Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal, a prolific investor and businessman, and Bakr Bin Laden, chairman of Jeddah Tower's construction company Bin Laden Group -- have been caught up in the kingdom's anti-corruption purge, which saw hundreds questioned on accusations of corruption.
Oklahoma City, OK - A woman who killed her daughter by shoving a crucifix down her throat because she thought she was possessed by the devil has been found guilty of first degree murder.

A jury in Oklahoma City convicted 51-year-old Juanita Gomez on Thursday of killing Geneva Gomez, 33. They recommended a life sentence without parole.

The 33-year-old womans body was discovered on the floor of her mothers Oklahoma home in August 2016.

She had been laid out in the shape of crucifix with a cross on her chest, according to police who found her.

The victims former boyfriend, Francisco Merlos, who gave evidence at the trial, also reportedly told the court about the state he saw her lifeless body in when he visited her mothers house.

According to reports by The Oklahoman, he told the court you couldnt even recognise her face before calling 911.

The medical examiner said that the Geneva Gomez, who had injuries to her head and face, died from blunt force trauma, News9 reported.

Gomez, 51, reportedly told police that bruises on her own hands and arms were from when she was fighting to rid Satan from her daughters body".

She also told them she forced a religious medallion and a cross down her throat and that she had punched her daughter repeatedly in the face, according to court documents.

In footage from her arraignment in 2016, Gomez said numerous times that she believed in God, before complaining about the conditions in her jail cell.

Speaking about the lawyer she claimed to have, she said: Yes sir he believes in God like me.

The mother was found able to stand trial, a psychologist found, after she admitted pretending to have memory problems to appear incompetent.

Neighbours believed the mother and daughter had a good relationship, News9 reported.
A Napa Valley wine industry aerial imaging company has merged with a Canadian data analytics firm, allowing the combined company to expand to other major wine-growing regions of the world.

VineView Scientific Aerial Imaging, an Angwin company that started in 2002, merged with SkySquirrel Technologies, a Halifax, Nova Scotia, startup. The combined company, which takes the name VineView, uses drones and airplanes to provide wine growers overhead images showing the health of wine grapes.

SkySquirrel recently closed a $3 million investment round, including $1 million from Nova Scotia venture capital firm Innovacorp and $2 million from an undisclosed private investor from Ontario, the companies said in a news release Friday.

VineView served winemakers in Northern and Central California and parts of Oregon and Washington , said Melissa Staid, who co-founded the company with her husband, Matt Staid.

The merger gives the new company the ability to expand to French winemaking regions, Melissa Staid said.

SkySquirrel acquired a French partner, Avidordrone, late last year. The merged company will have headquarters in Halifax, with offices in the Napa Valley and in Toulouse, France.
COVENANT PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH:

Rev. Lynda Hyland Burris and Liturgist Pat Ripley, turn to Jonah 3:1-10, the Word of God for the people of God. Well think about how sometimes we drag our feet but well try to step out of our comfort zones, try to step out in faith to bring hope. The Covenant Choir, led by Director, Mark Teeters, and accompanied on grand piano by Ted Lassagne, will sing a magnificent hymn of hope, I Dream a World. Sunday school is available for ages K-8 in one-room-schoolhouse style. We invite you to join us at 10:30 a.m. cpcnapa.org, facebook.com/cpnapa.

CREEKSIDE COMMUNITY CHURCH:

Weekly worship service is Sunday at 10:30 a.m. Services and attire are casual with a blend of fellowship, music and teaching. Child care and childrens church offered during service. 1050 Hagen Road, Napa. CreeksideChurchNapa.org; 255-7266.

CROSSWALK COMMUNITY CHURCH:
Neighbors are wary about added traffic on a rural road with homes along it. They said winery visitors already drive quickly. They said the angle of the intersection at Kreuzer Lane and Fourth Avenue is hard to negotiate.

Matt Sabella spoke on behalf of his father who lives on Kreuzer Lane. His father didnt move into his house 28 years ago to live on Highway 29, he said.

Thats not agriculture, thats tourism, Sabella said.

Greenwood-Meinert said Caldwell Vineyard gives each guest a paper requesting them to drive less than 25 mph on Kreuzer Lane.

One neighbor in a letter pointed to a January 2010 Planning Commission report that said Caldwell Vineyard had something of a history of compliance problems with the county. That included using the winery without a final certificate of occupancy and having a number of building code violations.

But Greenwood-Meinert told commissioners that the winery has no pending code violations and the last violation involving the septic mound and gophers was corrected.

What Im hearing is a significant lack of communication between the neighbors and Mr. Caldwell . I think there are issues that need to be resolved and theyre festering, Commissioner Terry Scott said.
But Jones pushed for them to do more given the unprecedented circumstances of the October fires. In Sonoma County, there were $7 billion in claims, according to the department, including claims for 4,785 insured homes destroyed in the fires.

Jones said he was moved to act as his department heard that some carriers were paying out 100 percent for personal property without itemization. Some policyholders of CSAA Insurance Group, for example, reported receiving a complete payout for personal property without an inventory. CSAA last month said there has been no policy change on how it handles personal property claims, though it acknowledged there was some miscommunication that might have led some of its policyholders to believe there was a policy change.

We know some of the insurers have done this (100 percent) and I concluded they could and should do it, Jones said in a interview Wednesday.

The department said many insurers have agreed to pay at least 75 percent of personal property coverage limits without a list and some have even agreed to 100 percent. It declined to release a list detailing insurers responses to its survey, saying the responses were confidential and not covered under the California Public Records Act.
Create a setback of 2,000 feet and 64.8 percent of unincorporated county residents couldnt grow marijuana outside. Create one of 1,000 feet and 42.5 percent couldnt. Create one of 500 feet and 20.1 percent couldnt, county staff told supervisors.

Supervisor Diane Dillon wanted to see more than numbers. She wanted to see maps to help supervisors decide if the setbacks should be different in different zoning districts.

For example, a pocket of unincorporated land within the city of Napa might have no setbacks, to match the citys law. Setbacks of varying distances might apply in the agricultural preserve of the Napa Valley floor and the agricultural watershed in the surrounding hills.

I dont think a cookie-cutter approach is going to work for us here, Supervisor Belia Ramos said.

County staff could return to the Board of Supervisors with the requested maps as soon as next Tuesday, in which case the personal outdoor cultivation discussion would then resume.

Im going to be looking for the lower end of the setback ranges, Gregory said. Truly I feel this is an access issue.
The Napa County Sheriffs Office will offer its 12th Sheriff Citizens Academy beginning on Feb. 21.

The academy provides participants with an opportunity to interact with members of law enforcement (Sheriffs Office, Napa Dispatch Center, and other professionals in public safety) while learning and performing through roleplaying the job duties of a law enforcement officer. This class is not intended to prepare participants for a career in law enforcement.

Academy objectives include:

 Increase communication and build a relationship of trust and understanding between the Sheriffs Office and local residents.

 Provide education and insight to citizens concerning the job functions of a law enforcement officer.

 Create a non-threatening setting for citizens to share concerns with Sheriffs Office employees.

 Foster a pool of well-informed graduates who will share knowledge and insight with others and build a pool of alumni graduates.
Napa Police Capt. Pat Manzer said that Zazzarino was detained without incident on the 3200 block of Baywood Lane by Sutherland Park after a nearby resident reported that a man had entered his home. The homeowner confronted Zazzarino, who then left the home.

Zazzarino was completely compliant when officers arrived, Manzer said.

A 9mm semi-automatic handgun was recovered from his person, police said.

Police believe that Zazzarino and the first victim were acquaintances who had arrived at Starbucks together in a group.

After police allege he shot the man in abdomen, Zazzarino left the scene in an early 2000s Ford Expedition, which was later found parked on a street in the Sutherland Park area in west Napa.

Police said the second victim may have observed Zazzarino acting suspiciously and initiated contact with him when he was shot. He just may be a very poor innocent victim, police said.

Although it appears that Zazzarino and the second victim did not know one another, police havent been able to confirm this as they have not been able to speak with the victim yet, Manzer said Thursday afternoon.
Still, Austin testified that he told Mills the conversation with Moser was a "potentially serious" matter and that he would likely report him to the commission and start his own investigation. Days later, Mills told Austin that he'd reported himself, Austin testified.

Moser also testified Wednesday, saying Mills initiated the exchange in the courtroom, minutes after the DUI trial had gone to the jury. He said Mills asked Moser something to the effect of "Do you want to know what I would have done?" And told Moser he would have made an analogy about the science of honey bee flight when discussing the accuracy of the DUI breathalyzer in the case.

"Being an officer of the court, I didn't think it was an appropriate conversation," Moser, now a Solano County deputy district attorney, testified, adding that he informed his supervisor shortly thereafter.

Mills' attorney James Murphy, in his opening statement, said the judge was having a "social conversation" with Moser and made a "historical reference" to how breathalyzer tests were done decades ago when Mills was a prosecutor, but that the judge didn't believe he'd engaged in an inappropriate conversation.
San Jose police said Thursday that suspects arrested at Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield last month are linked to more than 30 gas station and convenience store burglaries in the South Bay and elsewhere dating back to September.

Dubbed by police as the Lucky Lotto Bandits, the group often used a rock to smash the window of a business to gain entry, and frequently stole California Lottery Scratchers tickets, cash registers, U.S. currency and cigarettes, police said.

The burglary spree ended early on the morning of Dec. 20, when Santa Clara police were seeking 21-year-old Jared McEssy and learned he and four other people were in a gas station parking lot in Fairfield.

Fairfield police tried to pull the suspect vehicle over but they fled in it, prompting a pursuit in which the suspects struck another vehicle and ran several red lights, Santa Clara police said.

The officers stopped the pursuit but learned a short time later that the vehicle had driven through the main gate of Travis Air Force Base and were on the loose inside the base, Santa Clara police said.

The suspects abandoned the vehicle but all five were eventually found and arrested after a search that lasted a couple of hours, according to police. A sawed-off shotgun was also found in their vehicle.
Kevin McCallum

Press Democrat

When Santa Rosa agreed in 2016 to annex Roseland, it did so knowing the heavily Latino neighborhood of unincorporated county land was going to need tens of millions of dollars in public investments to bring it up to city standards.

Three weeks before the annexation became official, the most devastating wildfires in U.S. history decimated large swaths of the city.

Now, as the city prepares to officially welcome 7,400 Roseland residents into its boundaries Saturday, it is unclear what impact the wildfires will have on the city's promise to invest in badly needed roads, sidewalks and parks for the historically underserved community.

"We're not going to forget our obligations post-annexation," Councilman John Sawyer said.

"I think our new Santa Rosa residents should feel assured that our dedication to see improvements in their quality of life is not wavering, but the timeline may have changed."

The city's pledge to bring Roseland up to the same level of public services enjoyed by other parts of the city was never accompanied by a deadline. Officials have always spoken not of years but decades, a point Sawyer reiterated Wednesday.
Somehow, the nation survived the first year of Donald Trump's presidency.

So how did he do? Extreme partisans on both sides will declare it to be a rousing success or a magnificent failure. As is often the case, the truth lies somewhere in between. Here's my report card on his first year.

The judiciary

Grade: A -- Starting with the nomination of Neil Gorsuch, Trump's most significant achievement over the courts of his first year clearly rests with the appointments to various federal courts. Granted, some of Trump's selections had to withdraw for lack of the qualifications necessary for a judicial appointment. But outside of a few a speed bumps, Trump's choices have been solid and will provide lasting benefits.

Taxes

Grade: B-minus -- Overall, I support the tax bill the president signed. The problem is, Trump and others in the GOP didn't just promise a tax-cut bill, they promised tax reform. While some elements of reform made it into the final version, the law offers far more in the way of cutting tax rates than it does reforming the system. Also, the tax cut will result in a budget deficit, rather than the revenue-neutral package the GOP promised.

Foreign policy/national defense
From the very early days of my vinous adventure, I realized wine was expressive of all five senses.

Our first impression is visual where we can appreciate a wines color, clarity and density as it is poured into the glass. We then take a sniff to discover the bouquet and assess its aromatic components. Taste, sensory mouthfeel and finish complete the first sip. And, of course, the sound of the cork popping (especially with a sparkler) and glasses clinking in a festive toast can add to the overall experience.

As the years unfolded, I continued to delve deeper into wines intrinsic character and began to realize that the nose (both literally and figuratively) took on the dominant role in the entire tasting/appreciation process both on physiological and sensory levels. Visually, we can tell much of whats to come on the palate by the wines color and clarity. But, its the nose and our overall olfactory system that affect almost everything else, from the initial bouquet through the palate and on to the finish.
This class opened up many avenues for learning, said Toney. I took the introductory course in March 2016. I feel as though the knowledge that I gained through Wines of the World really helped with the test.

Toney is also studying for the Certified Wine Specialist test and preparing to take the Court of Sommelier course in December.

I believe the VWT classes offered at NVC really help students gain the necessary knowledge to set them up for whatever career path in wine they take.

Paul Gospodarczyk, the Napa Valley College Estate Winery winemaker who developed the VWT curriculum, said the wine classes are geared to attract aspirational workers interested in learning more about marketing and sales.

My hope is that, by the end of the day, they will successfully pass the wine trade tests on their own, he said.

Wagner agreed.

If you want to jump-start your approach to taking these industry exams, NVC is the place to start your training, he said. Anyone who is interested in a career in wine will be well served to have one of these certifications.

But, we are also seeing a number of consumers take our classes because they love our subject. What makes it even more efficient, we are the only public institution offering this kind of education, and the costs of these classes are significantly lower than what you might find in a private school.
MELBOURNE, Florida - Stefanie Dobson of Melbourne, Florida, has been charged with murdering her own mother.





On January 13, 2018, patrol officers responded to a 911 call of an unresponsive female covered in blood at 675 Short Hills Lane, in Melbourne, Florida.





When police arrived, they met with 38-year-old Stefanie Dobson and her daughter in front of the apartment building. Dobson told police that she had just returned from an outing with her daughter when she discovered her mother, Susan Dobson, lying on the living room floor.





Crime Scene Investigators noted that there was no sign of forced entry into the apartment. The victim had what appeared to be defensive wounds and injuries that appeared to be the result of blunt force trauma.





Investigators also noted several partial bloody footprints that had appeared to have dried hours before police arrived.









Investigators believe that an ornamental elephant statue was used as the murder weapon, which would be the second time within a year that an During an interview, Stefanie Dobson told police that she made the footprints after discovering the body. However, investigators determined that blood splatter occurred on top of the dried footprints, indicating that the footprints were made during the commission of the murder.Investigators believe that an ornamental elephant statue was used as the murder weapon, which would be the second time within a year that an elephant statute was used as a weapon in a Melbourne homicide





Police also obtained a third-party witness statement that Stefanie Dobson allegedly asked a friend to kill her mother a week prior to the murder taking place.





After police completed their investigation, Stefanie Dobson was charged with Second Degree Murder for the alleged matricide and booked into the Brevard County Jail on January 18.
Story Highlights 21% say Trump is doing "better" than expected; 35% say "worse"

Trump deviates from expectations more than Obama, Clinton did

Half of Republicans says Trump has exceeded their expectations

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Americans are split in their views on how President Donald Trump's performance in office compares with their expectations for him. About one in five (21%) say he has done better than they expected, while more, 35%, say he's done worse. The largest segment, 44%, says his performance has been about what they expected.

Americans' Assessments of Trump's Performance vs. Their Expectations Overall, has Donald Trump done better than you expected as president, worse than you expected or about as you expected? Better Worse About as expected % % % National adults 21 35 44 Republicans/Republican leaners 46 11 43 Democrats/Democratic leaners 5 52 44 GALLUP, Jan. 2-7, 2018

These data, recorded in a Jan. 2-7 Gallup poll, come as Americans look back on Trump's first year in office and as they await his State of the Union speech on Jan 30.

Party identification strongly influences how Americans view Trump's performance relative to their expectations of him.

Republicans are more likely than Democrats to say Trump has exceeded their expectations. Nearly half of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents (46%) say Trump has exceeded their expectations, with another 43% saying he has met them. Just 11% say he hasn't measured up.

Meanwhile, most Democrats and Democratic leaners (52%) say Trump has done worse than they had anticipated, with another 44% saying he has done about what they expected. Few (5%) say Trump has done better than what they expected.

##SPEEDBUMP##

Trump Outperforms Own Party's Expectations at Higher Rate Than Obama, Clinton

Gallup has asked Americans about how the sitting president's job performance compares with their expectations on four previous occasions -- three times during President Barack Obama's first term and once in President Bill Clinton's first term, although none were conducted at the same one-year mark as the poll for Trump. Obama's relative performance was measured at his 100-day mark and twice in his third year in office, while Clinton's was measured once, at the 100-day mark.

Overall, Obama and Clinton were largely seen as meeting expectations, including 62% feeling this way about Obama at the 100-day mark, and 53% to 61% saying this about him in his third year. An even higher 72% said Clinton was meeting expectations leading up to his hundredth day.

Reviewing the results by party reveals that Trump has defied expectations on both sides of the aisle -- and to a much greater extent than was seen with Obama or Clinton.

Nearly half of Republicans (46%) say Trump has performed better than they expected, which is twice as high as the 23% average for Obama among Democrats across the three measures for him and dwarfs Clinton's 15% among his own party.

Trump is also unique from Obama and Clinton in that he receives a much higher "worse" than expectations rating from the opposing party. His 52% from Democrats is significantly higher than the 35% and 21% that Obama and Clinton, respectively, received from Republicans.

Bottom Line

Trump's performance as president does not conform to what Americans expected from him as much as Obama's and Clinton's performance aligned with expectations. His unconventional tendencies throughout his campaign and early presidency are a possible reason why his performance has not aligned with people's expectations, good or bad.

The finding that nearly half of the GOP-aligned responders say he has exceeded their expectations suggests that many Republicans might not have expected Trump to follow through on the tough talk he exhibited on the campaign trail. He ultimately rounded out 2017 with the passage of a massive tax bill as steady gains in the economy continue to be made across a number of measures.

A major accomplishment that transcends Republican ambitions -- such as striking an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal or solving the North Korea crisis -- may be key for improved assessments among those outside Trump's own party. Obama, for example, saw an immediate decrease in the percentage of Republicans who said he was performing "worse" than expected after U.S. Special Forces found and killed Osama bin Laden. This still didn't result in more Republicans saying Obama was doing "better" than expected, but it at least defused some of the acrimony against him.

Meanwhile, Trump's job approval ratings fall short of what would be expected based on Americans' ratings of the economy and the way things are going in the U.S. Abroad, esteem for U.S. leadership has plummeted -- which could impact how he is viewed at home as he prepares for his upcoming trip to the World Economic Forum.
Story Highlights At 83%, disapproval of U.S. leadership highest in Norway

Among highest-approving countries, 11 out of 15 in Africa

Traditional allies among most critical of U.S. leadership

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- In President Donald Trump's first year in office, the number of countries and areas where majorities disapprove of U.S. leadership more than tripled from 15 in 2016 to a record 53 in 2017. While Gallup's Rating World Leaders: 2018 report finds disapproval of U.S. leadership in Pakistan and the Palestinian Territories remaining high year after year, many countries with typically warm relations with the U.S. rank among its toughest critics in 2017.

Norway Leads Way in Disapproval of U.S. Leadership Do you approve or disapprove of the job performance of the leadership of the United States? Disapprove % Norway 83 Austria 79 Canada 78 Iceland 77 Pakistan 76 Sweden 76 Chile 74 Netherlands 74 Finland 73 Belgium 73 Germany 72 Mexico 72 Palestinian Territories 72 New Zealand 71 Luxembourg 71 Among 134 countries and areas surveyed in 2017 Gallup World Poll

Globally, disapproval of U.S. leadership is highest in Norway (83%), a country that the president recently mentioned as a preferred source of migrants to the U.S. In 2017, more Norwegians disapproved of U.S. leadership than China's (66%) or even the leadership of Russia (78%), a country that Norway has generally considered its top security threat.

Among the 15 countries with the highest levels of disapproval in 2017 are Western nations and close allies, including Canada, Mexico, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Iceland, New Zealand, Belgium and the Netherlands. On the campaign trail, Trump first set off alarm bells among longtime European allies when he referred to NATO as "obsolete." While the president later affirmed that he no longer views NATO as obsolete, relations between the new U.S. administration and U.S. allies have continued to deteriorate as they disagree on issues such as the Paris climate accord, the Iran nuclear agreement and recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

##SPEEDBUMP##

Kosovo, Albania Top Approval List

Majorities in 27 countries and areas approved of U.S. leadership in 2017, down from 59 countries the previous year. Three Muslim-majority countries and areas top the list in 2017: Kosovo (75%), Albania (72%) and Guinea (71%). U.S. involvement in the Kosovo war in the late 1990s and support for Kosovan independence continue to undergird relations between the U.S. and both Kosovo and Albania.

Support for U.S. leadership remains consistently higher among African countries than those in other regions. Africa is home to 11 of the 15 countries most likely to approve of U.S. leadership in 2017. At least two in three adults give their approval in Guinea (71%), Togo (70%), Central African Republic (68%) and Ghana (66%).

African Countries Among Most Likely to Approve of U.S. Leadership Do you approve or disapprove of the job performance of the leadership of the United States? Approve % Kosovo 75 Albania 72 Guinea 71 Togo 70 Central African Republic 68 Israel 67 Ghana 66 Congo (Kinshasa) 64 Gabon 63 Kenya 62 Liberia 61 Mauritius 59 Philippines 59 Sierra Leone 58 Chad 57 Among 134 countries and areas surveyed in 2017 Gallup World Poll

In Israel, approval of U.S. leadership has been relatively high since Gallup began asking about it in 2006 but experienced a significant jump in 2017, increasing from 53% to 67%. Polling in Israel was completed before the U.S. announcement to move its embassy to Jerusalem. However, Trump's campaign promise that he would recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and his agreement with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the need to renegotiate the Iran nuclear deal may have found support among some Israelis.

Bottom Line

More countries disapprove of U.S. leadership than at any other time since Gallup began collecting these data. Where American diplomats may have found themselves "pushing on an open door" in many countries in recent years, a potential decline in U.S. soft power may make it more difficult for the U.S. to influence foreign governments to support policies and actions that may be unpopular with their citizens.

The presence of many Western and allied countries among those most disapproving of the U.S. is a practical concern. In the post-World War II era, the U.S. has leaned on its many powerful partners to assist it in affecting issues beyond its borders time and again. Large declines in the image of U.S. leadership among traditional allies could threaten the country's ability to mobilize its most reliable partners needed in the pursuit of its foreign policy objectives.

Download the Rating World Leaders: 2018 report.

Julie Ray contributed to this report.

Gallup Global Managing Partner Jon Clifton discussed the major findings from Gallup's global survey on U.S. leadership on C-SPAN. Watch now.
Film, panel discussion to look at alcohol, drug addiction recovery

by Pete Rosenbery

CARBONDALE, Ill.  Southern Illinois University Carbondales Student Health Center will host a panel discussion and feature film next week that focuses on recovering from alcohol and drug addiction.

The community meeting is from 5 to 8 p.m. Jan. 24 in the Student Health Centers Auditorium. The documentary Anonymous People, which focuses on the more than 23.5 million Americans living in long-term recovery from alcohol and drug addiction will be featured.

The event is free and is open to the public and the university community.

A panel discussion and community Q-and-A will follow. Panelists include Dr. Aaron Newcomb of Shawnee Health Service, and representatives from TASC-IL (Treatment Alternatives for Safe Communities); Centerstone, Gateway Foundation Alcohol and Drug Treatment, and the universitys Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS). In addition, there will also be Narcan training available for those interested in learning how to administer naloxone, a drug that can reverse the effects of an opioid overdose.

Student Health Services, the Jackson County Health Department and Southern Illinois Healthcare are sponsoring the event. Light refreshments will be available.

For more information, contact Beth Morrison, assistant director, Student Health Services, at beth.morrison@siu.edu.
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[January 18, 2018] Noble Drilling Awards Speedcast Contract for Global Fully Managed Communications Speedcast International Limited (ASX: SDA), the world's most trusted provider of highly reliable, fully managed, remote communication and IT solutions, today announced that the company has been selected by Noble Corporation plc ("Noble") (NYSE: NE) to provide new IT communications equipment and fully managed connectivity services to their global drilling fleet. Speedcast is uniquely positioned to offer a global "network of networks," allowing its customers to leverage the most robust, integrated network infrastructure available combined with the latest technology to deliver a superior service which meets customers' global requirements and pushes the envelope of innovation. Through a combination of satellite Very Small Aperture Terminals (VSAT) and 4G/ LTE (News - Alert) in key regions, Speedcast will deliver end-to-end managed communication services to Noble's fleet of vessels and rigs. The solution includes a technology change-out of the fleet's entire hardware infrastructure, with installations of dual-band antennas and the latest modem technologies to maximize throughput, security and redundancy. Noble will also benefit from segmented operational and crew networks to optimize efficiency and network availability. The end-to-end service will be supported by Speedcast's 24x7x365 global customer service centers, with local field engineers in each operating region to provide fast, reliable support, unmatched in the industry. "This award is a milestone endorsement of the investment we have made to establish Speedcast as the global leader in the Energy sector. We are delighted to add Noble's global fleet to the premier Energy customers that already place their trust in Speedcast," said Keith Johnson, COO and EVP of Energy, Speedcast. "This award allows us to demonstrate our truly global scale for reliable service in the most remote, harsh envronments where critical and high priority connectivity solutions are required. We strive to instill the highest level of trust with our detailed, agile and flexible approach to meeting our customers' unique requirements and solving their most significant communications and technology challenges." Speedcast has extensive experience serving customers in the Energy industry, supporting the top global drilling contractors, producers and service companies. The company operates the world's most robust network in the industry, utilizing over 70 satellites with full redundancy over all major operating regions, an agnostic approach to the latest access technologies and an unmatched team of over 250 field engineers in 40 countries available 24x7 to deliver a fully integrated, one-service experience for customers both onshore and offshore. For more information about Speedcast, visit www.Speedcast.com. About Speedcast International Limited Speedcast International Ltd (ASX: SDA) is the largest provider of remote communications and IT services in the world. Speedcast's fully managed service is delivered via a leading global, multi-access-technology, multi-band and multi-orbit network of 70+ satellites and an interconnecting global terrestrial network, bolstered by extensive on the ground local support from 40+ countries. This global "network of networks" allows customers to fully rely on the most robust, integrated infrastructure available in the market for their mission critical applications. Speedcast is uniquely positioned as a strategic business partner, tailoring communications, IT and digital solutions to meet unique customer needs and enable business transformation. Speedcast extends its managed services through differentiated technology offerings including cybersecurity, crew welfare, content solutions, data and voice applications and network systems integration services. With a passionate customer focus and a strong safety culture, Speedcast serves more than 2,000 customers in over 140 countries in sectors such as Maritime, Energy, Mining, Enterprise, Media, Cruise, NGOs and Government. Learn more at www.Speedcast.com. Social Media: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook Speedcast is a trademark and registered trademark of Speedcast International Limited. All other brand names, product names, or trademarks belong to their respective owners.  2018 Speedcast International Limited. All rights reserved. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180118006103/en/

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Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang

Dortmund hit out at Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger after the Frenchman suggested the Gabon international would be a good fit at Emirates Stadium during his media conference on Thursday.

Aubameyang has been strongly linked with a switch to Chinese Super League side Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao, but he is also reportedly a target for the Gunners as a replacement for Alexis Sanchez, who appears set to join Manchester United.

Zorc labelled Wenger disrespectful for speaking about Aubameyang and confirmed ahead of Dortmunds match against Hertha on Friday that the 28-year-old would not be included in Peter Stogers squad.

Auba trains in Dortmund, Zorc told reporters. We have the impression that aAubameyang is not 100 per cent mentally focused. Its a difficult situation.

Stoger stated earlier on Thursday that Aubameyang was in contention to feature against Hertha despite ongoing rumours about his future.

Its clear that it [transfer speculation] is exciting for everyone, but it was really not an issue for us, he said.

If he goes with us [to Berlin], of course he could play as well, but there is no guarantee for anyone.

Basically, he decides whether he qualifies for this team. I currently have the impression that everything is OK.

Aubameyang was left out of Stogers squad for a 0-0 home draw with Wolfsburg last weekend after missing a team meeting. He was also temporarily suspended by the club earlier in the campaign due to disciplinary issues, his poor time-keeping reportedly the problem.

Zorc previously said he does not feel that Aubameyangs behaviour is an attempt to force a move away from Dortmund in the same vein as Ousmane Dembele, who went on strike ahead of his club-record switch to Barcelona.

Despite an unsettled season, Aubameyang is BVBs top goalscorer in the Bundesliga with 13 goals in 15 appearances.
The Kogi State Chairman of Christians Association of Nigeria (CAN), Bishop John Ibenu has escaped assassination attempts in Kogi state.

Ibenu said about seven suspected Fulani men along Ojodu in Ofu local government area rushed out of the bush and open fire on his vehicle. He was dumbfounded in the first place as it came all of a sudden. It was after some few seconds that he realised it was a matter of life and death before he then dove to the floor of his car. His car was left riddled with bullets.

Narrating his ordeal to newsmen in Lokoja, the state capital on Thursday, Ibenu said he was returning from his village in the eastern part of the state at about 5.30 pm on Sunday when he was attacked.

He explained that the assailants were on both sides of the road as four of the Fulani men rushed out from the bush and while attempting to make a u-turn, another three appeared from the bush and open gunfire on his vehicle.

Ibenu added that the people were fully armed with AK47 rifles, but he was only able to escape from the scene to a nearby village by Gods grace. He called on the state governor to intensify more effort in curbing criminal activities in the state, especially the ones perpetuated by the Fulani herdsmen

According to him within a space of one week series of kidnapping incident were recorded along Lokoja-Ajaokuta road and other places in the state.

The Fulani Herdsmen are becoming a terror group by the day and this is the time for the Nigerian government to take them as one. There have been no arrests since they started unleashing their mayhem on innocent Nigerians and a lot of people have lost their lives for no just reason due to their nefarious activities.
A Federal High Court in Abuja has rejected an application by Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) challenging its proscription.

Justice Adamu Kafarati held that the proscription order made ex-parte on September 20, 2017, was validly made.

He held that IPOBs application, seeking the vacation of the proscription order, was unmeritorious and deserved to be dismissed.

The judge resolved the three issues identified for the resolution against the applicant (IPOB).

The first issue was whether IPOB, haven not been registered in Nigeria, could be sued at a Nigerian court. The second was whether the order made ex-parte, without hearing the group, was not a violation of its right to fair hearing.

The issue related to whether the order banning IPOB was not a violation of its members right to freely associate.

On the first issue, Justice Kafarati opined that since the applicant agreed that it was registered outside Nigeria, it means it was a foreign artificial person.

He said as a foreign entity, IPOB was subject to Nigerian laws and could sue and be sued in Nigeria.

On the second issue, the judge held that the order ex-parte banning IPOB was validly made, the necessary conditions under Section 21 of the Terrorism Prevention Act (TPA) haven been met.

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He said under the section of the TPA, what was required was for the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) to cause an application to be made to a judge in chambers after obtaining the consent of the President.

The judge held that under Section 45 of the Constitution, a court was empowered to make such a prescription order, where the activities of a group of people threaten national security and the liberty of other members of the society.

Justice Kafarati dismissed the application and awarded N500,000 cost against IPOB.

The groups lawyer, Ifeanyi Ejiofor, thanked the judge for his well considered ruling, but said he will appeal the decision.

But Ohanaeze Ndigbo has decried the judgment.

A statement by the President-General, Nnia Nwodo, said: It is unfortunate that our courts are allowing themselves to be used for unlawful and political ends. As defined by international standards, IPOB has done nothing to qualify being called a terrorist organisation.

Sadly, the Federal Attorney General in his parochialism, unmitigated bias and calumny, has not found it necessary to classify the Fulani herdsmen as terrorists, despite their classification by the Global Terrorist Index as the fourth deadliest terrorist organisation in the world.

Ohanaeze frowns at this nepotism, this denigration of our judiciary and this stigmatisation of our children.
Bishop Oyedepo

According to Vanguard, the visibly angry cleric who was reading from a written speech, raised many pertinent questions including the rights of farmers and native land owners; the value for human life in Nigeria; sponsors of the killers who are disguised as herdsmen; whether cattle rearing business is private or governments, among many other questions.

The Bishop who has repeatedly talked about a 1992 revelation where God unveiled to him the current state of the nation, ended with several prophetic verdicts: He that killeth by the sword shall fall by the sword; Nigeria will not be destroyed for the sake of the elect, etc.

Here are excerpts from his speech:

****************

Prophets have the responsibility to engage fervently on the prayer altar for the salvation of the soul of a nation. Prophets have a duty to warn people, warn nations against impending danger. Im sent as a prophet to the nations and He grants me access to divine confidentialities about nations. So, I have this wake-up call to a nation in its state of slumber.

Boko Haram in Disguise

Insurgency is spreading across the nation under the guise of Fulani Herdsmen, danger is looming. For example, how many of these killers have been brought to book since their campaign of carnage, dearth and destruction began, one may ask. They must have the backing of some invisible powers. A nation-wide crisis or unrest is in the offing and may be worse than anyone known around the world.

Now, tell me what is the morality behind some strangers, who are doing their business as cattle-rearers to overrun your farm with your labour of planting, cultivating and nurturing your plant, and graze their cattle over your crops, and when you challenge them, they kill you on top of it? Where are the leaders of thought in Nigeria? Where is the government? And that continues unabated.

We are sitting on the keg of gunpowder. God spoke to me about it as far back as 1992, that a time like this was coming; its plainly written in my diary. Nigeria shall not be destroyed. God shall trouble all the troublers of the progress and peace of this nation.

A Nation At War With Herself

The destiny of our nation has never been under any threat of survival as it is today. People may soon be forced to take laws into their hands. The security apparatus of the nation has obviously failed to defend the lives and properties of these poor farmers across the nation. Where we are claiming to curtail the Boko Haram onslaught, we are on the other hand sponsoring or abetting Fulani Herdsmen and their murderous acts.

Nigeria is a nation at war with herself.

No external aggressions or aggressors, not ethnic crisis, no natural disaster, yet we are doing mass-burials. What a nation in a state of slumber? Hear the voice of the Lord through this prophet. The soul of Nigeria is near the point of death. Citizens of this nation are fast becoming endangered species. God have mercy!

Should Farmers Be Killed For Fulani Herdsmen To Live?

Let me ask these pertinent questions that bother on conscience of a nation and her leaders. Is cattle business government business? Should farmers be killed for Fulani Herdsmen to live? Should all the farmers leave their farms today in the fear of Fulani Herdsmen? As at the last time I knew, Nigeria still produces less than 20% of what she eats. What is the contribution of the Herdsmen and their cattle business to the GDP of Nigeria? There is more to this slow response of government to addressing this sensitive issue which is obviously a time bomb.

Are Fulani Herdsmen the Owners of Nigeria?

Question number 2: Does Nigerian land belong to the Fulani Herdsmen? There has never been this kind of assault on the intelligence of the people like we have it now. Should you allocate my fathers land to Fulani Herdsmen? Never! There will be brutal response. No, No. Are they now the customary land owners of every state, city, town, village and hamlet in Nigeria? There is danger in the offing. Every community may soon set up their own security system to defend the insurgency of the Fulani Herdsmen.

Do You Still Trust the Security Agencies?

Question number 3: Can the citizens still trust the security agencies of this nation for their protection? You will be vulnerable for life! Where citizens cannot trust government for security, a state of anarchy is in view. Insurrection may as well be on the way. This largely unchecked aggression of Fulani Herdsmen may eventually choke the soul of Nigeria to death. God forbid!

Is the Nigerian Project Still On Course?

Question number 4: Is the Nigerian project still working? Without justice there cannot be peace. You dont step on my toes and say lets have peace. I say remove your leg, you are on my toes, and you say no. You cant have peace but exchange of blows! Caution! Let politicians be warned! Dont sell off the destinies of men for your ambitions.

Because I Have a Stake in This

I have been praying and I have changed my prayer level in praying for the generations of this church. That Lord, let this church continue to grow both in my life time and the generations after me. True leaders mind the coming generations. Nigeria is rescued! Let no religious bigot say to me, But what is your concern? Wait! By the grace of God, one out of every 150 Nigerians is under my apostolic coverage. So you are not a leader by elective office, you are a leader by the amount of people you have responsibility over. I am answerable to God on what happens to them. You cant kill their fathers and mothers in the name of being in power. Enough is enough.

God Still Confirms the Words of His Prophets

When prophets speak, God confirms it. You have seen God confirm the things I say time and again. These wicked forces will be visited by vengeance!

No Value for Human Life in Nigeria

Is our sense for human value as a nation still alive today? I dont know. What I know is that its not alive. Today human lives are now being slaughtered for cattle without any drastic intervention from relevant security agents. Should men and women and children continue to lay down their lives for cattle? There is no nation on the earth where the defence of cattle is above the defence of human lives. How are these killers making away with their murderous acts? They must have the backings of the powers that be.

Any right thinking Nigerian will speculate same. Is Boko Haram not spreading strategically across the nation? How many cows will a Fulani Herdsman sell to buy an AK47 Riffle which now stands at about N3 million per piece. A cow, the fattest is N180,000  N200,000. To buy five rifles equals N15million; all the cattle they have is not up to that! You dont hire security guard in a room-and-parlour apartment. Some fellows supply these arms and you cannot tell how much stockpile of arms they have.

A Word is Enough!

Nigeria is becoming an endangered nation where any group of people may attempt to overrun the nation overnight. Caution! Caution!! Caution!!! To everyone responsible for the affairs of this nation, Caution! The reason why prophets speak is so that He does not require the blood of the people from them. God has sent me to warn this nation; a flood of evil is at the door. But for the sake of the elect, God will spare this nation. The wickedness of the wicked will fall on their head! Thank you Jesus!

Wake Up Nigeria, Wake Up!

Nigeria should wake up out of slumber and defend the unity of our great nation, or To your tent O Israel will be the last resort. God prophetically has unmasked this masquerade so that the fear of WHO and WHAT may be behind the mask does not exist. These are not Fulani Herdsmen; there are fingers behind the scene, abetting, promoting, empowering them and supplying the arms.

I saw it coming in 1992; am not talking about the government, Im talking about what God showed me about the nation. I saw it coming, I wrote it down. Fearful, but God said, If I can find 50 people in that city, I will save it. For the sake of the elect, Nigeria will not be destroyed. God will destroy everyone is out to destroy this nation. Thank you Father.

Endorsement of Partisan Politics for Members

Therefore beware, every aspersions cast on a prophetic word usually boomerangs. I will never be partisan till I die. I dont belong to any party. This church has members who belong to every political party; Im a father to all of them. But everybody must belong to any party of their choice, hold a party card and be part of choosing who looks after your affairs. Compulsorily, in this church, everybody must belong to, and must be a card-carrying member of a party of their choice and be a part of the process. Without light, darkness will keep harassing. Let these sons and daughter of light invade every party of their choice and lets make our rightful input. Thats what we are talking about. Thanks you Jesus. Enough is enough!

Time to Reap What They Have Sown

He that killeth by the sword shall fall by the sword. Enough is enough! Everyone who has become part of making other children fatherless and motherless, theirs would soon become fatherless and motherless. Thank you Jesus!

The judgment of God will visit these killers. Their source of supplies shall dry up. The generation of the perpetrators of this evil against innocent Nigerians shall rot away. Those who wont let Nigeria have peace, God will remove them. The church of Christ in Nigeria shall keep going forward. Peace shall be restored to our streets. In the Name of Jesus! Thank you Father!
The Federal Government yesterday made public the burial plans of late former Vice President, Dr. Alex Ekwueme, who died in London on November 19, 2017 at 85.

Briefing reporters in Abuja, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, who chairs the national burial committee, said it is to ensure that the late elder statesman gets a a befitting burial.

Mustapha, who was represented by the Minister of Labour and Productivity, Chris Ngige, added that Ekwuemes death was a painful loss not only to the family but to the country.

He said: The death of Alex Ekwueme is indeed a painful loss, not only to his family but to our great nation Nigeria.

His life was dedicated to the service of our beloved country Nigeria.

And as the military tribunal panel stated after he and other leaders were detained as a result of the Nigerian military coup detat that sacked the civilian government of December 31, 1983, that Dr. Ekwueme had left politics much poorer than he was when he entered it, and has also stated that to ask for more from him was to set a standard in Public life which even saints could not meet.

According to him, the governments at the federal and South East levels will be fully represented during the burial ceremony.

As we mourn his painful demise with utmost sympathy to the bereaved family, let me also use this medium to assure you that the federal and south east governments will be adequately represented at the final funeral rites.

We also urge all individuals and professional groups whose lives and interests were touched in one way or the other by our departed statesman, to be part of the burial ceremonies, as we pay Late Dr. Alex Ekwueme our last respects.

The final funeral programme shows that in Lagos on Friday, January 19, there will be a memorial service by 2pm at Cathedral Church of Christ Marina, Lagos. Evening of Tributes and Music is slated for 5pm same day at The Landmark, Oniru.

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On Saturday, at 5pm, a Memorial Service will hold at St Marylebone Parish Church, London, W1.

On Sunday, January 28th, 6pm, there will be another Evening of Tributes at the International Conference Centre, Abuja.

On January 29, there will be Parade of Honour at the Presidential Wing Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.

The body will then depart for Enugu and will be received by the Southeast governors at the Akanu Ibiam International national Airport, Enugu.

On January 30 at 4pm, there will be Service of Songs at Cathedral Church of the Good Shepherd, Independence Layout, Enugu.

On January 31, at Enugu, there will be South East Zone Commendation Ceremonies by 10am at Okpara Square.

On February 1, his body will depart for Akwa on motorcade for Anambra State Commendation service at Ekwueme Square, Awka.

On the same day at 4pm, his body will depart for Oko by motorcade and by 5pm there will be Service of Songs.

On February 2, there will be lying in state at 8am and funeral service at St. John the Divine Church Oko and final funereal rites will be at 11am.

On Sunday, February 11, at 9am, there will be Outing Service at St. John the Divine Church, Oko.

The Federal Government is footing the bill for the burial, which includes transporting the body from London to Nigeria.

Other members of the Committee include Ministers of Power, Works and Housing Babatunde Raji Fashola, Information and Culture Minister Lai Mohammed, Finance Minister Kemi Adeosun, Labour and Productivity Minister Chris Ngige, Mr. Ibrahim Idris and Mallam Lawal Musa Daura.

Others are Pastor Goodheart Obi Ekwueme, the SSG, Anambra State, Prof. Osita Chukwulobeluand the Permanent Secretary, Genera l Services Office, Dr. R oy Ugo, will serve as the Secretary of the committee, according to a statement signed by Deputy Director (Press) Office Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mohammed Nakorji.
Nigeria has filed a claim against JP Morgan Chase for more than $875 million, accusing it of negligence in transferring funds from a disputed 2011 oilfield deal to a company controlled by a former oil minister.

A spokeswoman for JP Morgan dismissed the accusation yesterday, saying the firm considers the allegations made in the claim to be unsubstantiated and without merit.

The suit filed in British courts relates to a purchase of the offshore OPL 245 oilfield in Nigeria by oil majors Royal Dutch Shell and Eni in 2011.

At the core of the case is a $1.3 billion payment from Shell and Eni to secure the block that the lawsuit says was deposited into a Nigerian government escrow account managed by JP Morgan.

The lawsuit said JP Morgan then received a request from finance ministry workers to transfer more than $800 million of the funds to accounts controlled by the previous operator of the block, Malabu Oil and Gas, itself controlled by former oil minister Dan Etete.

The lawsuit said that JP Morgan then transferred the funds to two accounts controlled by Etete, without sufficient due diligence to make sure the money did not leave accounts controlled by the Nigerian government.

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Reuters was unable to reach either Etete or Malabu for comment.

The filing seen by Reuters was made in London in November on behalf of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and says that JP Morgan acted with gross negligence by allowing the transfer of the money without further checks.

It said JP Morgan should have known that, under Nigerian law, the money should never have been transferred to an outside company.

If the defendant acted with reasonable care and skill and/or conducted reasonable due diligence it would or should have known or at least suspected  that it was being asked to transfer funds to third parties who were seeking to misappropriate the funds from the claimant and/or that there was a significant risk that this was the case, the filing said.

Late last year, a Milan judge ruled that Shell and Eni must stand trial in Italy, where Eni is headquartered, for a separate legal case in which Milan prosecutors allege bribes were paid to Etete and others as part of the same oilfield deal, including sums that went to Etetes Malabu.

Both Eni and Shell have repeatedly denied any wrongdoing in relation to that case. Malabu has never commented on the case and Reuters has not been able to contact it.
A Nigerian man, Dike BarukShalom Chukwudi has taken to Facebook to share a photo of his dad who was a Biafra warlord and gun he used in fighting 47 years ago during the war.

According to the story his dad told him, they hid most of the materials they used in fighting from soldiers in the middle of the night.

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He wrote;

This gun was excavated from my yard. It was used by my dad during the Biafra war. Before the fall of Mbaise in 1971, he trekked from delta state to his home town. In fear of Nigerian soldiers who move from house to house in search of Biafra materials and weapons and to kill or amputate any Biafra soldier found. He buried his gun, and other materials in the middle of the night. After the fall of Mbaise he fled . when he came back he was unable to know were he buried his materials because of environmental change. But during building excavation, today being 14/1/2018, after 47years of burial, the gun of a biafran gorilla warrior resurfaced and he felt once more like a gallant soldier. After awhile, he shade tears and told the old stories which we will tell our children.

#Biafra_51years_after

#Biafran_lives_forever

Meanwhile, nearly 50 years after the Biafran War (July 6, 1967  January 15, 1970) which almost destroyed the unity of Nigeria, its agitators have refused to give up the struggle.

This struggle by some Igbo people to secede from Nigeria started when on May 30, 1967, late Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, a military officer and politician announced a breakaway of the Eastern Region under the new name Republic of Biafra.

This subsequently sparked the Nigerian civil war also known as the Biafran war. The war was between the then Eastern Region of Nigeria and the rest of the country. The war was fought to reunify the country.
The Chief Executive Officer, CEO, of Samsung Electronics Africa, Mr. Sung Yoon, on Thursday disclosed that manufacturing a mobile phone required about 400 different components, none of which is available in Nigeria.

Speaking during an interactive session with journalists in Lagos, he stated that another reasons Samsung Electronics could not establish a manufacturing plant in Nigeria is because the companys market share in the country is not big enough.

Yoon pointed out that though Samsung was the leading consumer electronics company in Nigeria, its share of the Nigerian market is smaller to South Africas.

He said that the companys smartphones market size in South Africa is 80 per cent, but is lower in Nigeria.
The fake currencies

He shared the photos and wrote; Nigerians arrested in one of Jozis high profile estates for printing Rands,dollars,nairas and pounds. Life is good in SA hey.

See more photos below;
BY ADEKOYA BOLADELE

When Shanawole, the 11-year-old vicious cultist was unveiled to the world in his full regalia, deck with fire blazing arm-size Indian hemp few months ago before his eventual rehabilitation by a Pastor of This Present House Church, most Nigerians who watched his confession which was often interrupted by a puff of the hemp in his hand interpreted his predicament to the breakdown of our societal values and decaying parental responsibility.

While this is true, his revelation also points to the drooping sanity across Nigeria today. Our society is in trouble and more than ever, our youth, male and female alike, are the most endangered species. Not only have we lost the war on drug abuse effortlessly, we have further created a yard for eventual neuropsychiatric disorder.

The soaring rate of drug abuse in our society is so shocking, the effects will be borne by generations yet unborn if not nip in the bud immediately.

Already, over three million bottles of codeine syrup are consumed daily in Kano and Jigawa States alone according to the Nigerian Senate. In an interview with This Day newspaper, a former Director General of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, Otunba Ipinmisho, pegged the percentage of youths involved in drug abuse in Nigeria at 40 per cent. An estimated figure of forty million Nigerian youths!

At the heart of this escalating epidemic is a rave making Nigerian artiste, Olamide Adedeji, known by many as Badoo.

Ever since he started his musical career, the self-crowned King of the street has more than often continue to promote vulgar lyrics capable of destroying the foundation of our morality and socio-cultural values. His beats, though danceable and rhythmical are often backed by a blend of social rascality. Mr. Adedeji seems fixated on maintaining a street creed that he consciously promotes violence, hooliganism and drug abuse.

From the days of eni duro  a street lingual which he created and often associated with destruction and delinquency, followed by Young Erikina where he openly eulogise the criminal activities of internet fraudsters, Mr. Adedejis promotion of immorality has been a hit back-to-back.

His most recent song Science Student, produced by his famous partner in crime, Young John, is the final nail to whatever coffin the sanity of our society is buried in. The lyrics are not only intoxicating but a multiplication of unfathomable glorification of hard drugs and encouragement of intake of same.

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From the array of vulgarity the song portrays, his vigorous encouragement of youths to mix illicit substances like skushi, monkey tail  a corrosive distillation of Indian hemp soaked in ethanol for days to derive hyper combustion, amongst other substances betray any decency left in the Nigerian music industry.

Already drug addicts have started wearing the toga like a badge with pride, many, who do not understand basic terminologies such as chromatography, transpiration or algebra now answer to the appellation Science Student.

It is high time the Nigerian Police Force and the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency lived up their responsibilities for once and call Mr. Adedeji for questioning. He must explain his role in the promotion of indecency, public unrest and drug abuse. It is hardly unexpected that Mr. Adedeji may have more than a cordial relationship with merchants of this industry, perhaps, even a stake in the underworld market.

But if these acts of his are merely the display of youthful exuberance, Mr. Adedeji must realise that even if our society has failed and our political system continues to leave us all with no glimpse of hope, applying fuel to an inferno is never a way to quell it.

Mr. Adedeji wields enormous influence and the sooner he realise that he is no longer the teenager struggling for relevance few years ago, the better for this nation. If not for anything but for his fan base of young and malleable Nigerians open to musical influence, he should grow up.

Influence such as his, if used rightly can earn him global recognition and perhaps, a page in history. With his great power, he must take up greater responsibilities. He should focus his attention more on social causes and issues that affect the lives of his fans. Mr. Adedeji should be admonished to value humanity than rave or sustaining popularity.

Finally, the National Broadcasting Commission which should act as the clearing house for songs even before they hit the airwaves seems to have gone to sleep. I hope it is not too late to act now.

As a matter of national security and preserving whatever is left of our sanity, the President should direct the Minister for Health to order an immediate ban on all pharmaceutical drugs that are prone to abuse and make Mr. Adedeji the face of the campaign against drug abuse.

Boladale is on social media as @adekoyabee
Civil society associations in Guinea, Gabon and Niger have urged the African Union to put the issue of the human rights violations by Algerian authorities against Sub-Saharan migrants on the agenda as Algiers continues arbitrary expulsions of would-be migrants who are often abandoned in the desert on the borders with Niger.

At a time the African union puts the issue of migration on top of its concerns, Algeria, which often portrays itself as an actor in the continent has flouted the basic principle of solidarity between African states.

According to human rights watchdogs, tens of thousands of Sub-Saharan migrants were summarily deported to the borders with Niger where they were abandoned in harsh conditions.

The anti-migrant populism in Algeria is espoused at the highest state level by ministers who have been blaming their countrys economic hardship on poor sub-Saharan migrants.

This anti-migrant practices and rhetoric were behind the recall of the Guinean Ambassador to Algiers earlier this week. The decision by Guinean President, Alpha Conde, who is also AU chairman, drew attention to the double speak of Algeria, which aspires to have a voice in Africa while mistreating Africans on its soil.

The dispute between the two countries took shape after Algeria insisted on deporting sub-Saharans it deems as Guineans, while Guinea refuses such a procedure. The move by Algeria to expulse the presumed Guineans to Niger has further worsened relations between the two countries.

A horrible scenario is happening in Algeria recalling darkest episodes of Africas history. It is clear that our Sub-Saharan brothers are targeted by Algeria, a country where a black manhunt is currently taking place. These Poor Africans who endure inhuman expulsions towards Tamanrassert are then kicked out of the countrys borders in a criminal way, deplores kankan, Conakrys official radio.

Guinea is not the only country that has denounced Algerias ill-treatment of Sub-Saharans. Nigers civil society including rights groups and the Gabonese civil society have joined their voices to condemn the Algerian regimes racism against Sub-Saharans while urging the African Union to take action to end the ordeal of Sub-Saharans in Algeria.

Last October, Algerian authorities took segregationist move to ban migrants from using taxis and buses in a wave of anti-migrant drive launched by the Algerian authorities in a blatant disregard for human dignity and in total violation of basic human rights.

The current Algerian PM, Ahmed Ouyahya, surfed on the tide of anti-migrant populism uttering heinous remarks when he described Sub-Saharan migrants as a source of crime, drugs and other calamities.

Persisting on the same xenophobic remarks, Foreign Minister Abdelkader Messahel accused Sub-Saharan migrants of involvement in crime and drug trafficking.

That was not the first time Algerian politicians make racist remarks against migrants in an attempt to ignite nationalist fervor at times of financial crisis. Last year, presidential advisor and surprisingly Head of Algerias human rights commission Farouk Ksentini made scandalous statements, bluntly accusing sub-Saharans of spreading HIV and diseases in Algeria.

Algeria is rebuked in several international human rights reports for its ill-treatment of Sub-Saharan migrants as it continues its mass expulsions of these migrants and asylum seekers who are abandoned in harsh conditions on the border with Niger.
The joint committee of Moroccan and Spanish fisheries professionals expressed their strong support for a renewal of the Morocco-EU fisheries deal.

The deal provides for the respect of international law and human rights, said the Spanish Federation for Fisheries (CEPESCA) in a statement following a meeting of the joint committee.

The support of the joint committee marks an outspoken rejection of the non-binding opinion by European Court of Justice (ECJ) advisor Melchior Wathelet who called for invalidating the fisheries agreement, claiming that the deal violates the rights of people from Western Sahara.

The Moroccan-Spanish joint committee also expressed surprise at Wathelets politically motivated stand regarding the fisheries agreement, while voicing hope that the decision of the ECJ will not be affected by such a non-binding opinion.

Earlier this month, The European Commission asked the European Council for a mandate to start negotiations with Morocco on the deal, which enabled, since 2013, 120 vessels from 11 EU countries to fish off Moroccan coasts.

The 2013 deal costs the EU some 40 million annually in terms of access, support to the Moroccan fishery sector, and ship-owners fees.

In December 2017, the audit report on the Morocco-EU fisheries accord, commissioned by the European Commission, concluded that the agreement has worked satisfactorily and that 75% of its socio-economic impacts benefit the Moroccan southern regions. The report recommended the renewal of this agreement, which will expire in July 2018 as it stands as an instrument of in-depth cooperation with the North African Kingdom.
A German court has sentenced an Algerian man to a year and nine months in prison for supporting the Islamic State group and for attempting to recruit and smuggle a would-be jihadist fighter to terror hotbeds in Syria.

The Berlin district court said it convicted the 32-year-old, identified only as Fayssal M.B., for supporting a terrorist organization.

Following the deadly attacks that rocked Germany, the federal government has enhanced its security and anti-terror laws. German officials have also revised and tightened the countrys surveillance laws, while counter-terrorism measures were expanded.

Germanys Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) has primary jurisdiction for domestic security and combating terrorism, while intelligence work is divided between the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) and the Federal Intelligence Service (BND).

In another development, German media reported that Germanys most well-known jihadist, Denis Cuspert, has been killed in Syria. The death of the former Berlin rapper, known in jihadist circles as the German, was reported by SITE intelligence group.

Cuspert, who used to go by the stage name Deso Dogg, was previously reported killed by a US airstrike in Syria in 2015, before the Pentagon backtracked and said he was only wounded.

Cuspert had often called for terror attacks in Europe and appeared to be a recruiter of German-speaking Islamic extremists, sometimes through violent videos.

After pursuing a rap career for several years, around 2009, Cuspert renounced music after converting to Islam and turned into ISIS propagandist. In 2012, Cuspert went to Egypt and later disappeared in Syria, where he initially joined the al-Qaeda affiliated al-Nusra Front before declaring allegiance to Daech in 2014.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has lent French aerospace manufacturer Figeac Aero SA 38 million to finance its production expansion in Morocco and Tunisia.

The EBRD loan will support the transfer of skills and advanced technology and an improvement in local quality standards towards international levels.

The creation of new jobs in countries with high levels of unemployment will also make a positive contribution to the economies of Morocco and Tunisia.

The investment will specifically address the issue of youth unemployment by offering young technicians and engineering students the opportunity to acquire skills and experience at the production sites in both countries.

Janet Heckman, EBRD Managing Director for the SEMED region, said: We are extremely pleased to support the expansion in Morocco and Tunisia of Figeac Aero, a group that under the leadership of its founder has shown a strong focus on growth and industrial excellence.

According to Janet heckman, these substantial industrial investments will have a positive impact on the local economies, and create opportunities for local small and medium-sized enterprises. These industrial clusters often form advanced and dynamic sites where new skills are put into practice that are crucial for competitiveness, integration and job creation.

Jean-Claude Maillard, Figeacs founder and CEO, on his part expressed satisfaction to see that the EBRD has confidence in Figeac development program.

He also said the European bank funding not only strengthens our growth strategy, combining industrial excellence, customer proximity and competitiveness, it also enables us to diversify our funding sources. It is fully in line with our desire to accelerate the deployment of our production capacities to meet the needs of our main customers.

Technical cooperation support is being provided through the European Union Trade and Competitiveness Program to boost the development of value chains in Morocco and Tunisia.

The program will enable Figeac Aeros local SME suppliers to receive tailored technical assistance, with the aim of improving their competitiveness.

The EBRD launched its operations in the southern and eastern Mediterranean (SEMED) region in 2012, and to date the Bank has committed over 6.5 billion across 169 projects in most economic sectors.

Figeac Aero is a leading supplier of aero-structures and high-precision metal parts to the major aircraft manufacturers and their suppliers. The French company is majority-owned by its founder, Jean-Claude Maillard, and listed on the Euronext stock exchange in Paris.

In addition to industrial sites in France, Mexico and the United States of America, the company also produces in Morocco and Tunisia, two countries of the SEMED region that have strong aerospace clusters and are looking to strengthen their integration into global industrial value chains.
British Petroleum and its sister Dutch Shell have inked deals with the Libyan National Oil Corporation (NOC) to buy ship-ments of Libyan oil, Libya Herald reports Friday.

The media said it received confirmation from the NOC that both European firms have signed deals to buy the Libyan oil.

Shell, according to Bloomberg, which has been also aware of the deal, will load Saturday (January 20) 600,000 barrels of crude from Zueitina port.

Shell was on the NOCs customer list last year and bought a first shipment in August after five years of drought following the North African countrys descent into chaos.

BP on the other hand did not have any purchasing deal with Libyan oil authorities last year. It is unclear when BP will load. The company reportedly refused to make comments on the deal.

The oil-rich North African country has scaled up its production to about 1 million barrel a day at the start of this year, com-pared to 828,000 barrels a day recorded late last year.

The output is still far below record production under former leader Muammar Gaddafi.

Bloomberg argues that the return of the two firms, which fea-ture among the worlds largest oil firms, heralds the im-provement in security and the well-being of the Libyan oil sec-tor still target of attacks by terror groups.
Trump, flanked by Tillerson and Haley, on August 11, 2017, at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey. Photo: JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images

In a conversation with his Bush-era predecessor Condoleezza Rice at Stanford University on Wednesday, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson revealed that he prints out the tweets of President Donald Trump so that he can take them into account when making foreign policy decisions.

The challenge is getting caught up because I dont even have a Twitter account that I can follow what he is tweeting, so my staff usually has to print his tweets out and hand them to me, Tillerson said, after which he asked himself: How do we take that and now use it?

Tillerson went on to say that printing out the tweets is not a bad system, because he doesnt know what the president will tweet ahead of time. Actually, Mr. Secretary, that sounds like a very bad system.

Passing over the inherent absurdity of printing out tweets  surely one of these staffers could set the secretary up with a Twitter account and show him how to use it?  the implications of this system are troubling to anyone with a passing understanding of how international relations work: Not only is the secretary of State unaware of what the president is going to say and when, he may also be finding out more slowly than his more social mediasavvy counterparts in foreign governments.

This means that when Trump took to Twitter at the start of the year to engage in a nuclear button-measuring contest with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un, its entirely possible that Kim read that tweet before Tillerson did. Of course, the North Koreans have figured out by now that @realDonaldTrump is not to be taken too seriously, so the odds of a rogue tweet leading to nuclear apocalypse are not high  though theyre not exactly zero, either.

Trumps Twitter feed may not be a major threat to global security, but it is absolutely a threat to our governments credibility when foreign rivals learn to treat the words of our president as idle blather. (Russia, for its part, claims to still treat every tweet as an official statement.)

Of course, even if Tillerson did get an intern to set up his phone with Twitter and push notifications, that wouldnt change the fact that the president of the United States is routinely making public statements to the entire world, which his top diplomat learns about no sooner than the rest of us.

Its not hard to imagine an unplanned tweet having consequences that the State Department is left scrambling to clean up. In fact, we dont need to imagine: Thats just what happened when Trump hurled insults at Pakistan and declared his intent to cut off aid to that country in a tweet on New Years Day. The tweet reportedly blindsided U.S. diplomats, who had no warning that it was coming. Sure, Trump had vented his spleen at Pakistan in his Afghanistan strategy speech last summer, but no other president would ever have made a public statement that jeopardized our relations with a volatile, nuclear-armed ally without asking (or at least telling) the National Security Council first.

Unfortunately for the people in charge of implementing Trumps foreign policy, they cant stop him from tweeting, nor can they publicly acknowledge how little weight the presidents tweets carry among our allies and adversaries. Even though we know Trump has surprised his own staff in the past with his tweets, his improvised speeches, and his unscheduled interviews with the New York Times, they cant just admit that his words dont reflect any previously agreed-upon message. Instead, the administrations line is adjusted after the fact to incorporate the presidents unscheduled statements. Like a Hollywood diva rewriting the script on set, Trump tweets from his id and forces his underlings to make it work.

Accordingly, when Trump issued his vaguely phallic dig at Kim earlier this month, key figures in the administration spent the following weekend building a world in which these tweets were part of a coherent diplomatic strategy. Tillerson defended them by saying that such bellicose rhetoric is the only kind of language the North Koreans understand. U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley and CIA Director Mike Pompeo made appearances on the Sunday news shows to assure the nation that Trumps tweet was simply meant to remind Kim that if he went to war with the U.S., he and his country would be obliterated  as if he were not already aware of that.

You see, tweeting threats at North Korea is actually a good thing, Haley told ABCs George Stephanopoulos, because the president has to keep Kim on his toes. In other words, the best way to handle a paranoid dictator with nuclear weapons and the worlds fourth-largest army is to taunt him into becoming even more paranoid. Perhaps thats also why the administration has decided to leak that they are considering a preemptive bloody nose strike on North Korea, provided they can figure out how to do so without subjecting millions of innocent South Koreans to massive reprisals.

When Stephanopoulos pressed Haley on how foreign diplomats were responding to Trumps tweets in general, she doubled down, making the case that the presidents itchy Twitter finger was really a gift to U.S. diplomacy: If anything, I notice that theyre absolutely glued to [his tweets], but they see him as unpredictable, she said. I think they dont know what the U.S. is going to do at any given time, and so for that reason theyre getting much more cautious and theyre paying attention to how they work with us.

This is not the first time Haley has defended Trumps unpredictable behavior as useful to her diplomatic efforts, but her claims beggar belief. For one thing, none of her predecessors had trouble getting the world to pay attention to the United States. And its hard to imagine that she, Tillerson, or any of the other adults in the room are actually advising Trump to hurl cryptic invective at foreign governments on social media without warning. Kim may be kept on his toes this way, but so are they.

You cant claim that the presidents tweets are part of your plan if you dont know when theyre coming or what hes going to say. Thats literally the opposite of having a plan. Not only do Trumps tweets not follow his administrations foreign policy strategy, they are effectively creating that strategy by forcing his diplomats to construct policy narratives around them.

If Trumps unmeasured outbursts against North Korea (among other countries) are part of anyones strategy, it is only in the sense that they are recurring contingencies around which his Cabinet members and their staffs must plan. That the president will periodically yell at the world without notifying anyone beforehand is now a baseline reality that the American diplomatic, military, and intelligence communities will likely have to deal with for the duration of Trumps presidency, since Twitter refuses to shut down his account.

Hence Tillersons defense of an approach with which he clearly disagrees and Haleys absurd claim that she actually prefers to work for a boss who behaves unpredictably, acts on impulse, and makes decisions publicly before discussing them privately. They have to make it work, so they cant admit that it doesnt. Lets just hope there isnt a printer jam in Foggy Bottom the day Trump tweets out something really destructive.
Republicans love to bash the IRS, but giving it massive new tasks and then starving it of resources is a bad idea. Photo: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images

For many federal government agencies, a shutdown is an annoying development but not one likely to produce long-term damage (as long as the shutdown is relatively brief). Essential employees are exempt, along with many functions deemed politically important (including, this time around, national parks). Most furloughed employees will very likely get back pay whenever the funding impasse is resolved. For a lot of them, aside from cashflow issues, the shutdown will essentially become a paid vacation.

But there is at least one agency where any lost productivity may be less tolerable at this particular moment: the Internal Revenue Service, whose usual crunch of preApril 15 duties is being enormously complicated this year by the passage of a huge tax bill in December, loaded with provisions that became effective on New Years Day. The Washington Post sounds the alarm:

IRS attorneys have to issue new guidelines to resolve legal questions unresolved by the legislation. Computer programmers have to update IRS software for processing tax forms. Call centers have to answer questions from confused taxpayers.

But now the IRS, like the rest of Washington, faces the threat of a government shutdown  one that would deprive the federal agency about 56 percent of its workforce, according to the U.S. Treasury, just as that workforce is needed for one of its biggest jobs in decades.

Its not just confused individual taxpayers who could suffer from the agencys inability to answer questions about items that may require major changes in their personal budgets and lifestyles right away; state and local governments trying to protect their own citizens from adverse effects of the GOP bill (notably California, New Jersey, and New York) are waiting on agency rulings to determine their options for workarounds.

On top of all of that, the IRS has preexisting budget issues which a shutdown will simply exacerbate:

Beset by budget cuts over the last several years, the IRS already faced a last-minute scramble to give taxpayers guidance on dozens of new policies in the GOP tax law that in some cases are already in effect. The agency has shed about 18,000 full-time employees amid a more than $900 million budget cut since 2010, leading even conservative Republicans who have traditionally sought to cut the IRS budget to say earlier this month that they want to increase it to ensure a successful implementation of the tax law.

But amid stalled talks over government spending levels, that additional funding is nowhere in sight.

Republicans love to bash the IRS, and some have vowed to eliminate it altogether. But starving the agency of resources after handing it enormous new responsibilities isnt going to get them any closer to a conservative utopia.
Now were talking. Photo: New York Magazine

A long time ago now, I came rather abruptly face-to-face with what being a man means.

I dont mean the gay thing. Figuring that out in the 1970s hadnt been easy, but Id never questioned my sex or my gender, whatever occasional taunts came my way. I mean the fact that, in the years of being HIV-positive, my testosterone levels had sunk, and I decided, given my lassitude, depression, and lack of sexual desire, to go on hormone replacement therapy to get me back in a healthy range for a 30-something male. It was a fascinating experience to witness maleness literally being injected into me, giving me in a sudden jump what had been there all along, and what I now saw and felt more vividly. You get a real sense of what being a man is from an experience like that, as the rush of energy, strength, clarity, ambition, drive, impatience and, above all, horniness overcame me every two weeks in the wake of my shot. It was intoxicating. I wrote about this a couple of decades ago, in an essay I called The He Hormone. The visceral experience opened my eyes to the sheer and immense natural difference between being a man and being a woman, and helped me understand better how nature is far more in control of us than we ever want to believe.

I mention this because in our increasingly heated debate about gender relations and the #MeToo movement, this natural reality  reflected in chromosomes and hormones no scientist disputes  is rarely discussed. Its almost become taboo. You can spend a lifetime in gender studies and the subject will never come up. All differences between the sexes, we are now informed, are a function of the age-old oppression of women by men, of the patriarchy that enforces this subjugation, and of the power structures that mandate misogyny. All differences between the genders, we are told, are a function not of nature but of sexism. In fact, we are now informed by the latest generation of feminists, following the theories of Michel Foucault, that nature itself is a social construction designed by men to oppress women. It doesnt actually exist. Its merely another tool of male power and must be resisted.

This is, however, untrue. Even the newest generation of feminists concede this on the quiet. Although they will organize to shut down an entire magazine to prevent an airing of an alternative view of gender, they are not currently campaigning to shut down the Planet Earth series because it reveals that in almost every species, males and females behave differently  very differently  and there appears to be no patriarchy in place to bring this about at all. They know enough not to push their argument into places where it will seem to be, quite obviously, ridiculous. But it is strikingly obvious that for todays progressives, humans are the sole species on this planet where gender differentiation has no clear basis in nature, science, evolution, or biology. This is where they are as hostile to Darwin as any creationist.

And this is stupid. The alternative explanation  that these core natural differences between men and women have been supplemented by centuries of conscious oppression  is staring us in the face. The fascinating conundrum is where one ends and the other begins. How much of this difference is natural and how much is social? That is the question. And the answer is a tricky one. Is the fact that the vast majority of construction workers are male and the huge majority of nurses are female a function of sexism or nature? Is male sexual aggression and horniness a function of patriarchy or testosterone? Is the fact that women now outnumber men among college graduates a function of reverse sexism or nature?

My suspicion is that its more about nature than about society, and one reason I believe this (apart from all the data) is I because Im gay. I live in a sexual and romantic world without women, where no patriarchy could definitionally exist, a subculture with hookups and relationships and marriages and every conceivable form of sexual desire that straight men and women experience as well. And you know what you find? That men behave no differently in sexual matters when there are no women involved at all. In fact, remove women, and you see male sexuality unleashed more fully, as men would naturally express it, if they could get away with it. Its full of handsiness and groping and objectification and lust and aggression and passion and the ruthless pursuit of yet another conquest. And yes, I mean conquest. Thats what testosterone does. Its also full of love, tenderness, compassion, jealousy, respect, dignity, and a need for security and a home. Its mens revenge on men. The old joke applies: What does a lesbian bring on a second date? A U-Haul. What does a gay man bring on a second date? What second date?

I know this must be a pain in the neck for most women. But its who we are. Its a blessing and a curse. Its called being male, this strange creature, covered in hair, pinioned between morality and hormones, governed by two brains, one above and one below. We can and should be restrained, tamed, kept under control. But nature will not be eradicated. And when left-feminism denies natures power, ignores testosterone, and sees all this behavior as a function entirely of structural patriarchal oppression, it is going to overreach. It is going to misunderstand. And it is going to alienate a lot of people. If most men are told that what they are deep down is, in fact, problematic if not toxic, they are going to get defensive, and with good reason. And they are going to react. So, by the way, are the countless women who do not see this kind of masculinity as toxic, who want men to be different, who are, in fact, deeply attracted to the core aggression of the human male, and contemptuous of the latest orthodoxy from Brooklyn.

And men, especially young men in this environment, will begin to ask questions about why they are now routinely seen as a problem, and why their sex lives are now fair game for any journalist. And because our dialogue is now so constrained, and the fact of natural sexual differences so actively suppressed by the academy and the mainstream media, they will find the truths about nature in other contexts. They will stumble across alt-right websites that deploy these truths to foment an equal and opposite form of ideology, soaked in actual misogyny, and become convinced that every sexual interaction is a zero-sum battlefield. They will see this as a war between the genders, not as a way to advance the freedom of both. They will fight back, and in this tribalized culture, the conflict will intensify. Suppress debate, ban ideas from civil conversation, and you wont abolish these ideas. You will hand them to the worst bigots and give them credibility.

This week, in the New York Times, Tom Edsall bravely exposed the politics of this. He looked at the data and found, believe it or not, that gender-studies feminism is not shared by all women by any means, and is increasingly loathed by men  and not just older men. 2016 saw the greatest number of votes cast by young white men in the past 12 years  markedly higher than their female counterparts, says Kei Kawashima-Ginsberg, a psychologist at Tufts. Their support for the Democratic nominee dropped by 15 points from 2008 to 2016. Edsall reports that a Cato 2017 Free Speech and Tolerance Survey found that a bare majority (51 percent) of Democrats believes that calling out sexism is typically justified and not designed to shut off discussion. In sharp contrast, Ekins wrote, about three-fourths (76 percent) of Republicans and two-thirds (65 percent) of independents believe its primarily used as a tool to stifle debate. Two-thirds of Independents now suspect the sincerity of most claims of sexism. Congrats, Brooklyn. Other polls show a declining support for core feminist principles among high-school seniors in the last decade. When I stumble across young male Trump supporters  and there are plenty of gay men among them  this is what they point to. They are defending their core being from left-feminist assault. Insofar as they are pushing back against the latest wave of feminist misandry, Im not without some sympathy.

Trump understands this dynamic intuitively. Bannon believed it was integral to the Trump project, and wants the slanted elite discourse on men to continue and intensify. I think this issue was an under-acknowledged cause for Clintons failure. At some point, Democrats and liberals are going to have to decide if they want to problematize half the voting population. They are going to have to figure out who they really side with: Brooklyn or much of America? Reality or an ideology? Both genders or one?

Build the Wall! Build the Wall!

Why not give him his stupid wall?

Yes, I know its an absurd and in many ways, offensive project. Yes, I dont think it will help border security that much. Yes, its $18 billion we could well afford to spend elsewhere. But hear me out.

First off, it isnt really a wall across the entire border. Parts of it will have no wall at all; parts will be a fence. You can see it as an intensification of whats already there. It also wont be built in one Trump term or two. Everyone suspects the Democrats could well win back one chamber in the Congress this fall, with all that might entail for future construction. It also cannot hurt border security  and thats a good thing, right? And if you gave Trump his bauble, you could gain much more leverage over all the other aspects of the issue, including the fate of the millions of illegal immigrants who have now lived here for decades. You could also immediately save the Dreamers, and maybe their parents, from unspeakable anxiety and fear. Whom would the wall harm, in contrast? Only those now trying to break the law.

I also think it can positively help shift the immigration issue to a more productive plane. I dont believe America has become a xenophobic, anti-immigrant country overnight. I believe this country is still an immigrants dream; Ive lived that experience myself and Ive witnessed how decent and supportive and tolerant most Americans are toward newcomers. I think theyre worried that illegal immigration is out of control, that elites dont care, and until they believe  and truly believe  that the southern border is secure, they will remain far more hostile to immigration  and to current illegal immigrants  than they really want to be. Trumps genius was to see this as a symbol of reassurance, with massive psychological effects on the entire debate. He used that symbol to nefarious ends, but it can also be redirected. The wall, in fact, seems to me indispensable as a symbol if we are to not to disrupt countless lives and families now entrenched in this country and deserving of humane treatment. If the wall can build support for some kind of amnesty for them going forward, it will be worth it.

D.C.s Appeals

Its great to see the New York Times finally give Washington its due. Robert Drapers account of 36 hours in this lively, diverse, quirky, multicultural world capital is worth a scan  even for New Yorkers. It baffles me why so few in the bigger metropolis ever visit, when its just three hours away by train. I suspect that the cliches about it are actually believed. Most of America thinks of the city as synonymous with evil; the rest believes its crushingly dull. It is neither. My own chauvinism is in the public record, of course. I tried living in New York City for a year and a half and found it intolerable: sunless, overcrowded, rude, incompetent, ugly, massively overpriced, deeply parochial and insular, and an endless assault course of hassle and attitude. Theres also a wider variety of views in D.C., in part because the city has to sustain a lot of Republicans as well as Democrats. So it doesnt have quite the stifling left-liberal bubble of Manhattan, or the oppressive feel of the Peoples Republic of Woke across the river in Brooklyn. No offense, of course!

D.C. has a huge amount of what New York has, in terms of culture and nightlife and diversity and intellectual stimulus. But its also livable  full of light and green, as well as iconic vistas and colorful street life  with sidewalks you dont have to elbow the weak and sick to walk on. Its even safe to ride a bike here; and to use a pedestrian crossing. My only quibble is in line with CityLabs Kriston Cappss note: Maybe you read in The New York Times that Showtime is the best bar in Washington, D.C., for nightcapping with the demimonde. Sorry. That is not something we do here. That is not something anyone has done anywhere since the Civil War. Piqued and stimulated Times readers should try a different barI hear they have loads of demimondes in Brooklyn. Ha!

Also: Since when has D.C. ever, ever had the starchy, insular appearance of a white male fiefdom? This has long been a primarily African-American place, or at the very least a multicultural mix. If anything, its only now that its black population is not a huge majority. I love Bob, and maybe he was trying to challenge a stupid stereotype  but, dude, this places nickname was for a long time chocolate city. How starchy and white is that?

See you next Friday.

A note to my readers: Id like to respond to a specific criticism of my diary last week. Many pointed out on Twitter that I seemed to be implying that secretly removing a condom is a minor offense in a sexual interaction. This charge, in my view, is perfectly understandable, given the way a paragraph worked out. Of course, I dont believe that. Au contraire. I take full responsibility for the way in which I gave that impression, and apologize for it. My point in that sentence was, well, heres the sentence: One man is accused of secretly removing condom during sex, with no claim of workplace misconduct at all. That was my point, to note that such charges had nothing to do with sexual harassment or abuse of power - which meant that the movement had morphed into policing sex outside the workplace. As we know from the latest news, this is in fact true. But in listing all the various lesser offenses, I should have more clearly separated that point out, and did in earlier drafts. I apologize again.
Somebody needs to explain the Republican strategy for jamming Democrats to the president. Photo: Mark Wilson/Getty Images

The president does have an uncanny sense of bad timing on occasions. Even as congressional Republican leaders entered white-knuckle time with a complex proposal to get a spending bill through both Houses and avoid a January 19 government shutdown, Trump took to Twitter to knock down one of the props supporting the shaky strategy:

CHIP should be part of a long term solution, not a 30 Day, or short term, extension!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 18, 2018

House Speaker Paul Ryan had nestled a six-year extension of funding for the very popular Childrens Health Insurance Program  which received a temporary infusion of cash in the last stopgap spending bill in December  as part of his plan to jam Senate Democrats into supporting a new short-term spending plan that is otherwise skewed to the priorities of Republicans. Recent controversies over CHIP that kept it from being reauthorized on time have melted away as CBO has estimated it wont cost anything (thanks to the interaction between CHIP and an Obamacare program thats more expensive after recent GOP sabotage efforts), which means Republicans are no longer demanding offsets for CHIP money. So CHIP provides a decent excuse for some Senate Democrats to vote for the spending package, despite the absence of relief for Dreamers, and also a nasty little talking point against Democrats in either chamber who vote against the package: They care more about illegal immigrants than about your kids!

Someone should have explained all this to the president. It was hard to tell from his tweet whether he didnt realize the CHIP funding extension was for six years, or whether he didnt understand Ryans strategy, or whether he sincerely thought CHIP should be held back as something with which to jam Democrats next month when the final spending deal is cut.

But in any event, as consternation spread around Washington over the tweet, the White House tersely let it be known that it supported the spending bill after all:

The President supports the continuing resolution introduced in the House, White House principal deputy press secretary Raj Shah said in a statement. Congress needs to do its job and provide full funding of our troops and military with a two year budget caps deal. However, as the deal is negotiated, the President wants to ensure our military and national security are funded. He will not let it be held hostage by Democrats.

The statement didnt address the fact that it was Trump himself who appeared to be holding CHIP hostage just hours earlier.

In any event, it looks like this is just another incident of presidential malfeasance, similar to last weeks unfortunate Trump tweet blasting FISA that very nearly unraveled a carefully constructed deal over surveillance practices.

At a moment when Congress is very close to letting the government close, an event that could have terrible repercussions for the presidents party, he just made everyones job a lot harder. Paul Ryan must be beside himself.
Former Trump administration official Carl Higbie. Photo: Fox News

Carl Higbie, the now-former Trump administration official whose history of racist, anti-gay, and anti-immigrant comments were revealed by CNN Thursday, is very sorry for everything he said, he tweeted Friday morning.

Im sorry. Im not sorry that my words were published, I am sorry that I said them in 2013. Those words do not reflect who I am or what I stand for, I regret saying them. Last night I informed the WH that I was resigning so as not to distract from POTUS many success. #noexcuses  Carl Higbie (@CarlHigbie) January 19, 2018

A former Navy SEAL and right-wing talk radio host, Higbie was a Trump campaign surrogate in 2016. Last year, he was awarded for his work with an appointment to lead communications for the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), which manages federal volunteer programs such as AmeriCorps.

But that came to an abrupt end Thursday after CNN published comments from his defunct internet radio show Sound of Freedom. Among them were claims that black people have lax morals and black women think that breeding is a form of employment.

In 2013, the year he made most of the comments, Higbie said Islam is the ideology of a child molester. He later said hes not an Islamophobe because he doesnt fear Muslims. Im not afraid of them. I dont like them. Big difference, he said.

Higbie also advocated for punishing immigrants who cross the border between U.S. and Mexico by shooting them in the face and said, I dont like gay people. I just dont.

Theres more: He once said anyone on public assistance shouldnt be able to vote, insisted that Barack Obama is a Muslim who was born in Kenya and went after soldiers with PTSD.

Id say 75 percent of people with PTSD dont actually have it, and theyre either milking something for a little extra money in disability or theyre just, they honestly are just lying, Higbie said.

Higbie is now at least the third Trump administration official to resign after CNN published their inflammatory comments. In September, Energy Department official William Bradford resigned after it was revealed that he called Obamas mother a fourth-rate p&*n actress and w@!re in an internet comment. He was followed two months later by Homeland Security official Jamie Johnson, who made racist and xenophobic comments on his old radio show.
Trump arriving to the inauguration ceremony. Photo: Scott Olson/Getty Images

On January 20, 2017, Donald Trump took the oath of office and delivered an inaugural speech that is remembered mostly for being dark, as an instant media consensus proclaimed, or some weird shit, as George W. Bush remarked. The passage of a years time reveals that the speech was something else, too: impossibly grandiose. While those who oppose the president have debated whether he is criminally complicit in a foreign adversarys election tampering, or whether he is mentally deranged, the country has lost sight of the standard of success Trump set for himself, which rests quite a bit higher than non-treasonous and dementia-free. Trump presented himself as a populist revolutionary who would reverse decades of decline. His speech reads now as a comic litany of failure.

Trump's Policies, Then And Now

Trump made a series of promises, some resting on vague or imaginary premises, none coming close to being fulfilled. America will start winning again, winning like never before, he declared. We will bring back our jobs. We will bring back our borders. We will bring back our wealth. And we will bring back our dreams.

It is true that, since the 1970s, working-class wages have stagnated and manufacturing jobs in particular have disappeared. Trump blamed this development partly on nefarious foreigners. One by one, the factories shuttered and left our shores, with not even a thought about the millions upon millions of American workers left behind, he thundered. The wealth of our middle class has been ripped from their homes and then redistributed across the entire world. Yet Trump has produced no policy response even remotely proportional to the crisis he promised to solve. There has been no renegotiation of global trade agreements, no strategy to restore American manufacturing to its postwar role. In the meantime, manufacturing employment has continued the slow recovery it has followed since the 2008 crash.

Trump decried an education system, flush with cash, but which leaves our young and beautiful students deprived of knowledge; and the crime and gangs and drugs that have stolen too many lives and robbed our country of so much unrealized potential. He has proposed no significant changes to K-12 education and has none on the horizon  unlike his two immediate predecessors, both of whom enacted sweeping education reforms. Faced with a true drug epidemic  the explosion of opioid abuse  he appointed as opioid czar Kellyanne Conway, a former political strategist and talking head on cable news, who has produced no policy response. His office of National Drug Control Policy was being run in part by a 24-year-old former campaign aide.

The elegant simplicities of campaign rhetoric  or, in Trumps case, the brutal simplicities  never align with the ugly and complex reality of governing. But Trumps presidency has presented an especially jarring contrast, since the rhetoric has borne no relation whatsoever to what followed. Its not that he overpromised but that his promises were fundamentally a con. He and his loyalists possessed not the faintest idea how to address the crises he identified, not even a theory that could lead to a detailed response. Trumps program has instead defaulted to the preexisting desires of his partys ideological and funding base, resulting in a regulatory and tax agenda virtually  and in some cases literally  dictated by the business lobby.

For instance: The federal government will no longer withhold subsidies from for-profit colleges that fail to give their students meaningful skills or educations and saddle their graduates with overwhelming debt. Restaurant owners stand to legally take for themselves tips intended for their servers. Financial advisers will be able to knowingly steer their clients toward investments that benefit the advisers firm but not the client. Environmental Protection Agency investigators must now obtain permission (from their fanatically anti-regulation administrators office) before even asking companies to track the pollutants they emit. Nursing homes and banks will be allowed to force their customers to sign mandatory arbitration clauses that leave them unable to sue if they are abused or cheated. And on and on. The partys political messaging has increasingly consisted of ignoring the costs of these measures (higher deficits, lax regulation of risky or antisocial business activity) while highlighting whatever fractional benefits trickle down to the non-business-owning public.

Employment has grown no faster under Trump than it did at the end of his predecessors term. The economy produced slightly fewer new jobs in Trumps first year than it did in Barack Obamas last. The primary evidence of the success of Trumps pro-business policies has been to rebrand the essentially continuous conditions of the recovery he inherited as dazzling prosperity rather than bleak misery.

The most telling passage in Trumps address came in his populist attacks on the political class. Washington flourished  but the people did not share in its wealth, he said. Politicians prospered  but the jobs left and the factories closed. The Establishment protected itself, but not the citizens of our country. This cynical view of the possibilities of government as a tool for self-enrichment is at best a simplistic description of the Obama years. At worst, it is a false one, given the absence of scandal during that administration. More than anything, we all now know, it was a psychological projection of Trumps own ambitions.

The complete scope of Trump-era corruption is not yet fully known. (In part, this is because House Republicans have quashed votes to compel the release of his tax returns, which would reveal the presidents income sources.) But one year of Trumps Executive branch has already vastly exceeded the sum total of malfeasance in the previous eight. Trump has used his office to win business and favors for the Trump Organization worldwide. His coterie has followed suit. His former national-security adviser secretly collected payment from Turkey while advising him during the transition. His son-in-law pursued a lucrative deal with a state-linked Chinese firm while simultaneously serving as an influential adviser. His Treasury secretary, Interior secretary, EPA administrator, and Health and Human Services secretary have all helped themselves to lavish private-plane travel at taxpayer expense. His inaugural committee raised twice as much as Obamas had in 2009 and has refused to disclose what it has done with the lot. Whatever crimes the Russia investigation ultimately exposes, Trump has made perfectly plain his gut-level admiration for Vladimir Putins oligarchy as a political and economic model.

Trumps electoral success depended on decades of built-up dislike for Hillary Clinton, as well as the demagogic possibilities of presenting himself as an outsider possessed of magical deal-making skills. Today, he faces historically low approval ratings and a wave of revulsion that is putting once-safe Republican districts into play. None of this is a surprise: He had no chance to survive the absence of Clinton as a foil, or the necessity of following through with his grand boasts. The con was doomed the day Trump won the election.

In this sense, Trumps brief political career is a culmination of his business methods. There is an old saying that you can shear a sheep many times, but you can skin it only once. Trump proved that, in fact, you can make a livelihood skinning sheep, as long as you keep courting new sheep. He stiffed subcontractors and lenders only to find new ones, ripped off some investors but then successfully courted less-scrupulous ones, and exploited his biggest fans with scams like Trump University and Trump vitamins. But since winning the presidency, he has nowhere left to go. He is doing the same things he did as a tabloid tycoon  spraying wild lies, obsessing about his media coverage, threatening to ruin his enemies  but has run out of sheep. Now what?

*This article appears in the January 22, 2018, issue of New York Magazine.
Let me know how it all works out. Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Back in May, President Trump called for a good shutdown to fix the mess in the federal government. Faced with an empty legal threat from Republican state lawmakers several months later, he announced he would end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. When presented with the bipartisan DACA deal hed asked for, Trump rejected it  and complained about people from shithole countries. Then as GOP congressional leaders tried to avoid a government shutdown by attaching funding for childrens health insurance to a stopgap funding measure, Trump tweeted that the money should be part of a long term solution, not a 30 Day, or short term, extension!

All of this led some to conclude that President Trump was actually itching for a government shutdown. But on Thursday night, as Congress inched closer to the ledge, the White House proved thats just more fake news. If Trump is so eager to see what happens when the federal government runs out of money, then why is he skipping town just hours before the funding deadline?

According to the White House itinerary posted on Thursday night, President Trump and the first lady will depart the White House for Palm Beach, Florida, shortly after 4 p.m. on Friday.

Trump has visited Mar-a-Lago, his private club, 11 times since he was sworn in (costing taxpayers about $3 million each time). But this trip isnt just about escaping the stresses of traveling between the White House and various other Trump properties. The president is celebrating the one-year anniversary of his inauguration with a $100,000-per-couple gala at Mar-a-Lago, the proceeds of which will go to the Trump reelection campaign and the Republican National Committee.

This may seem like an extremely inopportune moment for the president to be mingling with wealthy donors 1,000 miles away from the White House, especially since hed need to sign any last-minute deals that Congress comes up with. But according to CNN, the Trump administration has already come up with a potential solution: If an agreement is reached, the president will just send a tweet announcing that everythings cool now.

White House staffers are mulling the idea President Donald Trump could use Twitter Friday night to signal that the federal government will not close down, a senior administration official told CNN.

The idea is that if the Senate passes the continuing resolution to keep the government open Friday, the President could then tweet that he will sign the continuing resolution. That would be an indication the government is open, even if he signs the actual bill later on.

Still, some people in D.C. were being super uptight about the presidents getaway. Heres Democratic Representative Steve Cohen:

Trump going to mar-a-lago while government shutdown looms is most irresponsible,self absorbed,dereliction of duty ever by a President.This man doesnt comprehend work ethic,the office of President,or duty to the country.He understands golf,ice cream,and Big Macs!  Steve Cohen (@RepCohen) January 19, 2018

Even before they learned about Trumps weekend plans, lawmakers were complaining that they needed more input from the president. We dont have a reliable partner at the White House to negotiate with, Senator Lindsey Graham said on Thursday morning. This has turned into an s-show for no good reason and the only way out of this thing is to grow up a little bit  and I think thats going to happen.

During his speech on the Senate floor that evening, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell noted that the president is not irrelevant under the U.S. system of government, and Republicans still need to know what he wants in a DACA bill. On the Republican side were interested in what his views are, and those have not been made fully apparent yet, he said.

Even if no deal is reached in the coming days, D.C. might experience some problems that could benefit from close presidential oversight, like about 800,000 federal workers being furloughed and most government agencies reduced to essential operations only.

Some of these issues would be unique to the Trump administration. The presidents picks for the top two positions at the Office of Personnel Management, which oversees those federal workers, havent been confirmed. And the Daily Beast reports that while Obama administration officials spent weeks planning for a potential shutdown, today many agencies dont have plans that lay out which staffers are nonessential and how reserve funds would be allocated. Of the 130 agencies that submit contingency plans to OMB, 66 havent been updated since 2015.

I just cannot imagine working at an agency without an updated contingency plan, without the days and weeks we spent working through the worst-case scenarios of funding and staffing, said Melanie Newman, who worked at the Department of Housing and Urban Development and OMB under Obama. It can only result in chaos.

One might argue that if President Trump didnt do much to help Congress or address these management issues during his entire first year in office, theres no need to have him around during a shutdown. But as a wise man once told Fox & Friends:

Problems start from the top and they have to get solved from the top. And the presidents the leader and hes got to get everybody in a room and hes got to lead. And he doesnt do that. He doesnt like doing that. Thats not his strength. And thats why you have this horrible situation going on in Washington. Its a very, very bad thing, and its very embarrassing worldwide.
The MPs filed a petition against the age limit law

Six opposition members of parliament have filed a constitutional petition challenging the age limit law, which was controversially passed by parliament at the end of last year.

Led by the leader of opposition in parliament, Winnie Kiiza (Kasese Woman), the MPs; Gerald Karuhanga Kafureeka (Ntungamo Municipality), Odur Jonathan (Erute County South), Mubarak Munyagwa (Kawempe South), Allan Ssewanyana (Makindye West) and Ssemujju Ibrahim Nganda (Kira Municipality) are challenging the amendments passed by parliament on December 20, 2017.

The MPs insist everything in the Constitutional (Amendment) Act 2017 is unconstitutional. President Museveni signed the amendments into law, seven days later on December 27. Uganda Law Society also filed a petition against the amendments this week.

Among other things in the amendments, parliament voted to lift the presidential age limits, reinstate and entrench term limits and extend the term of members of parliament and local council leaders from five to seven years effective immediately.

But now, opposition MPs in their petition, take the Constitutional court back to the events of September 26, 2017, when the security forces raided parliament and battered MPs who were opposed to the bill, tabled by Raphael Magyezi the Igara West MP.

They state that the use of violence at the time of tabling the bill, was inconsistent with and in contravention of Articles 1, 3, 8A, 20, 24,29,42,44,79, 208(2), 209, 211(3) and 259 of the Constitution.

That the unlawful invasion and heavy deployment at the parliament by the combined armed forces of the Uganda Peoples Defence Forces [UPDF], the Uganda police force and other militia before and on the day the impugned constitution amendment bill was tabled before the parliament, undermined parliamentary independence and democracy and as such was inconsistent with and in contravention of articles, they contend.

Through Lukwago and company and advocates plus Rwakafuuzi and company advocates, the petitioners insist that the law is unconstitutional because the UPDF, police, and other militia entered parliament while in plenary and thereby inflicting violence, beating, torture on several members of parliament at the time the law now being contested was tabled as a bill.

That the arbitrary, unlawful, and violent actions of the armed forces of Uganda Peoples Defence Forces, the Uganda police force and other militia in beating, torturing, arresting and subjecting several members of parliament while in their various constituencies to consult the people on the Constitution (Amendment) Bill Number 2 of 2017 was inconsistent with and in contravention of Articles 1,3, 8A, 24, 29, 44(C), 79, 208(2), 209, 211(3) and 259 of the Constitution of Uganda  the petition partly reads.

In the 8-page petition, the MPs go into challenging the specifics of the amendment saying that Sections 2, 3, 6,7,8,9 and 10 of the amendment, are in contravention of Articles 91, 94, 259, and 262 of the Constitution.

Section 2 of the amendment, according to the petitioners, is unconstitutional because it purports to extend the term of parliament from five years to seven years, which according to them is inconsistent with Articles 1, 3, 8A, 79, 90, 94, of the Constitution and rule 93 of the rules of procedure.

They then tackle Section 3 of the amendment, saying its illegal in as far as purporting to lift the minimum and maximum age qualification of a person seeking to be elected as President of Uganda. The MPs say this is inconsistent with Articles 84, 79, 90 and 94 of the Constitution.

That Sections 6 and 10 of the Constitution (Amendment) Act, 2017 are unconstitutional in as far as it purports to extend the life/term of the local government councils from five years to seven years is inconsistent with and in contravention of Articles 1, 3, 8A, 79, 90, 94 and 259 of the Constitution, they contend.

KADAGA

The petitioners also take issue with the procedure and manner of passing of age limit law arguing that it was inconsistent with Constitution.

That process leading to the enactment was tainted with illegality, procedural, impropriety and the same was a violation of the rules of procedure of parliament and therefore inconsistent and contravention of articles 28, 42, 44, 79, 91, 94 and 259, they say.

Procedurally, they take issue with action of Rebecca Kadaga, the speaker of parliament for allowing Magyezi to table his private members bill in the manner that he did, which they say was in violation of rules 25 and 174 of the rules of procedure of parliament.

That the publication and gazetting of the Constitution (Amendment) Bill No. 2 of 2017 was irregularly done and without instructions from the clerk to parliament and as such was inconsistent with and or contravened article 94 of the Constitution of Uganda. MPs insist.

Kadaga, according to the petitioners, rendered the amendments illegal, when she suspended MPs Karuhanga, Odur, Munyagwa, Ssewanyana and Ssemujju from the sittings of parliament, where the two reports on the constitutional amendment were to be tabled.

By suspending them, Kadaga according to the petitioners was in contravention of articles 1, 28(1), 42, 44(c) and 94 of the Constitution.

That the actions of the speaker of parliament to close the debate on the Constitution (Amendment) Bill No. 2 of 2017 before each member of parliament could debate and present the views of their constituents concerning the constitutional amendment..was in violation of rule 133 (3) (a) of the rules of procedure of parliament, say.
Fancy a Vertu Signature phone or perhaps a Hermes Birkin handbag? How about that piece of bling sported by your favourite actress in that advert? Even if you have the moolah to spare, you'd best get into the habit of thinking before you spend. Because the government, as part of its stepped-up efforts to prevent money laundering, is planning to make all retailers report purchases of above Rs 6 lakh to the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU).

FIU, under the finance ministry's Department of Revenue, is the central national agency responsible for receiving, processing, analyzing and disseminating information relating to suspect financial transactions to enforcement agencies.

"Globally, in most countries, the limit for reporting such transactions is set at $10,000...Discussions are on to decide the limit, with consensus veering around Rs 6 lakh," a government official told The Hindustan Times on condition of anonymity. This new proposal will mainly target jewellery and luxury goods.

The move is expected to not only help Income Tax Department to identify individuals whose purchases are disproportionate to their known sources of income but also help government agencies such as the Enforcement Directorate to sniff out money laundering activities.

One of the main electoral promises of the Modi government was to track down black money and fight against unaccounted wealth. To that end, it even set up a special investigation team in its very first month. The following year it enacted the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) Imposition of Tax Act and amended the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to enable attachment/confistication of assets equivalent to 'proceeds of crime', and the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Amendment Act arrived in 2016.

But less known is the government's focus on data mining as a tool to fight black money. Operation Clean Money, launched by the tax department in January 2017 to detect black money generation post demonetisation, is just one example of how it is using advanced data analytics. More recently, IT sleuths reportedly used big data to track down Rs 85 crore in cash, bullion and jewellery stashed away in private lockers in Delhi. Similarly, the proposed data collection drive from retailers will help the FIU to ferret out transactions that do not match the tax payers' profiles.

"Though cash transactions are banned above Rs 2 lakh, recent data shows that accountants are being used to creatively flow black money through the legal banking channels. A threshold for reporting purchases will help us track cases of disproportionate assets, corruption money, and frauds," an official in the Enforcement Directorate (ED) told the daily.

However, some experts point out that since there are already various checks and balances in place to monitor transactions, this new proposal may serve little purpose beyond increasing paperwork for merchants. It could also hurt the luxury brands segment and the jewellery business. Demand for both categories had fallen sharply when the government made PAN card mandatory for cash transactions above Rs 50,000 and capped cash transactions post demonetisation.

Jewellery demand in India again fell by 25% in the third quarter of 2017 to 114.9 tonnes, compared to the sales of 152.7 tonnes in Q3 of the precious fiscal. This was after three consecutive quarters of growth and large dip in sales in the previous years, according to World Gold Council (WGC) data. While the introduction of the 3% Goods and Services Tax (GST) was a contributing factor, the government's attempt to bring the gems and jewellery industry under the PMLA umbrella in late August made matters worse. This made it mandatory for gems and jewellery dealers to report all sales above Rs 50,000 to the FIU but due to stiff opposition from the industry, the government rolled back its order in early October. Back then, Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia had said that the government will soon notify a new threshold for the value of transactions in gold, silver and precious stones such as diamonds which have to be reported to the authorities in order to check the diversion of black money into bullion.

If the new proposal is passed, then hoarders will no longer be able to rely on bullion, which is a big favourite as recent income tax raids prove.
A task force co-chaired by Nirupama Rao, former foreign secretary of India and Richard R. Verma, former US Ambassador to India has suggested increased bilateral investments in job creation as one of the key areas of cooperation that can transform India-US relationship in the decades to come.

Investments in infrastructure development, clean energy solutions, security cooperation in the Indo-Pacific, and sustained efforts to strengthen democratic institutions were among the wide ranging recommendations given by the 20 member task force, constituted by US based think tank - The Center for American Progress. The members were drawn from both the countries.

The task force calls for the initiation of a "future of work" dialogue between the two countries to refine policy solutions that leverage the changing nature of work to create stable, well paying jobs and empower citizens. The need for sub-national cooperation between federal governments and major cities and states in both countries was emphasized. The importance of blue economics and bringing in investments in infrastructure were identified as important tools for economic development.

"The United States and India must look not just at areas like high-tech, but also at infrastructure, to expand the benefits of investment and trade to all sectors of societies. The two nations cannot divorce the future of the bilateral economic relationship from what each country does at home. Both India and the United States must invest in the building blocks of their own economies and middle classes-including health care and education-and continue to innovate new domestic policy solutions if they are to benefit from the bilateral economic relationship", the report said.

On clean energy, the task force wanted India and US to adopt a bottom up approach by cooperating on technical assistance, innovation, and capital investment in the building blocks of energy access, such as grid modernization, energy efficiency, and renewable technologies. Enhancing cooperation on grid planning through regulatory cooperation and inter-governmental talks, energy efficiency by bringing together government and private sector experts to boost the capacity of India's Energy Efficiency Services Limited, facilitating investments in clean energy through investment forums, de-risking investments by developing risk-offsetting mechanisms and standardized power purchase agreements were all suggested.

Expansion of the Joint Clean Energy Research and Development Centers (JCERDC), and cooperation in the International Solar Alliance (ISA), and the continuance of technical assistance on climate modeling to Indian agencies were also part of the suggested clean energy action plan.

Citing the possibility of increased challenges to the peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region, the group wanted the United States and India to make long-term commitments. "The United States should build on the designation of India as a Major Defense Partner to craft a Strategic Advantage Initiative in which the United States adopts a presumption of support for defense cooperation with India and specific policies to make good on this support; and India must take steps to make that level of defense cooperation possible, while sharing the burden on security issues, such as maritime security in the Indian Ocean, humanitarian assistance, and disaster relief", the report stated.
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GST Council slashes rates for 29 goods, 53 services

The 25th GST Council meet took place yesterday. The Council has cut tax rate on several goods and services. Fitment committee recommendations on new rates for 29 goods and 53 services were accepted by the Council. New rates on these will come into force from January 25, the Finance Minister said. The issue of bringing petrol, diesel and other items exempted from GST did not appear before the GST Council, but they will be taken up during the next meeting. Bihar Finance Minister Sushil Modi said the GST Council will take up bringing real estate, electric duty, petroleum products under GST in its next meeting.



HDFC Bank scales Rs 5 lakh crore market cap mark

Private sector lender HDFC Bank on Thursday became the first Indian bank to cross the Rs 5-lakh crore market capitalisation, a day ahead of announcement of its Q3 earnings. The bank has become only the third Indian company to achieve this milestone. With this feat, the bank has entered the coveted league of top five firms by market capitalisation on BSE. The bank stands at third position in terms of market cap on BSE. Reliance Industries (RIL) and TCS are the only two firms above the private lender in the ranking.



Modi's reform measures to draw attention at the WEF

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump would be the two most important leaders to watch out for at this year's World Economic Forum - the 48th annual meeting of rich and power in the world - from January 23-26. In line of their favourite themes, 'Make in India' and 'Make America Great Again', both the leaders will present commitment towards protecting businesses in their respective countries. Prime Minister Modi will lead the largest Indian contingent of over 100 delegates, including six union ministers and CEOs of top Indian companies, for the four-day World Economic Forum. PM Modi will deliver a keynote address on January 23 before holding a bilateral meeting with Swiss Confederation president Alain Berset.



70 percent of bullet train's parts to be made in Japan

Japanese steel and engineering companies are in the driver's seat to bag major supply contracts for a $17 billion Indian bullet train, several sources said, undermining a key component of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's economic policy - a push to 'Make in India'. Japan is funding most of the project, and Japanese companies are likely to supply at least 70 percent of the core components of the rail line.



Biocon collaborates with Sandoz for biosimilars

Biopharma major Biocon has said it has formed a global partnership with Sandoz, a Novartis division, to develop, manufacture and commercialise several biosimilars in immunology and oncology. As per a regulatory filing, both the companies will share responsibility for end-to-end development, manufacturing and global regulatory approvals for various products and will have a cost and profit share arrangement globally.



Amazon India increases adoption of machine learning

One of the global leaders in artificial intelligence and machine learning, Amazon.com Inc is fast increasing the adoption of machine learning in its operations as reported by business daily Mint. It specifically helps in quick and accurate product deliveries and improve efficiency. The technology also helps in standardizing sizes in fashion products. The firm also plans to introduce chatbots in the future.

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KCR makes strong pitch for Telangana model of governance

When Telangana was formed out installed power generation capacity was only 6,000 MW. Out of which, 2,800 MW was hydel power. Today, the installed capacity of Telangana is 14,000 MW and by 2020 it will be 28,000 MW, says KCR


Emerging digital technologies and innovations in artificial intelligence and Internet of Things (IOT) are going to transform the drug clinical trial industry globally and also in India, said James Streeter, Senior Director of Life Sciences Product Strategy, Oracle Health Science.

Currently, use of EMR or electronic health record (EHR) of patients are fast catching up globally. Use of digital technologies in clinical trials are expected to witness a growth in excess of 40 percent every year. From manually entering data, electronic medical records and e-diaries are fast catching up in the conduct of clinical trials, he said.

A recent Mercom Capital report said Venture capital (VC) funding in Digital Health globally witnessed a record with nearly $7.2 billion raised in 778 deals in 2017. This was a 42 percent increase from the previous record set in 2016 of $5.1 billion in 622 deals. Total corporate funding for Healthcare IT companies - including debt and public market financing - climbed to $8.2 billion in 2017, a 47 percent increase from the $5.6 billion raised in 2016.

Oracle, working in the clinical trials space for the last 20 years, is one of the largest companies globally in digital solutions for the clinical trial industry. There are only near 400 companies in IT providing digital solutions for the clinical trial industry. Entry barriers are very high due to the risk associated with clinical trials, high regulatory barriers and complexity of technologies. About 30-40 Indian IT companies are also supplying IT solutions for the clinical trial industry. "India is a major market for us and we are working with all the top companies to assist them in taking up digital clinical trials", James Streeter told Business Today in an exclusive interaction.

Digital technologies have proved to save time by around 50 percent, increases safety and accuracy of data. It also helps a lot in cost savings and time to launch a trial.

About 1.4% of global clinical trials happen in India. Earlier, about 500 trials were done in India but due to stringent rules and regulations, this dropped to 200-300 trials. Last year, the Indian drug regulator allowed online submission of clinical trials and reduced timeline for the approval of clinical trials. Trial data are also now available on Government's website clinicaltrial.gov.
On February 1, when Finance Minister Arun Jaitley delivers the budget, one of the most significant changes that everyone will look forward to is the revision of the tax slabs. An increase of the tax exemption limit is what a lot of the citizens want. A proposal was recently made to the finance ministry calling for a revision of the tax slab and raising the limit from Rs 2.5 lakh per annum to Rs 3 lakh.

A recent survey conducted by LocalCircles found out that 31 per cent of respondents want the tax exemption limit to be increased to Rs 3 lakh. Thirty seven per cent respondents want tax slabs to be raised to lower the tax burden on people. The survey was conducted across 200 Indian cities and as many as 1.25 lakh people voted.



One of the primary factors that is leading people to seek this increase is the disruption unleashed by demonetisation. Moreover, the cost of living is also on the rise with no corresponding increase on income. Add to that the fact that there have been no significant changes in the Section 80C limit in the last few years. The exemption limit of 80C could also be increased to Rs 2 lakh from the current Rs 1.5 lakh so that tax payers can avail more deduction.

As of now, no tax is levied on income of upto Rs 2.5 lakh annually, while 5 per cent is applied on the bracket of Rs 2.5 lakh to Rs 5 lakh, 20 per cent on Rs 5 lakh to Rs 10 lakh and 30 per cent on income from Rs 10 lakh onwards. These slabs could be revised to increase the non-taxable income bracket upto Rs 3 lakh, while 5 per cent could be applied on Rs 3 lakh to Rs 7 lakh, 20 per cent on Rs 7 lakh to Rs 12 lakh and 30 per cent on Rs 12 lakh and above.



There could also be a new slab for the annual income of Rs 10 to Rs 20 lakh. In that case, the slabs would be further revised.

Industry bodies CII and FICCI have also asked for rationalisation of personal income tax slabs in their memorandum submitted to the finance ministry. According to FICCI, there is a likelihood that the effects of demonetisation may linger on for some more months and hence there is a need to further boost demand. A revision of income tax slabs, by raising the income level on which peak tax rate would trigger, "would improve purchasing power and create additional demand."

In the last budget, the finance minister had reduced the tax rate on the Rs 2.5 lakh to Rs 5 lakh bracket to 5 per cent. Will he fulfil the wishes of the citizens this time as well remains to be seen.
The union budget, before it is presented by the Finance Minister in the Parliament, is shrouded under a cloak of secrecy. The security is so foolproof that around 100 officials from the finance ministry are cloistered inside a basement for at least 10 days.

The whole exercise kicks off with a customary ritual where halwa, an Indian dessert, is distributed among the Finance Ministry staff. The ceremony takes place in the presence of the Finance Minister. Soon after the sweets are served, the officials who are tasked with printing of budget are locked up in a basement in North Block.

Blue Sheet, a blue piece of paper containing key numbers around which hundreds of pages of budget document is prepared is almost guarded like the secret archives in the Vatican. Not even the Finance Minister is allowed to keep it. The secret sheet, which is updated as and when the new data comes in, forms the backbone of the whole budget process.

Only the joint secretary (budget) is entrusted to keep the custody of the secret paper. The first blue sheet draft gets prepared a few weeks before the budget date. It includes budget proposals on government's annual spending plan.

Until 1950, budget papers were printed inside Rashtrapati Bhavan. However, after a leak during the same year, printing venue was moved to a government press in Minto Road. Ever since 1980, the basement in North Block has become the unchanged dugout for budget printing.

Quarantined

The security apparatus pressed into service soon after the halwa ceremony ends is so elaborate that even Finance Minister can't take his mobile phone inside the printing area. Round the clock surveillance of officials involved in the budget process is carried out by no less than Intelligence Bureau personnel.

Till the time Finance minister announces the budget, elaborate arrangements are made for the food and lodging of officials associated with the printing process. The quarantined officials are not allowed to call their loved ones during the lock-in period. In case of an emergency, the person is escorted to a room where calls can be made in the presence of an intelligence officer.

North Block, where the Finance Ministry is located, turns into a fortress. Security agencies keep a close track of incoming and outgoing phone calls. To intercept any communication related to the secret documents, an intercepting exchange is set up to tap landline telephones installed in the chambers of bureaucrats.

As the budget day gets closer, the e-mail facility on the computers of finance ministry is blocked, hardly leaving any room for a data breach. To prevent any cyber theft, the computers inside the press area are delinked from National Informatics Centre (NIC) servers.

To prevent leakage, electronic jammers are installed inside North Block ensuring that no information is leaked using mobile phones. Finance Secretary and other top FinMin officials are also provided with security cover. The Delhi Police assists IB by keeping a close watch on movements of finance ministry officials.

Even though the leaking of budget documents is a punishable under the Officials Secrets Act, the presence of Intelligence Bureau spooks adds another dimension to the security in the whole printing process.

It's not just the officials from finance ministry who are sequestered inside the basement before the budget is made public, some legal experts from the law ministry, Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) officials are also taken in. A few days before the Budget speech, a few PIB officials are also sent to the basement to churn out press releases.

Notwithstanding the confinement, being part of the budget making process is apparently the most sought after job among the finance ministry staff.

While many wonder if the level of secrecy is still warranted at a time when all major government announcements including the GST tax rates have not been part of the budget, the meticulous secrecy is a well-preserved British legacy just like the budget briefcase used by the Finance Minister on the budget day.
The government is poised to raise its public health spending by 11 percent in the annual budget next month, after rejecting Health Minister J.P. Nadda's demand for a much bigger increase to ramp up disease control, according to government sources and documents. Nadda sought a "bare minimum" budget of nearly $10 billion for 2018-19 - 33 percent higher than last year - in a letter to the finance minister on November 26, which Reuters has reviewed.

Nadda argued the funds were needed for expanding vaccination coverage and free drugs distribution, and also to ward off a growing threat of non-communicable diseases, such as cancer and diabetes, which killed 6 million people in India in 2016. His request was not approved: the health budget is expected to rise by 11 percent to $8.2 billion, three government officials told Reuters. They declined to be named or be identified further as the discussions were confidential.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government last year set a target of raising annual health spending to 2.5 percent of India's GDP by 2025, from 1.15 percent now - one of the lowest proportions in the world. The health budget this year will put that pledge at risk.

"What's the point of having a (2025) GDP target? With this funding, it still looks like a herculean task," said one of the officials interviewed.

The finance ministry declined comment, while the health ministry did not respond to requests seeking comment. The budget for the financial year ending March 2019 will be presented on Feb. 1.

Shamika Ravi, a member of Modi's economic advisory council, said she wasn't privy to the final budget numbers, but described a $8.2 billion annual health budget as "not sufficient".

"If we underspend on health, it will impact India's overall GDP by lowering productivity in the long term," said Ravi, who is also a research director at Brookings India. Ravi however said she would continue to advise the government to allocate more funds for healthcare to achieve its 2025 GDP target.

ECONOMY VS HEALTH

Last year, the government intensified efforts to overhaul the public healthcare system. It capped prices of several medical devices to help the poor, ramped up screening of non-communicable diseases and, on top of that, also raised the federal health budget by more than a quarter.

But the health budget increase for 2018-19 will be lower as the government's finances are stretched by slowing economic growth and tax collections that have lagged under a new sales tax regime, the officials said.

It was difficult to get the 11 percent hike approved, according to one of the officials, who said that it took many rounds of discussions between the health ministry and the finance ministry. Initially, the finance ministry had earmarked only a five percent increase in the budget, but that was increased after fresh representations by the health ministry, the official said.

Collections under the new national goods and services tax system stood at $12.6 billion in November, the lowest since its launch in July, which finance officials say have upset the goverment's overall revenues and their budget calculations.

In recent months, the finance ministry has said it wants to boost spending on sectors such as infrastructure, including ports and roads, to boost economic growth. That, along with the need to stick to fiscal targets, means that the budget for other sectors will be squeezed.

In his letter, Nadda made a case for a significant increase in his ministry's allocation, saying investments in public health would eventually result in a "tenfold return for the economy". Low public health spending leads to "catastrophic" medical expenses for people, he wrote.

India's overburdened health system remains plagued with an acute shortage of government hospitals in rural areas. In 2016, more than 1 million children died before turning five, the highest number for any nation in the world, a United Nations report said last year.
Nawaz Sharif held meeting regarding Balochistan issue

LAHORE: The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz has sought to solve the riddle of losing its provincial government in Balochistan in a series of meetings convened by ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif.



On Thursday Mr Sharif again held a meeting with the PML-N leadership and the leaders of two Balochistan-based allied parties at his Jati Umra residence, discussing the ouster of Nawab Sanaullah Zehri-led government in a manner over which all participants expressed strong concern.



The meeting also discussed the joint oppositions Lahore rally held on Wednesday. To counter the oppositions protest movement on the issue of the Model Town killings, it finalised a strategy to expedite the PML-Ns mass contact campaign.



The meeting was attended by Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Azad Kashmir premier Raja Farooq Haider, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) chairman Mehmood Achakzai, National Party (NP) leader Hasil Bizenjo, former chief minister of Balochistan Dr Abdul Malik Baloch, senior PML-N leaders from the province Sardar Yaqub Nasir and Abdul Qadir Baloch, some MPAs from the province who are still with the PML-N, Senator Pervaiz Rashid, Maryam Nawaz, federal ministers Ahsan Iqbal, Awais Leghari, Saad Rafique and Marrium Aurangzeb, adviser to the PM Miftah Ismail and Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan.



Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal told Dawn that no proposal to place Dr Tahirul Qadris name on the ECL had been discussed in the meeting. It was a one-point agenda meeting on the political situation prevailing in Balochistan. Dr Qadri issue was not discussed, he said.



Asked if there was any proposal to place the name of Dr Qadri on the ECL in the coming days, the minister said: No such proposal is being considered at the moment.



About the PML-N mass contact campaign, Mr Iqbal said: This is an ongoing thing.



A PML-N leader privy to the meeting told Dawn that a detailed discussion was held about factors leading to ouster of the Nawab Zehri-led government.



He said: Participants from Balochistan told the meeting that they had not been consulted on the decision to move a no-confidence motion against Mr Zehri. None of the members of the PML-N rebel group or other parties supporting the no-trust motion had ever raised any major issue before the Nawab Zehri-led government. Hence, there was no justification for the no-trust motion.



The PML-N leader said it was not clear from where the nomination of PML-Q MPA Mir Abdul Quddus Bizenjo for the office of chief minister was made.



The participants agreed that the election of Mr Bizenjo, who had secured a few hundred votes in the 2013 general elections, as chief minister is the negation of the democratic process. They said that installing a puppet chief minister in a sensitive province is a matter of grave concern. This move has usurped the rights of the people of Balochistan and amounts to insult the peoples right to rule.



The leaders of the PML-N, PkMAP and NP resolved to continue their struggle to restore the respect of the ballot and pledged to foil conspiracies behind such a change, the PML-N leader said.



In the wake of Mr Zehris resignation, the PML-N may lose a few Senate seats from Balochistan if the 16-member PML-N rebel group in the Provincial Assembly remains at odds with the party leadership till Senate elections in March.



None of the participants proposed initiation of any disciplinary action against the rebel group members knowing that Mr Sharif is not in favour of this, another PML-N leader said.



He quoted Mr Sharif as telling the meeting: We do not accept this engineered change in Balochistan. The mandate of the people of the province has been stolen and this is unfortunate.



When contacted, PML-Q Senator Kamil Ali Agha said Mr Sharif was upset over losing his partys government in Balochistan. Mr Sharif is frustrated because he knows the PML-N is going to lose some eight Senate seats from the province in the coming election, he said.



Mr Agha said that power had been transferred in Balochistan in a democratic way as the legislators were not happy with the performance of the PML-Ns chief minister and Mr Sharifs stance against the state institutions. Our partys chief minister will come up to expectations of the people of Balochistan, Senator Agha said and advised Mr Sharif to stop insulting the people of the province.



The participants discussed failure of the PAT-led rally on the Mall on Wednesday and the use of word laanat for parliament by Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chief Imran Khan that has invited ire from all quarters, the source said.
Washington-Islamabad are quietly engaged in diplomacy: FO

ISLAMABAD: Washington and Islamabad are quietly engaged in diplomacy to address their fast deteriorating relationship. Foreign Office spokesman Dr Muhammad Faisal on Thursday disclosed that Pakistan and the United States were engaged in negotiations, which are ongoing and outside public domain and that cooperation with the US has remained unaffected despite recent developments.



He did not go into details and only said that no demands were being made from the US in the negotiations.



US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Alice Wells this week visited Pakistan during which she renewed the demand for clearing Pakistani territory of alleged terror sanctuaries. Earlier US Centcom chief Gen Joseph Votel had reached out to Chief of the Army Staff Gen Qamar Bajwa for calming the frayed nerves at General Headquarters (GHQ).



The information publicly shared by both sides about these interactions created the perception that the second attempt at salvaging the relationship after the US leaderships rhetoric against Pakistan following the announcement of the new policy on South Asia and Afghanistan was not going well.



This impression was reinforced by Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif, who told the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee that there was no change in the situation because the US was sticking to its position. It should be recalled that the earlier engagement process that started with a meeting between Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and US Vice President Michael Pence on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly ended last month without achieving a breakthrough.



The common ground has, however, remained elusive. At the same time, the bitterness in the tone of the US leadership has increased and more lately the Trump administration has started taking punitive actions against Pakistan suspending the security aid package.



Pakistan has consistently maintained that for meaningfully addressing the terrorism concerns, the US should facilitate the repatriation of Afghan refugees in Pakistan and fencing of the Pak-Afghan border.



Responding to a question about Pakistan curtailing intelligence sharing with the US after President Trumps new tweet and suspension of security assistance, Dr Faisal said: Cooperation in all areas continues with the US.



Meanwhile, speaking about the #FreeKarachi campaign in Washington, the spokesman said the government had taken a serious note of this smearing campaign in different US cities.



He said the matter had been raised by Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua in her meeting with Ms Wells. Pakistans embassy in Washington has also been instructed to raise the issue with US authorities to prevent recurrence of such activities.



The campaign was first noticed when cabs carrying #FreeKarachi banners took part in Martin Luther King Day parade in Washington. A few weeks back Baloch organisations and their supporters displayed #FreeBalochistan billboards at the Times Square in New York City on the lines of similar campaigns in European cities.



Indian deputy high commissioner J. P. Singh was summoned to Foreign Office for receiving protest over latest ceasefire violations by Indian troops along the Working Boundary in Sialkot Sector in which two women lost their lives.



Despite calls for restraint, India continues to indulge in ceasefire violations, the spokesman said.



He said India had in the first 18 days of 2018 committed more than 100 ceasefire violations along the Line of Control and the Working Boundary resulting in the martyrdom of three civilians and four troops.



Mr Singh was summoned to FO also a few days back over martyrdom of four troops, who were hit by Indian mortars while repairing lines of communication.



India seems to be following last years pattern of ceasefire violations when it committed 1,900 breaches, leaving 87 people dead.



The spokesman said that Ms Janjua in her meeting with Ms Wells had asked the US to advise restraint to India and urge it to stop its escalation tactics.



Dr Faisal expressed concern over the concentrated presence of the militant Islamic State (IS) group along Afghan borders with Pakistan, Iran, China and Central Asian Republics.
From Greg Swank, 12-4-2 You are about to read a list of 45 goals that found their way down the halls of our great Capitol back in 1963. As...
Douglas V. Gibbs is a proud member of the American Authors Association

Douglas V. Gibbs is a proud member of the Military Writers Society of America.
About Me Scott Because prophetic scriptures are found throughout the bible, it is obvious that a comprehensive, systematic approach would be useful, if not necessary, for the understanding of prophecy. Past prophecies have been fulfilled in a literal manner, as confirmed by the dating of these writings and historical records of confirmation. These past prophecies also serve as a model of how to interpret future prophecies. A literal view of prophecy clearly indicates a certain sequence of events will occur within a single generation, concluding with the Tribulation and Second Advent and these events will be obvious. The prophetic signs appear to be present in this generation and we believe these signs are revealed in the news from around the world. View my complete profile
Dhankuta, Nepal: Responding to the tense situations, local administration in Dhankuta district has issued a prohibitory order and stepped up its efforts to avoid untoward incidents on Friday.





The local administration made the decision after lifting the curfew order imposed on Thursday. The locals have begun their protest program from early morning on Friday.




The Indian Express, 19 January 2018

Stateless in Assam

Thousands could be declared non-citizens when the National Register of Citizens is finalised. Since their deportation is an almost impossible option, the focus will be on the detention policy.

Written by Sanjib Baruah

On the second day of January this year, hidden in the midst of the extensive coverage about the first draft of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) being made public, there was a small item in Assam newspapers. Hanif Khan, 40, was found hanging from a tree near his home in Kashipur in the district of Cachar. Khan committed suicide on finding that his name did not appear on the draft NRC. His wife Raksa said her husband was extremely anxious about the whole NRC business. He and his family, he feared, would be promptly arrested and deported to Bangladesh if their names do not appear on it.

Our public officials have repeated reiterated their commitment to ensure that the final NRC will be accurate. But there is enormous uncertainty about the fate of those whose names will not be on it. In effect, they would be legally declared non-citizens a even stateless a and their numbers are likely to be in thousands. Their likely fate has not drawn much public attention.

The Supreme Courtas December 2014 directive that set the ball rolling on the NRC process, however, did concern itself with this issue. Deportation in todayas world is not a unilateral matter; it has to follow international protocol. The Courtas two-judge bench asked the Assam and central governments about the procedures for deporting an unauthorised person from Bangladesh after a Foreigners Tribunal makes such a determination. In written affidavits they outlined the cumbersome process. At the end of it, only apersons whose nationalities are confirmed by the Bangladesh authoritiesa can be repatriated, and the numbers are tiny. That year athe nationality of 32 Bangladeshi nationals who were in the detention centres/jails in Assam were confirmed by the Bangladesh authorities and they have been repatriateda . The Supreme Court therefore directed athe Union of India to enter into necessary discussions with the Government of Bangladesh to streamline the procedure of deportation.a

There is no evidence that anything has happened on this score. The issue was not discussed either during Prime Minister Narendra Modias visit to Bangladesh in 2015 or during the Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasinaas visit to India in April last year. As recently as October 2017, Bangladesh Information Minister Hasanul Haq Inu told an Indian journalist that in the past 30 years there has been no unauthorised migration from Bangladesh to Assam. He emphasised that no Indian government has ever complained of this. While issues such as terrorism, smuggling, drug and human trafficking are routinely discussed and the two governments have agreed on the modalities of cooperation on those matters, illegal migration has never featured in official discussions between the two governments.

In the unlikely event that India ever chooses to discuss deportation with Bangladesh, what exactly would be the nature of the discussion?

One way in which governments act on deportation is to sign bilateral agreements for the readmission of nationals of the relevant country. There are bilateral agreements between countries like Germany and Vietnam, Italy and Algeria, the United Kingdom and Algeria, Morocco and Spain and between the European Union and non-member countries in Eastern Europe and the Western Balkans. The EU also has a readmission agreement with Pakistan. In March 2016, the EU and Turkey signed an agreement that provides for arapid return of all migrants not in need of international protection crossing from Turkey to Greece and to take back all irregular migrants intercepted in Turkish watersa . The EU has also made a controversial arrangement with Libya that has reduced the flow of migrants in exchange for substantial amounts of money.

Readmission agreements, however, do not always produce results, or at least the level of cooperation is less than what the deporting country expects. Among the incentives offered to sign readmission agreements are special trade concessions, increased development aid, preferential entry quotas for legal economic migrants, and technical cooperation and assistance in border management. In the case of European countries, a special political and economic relationship with the EU, and in the case of countries in Eastern Europe and the Western Balkans, the prospect of accession into the EU are among the incentives offered. Even the deportation of large numbers of unauthorised immigrants under the Obama and the Trump administrations have been expensive. According to one estimate, the US pays Mexico $1,000 for each person who is deported. While Mexico officially disputes this, the US Congress allocates funds to Mexico for the purpose of the interdiction and deportation of unauthorised migrants.

To take back oneas own nationals may be an obligation under customary international law but in practice, it is not an easy matter. The costs and benefits for a country deporting an unauthorised migrant and the country readmitting the person are asymmetric. In crude financial terms, if the country of origin gains from remittances from expatriates, it has no interest in cooperating with the destination country in their deportation. But more importantly, signing a readmission agreement with an economically more powerful country is unlikely to be popular domestically. Almost all these cost-benefit calculations would apply if India and Bangladesh were to enter into a discussion of a bilateral readmission agreement.

It is extremely unlikely however, that in the foreseeable future, the Modi government on any other government in New Delhi would bring up the matter of deportation with Bangladesh. The aneighborhood firsta policy of the Modi government has a far more pressing foreign policy goal: To stop Chinaas growing influence in the region. Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar cites Bangladesh as the prime example of the aneighbourhood firsta policy yielding good results for both parties. To bring up the question of deportation would amount to throwing a monkey wrench into this delicate diplomatic relationship.

If there is no chance of India approaching the issue of deportation with Bangladesh, what is the likely fate of those not included in Assamas NRC? If Parliament passes the Citizenship Amendment Bill, those who are Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi or Christian would have a different fate from the rest since these groups ashall not be treated as illegal migrantsa , according to that law.

From the perspective of the rest of those whose names will not appear in the NRC, the most significant development to watch is probably in the area of detention policy. Assam now has six detention camps for housing unauthorised non-citizens inside jail premises in Goalpara, Kokrajhar, Silchar, Dibrugarh, Jorhat and Tezpur. There are plans to build the first ever full-fledged foreignersa detention centre in the state. The Assam government has allotted 20 bighas of land in Dakurbhita area in Goalpara district for constructing this centre.

It is only to be expected that the government would now focus on detention. Deportation practices have long been part of a wider set of incarceral institutions that include detention centres, refugee camps, and waiting zones to house people in a legal limbo a between being deportable and not being actually deported a in effect, people who are stateless. The political condition of a stateless person, as political theorist Hannah Arendt had memorably pointed out, is much worse than that of a prisoner. The person loses more than his or her freedom. A stateless person is no longer part of a legal and political order; he or she loses the aright to have rightsa . A stateless person, wrote Arendt, represents aa new kind of human being a the kind that are put in concentration camps by their foes and in internment camps by their friends.a

Hanif Khan did not have to read Arendt to imagine his and his familyas fate once the NRC effectively declares him stateless.

The writer is professor of Political Studies, Bard College, New York.

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Daily O, 15 January 2018

National Register of Citizens in Assam can trigger a humanitarian crisis by Seema Guha

For the BJP/RSS, it is also part of their ideology; their belief that Muslims reproduce fast and should be stopped.

At the heart of the student movement in Assam in the early 1980s was the move to get Bengali Muslim immigrants out of the state and delete their names from the stateas electoral rolls. At the time, BJP leaders Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Jaswant Singh and LK Advani paid regular visits to Assam to support the studentsa demand. The RSS, too, seeing the anti-Muslim mood in the state, began working quietly behind the scenes to spread its ideology.

The All Assam Students Union (AASU) and the BJP were on the same page owing to the fear that Assamas demographic pattern could change because of the illegal influx of Bangladeshi Muslims, turning it into Indiaas second Muslim majority state (after Kashmir). Second, the Congress party kept winning elections because illegal immigrants voted the party into power.

Simply put, Bangladeshis were on the electoral rolls and formed the Congressa vote bank. Not much has changed in the decades since.

In 1985, a settlement was negotiated between student leaders and the Rajiv Gandhi-led Congress government, and the former launched their regional party, the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP).

nrc-690_011518071520.jpgSimply put, Bangladeshis were on the electoral rolls and formed the Congressa vote bank. Not much has changed in the decades since. Photo: Reuters

Today, the BJP and the AGP often use the same language.

The Assam Accord, laid down that all those who entered the state after March 25, 1971, are foreigners, and must be identified and deported back to Bangladesh. Those settled in Assam before that date would be considered Indian citizens.

Detecting and deporting so called foreigners is a tough ask. The AGP, which came to power on the pledge of relieving Assam of Bangladeshis, realised how difficult the exercise was.

The National Register of Citizens (NRC), on the face of it is an excellent idea for border areas and would help in assuaging the anxiety of the local Assamese worried about the influx of migrants. It was not introduced by the BJP. The decision to form a register of Indian citizens of Assam was taken in 1951 after the first Census. However, not much was done. It was revived again in 2014, with the idea of upgrading the NRC. The first draft of the register was published on December 31, 2017 on the instruction of the Supreme Court. There are many anomalies in the first draft which, government officials have time and again stressed, can be corrected.

What is needed, however, is proof that a citizenas ancestorsa names were in the 1951 census, or in the electoral rolls, or land papers. All this was very well for the educated, even though many among them were running from pillar to post to get their long lost documents. However, for the poor and illiterate, these problems are often insurmountable. Many have no papers, neither are their names on voter lists nor are their forefathers registered.

While some of them may genuinely be foreign nationals, many genuine citizens, too, may not possess any documentary evidence to prove their citizenship. Harrowing tales are coming in every day of genuine Bengali speaking Muslims being targeted as foreign nationals. With the prevalent anti-immigrant mood in the state, officials are quick to band every Bengali-speaking Muslim as a Bangladeshi, provided the citizen does not possess the necessary documents.

The BJPas support for the NRC is natural. No political party can object to illegal foreigners being sent out of the state. But for the BJP/RSS it is also part of their ideology; their belief that Muslims reproduce fast and should be stopped. If they are in Assam, the minorities will be thrown out.

Everyone knows how the system can discriminate against Muslims, and this is bound to happen. More stories of hapless Bengali Muslims will surface as cross verification by the officials of the NRC continues.

The fact is, the numbers of illegal entrants are not conclusive. The fact is, since the Assam agitation largescale migration from Bangladesh has not been easy. During the 1971 India-Pakistan war, refugees poured into the northeastern states of India and many stayed back in the country after Bangladesh was created. Hindus, especially, did not return. While the Assamese claim that immigration is continuing unabated, others say that if new settlers are spotted in a district, they are basically those moving from one part of the state to the other.

During British rule, the colonisers got hardworking Bengali Muslims into the Brahmaputra valley to clear Assamas malarial swamps and turn them into fertile agricultural land. The valley has been converted into a rich rice bowl for the country. Much of the problem in the past was that the land holdings of indigenous Assamese were gradually reduced as more and more Bengali Muslims bought agricultural land in rural areas. Land is at the heart of the immigrant issue in Assam and it was also a plank on which the student movement got overwhelming support from both rural and urban areas. Essentially, assamese resentment against Bangladeshi Muslims stems from shrinking land holdings.

While the BJP has happily gone along with the AGP over Bengali Muslim immigrants, their views do not coincide on Hindu Bengalis.Anti-Bengali Hindu sentiment, too, is rampant in Assam. This is because Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced that Bengali Hindu refugees from Bangladesh would always find a home in India. Some of them will also have to be accommodated in Assam.

Before the anti-immigrant agitation took the state by storm, clashes in Assam were mainly between the local Assamese and the Bengali-speaking settlers. Just after Independence, the Bengali-speaking population of the state, because of taking to an English education much earlier than citizens of other states of British India, held the majority of state and central government jobs.

At the time, this led to attacks on members of the community. While the numbers of Bengalis in Assam government rolls have hugely reduced, the animosity continues.

It was PMas announcement that gave it a fresh spurt.

The NRC and its aftermath will take a toll on Indiaas cordial relations with Bangladesh. Dhaka, under Shiekh Hasina, has been an exemplary friend to India. At the end of the process of upgrading the NRC, what happens to those branded as foreigners, who must be repatriated? Dhakaas position is that there is no illegal influx of Bangladeshis into India a that it will accept only those who New Delhi can prove are illegal immigrants.

So, what happens to these people? Will they become like the stateless Rohingyas of Myanmar who nobody wants to touch?

The NRC may just trigger a major humanitarian and diplomatic crisis in future.

The writer Seema Guha is a freelance journalist | @seemaguha1

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SEE ALSO:

India: Anti-outsider Assam Agitation of the early 1980s - Are illegal Bangladeshi migrants responsible for increase in Assams Muslim population? Two part report by Ajaz Ashraf https://communalism.blogspot.com/2018/01/india-anti-outsider-assam-agitation-of.html

What Lies Behind BJPs Eager Support for Updating NRC in Assam by Debarshi Das (The Wire, Jan 12, 2018) https://thewire.in/213148/nrc-updating-assam/

Muslims in Indias Assam anxious over citizen list by Zeenat Saberin (31 Dec 2017) http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/12/muslims-india-assam-anxious-citizen-list-171230154118211.html
Experts: The EU countries should decide themselves whether they want GMOs

EU Member States should be able to express their willingness to grow GM crops and not, as the current regulations require, report that they do not want to produce GM plants authorized by the EU. An expert group proposes a change of regulations in the journal Nature Biotechnology.

In Nature Biotechnology, an international group of biotechnology experts and lawyers - including the head of the Biotechnology Committee of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Prof. Tomasz Twardowski - proposes changes to the EU directive on genetically modified plants. When it comes to the cultivation of GM plants, experts propose the introduction of the opt-in principle instead of the current opt-out. In their opinion, such changes in the regulations would depoliticise the process of allowing GM crops to be used in the EU.

Both cases concern the authorization, in individual EU countries, of GM plants, the safety of which has already been scientifically confirmed and approved by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).

At present, even if growing a given GMO species is allowed at the level of the European Union, each of the member states can "opt out" of this authorisation. Thus, the opt-out directive allows member states to restrict or prohibit the cultivation of GM crops, if there are "convincing grounds" for this, related to, inter alia, environmental or agricultural policy, socio-economic factors, land management or the desire to "avoid the presence of GMOs in other products".

This opt-out option - as Prof. Tomasz Twardowski reported in an interview with PAP - has been used by 19 out of 27 EU countries, including Poland. "These countries, under pressure of their public opinion - because this is the main factor here - decided to remain GMO-free zones. This means that GMO production, processing is not being carried out in their territories" - said Prof. Twardowski.

Meanwhile, experts propose to reverse the matter in the directive. In their view - if EFSA approves a given GM plant - countries should have an option to express the willingness to grow that GM plant in their territory. An earlier, central decision of the European Commission would not be necessary for this.

The proposal would provide a more predictable situation for farmers and the market, commented Dennis Eriksson, the lead author of the publication. He added that thanks to this, the countries that would want it, would have an easier path to growing GM plants. And GM plants - according to Eriksson - may, for example, allow to reduce the use of pesticides, facilitate the production of gluten-free food or improve the nutritional and health properties of food.

However, the authors of the publication emphasize that the risk assessment procedure for GM crops should remain common - as it is today. The European Food Safety Authority should remain responsible for this.

Prof. Twardowski explained that until now the EU had allowed the use of only two GM plants: MON 810 corn and Amflora potato. This corn is produced in five EU countries (Spain, Portugal, Romania, the Czech Republic and Slovakia). However, as Prof. Twardowski added, the Amflora potato is not grown in the EU, because the producer withdrew the product from the local market.

President of the Biotechnology Committee of the Polish Academy of Sciences noted that GM cultivation bans in individual countries are associated with inconsistency. "This is a big nonsense, because the EU imports more than 20 million tons of GM soya meal, of which up to 2 million tons end up in Poland. Soya meal is used as animal feed, mainly for chicken. This means that Polish poultry farming is based on imported GM soya meal" - he said. He added that although Poland has a law that prohibits the use of GM soya meal, this law has been suspended until January 1, 2019.

Author: Ludwika Tomala

lt/ zan/ kap/

tr. RL
Unique knife of an early medieval scribe discovered in Pasym

Unique knife used by early medieval scribe has been discovered in the Pasym castle (Warmia and Mazury). The VIII-IX century knife is the only such object known from Poland. The closest similar objects come from Great Britain, Frisia or Norway - believe archaeologists from the University of Warsaw.

Archaeologists found the an unusual knife during last year's excavations in the early mediaeval fortified settlement in Pasym, in the district of Szczycien.

"This is the only Prussian settlement with such an early metric, it dates back to the VII-IX century" - says Dr. Sawomir Wadyl from the Institute of Archeology of the University of Warsaw, who conducted excavations in Pasym together within Kacper Martyka from the Museum of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn.

The knife was discovered in a hearth inside a residential building. According to Dr. Wadyl, the tool is less than 10 cm in length. What distinguishes the knife from other objects of this type, is the presence of two blades - a longer blade (measuring 42 mm) and a shorter one (measuring 27 mm), which could be used interchangeably. Both blades were formed by cutting off the back. Based on other objects found in its vicinity, archaeologists estimate that the knife comes from the VIII-IX century.

"No similar object has been found in Poland until now. The search for similar artefacts led us to the British Isles, where rotary knives are quite typical for this period. The objects discovered there, as well as in Frisia and Norway, are similar to our find" - said Dr. Wadyl. According to him, it is surprising that until now similar objects have not been found in the Polish lands, in the areas associated with either the Slavs or the Balts.

Researchers believe that knives of this type were used by scribes in their work. Two different precision blades could be used to create manuscripts - such tools are among the instruments frequently depicted in the images of scribes found on miniatures from the era.

"On this basis, we know that knives with a variety of blades accompanied all stages of manuscript creation: they were used to cut parchment, mark lines, control the shape of letters and erase mistakes" - says Dr. Wadyl.

"It appears that they were originally used by scribes, but with time they were probably adapted by other crafts that required precision, where the possibilities offered by knives with two different blades were extremely desirable. So they could be used for processing leather, wood or bones" - says the archaeologist. Evidence of antler processing was found within the building where the knife was discovered.

According to Wadyl, it is difficult to say whether the knife had been brought from Scandinavia or the British Isles, but the concept of its creation clearly indicates this origin.

Less similar specimens of rotary knives have been discovered by archaeologists in Belarus and Estonia, but they are several hundred years younger than the one from Pasym.

PAP - Science in Poland, Szymon Zdziebowski

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Why wasnt Yugge charged for blackmail?  Bacchus-Baptiste

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Veteran lawyer Kay Bacchus-Baptiste is wondering why fashion model Yugge Farrell was not charged with blackmail and other serious crimes over a letter Farrell is alleged to have written and delivered to three government offices.

aWhy was no charge brought against Yugge? Blackmail carries a maximum sentence of 14 years and then there is the Cybercrime Acta, Bacchus-Baptiste told reporters at a media briefing on Wednesday at Democrat House.

Farrell was arrested on Thursday, January 4 for causing a breach of the peace by using abusive language, namely using the words adirty b**cha to Karen Duncan, the daughter-in-law of Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves. This incident is alleged to have occurred while the model was in the process of hand delivering a letter to Duncan, containing the word ablackmaila and which demanded money by a given date.

In the letter, a copy of which SEARCHLIGHT has seen, allegations of murder, among other crimes, are made.

Duncan, a lawyer attached to the Attorney-Generalas Chambers, is the wife of Minister of Finance Camillo Gonsalves.

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Bacchus-Baptiste, the New Democratic Partyas (NDP) candidate for West St George, said that according to Prime Minister Gonsalves, Farrell issued a blackmail letter to his family.

aHe said that he himself has seen the letter; he said that it was given to the police and that $50,000 was demandeda, said Bacchus-Baptiste, who is calling on the Gonsalves to explain what the blackmail issue is about.

aYou donat normally blackmail people about lies. You blackmail people about something that you are holding over them, and you are saying pay me or I will tell the truth,said Bacchus-Baptiste, who thinks that blackmail is a very serious offence on the statute books of St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG).

aBlackmail is action treated as a criminal offence of demanding money from someone in return for not revealing compromising information which he has about them,a cited Bacchus-Baptiste, who noted that persons use this act of compromising information to blackmail people into giving them money, a position, a scholarship or holding them to ransom.

aSo, blackmail is usually regard to as demanding hush money. The large question for this public to ask is what is it that is being asked? Why is this family being asked to give out money? What is the hush issue? What is the compromising information?a questioned Bacchus-Baptiste, who thinks that these are serious and valid questions.

She said that the Prime Minister said that Farrell wrote, ablackmailing or attempting to blackmail his familya and that the police had a copy of that letter, but no charges were brought.

She said that instead of the more serious charges of blackmail, defamation and other charges under the Cybercrime Act, a lesser charge was brought against Farrell and that seems odd to her.

aYou wait to bring a charge of abusive language, which carries a charge of three months in prison, maximuma you come with some little nebulous offence of abusive language, a word like b**ch, which is used every day almost and then you take a young a lady and send her to a mental institution without the proper evidence,a commented Bacchus-Baptiste.

The veteran lawyer added that she thinks that the magistrate acted beyond his power as under the law, once Farrell pleaded, there was no reason for magistrate Pompey to inquire about her sanity.

aSo, he should have not listened to the police and send her to the mental institution unless there was a proper enquiry,a said the lawyer.

Farrell, 22, of Buddy Gutter, Lowmans Bay, is currently at the Mental Health Centre, where she was sent by magistrate Bertie Pompey for psychiatric evaluation. She will return to the Kingstown Magistrateas Court on Monday, January 22.(LC)
[January 18, 2018]

LD Products Launches New Channel Partner Website

LONG BEACH, Calif., Jan. 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- LD Products, the world's #1 online aftermarket consumable retailer, is pleased to announce a comprehensive website to showcase and explain the business model behind their new disruptive toner cartridges for imaging dealers, resellers and managed print providers.

The new partner website can be viewed at: cpd.ldproducts.com

The site features a highly viewed educational video for dealers on LD's exclusive Gold Line of non-infringing, new build toner products that typically cost 20% less than leading remanufactured cartridges.

"We've tried to make the website educational, so buyers can quickly make an informed decision on why leading dealers are switching from OEM and Remanufactured toner to our new Gold Line alternatives," stated Christian Pepper, President of the LD Channel Partners Division. "The video on our home page is a must-see for dealers looking to grow their margins without sacrificing quality."

The LD Gold Line is the first North American toner line that combines a brand-new shell with the same top-quality components used in popular remanufactured cartridges. Engineered in Arizona by industry experts, the exclusive combination produces outstanding print quality nd performance in a commercial grade cartridge for 20% less than popular remanufactured alternatives.





Highlights of the new website include:

Educational Video on Non-Infringing, new build toner cartridges

Gold Line Toner Quality & Lifetime Guarantee

LD's Comprehensive Distribution Capabilities

Wholesale Cost-Per-Page Models

New Partner Growth Services Include:

5 On-Demand Sales Training Courses designed for new hires and seasoned sales professionals

Custom Dealer Website Services

Digital Marketing / Lead Generation

Interested parties are encouraged to visit the new website, view the video on the home page and contact their LD Channel Partner representative for more details:

About LD Products Channel Partners Division

LD Products' Channel Partner division offers the Gold Line of Non-Infringing New Build Compatible printer consumables exclusively to qualified dealers.

The Gold line is engineered in the USA and assembled by contract manufacturing partners in China. Packaging is unbranded, and resellers own logos and contact info is applied at point of sale by attaching a wraparound label detailing a picture of the cartridge inside, product info and delivery instructions.

The Gold line features a lifetime warranty and includes hassle-free cost coverage for resellers that must respond to onsite printer repairs caused by a faulty consumable. LD stands behind it's products and indemnifies its customers for infringement claims of U.S. Patents.

View original content with multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ld-products-launches-new-channel-partner-website-300584814.html

SOURCE LD Products
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.
During his freshman year at MIT, film director Larry Guterman found himself at an extremely loud party. The boisterous festivity left him with ringing in both ears for about a week -- ultimately pushing him to see a doctor.

I went to get checked, said Guterman, and they found some mild loss, about 35dB, in one of my ears, at 2kHz.

That first visit to the audiologist marked Gutermans hearing decline. Over the next few years, he experienced gradual hearing loss -- triggering him to try everything to keep his ears from getting worse.

I went to Mass. Eye and Ear in Boston, the House Group in Los Angeles, where they pioneered the cochlear implant, UCSD, UCSF, Stanford, etc.

After ruling out acoustic neuromas and Menieres disease, he continued, each doctor gave me a different diagnosis -- from cochlear otosclerosis, to autoimmune disease, to genetic or congenital causes with no treatment.

While Gutermans cause of hearing loss was uncertain, what was clear to him was he had to adapt to his condition -- something he admits was not easy.

I think some of the most anxiety-ridden situations I experienced included being in phone meetings, or being in business meetings at a restaurant or in a crowded environment, where it became harder to understand what others were saying. Work situations where there was critical information I needed to hear or process -- that was nerve-wracking, he said.

Despite the challenges he faced as a result of his impairment, Guterman managed to launch a successful career in the film industry. He has collaborated with Steven Spielberg and Ron Howard and worked on such projects as Antz and Cats & Dogs.

But as Gutermans career took off, he began to grow frustrated with the limitations of hearing devices.

I was starting to have trouble understanding on phone calls even with my hearing aids, he said. Id get feedback, they were awkward to use with headsets, etc. I tried several different hearing aids with streaming from the phone through streamers. But, I couldnt get the speech discrimination I needed and they were too expensive to buy just to use as regular hearing aids for ambient situations.

So, he continued, I started taking my hearing aids out and using earbuds to talk on the phone. The problem, of course, was that I wasnt getting any shaping of the speech signal and things sounded too muffled.

Guterman joined forces with Jody Winzelberg, AuD, former Chief of Audiology at Stanford Childrens Health, to create San Francisco-based SonicCloud, an app for iOS that puts hearing aid technology on the iPhone.

One of SonicCloud's investers is openly gay actor Sean Hayes -- who we all know as Jack from Will & Grace -- and who also stars in a funny commercial about the app.

Unlike sound amplifying apps that only work for in-person conversations and for mild hearing loss, SonicCloud can help people with severe hearing loss experience clear conversations over the phone. It is currently the only app that can customize sound on a phone call according to the unique needs of each person.

Our technology stack, Guterman said, includes much more than an app. Weve built a highly accurate hearing assessment tool, a cloud-based signal processing engine, and a fully functional, proprietary VoIP calling service that works not only on the phone (mobile), but also (currently in beta) on the desktop, and that uses the data captured by the hearing assessment tool to personalize audio on phone calls to the users unique hearing profile.

Guterman shares that while SonicClouds first product is in telephony, the company plans to expand and cover all things sound.

The SonicCloud app is available in the Apple App Store. You can learn more about the technology at www.soniccloud.com. And you can check out SonicClouds funny commercial with Sean Hayes at https://soniccloud.com/launch/.

Belo Cipriani is a disability advocate, an award-winning journalist, the prize-winning author of Blind: A Memoir and Midday Dreams, and the spokesperson for Guide Dogs for the Blind. Learn more at www.belocipriani.com.
When scientists searching for exoplanets -- worlds located beyond our solar system -- first spotted patterns in disks of dust and gas around young stars, they thought newly formed planets might be the cause.

But a recent NASA study cautions that there may be another explanation -- one that doesn't involve planets at all.

Exoplanet hunters watch stars for a few telltale signs that there might be planets in orbit, like changes in the color and brightness of the starlight. For young stars, which are often surrounded by disks of dust and gas, scientists look for patterns in the debris -- such as rings, arcs and spirals -- that might be caused by an orbiting world.

"We're exploring what we think is the leading alternative contender to the planet hypothesis, which is that the dust and gas in the disk form the patterns when they get hit by ultraviolet light," said Marc Kuchner, an astrophysicist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

Kuchner presented the findings of the new study on Thursday, Jan. 11, at the American Astronomical Society meeting in Washington. A paper describing the results has been submitted to The Astrophysical Journal.

When high-energy UV starlight hits dust grains, it strips away electrons. Those electrons collide with and heat nearby gas. As the gas warms, its pressure increases and it traps more dust, which in turn heats more gas. The resulting cycle, called the photoelectric instability (PeI), can work in tandem with other forces to create some of the features astronomers have previously associated with planets in debris disks.

Kuchner and his colleagues designed computer simulations to better understand these effects. The research was led by Alexander Richert, a doctoral student at Penn State in University Park, Pennsylvania, and includes Wladimir Lyra, a professor of astronomy at California State University, Northridge and research associate at NASA's Jet Propulstion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. The simulations were run on the Discover supercomputing cluster at the NASA Center for Climate Simulation at Goddard.

In 2013, Lyra and Kuchner suggested that PeI could explain the narrow rings seen in some disks. Their model also predicted that some disks would have arcs, or incomplete rings, which were first directly observed in 2016.

"People very often model these systems with planets, but if you want to know what a disk with a planet looks like, you first have to know what a disk looks like without a planet," Richert said.

Richert is lead author on the new study, which builds on Lyra and Kuchner's previous simulations by including an additional new factor: radiation pressure, a force caused by starlight striking dust grains.

Light exerts a minute physical force on everything it encounters. This radiation pressure propels solar sails and helps direct comet tails so they always point away from the Sun. The same force can push dust into highly eccentric orbits, and even blow some of the smaller grains out of the disk entirely.

The researchers modeled how radiation pressure and PeI work together to affect the movement of dust and gas. They also found that the two forces manifest different patterns depending on the physical properties of the dust and gas.

The 2013 simulations of PeI revealed how dust and gas interact to create rings and arcs, like those observed around the real star HD 141569A. With the inclusion of radiation pressure, the 2017 models show how these two factors can create spirals like those also observed around the same star. While planets can also cause these patterns, the new models show scientists should avoid jumping to conclusions.

"Carl Sagan used to say extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence," Lyra said. "I feel we are sometimes too quick to jump to the idea that the structures we see are caused by planets. That is what I consider an extraordinary claim. We need to rule out everything else before we claim that."

Kuchner and his colleagues said they would continue to factor other parameters into their simulations, like turbulence and different types of dust and gas. They also intend to model how these factors might contribute to pattern formation around different types of stars.

A NASA-funded citizen science project spearheaded by Kuchner, called Disk Detective, aims to discover more stars with debris disks. So far, participants have contributed more than 2.5 million classifications of potential disks. The data has already helped break new ground in this research.

Please follow SpaceRef on Twitter and Like us on Facebook.
Tony Morgan racked up five winners, including One To Draw To in one of the trio of feature races, on Thursday (Jan. 18) at Dover Downs. Sometimes Said recorded his fifth straight victory, while Never Say Never N won the other $14,500 Winners-Over pace.

One To Draw To had been racing successfully at Yonkers until recently and showed his stuff in the first co-feature race with Morgan in the bike, turning back seven foes in 1:52. Bill and John Emmons own the Major In Art-Straight Justice gelding who won for the 16th time in his career. Gerries Sport (Allan Davis) escaped from being locked in and closed strongly up the passing lane to finish second. Moonlightonthebeach (Russell Foster) took third money.

One race later, with Automatic Dragon scratched, Sometimes Said (Jonathan Roberts) started from the second tier in post 9, and rolled on to his fifth consecutive visit to the winners circle. Bobby Glassmeyer claimed the Well Said-Sometimes gelding for $12,500 four starts back and stepped him up to win two straight $25,000 claimers before advancing to the $14,000 Winners-Over level. His current win gives him 14 lifetime and $550,365 in earnings. Silver Fox J (Frank Milby) was second in front of Down On Mainstreet (Art Stafford, Jr.), third.

Earlier, Corey Callahan guided Tom Lazzaros Never Say Never N home in 1:51.4 to overpower a nine-horse field for an easy victory in a $14,500 pace. Jack Roger (Stafford) and Rat Tail (Montrell Teague) were second and third respectively. Dylan Davis trains Never Say Never N, a Bettors Delight-Maid In Splendor five-year-old.

Last week Cyclone Kiwi N was claimed for $35,000 by Bruce Soulsby, and this week Jeff Bamond, Jr. claimed him back at the same price in the first of two $25,000-$35,000 claiming handicaps. Corey Callahan drove the Jeremes Jet-Another Kiwi gelding from the outside to a pulverizing :25.3 first quarter and never looked back en route to a 1:51.3 score, his fourth straight and sixth win in his last seven along with a second. It was the New Zealand imports 21st victory, and he now has won $253,002 in purses. Whirl Monroe (Vic Kirby) finished second. Im Supersonic A (Sean Bier) was the show horse.

Tony Morgans fifth winning drive came behind 5-1 Ideal Fashion in a come-from-behind 1:50.4 victory, the fastest on the card. Western Young Gun (Eddie Davis Jr.) left fast and led until late in the stretch to finish second. Regalanthropist (Teague) hustled home for third. Brooks Gray conditions the American Ideal-BJs Sunshine gelding for Ronald Davis. It was his 20th lifetime win and a winner of $226,309 in earnings.

(Dover Downs)
After an accident in the summer of 2017 left him nearly paralyzed, former driver Stephane Bouchard will return to the harness racing world but employed in a new capacity.

Bouchard has signed an agreement to serve as a U.S. Trotting Association ID Technician, covering the upstate New York and New England territories, areas that were previously serviced by Keith Hamilton for 43 years. After he receives training in late February, Bouchard is expected to be fully operational on or about March 1, 2018.

A native of Montreal, Quebec, who now resides in Malta, N.Y., near Saratoga Springs, Bouchard had a very successful driving career and also served on the USTA Board of Directors representing District 8-A for three years starting in 2009.

Bouchards first experience with horses was at age 10 when he followed in his fathers footsteps as a barrel racer in Canada.

His introduction to harness racing, while he was a college student at St-Hubert, came as a regular attendee of the races at Hippodrome Blue Bonnets in Montreal. It was there that he approached trainer Pierre Touchette to ask for his first job in harness racing.

After working for Touchette and later Jean-Paul Gauthier, he was first licensed to drive in 1989 when he got his career off to a fast start by winning 28 of 101 races and recording a .404 UDR in his rookie year.

During his career, Bouchard drove in Canada, Italy and Germany, but came into prominence when he moved to New York and was a top driver at Yonkers and Monticello Raceways.

Among his career highlights that included 8,589 trips to the winners circle and more than $75 million in purse earnings, Bouchard was the leading driver in North America with 656 wins in 2003. Also, in 2000, Bouchard was named the recipient of the U.S. Harness Writers Associations Rising Star Award and in 2001, he won the Harness Tracks of Americas Driver of the Year Award.

Bouchard retired from driving after suffering a significant neck injury in a racing accident at Saratoga Casino Hotel on June 22, 2017.

For ID technician services in the upstate New York and New England area, Bouchard can be contacted by calling 914.656.0869.

(USTA)
The Florida Chapter of the United States Harness Writers Association has announced the Hall of Fame inductees for 2018 and the annual award winners for the 2017 harness racing season.

The three inductees will be honoured at the association's 27th annual Florida Harness Racing Hall of Fame Awards Dinner on Friday, March 2, 2018 at the Royal Fiesta Catering Ballroom in Deerfield Beach.

Elected to the chapter's Hall of Fame, which recognizes special individuals who have been outstanding leaders within the industry for more than ten years who have contributed to the betterment of the Standardbred Industry, are owner, trainer and driver, Dan Daley of Vero Beach, trainer/driver Warren Harp of Bell, and renowned second trainer, Odell Thompson, of Lauderdale Lakes.

Elected to the Communicators Corner of the Florida Harness Racing Hall of Fame is renowned author, owner and publicist Victoria Howard, of Boca Raton.

The William Popfinger Award for developing outstanding juvenile pacers goes for the second time to trainer Kim Sears of Osteen.

The Stanley Dancer Award, which recognizes achievements of a trainer who has been continuously outstanding in the development of young trotters, goes for the first time to trainer-driver Jason MacDougall of Astor.

Winner of the Delvin G. Miller Award, which recognizes someone or an organization whose life in harness racing reflects dedication and integrity furthering the growth of the sport goes to Elizabeth Hennessey Schaut of Pompano Beach.

The Frances Dodge Van Lennep Award, which recognizes an outstanding female who has made great contributions to the sport goes to Kathy Breedlove of Pompano Beach.

The winner of the Allen J. Finkelson Award recognizes an individual in the sport who has contributed to the positive promotion of the Standardbred industry and being honoured this year is amateur driving champion Dein Spriggs of Jupiter.

The Peter Haughton Award, which goes to an upcoming young driver at the Pompano Park meet goes to James JD Yoder of Bell.

The winner of the Dana Irving Award for breeding excellent juvenile performers in 2017 goes for the first time to Marianne and Maggie Audley of Gold Star Farm in Bell.

The Dan Gawlas Good Guy Award, presented annually to an outstanding individual who has always contributed positively to the sport, goes to FSBOA President and amateur driver Joe Pennacchio of Delray Beach.

The Florida USHWA Chapter's Lifetime Achievement Award goes to longtime trainer/driver Tom Merriman of Delray Beach and caretaker, racetrack maintenance man, Emmitt Davis of Pompano Beach.

The annual Caretaker of the Year Award is presented to an outstanding individual who, over his or her career, has dedicated untiring time and efforts caring for the horses in the stable(s) they worked for. This year's winner is Joanie Uszak from the Mike Murphy Stable, who has been grooming horses for nearly 60 years.

Tickets are $80 per person for the full course dinner that begins at 6:30 p.m. with a one-hour open bar with appetizers. Tables of ten are available. There is free parking at Royal Fiesta Catering, located in the Cove off Hillsboro Blvd at 1680 SE 3rd Court, Deerfield Beach, FL 33441.

For more information, to purchase tickets, or place a congratulatory ad in the program book, please contact Steven Wolf at 954-654-3757 or email [email protected].

(with files from the Florida Chapter of USHWA)
Judicial Watch: New Documents Reveal More Instances of Classified Information on Hillary Clinton's Unsecure, Non-'State.gov' System

Emails Reveal Clinton Had Extensive Knowledge of the Operation and Security Issues with Her Non-'State.gov' Email System



Contact: Jill Farrell, Judicial Watch, 202-646-5172



WASHINGTON, Jan. 19, 2018 /Standard Newswire/ -- Judicial Watch today released 78 pages of new documents from the U.S. Department of State containing emails of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sent and received over her unsecure, non-"state.gov" email system. Three of the email exchanges include classified information. The emails also reveal that Clinton had detailed knowledge about the security issues with in her non-State Department email system.



On March 8, 2011, Hillary Clinton sent classified information regarding Bahrain to Justin Cooper, who reportedly had no security clearance, with instructions to show it to Bill Clinton. Cooper was the Bill Clinton aide, who asked State Department IT specialist Bryan Pagliano to build a server for Mrs. Clinton in early 2009 as she started her new job as Secretary of State.



On August 24, 2010, Clinton emailed Cooper additional classified information to print, including the secretary's call sheet for Indian Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee.



In a February 13, 2010, email exchange, Hillary Clinton passed along classified information to Cooper, which originally was sent to Cheryl Mills (Clinton's then-chief of staff) by U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Carlos Pascual. The classified information included a note from Mexican Foreign Secretary Patricia Espinosa to Hillary Clinton. In the email to Cooper, Clinton asks him to "look for Espinosa's note and respond."



The documents are part of the accelerated schedule of production ordered by U.S. District Court Judge James E. Boasberg, which requires the State Department to complete processing by September 28, 2018 the remaining documents of the 72,000 pages recovered by the FBI in its investigation into Hillary Clinton's illicit email server. These new classified and other emails appear to be among those that Clinton had attempted to delete or had otherwise failed to disclose.



Judge Boasberg's November 30, 2017, order came in a Judicial Watch Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit filed on May 6, 2015, (Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of State (No. 1:15-cv-00687)) seeking:

All emails sent or received by former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in her official capacity as Secretary of State, as well as all emails by other State Department employees to Secretary Clinton regarding her non-"state.gov" email address.

The newly released documents also reveal Hillary Clinton's knowledge of system vulnerabilities; Cooper giving computer security advice; and foreign policy advice from Sidney Blumenthal, who was rejected by the Obama administration for a position at the State Department:

The emails reveal that Hillary Clinton was warned about "overseas" and other security issues concerning her emails and her personal BlackBerrys. An email from Cooper to Clinton on June 6, 2011 states:

MORE: www.judicialwatch.org/press-room/press-releases/judicial-watch-new-documents-reveal-instances-classified-information-hillary-clintons-unsecure-non-state-gov-system/
Saiga antelopes have been roaming Central Asia since the time of the woolly mammoth. But now, total extinction may be on the horizon. Scientists were dumbfounded to see nearly two-thirds of the global saiga population  about 200,000 antilopes  wiped out in a few weeks. Now scientists have found that the antilopes were killed by a MUTANT bacteria  usually harmless in the animals bodies -, which fatally altered during 10 days of high heat and humidity preceding the deaths.

From there, the bacteria entered the bloodstream, causing a disease known as hemorrhagic septicemia, which is so toxic and so devastating that the animal doesnt show a lot of pathology actually. Suddenly theyd start looking a little bit unhappy and stop feeding. Within about three hours they die.

Only 30,000 saigas in Kazakhstan survived, likely because they were outside the area of high heat and humidity. But they might not be so lucky if such an event occurs again. And this apocalyptic scenario is very, very likely given that mass die-offs of saigas also occurred in 1981 and 1988.

The most terrible is that little can be done to prevent die-offs linked to weather It is verry hard to forecast and when we are sure its almost always too late!

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The Sacred City Of Anuradhapura, and the Rock Carvings in ThanthirimaleAnuradhapura is one of two ancient Buddhist cities in Sri Lanka; the second one is our next destination, Polonnaruwa.The old city of Anuradhapura has many ponds, reservoirs and lakes, with many giant stupas and temples situated among green forests and rock-strewn pathways.To visit it, you must pay an entry fee to the entire area, and then you can hire a scooter, a bicycle or a car to tour the many monuments.You must remove your shoes and hat before entering each of the temples and stupas.The pathway stones are often very hot, which does not allow lingering, unless you find a space in the shade from which to observe, or sit to pray among the locals.I will not enumerate here all the names of the stupas to visit and the temples to see.If you plan to visit, you can get a local map that details all the names and their significance.The stupas are called Dagabas in Sinhalese. Anuradhapuras greatest treasures are its Dagabas, which are constructed of small sun-dried bricks and are hemispherical in shape.The most notable of these Dagabas are the Ruvanveli, the Jetawanarama, and the Thuparama Dagabas.The Ruvanveli Dagaba dates back to the 2nd Century BC.It is 300 feet in diameter.The Jetawanarama Dagaba is 400 feet in diameter, and is made of 93.3 million bricks.It was constructed around the years 277 to 304 AD.It is said that at that time, 10,000 Buddhist monks lived in the area surrounding it.The Thuparama Dagaba, which is not as large as the others, is the oldest dagoba in Sri Lanka.It was constructed by King Devanampiya Tissa in the 3rd century BC, and is said to enshrine the right collarbone of the Buddha.The stupa is surrounded by many stone pillars, some of them now leaning sideways.The tall stone pillars might have been constructed to provide shade around the stupa, for the many worshippers who came here.The city's most renowned relic is the sacred Bodhi-Tree, which is said to have grown from a branch cutting of the original tree under which the Buddha gained enlightenment.It was planted here 2250 years ago, and is surrounded by an elevated platform with four gates.Visitors can enter the courtyard and sit under the shade of other trees to pray or meditate, but entrance to the tree is not allowed, for fear of damage to the tree by the many visitors.There are numerous other temples and stupas to visit.In one small stupa near the biggest white sitting Buddha in the city, towering high above the canopy of the forest, we were shown their version of Heaven.The friendly attendant took us around the inside of the stupa, which had wall paintings of the life of the Buddha and his healing miracles.At the completion of the circle, he had us stand in a dark cubicle in front of a glass screen.Then he deposited a ten rupee coin into the box and the lights inside started shining in bright colors.We saw inside glowing flowers, colorfully lit Buddhist deities and the whole thing was over in the blink of an eye.He then deposited another coin and we got a second glimpse of the Tushita, the Buddhist Heaven.Tushita is the Buddhist Heaven which all Bodhisattvas are destined to reach after entering into full enlightenment.We had lunch at a local restaurant serving Sri Lankan food and attended only by locals.In Sri Lanka there are restaurants catering only for tourists.Even though their food is good and you are guaranteed to sit in an air conditioned room, it was nice to try Sri Lankan food that was not toned down for the tourist palate.We ate red rice topped with a variety of vegetable curries.There was a delicious beet curry, Okra curry, long beans curry, a yellow dhal made of yellow lentils and mungbeans, a delicious Sri Lankan speciality of coconut Sambal, and green leaves which are sliced with onion and eaten as a green garnish.Our driver ate with his hand, as all Sinhalese do.He showed me how to do it, guiding the food into your mouth with your thumb, but I knew I could not do it without making a mess of my pants and spilling food all over the floor and onto the table around me, so I stuck to eating with a spoon.We found an ice cream parlor and had some ice cream, before driving north to Thanthirimale.About an hours drive north of Anuradhapura are the amazing rock formations of Thanthirimale, (the full name is Thanthirimale Rajamaha Viharaya).Thanthirimale temple complex, which includes a stone library, ponds, a Bodhi tree and rock carving, are all built on vast natural stone rocks which meander as far as the eye can see.The temple was built in the third century BC.It is believed that the Bodhi tree that is growing in the rocks here, is a cutting of a cutting of the tree under which the Buddha achieved full enlightenment.It is said that when the cutting was brought from India to Sri Lanka, the monks rested here along their way to Anuradhapura.The pot containing the sapling was kept at Thanthirimale.It is believed that one branch separated and grew out from the pot overnight.It was taken as a sign and planted here, to remember the incident.The Bodhi Tree is growing on top of a large stone platform, and a central part of the tree is completely wrapped in silk.It looks a bit like a mummified person, but at least we were able to get fairly close to it.tThe walk on the big rocks was surprisingly easy.Even though all the signs were in Sinhalese, we roamed around the rocks and found the carved sitting Buddha, as well as a large reclining Buddha carved into the rocks.This place had fallen into ruins, and was undiscovered and unidentified until the beginning of the 19th century.In the 1960s, the temple was reestablished by local Buddhist monks.The temple and surrounding area are full of ruins, including several stone ponds and lovely walkways.There is also an archaeological Museum on the grounds, but it was already closed when we arrived at Thanthirimale.A few wild peacocks took off into the air while we were there.It is magical to see a flying peacock, with its colorful iridescent tail spreading in the wind...Back at our hotel, since they have a tiny restaurant serving only hotel guests, they asked us to order our dinner before we left for the day.We had ordered ahead the Sri Lankan curry dinner spread.It turned out to be exactly the same meal that we had eaten for lunch, with beet curry, long beans, dhal, coconut Sambal and rice, but because it was so tasty, I did not mind.We were again very tired by the end of the day, and I was grateful for the hot shower and the clean sheets of the bed.Wishing you a wonderful night/day,Tali
Alexander Moiseev has been appointed the Chief Business Officer (CBO) of Kaspersky Lab, stepping up from his previous Chief Sales Officer (CSO) role. The newly created position sees Moiseev take the lead for sales and marketing globally, reporting directly to Chief Executive Officer and chairman, Eugene Kaspersky.

Mr Kaspersky said the creation of the CBO role  which adds to Moiseevs existing responsibilities  is an important step for the company strategically as it seeks to strengthen its position in established markets and build on recent growth in fledgling markets.

Eugene Kaspersky said, During his twelve years with our company Alex has established himself as a trusted and passionate leader. Entrepreneurialism, resilience and a winning mentality have characterized his career and personality to date. Using these same qualities, Alex has helped Kaspersky Lab navigate the most turbulent periods in our 20-year history. Im sure that in his new role he will remain one of the main driving forces of the companys commercial success. I wish him best of luck.

Alexander Moiseev said, said, Kaspersky Lab is a remarkable company. Year on year, we continue to develop world-leading cybersecurity technologies and intelligent solutions to fuel our innovative and fast-growing products and services portfolios. The chance to further grow our business and reward the intelligence and hard work of our research and development teams is what excites me most about this role. As a 20-year-old, respected industry veteran, with an insatiable thirst for innovation, Kaspersky Lab is ideally placed to meet the fast-growing cybersecurity demands of businesses, governments and individuals alike  now and into the future.

Moiseev joined Kaspersky Lab in 2006 as Business Development Manager before earning a promotion to Managing Director of Kaspersky Lab, Italy in April 2008. He was subsequently promoted to Managing Director of Europe, spending three years in the role, before being appointed Chief Sales Officer in July 2016.

Moiseevs appointment is effective immediately.

@Technuter.com News Service
Motorola announced the opening of 50 new Moto Hubs in New Delhi to further its retail presence. Moto Hub is a key destination for consumers to experience the latest Motorola technology and get a hands-on demo of the entire product portfolio, in a fun, easy to access setup that is conveniently located at consumer hangout areas.

Delhi has emerged as one of the biggest markets for the smartphone industry and the same is true for Motorola. As per GKF, out of the total estimated sales of 7 million units per month, Delhi contributes 8-9% to the total sales, necessitating the need for Motorola to be accessible across the city and hence the augmented presence.

Sudhin Mathur, Managing Director, Motorola Mobility India said, Offering premium customer experiences is a pillar of our strategy. More than two-thirds of the smartphone customers make their purchase at retail, however, while there is access; experience has been a pain point for most of the buyers. Moto Hub addresses this need of customers by offering a platform to interact, engage and purchase. Encouraged by the customer response, we have accelerated the retail expansion significantly to ensure that we are present where our customers want us to be.

As part of the strategy to consolidate its offline presence, earlier in December 2017, Motorola had announced a strategic partnership with Poorvika Mobiles across 43 cities in Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry and Karnataka and with Big C and Lot Mobile stores across 55 cities in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana to provide easy access to customers to experience the wide range of Motorola products.

The Moto Hub store will house the entire portfolio of Motorola devices, including the online exclusives such as Moto X4 and Moto MODs. They will also house Motorola accessories like on-ear and in-ear headphones, moto shells and covers.

@Technuter.com News Service
Arizona Diamondbacks outfielder Yasmany Tomas was arrested Thursday in Arizona for reckless driving and criminal speeding, after allegedly driving 105 mph on Loop 101 in Tempe.

Heres more on the story, from AZ Central:

Tomas was pulled over in a 2015 black Mercedes S550 coupe on the Loop 101 northbound at Baseline Road by a DPS motorcycle trooper at 9:25 a.m., DPS said. Tomas was arrested and booked into the Fourth Avenue Jail in Phoenix, DPS said. Tomas car was impounded, officials added.

The Diamondbacks released a statement about the news:

We are very disappointed to learn of this news. We are still gathering facts, and will refrain from further comment at this time as this is a pending legal matter.

It seems unlikely that Tomas, 27, will be suspended, but thats probably about the least of the Diamondbacks concerns here.

After signing a six-year, $68.5 million deal with the Diamondbacks out of Cuba in 2014, Tomas has been a bust. His offensive production has been decent, with 48 homers and a .769 OPS over his three seasons, but he needs to hit *a lot* to have any value. Thats because his defense is very bad, and in the corner outfield (left and right field); most every corner outfielder is a productive hitter. Use Tomas 2016 season as a perfect example: he hit 31 homers, had an .820 OPS and was worth negative-0.4 WAR  and negative-2.2 over the three seasons  because of how awful his defensive value was (he was worth negative-16 defensive runs saved).

And the worst part of Tomas contract is that the biggest dollars are still to come. Hes owed $13.5 million in 2018, $15.5 million in 2019, and $17 million in 2020. The Diamondbacks have had some hope of trading Tomas, but its hard to imagine any team wanting anything to do with this contract, and especially now that the guy was just arrested.

So, a bad contract continues to only get worse for the Diamondbacks, and theyre probably stuck with it for three more years.

[AZ Central]
Threat from nukes, other weapons, gathers force: UN Chief

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres addresses the United Nations Security Council on Thursday.

AP, United Nations :

Russia's foreign minister warned Thursday that a failure of the Iran nuclear deal, especially as a result of action by the Trump administration, would send "an alarming message" to North Korea and impact all international agreements.

Sergey Lavrov took aim at President Donald Trump at a U.N. Security Council meeting on confidence-building measures to tackle the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, saying that "we cannot for the benefit of political agendas of certain countries abandon a genuine achievement of international diplomacy."

Last Friday, Trump kept alive the Iran agreement, which has won international praise including from U.S. allies, by extending sanctions waivers. But the president warned that the U.S. would pull out in a few months unless "terrible flaws" in the deal are fixed.

Lavrov and others worry that a U.S. pullout from the 2015 deal could mean that Washington cannot be trusted to keep agreements, which could harm any future efforts to get North Korea to abandon nuclear weapons.

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres opened Thursday's meeting warning that the threat from weapons of mass destruction "seems to be gathering force."

He urged expanded diplomatic efforts to tackle what he called the greatest security challenge in the world today - North Korea.

The international community must build on the "small signs of hope" from the recent contacts between the two Koreas to pursue diplomacy and denuclearize the Korean Peninsula, the U.N. chief said.

"Global anxieties about nuclear weapons are the highest since the Cold War," Guterres said. "I remain deeply concerned over the growing risk of military confrontation and the unimaginable consequences that would result."

China's deputy U.N. ambassador, Wu Haitao, urged all countries to "reject Cold War mentality" and commit to peaceful solutions, including on the Korean Peninsula where he pointed to "some positive changes" emerging.

"All parties should make concerted efforts to extend this hard-won momentum of reduced tension, create conditions for relaunching dialogue and negotiation and return the nuclear issue of the Korean Peninsula to the correct track of dialogue and negotiation," Wu said.

The council meeting was organized by Kazakhstan, which holds the council presidency this month and which after the 1991 breakup of the Soviet Union decided to relinquish the world's fourth-largest nuclear arsenal.

President Nursultan Nazarbayev, who chaired the council meeting, called on North Korea's leaders to follow his country's path.

"We have built and strengthened our independent country, achieved its high international reputation by renouncing nuclear weapons and obtaining non-aggression safeguards from nuclear powers," he said.

Nazarbayev called for the five nuclear powers - the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France - to give North Korea security guarantees "as an important condition for creating an atmosphere of trust and Pyongyang's return to the negotiation table."

He said the issue of North Korea's pursuit of nuclear weapons "can be resolved by restoring trust among the United States, Russia and China."

Secretary-General Guterres also expressed concern that trust between Moscow and Washington "continues to ebb" on nuclear and other issues including "vital strategic arms reduction measures established during and after the Cold War."

But there was no sign of warming relations between the U.S. and Russia during the meeting.

U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley told the council the regimes that most threaten the world today with weapons of mass destruction - North Korea, Iran and Syria, which all have good relations with Moscow - also deny their people human rights, promote conflict and regional instability and "aid terrorists and militant groups."

North Korea poses the greatest threat to nuclear proliferation and is continuing "its reckless pursuit of nuclear weapons ... while its people starve and to threaten other nations while intimidating its own citizens," she said.

As for Iran, Haley said "the regime in Tehran is the leading cause of instability in an unstable part of the world." She pointed to its support for "terrorists, proxy militants and murderers like Bashar Assad," the Syrian president.

Haley said the international community must respond to Iran's "dangerous violations" of its obligations in the U.N. resolution endorsing the nuclear deal, "not because we want the nuclear deal to fail, but because we want the cause of nonproliferation to succeed."

By contrast, Kazakhstan's Nazarbayev and China's Wu touted the Iran nuclear deal as a model for future agreements. And Russia's Lavrov said its failure "would be an alarming message for the entire international community architecture including the prospects for dealing with the nuclear problem on the Korean Peninsula."

The U.S. and Russia also sparred over chemical weapons in Syria.

Haley accused Russia of vetoing three council resolutions and preventing the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons from holding Assad's government accountable for the use of chemical weapons in Syria.

Lavrov accused the U.S. and some other Western nations of "advancing baseless accusations against Damascus" and blocking Russian resolutions "to condemn specific instances of chemical terrorism in Syria."

He said Russia is "gravely concerned about the growing threat of chemical terrorism in the Middle East, specifically on the territories of Iraq and Syria" which can spill over beyond the region.

"Militants not only are using processed chemicals but they also have their own technological and manufacturing capacities to synthesize full-fledged military toxic substances," he warned.




2017 was among the planet`s hottest years on record

The Washington Post :

2017 was among the hottest years ever recorded, government scientists reported Thursday.

The year was the second-hottest in recorded history, NASA said, while scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported 2017 was the third-warmest they have ever recorded.

The two government agencies use different methodologies to calculate global temperatures, but by either standard, the 2017 results make the past four years the hottest period in their 138-year archive.

"The planet is warming remarkably uniformly," Gavin Schmidt, director of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, told reporters Thursday.

The renewed evidence of climate change, driven by human emissions of greenhouse gases, comes as the Trump administration moves to open new areas for oil drilling and rolls back regulations that sought to reduce global warming, most prominently by moving to repeal the Obama administration's Clean Power Plan. The administration said it would withdraw from the Paris climate agreement last year.

This has prompted a counter-reaction - with some states, like California, doubling down on climate policies, such as the state's cap-and-trade system - but the fact remains that it is far from clear at the moment whether a recent trend of slowly declining U.S. greenhouse gas emissions will continue. In 2018, the U.S. Energy Information Administration just predicted, emissions should actually rise by about 1.7 percent.

"The climate has changed and is always changing," said White House principal deputy press secretary Raj Shah in a statement in response to the new temperature findings. "To address climate change as well as other risks, the U.S. will continue to promote access to affordable and reliable energy and support technology, innovation and the development of modern and efficient infrastructure in order to reduce emissions and effectively address future climate related risks."




NARAYANGANJ: A Doa Mahfil marking the 10th death anniversary of mother of BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia Toyoba Mojumder was held at a residence of BNP leader in Narayanganj on Thursday .
One of Dhaka militant suspects from Ctg

Chittagong Bureau :

Police have confirmed one of the three suspects killed by RAB in an anti-militancy drive on a house in Dhaka's Nakhalparha is a schoolboy from Chittagong.

Officials of Chittagong Metropolitan Police's Detective Branch identified the suspect as Nafis Ul Islam after RAB released photos of two suspects, seeking information about them on Thursday.

CMP DB Additional Deputy Commissioner AAM Humayun Kabir told that Nafis' father Nazrul Islam filed a general diary with the police on Oct 7 last year to report that his son had gone missing.

The search for Nafis led to the detection of a suspected militant hideout in the port city's Madarbarhi on Jan 1 and the arrest of two 'members' of banned outfit Jama'atul Majiheedin Bangladesh or JMB, the detective said.According to him, Nafis, an eighth grader of Kazim Ali High School, lived with his family in an area near Chittagong College. His father said in the GD Nafis went missing after leaving home on Oct 6.The attackers of Holey Artisan Bakery in Dhaka's Gulshan were also students and had gone missing after leaving home.Until now, two of the three killed in the Jan 12 RAB raid in Dhaka's Nakhalparha have been identifiedy.


Introduction of ESLS system in the offing

Chittagong Bueau :

Government has decided to introduce the cargo security system for containers transported between Chittagong Port and 16 inland container depots (ICDs) from November 29 last but following the objections of the stakeholders the process was suspended for the time being.

But the authorities are adamant to implement the Electronic Seal and Lock Service (ESLS) for all cargoes between production supply chain to sea ports, the officials are waiting for a green signal from the exporters. But the influential trade bodies Bangladesh Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industries (DCCI) and Federation of Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FBCCI have raised objection to the use of cargo security system.

The plan to enforce electronic seals for import and export containers was in a bid to ensure cargo security and avert revenue loss, theft, smuggling, dumping and terrorism under international maritime laws has been postponed for indefinite period after objections raised by the exporters associations.

The government decided to postpone the decision to implement and asked the NBR Chairman to review whether the electronic locking system would cause loss to the exporters in terms delay and financial implication after consultations with the trade bodies and port users. The NBR chairman Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan is yet to review the matter, official sources said. Earlier, NBR has passed a regulations named "Electronic Seal and Services Policy 2017".

The Chittagong Customs House in an internal memo recently stressed upon the electronic seals of cargoes to ensure loss of revenue of containers in the Chittagong port. To implement the ESLS policy, a joint meeting at Chittagong Customs House with the customs and Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) senior officials and stakeholders of C&F Agents Association, Bangladesh Shipping Agents Association, Bangladesh Freight Forwards Association and Bangladesh Inland Containers Depot Association held last year..

It was mooted that the customs department would implement the policy and the stakeholders expressed their eagerness to accept ESLS. The CPA in a notification earlier announced that they would implement Electronic Cargo and Container Security Management (ECCSM) from November 29, 2017, but had to postpone due to strict opposition by the trade bodies, official sources said.

The notification mentions that the electronic seal of containers will have to be conducted in the port and at the exporters production supply chain. The CPA suggested for a monitoring cell and control room to supervise the locking/unlocking of the containers at the port, a ctg port users sources said.


Expansion of science edn stressed

City Desk :

Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid said science education should be attracted to create knowledge-based society aiming at transforming Bangladesh into an economically developed country.

"The country will no longer import knowledge and technology.... We want to gain capacity for exporting knowledge and technology," he said this on Thursday while speaking at a function organised at Tejgaon Government Science College in the city, an official press release said.

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan and Director General of Directorate of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Prof Md Mahabubur Rahman, among others, addressed the function with Principal of the college Bonomali Mohan Bhattacharya in the chair.

In an effort to promote science education, Nahid said, the government has taken special initiatives to attract more students into science aiming to generate new knowledge.

"We are offering special facilities for meritorious teachers to improve quality of education.


Trump is also a German un-American immigrant

A YEAR into the Trump presidency, he has set an unprecedented record of displaying the highest form of revulsion against immigrants. Having imposed an immigration and travel ban on a number of Middle Eastern countries, especially Muslims last year once more he has balked at an immigration deal that would include protections for people from Haiti and some nations in Africa last week.

Ironically and also deliberately he keeps forgetting that if his grandfather Frederick Trump hadn't emigrated from Germany in 1885 - his fate and identity would have been completely different today. The more he lashes out against the immigrants; he actually lashes out against his own blood.

However, Mr. Trump has often guised his racial prejudices and anti-immigrant remarks in the name of 'merit-based immigration' which would make America stronger. But hasn't countless immigrants living in America for decades played a vital role in establishing America as one of the strongest nation on earth? On a broader scale - hasn't all immigrants contributed to what is America today?

Mr. Trump has also branded a number of poor developing countries by using a filthy slang consisting of eight words. His vulgar language on a delicate issue as immigration now leaves the fate of the broader immigration debate in limbo and has the potential to sink the chances of achieving the deal being sought to protect about 800,000 undocumented immigrants brought to America as children. He has once more proved to be the only racist US President who does not share the values enshrined in the US Constitution or Declaration of Independence.

He must apologize to the countries he has insulted and refrain from exhibiting vulgar personal opinions - in the three years left to his presidential term.

Mr. Trump has nothing more than his racist views to guide him as he tries to reform US immigration.

But he conveniently forgets his grand parents came to USA as immigrants. He is the most un-American immigrant from Germany and the decent Americans would do well by sending him back to Germany. The question is when an immigrant can claim other people's country as his.




Fake freedom fighters for good business

THOUGH 47 years have gone after the independence, the nation is still hovering in defining 'freedom fighter' and the minimum age of them that allowed the successive governments in the years to retype and enlarge the freedom fighters' list and lowering their age limit to encompass partisan people again and again. As per news media, the latest step in this regard was taken by the Ministry of Liberation War Affairs (MoLWA) on Wednesday lowering the minimum age at 12-and-a-half years to make a person eligible for earning the status of a freedom fighter. Who assumed in power usually changes the definition of freedom fighter and so far it has happened 10 times earlier and their list has also been changed six times since the independence. It is a matter of disgrace, the Constitution and the state policies of the country are derived from the spirit of the gallantry nine-month long blood-strain liberation war, but the definition of freedom fighters is still matter of dispute. And an undisputed list is yet to be prepared.

The decision to reduce the age limit was made at the 50th meeting of Jatiya Muktijoddha Council (JMC) on October 19 last year. This is the third time the minimum age limit has been revised. Under the revised age limit, people who were aged at least 12 years 6 months on November 30, 1971 will be eligible for applying for the status. Despite, the Minister AKM Mozammel Huq's opposition, the decision to lower the age limit was reached under pressure from an influential Minister and a former State Minister. Earlier on June 19 last year, the Ministry issued a gazette fixing 13 years as the minimum age for being recognised as a freedom fighter. The Ministry at that time revised the date of counting the minimum age to November 30, 1971 from March 26, 1971.

There are some 2.32 lakh enlisted freedom fighters in the country now, up from 1.98 lakh in 2002 as per a gazette published by the then BNP-Jamaat government. Besides, the Ministry is now scrutinizing around 1.33 lakh applications for getting listed as freedom fighters. At present, 1.84 lakh freedom fighters draw a monthly allowance of Tk 10,000 each. Their children and grandchildren have a 30 percent quota in government jobs and special quotas in public schools, colleges and universities.

Recently, the Parliament was told that many fake freedom fighters were still enjoying government allowances for the war veterans. It is shameful and regretful for the nation that those who are not freedom fighters are still included in the freedom fighters' list and getting allowances.

Please stop defining freedom fighters to increase the number of fake freedom fighters. No less true freedom fighters were the people who gave their lives in the hands of brutal Pakistan army without leaving the country. But in some quarters those who left for India are recognised as freedom fighters in their group interest. This is distorting history.


2nd phase of Ijtema begins

Thousands of devotees offered Juma prayer on the first day of second phase Biswa Ijtema on the bank of River Turag at Tongi.

Staff Reporter :

The 2nd phase of the 53rd Bishwa Ijtema began on the bank of the River Turag at Tongi with the participation of thousands of devotees from home and abroad after Fajr prayers on Friday.

The Ijtema, the second largest assembly of the Muslims after the Holy Hajj, began with 'a'm bayan' (general sermons) by Bangladeshi Maulana Mohammad Faruk.

Hafez Mohammad Jubayer gave sermons after Jumma prayers. Gazipur Deputy Commissioner (DC) Dr Mohammad Humayun Kabir said: "At least 75 agencies are working together to make the second phase a success."

The second phase of the Ijtema will end with the 'Akheri Munajat' (concluding prayers) on January 21 (Sunday).

A seven-tier security measures have been devised to ensure security of the Muslim devotees.

Besides, special measures have been taken to facilitate the movement of the devotees.

Around 50 closed circuit cameras have been installed in and around the venue to monitor the Ijtema ground and the adjoining areas. On January 14, the first phase of Ijtema ended with the Akheri Munajat, concluding prayers, seeking world peace, stability and divine blessings for mankind and the Muslim Ummah.

This is the first time that the Ijtema prayer is being conducted in Bangla. Ijtema was conducted by India preachers the previous years. Indian preacher Maulana Muhammad Saad Khandhalvi came to Bangladesh to join the 53rd round of Bishwa Ijtema, the second largest assembly of the Muslims across the world.

But, Maulana Saad returned to his country after he was barred from joining Biswa Ijtema.

Tablig Jamaat has been organising the Biswa Ijtema on the bank of Turag river since 1967. Now, Ijtema is being held in two phases since 2011 to ease the accommodation problem.
UN rights envoy in C`Bazar to meet Rohingyas

UNB, Cox's Bazar :

Visiting UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Myanmar Yanghee Lee arrived here on Friday afternoon on a three-day visit to see rights situation of Rohingyas living in the district.

She arrived here around 2:30pm but there have been no activities on the day as her lone meeting with the DC was postponed.

Lee, who arrived here on Thursday on a weeklong visit vowing to fulfill her mandate despite the Myanmar government's refusal

to work with her, will visit Rohingya camps from Saturday to meet with Rohingyas and community leaders.

The Special Rapporteur, after her Bangladesh visit until January 24, will visit Thailand where she will stay till January 30.

In Thailand, she will visit Bangkok, Mae Sot and Chiang Mai, according to a statement UNB received here from Geneva on Tuesday.

"The government (of Myanmar) has accused me of bias, while at the same time denying that human rights violations have taken place in Myanmar," Lee said. "I would ask the authorities to rethink their position, and to put the victims first.

The UN envoy said she is determined to carry on - to the best of her ability - this very important task of helping the victims of human rights violations and abuses in Myanmar, as mandated to her by the United Nations system.

"I have a responsibility to speak on behalf of these victims, and I will not be deterred. This is why I am going ahead to visit neighbouring countries to reach out as far as possible to all victims and witnesses to learn of their experience."

Following her visit, the human rights experts will present a report to the Human Rights Council in March 2018.

Yanghee Lee was appointed by the UN Human Rights Council in 2014 as the Special Rapporteur on situation of human rights in Myanmar.

She is independent from any government or organisation and serves in her individual capacity.
Impunity endures for rights violations in BD

HRW News, New York :

Bangladesh authorities failed to respond to repeated and serious allegations of secret detentions, enforced disappearances, and extrajudicial killings, denying the abuses instead of holding perpetrators accountable, Human Rights Watch said in its World Report 2018. Although the government did not refoul Rohingya refugees seeking sanctuary from across the Burmese border, Bangladeshi citizens themselves saw no reprieve in their quest for justice.

In the 643-page World Report, its 28th edition, Human Rights Watch reviews human rights practices in more than 90 countries.

In his introductory essay, Executive Director Kenneth Roth writes that political leaders willing to stand up for human rights principles showed that it is possible to limit authoritarian populist agendas. When combined with mobilized publics and effective multilateral actors, these leaders demonstrated that the rise of anti-rights governments is not inevitable. Starting in late August, Bangladesh saw over 655,000 Rohingya refugees cross the border from Northern Rakhine State in Burma fleeing a campaign of rape, arson, and killings by the Burmese military that amounted to crimes against humanity. Bangladesh is already host to hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees, including about 80,000 who similarly fled to Bangladesh between late 2016 and early 2017. While Bangladesh does not officially recognize the majority of the Rohingya as refugees, the government has allowed those seeking shelter to enter the country.

"Bangladesh deserves credit for not forcibly returning Rohingya refugees, and for doing what it can with strained resources to provide safety for them for the time being," said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "However recurring plans to move the refugees to uninhabitable islands or to return them to Burma without key citizenship rights and protections remained a concern."

In domestic rights concerns, scores of Bangladeshis remained victims of enforced disappearances, even as law enforcement authorities continued to target both opposition supporters and militant suspects. Security forces, including members of the army, responsible for serious human rights violations continued, in the main, to be free and unaccountable. Despite evidence of flawed trials and coerced confessions, the High Court upheld the death penalty against nearly 140 members of the Bangladesh Rifles, as the border security force was formerly known, who are accused of participating in a deadly mutiny, killing officers and raping their female relatives.

Civil society groups, including the media, continued to face pressure from both state and non-state actors, while dozens of Bangladeshis were arrested for criticizing the government or the political leadership on Facebook. Although the official government policy is to eliminate child marriage, in February 2017 the government passed a law permitting girls under 18 years of age to marry under special circumstances - effectively eliminating the minimum age for marriage in this exception. The government failed to take steps to end discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

In May, Bangladesh's notorious Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) raided a gathering in Dhaka, arrested 28 men, paraded them in front of the media while saying they were gay, and accused them of drug possession. "It is hard to find a bright spot in Bangladesh's record on human rights in the past years," said Adams. "Particularly as the country heads into general elections in 2019, it is vital to restore the rule of law, and end all efforts to silence dissent."
Militants change style to dodge cops

Masterminds among 100 militants killed, 350 held in 2 yrs

Md Joynal Abedin Khan :

Following the zero tolerance policy of the law enforcers against militants, the members of radical outfits, including Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), are changing their organizing style to operate their activities to dodge the law enforcing agencies as their top level masterminds were killed in separate raids across the country in last two years.

They are now sharing their residence with common people as part of their new style that found in Nakhalpara den, though they did not share with anybody living place a few months ago, said an official

of Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit. The militants also favour to stay in the city and its adjacent areas following massive drives in Sylhet, Moulovibazar, Chapainawabganj, Rajshahi, Bogra, Jhenaidah, Chittagong, Narayanganj, Gazipur and Comilla where their many key leaders and followers were killed, the CTTC official said.

Around 100 militants, including neo-JMB's masterminds sacked major Zia and Sarwar and Tamim, were killed and 350 also arrested during some massive raids in last two years, Police Headquarters sources said.

Since they are under the law enforcement agencies' radar, militants have changed tactics and are now assuming code numbers, instead of aliases, to identify themselves, the CTTC official said.

Assuming fake names has been a common tactic used by militants to dodge law enforcement agencies. A member of militant outfits would assume three to four names on an average. One militant does not know another's code number; only the chief of the outfit is aware of the code number of each operative.

The militants initially had used popular apps like Facebook and its Messenger, and Google Hangouts to communicate. But recently they have started using instant and encrypted messaging apps such as Threema, Telegram and Wickr to keep their chats more secret, he added.

Monirul Islam, the chief of Dhaka Metropolitan Police's Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit, has previously claimed success in weakening the existing militant outfits in Bangladesh following the Gulshan cafe attack in July in 2016.

"We have broken most of the militant networks but they are trying to remain active on the internet," he said, adding, "We are tracking their online activities through regular monitoring and working on preventing them by conducting raids."

CTTC's Additional Deputy Commissioner, Abdul Mannan, said that the militant groups have started giving technology-related training to their new recruits so that they can avoid our online traps.

"We have been monitoring the militants' online activities and managed to trace many in lots of cases, which is why the militants could not carry out another big attack after the Gulshan cafe one," Md Alimuzzaman, deputy commissioner (Cybercrime) of the DMP's CTTC.

Professor Dr. Nehal Karim, Chairman, Department of Sociology, University of Dhaka, replied, "Operations by the law enforcement agencies can lessen militant activities, but can't bring a conclusion. There is a politics of 'ideology' behind the militant activities.

He added, "Militants are targeting youths to involve themselves in such acts. Youth is the time to get spirited by certain principles. You cannot prevent them without offering a positive philosophy instead of the negative one. Where is our ideology? What were the ideals of our independence?"

The Inspector General of Police (IGP) AKM Shahidul Haque earlier said militants are now in fear as intelligence officials detecting their locations in a very short time.

"We are now in zero tolerance against militancy and drug," the police Chief claimed.

A total of 65 militants had been killed in the last 15 anti-militancy operations across the country, the IGP said.

Benazir Ahmed, Director General (DG) of Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) said the law enforcers are ready to face any tactic of the militants.

"A few top militants are still on the run and we are trying to catch them with our own techniques and technology," the DG said.


Judges delaying release of full verdict affecting litigants

Gulam Rabbani :

After giving summary judgement in a case, judges inordinately delay release of full texts and certified copies of the full judgement in most cases in the higher judiciary. It thus causes a lot of sufferings for the litigants.

The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court in 2016 in a judgement ruled that judges must sign the judgments or orders in normal cases promptly and within six months in exceptional cases.

"A judge should promptly dispose of 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," it observed.

The apex court made the observation in its judgment, which on September 16 in 2015, upheld the dismissal of Syed Shahidur Rahman in 2004 from the post of Additional Judge of the High Court.

The then President Iajuddin Ahmed ordered his removal as recommended by the Supreme Judicial Council for receiving Tk 50,000 as bribe to grant bail to an accused in a case under the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act.

The SC in the full judgment made 39 other observations regarding the code of conduct of judges.

A four-member bench of the apex court headed by the then Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha delivered the judgement.

According to the Article 111 of the Constitution, the direction in a case by the Appellate Division shall be binding on the High Court Division and the direction by either division of the Supreme Court shall be binding on all the courts subordinate to it.

Advocate Khandker Mahbub Hossain, former President of the Supreme Court Bar Association, said that it was unfortunate to delay release of the full verdict despite the settlement of a case previously.

"The litigants suffer by this. The Appellate Division has given some directions in this regard. We hope, the judges will follow the directions, quickly publishing the verdicts for the sake of justice," he said.

Advocate Khurshed Alam Khan, a senior lawyer of the Supreme Court, also said, "As per the Article 111 of the Constitution the directions given by the Appellate Division shall be binding on the High Court Division and all the courts subordinate to it."

"In a judgement, the SC gave directions to release verdict within six months. But in many cases this direction is being ignored by many subordinate courts causing suffering to the litigants," he said.

On April 3, 2016, the High Court ruled that after the death of a person, the money deposited in his/her bank accounts would go to the 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 deceased will have to be shared by the heirs as per the Mohammedan Law, the court added.

Though the High Court delivered the verdict one year and nine months ago, the certified copy of the full verdict does not come out yet. Advocate Sadekur Rahman, one of the counsels of the case, told The New Nation that they have not yet received the certified copy of the case. "It is not possible for someone to claim the result of judgement without receiving the certified copy," said Sadekur.

Sources said, petitioners are deprived of the benefits of the judgement without the certified copy in hands.
Palli Sanchay Bank yet to recover Tk 1,500 cr deposits

Kazi Zahidul Hasan :

The Ministry of Finance has asked the Palli Sanchay Bank to recover Tk 1,500 crore from Bank Asia, United Commercial Bank (UCB) and Bangladesh Commerce Bank.

The fund was mobilized as savings from about 25 lakh beneficiaries of the 'One House One Farm' project and deposited in the banks from July 2009 to November last year, according to an official figure.

Bank and Financial Institutions Division (BFID) under the Finance Ministry in a recent letter to managing director of Palli Sanchay Bank reminded the bank to recover the fund immediately asking for progress in this regard.

The division earlier reminded the bank several times to recover the full amount to boost its lending activities.

"We have already convened meetings with the banks' representatives. I also attended the meetings where they assured us of returning the fund. But they are yet to do so. It is crippling the activities of the Palli Sanchay Bank. So, we reminded the bank to recover the amount immediately," Md Yunusur Rahman, Senior Secretary of the BFID, told The New Nation yesterday.

"As per my knowledge, the banks were busy for closing their books of accounts in December.

This may be a cause for their delay. Hopefully, they will soon return the deposit to the Palli Sanchay Bank," he said.

"We will hold a fresh meeting with three banks soon to get back the money," Managing Director of Palli Sanchay Bank Akbar Hossain told The New Nation on Friday.

Till Thursday, these banks have returned Tk 215 crore only out of the total figure. We are going to sit again with the banks for getting back the remaining money as soon as possible.

"We have already asked them to refund the whole amount. They assured us of refunding the money as soon as possible," said Akbar Hossain.

"The issue is expected to settle in the next meeting. We're working sincerely to recover the fund," he added.

Akbar Hossain further said, the fund is necessary to provide loans to the beneficiaries under the 'One House One Farm' project across the country. The poverty alleviation programme funded under the project is facing setback due to delay in getting back the fund.

Sources said, Palli Sanchay Bank is getting only two percent interest against its deposit maintain with the private banks whereas it is getting a higher interest (5 percent) from their Tk 98.50 crore deposit kept in four other private and public banks.


Landlord killed over music event in city, 8 held

Staff Reporter :

A landlord was killed centering loud music at a function in the city's R K Mission Road on Friday afternoon.

The deceased has been identified as Nazimul Haque, 65, a former Land Officer and resident of RK Mission Road in Dhaka.

The members of law enforcing agencies detained eight persons, including suspected prime killer so far for interrogation in this connection, police said.

Nafisa Nazneen Haque, daughter of the deceased, claimed that about 10 to 11 people beat her father and her brother following an altercation after Nazimul Haque complained over the loud noise beside another building, adjacent to his apartment.

She identified one of the "assaulters" as Altaf, the host of the programme at the apartment.

"We rushed our father, a heart disease patient who underwent bypass surgery, to nearby Ajgor Ali Hospital in Gandaria in the area where the doctors declared him dead," Nafisa said.

Police detained eight persons in connection with the incident, including Altaf, said Rafikul Islam, Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Wari Police Station.

"The CCTV footage shows Nazimul Haque falling to the ground after receiving punches and blows from Altaf and his relatives," the OC said.

We are interrogating the detained men for unveiling the cause of the murder, the police official said, adding a case was on process with the police station regarding the murder. The body was taken to Sir Salimullah Medical College Hospital for autopsy, the police official said.
20 hurt in Muhith's motorcade accident

UNB, Sylhet :

At least 20 leaders and activists of local Awami League and Bangladesh Chhatra League(BCL) were injured as the private car of Finance Minister AMA Muhith hits them at Shibganj area of the city on Friday noon.

Some of injured were identified as Kabirul Islam Kabir, Assistant Personal Secretary (APS) of Shafiqur Rahman Chowdhury, General Secretary of Sylhet district unit AL and former Member of Parliament, Md Abul Hossain, APS of AK Abdul Momen Chowdhury (brother of Finance Minister), Nasir Uddin, vice-president, 9 No ward AL, Nur Mohammad

Babu, former president of district unit BCL, and lower-level BCL leaders Mosarraf Hossain,Jakir Ahmed, Lokman Ahmed, Nasim Ahmed, Juned Hossain.

Among the injured, 12 were admitted to MAG Osmani Medical Collage Hospital, said Dr Manoj and Dr Panna, emergency medical officers of the hospital.

Quoting driver of the car, officer-in-charge Kotwali Police Station Gousul Hossain said the accident took place in front of Sonapara Jam-e-Masjid as the car's brakes failed while they were waiting for the minister alongside the road.

The car was waiting for the minister after Jummah-prayer.

However the minister was not in the car in that time, OC added.

Finance Minister AMA Muhith also visited the hospital around3pmand directed the doctors for better treatment of the injured, the OC said.

However, Advocate Misbah Uddin Siraj, organising secretary of Bangladesh Awami League, demanded the arrest of the driver and investigation of the accident.
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Left: Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves fingered the media for helping to create the national buzz around the Yugge Farrell issue. Right: Journalist Kenton Chance warded off the accusing finger pointed at him, by trying to keep the exchange confined to the issue of the court case involving Ms. Farrell.

Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves said that it was as a result of the medias "inaccurate/inadequate reporting and the hysteria of others, why the recent fiasco involving Finance Minister Camillo Gonsalves and model Yugge Farrell has received as much attention as it has.





On Monday, Dr. Gonsalves made the comment while responding to a question from journalist Kenton Chance, Executive Editor of the online media entity Iwitness News about his advice to the younger Gonsalves to remain silent on the matter and for him commenting instead.





It was Chance who had first reported on the court matter involving Farrell.





"I comment on the law, and I have commented on the basic facts which led to this matter coming to the court. You notice in relation to the court, I speak in relation to the law, Gonsalves said.





Chance taken to task





Dr. Gonsalves then went on to castigate Chance, who reported that Farrell had been referred to the Mental Health Centre for two weeks psychiatric evaluation, after it was alleged that she had used obscene and offensive language against Camillo Gonsalves wife.





"This matter took off when you published a story about what transpired in the court house, Gonsalves said.

"It was a news story which had one important inaccuracy.





According to Gonsalves, Chance reported that the incident occurred at Prospect, to which Chance responded that the information included in the article was based on the information heard in open court.





But the Prime Minister went on to explain that the incident occurred at the office of the wife of Karen Duncan-Gonsalves.





"And I further presented information which is germane. I did not know until Wednesday morning that it was the honourable Attorney





General who asked Karen to write a report and make a complaint, and it was he who, because he was in office at the time, it was he who asked the police guard there to detain the young lady in question, and police to come from the barracks, and to take her to the barracks, Dr. Gonsalves said.





He added that he had been informed that a statement written by Karen Duncan-Gonsalves as to what had happened, and the blackmail letter dropped off by Farrell on the said day demanding EC$50,000 had also been turned over to the police.





"That is the strongest I have spoken on the matter thus far, Gonsalves asserted.





"Why are they trying to make Karen and her husband, Camillo [look bad] they did nothing wrong and in fact, given other things which transpired before, you with great respect should have found out the legal context and you could have put a context, he added.





According to Dr. Gonsalves, Chance only used context when it suited him.





The exchange





It was at this point, nearing two hours into the press briefing, that a heated exchange ensued between Dr. Gonsalves and Chance.





Dr. Gonsalves repeated a comment by social commentator Frank Da Silva who, on the January 9 edition of ULP Speaks radio programme which referred to an article written by Chance (a few years ago) at the time of Gonsalves mothers death.





Da Silva contended that Chance in his coverage of Gonsalves mothers death had included a report on allegation that relatives had withdrawn EC$1 million from the womans savings account from one of the local financial institutions.





But Chance, in an attempt to keep the exchange confined to the matter involving Farrell, argued that the information provided by the prime minister regarding a blackmail letter, and Farrells mental health history, did not come up in the open court, and if it did, then he would have reported on it.





"People have a legitimate right to comment on what takes place in court, he said, adding that the issue was blundered when Storm Gonsalves, brother of Camillo, called in to the morning show on Hot 97 and when Da Silva continued in a similar manner on Star FM.





Dr. Gonsalves contended that he was unaware of Storms involvement and repeated that it was as a result of inadequate reporting in the first instance and then the hysteria by others, why the story was given legs.





Meanwhile, Opposition Senator and lawyer Kay Bacchus-Baptiste said on the Clemroy Bert Francois radio programme Current Affair on Tuesday that leaders, or aspiring leaders ought to be held to high standards, and that ethics and values were important qualities.





She said that Camillo Gonsalves owed the nation an explanation, particularly if it was anticipated that he would become prime minister.





She accused the senior Gonsalves of "emasculating Camillo, saying that it was not good advice for him not to say anything.








Left: The Haiti government of President Jovenel Moise responded immediately in condemning President Trumps dirty references to that country and its people. (Credit: Al Jazeera) Right: Not for the first time, President Donald Trump has used most unbecoming language to refer to countries of majority non-white populations. (Credit: cnn.com)

The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) has moved swiftly to express disgust with a recent statement by Donald Trump, President of the USA.





In a statement issued last weekend, the 15-member grouping said it is deeply disturbed by reports about the use of "derogatory and repulsive language by the president of the United States, with respect to its member state, Haiti, and other developing countries.





Last week Thursday, Trump reportedly referred to Haiti, El Salvador and African nations as "shole countries during a White House meeting with lawmakers on immigration reform, questioning why he should accept immigrants from those places, rather than from countries like Norway.





"Why do we need more Haitians? the Washington Post quoted him as saying, citing people briefed on the meeting. "Take them out.





Even before CARICOMs response, Haiti, in an official statement said, "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.





The statement added that the Haitian government was "profoundly outraged and shocked by the tenor of the remarks that "at a minimum are disrespectful and insulting, and condemned the Presidents remarks with, according to the statement, "the greatest firmness these odious and abject remarks which, if they were said, would in every respect be unacceptable because they reflect a simplistic and totally erroneous racist view of the Haitian community and its contributions to the United States of America.





But even as Trump moved to deny using the vulgar expression reported, CARICOM, of which Haiti is a full member, said it "condemns in the strongest terms, the unenlightened views reportedly expressed.





"Of additional concern, is this pattern of denigrating Haiti and its citizens in what seems to be a concerted attempt to perpetuate a negative narrative of the country.





The CARICOM statement expressed its full support for the Government of the Republic of Haiti, in the face of what it described as "this highly offensive reference.




Left: Daniel Cummings, MP for West Kingstown, deemed the Mental Health Centre as being incapable of doing any evaluation. Right: Senator Kay Bacchus-Baptiste will not be satisfied with a statement of denial by Minister of Finance Camillo Gonsalves.

Leader of the Opposition Dr Godwin Friday would prefer to be concentrating on matters pertaining to budgetary proposals, but he finds that the atmosphere is overwhelmed by what he deems the scandal which has embroiled Finance Minister Camillo Gonsalves. Friday held back no punches during a press conference at his partys headquarters, last Wednesday.





The Opposition is appalled that there has been no statement from the Finance Minister. Friday noted that two weeks had passed since the matter gained national attention, and that "Camillo has not seen it fit to make a public statement.





"He has a responsibility to say what he knows, Friday exclaimed.





"It is not good and proper for a Minister of government, a senior Minister tipped to be leader, to hide behind his family in this way, Friday outlined.





"Camillo must speak for himself. What does he have to hide? Silence is not golden, it fosters an aura of guilt, the Opposition Leader said.





The New Democratic Party president stated that decency, good governance and democracy "demand that it be clarified or that he resigns.





Friday noted that Camillo Gonsalves was poised to deliver his first budget in a couple weeks, and that his refusal to say anything, "casts a dark shadow over the upcoming budget proceedings.





"It is not right that the nation be distracted by this sordid scandal, Friday added.





The Opposition Leader was not the only person at the platform to blast the new Finance Minister.

Kay Bacchus-Baptiste cited eight areas of concern surrounding the issue.





She raised questions about integrity, ethics and morals, and outlined that "We must hold our leaders to the highest ethical standards.





Equality of all before the law is another aspect of contention for Bacchus Baptiste.





A statement made on Boom Radio last year is of significance to Bacchus Baptiste. She also finds it strange that no charge of blackmail has been made on the lady in question. The use of the State machinery against a citizen is also a worry for the Opposition lawyer.





Bacchus-Baptiste is worried about the mental issues as they surface, and she is anxious as to if Yugge Farrell will get a fair trial.





She echoed the call for the Finance Ministers resignation. Even if he responds, Bacchus- Baptiste will not be content with a statement of denial. She expects something of depth.





Daniel Cummings, parliamentary representative for West Kingstown which includes the area of Buddy Gutter where the Farrell family resides, joined the call for the Finance Ministers resignation.





Cummings blasted the provision of health care here and declared that Mental Health Care is almost non-existent.





"This is not an institution to do evaluation, Cummings contended.




Arrow marks the spot where Kelvin Richards lay pinned by a piece of the wall that had collapsed. Inset: Kelvin Richards met his death on the second day of work on a construction site.

Alvin Razer John recalled the last moments he saw his nephew Kelvin Richards alive saying that he tried his best to help the young man, but there was very little he could have done.





Richards, 24 years old, formerly a resident of Montaque in the Mesopotamia Valley, died from injuries he sustained when a retaining wall fell on him at a construction site at a residence in Evesham, last Tuesday, January 16.





According to a release from the Royal St Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force (RSVGPF) Public Relations and Complaints Department, the incident occurred around 10:20 a.m.





John told THE VINCENTIAN in a telephone interview, that he and Richards were both inside the foundation; he said that he was digging while his nephew was removing the excess dirt.





They were working on the foundation of a retaining wall and it was only the second day on the job for both men.





He said that he had completed one section of the area where they were working, and was about to make his way past Richards, when the existing wall collapsed.





Although deep in grief, he gave an account of what took place, saying that he was struck on the shoulder by the a piece of the falling wall, but before he could pay attention to his own injuries, he heard Richards calling out to him.





John turned and saw that the wall was about to fall on Richards, who was standing directly in the path of the falling wall.





"I heard him call me by my nickname "Razer, Razer!





He said that he focused his attention on trying to apply pressure in order to prevent it from collapsing immediately and in an effort to give Richards some time to run to safety.





But with the weight becoming more and more unbearable, he was forced to let go and unfortunately for Richards, the concrete mass came crashing down.





"I tried to help, but I couldnt manage the weight of the wall, John recollected.





"He was my sisters only child; we grew up; now I had to watch him suffer right in front ah me.





Mother Kaylorne Richards also spoke to THE VINCENTIAN via telephone.





She said that the hours following her only childs death were the hardest.





"I am just crying, I feel so stressed out, she said.





Richards admitted that it has been difficult for her to come to terms with the circumstances of her sons death, but she realized that she would eventually have to deal with that reality.





She explained that she was in Kingstown around the time the incident occurred and was unable to visit the scene.





He will be missed, she said.





Up to Wednesday, Richards said that she was yet to receive the results of the post mortem which she understands was to be sent first to the police, before being turned over to her.





Richardss death comes just about two months after the Occupational Safety and Health Bill was passed in Parliament.





The law was introduced to replace the Factory and Occupational Notification Act and makes provisions for employees to refuse to perform duties if it is felt that their lives, or health is in jeopardy.





The new piece of legislation, although successfully making its rounds in Parliament, is expected to be enacted in phases to allow for the setting up of the requisite authoritative bodies, and for business houses and other relevant parties to make the relevant adjustments.




The Embassy of the Republic of China (Taiwan) is pleased to announce the schedule of presentations for 2018 Taiwan Scholarship Programmes.





* Frenches House?Tuesday, January 23rd at 4:00 P.M.





* SVGCC Lecture Hall 2, Tuesday, February 6th at 4:00 P.M.





Vincentians who are interested in applying for the Taiwan Scholarships, namely MOFA Taiwan Scholarship and TaiwanICDF Scholarship, are highly recommended to attend these presentations.





The Embassy will make an introduction of the aforementioned scholarship programmes, including their respective qualifications, requirements and application procedures.





Members of the SVG Taiwan Scholar Alumni Association will be present to share their experiences of studying and living in Taiwan. Project Managers from the Taiwan Technical Mission in SVG will brief on degree programmes in the area of agriculture and ICT in Taiwan.





The Taiwan Scholarship Programmes were launched in 2004 to encourage outstanding Vincentians to pursue higher education in Taiwan. It aims to enhance cultural and people to people exchanges between the Republic of China (Taiwan) and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.





More than 143 Vincentians have been awarded the scholarships since their inception. Last year, there were 17 scholarship awardees. The deadline is March 16th for TaiwanICDF Scholarship and March 31st for MOFA Taiwan Scholarship.
Defence Attorney Grant Connell urged the Government not to lose sight of the need to amend the existing drug laws, so as to cater to the religious rites of Rastafarians and preventing the unnecessary imposition of criminal records on young people.

While Vincentian lawyer Grant Connell welcomes the stance taken by the Ralph Gonsalves administration to move towards medical marijuana, he is disappointed that locals, including Rastafarians who use the herb for their religious ceremonies, will still have to face the wrath of the law, and the police.





Connell, who has been advocating the decriminalization of marijuana for several years, told reporters on Tuesday that he agrees that its high time St. Vincent and the Grenadines move towards medical marijuana, but he is concerned that while government intends to put new laws in place with such pace, for this purpose, the existing (drug) laws are still not amended to facilitate Rastafarians.





"I have been a server in the Anglican Church for several years, and they have been using the incense on their altars for many years. Is it because it was handed down to us by our colonial masters? Only God and the Queen know the content of that incense, Connell said.





He added that it is also sad that the nations youth who are found in possession of small amounts of marijuana, will continue to receive criminal records that may affect them for the balance of their lives, and that the state will continue to incur unnecessary cost in prosecuting people for small amounts, ranging from one gram to about three pounds.





According to Connell, all it takes to address this is a ticketing system in which persons found in possession of small amounts can go to the police station and pay a fine, thus removing the possibility of a criminal record.

Connell is of the view that Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves is afraid to make the move to decriminalize small amounts of marijuana.





"What is he afraid of, I dont know. His failure to amend the existing laws is to put profit before people, and is a great disrespect to Rastafari, Connell opined.





He issued a warning to the government to be careful how they deal with the medical marijuana issue.





"We are virgin territory, and the government has to protect us against those who may be coming to use and abuse, with absolutely no interest for the locals. This medical marijuana is new territory for us, and I hope that we get the appropriate advisers so that we can benefit as a people, Connell advised.





He also pointed out that wherever there is excessive money, there could be corruption, and if you dont have the right advisers, this country could return to plantation type slavery. "I hope that everybody is pulled on board to ensure that we benefit as a people.





Connell noted that the rest of the world, including Jamaica, is ahead of us on the medical marijuana issue, "so we have to catch up, and I hope we do.





Commenting on the committee headed by Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries Saboto Caesar that has been set up to deal with the issue, Connell said, "It is good to see a former St. Martins Secondary School student heading the Committee. He has my full support on the issue.





"Who else is better to head the committed? He (Caesar) is a potential leader. Hopefully, when he eventually takes leadership of the country, I hope that he would not be afraid to amend the existing laws. Unless you do that, you cannot emancipate yourself from mental slavery.





Connell expressed the view that, once the marijuana project has the right advisers, and gets off to a good start, the opposition New Democratic Party (NDP) could "kiss the next general elections goodbye.




Former fashion model Yugge Farrell, charged in connection with a matter involving Karen Gonsalves, wife of Finance Minister Camillo Gonsalves, is doing well at the Mental Health Centre, where she was been sent by the Court for two weeks observation.





Thats according to attorney Grant Connell who has been representing Farrell, pro bono.





Connell told reporters on Tuesday that he visited Farrell on a few occasions, adding that the evaluation process is ongoing, but "whether it is done by a psychiatrist, is a question you might have to ask the man who has been answering all the questions so far in this case. He did not say who this man was.





Farrell is charged with, that on January 4, 2018, at Granby Street, Kingstown, in circumstances likely to cause a breach of the peace, did make use of abusive language to Karen Gonsalves of Prospect, to wit, You dirty bitch.





Connell opted not to give detailed comments on the case, saying, "I have great respect for the court, and the matter is sub judice. But he expressed the view that things happened which were at variance with normal practice.





He noted that when Farrell appeared at the Kingstown Magistrates Court on January 5, she pleaded not guilty, and the proceedings had reached the point where an application was made for bail, but the prosecution seemingly disagreed with bail, and made an application which the Magistrate entertained.





The lawyer admitted that he does not have all the answers, nor is he privy to information to which Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves is privy.





He said he noticed that the Prime Minister has been saying a number of things of which he is concerned, and has even invited him (Connell) to a lesson.





Connell believes that the machinery of Justice will work, despite all that is being said outside the Court, in relation to the matter.





"It should not matter who is the defendant or the complainant, once justice is the common denominator, he declared. He expressed the view that some of the comments he has been hearing from various persons, since Farrell appeared in Court, show that there are many who need psychiatric evaluation, and that the quicker a permanent psychiatrist is employed here, the better for all.





Commenting on Farrells future, Connell said, "She is a young person charged with a trivial offence, and I hope that the matter concludes soon, so that she could get on with her life.




Saudi-based Acwa Power, a leading power generation and desalination firm, has joined hands with Huawei, a leading global ICT and network energy solutions provider, to launch an innovative energy efficiency programme at the ongoing World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi, UAE.



The FusionSolar Smart PV Management System is a centralised control and monitoring system that helps photovoltaic (PV) power plants run more effectively through better technology, said the company in a statement.



The system improves communications capabilities to enable a solar power network, remote control, and automatic troubleshooting at a solar power plant. FusionSolar Smart PV Management System aims to increase availability, reduce cost of O&M (operations and maintenance) and reduce the power loss of whole PV plant.



FusionSolar leverages state-of-the-art technology and digitalised intelligence to help boost efficiency of solar plants.



The system allows solar plant operators to control and monitor performance without being on site, especially the senior experts can manage several PV plants at the same time. This greatly lowers the labour and cost requirements for O&M.



Julio Torre Gutierrez, the president and CEO of Nomac, the wholly-owned operations and maintenance contractor of Acwa Power, said: "Technology in the renewable energy industry is rapidly evolving not only on how electricity is generated but also in how plants are operated."



"This pilot programme is an important step in our continuous pursuit of delivering power reliably and at the lowest possible cost, a mission that necessitates the implementation of the latest solutions. The pilot programme is the first step in rolling out this technology in current and future sites as we strive to digitize our operations," observed Gutierrez.



Yin Feijun, general manager of FusionSolar Smart PV Global Sales, Huawei, said: "For the solar industry to continue to reduce cost and compete with fossil fuel alternatives, adopting the cutting-edge technologies to improve performance and operating efficiency is vital."



"We are confident that the FusionSolar Smart PV Management System will significantly contribute to this mission. Whats more, were looking forward to team up with Acwa to build more innovative PV plants in Mena and all over the world," he added.-TradeArabia News Service
The Dubai Future Foundations (DFF) One Million Arab Coders programme has witnessed an enormous turnout as more than 250,000 applicants stepped forward to compete for one of the 100,000 open seats on the programmes first round.



Launched by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE, Ruler of Dubai, the programme seeks to help one million young Arab programmers hone their digital and coding skills.



The initiative has attracted more than 750,000 applications from the Arab world since its inception. The applicants will be sorted into eight annual rounds, with four academic courses each round: smart applications development (35 per cent of the applications), website programming (33 per cent of the applications), data analysis (18 per cent of the applications) and finally, smart website design (14 per cent of the applications).



Furthermore, the Foundation sought to provide further support for the One Million Arab Coders initiative, signing a partnership agreement with Bayt.com, the largest platform for job seekers in the Gulf, Mena, in the presence of Omar bin Sultan Al Olama, Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence (AI), member of DFFs Board of Trustees and deputy managing director of the Foundation; along with Rabea Ataya, founder and CEO of Bayt.com.



The One Million Arab Coders is a landmark initiative to empower Arab youth and help them acquire the skills of the future, said Al Olama. This embodies the vision of H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum in developing the knowledge and skills of young people in the Arab region, keeping them up to speed with the rapidly changing demands of the labour market of the future, where programming is set to be at the core of every sector.



With this partnership with Bayt.com, he added, the Dubai Future Foundation is looking to broaden the horizons of employment for programmers, and provide an enabling environment for them to imagine and build their own future by mastering next-generation technologies such as artificial intelligence, robotics, cognitive and biological sciences, and programming.



From its end, Bayt.com will work to provide a dedicated platform for programmers to find jobs, granting them access to consultation services and training opportunities for participants who have successfully passed the first phase of the One Million Arab Coders programme and the Coders Challenge.



Ataya said: We are proud to be partnering with the One Million Arab Coders programme  the first initiative of its kind targeting Arab youth around the world. We are committed to playing our part and offering all the necessary support for their goals and aspirations, and look forward to collaborating with the Dubai Future Foundation to empower a generation of knowledgeable, qualified and future-ready Arab youth.



The One Million Arab Coders is one of the initiatives that seek to realize the UAE Centennial 2071 vision to put the UAE ahead of all other nations by supporting sustainable development, increasing the number of patents and supporting science and innovation.  TradeArabia News Service
Masdar has signed an agreement with Saudi Arabias Saline Water Conversion Corporation (SWCC) and the Abu Dhabi-based Khalifa University of Science and Technology (KUST) to advance development of sustainable desalination technologies.



The memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed on the sidelines of the International Water Summit, a key event of Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week (ADSW) 2018, the regions largest gathering on sustainability.



The MoU was signed by Abdullah Alabdulkarim, deputy governor for Planning and Development, SWCC, Bader Al Lamki, executive director, Clean Energy, Masdar, and Dr Arif Sultan Al Hammadi, Interim executive vice-president, Khalifa University of Science and Technology.



The agreement ensures cooperation between the three organizations for exchange of information and joint research and development activities in collaboration with the Desalination Technologies Research Institute to demonstrate the validity of seawater desalination using clean energy technologies.



The agreement also explores opportunities for the SWCC to carry out Masdars advanced education and training programmes in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, GCC and Mena.



The ultimate aim of the agreement is to provide a framework for mutual cooperation to enhance the economic and technical benefits of desalination, as well as innovating new methods to reduce the costs of sustainable desalination technologies.



Alabdulkarim said: The memorandum of understanding between the three organizations represents a starting point to cooperate and work under the partnership and the integrated visions of Saudi Arabia and the UAE to enhance the historical and future ties and supporting cooperation between them.



The parties will also discuss development projects related to desalination technologies and localization of these technologies in the Gulf region, as well as supporting the development of clean energy projects, reduce costs, and exchange information and research among them.



Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi, chief executive officer, Masdar said: Seawater desalination is a costly and energy-intensive process, underscoring the importance of developing engineering and technology improvements that make seawater desalination more efficient and sustainable.



By partnering with regional leaders in the area of desalination research and development, Masdar is strengthening its capabilities in sustainable water desalination technology development and in turn, moving closer towards deploying affordable, energy-efficient desalination technologies across the globe, particularly in water-scarce regions like the Middle East.



Al Hammadi said: Pursuing research and development of energy-efficient water desalination technologies is critically needed to overcome some of the most pressing water challenges facing the global community and particularly in the water-scarce countries in the Middle East.



This research collaborative agreement aims to support the development and demonstration of the technologies needed to make low-carbon desalination a reality. Researchers at Khalifa University of Science and Technologys Masdar Institute are renowned experts in this field and we hope that this collaboration will contribute to the global efforts in this area.



The UAE and Saudi Arabia are heavy users of seawater desalination. Over 40 per cent of UAEs water supply and 50 per cent of Saudi Arabias water supply is produced through seawater desalination.



Globally, the United Nations expects 14 per cent of the world population to receive water from desalination by 2025, underscoring the need for development and deployment of sustainable desalination technologies to meet this rapidly growing demand for desalinated water in a way that will not contribute to rising carbon emissions.  TradeArabia News Service
Masdar, Abu Dhabis renewable energy company has signed a strategic agreement with Daewoo Engineering & Construction to support the commercialisation of low-energy reverse osmosis (RO) seawater desalination plants in Mena and Asia.



The agreement was signed by Hyo Joon Joo, senior vice president, Daewoo E&C, and Bader Al Lamki, executive director, Clean Energy, Masdar, on the sidelines of Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week (ADSW) 2018, one of the worlds largest sustainability gatherings.

The commercial agreement lays the groundwork for the commercialisation of the advanced RO desalination technology, which will be developed under Masdars Renewable Energy Desalination Pilot Programme in Ghantoot, Abu Dhabi, in collaboration with the Korae Research Group, which includes Daewoo E&C.



The Korae Research Group was launched in June 2016 with the support of the government of the Republic of Korea (Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport) through the KAIA (Korean Agency for Infrastructure Technology Advancement) as it is a follow-up measure of a summit meeting between Republic of Korea and the UAE.



Korae Research Group will become Masdars sixth international partner under the programme, which was launched in 2013 and first inaugurated in November 2015. The programme provides a test-bed for the development of innovative and advanced desalination technologies to help bridge the gap between promising desalination technologies developed in the lab and solutions ready to be applied in commercial settings.



Joo said: Water is the most important resource of mankind. To resolve freshwater shortage occurring around the world, investing in water technology development should be a top priority for mankind. Partnering with Masdar, who is the regional leader and a major international player in renewable energy and sustainable urban development, will be a great opportunity and strength to develop and commercialize the advanced seawater desalination technologies. In future, Daewoo E&C looks forward to cooperating with Masdar in various clean energy fields and around the world.



Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi, CEO of Masdar, said: Investing in the desalination sector is of critical importance as the global demand for freshwater is growing rapidly while freshwater reserves are shrinking. Partnering with industry leaders like Daewoo E&C, who have a vast range of construction and industry experience, will accelerate the development and commercialization of sustainable desalination technologies critically needed to enhance water security in the region.



Daewoo E&C is an international leader in the engineering and construction of large infrastructure projects in numerous industries. Through this agreement and in collaboration with Masdar, Daewoo E&C hopes to expand its business activities to include seawater desalination.  TradeArabia News Service
Mediclinic City Hospital in Dubai, UAE has announced that it successfully carried out the first two robotic-assisted orthopaedic surgeries in the Middle East.



The NAVIO Surgical System offers accurate and partial knee replacements and the AI solution was used to conduct the successful knee surgeries in Dubai.

The recent Mediclinic City Hospital surgeries consisted of partial and total knee replacement surgeries. Both patients are expected to make a full and active recovery following the procedures.



The surgeries were conducted by Dr Ali Al Belooshi and Dr Saeed AlThani, consultant orthopaedic surgeons at Mediclinic City Hospital.



Dr Al Belooshi said: Using a robotics-assisted handpiece such as the NAVIO Surgical System enables a surgeon to plan the surgery accurately intraoperatively, position the implants, and reduce the risk of errors during the procedure, while decreasing the length of time it takes for a patient to recover.



The future of health and science is going to revolutionize the way surgeons like myself work, as technology like this will help us lead in research and education when it comes to the science of knee replacement surgery. Also we can provide this cutting edge technology to our patients so they do not need to travel abroad seeking such services, he added.



Dr AlThani said: The artificial intelligence in knee replacement will add precision and accuracy in performing patient specific procedures, which will in turn improve the patients satisfaction with his knee surgery.



The NAVIO Surgical System, created by Smith & Nephew works in conjunction with the surgeons hands to achieve the precise positioning of the knee implant based on each patients unique anatomy. This added level of accuracy can help improve the function, feel and potential longevity of the partial knee implant.



It provides robotic assistance through an advanced computer program that relays precise information about the patients knee to a robotics-assisted hand piece used by the surgeon during the procedure. By collecting patient-specific information, boundaries are established for the hand piece so the surgeon can remove the damaged surfaces of the knee, balance the joint, and position the implant with greater precision.



The patient of the first surgery, Ahmed Al Rais, a 47-year-old male who had been suffering from knee osteoarthritis for two years, said after his partial knee replacement: I was very impressed with the quality of care received by the Mediclinic City Hospital team and the leading surgeon. I am very happy that I was able to receive such high-quality care in my own city.



The patient was able to move just a few hours after the surgery and is expected to make a full and active recovery following the procedure.  TradeArabia News Service
The Climate Innovation Exchange (CLIX) kicked off at the World Future Energy Summit 2018, running from January 15 to 18, as part of Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week.



CLIX is being held under the patronage of the UAE Ministry of Climate Change and Environment and is hosting 27 entrepreneurs and innovators in the areas of sustainable agriculture, clean mobility and air quality.



Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, UAE Minister of Climate Change and Environment, said that innovation and technology play an important role in solving a range of todays sustainability issues. Innovation and technology generate a wide range of socio-economic values and create jobs, and this is why innovation is at the heart of our development agenda to drive our economic diversification objectives, he said.



Al Zeyoudi added that to keep pace with the nationwide drive towards innovation and to help realize the National Climate Change Plan 2050, MOCCAE announced CLIX last October, as a platform that aims to realize innovative ideas to solve the unique challenges faced today, by connecting global entrepreneurs and investors to enable partnerships that will power sustainable climate solutions through knowledge, innovation, and funding.



The Minister said that CLIX saw a high-level of interest as it received submissions from 364 applicants from 65 countries. The judges panel, after carefully examining every application to determine their fulfilment of the pre-announced requirements, selected 27 applicants to present their ideas at CLIX.



The high level of interaction we see here today between emerging entrepreneurs and investors and the quality of ideas being presented before us are clear indications to the prominent contribution the UAE makes in supporting innovation and providing applicable solutions to address climate challenges. I am proud to see that the largest number of applicants per country came from the UAE.



Funding has always been a hurdle for the adoption and pursuance of sustainability goals. The inaugural edition of CLIX seeks to provide financing and investments, valued at Dh1.1 million ($300,000), to excelling start-ups, and Dh9 million to make the selected proposals a reality, he added.



Shammabint Suhail Faris Al Mazrui, UAE Minister of State for Youth Affairs, said: Abu Dhabi has become an exemplary sustainability model, as it is committed to deploying sustainability solutions and carrying out high-level events that ensure a more prosperous future. One of these events is Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week.



This year, ADSW is all about youth, and for good reasons. If we want our largest population and our greatest assets  Youth  to succeed in building our world for today and tomorrow, we must engage them now in the end-to-end solution making in our systems. Sustainability is as much a mindset about investing in the young people who will be our future as it is the natural resources we use to fuel it.



CLIX invited entrants to demonstrate innovative thinking and leverage technology to develop solutions in one of three key areas: agriculture, clean mobility and air quality. A panel of judges selected the semi-finalists over three rounds of assessment based on the challenges, solutions, innovations, technology and business models outlined in the submissions.



The semi-finalists will pitch to prospective investors at CLIX during WFES 2018, before being narrowed down to three finalists per category during the fourth round of assessment. At the event, investors will focus on five main elements of the pitches: concept and product, feasibility, target market, financials and the team.  TradeArabia News Service
The World Future Energy Summit (WFES) hosted the first-ever gathering of the International Solar Alliance (ISA), when it discussed the bodys aim of raising $1 trillion in global solar investments by 2030.

On the sidelines of the event in Abu Dhabi, the ISA also signed a letter of intent with Yes Bank for its first financing commitment of up to $5 billion by 2030. The organisation also signed nine solar projects across five ISA member countries, including UAE, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, India and Spain.

The best way to get going is to get projects on the ground. That is what we call action to transaction, and that is what ISA is all about, said Upendra Tripathy, interim director general of the International Solar Alliance, a treaty-based international organisation based in India.

Launched at the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris in late 2015 by the President of France and the Prime Minister of India, the alliance is a coalition of sun-rich countries which seeks to increase the use of solar energy and reduce its members dependence on fossil fuels.

Solar energy will play a central role in the new age of energy. Solar is the fastest growing energy source, said Adnan Z Amin, director general of Irena, who addressed the forum.

The chief driver behind the impressive drive of solar is its impressive business case.

He said the price of solar PV modules  solar panels  plummeted by 80 per cent from 2010 to 2016, and the cost of generation from utility scale PV solar projects have also fallen by more than 70 per cent.

These downward trends are expected to continue. Our analysis finds that over the next decade, costs for solar PV could drop by a further 60 per cent, and concentrated solar by almost 45 per cent, added Mr Amin.

Ministers from seven-member states attended the forum and spoke about their hopes for the solar industries in their countries.

Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, cabinet member and Minister of Climate Change and Environment for the Government of the UAE, said the UAE has been at the forefront of renewable energy for over a decade, since the launch of Masdar. But he added that more still needs to be done to meet the countrys ambitious national clean energy targets.

And this is why we look forward to cooperating with our regional and international partners under the umbrella of the International Solar Alliance, to fully exploit solar potential to realise a sustainable future, added Dr Al Zeyoudi.

Some countries in the alliance are just at the start of their solar journey, such as Somalia. Its biggest power source is currently diesel generators. Electricity is largely non-existent and access to it is very low. Nearly everyone cooks with firewood or charcoal, and charcoal supplies are running low.

Yet the Somali Government has a bold idea for energy and sustainable energy by renewable energy investment, Prof Salim Alio Ibro, Minister of Energy and Water Resources, Government of Somalia told the forum.

The government is eyeing solar and wind energy to close the countrys vast energy access gaps while meeting its commitments under the Paris Climate Agreement, he added.

Renewable energy is one of the best ways to mitigate energy-related problems in Somalia," he said.

Somalia is well endowed in the wind and solar energy resources. The country has the highest potential for any African country for onshore wind, and one of the highest rates of daily total solar radiation in the world," added Prof Ibro.

"As the cost of renewable energy products has come down in the past few years, renewable energy systems have become competitive against fossil fuel options.

The alliance includes more than 121 prospective member countries located either fully or partially between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn. It aims to help developing countries harness 1,000 GW of solar by 2030 by raising $1 trillion, and arranging the associated technological assistance to support the goal. Half of the total is expected to come from the private sector, with national governments and public sector companies providing the rest.

Of the $1trillion, $700 billion will be in the form of concessional credits  investments for countries to add solar capacity - while the remaining $300bn will be earmarked for risk mitigation to protect companies wishing to invest in solar.

Experts at the forum said a risk mitigation fund could encourage ten times the amount of investment in the sector as it will give more confidence to investors. Had a fund of that nature been established before now the sector would already be worth $1 trillion, said Michael Eckhart, Managing Director and Global Head of Environmental Finance, Corporate and Investment Banking, Citigroup Inc.

Dr Paolo Frankl, Head of Renewable Energy Division, International Energy Agency, said people often talk about solar PV because it is the cheapest form. But there are others, including concentrated forms of solar power with thermal storage or solar heating and cooling.

Then there is also the production of cheap solar and wind, of cheap hydrogen to produce either ammonia or either hydrogen rich chemicals and fertilizers, said Dr Frankl.

Believe me this will be the scale up from one single trillion to multiple trillion investment opportunities. - TradeArabia News Service
Cepsa, a global energy company, and Masdar, Abu Dhabis renewable energy company, have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to explore renewable energy project collaboration, especially wind and solar.



Cepsa and Masdar aim to expand their international presence in the renewable energy market through the signing of this agreement, a statement said.



The collaboration between Cepsa and Masdar is a reflection of the constant search for synergies among businesses of the Mubadala Investment Company. The combination of Cepsa's technical excellence in operations and execution of industrial projects in places like Algeria and Latin America, coupled with Masdar's experience in renewable energies in the Middle East, the United Kingdom and other markets, will help drive the development of projects in strategic countries for both companies.



Cepsa and Masdar plan to explore opportunities in the locations where they already operate or can easily access, such as Spain, Mena, Latin America, Europe, and other regions.



The agreement was announced today at Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week, one of the world's largest gatherings on sustainability which is currently being held in the UAE capital. Last year the event received over 38,000 visitors.  TradeArabia News Service
Abu Dhabi has issued six new licences to produce electricity using solar photovoltaic (PV) panels on the rooftops of buildings, bringing the total of such projects to 44 in the UAE capital, a media report said.



The six new self-regulatory licences have a total capacity of more than three megawatts, Saif Saeed Al Qubaisi, director-general of the Regulation and Supervision Bureau, Abu Dhabi was quoted as saying by Emirates news agency Wam.



He said that 81 licences were issued in 2017 by the bureau, including permanent, development, self-supplying and self-organisation licences, and one issued for the strategic project to store freshwater in Liwa, being the top priority among them.



He pointed out that the total capacity of the rooftop PV solar panels in Abu Dhabi has doubled to reach six megawatts, and the rate of the projects is expected to increase in the following period because of the low cost of solar panels and consumer awareness.



Al Qubaisi highlighted the fact the Energy and Water World Summits represent the largest gathering of policy-makers to discuss the developments of these two issues and compare the best systems and technologies to produce power from different sources as well as promoting renewable energy markets around the world.



He stressed that the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week 2018 coincides this year with the Year of Zayed as President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan has declared that this year the UAE will commemorate the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan who laid the foundations of sustainability and established a clear approach to achieve the balance between the urban development and the protection of resources and the environment.



The wise leadership is following this approach to achieve his vision and make the UAE an international sustainability destination, he added.



Al Qubaisi said that the Regulation and Supervision Bureau - Abu Dhabi is participating in the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week as an authority contributing to support the process of sustainable development by emphasising its role as a regulatory authority in charge of drafting legislation, regulations and issuing licences for the electricity, water and sanitation sectors to ensure the provision of safe, credible and economic electricity and water services that guarantee the safety of consumers and protect their interests.
Kuwait Marriott Hotels has appointed Samer Gerges as the new cluster director of sales and marketing.



Gerges brings with him over 10 years of sales experience in the hospitality industry. His extensive has experience enabled him to develop great leadership skills and the ability to form high-performing teams that deliver exceptional business results.



Gerges is no stranger to Marriott Hotels, having held many positions within the company, including cluster sales manager and cluster director of sales at Marriott Hotels in Kuwait, where he was fully in charge of managing all proactive and reactive sales teams, and putting together strategies to drive more business and revenues.



Gerges has dedicated his time to provide guidance to his team, establish great relationships with stakeholders and customers, and has supported the positioning of Marriott hotels in Kuwait, which has led to a tremendous increase in Revpar and yearly revenues.



In his new role, Samer will oversee all sales, marketing and reservations activities while developing business strategies that drive more revenues, growth and exceed the business goals.



Throughout his career with Marriott, Samer has received various sales and marketing accolades for his outstanding performance, including the Presidents Circle in 2013, Chairmans Circle in 2016 and he has also been awarded the Mustang Manager of Kuwait Marriott Hotels in 2012 and 2015.



Commenting on Gerges' appointment, cluster general manager George Aoun said: On behalf of the management and associates of Kuwait Marriott Hotels, I would like to congratulate Samer on his new promotion. Under his leadership, I am confident that Kuwait Marriott Hotels will bring new heights to market positioning and guest satisfaction." - TradeArabia News Service


With the beginning of the New Year, Ooredoo is welcoming tourists and business travellers into Oman with a revamped visitor pack.



Giving its new customers great value, the benefits of the easily activated SIM card will be valid for 10 days and includes 2GB as well as 50 minutes and 50 SMSs to local and international destinations. Readily available from January 15, visitors to Oman can purchase their pack across all airports and at any of Ooredoos 50 stores for only RO5 ($12.9).



Mobile phones have become the primary item to pack when travelling, said Feras Al Sheikh, director of Consumer Sales at Ooredoo. Whether we use them to make our bookings, plan our meetings and itinerary or simply stay connected and share our experiences with friends and family. We have been carefully assessing traveller data usage trends and communication needs and have designed this new travel pack to ensure our customers remain connected while in Oman.



Ooredoo has been doing everything possible to bring enjoyment of the internet by providing innovative and affordable plans and packages, such as its value-packed Shababiah, Shahry and Musafir, to name but a few. To further enrich customers digital lives, the company has also been developing innovative, cutting edge products and services to help support communication, entertain and educate, as well as facilitate business and open up opportunities. - TradeArabia News Service


Jihad Incorporated is expanding, despite the massive blow it was dealt in Mosul and Raqqa. The costs of the military operations against IS are high though, and there will be a price to pay for the way local forces conducted operations. Huge refugee camps have been established. Cities were levelled to the ground. Reconstruction is in tatters. This is a fertile breeding ground for any insurgency and the Jihadi shape shifters will try and take advantage of those circumstances.

War in Syria has entered a new, decisive phase, that much is clear. The so-called "Islamic State" has been defeated as a political entity, in Syria as well as in Iraq. And, as could also be expected, it has already started to morph back into an insurgency, alas of global proportions this time, and will soon re-emerge not just in the Middle-East, but in areas where we didn't encounter its black banner before. The ambush that targeted American Special Forces in Mali, in late 2017, bears testimony to this trend.

There was an eerie sense of deja vu about yesterday's statement by Secretary of State Tillerson. The kind of same old, same old speech about issues, challenges and threats, not necessarily related, and grand objectives of US foreign policy. But the most basic question as to what the United States wants to do with Syria, and what it wants for the Middle-East in general, remained unanswered. Obviously, it doesn't take a genius to figure out this administration is on course for containment and roll back of Iranian influence in the region. But wishful thinking and circumstantial alliances with unreliable partners don't make a strategy, they just make up a recipe for yet another disaster.

While Syria currently looks worse off in that regard than Iraq, appearances are misleading. IS' centre of gravity has always been Iraq. The Syrian adventure, while it may have favoured IS' expansion by providing safe havens and strategic depth to the Jihadis, was more of a welcome sideshow. They would have taken Damascus if they had had a chance to, but they didn't. They wanted Baghdad, and had it not been for the separate efforts by the Coalition on the one hand and  let's not forget this  by the Iranians on the other, they might have reached it. Today, there are leftovers of the group in Syria (Hama, Deir Ezzor and Hasakah), but it's in Iraq that the new insurgency has the best chances for a comeback.

This time around, we have decided to stay. Avoid the mistakes of the 2011 withdrawal and use our assets on the ground to prevent an ISIS 3.0. Do we have the willpower though ? Do we have the stamina to do what is necessary to avoid such a development ? It is not just a question of leaving a few thousand Marines in bases in Anbar, build-up a Kurdish border guard in Syria or carry on with yet another version of the "train and equip" programs that have cost us billions already. War is a dialectic of wills. And over the long run, it does not look like we are aware of the actual balance of power in the region or the odds we are up against. But short of knowing what we are facing, how can we even be prepared for the huge efforts we would need to undertake for the policy objectives to be reached ?

The current war in the Middle-East isn't just a war like any other. It has multiple players involved, some of them non-State actors, whose interests might vary according to changing circumstances and alliances. It has sponsors that use this theatre of operations as leverage for other areas, willing to trade-off some advantage here against a compromise elsewhere. And it is taking place in a region whose social, economic and political fabric has been torn apart by 15 years of relentless conflict. Today, we are witnessing the last phase of the Syrian civil war as we have known it since 2011. In the end, Assad has managed to remain in power, courtesy of his Russian and Iranian allies who put in the necessary manpower and resources to overcome a conglomerate of rebel forces whose sponsors, both in the West and in the Gulf, never managed to agree on what it was they were fighting for. Yes, they were fighting against the regime, but what did they have in mind to replace it with ? Nobody knows exactly, even to this day.

As before, we had no proper strategy. No clearly established blueprint for what we wanted to achieve and how, or what contingencies we needed to cover if  as is usually the case  things didn't go as planned. In that regard, the biggest shortcoming in the Western approach to the civil war in Syria was not the backing of the so-called moderate rebels. As a policy choice, it may have been questionable and possibly dangerous. But, whatever  The real issue is that backing those rebels was seen primarily as means to achieve a political settlement. The only debate was about the level of military, diplomatic and economic pressure that needed to be applied so Assad would finally sit down at the negotiation table and agree on a settlement ousting him and his clan.

Arming the rebels and escalating the war was never seen as anything else but a way to gain leverage. And when the other side decided to call our bluff and escalate militarily way beyond anything we were prepared to go for, we hit the glass ceiling. For years, we had supported rebels and sent them to their deaths in the hope this might force our adversary to negotiate. What a strategic blunder ! Assad would not negotiate, he even said so. The Iranians were not going to negotiate and the Russians would only agree on terms so unfavourable to us, that they could hardly be seen as an achievement of any sort. But that phase of the war will soon be over. The fate of IS in Eastern Syria is sealed. That of the rebels in the South is a done deal. There will be violence here and there, it may last for months, even years maybe. Look at Lebanon after its civil war. Look at Northern Ireland, if you want an example closer to home. The end didn't come abruptly, in neither case. And in both countries, authorities coped for years with what might have been dubbed an "acceptable level of violence".

This leaves the Idlib area as the only remaining battlefield in the current war. Are there any doubts though as to the probable winners and losers in that battle ? The SAA may not be able to conduct major offensive operations simultaneously on two fronts, but now that it is done with IS in Deir Ezzor and Abukamal, it definitely has the ability to finish the job in Idlib in similar fashion. Much has been said about foreign Shia militias making up for numbers among Assad's forces. And it is true, there is a sizeable portion of Afghan, Lebanese and Palestinians fighters among the regime's troops. The Iranian IRGC also has advisers on the ground and the Russians rule the skies above Idlib. But the SAA is still Syrian in essence. Most of its men are Syrians and so is the vast majority of the casualties. Besides, the various Salafi-Jihadi outfits in and around Idlib are mostly made up of Syrians too.

Anyway, whether it is going to take weeks or months, whether there will be deals with this or that faction (and there probably will), in the end, Assad is going to prevail and take Idlib, even if in name only. That will be the end of the Syrian civil war and something entirely new, the premises of which we are witnessing today, is going to take over. For the entire North-East of the country, the Kurdish controlled Rojava, will become the main focus of that coming phase, together with border areas to Iraq and, to a lesser degree, Turkey. This is where the US is going to enter uncharted territory.

From that point of view, the most contentious point is related to the allies we've picked  Syrian Kurds  in our current effort against IS and the future attempts at containing Iranian influence. How on God's earth we managed to come up with a plan that entails siding with the Middle-East's eternal losers (no offence to Kurdish readers), in order to try and check a regional juggernaut, is beyond me. To make things worse, the US is going for such a policy perfectly aware of the risks involved with regard to Turkey. Talk about a superficial attempt at reshaping alliances in the region, with a hypothetical rapprochement between Saudi-Arabia and Israel as regional force multipliers of American power versus the combined interests of Russia, Iran, Iraq, Turkey and Syria, to name but the major players.

Again, war is a dialectic of willpower. In this war, or conflict of interest if you like, it's the toughest, most determined, most patient side that is going to get the upper hand. A change of direction at any fork in the road is not going to cut it. Look at Iraq. The US wanted Saddam out and thereby handed over the country to Tehran. Look at Syria. The goal was to oust Assad. Now Assad is going to stay and Russia has gained a foothold in the region like never before since 1956. Look at Iran. The not so clearly stated objective is to roll them back, with the help of Kurdish militias that are hostile to Turkey, the other regional superpower and a NATO member ...

A winning hand ? Definitely not. A sound strategy ? I don't think so. Actually I'm not even sure it qualifies as a strategy. American foreign policy looks adrift in the region. Watch out for the quicksand !
By Raqib Hameed Naik, TwoCircles.net

New Delhi: On Thursday, January 18, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) filed a charge sheet in the NIA Special Court at the Patiala House Courts Complex, against 12 persons including Kashmiri photojournalist, Kamran Yusuf alleging them to conspire to wage war against the country by carrying out terrorist and secessionist activities in Jammu & Kashmir.

The 12,794-page charge sheet has been filed under sections 120B, 121, 121A and 124A of the Indian Penal Code and sections 13, 16, 17, 18, 20, 38, 39 and 40 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.

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The NIA in its charge sheet has alleged that Kamran Yusuf was a stone pelter and worked under the overall guidance and instructions from Pakistan to form strategies and action-plans to launch violent protests and communicate the same to the masses in the form of protest calendars released through newspapers, social media and religious leaders, creating an atmosphere of terror and fear in the State of Jammu & Kashmir, a charge denied by the family.

If he was a stone pelter then why isnt there a single police case registered against him in the local police station. From protest to funerals to army functions, he used to cover all and now all of a sudden he becomes a stone pelter, Irshad Ahmed, maternal uncle of Kamran told TwoCircles.net.

The National Investigation Agency had registered this case on May, 30 last year and subsequently, 10 arrests were made across Kashmir. The NIA has claimed to seize over 950 incriminating documents and over 600 electronic devices and has examined over 300 witnesses during the course of the investigation.

He is innocent and being framed. The charges leveled are false and fabricated. Even the Ministers who we have visited regarding this case say that he is innocent, said Irshad.

The NIA charges come after the media circles in the valley were abuzz with a breakthrough and subsequent release of Kamran after Kashmir Editor Guild took up the case with state and central authorities.

He lost his father and used to work hard to support his mother. She was expecting that he will be released soon but the NIA charge sheet has shocked her, he added.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) in a statement following the NIA charge sheet has asked Indian authorities to stop abusing their power and asked for immediate release of the photojournalist.

Indian authorities must stop abusing their power and using heavy-handed tactics to go after a photojournalist who was merely doing his job, said CPJ Asia Program Coordinator Steven Butler, in Washington, D.C. Kamran Yousuf has already unjustly spent four months in jail and should be released immediately.

On Monday, September 4, 2017, Kamran Yusuf was asked to report at the local police station in Pulwama district from where he was taken to Srinagar, where NIA formally arrested him the following day.

Yousuf, a resident of Tahab village, located five km from Pulwama town in South Kashmir, used to work for various local media organizations and covered protests, encounters between militants and security forces and funerals of militants who died in the encounters along with covering official functions organised by politicians, bureaucrats, army and police.

In August 2017, Yusuf was named among nine emerging photographers in Jammu and Kashmir by With Kashmir, a digital media company.

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) in September 2017 had termed the move by the central agency an attempt to intimidate the journalist community.

Stating that photojournalists are required as part of their professional duty to be present at the places of protests and sit-ins and take photographs of these incidents, and such presence cannot be termed as participation in the incidents, the IFJ had said, the arrest and detainment of freelance photojournalist Kamran Yusuf by the National Investigation Agency in Kashmir, India without formal charges is an attempt to intimidate the journalist community.

Seeking Yusufs immediate release, the journalists body had further urged the Centre to ensure that the power granted to agencies, such as the NIA, is not misused against journalists.
French President Emmanuel Macron is expected to loan the Battle Of Hastings tapestry to the UK in 2022. Macron and May will be having an Anglo-French meeting today at Sandhurst. Theresa May is expected to use the announcement of loaning the 950-year-old tapestry to highlight the UK's historical relationship with France and the wider European continent.

Hartwig Fischer speaking for the British Museum said he would be "honoured and delighted" to receive the tapestry depicting perhaps the greatest event in British history. The tapestry on display in Bayeux is not the original but is a copy.

The tapestry tells the story of when William of Normandy and Harold of England battled at Hastings in 1066 for the English throne. The tapestry is the stitchwork of English peasants some years after the Norman victory and was put together in Canterbury.

Moving the original tapestry given the fact of its age would have to be a delicate task.

Macron: Smooth Operator

Emmanuel Macron is becoming quite a canny operator on the world stage having entertained Donald Trump recently as well other world leaders. Right now with German Chancellor Angela Merkle trying to cobble together a coalition government Macron has seized the initiative and become the de facto speaker for Europe.

France is the second largest economy in Europe after Germany and France is still a formidable power on the military scene too.

So given all this why wouldn't Macron a young politician trying to make his mark globally do just that? With the announcement of the lending of the Bayeux Tapestry to the UK Macron has been compared to William the Conqueror and Napoleon Bonaparte. Historians love to compare current leaders with leaders past and with Macron it's understandable to see why.

William of Normandy and Napoleon made their mark on French and European history. Macron is not a military leader per se but like the above named historical figures, he is a highly intelligent man who it seems is not afraid to take risks. Macron straddles the politics of both moderate left and right and seems to be the right man for this moment in time again like William and Napoleon.

Normans: Not French?

Some historians like to paint the Battle of Hastings as a struggle between The French and the English. One can see why they would do this as the historical relationship between us and the French have been a love-hate one. Not unlike our relationship with Germany and other countries in Europe.

However, at the time of the Saxon-Norman scuffle in 1066 France as a nation did not technically exist. The king ruled over a small territory around Paris. The rest of what would be France was a patchwork quilt of different feuding states.

Such was the way in feudal Europe for many nations with England itself only being made a nation by a previous English king Alfred. The whys, wherefores and all rest of the skullduggery that led up to Hastings will always be argued about.

The Bayeux Tapestry is a Norman take on what happened, after all, the victors always write the history.

The Normans ruled England with an iron fist and oppressed the English both peasantry and aristocrat in many ways.

The Normans were French speakers certainly but the origins of their ancestors were somewhat Scandinavian. To describe the Normans as French Vikings would perhaps be apt.
The Russian Air Force is the successor to the erstwhile Red Air Force of the Soviet Union. They use the TU-160 ( code name Black Jack by NATO) as part of their offensive weaponry. This is a supersonic bomber and was developed during the days when Communism ruled Russia. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, further development of the bomber was stopped, but the rise of Putin changed all that. The bomber was taken out of mothballs and refurbished and upgraded and put back into service.

The plane is a lethal weapon platform capable of carrying nuclear weapons and cruise missiles.

The Aviationist has reported that two Russian Black Jack bombers flew from a base in NW Russia across the North Sea January 15 and were intercepted by Belgium Air Force F-16. The planes were photographed and a video was released by the Belgium Air Force January 17.

The TU-160 was developed during the height of the Cold War and its main purpose was to strike at North America. It is a supersonic bomber and force multiplier. The plane came close to Belgium airspace and two F-16 fighters were scrambled, which also photographed the plane. Later the bombers flew towards the UK and k led to activation of RAF interceptor aircraft. The Belgium Air Force has released the photos and the video of the intercept on 17 January.

The intercept

The planes were intercepted at1150h and were flying at a height of 27000 ft at of 310 knots. The bombers came perilously close to Belgium airspace and showed that this small nation is extremely vulnerable.

WW II

During World War II, Belgium declared its neutrality, but Adolf Hitler disregarded it. The Wehrmacht attacked France through Belgium and the Low Countries and France capitulated within 40 days.

After the end of WW II, Belgium decided to join NATO for security.

BBC has reported that the Russian bombers also flew close to the coast of England and the RAF scrambled fighters to shadow the planes. NATO without the USA is not much of a deterrent and small countries like Belgium will always live with a sword hanging over them.

Vladimir Putin is hell-bent on restoring the global reach of Russia like the USSR and in that quest, small countries like Belgium have to be wary.

Future

The Russian Air Force is now flying missions like it did during the cold war, but their frequency is not that high. Nobody should, however, underestimate Russian military might as was demonstrated during the Syrian campaign where they used the Black Jack bombers with telling effect to support their ally, Assad.
After Republicans passed their controversial tax bill in the House of Representatives and the Senate, it was only a matter of time before the majority of the mainstream media held their feet to the fire. As part of a larger discussion on the issue of the GOP, one host on MSNBC became fed up with the entire party.

MSNBC on GOP

For the better part of the last year, Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress have tried to get on the same page when it comes to transforming the entire tax code. With Trump in the White House and Republicans holding majority-control in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, it seemed as it if was only a matter of time before the bill became law.

On Wednesday morning, the Senate passed Trump's tax bill which was later passed by the House, leading to a victory speech by the president. This issues comes all while the investigation into Russian election interference heats ups, as Trump and many Republicans have been outspoken in their attacks on the FBI, with reports suggesting last week that the president could go as far as firing special counsel Robert Muller. These issues and more were highlighted during the December 20 edition of "Deadline: White House" on MSNBC.

(Full interview in the above video)

Joining host Nicolle Wallace on Wednesday night were a round table of panelists with the hot topic being the current state of the Republican Party.

With panelists John Heilemann, Doug Holtz-Eakin, and Mark Warner giving their thoughts, Wallace seemed to have had a enough of the Republican Party that she has been apart of for some time. "Why dont they want to get to the bottom of Russian collusion?" Wallace wondered, before ripping the GOP for deflecting from a legit investigation in order to push "fake scandals."

(Wallace's "dead inside" remark in the above video.)

When the issue of the aforementioned tax bill was brought up, Nicolle Wallace appeared stunned that so many Republicans gave their support.

"Are Republicans dead inside?" she asked, before wondering, "What is wrong with them?" After Doug Holtz-Eakin suggested that Republicans might be supporting Donald Trump's agenda because they are afraid of potential backlash on Twitter, Wallace replied, "the most pathetic thing Ive heard all year."

Next up

With the tax bill headed to Donald Trump for a signature, the reported next issue in line for Republicans is to tackle welfare reform, though opposition from Democrats is expected to quickly follow. Despite what is on the congressional agenda for the GOP, Trump is still anxiously awaiting the results of the current investigation into Russia.
The biggest political story in 2017 has been the hacking of the 2016 election by Russia and what role Donald Trump might have played in the cyber attack. As supporters of the president stick by his side, one got into a tough exchange on MSNBC.

MSNBC on Russia

During the 2016 presidential election, speculation increased over whether or not Donald Trump was in cahoots with Russia. From not releasing his tax returns to refusing to criticize Vladimir Putin, the former host of "The Apprentice" was forced to deny the growing allegations against him. Following his surprise win over Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, various well-respected news outlets and government agencies concluded that Russia hacked the election with the goal of helping to elect Trump.

Since then, an investigation has been put in place to get to the bottom of the truth of what went down, with various past and present associates of the president being indicted. With special counsel Robert Mueller pushing forward, Trump has made a point to dismiss the investigation as a "witch hunt." These issues and more were addressed during the December 19 edition of "Deadline: White House" on MSNBC.

"Chris Wray is going to be an outstanding director of the FBI." - Chris Christie tells @NicolleDWallace #DeadlineWH pic.twitter.com/GH9YnHMoFY  Deadline White House (@DeadlineWH) December 19, 2017

Joining MSNBC host Nicolle Wallace on Tuesday night, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie took part in a lengthy interview which touched on Donald Trump's recent criticism of the FBI as well as the investigation in question.

After playing a clip of Fox News suggesting the FBI was attempting a "coup" to overthrow the president, Wallace stated, "We have Chris Christie, who will answer the question as to whether or not we are witnessing a coup."

(Part 1 of the full interview in the above video.)

"No," Chris Christie replied, to which he said a second time after Nicolle Wallace repeated the question.

"If youre innocent of collusion, why would you malign attacks that would have the affect of alienating a special counsel that could exonerate you?" Wallace wondered. Christie attempted to deflect from the situation at hand by bringing up the Bill Clinton impeachment case and putting blame on Democrats. "I don't remember any Democrats calling the FBI the KGB," Wallace said.

(Part 2 of the full interview in the video above.)

"There is an ongoing smear campaign against the FBI," Nicolle Wallace went on to say. The MSNBC host continued to grill the New Jersey governor about why the president and his team have attacked the FBI if they are innocent, with Chris Christie doing his best to smooth things over for the administration. "Its really bad, its really sad," Wallace pointed out.

Next step

While Donald Trump waits for the results of the Russian investigation, the majority of Americans are no tin his corner on the issue. According to a recently released poll by the Associated Press-NORC, 63 percent of Americans think Trump tried to "obstruct or impede" the investigation, with another 40 percent believing that the president took part in "illegal" actions with Russia.
While the threat of a government shutdown amidst an immigration debate dominates the current news cycle and rattles markets, another controversy brewed yesterday. By a party-line vote, the House Intelligence Committee voted to declassify and make public a memo that Lawmakers say demonstrates "an abuse" of the intelligence community's surveillance process.

As the Russia investigation continues, controversies have surfaced in recent months over the role played by a Fusion GPS dossier containing scandalous but unverified claims about President Trump.

Who paid for the dossier, meetings between Fusion GPS and Justice Department officials, and what role the dossier played in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) process have all been heated questions.

What questions will the memo answer?

The memo is purported to definitively answer some of those questions. It's also been rumored to be connected right to the heart of the office of Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who was appointed to investigate all matters relating to possible Russian collusion last May. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who, after Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself, appointed Mueller, is said by Representative Matt Gaetz (R-FL) to be involved in the contents of the memo.

"I believe the consequence of its release will be major changes in people currently working at the FBI and the Department of Justice." Gaetz said in an interview with Fox News.

Unable to say more since the memo was so classified that it could only be read in a specialized room, lawmakers dropped hints on what its contents are:

I viewed the classified report from House Intel relating to the FBI, FISA abuses, the infamous Russian dossier, and so-called "Russian collusion." What I saw is absolutely shocking.



This report needs to be released--now. Americans deserve the truth. #ReleaseTheMemo pic.twitter.com/oP2UNujKQL  Mark Meadows (@RepMarkMeadows) January 19, 2018

Republican lawmakers have urged Speaker Paul Ryan to bring a vote for releasing the memo to the floor of the House.

The controversy comes at a vulnerable time for the intelligence community, which has seen its prestige dented over the course of the past year. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) had threatened to filibuster the recent FISA re-authorization bill over concerns of Americans getting caught up in foreign surveillance. Additionally, this week, an ex-CIA officer was charged over suspicions of being a Chinese agent.

Democratic response

The party-line vote suggests that not all lawmakers are convinced of the memo's importance. Democratic members of Congress weren't as gung-ho for its release as their Republican counterparts.

Democratic members of the House Intelligence Committee were quick to dismiss the controversy. Ranking Member Adam Schiff (D-CA) dismissed the memo as "misleading talking points" and warned that it would give the public "a distorted view of the FBI."
On January 10, 2018, a beloved Mouseketeer from the original 1950's show "The Mickey Mouse Club" has passed away. At the age of 74, Doreen Tracey lost her fight against pneumonia and her two-year battle with cancer. Despite the sad news, Tracey left a legacy of happiness and talent behind.

Doreen Tracey: The early years

She was born in St. Pancras, London, England in 1943 to two American dancers, Elizabeth Hay and Sydney Tracey (originally known as Murray Katzelnick). Her father was of Jewish descent and had immigrated from Russia as a child.

Tracey's career started at the early age of four.

She practiced her singing and dancing at her father's studio, which opened upon their return to the United States. Many studio clients and instructors helped Doreen Tracey become the well-known actress she would become.

According to originalmmc, She later was hired on, at age twelve, for "The Mickey Mouse Club." Doreen Tracey later admitted that she had been answering the phone at her father's studio when a Disney agent called looking for children to audition for the show. She tried to use an adult voice to give the name of the child she saw fit for the position - herself.

Her last television appearance was in 1958 at the age of fifteen. Appearing for three seasons, Doreen Tracey continued to perform in future Mouseketeer reunion shows.

Her ties with Disney had been severed for a period when she posed nude in only mouse ears; however, the relationship was soon reconciled.

Career

After the "mouse" years Tracey appeared on the "Annette" show with a fellow Mouseketeer, Annette Funicello.Her musical career flourished as she formed a rock group " Doreen and the invaders." Her group toured Vietnam in 1968, in the midst of the Vietnam war.

Tracey's career continued as she became a publicist for Frank Zappa. Tracey would argue that she was never a publicist but a Promotion Director for a recording studio. Her training came from Warner Brother Records from 1972-1974. Tracey became the author of her autobiography "Confessions of a Mouseketeer."

Although the "Mickey Mouse Club" show was in black and white, its popularity rose.

Because Disney was able to create a show that was an example of the times, it was able to feature new stars such as Doreen Tracey. Tracey may be gone, but her face lives on, on the silver screen. The pigtails that she wore will be forever cemented in rolls of film. She is survived by one son and two grandchildren.
Last fall, it was announced that "John Wick: Chapter 3" would be reaching theaters on May 17 of 2019. While the release date is still over a year away, there should be plenty of news about the latest installment of the film series to keep movie fans busy in the meantime.

In the series, Keanu Reeves stars as the titular character of John Wick. In each of the first two movies, Wick, a retired hitman, is thrust back into his former life. The first film of the series came out back in 2014.

Keanu Reeves and Laurence Fishburne reunited again

In "John Wick: Chapter 2," which was released in early 2017, Reeves was reunited with Laurence Fishburne.

Reeves and Fishburne famously co-starred in "The Matrix" trilogy, portraying Neo and Morpheus, respectively. Fishburne appeared as the Bowery King in the second "John Wick" film. His character, who is introduced toward the end of the film, ultimately forges an alliance with Wick.

It now appears that Fishburne will be returning for the third installment of the series as well. According to "That Hashtag Show," who also reported that principal photography on the upcoming film is scheduled to begin in New York City at the beginning of March and named Spain and Russia as possible additional filming locations, Fishburne will be reprising his role as the Bowery King in the third movie.

Fishburne has been acting for a long time.

He is also known for his appearances in movies such as "Apocalypse Now" (1979), "Mystic River" (2003), "Assault on Precinct 13" (2005) and many others.

Other characters returning

In addition to Fishburne, other characters who first appeared in the second film are reportedly set to return for the third movie well. Per "That Hashtag Show," the upcoming film will feature the return of Common as the character of Cassion, a former colleague of Wick's who later becomes one of his adversaries.

Actress Ruby Rose will also be coming back to play Ares, who was another one of the second film's antagonists. The character of Ares is mute and uses sign language to communicate with other characters.

There will reportedly be new characters who will be introduced as well. One of the new bad guys will be portrayed by Hiroyuki Sanada, who previously appeared with Reeves in the movie "47 Ronin." Sanada appears poised to take on the role of the top villain.

Director Chad Stahelski will reportedly be back as well. Stahelski worked with David Leitch on the first film before going on to direct the sequel on his own.
Nashville had the unmistakable feel of love in the air on the January 18 third episode of Season 6, Jump Then Fall. True love is never a feeling-- it is a choice. Being courageous enough to make that choice at any stage in life takes courage. A unique brand of courage is needed if someone has already been blessed by deep love, or spurned by unrequited love. The Nashville characters are caught up in all aspects of the whirlwind of love, but letting the heart be the sole guide in the journey can get treacherous.

Earlier than expected

Maddie (Lennon Stella) is touched and flattered by Jonah Fords (Nic Luken) affections for her, but she's already been through some too grown up experiences of losing her virginity, being in the fishbowl of fame during a relationship, and loving a very talented yet troubled artist.

She hesitates about making the jump into what she knows can become another tabloid love affair, but she can't resist Jonahs charm nor his genuine side not seen in public. He invites her into his inner circle of friends after Maddie joins him in the recording studio. Friends like Twig (Dylan Arnold) relate stories that show a very nerdy and real Jonah.

Neither Deacon (Charles Esten) nor Jessie (Kaitlin Doubleday) know how to define their relationship yet, but they know that they don't want to let it go. When Daphne (Maisy Stella) and her friend, Luisa, spot them together at a casual time of just touching base, the conscientious dad feels compelled to introduce Jessie, and the look on his daughter's face goes deeper then daggers.

Deacon later divulges the relationship fully to both her and Maddie.

Juliette (Hayden Panettiere) is more and more enthralled by Darius (Josh Stamberg) and his community of devotees. Hoping to assuage some of Avery's (Jonathan Jackson) reservations, she urges him to come with her to tour the compound and meet the man changing her life in person.

Avery obliges and does his best to learn about coherent philosophy that Darius cannot even define for himself, despite his protest that he doesn't want to be called a guru.

Pins and needles

Zach Welles (Cameron Scoggins) surprises Deacon with the news that he's running for Senate in California, but will still financially provide sustenance for Highway 65.

Will (Chris Carmack) comes by to talk with Zach, seeking some kind of closure to their relationship. He doesn't find it because Zach admits that he's not good at forgiveness. The encounter still leaves Will hurting, and he turns to his recent source of chemical comfort, injecting human growth hormone and steroids, and heads to the gym. Gunnar (Sam Palladio) interrupts an injection but doesn't intervene further at the time.

The scenes with the once more searching Will are reminiscent of when his character first came to Nashville and his sessions with a personal trainer. Nashville should be saluted for recruiting real artists as actors, and for this realistic portrayal of gay characters. Let's hope that Will comes to the realization that he is worthy of genuine love in a mutual relationship, and doesn't need to fall back on one night stands with admirers from the gym.

His lack of performance concerns him enough to visit the doctor, who uncovers his hormone and steroid use, and tells him that he has to stop.

Jessie puts off Deacon over the phone, but when it comes to her door in person, they both realize that they have something worth holding onto for the journey. Scarlett (Clare Bowen) feels drawn to a news story on a therapeutic horse ranch, and that's a touching outlet to let her take life by the reins again. Jonah convinces Maddie that he will do everything possible to make their relationship normal and not in the spotlight. He arranges a charming date at a senior center bingo game.

One of the most moving elements in this Nashville offering is Maisy Stellas authentic performance as hurting Daphne Conrad, who realizes that her mother is gone in seeing Deacon with a new woman at his side.

She does want him to be happy, but she cannot deny the sting of the pain of loss. A moving performance of the song Come and Find Me crowns the emotional montage.

Another emotional moment comes when Juliette spontaneously breaks into a lullaby, I Always Will, while on a build with Darius community. Juliette is still a broken little girl inside, no matter her exterior glitz and gunpowder. She is singing to her daughter and to herself. If she can realize that she is worthy of love, worthy of right decisions and peace, even if the guide getting her there is not worthy, the experience will be worth it.
Amber Portwood has faced major backlash this week. The Teen Mom OG episode where she found out she was pregnant aired. Shortly before that, she went on a Twitter rampage and directed some pretty hateful remarks to her ex-boyfriend and the father of her daughter, Gary Shirley. Of course, his wife, Kristina, was also included in the rant. Portwood was upset that they were talking about her and her new relationship with Andrew Glennon.

Hidden issues

While it may look like financially Amber Portwood has everything together, that is not exactly the case.

Keep in mind, the Teen Mom OG girls are rumored to get around $25,000 per episode. Even after paying taxes, that is a pretty large sum of money. Portwood was with Matt Baier for a few years, and the two lived largely. They were buying extravagant cars, flipping homes, and traveling. Last season, Amber Portwood joined her co-stars in Puerto Rico.

During the Twitter battle between Amber Portwood and Gary Shirley, several fans jumped in to voice their opinions on the situation. This is when things came to light, including tax debt. Radar Online reports that Amber Portwood has tax debt which has resulted in a lien. There is also information that Andrew Glennon has a judgment against him for over $8,000 for taxes.

Aside from all of that, Shirley alleges that Portwood is behind in Child support by almost $10,000. That revelation sent Teen Mom OG fans reeling.

Where did the money go?

The biggest question in this situation is where is the money going? Rumors of Amber Portwood being back on drugs circulated across the previous two seasons, but now that she is pregnant, there is almost no possibility that she is using.

It was revealed last season that her ex-boyfriend, Matt Baier, had relapsed. During the Teen Mom OG reunion, Portwood admitted that her ex stole $120,000 from her, That was around the time he took off to Las Vegas, and since then, he married someone. Still, if Amber is making $25,000 per episode, being behind on child support for Leah is puzzling.

After the events of this week, Amber Portwood is catching a lot of heat on social media. There are some Teen Mom OG fans who think things with Andrew Glennon happened too fast, especially since there is already a baby on the way. If Portwood isn't raising Leah, how is she going to handle a newborn? Some of the comments are incredibly harsh, but Amber Portwood is used to the mudslinging coming her way.
One of Donald Trump's most outspoken supporters in the media is right-wing firebrand, internet personality, and Fox News contributor Tomi Lahren. After Lahren claimed that the mainstream media wants to see the president die, social media quickly went viral.

Lahren on Trump

Donald Trump and the press don't get along and haven't since the day he announced his campaign to run for president back in June 2015. After referring to illegal immigrants from Mexico as "rapists" and "murderers," Trump planted a seed that quickly grew into a war of words between himself and the media.

The feud expanded throughout the 2016 election, and has only become more tense over the last year with Trump in the White House. To start off the new year, Trump's rift with the media only got worse following the release of "Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House," which the president has since dismissed a "fake news." In recent days, Trump has attempted to troll the news outlets and journalists by revealing his "Fake News Awards," while also dealing with speculation that his recently released physical exam results were not accurate. As the pressure continues to mount, Tomi Lahren decided to make a bold claim about the media's feelings towards Trump during the January 18 edition of "Hannity" on Fox News.

Joining Fox News host Sean Hannity on Thursday night, Tomi Lahren gave her take on the media's attitude towards Donald Trump, with a special focus on their response to his aforementioned physical exam. "They want him to fail and they him to be ill and they want him to die," Lahren said with rage, while adding, "lets be honest, thats exactly what they want."

In the spirit of sharing and mental health awareness, I think President Trumps doctor should take a look at Crazy Rep. Maxine Waters.  Tomi Lahren (@TomiLahren) January 18, 2018

Not stopping there, Tomi Lahren then called for health exams to be done with top Democrats in Congress in an sarcastic attempt at questioning the health of others in Washington.

"We should have that same doctor examine folks like Nancy Pelosi and Maxine Waters because they need all the help they can get," she added.

Twitter reacts

Following Tomi Lahren's remarks on Fox News, critics on Twitter were quick to fire back. "No, just go into exile somewhere far away without internet access. And soon," one tweet read.

correction most of the world   Rudy  (@Nene_90047) January 19, 2018

Die? No. Thats too good for him. I want him to spend the rest of his life behind bars soiling himself.  TS (@Snarkeologist) January 19, 2018

Looks like all that bleach is getting to Tammys brain  Kerry Barger (@kerrybarger) January 19, 2018

"Die? No. Thats too good for him. I want him to spend the rest of his life behind bars soiling himself," a Twitter user added. "Wow! How do the people on Fox News manage to sleep at night?" a tweet wondered. "Will someone stuff a sock in her mouth?" another tweet stated.

Tammy is the overachiever. Some people take a lifetime to get as angry as she is  Very Stable Seean   (@theRealSeean) January 19, 2018

On the contrary GOD wants them to die in the lake of fire coz JESUS said HE is capable of doing that and warn them to watch out w/their lives  tinkerbell (@inawatiwirjadi) January 19, 2018

Wow! How do the people on Fox News manage to sleep at night?  Donnie Belk (@texasguy37) January 19, 2018

"No you crazy nutcase we just want a guy who governs for the 99% not just a small base of his supporters and rich folks," a Twitter user wrote. "On the contrary GOD wants them to die in the lake of fire coz JESUS said HE is capable of doing that and warn them to watch out w/their lives," a social media user posted.
blockchain, the shared accounting ledgers that used the cryptocurrency Bitcoin, is getting another big boost this year. The latest big move came from the IT services giant IBM and Danish shipping giant Maersk. The two behemoths are teaming up to form a joint venture that will focus more on the fast-growing blockchain technology.

According to Reuters, the still unnamed New York-based venture is set to be owned 49 percent by the American tech giant IBM and 51 percent by the Danish shipping giant Maersk. The goal is to build a global trade digitization platform that can be used in the global shipping trade and help shippers, ports, banks, and other stakeholders in the global supply chains.

The newly announced blockchain venture is expected to replace traditional paperwork with more secure and hack-proof digital records.

About Maersk and the IBM partnership

Founded in 1928 and based in Copenhagen, Denmark, Maersk is the global container division of the Danish-based business conglomerate Maersk Group. Maersk is the largest container shipping company in the world, with over 374 offices in 116 countries. The company operates some of the largest container ships in the world, including the E-class vessel Emma Maersk. Currently, the company operates around 600 vessels and employs approximately 7,000 seafarers and 25,000 land-based people.

For Maersk, the joint venture with IBM means a more efficient transaction processing for the entire global shipping industry.

Maersk will be using IBMs Big Blue services, which include cloud computing, artificial intelligence, data analytics and Internet of things technologies.

As mentioned earlier by VentureBeat, Michael White, former president of Maersk Line (North America), will be heading the new IBM-Maersk venture. The two plan to use the distributed ledger technology behind Blockchain to create a global trade platform that will bring supply chain visibility in real-time, the website added.

The companies plan to release a new product from their newly announced joint venture within six months.

This is not the first time Maersk made a partnership with IBM. The two have already done on collaboration works in the past year. In addition to IBM, Maersk has also partnered with software giant Microsoft on some corporate Blockchain efforts for marine insurance.

IBM new milestone

IBM has made huge headlines this year, a huge technological milestone. The US-based tech giant has just earned more than 1,900 cloud-related patents in 2017. Additionally, the company also released an AI-optimized chip that reportedly 10 times faster than the current offerings in the market.

According to Forbes, the Armonk-based company has come off this year with one big impressive performance. The company has finally established itself as one of the top three enterprise cloud providers in the hotly contested cloud computing space, which include Amazon and the software giant Microsoft. The IT giant has reportedly generated almost $16 billion in cloud revenue for the trailing 12 months only. IBM is expected to get even deeper into the cloud business this year.
Algeria and Morocco are increasingly popular points of departure for economic migrants and asylum-seekers whose arrivals more than doubled last year along the hazardous Western Mediterranean passage into Europe. Washington Post reports in its article Migrants shift to old, risky route to Spain and Europe about the story of Rodriguez Tankeu: the smugglers took his savings and disappeared, leaving the 25-year-old bewildered near Tripoli, the Libyan capital. The former car mechanic headed to Algeria, where he saw, one by one, all the spots on engine-powered boats go to wealthier migrants.

Broke, tired and desperate, he moved further west. Morocco was my last hope, he says. It was either making it to Europe or giving up for once and for all. In Morocco, Tankeu considered buying a fragile inflatable boat to brave the strong currents at the mouth of the Mediterranean. But having grown up in Douala, a coastal hub in his native Cameroon, he knew about the perils of a sea journey. Plus, he had no cash left. The young man eventually joined hundreds of others who assemble in forest camps to get through the fence to Ceuta, a Spanish enclave and tiny pocket of official European soil in Africas northern edge. Three times he was intercepted, and three times he returned. Last summer, on his fourth attempt, he finally made it to the other side. Ive paid a high price for my European dream. I wouldnt do it again, Tankeu said at a charity-run migrant center in Madrid where he receives advice while he navigates Spains intricate bureaucracy for asylum-seekers.

The trend comes as Libya and Turkey have worked to stop migrants from departing for Europe. The controls helped reduce the number of migrants arriving in Italy by one-third and by more than 70 percent in Greece last year, according to European border agency Frontex. Spain worked to help shape the European Unions approach to curbing immigration, in large part by training and funding governments in countries such as Turkey. Yet it is the EU member that could face most pressure if migrants keep moving westwards. The Spanish prime minister has called on the bloc to increase funding for southern European countries. Observers say that recent social unrest in the northern Moroccan Rif region has been a contributing factor to the reshaped migration patterns. The focus on the internal conflict has relaxed policing of migrant departures and Moroccans of young age have also joined Algerians and sub-Saharan Africans seeking better economic opportunities.

According to the International Organization for Migration, more than 28,300 migrants entered Europe via Spain last year. At least 6,200 people crossed the borders of Ceuta and Melilla another Spanish territory either jumping barbed-wired fences or hidden in vehicles.

But the highest numbers washed up in boats or were rescued off the Spanish coast: arrivals by sea totaled 22,100 in 2017, up from 8,100 in the previous year. Their sharp increase over the last quarter worries observers about whats to come. The current European policies are the perfect breeding ground for intensifying the flows along the Western Mediterranean route, says Estrella Galan, secretary general of CEAR, a non-governmental organization working with asylum-seekers. If we dont change our policies we are going to continue an endless cycle of replicating migration patterns from one location to another, she says.

Spain negotiated cooperation deals with transit countries more than a decade ago, offering funding and training to coast guards and security forces in its southern regions. The first repatriation agreements with sub-Saharan countries and pledges of development funds helped reduce a wave of nearly 32,000 arrivals to the Canary Islands in 2006. The bill of this effort is costly. Speaking to Spanish daily El Mundo, Spains state secretary of security Jose Antonio Nieto recently defended the deals with Algeria and Morocco saying they are essential partners and that chasing mafias and human trafficking networks is the top priority.

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has often showed off the success of Spains model before other European colleagues. But at the end of a Southern Europe summit in Rome this month, he also urged the EU to increase funding for member states at the forefront of the blocs external frontiers.

NGOs and human rights organizations say that Spain also needs to draw its own plan to face the new situation. A Human Rights Watch report last summer criticized the countrys treatment of migrants upon arrival, from immediate detention in poor facilities to obstacles for filing asylum applications.

The shortcomings became evident in December, when the death of a 36-year-old man brought unwelcome attention to an unfinished prison where more than 500 newly arrived Algerians had been housed.

As relatives cast doubts on the authorities explanation that the man killed himself, public pressure increased over how migrants some of them minors  were being held in a facility for criminals. Two weeks after the mans death, the Interior Ministry ended up relocating them elsewhere. The uptick in the number of casualties at sea from 169 deaths in 2016 to 223 last year is an additional source of concern. Adolfo Serrano, chief coordinator of Spains rescue services in Tarifa, says that most migrants end up in the water when something fails, both in high-capacity boats carrying a lot of passengers and small rafts similar to the toys that children use in the beach.

And, like elsewhere in the Mediterranean, some NGOs have also been blamed as part of the problem. Helena Maleno, a human rights activist who alerts rescue services about dinghies in the Mediterranean Sea, is now facing possible criminal charges in Morocco for allegedly aiding human traffickers. Spanish investigators initially pursued the investigation. Maleno, who founded the Walking Borders NGO in the Moroccan city of Tangiers, says her phone and social media contacts are available to migrants who often share them and use them to plea for assistance. A prosecutor in Spains National Court dropped the case last year, but the investigation had already extended to Morocco, where a magistrate is questioning the activist this month. Spains Interior Ministry didnt return calls or emailed questions for comment. I hope the case will be shelved, Maleno told The Associated Press last week. I will make my case before the judge in order to clear my name, but also because this cant set a precedent for other organizations who are working to safeguard the right to life in the Mediterranean.
In December 2017, Iran and Iraq signed an oil swap deal, and on Jan. 14, Iraqi Oil Minister Jabbar al-Luaibi announced that Iraq will start exporting oil from the northern Kirkuk fields to Iran before the end of January. Al-Monitor reports in its article Saudi Arabia, Turkey watch Iran-Iraq oil rapprochement warily that this new level of Iran-Iraq cooperation, which brings back memories of the so-called Friendship Pipeline between Iran, Iraq and Syria, is liable to disturb leaders in both Saudi Arabia and Turkey, especially as controversy flares over Turkeys surreptitious oil trade with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).

Saudi Arabia realizes that 2017 oil export increases from Iraq and Iran may have consequences on the kingdoms export monopolies and power within OPEC. Iraq's plan to start exporting crude oil from the northern Kirkuk fields to Iran before the end of January depends on logistics, Iraqi Oil Ministry spokesman Assem Jihad told Argus Media in November 2017. As Reuters reported last December, The agreement signed  by the two OPEC countries provides for Iran to deliver to Iraqs southern ports, on the Gulf, [refined] oil of the same characteristics and in the same quantities as those it would receive from Kirkuk. Tanker trucks from Kirkuk will deliver crude oil to the Kermanshah border area where Iran has a refinery.

Both parties agreed to swap up to only 60,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude produced. This is below 25% of the 2014 Iran-KRG pipeline's expected capacity, and it is much less than the 90,000 bpd that Baghdad ships to Ceyhan, Turkey. Nevertheless, it can be a game-changer for both parties, opening the way for increased oil trade.

As Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh told state-run news agency IRIB during the 173rd OPEC meeting, Although it [the oil swap deal] is considered a small contract in the oil industry, it is a strategic partnership. Iranian authorities also announced that they are planning to build a pipeline to carry the oil from Kirkuk. The pipeline could replace the existing export route from Kirkuk via Turkey and the Mediterranean by pipeline. It was originally planned to transit the oil via Syria before that country descended into civil war.

In a further sign of the agreements strategic importance, Irans Oil Ministry newsletter noted that Iraq entering Irans energy transit routes can expand Irans role as an energy hub in the region and boost economic benefits. A closer relationship between the two countries that are competitors in the oil market, an increase in the export of crude oil from Kirkuk, less reliance on Turkey and finding new routes to export are among the positive implications of this agreement for the Iraqi side.

The Iraqi parliaments vote to ban Kurdish engineering firm Kar Group from operating in Kirkuks oil fields is a further sign of support for this trend. Moreover, for Iran, the oil swap deal with Iraq represents an opportunity to counterbalance the Saudi-Iraq ties renewed by the 18 memorandums of understanding signed between Baghdad and Riyadh in December.

For Iraq, the deal opens a new trade route for its northern fields and enhances its position in front of Turkey for oil export routes. It also has the advantage of muddying up Saudi Arabias ranking in the market.

Turkeys Ceyhan port has served as the export point for Kirkuk since 1977, despite a host of political and technical disruptions. Since 2013, the KRG has used the port for an independent pipeline operated by the KRG without Baghdads approval to connect the twin Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipelines on the border with Turkey. After Iraqi military forces advanced on the KRGs fields in October 2017, pumping in the fields was supposed to be on hold. However, Ankara seems not to be strictly adhering to Baghdads decision and may be continuing with some business with the KRG. Groups such as Argus Media have reported the KRGs pumping rate to Ceyhan is still reaching some 320,000 bpd. While this is a 40% decrease from the usual 550,000 bpd before the independence referendum crisis, it is enough to question Ankaras support for Baghdad's objective of sanctioning the KRGs independent oil exports.

In a period of growing tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran, the oil-trade rapprochement between Iran and Iraq will certainly influence Riyadhs relationship with Baghdad. And if this deal turns into a strong energy cooperation, it might be enough to grab the market and challenge Saudi Arabias position as OPECs de facto leader and the largest player in the global oil market.

In 2017, Iran and Iraq both challenged Saudi Arabias oil export volume. According to ship tracking data from Bloomberg, in October 2017, Iraq exceeded Saudi Arabia in both its exports to the United States and its exports to India. (Bloomberg noted Iraqs average sales to India were 794,000 bpd in 2017, compared with 738,000 bpd by the Saudis.)

Iran has ramped up output as well, doubling its exports. For example, Iranian exports to China have almost equaled Saudi numbers. According to Bloomberg, Saudi Arabia shipped 833,000 bpd to China in September 2017, compared with 600,000 bpd from Iran.

It remains unclear if Turkey or Saudi Arabia should panic over this oil swap deal. After all, Iran and Iraq have gone through a number of tentative cooperation initiatives before that ultimately fell through (e.g., the Friendship Pipeline). However, if the deal does ultimately turn into a larger strategic partnership, then Ankara and Riyadh may need to start preparing to rework their own energy strategies as well.
The German government wants to better forge communication channels with Ankara on security issues by organizing consultation meetings amid signs of normalization in bilateral ties in recent months. Daily Sabah reports in its article Turkey, Germany cooperate in fight against terrorism amid normalization process that a spokeswoman for the office of German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere stressed in a response to a question by the Welt the "need for close cooperation with Turkey in what we understand by terrorism." Germany was "the starting point and destination of terrorists whose travel routes lead to and from Syria via Turkey."Moreover, Turkey has "repeatedly been the victim of massive attacks by terrorists until very recently." Most recently, security consultations took place in February 2017 on the sidelines of a state visit by German Chancellor Angela Merkel to Turkey.

Germany has recently increased the number of investigations into suspected supporters of the PKK. The number of preliminary proceedings launched against suspects has increased from 15 in 2013 to 130 in 2017, a spokesman for the Federal Prosecutor's Office told a German news agency yesterday. While in 2014 and 2015 there were more than 20 trials each year for membership in or support for the PKK, in 2016 the number doubled to 40, the spokesman said. The spokesman did not specify how often the cases resulted in sentencing for those accused.

The latest trial starts on Wednesday in the upper regional court in the northern city of Celle where a 43-year-old Turkish national faces charges of being a regional representative of the PKK for the city of Oldenburg in Lower Saxony. The man is also accused of being linked to the planning and execution of travel to northern Iraq and the recruitment of PKK fighters. If found guilty of supporting a terrorist organization, he could face up to 10 years in prison.

Having seen relations hit rock bottom over the course of the last one-and-a-half years, the two sides are seemingly taking another step forward with this move. Indeed, the efforts of the foreign ministers of the two countries played a key role in the normalization process. While Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu hosted his counterpart Sigmar Gabriel in October in Antalya, Gabriel hosted Cavusoglu in Germany's Goslar city.

Furthermore, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wants to invite German Chancellor Merkel to Turkey or travel to Germany once the government is formed in Germany. "If Germany forms a new government, Erdogan will either invite Merkel to Turkey, or he might go to Germany. We should maintain dialogue," Cavusoglu said last week. "We want to do everything for a better atmosphere," he added. "A new year has begun. And it will be a good year. The meeting with my dear friend Sigmar [Gabriel, the German foreign minister] was very positive, very constructive. We had tensions with Germany. Through our efforts, we see rapprochement between Germany and Turkey. Germany has always been our closest ally," Cavusoglu also said.

In the wake of the release of German human rights activist Peter Steudtner and two other German nationals whose name were not disclosed, German citizen Mesale Tolu was released last month. However, German journalist Deniz Yucel has remained in pretrial detention since last year. The German government is paying great attention to his release. Berlin has been criticizing Ankara on human rights issues. On the other hand, the Turkish government has levied harsh criticism on Berlin for harboring terrorists, providing them safe haven and showing unwillingness for extraditions. It is angered about Berlin's indifference towards the PKK and the Gulenist Terror Group.
Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has accused Saudi Arabia of double-crossing the Palestinians and betraying 1.6 billion Muslims by siding with the U.S. and Israel on regional affairs. Newsweek reports in its article IRAN'S SUPREME LEADER SAYS SAUDI ARABIA SIDES WITH ISRAEL AND U.S., A 'BETRAYAL' OF 1.6 BILLION MUSLIMS that despite Iran and Saudi Arabia's decades-long proxy war of influence in the Middle East, revolutionary Shiite Muslim cleric Khamenei said Tuesday that his country was "ready to act brotherly even with those among the Muslims who were once openly hostile to Iran." He called on Muslim countries to unite against the U.S. and Israel's recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, a diplomatic earthquake that disregarded Palestinian claims to the city and upended an international consensus on its status.

"I believe that this struggle against the Zionist regime will bear fruit, just as the resistance has progressed today. There was a time when the Zionists chanted 'From Nile to Euphrates,' today they are building up walls around themselves, so that they can protect themselves on that occupied land," Khamenei told the Parliamentary Union of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation at a conference in Tehran. But he also took the opportunity to criticize Muslim countries supporting the U.S. and Israel, "Like what the Saudis do. This is certainly a betrayal of the Islamic Ummah and the Muslim World."

While Saudi Arabia does not officially recognize Israel, the conservative Sunni Muslim monarchy and majority-Jewish state are aligned in their support for the U.S. and mutual opposition to an increasingly influential Iran. Iran has managed to expand its footprint across the Middle East after the Shiite Muslim militias it funded helped defeat the Islamic State militant group (ISIS) and Al-Qaeda, in Iraq, Lebanon and Syria.

Iran intensified its rhetorical attacks against Saudi Arabia after a tumultuous series of events last November and a December declaration by President Donald Trump that would have resounding consequences across the region. Trump announced the U.S. would recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel in the face of near-universal condemnation from the international community at the United Nations.

The controversial move was welcomed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but met with massive protests around the world. It also put U.S. Arab allies Jordan and Saudi Arabia in a difficult position. Both ultimately chose to join the 126 other countries that censured Washington in a U.N. General Assembly resolution, but neither has taken any concrete steps to reduce military or political cooperation with the U.S.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, seen as a moderate who has supported the 2015 nuclear deal now in danger of unraveling due to Trump's opposition to it, also decried U.S. and Israeli policy in the Middle East. He told attendees of Tuesday's conference that, now that ISIS had been defeated, the Muslim world could focus on supporting an independent Palestinian state.

"I am convinced that the Islamic Ummah and governments will never forget the Quds [Jerusalem] as the first Qiblah of Muslims, and will act based on unity of purpose, avoiding divisions and joint efforts to return all Palestinians to their homeland and double their efforts to an independent Palestinian state throughout the Palestinian territory, with the Holy Quds as its capital," Rouhani said, according to Iran's semi-official Tasnim News Agency.

Khamenei and Rouhani's speeches came about two weeks after his country was struck by a week-long series of protests late last month and earlier this month. Khamenei and other Iranian leaders blamed Israel, Saudi Arabia and the U.S. for instigating a conspiracy to overthrow the Iranian government via large demonstrations, some of which devolved into deadly clashes with security forces. French President Emmanuel Macron accused Israel, Saudi Arabia and the U.S. of adopting a strategy that could "lead us to war" with Iran.

Responding to Trump's social media criticism of the Iranian government, Khamenei posted his own series of tweets last week and called Trump "a very unstable man" who had "extreme and psychotic episodes."
The mourning public meeting of the International association Israel-Azerbaijan AzIz Board was dedicated to the terrible events that left a running sore in the heart of everyone who survived the tragic days of January 1990 in Baku. Azerbaijanis, as well as representatives of other communities of Israel gathered in the hall of the art studio By Pen and Brush.

Speaking about the grave events in the history of modern Azerbaijan, director of the Azerbaijan Cultural Center AzIz Yegyana Salman told about the innocent people who became the victims of the war crime committed by the Soviet troops against the inhabitants of Azerbaijan. Among the deceased were Azerbaijanis, Russians, Tatars, Lezgins and Jews, who were brutally killed, when they were trying to save the lives of others, like Alexander Marchevka and Yan Meerovich, or were in their houses like Vera Bisantina. The most terrible fact of those events is that it was a brutal war against the citizens of its own country. It was clear that the fatal events of January 1990 became the price that Azerbaijan paid for its independence.

A member of the Union of Journalists, the Union of Writers and Artists of Israel, Frida Yusufova, shared her memories and personal experiences about the Black January. With tears in her eyes, she told how close death was to her and to her family on that terrible day.

A radio journalist, member of the AzIz board, Victoria Dolinskaya told about how miraculously she managed to survive when bullets were flying, adding that she considers this date her second birthday.

The head of the Jerusalem branch of AzIz, Alexander Agranovsky, shared his memories of the victims and deceased friends. He read the poems by Baku-born Leila Begim and Mikhail Salman, dedicated to the January tragedy.

The youngest member of the association, new repatriate from Azerbaijan, attorney Neta Katsman shared her memories of those dramatic events. Her mother miraculously saved the life of her unborn child during those days. Neta Katsman read in the Azerbaijani language very emotional poems dedicated to the Baku tragedy of 1990 by Mamed Aslan.

Addressing the audience, the director general of the International association Israel-Azerbaijan AzIz, Lev Spivak said that probably, we left Baku and today we are here in Israel only due to those tragic events. He asked to pay tribute to the memory of the innocent victims of the Black January by observing a moment of silence.

According to the tradition, the audience honored the memory of the victims of the tragic events of January 20, 1990, by observing a moment of silence. Then, the chairman of the AzIz branch in Netanya, Tomer Aliev, read the Kaddish, a Jewish prayer for the peace of the dead.

At the end of the meeting, the member of the Board of Directors of the Aziz Association, Shaul Siman-Tov thanked all attendees for their participation in the special meeting of the AzIz Association Board.
Seven people were injured on Friday morning in the attack by a teenager with an axe on a school in Ulan-Ude, the head of the Regional Centre for Disaster Medicine of Buryatia Vyacheslav Timkin said.

"Seven people were injured: six children and one woman," TASS cited her as saying.

Official representative of the Russian Investigative Committee Svetlana Petrenko said earlier that the teenager acted alone, he is currently in the hospital.

"According to the investigation, it is established that the attacker acted alone. He was detained and is currently in the hospital, as he attempted suicide," she said.

According to preliminary information, this morning a 9th grade student of the school attacked students with an axe and then set fire to the school with an incendiary bottle.

According to the press service of the regional department of the Investigative Committee, criminal proceedings were initiated against the teenage attacker, the suspect was detained.

"A criminal case was opened against a pupil of one of the schools, who is suspected of committing a crime  The suspected teenager was detained," the statement reads.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has sent a letter of condolences to Uzbekistan's President Shavkat Mirziyoyev over deadly bus fire in Kazakhstan, which killed 52 Uzbek citizens.

"I was deeply shocked by the news of the tragic death of your compatriots as a result of a bus fire in Aktobe province in Kazakhstan" Aliyev said in his letter.

"On the occasion of this tragedy, on behalf of the people of Azerbaijan and on my own behalf, I extend my deepest condolences to you, families and loved ones of those who died and the whole people of Uzbekistan," the President added.
Hundreds of people in Batumi took part in the ceremony commonly known as the Epiphany dip last night.

The Black Sea was traditionally blessed by the Archbishop of Batumi and Lazeti, Dimitry, Agenda.ge reported.

It is believed the water of the Epiphany is full of healing properties and can purify a believer of their sins.
The Azerbaijani Embassy in Moscow held a mourning event dedicated to the memory of victims of the tragedy of January 20, 1990 in Baku. The correspondent of Vestnik Kavkaza reports that the press release of the diplomatic mission was read out at the beginning of the event.

"Back then, in January 1990, the Soviet government, losing the control over the situation in the country, resolved to do a ruthless act of brutal massacre against the peaceful population of Baku. In violation of the constitutions of the USSR and the Azerbaijan SSR, without declaring a state of emergency, heavy armored Soviet soldiers and special units carried out massacre in the streets of the city. As a result of which, hundreds of innocent people were killed and wounded, including children, women, old people, disabled people, representatives of different nationalities and religions," Azerbaijani diplomats recalled.

The power unit of the Baku TV center was blown up to prevent the AzSSR from reporting a crime against its people. "On January 21, 1990, the outstanding politician Heydar Aliyev made a statement in Moscow, in the building where the Azerbaijani embassy is now located, condemning the organizers of the tragedy, calling their actions anti-human, anti-democratic and illegal. Then the public first learned the truth about the tragedy and heard a principled position on the condemnation of the crime committed by the then leaders of the USSR," the press release of the Azerbaijani embassy in Russia says.

"The action of violence and bloody terror did not reach its goal. The people of Azerbaijan were not broken. Its hopes were embodied in the present independent Azerbaijan Republic, whose citizens every year come to the Alley of Martyrs to commemorate innocent victims of state terror. We appeal to the eternal memory of the dead," Azerbaijani diplomats concluded.

Ambassador of the Republic of Azerbaijan in Russia, Polad Bulbuloglu, also addressed the event. "Every nation, every country has tragic pages that people never forget. January 20, 1990 is one of such grave tragic pages in the history of the Azerbaijani people. No matter how long ago it was, those who survived these tragic days will always remember this terrible night when peaceful Baku citizens died. It is probably the worst thing - when the state starts to push its citizens with tanks. It was the red line after which it became clear that the Soviet Union will no longer exist. I remember very well how the Azerbaijanis carried bags of the Communist Party party membership cards and burned them right on the streets," he said.

Polad Bulbul oglu drew attention to the importance of preserving the memory of this crime. "I want to stress once again that Azerbaijanis and those living in Azerbaijan should never forget about this: Azerbaijan is a sovereign state, respected in the world, and it would be the best answer to those aggressors who dared to raise their hands to the Azerbaijani people. As long as the Azerbaijani people exist, they will always remember this tragic date and remember the heroes who died for the liberation of the country, for democracy, for that sovereign Azerbaijan, which lives and develops now," the ambassador concluded.
Orthodox Christians across the world are celebrating the main Christian holidays on January 19th, the day of the Epiphany.

It is the oldest Christian holiday dedicated to the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist in the River Jordan. It is believed that after this Jesus began to enlighten people.

There is a tradition of bathing in a water bowl, symbolizing the immersion of Jesus in the waters of the River Jordan in the rite of baptism over him. Priests and parishioners of many churches go to ponds where ice has been cut beforehand, and immerse themselves in the water three times as a prayer.

It is believed the water of the Epiphany is full of healing properties and can purify a believer of their sins.

There are 59 places for bathing this year in Moscow and more than 2000 across the whole Russia.

Russian President Vladimir Putin visited a male monastery to the northwest of Moscow and took a dip in the icy waters of Lake Seliger to celebrate the Epiphany.

Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Putin visited the Nilo-Stolobensky monastery in the Tver region after wrapping up his working visit to St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region.

According to Peskov, this winter season, central Russia has not been hit by traditional cold weather and this night the temperature was not below minus 6-7 degrees of Celsius.

He also recalled that this is not the first time when Putin is bathing in the icy waters. The president, according to the press-secretary, has taken part in the ice-hole bathing event "for several years already".

The ritual dunks in the icy waters take place overnight to January 19 on one of major Orthodox Christian holidays, the Epiphany.
The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group called for pursuing trust-building measures as an important contribution to the negotiation process, according to the joint statement on the meeting of Azerbaijani and Armenian FMs Elmar Mammadyarov and Edward Nalbandian in Krakow.

The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group (Igor Popov of the Russian Federation, Stephane Visconti of France, and Andrew Schofer of the US), together with the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Andrzej Kasprzyk, met with Edward Nalbandian on 17 January and Elmar Mammadyarov on 18 January. The Co- Chairs met jointly with the two Foreign Ministers on 18 January.

The Ministers and the Co-Chairs discussed next steps for facilitating realization of the agreements reached at previous summits dedicated to the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement. The Foreign Ministers agreed in principle to the Co-Chairs' revised concept paper for implementing the expansion of the Office of the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office with a view toward finalizing it as soon as possible.

During the meetings, the parties and Co-Chairs exchanged views on core sensitive issues contained in the working proposals currently on the table. The Co-Chairs also called for pursuing trust-building measures as an important contribution to the negotiation process. The Ministers and the Co-Chairs acknowledged the relative calm on the Line of Contact, and the Co-Chairs urged the parties to reinforce this positive trend.

The Co-Chairs indicated to the Ministers their interest in further discussing the possibility of conducting a follow up to the 2010 assessment mission to the territories affected by the conflict.

The Co-Chairs plan to travel to the region in early February.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Kazakh Foreign Minister Kairat Abdrakhmanov met in New York on the sidelines of the UN Security Council meeting, the Russian Foreign Ministry reported.

The diplomats have discussed issues on the current agenda of the UN Security Council, as well as bilateral relations.

"The foreign ministers of the two countries discussed the current issues of Russian-Kazakh relations, as well as the current agenda of the UN Security Council," the ministry reported.

"The conversation passed in a warm and trust-based atmosphere, which is traditional for relations between Moscow and Astana," the statement reads.
Armenia's President and head of the Republican Party, Serzh Sargsyan, at the meeting with Armen Sargsyan, the countrys ambassador to the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland, offered him to be presidential candidate from his party.

Yesterday, Sargsyan's candidature was approved at a meeting of the executive body of the ruling Republican Party of Armenia. Sargsyan was nominated as a the RPA leader, and the party can nominate him for the elections.

Armen Sargsyan was born on June 23, 1953 in Yerevan. In 1976, he graduated from the Yerevan State University and got PhD degree in physics and mathematics upon completing his post-graduate curriculum. He has worked at the Yerevan State University and at Cambridge University as professor.

In 1992, he was dispatched to the United Kingdom as ambassador. Sargsyan has also been on diplomatic missions in Belgium, the Netherlands, Vatican and Luxembourg.

From November 1, 1996 to February 28, 1997, he was Armenian prime minister, and after that was appointed as ambassador to the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland.

Over a period between 1993 and 2000 he has been a special consultant to the head of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, then, in 2000, he was the chairman founder of Eurasia House International, in 2001 to 2011 he was founder and director of the Eurasian Center in the Cambridge Universitys Judge School and founder of Astana annual Eurasian media forum.

From 2001 to 2013 worked as chief advisor at British Petrolium, Alcatel, Telefonica, Bank of America Merrill Lynch and other international organizations, ARKA recalls.

An MP from Tsarukyan faction Naira Zohrabyan, speaking with Vestnik Kavkaza, noted that her party has not yet formed its position on a candidate. "Of course, the candidacy was not a surprise for us, the name of Armen Sargsyan figured as one of the options during the last 10 days, but so far I cannot s our position on behalf of the Tsarukyan block. We should discuss the candidacy," she said, adding that the probability is high that the new president will not be just a nominal figure.

"Although Armenia is a parliamentary republic now, we understand that it is very difficult to change the mentality of citizens, and there is an understanding that much depends on a personality. Let's see what kind of personality Armen Sargsyan has, assess his work. The new constitution limited the powers of the presidency, but the right candidate can do a lot," Naira Zohrabyan said.

The Director of the Armenian branch of the CIS Institute, Alexander Makarov, recalled the RPA criteria for choosing the candidate. "In addition to the formal criteria set in the Constitution, the RPA named such criteria as competence and significance in the international arena. And Armen Sargsyan is in line with them. He is a man who has a positive reputation abroad and was directly connected with Armenia, held responsible political positions. Therefore, Sargsyan's candidature will be nominated by the RPA for the post of the fourth president of Armenia," he said.

The expert also spoke about the new president's role in parliamentary Armenia. "On the one hand, he performs ceremonial, protocol and symbolic functions, acting as a representative of the state abroad. On the other hand, it is a figure that is trusted by the majority of political forces, which is also an important criteria when choosing Armen Sargsyan as a presidential candidate. It means that Sargsyan was chosen because he is acceptable not only to the RPA, but also to other parties," Alexander Markarov noted.
Russia's government together with the Bank of Russia appointed PJSC Promsvyazbank as the main bank for Armed Services Procurement operations and major state contracts, the country's Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said.

"In accordance with the decision to create a base bank for the implementation of operations on Armed Services Procurement and major government contracts, the Russian government together with the Bank of Russia, picked PJSC Promsvyazbank as the responsible bank," TASS cited the minister as saying.

According to him, the banks size, an extensive branch network and a number of other characteristics optimally suit for the role of a base bank in dealing with government defense contracts and major government contracts.

Silanov added that Promsvyazbank will be chaired by Pyotr Fradkov, who is the current head of the Russian export center
The United States will rebuild its military to a level its never been, US President Donald Trump said as he arrived at the Pentagon yesterday for a meeting to discuss military strategy.

"Were rebuilding our military, were bringing it to a level its never been," the President said. "As you know its been depleted over the last long period of time and when we finish there wont be anything like it. We need that now more than almost any time in the past."

Trump spoke as the Pentagon a day before Defense Secretary James Mattis is set to unveil the administrations national defense strategy, and just weeks before DoD sends its fiscal year 2019 budget request to Capitol Hill, the Washington Examiner reported.
The Turkish Armed Forces have carried out strikes against seven positions of the Kurdish troops of the Self-Defense Forces in Syria's Afrin, Haberturk TV reported.

According to the channel, the gun fire was opened from the bordering Turkish province of Hatay. The Kurdish units fired several shells over Turkeys territory in return, the channel reported.

Ankara does not rule out the possibility of carrying out an operation against Kurds from the Democratic Union Party and the Self-Defense Forces which it regards as a Syrian branch of the Kurdistan Workers Party, an organization that is recognized as terrorist in Turkey, TASS reported.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said earlier that "the operation in Afrin against the terror forces may start any moment."
Ankara has started consulting with Russia to bring closer approaches to the operation of the Turkish army in Syria's Afrin, Turkish Defense Minister Nurettin Canikli said.

"We are preparing for an operation in Afrin, we are taking the necessary steps for this. We are coordinating with Russia and other interested countries of the region, their views should be brought closer to our position since this operation will ultimately be carried out," Canikli said in an interview with the Haberturk broadcaster.

Canikli stressed that the operation was "right to self-defense in line with international law," adding that the country was conducting all necessary preparations for the upcoming operation aimed at destroying all "terrorist corridors."

Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag said earlier this week that Ankara was holding consultations with Moscow and Washington over a possible operation in Syria's Afrin against Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), which Ankara considers a to be associated with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
HCM CITY  KIDO Food continued to lead the ice cream market with growth of 16 per cent last year, the company said on Thursday.

It quoted a report from Euromonitor saying that last year the average growth in the ice cream market was 14.7 per cent.

The strong cash flow in the ice cream segment boosted the companys revenues last year to nearly VN1.5 trillion (US$65 million), a 7 per cent rise from 2016.

Some new products also contributed to the increase in revenue, the company said.

The new products, including frozen french fries, pushed revenues from frozen foods up by 77 per cent.

KDF reported profit after tax of VN152 billion ($6.6 million), a 6.7 per cent increase.

The company said it would focus on R&D to achieve higher growth and profits.

KIDO Food, a member of the KIDO Group, was established in 2003 after the latter bought the Walls ice cream plant from Unilever.

The company has since established some iconic brands like Merino and Celano.

In 2016, the company entered the frozen food industry and has periodically been adding new products to expand its portfolio.  VNS
State Capital Investment Corporation (SCIC) expects to make a pre-tax profit of VN6.6 trillion (US$290.5 million) in 2017, posting a 33 per cent year-on-year increase. Photo sggp.org.vn

HA NOI  State Capital Investment Corporation (SCIC) expects to make a pre-tax profit of VN6.6 trillion (US$290.5 million) in 2017, posting a 33 per cent year-on-year increase.

The corporation said at a meeting on Wednesday in Ha Noi that it posted revenue of VN7.38 trillion and after-tax profit of VN6.3 trillion, up 36 per cent from the set targets.

Last year, it successfully sold its stakes in 38 firms, including total share sales at 36 units and a part of shares at two others. SCIC collected VN932 billion from its divestments, 2.2 times higher than their cost prices.

By selling a 5.4 per cent stake in Viet Nam Dairy Product JSC (Vinamilk), which was directly paid to the State budget, SCIC collected VN21.2 trillion, which was 19.1 times higher than cost prices.

So far, the corporation has sold State capital in 986 companies since its establishment in 2005, collecting VN28 trillion, 3.5 times higher than cost prices.

In November, SCIC successfully sold its 48.3 million shares of Vinamilk, equal to 3.33 per cent of the dairy firms capital, to Singaporean firm Jardine Cycle & Carriage for VN186,000 per share in a deal worth a total of VN9 trillion.

By the end of last year, SCIC was managing State capital worth VN19.1 trillion in book value at 133 enterprises. SCIC plans to step up the handover of State capital ownership, strengthen management and continue restructuring as well as speed up the sale of State capital. Its financial investment activities will also be increased.

Nguyen Chi Thanh, SCICs deputy general director, said SCIC met the set targets. It was not in a hurry to sell stakes in State-owned capital in 2017 as it forecast the VN-Index would be higher this year.

We keep assets to sell them when the VN-Index increases, thus creating higher value for divestments, Thanh said.  VNS
HCM CITY  The HCM City Export Processing Zones and Industrial Parks Authority (Hepza) hopes to attract new investment worth US$900 million this year.

More than 60 per cent is targeted in four technology-oriented industries -- food processing, chemical-rubber, mechanical, and information technology and supporting.

A Hepza report said new investment in the citys industrial parks and export processing zones last year topped $840 million, an increase of 68 per cent over 2016, most of it in those four industries.

As of last year, there were 1,495 projects in the IPs and EPZs with a combined capital of nearly $10 billion.

ao Xuan uc, deputy head of Hepza, said simplification of administrative procedures related to investment, labour and construction in the city including Hepza helped attract investments last year.

Investors and enterprises have seen progress in [streamlining] procedures, so they continued their investment and many of them increased their investment.

Investment by domestic companies was higher than foreign direct investment last year, he said, describing it as a new thing.

This year Hepza would continue to reform administrative procedures, he promised.

Hepza is working with the citys Department of Science and Technology to deploy IT in investment and information management, he said.

The city plans to set up a facility in Binh Chanh District mostly for start-ups, he said.

Also this year, Hepza will continue to provide assistance to companies in the citys industrial parks and export processing zones like introducing them to a city programme that helps them invest in various sectors and pointing to labour sources.

It will co-operate with relevant agencies to resolve strikes in time to avoid adverse effects on the investment environment.

It will also safeguard the benefits of workers in industrial parks and export processing zones. VNS
HA NOI  Hai Duong Haid Company Limited, member of Singapores Haid Group, inaugurated an animal feed plant on Thursday at ai An industrial extension zone in the northern province of Hai Duong.

This is a foreign direct investment (FDI) project by Haid Group with a total investment of US$15 million.

The factory is located on a 3.5ha area and started operations at the end of 2017. It specialises in producing and trading of animal feed, poultry and aquatic feed with an output of 500,000 tonnes every year.

Assessing the role of the project, Nguyen Duong Thai, chairman of Hai Duong Peoples Committee, confirmed that the project was completed within a year. He also hoped that the success of this project would motivate more investors from Singapore to invest in the province.

Haid Group specialises in research and supply of agricultural products such as fish feed, animal feed and animal protection products. So far, the total feed production of the group has been nine million tonnes in a year.

Haid Group has more than 200 companies worldwide.

To ensure continuous development, the group has invested in six factories in Viet Nam. These are located in ong Nai, Nha Trang City of Khanh Hoa Province, Long An, Binh Duong and Hai Duong. These factories manufacture a variety of feeds for aquaculture, breeding and trading of high-quality fish and shrimp, as well as for farming and trading of cattle and poultry.  VNS
HA NOI  The domestic market is forecast to bear an oversupply of pork, cattle and poultry meats for the Tet festival in 2018, while it may lack vegetables in some places if the weather is cold and unusually frosty.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), the price of live hogs in the country has recently fluctuated between VN28,000-34,000 per kilo.

However, Nguyen Xuan Duong, deputy director of the MARDs Department of Livestock Production, said the supply of pork this year is estimated to be plentiful enough to meet demand on the domestic market. Therefore, ahead of the Lunar New Year festival this year, there will not be a sudden increase in price of pork. Besides the plentiful supply, consumers will use high-quality pork products.

Other animal products, such as chicken, duck and other kinds of poultry, are also oversupplied. The market may lack eggs, however, due to high demand during Tet. Three years ago, there was a shortage of eggs due to strong demand, reported baotintuc.vn.

Meanwhile, Nguyen Huy Cuong, deputy director of the Department of Crop Production (MARD), said that if the weather is normal, the market will have plentiful green vegetables. However, if the northern mountainous area is hit by cold spells and frost, the market will lack vegetables in some parts of the country.

The weather is good for the development of fruit products, so there is expected to be enough supply on the domestic market for the Tet festival, Cuong said.

According to the ministry, food prices are forecasted to increase slightly due to high demand during the Tet holiday, but the market will not see a big change because of the stability in the food supply. Domestic rice supply will completely meet the local demand during the Lunar New Year 2018, which will fall on February 14.

Sugar prices are stable despite increasing demand on sugar for producing confectionery and beverages products. There is enough salt for the local demand even though salt output decreased due to storms.

Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade o Thang Hai said the MARD should closely follow the market to properly regulate the supply and demand of agricultural commodities.

At present, the MARD and relevant offices, including the National Agro-Forestry-Fisheries Quality Assurance Department, have enhanced inspection and control of food quality, hygiene and safety as well as veterinary hygiene to ensure the supply and quality of farming products for domestic consumption and exports, especially during the upcoming Lunar New Year.  VNS
HCM CITY  Rong Viet Securities on Thursday announced it achieved pre-tax profits of VN138 billion (US$6 million) for 2017, a 125 per cent rise from the previous year.

Revenues rose to VN366 billion ($16 million), 42 per cent from securities services, a 32 per cent jump year-on-year.

Brokerage activities contributed more than 23 per cent; the rest came from proprietary investment and was up 98 per cent compared to previous year.

It said its capital had been increased to VN910 billion ($40 million) last year, and would rise to VN1 trillion ($44 million) through a bonus issue next April.

The company plans to keep looking for strategic partners to increase its capital to VN1.2-1.3 trillion ($52-57 million).

This year, it will table at the shareholders meeting a proposal for employee stock ownership of 3 per cent of the new capital.

Rong Viet Securities is one of the top 15 securities companies in Viet Nam.

It was established in 2006.  VNS
HA NOI  Viet Nam Nutrition Food JSC (Nutifood) signed a contract with Delori Foods International in HCM City on Thursday to export its milk products to the US.

It was the first time Viet Nams milk powder have entered such a demanding market, thanks to its high quality and competitive prices.

Under the contract, Delori will distribute high quality PediaPlus dissolved milk powder for malnourished children to more than 300 supermarkets in California.

NutiFood had to meet the strict requirements of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to receive an import licence.

Nutifoods plants were also independently tested by Michelson Laboratories to make sure it met export conditions.

Tran Thanh Hai, CEO of Nutifood, said it had taken the company more than a year to finish negotiations with Delori and fully comply with the FDA.

He said the FDA carried out many strict check-ups on Nutifoods plants.

We are proud to become one of the first Vietnamese firms conquering the market, he said.

The companys export revenue to the US market in the first year is expected to reach US$20 million and increase by $100 million each year over the next five years.

Its revenue in the local market is VN10 trillion (US$) a year.

Delori intends to secure widespread distribution for its products in supermarkets across the US.

Ta Hoang Linh, director of the Department for the Europe and America Markets under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, said Viet Nam exported many key products to the US.

However, they were traditional products, such as garments and textiles, timber furniture, machines and electronic equipment.

Meanwhile, food and items relating to peoples health have accounted for a small portion of Viet Nams export structure.

Linh said Viet Nam took twelfth place in US exports and was twenty seventh among countries importing from the US. It is the sixteenth largest trade partner of the US.

Tran Quang Trung, chairman of Viet Nam Milk Association, said Viet Nam hoped to export milk products worth $120-130 million a year.

However, with the strong investment of local companies in 2017, the turnover reached $300 million.

The exports were mainly yogurt and liquid milk to the Middle East, Myanmar and Cambodia.

Vietnamese firms have also promoted their investments in world dairy farms to provide milk products to both Viet Nam and foreign markets.  VNS
HA NOI  The Ministry of Industry and Trade has urged Vietnamese firms to verify information of Thai business partners carefully to avoid being swindled.

The ministry said that recently the Trade Counsellor in Thailand received a number of requests from Vietnamese firms asking for assistance in handling frauds they faced when doing business with Thai companies.

Many Vietnamese firms were looking for business partners from Thailand via the Internet and decided to do business and pay deposits without adequately verifying information about them.

After that, they did not receive their ordered products or failed to contact their partners and lost the deposits.

The trade counsellor urged Vietnamese firms to verify information of their Thai partners carefully, especially those with whom they are doing business for the first time.

The information should be verified on official channels or via the trade counsellor.

All Thai businesses must register their information with the Department of Business Department, which is published on the portal: www.dbd.go.th/Applications/cds/.

While negotiating contracts and transactions, Vietnamese firms should ask partners to provide adequate information for verification as well as choose safe payment methods. The contracts must clarify terms for compensation and agencies to resolve any possible dispute that may arise.

Vietnamese firms were urged not to pay deposits or advances without knowing their partners thoroughly because many could not establish contact after transferring money.  VNS
HA NOI  Of 23 billion pairs of shoes sold worldwide in 2017, Viet Nam exported over one billion pairs, continuing to maintain the second position (after China) in shoes export.

According to the latest statistics of the World Footwear Magazine in 2017, Viet Nam continued to rank second among the top 10 largest footwear exporters, with 1.02 billion pairs of shoes, equivalent to 7.4 per cent of the global footwear supply, said Diep Thanh Kiet, vice chairman of the Viet Nam Leather, Footwear and Handbag Association (LEFASO).

China still maintained the top position in exporting shoes, with 9.31 billion pairs, representing 67.3 per cent of the total 23 billion pairs of shoes the world consumed in 2017.

Asia continued to be recognised as the worlds leading region in the production and consumption of footwear throughout the world.

Meanwhile, the United States was the largest footwear importer; the country imported 2.34 billion pairs of shoes last year, accounting for 19.6 per cent of global footwear consumption.

Export of Viet Nams backpacks and handbags continued to rise, to make it to the top five countries exporting these products in the world today.

In 2017, the export turnover of backpacks and handbags in Viet Nam was estimated at US$3.3 billion, accounting for 5.5 per cent of global production, but only about one-seventh as compared to Chinas supply.

Kiet said the biggest challenge for the domestic footwear-handbags industry was the low level of technology application in management and production, as compared to regional and foreign direct investment (FDI) enterprises.

The labour productivity of domestic enterprises was only equal to 60-70 per cent of FDI enterprises. Most domestic firms have not joined the global supply chain; meanwhile, international brands usually tend to deeply control the global supply chain. In addition, labour costs in Viet Nam were rising significantly, Kiet added.

Not only interfering in the price of the goods, importers were now gradually intervening in the traceability of raw materials and factories supplying machinery for production.

On the other hand, the time taken for supplying goods, product confidentiality, the level of technology used, and advantages of raw material supply are given priority to help consumers select where to place an order and process production, Kiet said.  VNS
UTTAR PRADESH  Bilateral relations between Viet Nam and India have developed significantly over the past years, especially in trade, agriculture and food processing.

This was revealed at a conference in Uttar Pradesh in India on Thursday. The conference was held as part of the ongoing Global Food & Beverage Show of India.

Two-way trade between the two countries had grown from US$1.53 billion in 2007 to $7.63 billion in 2017. Vietnamese exports to India in particular increased by 21 times from $180 million to $3.76 billion.

Viet Nam exports coffee, pepper, cashew nuts and seafood to India, among others, while it imports meat, aquatic products, fruits, vegetables and animal feed from the Indian market.

In his speech at the conference, Bui Trung Thuong, head of Trade Office at the Vietnamese Embassy in India, said there was scope for the two countries to accelerate bilateral co-operation in three reviewed areas.

o Huu Huy, deputy head of the Asia-Africa Market Department from Viet Nams Ministry of Industry and Trade, who was also present at the conference, agreed. He emphasised the importance of organsing trade promotion programmes in both countries, facilitating participation of the two countries business communities in trade fairs and exhibitions, and speeding up the exchange of trade information to expand bilateral trade.

At the event, 30 Vietnamese enterprises in food and food processing, agriculture, forestry and fishery heard about the potential of the Indian food and beverages sector and met directly with Indian traders to explore new business opportunities.

The food and beverages industry is one of the sectors that India gives priority to. The country is now the worlds leading producer of many agricultural commodities such as milk, rice, wheat, tea, cane sugar and spices. Indias food processing industry is valued at $258 billion. The countrys agricultural product and food export is predicted to reach $70 billion by 2020.  VNS
HA NOI  By the end of 2018, the Viet Nam Asset Management Company (VAMC) must handle at least VN140 trillion (US$6.15 billion) worth of bad debts it had purchased.

This was revealed by Deputy Governor of the State Bank of Viet Nam Nguyen Kim Anh at VAMCs conference to implement 2018 tasks on Thursday. Kim Anh praised the efforts of VAMC in handling bad debts, especially in purchasing debts at market value and via special bonds.

He asked VAMC to hasten the buying and selling of bad debts at market value and to buy bad debts from credit institutions by issuing special bonds in return, to ensure system security.

The year 2017 was the first year VAMC was successful in buying bad debts at market value, worth more than VN3 trillion.

The company needed to buy a total of VN6.6 trillion bad debts at market value in the 2017-20 period.

The company was also asked to enhance operation capacity while closely co-ordinating with relevant ministries to increase its capital in an effort to improve its financial capacity to handle bad debts at market value effectively.

Under the Prime Minister-approved project of restructuring credit institutions in association with handling non-performing loans in the 2016-20 period, VAMCs capital would be increased from the current VN2 trillion to VN10 trillion in 2020.

Kim Anh also stressed on the role of VAMC in contributing to the development of a debt market in Viet Nam.

VAMCs report showed that as of the end of 2017, VAMC bought more than 26,600 debts from 42 credit institutions worth nearly VN308 trillion at original value at a price of VN277.75 trillion.

It signed up with five credit institutions to buy bad debts at market prices worth VN3.1 trillion in total last year, meeting the target set by the central bank.

The company reclaimed some VN30.7 trillion bad debts in 2017, 40 per cent higher than the target.

From the beginning of this year, VAMC hastened the selling of mortgages, worth some VN380 billion, including Tan Quoc Duy Steel Companys property in southern Binh Duong Province, Puzolan Gia Lai Cement Companys mortgage for a loan at Saigon-Hanoi Bank and bad debts of Kim Son Building Material Production Company at the Commercial Bank for Investment and Development of Viet Nam.

VAMCs Chairman Nguyen Tien ong in an interview with Vietnam News Agency said VAMC planned to buy bad debts by issuing special bonds worth VN25-30 billion and buy debts at market prices of at least VN3.5 trillion in 2018.

It also planned the ratio of reclaiming debt at 15-20 per cent.  VNS
A NANG  Recent rapid construction of more than 20 hotels and resorts in Son Tra Nature Reserve is threatening the survival of highly endangered langurs and other wildlife. Human activities, such as illegal logging and hunting, also continue to badly affect the lives of the primates and wildlife in the reserve.

The 4,400ha Son Tra Nature Reserve, known for its rich biodiversity, is home to more than 1,300 red-shanked douc langurs and more than 1,000 plants and 370 animal species.

The langurs were declared endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in 2013, but this was recently redefined as critically endangered  nearly extinct.

Six of the monkeys were killed by motorcyclists in 2015-17, and two cases of illegal hunting were uncovered. Two red-shanked douc langurs were reportedly killed for eating. And about 10ha of forest have been illegally logged between 2014-16.

Thousands of traps and tonnes of rubbish have also been collected by local rangers and volunteers during the period.

This week, yet another project was launched to help saved the rare primates. a Nangs rural authorities announced the start of a reforestation project to create a safe habitat for the Red-shanked douc langur (Pygathryx nemaeus) in the reserve.

The project, being run by the citys agriculture and rural development department and NGO, GreenViet, will help replant 1.5ha of native trees, including Cho (Parashorea chinensis), banyan (Ficus bengalensis) and Sao en (Hopea odorata). Total investment will be VN250 million (US$11,000).

The project also involves an education programme to raise awareness of the need to protect biodiversity.

It will lead to 25,000 school students and more than 3,000 local residents being taught the importance of biological variety on field trips to the Son Tra Nature Reserve.

Last year, a business group donated $9,700 to build canopy gap bridges for the endangered langurs to cross roads safely.

Re-use Everything Institute Inc of Finland agreed to fund $25,000 for biodiversity research in the Son Tra reserve to help protect the langurs.

The Frankfurt Zoological Society and the San Diego Zoo have also been co-operating with the city to try and save the primates from their distant relatives.  VNS
AN GIANG  The Mekong Delta province of An Giang is being helped to produce a detailed and workable draft plan to implement the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.

Vu Minh Hai, chairwoman of the Climate Change Working Group, said this yesterday at a workshop in the province organised by Oxfam Viet Nam and the provincial Peoples Committee.

Hai said the draft plan seemed to lack detailed targets, such as how many tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) the province could cut down by 2030.

It also failed to engage local farmers, especially vulnerable groups, who suffered the most from climate change, she said.

In response, Nguyen Cong Khai from the provincial Natural Resources and Environment Department, who is in charge of the local plan to implement the Paris Agreement, said the province needed a detailed assessment on how much greenhouse gas was discharged from a range of activities, including the energy, transport and agricultural sectors each year.

Without the assessment, the province has been unable to set specific targets, such as how many tonnes of carbon dioxide can be reduced in the draft plan, he said.

"We are in need of support from the environment ministry and other agencies so that we can finish the draft plan before 2020, the time-frame set by the environment ministry," Khai said. It might take six months to finish the assessment if we get the support, he said.

An Giang is not the only locality in the delta to face similar problems when they devise a plan to implement the Paris Agreement, he added.

Khai admitted that another shortcoming of the draft plan was that it had yet to engage local farmers.

Under the roadmap, Viet Nam plans to reduce 8 per cent of its greenhouse gas by 2030. The country eventually hopes to cut down 25 per cent of its greenhouse gas if it receives adequate support from the international community.

Viet Nam ratified the Paris Agreement in November 2016. In late 2016, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc ordered localities across the country to create their own plans to implement the Paris Agreement and submit them to the environment ministry before 2020.

The delta, home to more than 18 million people and the countrys most important agricultural region, is facing threats due to climate change.

In 2016, a severe drought and salinity invasion gave the national agriculture sector a wake-up call on the reality of climate change.

Extreme weather affected 13 provinces in the region, causing water shortages for millions of people and the loss of 800,000 tonnes of rice.

Additionally, sediment in the Mekong River that fertilises the delta and is vital for rice growing has fallen remarkably fast in a very short period of time.

Statistics from the Mekong River Commission show that the river delivered up to 160 million tonnes of sediment to the delta in 1994.

In 2014, this fell half to only about 75 million tonnes.  VNS
Deputy Prime Minister Truong Hoa Binh attends a national conference held by the Ministry of Home Affairs in Ha Noi on Thursday.  VNA/VNS Photo Nguyen Dan

HA NOI  Deputy Prime Minister Truong Hoa Binh has asked the Ministry of Home Affairs to build a transparent mechanism for personnel recruitment to draw more talented people to work for State administrative bodies and ensure the supply of high quality public servants.

Speaking at a national conference held by the ministry in Ha Noi on Thursday to review its 2017 tasks and set goals for 2018, Binh said the ministry should review and downsize staff structures and improve the professional skills and quality of staff to improve operational efficiency.

He pointed out the sectors shortcomings last year, including slow building and issuance of related legal documents. Further, inspection and supervision over personnel recruitment and appointment within sectors and localities were not comprehensive. The home affairs sector remained passive in proposing models of apparatus organisation at Government agencies. It slowly considered and handled issues raised by National Assembly deputies and the public, including issues relating to officials who had failed to fulfill their tasks or violated regulations.

The sector was also not active enough in reviewing personnel tasks and fully developing its management role, leading to some shortcomings in personnel management at some agencies and localities, the deputy PM said.

Binh said in 2018, the sector should aim to fulfill assigned tasks, and research and propose amendments and supplements to the Law on Cadres and Civil Servants, in line with Party regulations.

The sector should also increase inspection and set up a task force, led by the Minister of Home Affairs, to regularly carry out inspection over personnel tasks to prevent shortcomings such as the super fast appointments of some officials as reported by the local media recently.

Minister of Home Affairs Le Vinh Tan said the ministry would continue speeding up inspection and supervision in personnel recruitment, appointment and management at sectors and localities.

The ministry also asked authorities of localities to increase scrutiny of the recruitment and appointment of public servants.  VNS
Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Le Thi Thu Hang at a press briefing on Thursday.  VNA/VNS Photo Van iep

HA NOI  Viet Nam plans to maintain dialogue on human rights with certain countries and partners to strengthen mutual understanding, share experiences and open opportunities for bilateral relationships in human rights, said the foreign ministry spokesperson.

Asked about the countrys stance towards some partners concerns about Viet Nams promotion and protection of peoples rights recently, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Le Thi Thu Hang told a press briefing on Thursday that all mankind values human rights, but countries have different approaches and priorities due to differences in history, culture, political institutions and development level.

This is a normal reality in international relations. It is important that we stay ready for co-operation and dialogue in the spirit of co-operation, construction and mutual respect, Hang said. We would like to see an objective, comprehensive and impartial view on Viet Nams efforts and achievements in ensuring human rights from the international community.

Speaking about crucial advancements the country has made in promoting human rights, the spokesperson said that in the coming time, Viet Nam would prioritise the continued reinforcing of the legal system so that people can better exercise basic rights of freedom in line with Constitution 2013 and Viet Nams international commitments; and promoting socio-economic development in order to improve conditions and resources for poverty reduction and to improve the spiritual and material life of people.

Hang also mentioned priorities include improving access to social welfares and education, enhancing education in human rights to raise peoples awareness and law enforcement capacity in this regard. She also pledged to reduce barriers to womens empowerment.

Continued promotion of gender equality is an essential element to build up a strong human resource as well as to improve the quality of life of each individual, family and the whole society, she said.

On the same day, the foreign ministry published the book entitled Protecting and Promoting Human Rights in Viet Nam in Vietnamese, English and French. The publication follows the foreign ministrys book Achievements in Protecting and Promoting Human Rights in Viet Nam published in 2005.

The book will provide updated information on laws, policies, efforts and achievements the country has made in the field of human rights as well as challenges and priorities to enhance human rights in Viet Nam.

The spokesperson announced that Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and his spouse will attend the ASEAN-India Commemorative Summit and the 69th anniversary of the Republic Day in India from January 24-26 at the invitation of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

She also said that Deputy Prime Minister Vuong inh Hue will attend the annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, from January 22 to 25 and visit Portugal from January 26 to 28.  VNS
HA TINH  Police in central Ha Tinh Province busted a ring producing fake monosodium glutamate (MSG), seizing more than 1.4 tonnes of the powder packaged in bags printed with trademarks.

Vo Thi Ly and Pham Thi Thuy, residents of the provinces Thach Trung Commune, admitted to the police that they have been producing fake MSG for almost four years.

Police on Tuesday found 1.45 tonnes of material, two packaging machines and a lot of bags printed with popular trademarks at the womens houses. The material packages found at the site are of Chinese origin.

Police also discovered 40 bags of fake MSG ready to be consumed at a shop owned by the women at Ha Tinh Market.

Ly and Thuy said they bought the material from the neighbouring Nghe An Province.

Experts said the side effects of MSG are still questionable, but fake MSG is evidently harmful to human health. Adding MSG is a habit the Vietnamese gained from the post-war period, when people relied on it to improve the taste of food.

In related news, local police stopped a passenger bus and found 200kg of stale meat on board.

Than Vinh ao, the bus driver, failed to show documents proving the origin of the meat, which included chicken, pork and goat.

He admitted to the police that he was hired to transport the meat from Ha Tinh to be consumed in central a Nang City.

Police are expanding their investigation into the case.  VNS
HCM CITY  Many street cleaners in HCM City have quit their jobs because of the hard work - and wages and bonuses that tend to decline year-by-year, Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper reported.

The cleaners, described by one Westerner as the hardest working people in Viet Nam because of their dedication to cleaning streets in hot, freezing or wet weather, are also asked to plant and look after street trees.

One male cleaner told the newspaper that many of his colleagues were moving to factory work. We go to work, no matter if its sunny or rainy, even until 1am to 2am at New Year. Wages and bonus are so small, he said.

Many cleaners have switched to other jobs, but many cannot find new work or are fearful of change, he said.

Another cleaner named Hai, 53, took up a job caring for plants two years ago after abdoning his cleaning job.

Le Van Luong, 47, was asked to leave his job at District 12s Public Service Company because he was told there was no work. About 50 per cent of the companys labourers have had no work since last July. They were told to quit in October.

The company owes labourers social-insurance and danger money for many months," he said. "And we may not receive our unemployment insurance payments.

According to Huynh Minh Nhut, director of the Urban Environmental MTV Company, 50 out of its 400 garbage collectors asked to leave work last year. They included 20 working at Tan Xuan Market in Hoc Mon District. The company has been trying to recruit labourers, but there have been few takers.

The average wage for these labourers working in a highly polluted environments is only VN8 million (US$350) a month. Many quit to start lower-paid jobs as a textile worker for VN6 million ($260) a month, but the work is far less physical, he said.

Wages for cleaners are predicted to fall further in future. Vu Quoc Bao, director of Thu uc Districts Public Service Company said: We have been trying to pay wages for labourers, but have no plan for Tet (Lunar New Year) bonuses. We have to wait until the end of the year to count annual losses and benefits to talk exactly about the issue.

Representatives of public-service companies said that wages were declining because of low service costs. Waste collection and transport fees collected by companies are not enough to pay for fuel, repairs and wages.

The Ministry of Construction cut down labour costs by nearly 80 per cent in 2014 and reduced cleaning machine costs by 44 per cent.

The citys Peoples Committee cut waste-collection payments by half, leading to declining profits of public service companies. Many of them are still carrying tax debts from previous years.

However, there is some hope. Bidding has started under a series of new criteria for cleaners in State-owned public-service companies in HCM City.

This requires tree planters to have an engineering degree and labour safety certificates. Many companies fail to meet this criterion. Team leaders of these companies mostly use labourers without degrees who are only promoted after years of experience. This is one of the reasons many companies are eliminated from bidding.

Nguyen Hoang Dung, director of HCM Citys Economics and Management Institute, said State-owned public service companies fell into a difficult state because they were not sensitive to the market and slow in innovating products and services.

Dung proposed State-owned public service companies be equitised to be able to make changes easier.

BOX

This month, HCM Citys Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs will supervise wage and Tet bonus payments made by local enterprises. The enterprises will be those that owe or are at risk of owing wages and bonuses.

Enterprises that have been punished by the administration in the labour sector or are owing social-insurance premiums will be high on the list.  VNS
BINH DUONG  The vice chairman of Binh Duong Province Peoples Committee has urged agencies to raise awareness about labour laws among employers and labourers in a bid to settle collective labour disputes and strikes in the province, home to many industrial and export processing zones.

ang Minh Hung, who is also head of the steering committee for collective labour disputes and strikes, said the move would protect the interests of both enterprises and labourers.

Speaking at a conference held yesterday in the province, Hung urged agencies to deal with the issue at the grassroots level.

A task force should be set up to monitor developments at enterprises, he said.

More dialogues between enterprises and labourers should be held to settle disputes when they arise and to prevent them from happening again, he added.

Hung said that enterprises and workers had contributed greatly to the provinces socio-economic development.

The province has put settlement of collective labour disputes and strikes at the provinces top agenda this year, he said.

In 2017, although settlement of collective labour disputes and strikes in Binh Duong Province achieved positive results, more serious measures are needed.

Last year, the province had 63 collective labour disputes and strikes in 57 enterprises involving 26,592 workers, according to the committee.

The major cause of the problems originated from the fact that the rights and interests of employees were not ensured by enterprises.

Most enterprises did not comply with labour laws about salary and social insurance, and allowances for employees, and offered poor working conditions, which resulted in labour conflicts.

Speakers said that timely and appropriate measures should be taken to deal with the problems.  VNS
Viet Nam and France will promote co-operation in scientific and medical research on HIV/AIDS and viral hepatitis in the coming years. Photo MoH

HA NOI  Viet Nam and France will promote co-operation in scientific and medical research on HIV/AIDS and viral hepatitis in the coming years.

The co-operation was made under the framework of an agreement signed between the Viet Nam Ministry of Health and the French Agency for Research on AIDS and Viral Hepatitis (ANRS) in Ha Noi on Thursday.

At the signing ceremony, Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long highlighted support of the French government and people to Viet Nam in the healthcare field over the past years.

The co-operation between the health ministry of Viet Nam and ANRS has been seen as a spotlight in co-operation relations between the two countries, Long said.

Long also expected the ANRS to continue its support to the health sector in Viet Nam in HIV/AIDS and viral hepatitis prevention in the coming years.

Long said that technical and financial support from French government and ANRS would help Viet Nam in maintaining existing research and developing new research orientation in HIV/AIDS and viral hepatitis in coming years.

Under the agreement, ANRS will provide professional and financial support for scientific research organisations, calling the ANRS Viet Nam to set up research sites in Viet Nam. These research sites will develop and promote common activities, experience exchange, technology transfering and human resource training for projects relating to epidemic characteristics in Viet Nam.

Viet Nam and ANRS had signed a co-operation agreement in HIV/AIDS scientific research and prevention in 2000. As a result of the agreement, an HIV/AIDS research site was established in the Southeast Asian region (Viet Nam and Cambodia) in 2001, creating the basic foundation for comprehensive and long-term international co-operation in HIV/AIDS prevention and research activities.

Thanks to the co-operation, many advanced techniques have been successfully transferred to serve scientific research, patient care and treatment in Viet Nam.

It has also helped improve the professional ability of Vietnamese researchers and strengthen scientific research quality and HIV/AIDS patients care services in Viet Nam, according to the health ministry.  VNS
Khanh Duong

HA NOI  All of 11 years old, Mai An is filling in a form, studiously.

Kidney, check.

Pancreas, check.

Liver, check.

Bones, check.

Heart. An hesitated.

Then, thinking of her heart continuing to beat in another person, she smiled and ticked that box as well.

An was sitting in a small room of the Viet Nam National Coordinating Centre for Human Organ Transplantation at Viet Nam-Germany Hospital.

Filling up a form in this room requires a confrontation with the inevitability of ones death, something that most societies discourage, most of the time. A feeling of insecurity and fear is not surprising at that point.

This heart-warming anecdote was shared on his Facebook by Dr ang Hoang Giang, deputy director of the Centre for Community Support and Development Studies, recalling the moment when his wife, two daughters  11 and 17  joined him in registering to donate their organs and tissues in the event of their demise.

Dr Giangs family is the first in Viet Nam to register to donate their organs and tissues. Mai An and Mai Chi (Ans older sister) are among first adolescents in the country to hold registration cards for organ and tissue donation.

Every member of my family felt happy to get the organ donation registration card, Giang said.

The familys organ donation registration did not just mark the end of 2017, it also signaled the close of a year-long Journey close to death that inspired Dr. Giang, and his family, to make the decision.

Journey close to death is a series of stories that Giang wrote for the Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper about his encounters with people hurt by the loss of loved ones, or facing death due to physical illness.

During this journey, he became aware that dozens of thousands of people in Viet Nam die in traffic or labour accidents. Many of them need hearts, kidneys, liver and other organs to be replaced, but limited supply consigns them to an early demise.

During his travels, Giang met a 20-year-old rural girl from central Thanh Hoa Province, whose stories touched his heart. The cancer-afflicted girl, in the final days of her life, persuaded her family to let her donate her cornea after she dies. The persuasion was not easy in a culture that believes in burying a body with all organs intact.

Sharing such inspiring stories day after day with his family acquainted them with the notion of organ donation and its significance.

Look directly at your fear, Giang told his younger daughter whose heart had missed a beat.

Why are you fearful? When we die, we will not know anything, but our organs can be used for other people. Your heart will continue to beat in the body of another person. It is not worth feeling scared. It is a positive thing.

Mai An is not the first donor under the age of 18, but she is the youngest one to register for organ donation with her family, said Nguyen Hoang Phuc, deputy director of Viet Nam National Coordinating Centre for Human Organ Transplantation.

This is a special decision because the family deeply understands the meaning of organ donation registration. The parents have taught their children the lessons of sharing and caring, Phuc said.

Referring to the belief about burying a body with all organs intact, Giangs observations and research tell him that no religion prohibits organ donation.

If this belief is eliminated in the society, the lives of dozens, even hundreds of people will be saved each year. This would mark a major social progress, Giang told Viet Nam News.

People also hesitate to register for organ donation as they are fearful of their own death, Giang said.

If we look directly at death, we will be calmer, know that our time is finite and live a life that is more meaningful. If we evade (awareness of) death, we may waste our time.

Inspiring action

Soon after Giang shared his story on Facebook, others were inspired to register as organ donors, and in turn, their actions have motivated others to do the same.

Since the centre was established, Phuc has also witnessed touching incidents.

A cousin of mine - a young dynamic ambitious reporter  one day found that she was in the final state of cancer. On the hospital bed, she made one of the final decisions of her life: registering to donate her cornea. And her mother was moved to register with the daughter. Then the girls cornea brought light to two blind people she never knew.

Phuc said that the demand for donated organs is very high in Viet Nam. There are about 6,000 people nationwide who need kidney transplant. Some 3,000 blind people with cornea-related diseases need cornea replacement.

As of last year, about 11,663 people had registered to donate their organs after death or when they are brain dead. This compares to zero donors in 2013. However, this is still a limited number, given the population of more than 90 million.

According to National Committee of Traffic Safety, every year, about 10,000 people die of traffic accidents. If 1 per cent of this number registers to donate their organs, thousands of other lives will be saved.

One person who is brain dead can donate all of their organs and can save the lives of eight people, Phuc said.

Giang said: We can totally change the fact that Viet Nam is one of the countries with the lowest number of organ donors. I know many people are willing to register to donate their organs, but face opposition from their families.

He appealed for people to show strong determination and trust to spend time persuading their family. Please spend time and efforts to persuade people around us to change their mind, he said.

The registration takes only 30 minutes. It is an easy voluntary act that costs nothing, compared to what we spend on clothes, food and travel.

Phuc said Holding the registration card, donors are the happiest people. Since that moment, they know that their organs will give life to someone, acquaintances or strangers. Their death will never be meaningless.  VNS
HA NOI  Border police of northern Ha Long Provinces Hon Gai port border gate on Thursday discovered three ships and arrested those onboard for illegal fishing.

The sailors of the ships, all from the provinces Quang Yen Commune, were caught storing and using electric fishing tools to catch fish in Ha Long Bay.

Earlier on Tuesday, police of the provinces Co To Island District arrested four ships for illegally exploiting seafood in the water areas of ong Tien Commune. They seized a 300m plastic pipe with electric wires, four sets of converters used to generate high-voltage electricity from batteries and eight self-modified electric guns used to catch fish.

Local authorities fined the fishermen in line with current regulations and informed them about the importance of protecting maritime resources.

Fishing using particular electric tools is prohibited in the country as it endangers users and reduces the number of fish. High-voltage electricity kills fish before the fishermen can harvest the fish using a net.  VNS
HA NOI  More than 23,400 units of blood have been collected at 30 Chu Nhat o (Red Sunday) blood donation camps in 19 provinces and cities after a month.

The collected amount was making up 67 per cent of the campaigns target, said Tien Phong (Vanguard) newspaper editor-in-chief Le Xuan Son.

Son said that the event would be organised in 31 provinces and cities across the country and organisers expected to collect at least 35,000 units of blood from donors, an increase of 3,000 units compared to the previous year.

The event, which commenced on December 15, 2017, will conclude on January 31 this year. The campaign is an effort to ease the blood supply shortage in hospitals throughout the country during the Lunar New Year (Tet) holidays.

The 10th Red Sundays main event will take place at Ha Noi University of Science and Technology this Sunday.

The annual event is jointly organised by Tien Phong newspaper, National Steering Committee on Traffic Safety and National Institute of Haematology and Blood Transfusions (NIHBT).

NIHBT director Prof Bach Quoc Khanh said modern medical techniques and treatment methods required an increasing demand for blood. Which is why the demand for blood was increasing year by year in many countries, including Viet Nam.

Khanh said blood shortage usually occurred during Tet and summer holidays when donors, mainly students and volunteers, were either busy with exams or went for vacations.

The Red Sunday event has played an important role in meeting with a blood shortage contingency during Tet holidays. On behalf of the patients, I would like to express my sincerely thanks to all donors who donate blood for the sake of community, said Prof Khanh.

Launched by the newspaper in 2009, the annual campaign aims to ease the blood supply shortage in hospitals, resulting from increasing traffic accidents and declining number of blood donors prior to Tet. The event has helped collect more than 70,000 units of blood in the past nine years.

NIHBT alone needs 60,000 units of blood, including 30,000 units of blood group O, to meet the demand for emergency aid and treatment in hospitals in the north from January to mid-March. It is predicted that the health sector needs some 320,000 units of blood for treatment and reservation during Tet.  VNS
QUANG NINH  Police in northern Quang Ninh Province on Thursday started legal proceedings against a man arrested for trafficking endangered species.

Local police on Wednesday checked a car in Bai Chay Ward, Ha Long City, and found a man illegally transporting five frozen tigers.

Hoang inh Quan, from central Nghe An Province, was also found in possession of three pig-tailed macaques (known as Macaca leonine), 30kg of pangolin scales and 20 eyeteeth of predators.

The tigers, identified by local authorities as Panthera tigris, are listed as rare and endangered species that are prioritised for protection, while macaques are listed as animals banned from exploitation for trade purposes.

Pangolins are also a threatened species faced with extinction. They have suffered rapid decline over the years due to high demand for their meat and scales that are used in traditional medicines.

The case is being investigated further.

Under current laws, violators of wildlife protection regulations are fined up to VN500 million (US$22,200) or sentenced up to seven years of imprisonment, depending on the severity of their violation.  VNS
HA NOI  Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc on Thursday signed a decision to dismiss vice chairman of the Peoples Committee of central Thanh Hoa Province Ngo Van Tuan.

Tuan was dismissed for the term 2016-21 for his violations with regard to personnel appointments and promotions.

The decision takes effect on the same day.

Last month, the Secretariat of the Party Central Committees Inspection Commission decided to take disciplinary action against Tuan for the same violations.

According to the Secretariat, Tuan violated Party and State regulations on personnel appointments and promotions during the period from October 2010 to November 2015 when he acted as the provincial Party Committee Secretary and director of the provincial Department of Construction.

For example, Tuan decided to nominate Tran Vu Quynh Anh, a contracted staff at the department, as deputy head, and later, as head of a division under the department within a short period.

He was also accused of making unauthorised decisions on establishing a number of subordinate units, violating Party and State regulations on administrative reform and of downsizing staff.

The Secretariat said Tuans violations were serious and led to many other Party members also committing violations. The Secretariat decided to dismiss Tuan from all positions in the Party.  VNS
Carroll: Whitehaven 'Singled Out' in Proposed Cuts

By West Kentucky Star Staff

PADUCAH, KY - Kentucky Senator Danny Carroll is weighing in on Governor Matt Bevin's proposed elimination of state funding for a popular local welcome center.Bevin released his proposal Tuesday, which would bring six percent across the board spending cuts, and eliminate 70 programs. Among those being targeted for removal is funding for the Whitehaven Welcome Center in Paducah.Bevin has called the cuts "significant yet strategic". In an interview Thursday morning on the Greg Dunker Show on News Talk 94.3 FM, Carroll said he hasn't yet reviewed every line of the governor's proposed budget cuts, but he expressed concern over eliminating funding for what he describes as an important landmark in the community."It appears that Whitehaven was singled out. Before getting too upset about that, I want to make sure I understand exactly what the proposal is. I studied the budget last night, but didn't really get through all of it. Right now there's a lot of unanswered questions." Carroll said.Carroll said Whitehaven is much more than just a highway rest stop."I don't want to compare [Whitehaven] to other rest stops throughout the state. I want to compare it to many welcome centers that basically offer a higher level of service than just a regular rest stop," He said. "It's a huge asset to our community, and it is heavily used by travellers coming through. It's a way for us to promote our community, and so it's something we're taking very seriously."Whitehaven, located along I-24 in Paducah, is the only historic house in America to be restored as an interstate tourist welcome center. Rescued from possible destruction in 1981 by Paducah Community College, the estate home survived and in March 1984 was listed on the National Register of Historic Placed by the United States Department of Interior.Carroll added that just because the governor is proposing cuts to various programs, that doesn't necessarily mean all of those cuts will happen. He said we will know more as the legislative process unfolds in weeks to come."I understand the need for cutbacks, but it's still early in this. We really don't have a good grasp on exactly what the governor meant by cutting all these programs," Carroll said. "We're just now starting to have those conversations. Just getting down into the weeds of the budget, that's where we'll get those answers. I hope to know more today about Whitehaven, and maybe what the governor's office was thinking when that decision was made."Click the link below to read more about all 70 of the proposed cuts in Governor Bevin's budget proposal.On the Net:
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EDF Energy expects 20% cost saving for Sizewell C

18 January 2018

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EDF Energy is confident Hinkley Point C (HPC) will come on line in 2025 and that Sizewell C will be 20% cheaper to build, the company's new CEO, Simone Rossi, said yesterday in his first major speech since taking over from Vincent de Rivaz at the helm of the UK company in November.

Under a strategic investment agreement signed in October 2016, China General Nuclear (CGN) agreed to take a 33.5% stake in EDF Energy's Hinkley Point C project in Somerset, as well as jointly develop new nuclear power plants at Sizewell in Suffolk and Bradwell in Essex. The HPC and Sizewell C plants will be based on France's European Pressurised Reactor (EPR) reactor technology, while the new plant at Bradwell will feature the Hualong One design. The UK EPR successfully completed the Generic Design Assessment with UK regulators in December 2012, while the UK HPR1000 reactor design started this process last year.

In his speech titled 'New nuclear - responsibilities and opportunities' at Cannington Court, near the HPC construction site, Rossi said replicating construction techniques from HPC, existing grid connections and the exploration of new finance models meant construction of the planned Sizewell C plant in Suffolk would cost GBP4 billion less.

Schedule

One of the main focuses at the HPC site, Rossi said, is 'J-zero' or June 2019 - when construction of the plant's structures above ground is scheduled to start.

"That can only happen once the foundations are in place for the first unit. All our 2018 goals will help us to achieve this major milestone on schedule by June 2019," he said. "Beyond J-zero, our goal is to put the first unit into service by the end of 2025. Are we confident that we can deliver by 2025? Yes, we are confident."

That confidence is based on the "innovative tools" and the lessons from other EPR projects, he said. The detailed 3-D digital model of the plant, for example, "helps teams get more jobs done right first time".

He added: "It shows the design down to the last light switch. Every engineer can see exactly where each of the 4000 kms of cable and 400 kms of pipe goes and in what order they are laid. Every team has the same plan with them in their hands - not away in an office. It's already making a big difference and significantly improving delivery of the programme."

Another example, he said, is working with suppliers "long before" contracts for the project were signed, in 2016. This means they have an "accurate idea of what they need to do and how much it will cost" before they start work, and testing equipment offsite means the quality of parts arriving on site is assured before they are put in place, he said.

Sizewell C

EDF Energy "understands the message" from the British government on cost reduction and the need to be competitive for future nuclear projects, Rossi said. The cost to consumers is made up of construction and financing and there is "potential to significantly reduce both" for Sizewell C, he added.

The key to reducing the construction cost is replication, he said. For example, HPC has eight emergency generators, which had to be designed and certified to meet the standards required for nuclear safety. The first two will cost GBP38 million, but the next six will be half that at GBP19 million each, he noted. At Sizewell, none of that development or certification work will need to be repeated and so all its emergency generators will be at the lower price, he added.

Repeating experience for a power plant that is largely identical to HPC makes a capital cost reduction of 20% possible, he said.

The successful adaptation of the EPR design to meet British regulatory requirements for its use at Hinkley Point C means "tens of thousands of hours" of engineering work does not need to be repeated for Sizewell C, he said.

Sizewell A, which houses two 210 MWe (net) Magnox gas-cooled reactors that started commercial operation in 1966, were permanently shut down in December 2006. Sizewell B is a 1188 MWe pressurised water reactor that began operating in 1995 and is due to shut down around 2035.

Rossi said: "Years ago, the site at Sizewell was built with a grid connection capable of handling a bigger power station - and it is relatively close to where demand is. Sizewell C can benefit from that big advantage with substantial savings in grid connection costs."

Financing

On financing, Rossi said reducing the cost of capital can "make a significant difference to the price for consumers".

The final agreements enabling construction of two EPRs at HPC to proceed that the UK government, EDF and CGN signed in September 2016 included the contract-for-difference (CfD) and the Secretary of State Investor Agreement. The CfD - the ratepayer-backed guaranteed price for electricity generated by HPC - was originally agreed in October 2013 and guarantees the plant will get GBP92.50 per MWh for its first 35 years of operation. This strike price for HPC falls to GBP89.50/MWh if a final investment decision is taken on Sizewell C.

Rossi noted that the project's shareholders "bear all the risk" of building HPC, adding that the National Audit Office has suggested that other models of financing should be considered for the future.

"With government, we should explore alternative financing models that can create the conditions where institutional investors like pension funds can participate when they were not able to before. Sizewell C will be a proven technology, representing the 7th and 8th EPR Units, and the first 4 units will soon be operational in China, France and Finland," he said. "I am not saying financing will be easy - with the right framework in place, it will be possible."

Progress at Hinkley

EDF Energy's parent company, French utility EDF, has said the EPR unit under construction at its Flamanville site in France will be connected to the grid in May 2019 and reach full power in November 2019. EPRs are also under construction at Olkiluoto 3 in Finland and Taishan 1 and 2 in China. Olkiluoto 3 has been under construction since 2005 and has seen several revisions to its start-up date, which is now expected by the end 2018. Taishan 1 in China, which has been under construction since 2009, was expected to start up in the second half of 2017, while Taishan 2 was scheduled to begin operating in the first half of 2018. CGN said in late December, however, that commissioning of unit 1 is now expected this year and unit 2 in 2019.

Rossi noted that, at Hinkley, EDF Energy is building the fifth and sixth reactors of their type.

"It's one of the largest infrastructure projects in Europe and it will deliver safely for over 60 years. That said, like any major infrastructure project, we know we will face challenges and it is our job to deal with them. We will never compromise on safety and quality. What also matters is our impact on the local economy. Here in Somerset, all the activity on site is making a real difference to the economy and people," he said.

About 4000 businesses in the south-west region of England are registered to work on HPC and, by 2020, there will be GBP200 million of spending each year in the local economy, he noted.

"Money spent with companies like heavy engineering specialists Blackhill Engineering from Exeter or Somerset Larder which is already providing 65,000 meals a month," he said. "In November, the Social Mobility Commission highlighted the challenges facing West Somerset in providing opportunities for young and disadvantaged people. I know a lot is being done to tackle that and I am pleased that Hinkley Point C is playing its part," he added.

The Construction Skills Centre is training a new workforce for HPC and other large projects in the UK, he said.

"Trainees are learning skills in areas like steel-fixing where there is a national shortage. Next month the National Nuclear College is due to open here in Cannington. Without qualified people it wouldn't be possible to deliver the project. I want to take the opportunity to thank the local businesses, councils and education establishments. Without their support this would not be possible," he said.

Researched and written

by World Nuclear News

Related topics
Jan 19, 2018 | By David

Heres another round-up of recent news from the 3D printing world, in case you missed anything. Stories this time include a new 3D bio-printing collaboration, Dassault Systemes launching a new entrepreneur scheme, and more besides.

1. Samantha Snabes, Founder of 3D printer manufacturer re.3D wins award

The top prize in the first annual WeWork Creator Awards has gone to Samantha Snabes, the founder of 3D printer manufacturer re.3D. Her company is known for the Gigabot 3D printer, one of the larger machines on the market. She received prize money of $1 million from the WeWork organization, which launched these awards in the spring of 2017.

The awards also gave funding to more than 150 companies and nonprofit organizations, at regional events held in seven cities worldwide. Snabes was one of eight regional winners selected to compete in the final event in New York City.

The latest re.3D project is a 3D printer made from recycled materials, and support for the company has come primarily from WeWork and other awards as well as a crowdfunding campaign. According to Snabes, We couldnt be more honored to have WeWork as a partner. There have been very few people since the beginning that have really bet on this concept we had in 2012: to make a toilet-sized 3D printer powered by trash. To know now that this is going to become a commercial reality in 12 to 18 months, its just mind-blowing.

Other winners included Naveed R. Parvez of London-based company Andiamo, which uses 3D scanning and printing to create medical braces for patients. He received $500, 000 to go towards developing Andiamo's operations further. According to WeWork, winning organizations ''were selected for their impact on communities, how they plan to scale their business and their sustainability in-market.''

2. regenHU to partner with Wako Automation for 3D bio-printing development

A major new collaboration has been announced that should further the cause of 3D bio-printing technology. Bio-technology expert regenHU has announced that it will be partnering with Wako Automation, a major provider of automated solutions that helps companies optimize their operations. The San Diego-based company will now be regenHUs official systems integrator for the USA.

Wako Automation is an experienced lab automation solution provider, and also a leading distributor of Yokogawas CV8000 confocal high content screening system. The CV8000 is known for its high speed and flexibility, and it will be a real asset that should enable regenHU to advance to a higher level of operations.

Recent advances by regenHU in 3D-bioprinting have provided valuable tools in the fabrication of biomimetic tissue constructs, which can be applied at various stages of drug discovery research and development. The company is also at the forefront of tissue growth technologies. Its 3DDiscovery Evolution bio-printer is one of the most advanced in the industry, bringing a high level of flexibility and modularity to bio-fabrication processes, offering unprecedented freedom to experiment as well as efficiency in carrying out research.

3. 3D printing giant Dassault Systemes launches entrepreneur program

French 3D software company Dassault Systemes, one of the major technological players in the industrial additive manufacturing sector, has announced the launch of a new initiative intended to help out entrepreneurs and start-ups. It will give companies, as well as individual businesspeople and makers, access to and training with its range of products, including Solidworks and the powerful cloud-based 3DExperience design platform. It also offers a large global support network of professionals to help with successful business and product development.

The initiative was launched as a response to feedback from the 1,000 or more digital start-ups that have already worked with Dassault Systemes at various stages. Entrepreneurs have told us that they value the social community of an incubator above all else, and we listened, said Frederic Vacher, Director, Corporate Strategy Innovation, Dassault Systemes. Dassault Systemes loves startups, and our Global Entrepreneur Program supports their innovation processes by providing cloud applications and online communities and services, whatever their industry, product, needs or maturity level.

Announced at this years CES event in Las Vegas, the Global Entrepreneur Program will enable businesses to use virtual worlds, collaboration, collective intelligence and communities to facilitate innovation, creativity, and to bring ideas to fruition.

4. Panerai launches new version of 3D printed watch

Luxury Italian watchmaker Panerai has announced an update to one of its most innovative recent products, the Lo Scienziato Luminor 1950 Tourbillon GMT Titanio. This watch was one of the first to be made using 3D printing techniques, and now it is to be updated with extra aesthetic touches.

Launched back in 2016, the Lo Scienziato Luminor 1950 Tourbillon GMT Titanio came with a 47mm titanium case, which was 3D printed using the technique of Direct Metal Laser Sintering. The case is skeletonized, which means that the tourbillion movement mechanism making the watch tick is visible. This lattice design also makes the timepiece extra-lightweight.

The advanced and robust P.2005 caliber's balance wheel rotates perpendicular to the axis on which it vibrates, and does so in half the time it takes a standard one-minute tourbillon. The main difference between the new Lo Scienziato Luminor 1950 Tourbillon GMT Titanio and the 2016 version is the addition of extra blue stitching on the strap and a blue flange. This matches the blue of the watch hands and improves the overall aesthetic appeal of this unique timepiece.

A luxury watch such as this comes with a luxury price tag. From February, around 80 of these limited edition 3D printed timepieces will be available, at a price of around 139,000.

Posted in 3D Printer Company

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Julia Felsenthal in Vogue:

In early December of 2016, a childhood friend then working at the Department of Commerce invited me to Washington, D.C., to attend a holiday party at the White House. It was only a month or so after the election returns had come in, well, not quite the way wed all anticipated. My friends in New York were still largely catatonic. Everyone I knew who wasnt a white man was genuinely pretty afraid. Everyone I knew in media was also scared: about Trumps rhetorical disregard for constitutionally protected press freedom, sure, but also about the reality, only just beginning to settle in, that nothing was going to go back to normal. Even those of us (me included) who werent political journalists had pivoted in the past several months to coveringat first gleefully, then grudgingly, then bitterlythe vagaries of the wildly careening Trump campaign. We had considered it a temporary concession to a very unexpected, unprecedented moment. We had thought we would all go back to our regular jobs and our regular beats and our regular lives, not to mention our regularly noncommittal relationship with news out of Washington. But no, that wasnt likely to happen. There was actually no end in sight.

Naturally I accepted the invitation. A few weeks prior I had gotten married at City Hall in Manhattan, in a silky white jumpsuit and a cream tuxedo jacketan outfit that suddenly seemed perfect for Christmas chez Obama. Aside from the dress code I knew very little about what to expect. Inside the White House the decorations were cheerysnowmen and outlandish gingerbread houses and a gigantic stuffed replica of First Dog Bo cordoned off by a gold ropebut the mood was not. There was a sense that we were there to bear witness, not just to celebrate the end of a year or the end of a presidency, but to observe the end of an era.

More here.
Caroline Price in Science:

Theres an apparent paradox in modern life: Society as a whole is getting smarter, yet we arent any closer to figuring out how to all get along. How is it possible that we have just as many, if not more, conflicts as before? asks social psychologist Igor Grossmann at the University of Waterloo in Canada. The answer is that raw intelligence doesnt reduce conflict, he asserts. Wisdom does. Such wisdomin effect, the ability to take the perspectives of others into account and aim for compromisecomes much more naturally to those who grow up poor or working class, according to a new study by Grossman and colleagues. This work represents the cutting edge in wisdom research, says Eranda Jayawickreme, a social psychologist at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

To conduct the study, Grossmann and his graduate student Justin Brienza embarked on a two-part experiment. First, they asked 2145 people throughout the United States to take an online survey. Participants were asked to remember a recent conflict they had with someone, such as an argument with a spouse or a fight with a friend. They then answered 20 questions applicable to that or any conflict, including: Did you ever consider a third-party perspective? How much did you try to understand the other persons viewpoint? and Did you consider that you might be wrong? Grossmann and Brienza crunched the data and assigned the participants both a wise reasoning score based on the conflict answers and a social class score, then plotted the two scores against one another. They found that people with the lowest social class scoresthose with less income, less education, and more worries about moneyscored about twice as high on the wise reasoning scale as those in the highest social class. The income and education levels ranged from working class to upper middle class; neither the very wealthy nor the very poor were well represented in the study.

In the second part of the experiment, the duo recruited 200 people in and around Ann Arbor, Michigan, to take a standard IQ test and read three letters to the Dear Abby advice column. One letter, for example, asked about choosing sides in an argument between mutual friends. Each participant then discussed with an interviewer how they thought the situations outlined in the letters would play out. A panel of judges scored their responses according to various measures of wise reasoning. In the example above, thinking about how an outsider might view the conflict would earn points toward wisdom, whereas relying only on ones own perspective would not. As with the first part of the experiment, those in lower social classes consistently had higher wise-reasoning scores than those in higher social classes, the researchers reported today in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B . IQ scores, however, werent associated one way or another with wise reasoning.

More here.
A handful of Bay Area stories you may have missed this week.





Berkeley Hills Midcentury Masterpiece Drops Price, Now Accepts Bitcoin, Curbed SF



If you've got some spare cryptocurrency to spend, this beaut of a home, built by Frank Lloyd Wright protege Daniel Liebermann, is now available for just under $3.4 million. Read more.





New Poll: Oprah Would Trounce Trump in California, East Bay Times

It comes at no surprise, but a new KPIX/USA Today survey shows that Oprah Winfrey would slay Donald Trump at the polls. Bring it on. Read more.

Oprah for president? If only.. (Courtesy of Paul Drinkwater, NBC via AP)

Apple, Capitalizing on New Tax Law, Plans to Bring Billions in Cash Back to U.S., NY Times



Among the largest companies in the world, Apple has long deferred paying taxes on its whopping foreign earnings. Now in a twist of irony, the tech behemoth, whose chief executive has spoken out against Trumpian policies, will take advantage of the administration's new tax code to bring $252 billion in cash back to the U.S. Read more.





Shake Shack is coming to the Bay Area  first Palo Alto, then Marin and SF, SF Chronicle



New York's beloved fast food joint is making its way to a neighhood near you. Come next fall, you'll be able to gorge on their famous Shackburger, crinkle-cut fries and hand-spun shakes. Read more.





Two Days at Maverick's, Surfline

There's no doubt about it: Big wave surf season is in full effect, with waves rising up to 20-25 feet this week as a large, low pressure system from Japan slammed into the United States' West Coast. The scenes captured at Mavericks were epic. Read more.


and Worldline Launch Paydentity Services in Europe

EPA:WLN

Brussels, Jan 19, 2018 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Australian Securities and Frankfurt Stock Exchange listed iSignthis Ltd ( ASX:ISX ) ( FRA:TA8 ) is pleased to announce that its subsidiary iSignthis eMoney Ltd ("ISXPay") has completed technical integration with Worldline, allowing the parties to commence their partnership announced in July 2017.Headlines:- iSignthis eMoney Ltd, a subsidiary of the leading RegTech payment and identity verification provider iSignthis Ltd, enters into an agreement with Worldline to provide eCommerce merchants the advanced capabilities of Paydentity(TM) with the acquiring (see Note below) experience and strength of Worldline ( EPA:WLN ).- Worldline is the largest pan European card acquirer and e-payment services company, with more than 45 years of experience.- Merchants to benefit from access to Worldline large scale card acquiring coupled with iSignthis RegTech- The service is now live across the European Economic AreaWorldline, a Euronext listed ( EPA:WLN ), multi-billion market capitalization company has over 45 years of experience in the industry and is Europe's leading payment and transactional payment service provider. Worldline is able to process billions of electronic transactions per year with their strong industrial processing capabilities and highly secure data centers.European eCommerce merchants, including FinTech firms and qualified cryptocurrency exchanges, will now have access to an exciting new service that combines the RegTech capabilities of iSignthis, with the acquiring capabilities and expertise of Worldline, to be contracted and delivered via ISXPay.Merchant's contracting directly to the ISXPay service via iSignthis will have access to the full Paydentity(TM) suite of AML/CFT compliance services. Paydentity(TM) services include customer due diligence, identity verification, payment acceptation and authentication solutions, transaction monitoring, and original credit transfers (OCT), coupled with the Worldline Visa and Mastercard acquiring, settlement and clearing services.Paydentity(TM) addresses the critical aspects of due diligence, monitoring and authentication requirements of the 4th Anti Money Laundering Directive (4AMLD) and Payment Services Directive 2 (PSD2), and is currently being deployed to major FinTech services companies and ecommerce merchants in Europe. The Worldline agreement allows for a faster and more expansive go to market strategy, and allows iSignthis to leverage the balance sheet, cash settlement and clearing capabilities of Worldline to provide surety to even the largest merchants.iSignthis eMoney Ltd ("ISXPay") will be operating under its own eMoney Monetary Financial Institution license to directly contract European merchants. It will offer merchants the end to end Paydentity(TM) service, including identity verification, authentication together with the strength and assurance of the Worldline card acquiring services delivered via ISXPay. ISXPay services include JCB card acceptance, and alternative payment methods within Europe and Australia, for Fintech and cryptocurrency exchanges.iSignthis will now move to contract its pipeline of prospective EEA merchants, and seek to onboard them as quickly as possible. The ISXPay(R) Paydentity(TM) product offering allows merchants in the high risk categories to take advantage across the two key continents of Europe and Australia, the world's leading identity verification, customer due diligence, and payments platform, via a single integration.About Worldline (Worldline ( EPA:WLN ) is the European leader in the payments and transactional services industry. Worldline delivers new-generation services, enabling its customers to offer smooth and innovative solutions to the end consumer. Key actor for B2B2C industries, with nearly 45 years of experience, Worldline supports and contributes to the success of all businesses and administrative services in a perpetually evolving market. Worldline offers a unique and flexible business model built around a global and growing portfolio, thus enabling end-to-end support. Worldline activities are organized around three axes: Merchant Services, Mobility & e-Transactional Services, Financial Services including equensWorldline. Worldline employs more than 8,700 people worldwide, with an estimated pro forma revenue of more than 1.5 billion euros on a yearly basis. Worldline is an Atos company.To view the release in German, please visit:About iSignthis Ltd

iSignthis Ltd (ASX:ISX) (FRA:TA8) is a hybrid monetary financial institution and also a RegTech leader in remote identity verification, payment authentication with deposit taking, transactional banking and payment processing capability. iSignthis provides an end-to-end on-boarding service for merchants, with a unified payment, electronic money and identity service via our Paydentity(TM) and ISXPay(R) solutions.

By converging payments and identity, iSignthis delivers regulatory compliance to an enhanced customer due diligence standard, offering global reach to any of the world's 4.2Bn 'bank verified' card or account holders, that can be remotely on-boarded to meet the Customer Due Diligence requirements of AML regulated merchants in as little as 3 to 5 minutes. Paydentity(TM) has now onboarded and verified more than 1.5m persons to an AML KYC standard.

iSignthis Paydentity(TM) service is the trusted back office solution for regulated entities, allowing merchants to stay ahead of the regulatory curve, and focus on growing their core business. iSignthis' subsidiary, iSignthis eMoney Ltd, trades as ISXPay(R), and is an EEA authorised eMoney Monetary Financial Institution, offering card acquiring in the EEA, and Australia.

ISXPay(R) is a principal member of Mastercard Inc, Diners, Discover, (China) Union Pay International and JCB International, an American Express aggregator, and provides merchants with access to payments via alternative methods including SEPA, Poli Payments, Sofort, PRZ24 and others.

Probanx Solutions Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of iSignthis Ltd, provides API based access to CORE Banking solutions, SEPA Core, SEPA Instant and SEPA business scheme, for neobanks, banks, credit unions and emoney institutions, and provides a bridge to the Eurosystem's Central Bank of Lithuania's CENTROLink service.
US troops helped Somalia's security forces rescue approximately 30 child conscript soldiers Thursday during a raid on an al-Shabaab camp, a US military official tells CNN.

The team of US Special Operations Forces was advising local Somali troops during the raid on the militant camp in the Middle Shabelle region of Somalia, the official added.

US forces were advising Somali troops during the raid on the militant camp The US also carried out an airstrike against al-Shabaab militants Thursday

The US military also carried out an airstrike against al-Shabaab militants Thursday, "killing four terrorists," approximately 50 kilometers (about 30 miles) northwest of Kismayo, according to a statement from US Africa Command, which oversees US troops in the region.

"US forces will continue to use all authorized and appropriate measures to protect US citizens and to disable terrorist threats," the statement added.

Al-Shabaab is al Qaeda's affiliate in Somalia. The US has carried out over 30 airstrikes against the terror group since President Donald Trump granted the military the authority to target al-Shabaab in 2017.

The US has about 500 troops in Somalia including Special Operations Forces working as military advisers and conventional logistics personnel. US Navy SEALs are often deployed to serve as advisers to Somali security forces.

Earlier this week US troops accompanied Somali forces during a patrol in Baar and Sunguuni, Somalia, as part of an effort to "further establish Somali National Security Forces presence in the region and deter al-Shabaab from conducting terrorist activities against the Somali people," US Africa Command told CNN.

The US recently suspended some aid to Somalia's security forces over concerns about corruption, however the US continues to provide aid to those Somali units that are advised by American military personnel.
Paradise, Calif. -- A wrongful conviction made right, 27 years later.

59-year-old Darwin Crabtree served nearly a decade in prison on charges he sexually molested his sons.





Thanks to new evidence brought forward by the Northern California Innocence Project on Wednesday, Darwin Crabtree has been fully vindicated.

Darwin Crabtree was convicted of sexually molesting his sons in 1991.

From the very point of his conviction, he had fought desperately for his innocence.

"I had never given up on my case, even when I got out, I was still trying," said Crabtree.

Crabtree spent nearly a decade in prison. He completed his sentence in 2001 and a term on parole in 2004.

"I had to go through weekly sex therapy sessions. As it's always been, you want me to talk about what I did. But I didn't do anything," said Crabtree.

At the time of his conviction, Crabtree's family was going through some difficult times and as a result, his sons were sent to see a therapist to work through bad behavior.

"Here I was accused of abusing my children, but it wasn't me doing the abusing, it was the system," said Crabtree.

New evidence brought forward by the Northern California Innocence Project found the sons' original accusations were improperly elicited by an unlicensed therapist in training.

"They were told to hit a pillow, call me names, all this crazy therapy to reinforce this dad was this monster," said Crabtree.

But thanks to the help of the NCIP, Crabtree was vindicated.

"Based upon our reasonable doubt as to Mr. Crabtree's guilt now, we decided to go ahead and vacate the sentence," said Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey.

"When you say, wouldn't you just like to close the book and get on with your life. Do you picture me just getting back to work everyday? Do you picture the person I was 27 years ago? Because that person doesn't exist," said Crabtree.

Crabtree wants to be involved in helping others who have also been wrongfully convicted.

"I always wanted to stay involved. That's what's kept me going on with this. This has changed my life," said Crabtree.

The DA met with Crabtree on Wednesday to offer his office's apologies for what part they played in his conviction.
"It's a huge emotional occupation ... We do everything we can to care for the animals in our community. We are the voice for the animals that can't communicate," said Officer Ryan Soulsby of Butte County Animal Control.

Luckily for nearly 100 dogs in Concow - a concerned resident spoke up on their behalf.

Just after Christmas, Butte County Animal Control got a tip that something wasn't quite right.

At first, Officer Ryan Soulsby wasn't too worried.

"Any calls that BCAC receives, we'll send an officer out there to get both sides of the story, from the reporting party and the animal owners," said Soulsby.

But when animal control officers entered a home on the lower Yankee Hill side of Concow on Januray 3rd, they were shocked.

"The condition that we found them in, as well as their confinement, was inappropriate based on California state laws .. There was evidence that puppies were bing sold from the residence." said Soulsby.

They found 70 puppies and 25 adult malamutes.

Legally, you can't have more than 5 dogs per property without a permit in the county.

And they were sick, with Giardia and Coccidia.

"This causes intestinal issues - severe diahrrea and in severe cases can lead to the death of animals if they're not treated," said Soulsby.

Puppies usually get Coccidia when they're living in filth, in particular, exposed to large amount of feces.

Soulsby said they had to act fast.

"The rescue effort was a huge collaboration of forces - Butte County Public Health ... North Valley Animal Disaster Group assisted in the transport.

Help has poured in from across state lines - 55 of the dogs are a shelter in Oregon, 40 are still recovering at the SPCA in Oroville.

"The puppies that were on the lethargic side are coming out fo their shell, playing with each other. That's the great reward of this job is getting to see these guys turn around health-wise," said Soulsby.
Like the report, the Federation of European Risk Management Associations (FERMA) and its members urge companies to use the economic recovery to invest in increasing their resilience. We believe that an enterprise risk management process with leadership from a risk management professional gives organisations the most effective way to make these investment decisions, said the President of FERMA Jo Willaert.

In line with the Global Risk Report findings, FERMA is to call on the European Union in 2018 to incentivise European organisations to adopt more professional risk management structures to deal with climate-change related risks.

In the context of the review of the EU Strategy on Adaptation to Climate Change, expected to be concluded by the end of the year, we are working hard toward the recognition of the benefits of integrating a professional risk management structure within European organisations said Jo Willaert.

FERMA also stresses the importance of robust risk governance to implement the risk management decisions of the board and senior management especially in rapidly developing types of risk. The Report indicates that cyber-attacks against businesses have almost doubled in five years and there is a significant protection gap between economic and insured losses. Good cyber risk governance is essential for organisations to identify and quantify their digital risks, said Jo.
Iain Harrison, Strategic Engagement Director at QinetiQ since September 2017, has been awarded a CBE in the New Years Honours List 2018 for his contribution to the British Army.





A CBE (Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) is awarded in recognition of the achievements and service of extraordinary people across the United Kingdom.



Formerly a Brigadier and Head of Capability and Portfolio in the UKs Army HQ, Iain was instrumental in establishing portfolio management in the Army.



He helped develop its innovation, research and experimentation capability, introducing several specific force development projects, and re-configuring the Armys Capability Directorate.



Although no stranger to Orders of the British Empire, having previously received an MBE (in 2000) and an OBE (2006), Iain admits that his CBE came as a complete surprise: To be perfectly honest, since joining QinetiQ, Id put thoughts of my military life behind me, so this came totally out of the blue.



After 35 years of Army service, he explained how he is settling into Civvy Street: Ive found it a really natural transition. In part, because my last five years in the Army was dealing with the interface between Army capability and industry but also because, as an Armed Forces Corporate Covenant Gold Award holder, QinetiQ is a very welcoming Company. After just three months Iain says he feels wholly comfortable already. There are good people here who have enabled my transition and Im excited about what lies ahead.
Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh chief and Dalit leader Prakash Ambedkar said the Congress cannot dislodge the BJP from power till 2024, as it cannot counter Prime Minister Narendra Modis image as a non-corrupt leader.

Ambedkar, who is the grandson of Dr B R Ambedkar and whose stock in the Maharashtra politics rose recently when he gave a call for a shut-down over the Koregaon-Bhima violence, was speaking at an interaction organised by the Mumbai Marathi Patrakar Sangh here.

The BJP will opt for simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha and several state Assemblies including Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan in December 2018, he predicted.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi may be errant, but his image as a non-corrupt leader is still intact, he said.

Modi, in his speeches, talks about the Congresss tainted past, which cannot be countered. Congress president Rahul Gandhi has a good image, but not other leaders of the party. Thats why it cannot take on the BJP. The Congress cannot beat the BJP till 2024, Ambedkar said.

However, if the Left parties take an initiative to form a grand alliance against the BJP, the political scene can change, he said.

The Left can match Modis image as non-corrupt. Their credibility is intact. If that happens, the BJP will be reduced to the numbers which the Congress has today, he said.

The results of Karnataka Assembly elections will decide the next government in Delhi, he said.

Ambedkar, a former MP, also announced that he will contest the next Lok Sabha election.

Maharashtra will witness a multi-cornered contest as the BJP, Shiv Sena, Congress and NCP will fight the elections separately, he said.

The young generation does not believe in caste consolidation, he opined.
A firebrand speaker Prakash Raj, who is an Indian film actor, is very aggressive and active these days voicing his concerns on politics and social justice. These days he is not only inviting controversy but also is attacked by right-wingers for his leftist and secular approach. This is not the first time that he came in controversy though. Telugu film producers banned him six times in the past just because he was not ready to take mediocrity. It was the first time that an actor was banned by the Telugu industry. Telugu film industry insiders interpret the ban as a conspiracy by several big heroes and producers. There are lots of problems in south film industry; there is one big lobby of upper caste and lower caste, the hierarchy and dominance by some section is visible. He is one actor who always stood against atrocities.

Meanwhile these days, three south Indian actors are hitting the headlines every day for some or the other reason; Kamal Haasan and Rajnikanth have decided to jump in politics and actor Prakash Raj criticised this move stating, being famous is not enough to be a good politician of my country. Prakash Raj, for years and years, was tipped into doing the most villainous and vicious of roles in movie after movie. But later on there were movies where he played caring husband to doting fathers roles. He was perfectly fit in both types of roles. Till today he entertained us with his acting but these days he is grabbing our attention for his aggressive comments on social network.

Prakash Rajs comment on actors and politics follows months of uncertainty in Tamil Nadu after the death of former chief minister J Jayalalithaa in December 2016 and the other two renowned actors Haasan and Rajinikanth have merely added to the dilemma and disarray. Actor Prakash Raj said that actors should not enter politics only because they are popular as that will ultimately end up in a disaster. Prakash Raj frequently commented on the political arena and made headlines when he supported Kamal Haasan for his views on Hindu extremists.

In a post shared on Twitter, Raj raged about the idea of implanting fear in the name of religion and culture. Kamal Haasan, the one sitting on the fence, is wondering whether to be or not be a politician! We have also been watching Rajinikanth, announcing his new political party and meeting various people in this regard. Silently they all are supporting DMK. Rajinikanth has, for years, been keeping his adoring fans sceptical about his political entry. The storm settled when he addressed a press conference announcing his political party on his birthday, which was on last December 12.

In an already-vitiated political atmosphere in Tamil Nadu  with several power centres vying for a foothold in Fort St. George  the state desperately needs administrative stability and ability. Haasan or Rajinikanth may or may not be able to give, because we have seen political neophytes in India emerge in a blaze of glory, promising people the moon, only to vanish soon after in a fog.

In such scenario what Prakash Raj said made sense. Politics in India has become one big game of hero worship and idolatry  a fact that has been in some way responsible for the mess this country is in today. After all, does a Haasan or a Rajini have any political acumen or foresight or experience to run Tamil Nadu? Do they have a clear political agenda to address the multitude of challenges faced by the state?

As is often being done, it is pointless to compare these two Tamil actors with men like C.N. Annadurai, M Karunanidhi and M.G. Ramachandran (who all came from a cinema background)  who had a clear-cut ideology and worked hard on the ground before asking for peoples mandate. Dravidian ideology  which was propagated by both the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam  had a well-defined purpose that tried to solve societal differences, brought about by age-old caste supremacy, divisions and prejudices. Looking at present conditions, Prakash Raj had a point when he cautioned people against voting as gushing fans or admirers. Yes, voters must pause and ponder before they press the button on the electronic machine.

Let us not forget that Tamil Nadu is not a film set  where actors are given scripts to play their parts and directors push and prod the painted men at every turn of the camera. The other day he came out with a famous quote: Actors in politics are a disaster. He said this during a media interaction at the Press Club of Bangalore.

He believes that actors should not enter politics only because they are popular. It is a disaster. The actor has been trolled and seen as a left-wing sympathiser because he questioned Prime Minister Modis silence on the murder of the Kannada journalist and a social activist, Gauri Lankesh. Prakash never shown any inclination to join politics, he had earlier said that he was not willing to join any party. But as a citizen of this country he will never pause or hesitate performing his freedom of speech. He will question the government, establishments and will stand parallel to the politicians by making them answerable. The other two has become part of Indian politics to bring change. Lets see how this trio are going to fulfill their aims for future.

(Any suggestions, comments or dispute with regards to this article send us on [email protected])
After Kamal Haasan, Rajinikanth, even actor Prakash Raj has hinted about making a foray into politics. The actor who is known for making bold comments against BJP on social media has said that he will take the political plunge if somebody challenges him to do so. Prakash Raj has always remained vocal about communal forces using violent methods to spread hatred in the society. What is prompting Kamal Haasan, Rajinikanth and Prakash Raj to become so aggressive to make their political debut?

According to political observers, Tamil Nadu is facing leadership crisis after the demise of former chief minister J Jayalalithaa. Right now there is no able leader to step into Jayalalithaas shoes. Even though Kamal Haasan and Rajinikanth has made formal announcement about their entry into politics, they are yet to share their political ideology with people. Both of them are immensely popular but will face a tough task ahead in politics as they will have to connect with masses and ensure their popularity translate into votes for them. South India has seen many leaders joining the political bandwagon including J Jayalalithaa, M G Ramachandran and M Karunanidhi, N T Rama Rao and Chiranjeevi. On the other hand, Prakash Raj has been making scathing attacks against BJP but he lacks the charisma of Rajinikanth.

Krishna Hedge, Vice President, BJP Mumbai said that since both Kamal Haasan and Rajinikanth are icons of Tamil Nadu, their political entry was keenly expected by people. He also said, According to political experts, there is a vacuum in Tamil Nadu after the sad demise of Jayalalithaa; that might be the reason that Kamal Haasan and Rajinikanth had decided to join politics. How much grasp they have over the state, can be ascertained only after the election results. Even though Prakash Raj had mentioned about his political aspirations but he is not a big name as Rajinikanth. It seems that he is involved in a personal rivalry with BJP after the Gauri Lankesh murder incident. While Prakash Rajs statement seems to be a personal attack against BJP on the other hand Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan speak their political mind, he added. C R Saraswathi, Spokesperson of AIADMK said that people will decide the fate of Kamal Haasan and Rajinikanths political careers. She added, In a democratic country everyone has a right to speak against the state or central government. If Prakash Raj is unhappy with the central governments policies like demonetisation and GST and as a citizen if he wants to voice against it, there is nothing wrong. People need not require political affiliation to express themselves against or in support of any government. According to her, anybody is free to launch their political party but end of the day, people will decide whom they want to support and who will represent them. Till date both these leaders have been criticising Tamil Nadu politics but they have not shared their views about the national politics. Let Kamal Haasan and Rajinikanth enter the field and share their ideology and people of Tamil Nadu will decide their political future, she added. Actor Dalip Tahil said that it is a good sign that Kamal Haasan and Rajinikanth are coming forward with their political views. He said, Its not a new phenomenon that actors are making foray into politics in southern India. Even in north India many politicians hail from Bollywood industry. Actors enter into politics as they have good mass appeal and massive followers. Rajinikanth is a very big leader in Tamil Nadu. He had inclination towards politics since a very long time and recently he has made a formal announcement. Same with Kamal Haasan as he too was very politically savvy. Prakash Raj is being vocal about the central government and I feel it is his right. As of now he is only criticising the government. So, I cant predict about his political entry. If he is not satisfied with the government then he has every right to voice against it, he added.

Here are some of the popular comments posted by Prakash Raj on social media.

BJP workers cleaning and purifying the stage ..from where I spoke in Sirsi town by sprinkling cow urine (divine gomoothra)will you continue this cleaning and purification service where ever I go.. #justasking pic.twitter.com/zG1hKF8P4r  Prakash Raj (@prakashraaj) January 16, 2018

Respected Supreme Court judges take a bow ..for #justaskinga clear message ..that there are people who wont sell souls..and eventually in cases from justice Loya to Aadhar..CENTER can not hold things falling apart.  Prakash Raj (@prakashraaj) January 13, 2018








On 14 November, 2004, a couple of USAF F-18 fighter pilots witnessed a very unusual incident while conducting routine operations about 70 kilometres off the coast of Tijuana, Mexico.

According to one of the pilots, Commander David Fravor, a group of unidentified flying objects were detected by SPY-1 radar. In order to investigate the phenomenon, the fighter jets took off from USS Nimitz.

On several occasions, beginning 10 November [2004], the Fire Control Officer and the extremely experienced Fire Control Senior Chief had detected multiple returns descending from far above the radars scan volumesomewhere higher than 80,000 ft. The targets, dubbed Anomalous Aerial Vehicles (AAVs), would drop from above 80K to hover roughly 50 feet off the water in a matter of seconds, Mr Fravor declared in an interview in 2015. It was always over the same spot, a Lat/Long about 30NM off the coast of Baja, roughly 70nm southwest of Tijuana. At the time, the SPY-1 was the most sophisticated and powerful tactical radar on the planet. With it, they were able to track these AAVs while they descended, hovered and then zipped away at speeds, turn rates and accelerations faster than any known friendly or threat aircraft. They were impossibly fast, he added.

In reference to this affair, Australian researcher PhD Michael Salla analyses the possibility of a secret Russian anti-gravity project. He bases his opinion on Tom DeLonges theories published on his book Sekret Machines. Mr DeLonge affirms that, after World War II, both Russia (which was then part of the Soviet Union) and the United States developed anti-gravity aircraft with the help of German scientists that worked on Nazi Germany aerospace programs.

Its worth emphasizing that the high level of insider support given to DeLonge suggests that his books and initiatives are part of an officially sanctioned disclosure process, which is backed by the USAF in particular, and the Pentagon more generally. All this suggests that the 2004 incident involving the USS Nimitiz will fit a narrative that is slowly emerging through DeLonges Sekret Machines book series and To The Stars Academy. This firmly points to the incident eventually being depicted as Russian antigravity craft taking a menacing posture to the Navy battle group, Mr Salla asserted.

The 2004 UFO incident is intriguing, and there may well be an other-worldly component, but its highly likely that this particular incident was chosen so that Russia would be eventually identified as the culprit for political reasons, he explained. Im sure major US defence contractors are salivating at the prospect of building fleets of armed antigravity spacecraft to respond to a contrived Russian (and Chinese) threat to US national security through a secret space program, he continued.

Draw your own conclusions

For more information: http://exopolitics.org/did-2004-ufo-incident-involve-aliens-or-russian-antigravity-spacecraft/








For many years, governments around the world have publicly denied the existence of extraterrestrial intelligence. However, in spite of this, they have spent billions of dollars in expensive, undercover programmes to investigate UFO incidents, which is quite contradictory.

Some believe that they have kept these operations in secret in order to avoid panic, but the truth always comes to light.

According to an article published in December on British online newspaper The Daily Mirror, a former Pentagon official called Luis Elizondo declared that there was very compelling evidence that we may not be alone.

Luis Elizondo, who headed up the $22 million (16.5 million) Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program [AATIP], believes we may not be alone after having read numerous reports of UFOs, the article states.

My personal belief is that there is very compelling evidence that we may not be alone, Mr Elizondo affirmed.

The Daily Mirror explains that Mr Elizondo decided to quit his job in the Department of Defence due to excessive secrecy and opposition to the [Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification] programme.

In a recent interview, the former official asserted that the flying objects he detected while he was in charge of the AATIP were completely unknown for him. These aircraft - we'll call them aircraft - are displaying characteristics that are not currently within the US inventory or in any foreign inventory that we are aware of, he said.

These things don't have any obvious flight services, any obvious forms of propulsion, and manoeuvred in ways that include extreme manoeuvrability beyond, I would submit, the healthy G-forces of a human or anything biological, he continued.

In reference to this, it is important to mention the famous incident that took place in 2004, when two USAF F-16 fighter jets took off from USS Nimitz to investigate an unidentified object that appeared 70 nautical miles off the coast of Tijuana, Mexico.

One of the pilots, Commander David Fravor, described that the UFO would drop from above 80K to hover roughly 50 feet off the water in a matter of seconds.

[The object] hovered and then zipped away at speeds, turn rates and accelerations faster than any known friendly or threat aircraft, Mr Fravor expressed.

Draw your own conclusions

For more information: https://www.mirror.co.uk/science/former-pentagon-official-admits-we-11722016
Birmingham didn't make the list of finalists for Amazon's second corporate headquarters, but the social media campaign surrounding the Magic City's bid garnered national attention.

And city leaders said they learned a lot from the bid process.

"Throughout the recruitment of Amazon, there was great value in the process we used in providing information the company needed to consider Birmingham. Those efforts will be applied to future projects that are sure to come along," said Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin, who took office after the bid was submitted.

Amazon today unveiled a list of the top 20 cities still in the running for the company's second corporate headquarters in North America. No Alabama city made the cut.

The e-commerce giant plans to invest $5 billion in a HQ2 that would employ 50,000. Amazon said 238 cities submitted proposals, including Birmingham and Huntsville.

"The city of Birmingham, Jefferson County and the entire state of Alabama experienced tremendous value as part of this process," said Rick Davis, senior vice president of economic development at the Birmingham Business Alliance. "There was a true collaborative spirit on local, state and regulatory levels. We felt our proposal was comprehensive and had a clear-cut vision set for Amazon in terms of what we could offer regarding both workforce and all the other issues important to the company -- and how we could grow together. We are extremely proud of Birmingham's effort as we compete for current and future economic development opportunities."

The Birmingham Business Alliance today declined to release what was included in the Magic City's proposal. Davis previously said the package was a "great road map for how we would bring Amazon to Birmingham."

The Washingtonian ranked Birmingham's public campaign for Amazon HQ2 No. 1 in a list of nine cities. The campaign included the installation of three gigantic Amazon boxes at Region Field, The Pizitz and Legion Field. Residents were asked to snap a picture standing in front of a box and tweet it with #bringatob.

Okay but like lets not make any rash decisions @amazon. Call us when youre ready.  #BringAtoB pic.twitter.com/GRij4HZ3mF  Bring A to B (@BringAtoB) January 18, 2018

In a statement today, Woodfin mentioned the recently-announced agreement between Birmingham, U.S. Steel and Barber Motorsports that will result in a new industrial park off Barber Parkway.

"The park, which will focus on 'high-tech' companies, is an example of partnerships that help make Birmingham the best place to locate a new business," he said.

"Birmingham, Jefferson County and the state of Alabama will continue to recruit workforce training, site development and other programs tailored to the needs of new businesses looking at Birmingham and the region," he said.

According to the Birmingham Business Alliance, the team that worked on the proposal included staff from the city of Birmingham, the Jefferson County Commission, mayors of the largest 10 cities in Jefferson County, Birmingham Business Alliance, Alabama Power, Spire Energy, Big Communications, Alabama Department of Commerce, Rev Birmingham, the Economic Development Partnership of Alabama, Birmingham Airport Authority and Birmingham-Jefferson County Transit Authority.
Federal and state prosecutors are joining forces in an initiative aimed at cracking down on violent convicts and making sure they spend more time behind bars.

U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town on Thursday met with district attorneys from across the state - including all 27 in the Northern District of Alabama - to detail the Prosecutor-to-Prosecutor Program, or P3. The program is designed to boost collaboration between Town's office and state district attorneys to capture cases that, otherwise, would not come to the attention of federal prosecutors.

Simply put, prosecutors will look for state cases that meet the requirements to be adjudicated through the federal system and decide which jurisdiction is mostly likely to yield serious prison time. "That's what we offer,'' Town said, "significant sanctions for the worse offenders."

It's no secret that state prisons are overcrowded and convicts who should be in prison sometimes go free, or serve only a fraction of their sentence. On the federal level, however, inmates typically serve a minimum of 85 percent of their sentence.

"We've seen people who should be locked up not getting locked because of budgetary concerns,'' said Madison County District Attorney Rob Broussard, who has been a primary partner with Town in developing P3 and advocating it to the rest of the district attorneys.

"We could not be more excited. I've been in the (Alabama District Attorneys) association for 30 years and just sitting there looking at my statewide cohorts, it's an odd look they have because they, too, have never seen the prospect of such cooperation. We're tickled."

Town was a senior prosecutor in Madison County before he was appointed U.S. Attorney. "There is a lot of pride and legitimacy in our eyes to see a U.S. Attorney appointed who is a prosecutor. He's a guy who has been in the trenches, and he understands it,'' Broussard said. "All too often, those slots will go to some political appointee who has no concept of the subjects. We're absolutely elated, and in no time, he has put together this program and actually has plan to prove it."

Town delivered his presentation, which actually doubled as P3 training, at the Alabama District Attorneys Association 2018 Winter Conference held at The Wynfrey Hotel in Hoover.

P3 is a six-step process in which state and federal prosecutors will make that joint decision on whether a criminal case should be prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney's Office, Town said. It is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods, the Department of Justice's centerpiece program for fighting violent crime. Project Safe Neighborhoods and P3 both underscore the need to target the worst offenders in the worst areas of crime in order to reduce violence.

"This program will advance the common goal of state and federal prosecutors to charge our worst offenders with the most serious, readily provable offense in whichever jurisdiction offers the greatest available sanction," Town said.

All 27 district attorneys in the northern district are on board with initiative. There will be liaisons in the U.S. Attorney's Office and in each of the DA's offices to ensure consistent communication between all of the prosecutors.

Town said the district attorney's office also will also have a "P3 Overlay" identifying state and federal criminal statutes with similar elements. Common elements that could trigger federal prosecution include use of a firearm, crossing of state lines, use of phones or internet to commit a crime, or victimizing an institution that is federally regulated or insured, or that receives federal grant funds.

District attorneys said they are looking forward to the partnership with Town and the U.S. Attorney's Office.

"In the past, there has been a large gap in the working relationship between state and federal prosecutors,'' said Blount County District Attorney Pamela Casey. "I think those days are over. It is very beneficial for us that Jay was a state prosecutor for many years and knows what our job is like and how the sentencing guidelines have tied our hands."

Jefferson County Bessemer Cutoff District Attorney Lynneice Washington said she has been loosely announcing the P3 in different settings, awaiting the time for it to begin.

"The P3 Program will ensure an expedited prosecutorial process and stricter sentencing for qualified drug and gun offenders. Our office has already identified a few cases that are under review for the program,'' Washington said. "This office is dedicated to ridding the community of violence and providing a safer place to live and, as I continue to state, 'crime will not be tolerated in the Bessemer Cutoff.'''
The deaths of a couple found shot to death in a Birmingham apartment last week have now been deemed a murder-suicide.

Birmingham police on Friday said 28-year-old Lee Otis Farrow Hamilton killed Felicia "Fee" Fletcher, 31, and then killed himself. "It's just a very unfortunate situation," said Birmingham police Capt. Sean Edwards. "It's sad when a person who is supposed to love you and care about ends up killing you and then taking his own life."

Their bodies were discovered just before 10:30 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 12, in their bedroom at their Tom Brown Village apartment at Fifth Court and 41st Place North. Both had been shot, and were pronounced dead on the scene at 10:56 a.m.

Sgt. Bryan Shelton said Birmingham police received a 911 call reporting the deaths and that's when officers responded to the scene. Residents at Tom Brown Village said two men made the discovery when they went to the apartment and one of them used a key to open the door, but police did not confirm that account.

The initial report was a murder-suicide, then police said that didn't appear to be the case. Further investigation and examination revealed the first report was correct.

Edwards said the couple had been dead two to three days when their bodies were discovered. Hamilton, he said, had made prior statements about taking his own life. A gun was found in the bedroom with the couple.

Fletcher was in the food services business and had previously worked in the deli at Western Market in Vestavia Hills. She was originally from Philadelphia but had lived in Birmingham for at least 10 years.
Two teens have been indicted in the June shooting death of a young Birmingham father in a bizarre series of events that also left two police officers seriously injured following a crash with the suspects.

A Jefferson County grand jury on Jan. 12 issued two capital murder indictments each against DeMarcus Daniels, 19, and X'Zavier McWillie, 17 in the June 30 shooting death of 20-year-old Antonio Brooks, who was killed with a bullet meant for someone else, according to court records made public Friday.

The incident began just before 9 p.m. that Friday night when police say one of the teens reportedly stole a credit card from his grandmother to go buy an iPhone. His father went looking for him, spotted him on Jefferson Avenue and began to follow his son. That's when someone inside the teens' vehicle fired shots.

When the shots were fired McWillie's father turned off Jefferson Avenue and teens went to a gas station, a Birmingham police detective testified in a preliminary hearing last year. When the teens left the gas station, police spotted them and a high-speed pursuit began while McWillie video-streamed the chase on Facebook Live.

The chase ended with the teens crashing into a Birmingham police car and injuring two on-duty officers. Those officers suffered serious neck and back injuries, but survived.

Daniels and McWillie were taken into custody and questioned at police headquarters after the crash. McWillie immediately invoked his right to an attorney, the detective said, but Daniels agreed to be questioned by police. Daniels told police he and McWillie were in his car and McWillie got into a fight with his dad. Daniels said McWillie shot at his dad, but was not aware that an innocent bystander had been shot and killed.

Two handguns were recovered from Daniels' car. One was a pink-colored .380, and the other a Glock. Officers found a third gun, a Taurus, inside the victim's vehicle. The detective said the three guns have been tested and the department's ballistics expert ruled the bullet that killed Brooks could not have been fired from either the pink .380 or the Taurus, but it could have come from the Glock.

Authorities quickly learned that one of the teens streamed the entire crash on Facebook Live. According to that video, obtained by AL.com, the suspect was driving through the area and remarking on all the flashing blue police lights. At one point during the video, he is heard saying, "Damn, free me man."

Antonio Brooks graduated from Huffman High School in 2015, and then went to work. He left behind two young daughters whom he cherished, his sister Anysia Brooks said in a previous interview. "He loved to enjoy life. He loved to laugh. He loved music. He loved his kids,'' she said. "The only bad thing he did was being in that wrong place at that wrong time."

She said the family is at least thankful that Antonio Brooks will live on through his daughters, Allison and Aziyah. "All we can do is cherish them,'' she said. "We are committed to being in their lives like we've always been, letting them know that he loved them, and making sure they know him as the good father that he was. We're going to love them and take care of them like he would have."

Both teens remain in the Jefferson County Jail where they have been held without bond.
The competition for "Most Huntsville Moment of 2018" is starting off at a high level Saturday morning. It's time to grab your cameras and get this image to send the family.

At 7 a.m., Boeing will roll a full-sized model of its three-stage Ground-based Midcourse Interceptor from a facility near the Huntsville International Airport east along Interstate 565 toward downtown.

For practical descriptive purposes here, that's a big missile, although it doesn't carry an explosive charge here or on the job. Its job is to attack and destroy incoming missiles from American enemies, and it does that by the kinetic energy created when its "exoatmospheric kill vehicle" hits a target.

The interceptor is heading for the U.S. Space & Rocket Center on I-565, where it will be on display outside Saturday night's "2018 Mad Scientist Bash." That's a big fundraiser that benefits rocket center STEM-based programs for children and exhibits, Space Camp Scholarships and the new U.S. Cyber Camp.

The ball features Atlanta dance band Big Night Dynamite and a menu prepared by center chefs. Click here for tickets and information.

At 9:30 p.m., the interceptor retraces its route to the airport along I-565 west. It will have an escort both ways, and all public roads will remain open.

The interceptor is used for training transport personnel and looks the same as armed ones based at Fort Greely, Alaska, and Vandenburg Air Force Base, Calif. Boeing is prime contractor for the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) team and has about 2,700 employees in Alabama on that and other programs.

So, are we clear? The GMD team will bring the GBI to the USSRC for the MSB and then take it back. Now, you're talking like a Huntsvillian.
**Names have been changed to protect the identity of the children.

Most states have a law preventing rapists from pursuing custody or visitation of children conceived through rape.

Alabama isn't one of them.

At a court hearing in December, a DeKalb County judge granted Christmas visitation of a woman's children to their father, the man she says raped her when she was a child.

Jenna** and her attorney, Tanya Hallford, spoke with AL.com in the first week of January, before DeKalb County District Court Judge Steven Whitmire issued a gag order on Jan. 11, 2018, prohibiting them from talking about the juvenile court case involving her children.

In publicly-available court documents, Jenna claims her uncle raped her from the time she was 13, and fathered three children by her. The oldest was born just three months after she turned 16.

Her legal relationship with her uncle has been complicated, and includes a brief marriage that she is now trying to have annulled. John* has tried, at various points, to gain custody or visitation of the two living children they have together, according to court records.

In December, John petitioned again to get a few days' unsupervised visitation with the children around Christmas, she said. This time Jenna, who is 30, prepared to tell the judge everything. She thought, "This is what's going to set me free," she said.

But when Jenna was finally ready to tell her story, she found the court was not ready to hear it.

Who has rights?

In about 23 other states, a rape victim can petition the courts to terminate the parental rights of her rapist if he has been convicted of rape. In 19 states, there's a slightly lower burden of proof: a rape victim can go to court with "clear and convincing evidence" of rape, and could have her petition granted even without a jury conviction.

But Alabama is one of seven states that doesn't have any kind of law on the books that protects a rape victim from having to negotiate child custody and adoption issues with her attacker.

The only thing that comes close is Alabama's version of Megan's Law, the Sex Offenders Registration and Notification Act, which prohibits a convicted sex offender from sharing a home with a minor if the victim of the crime for which he was convicted was a minor who lived with him.

There are an estimated 32,000 rape-related pregnancies in America each year, according to a widely-cited study published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. About 5 percent of sexual assaults of reproductive age-victims result in pregnancy.

"Rape-related pregnancy occur with significant frequency," wrote the authors of that study, noting that it is "closely linked with family and domestic violence."

Alabama rape law

In publicly-available court documents, Jenna says her oldest child was conceived when she was 15 and her uncle was 22.

Under Alabama law, that constitutes rape in the second degree, also known as statutory rape, according to experts.

"Rape in the second degree is based on age. If you are 16 years or older and you have sex with someone who's less than 16 but more than 12 years old, then you're considered violating that law," said John Lentine, a Birmingham criminal defense attorney with Sheffield & Lentine PC and an adjunct faculty member at Cumberland School of Law and Birmingham School of Law.

"The law says that if a person is under 16, they are incapable of giving consent."

In Alabama there is no statute of limitations for sex crimes involving victims under 16, and no exceptions unless the two parties are less than two years apart in age, said Lentine.

"Statutory rape is also known as a strict liability crime," Lentine said. "If you commit the act, regardless of your intent - (for example) if you believed that the other person consented, or was the age of consent - it makes no difference. Under the law, you are guilty."

Court documents from their divorce show that John was granted custody of their two children in 2009, and that Jenna was given custody in 2012 after she remarried. The divorce decree has granted him visitation of the children since 2012.

'Nobody said anything'

Jenna said her uncle moved into her bedroom in 1999, the year she was 12. A few months later, after Jenna turned 13, John began having sex with her, she said. He was 20.

"Nobody ever said anything," she said. "There was never any arguing or fighting over it. It was as if it didn't happen."

Jenna's mother, in an interview with AL.com, supported Jenna's story.

AL.com twice reached out to John's attorneys at Wilson & Shelton LLC in Rainsville, Ala. including once before the first gag order. Both times his attorneys declined to comment.

A few days shy of her 15th birthday, Jenna became pregnant. She miscarried soon after.

She became pregnant again when she was 15 and gave birth to her oldest child three months after she turned 16.

She gave birth again at age 18 and again at age 19. Both of those children were fathered by John, she said. Her middle child died when she was 20.

Their 2009 divorce order, signed by John and Jenna, lists the two living children as being "born to the parties prior to their marriage."

For a long time, she remained silent about her history, she said, because she believed that if she told anyone that she was closely related to John, her kids could be taken away from her.

"I felt shameful," Jenna said, "like it was my fault, too."

A few days after the death of her middle child at age 2 from a rare genetic disorder, she said John convinced her to marry him.

"I'd just kind of given up at that point," she said. "I felt like nobody was going to listen."

John was her mother's half brother; they share the same father.

Before Judge Whitmire granted a gag order in the ongoing divorce case on Jan. 16, 2018, AL.com obtained publicly-available court records related to Jenna's petition for marriage annulment.

Jenna and John's 2008 marriage certificate and Jenna's mother's birth certificate show that John and Jenna's mother have the same father.

Changing the law

This year there is an effort in the Alabama Legislature to amend state law, though it would not help women whose rapists have not been convicted or have been convicted of anything less than first-degree rape.

Rep. Jack Williams, R-Hoover, is sponsoring HB 38, which would allow a rape victim in Alabama to petition the court for termination of parental rights of her attacker if that person was convicted of first-degree rape. Sen. Hank Sanders, D-Selma, has filed a similar bill, SB 116.

"The termination of parental rights of the rapist is common practice cross the U.S. but Alabama is one of seven states that hasn't taken that step yet," said Williams.

He said most legislators he'd spoken with about the bill were surprised it wasn't already state law. Rep. Mike Ball, R-Madison, told AL.com he was also interested in supporting legislation on the issue.

"As I looked into it," said Williams, "I felt like it was something that needed to be done here to protect victims of rape, as well as their offspring when the rape results in a pregnancy."

The bills require a first-degree rape conviction. It's a high bar to clear.

Only about a third of all rapes and sexual assaults in America are reported to police, according to the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics and the Rape Abuse & Incest National Network.

Out of that small number of reported rape cases, just 1 in 44 earn felony convictions.

That works out to about 7 out of every 1,000 rapes that result in convictions.

Attackers who are initially charged with first-degree rape but end up pleading guilty to lesser charges would not be subject to a law like this, as currently written.

Williams said he'd originally considered requiring a lesser burden of proof instead of a rape conviction, but felt like the rape conviction requirement made the bill's passage more likely.

"I understand a lot of rapes don't get reported," he said, "But the consensus of folks, as I was working, was that (if) we would limit it to convictions it would have strong support. I didn't have the same level of support, male or female (legislators), with just a rape accusation."

HB 38 and SB116 as written, would not help Jenna because John has not been convicted of rape. If he were to be convicted of second-degree rape, i.e. statutory rape, the bills still would not apply to him.

First degree rape only covers sex by forcible compulsion, sex with someone physically helpless or mentally incapacitated, or sex between someone who is 16 or older and someone who is less than 12 years old.

Back in court

Jenna filed for divorce from John a few months after their marriage. Her mother moved away, however, and she was left homeless. John fought for custody of their two children and won, though she was given visitation. She didn't tell the court about the alleged rape or incest.

In 2009, according to court records, Judge Whitmire granted Jenna a protection order against John. In the protection order request, she stated John beat her and threatened to kill her if she didn't sign custody papers.

In August 2012, Jenna and her current husband were granted full custody of her two sons. John was given visitation. At this point, she still had not told the court about the alleged rape or the incest, and the court granted John visitation every other weekend.

According to publicly-available court records, in 2012 John was arrested for first-degree theft of property. He admitted the theft and was later was found not guilty by reason of mental defect. He told officers he had not been taking his medication. He did not serve jail time.

In 2015, in defiance of the court's visitation order, Jenna stopped letting her kids go with John on his assigned weekends. She said she no longer felt they were safe or well cared-for when they were with him.

With the support of her husband and his family, Jenna finally began to feel like if she talked publicly about what had happened to her, she would be believed.

Later that year, Jenna filed a police report accusing John of rape. A grand jury declined to indict him.

Can't talk about it

After Judge Whitmire granted the holiday visitation to John in December 2017, Jenna said she did not turn over her children on the appointed day, in defiance of the order.

She did not have an attorney until last week, when a family friend connected her with Tanya Hallford, who agreed to take on her case pro bono. Hallford is a Huntsville attorney with the Leigh Daniel Family Law Firm.

"Sexual assault victims and any children of those victims need justice," said Hallford, who has two decades' experience working with victims of sexual assault. "A lot of victims don't want to come forward because there tends to be more shame from society's view. I want those victims to be able to come forward and say, 'this happened to me.'"

Judge Whitmire told AL.com on Jan. 11 that he could not comment on an open case.

After Whitmire granted a gag order later that day in the juvenile court case, one of John's attorneys, Lisa Wilson, returned AL.com's call and said she could not comment on the case or the allegations because of the gag order.

According to court records, John's other attorney, Leigh Shelton, later filed a request that a gag order be put in place for the divorce case as well. A judge granted that gag order on Jan. 16 and ordered the participants not to talk about that case either.

Prior to those gag orders, Jenna told AL.com that if the court granted John visitation, and if she continues to keep her children hidden from him, she realizes she could face jail time.

But she's willing to go to jail to keep her children from her attacker.

"I'm not going to stand by and be silent anymore," she said. "I don't care what I have to do."
An elderly woman died Thursday when she drove into a ditch on Valley Grove Road, according to the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency.

Marilyn D. Williams, 74, was driving a 2010 Chevrolet HHR on Valley Grove Road when the crash happened. She was pronounced dead at the scene, troopers said. The crash happened around 1:20 p.m. Thursday.

Troopers said Williams' car left the road, traveled down an embankment and struck a ditch.

The crash happened six miles south of Oneonta.

Nothing further is available as troopers continue to investigate.
The clock is ticking on a government shutdown. lgore@al.com

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John Sharp | jsharp@al.com

Congress failed to reach a spending deal last night, meaning the federal government is - at least partially - shut down. House lawmakers approved a stopgap measure, but the Senate has yet to do so and the chances of that occurring are dimming.

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What's the issue?

The sticking point for Senate Democrats is how to deal with young undocumented immigrants known as "Dreamers." President Trump wants to change the Obama-era program and Democrats have drawn a budget line in the sand over ending protections for as many as 800,000 undocumented immigrants.

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Last shutdown 2013

The last shutdown was in 2013 and it lasted for 16 days. A look back shows how the shutdown hit Alabama and the impact it could have now:

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Lee Roop | lroop@al.com

First - what services won't shut down?

Most essential services will continue uninterrupted, though there may be some slow down in service. The military will remain on post; Social Security checks will continue; TSA will staff checkpoints; and Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements will continue. The biggest impact, however, is seen in other government services, and, in Alabama, especially the large number of civilian military workers who could be off the job.

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Rebecca Walker Benjamin | rwalker@al.com

What happens to federal workers during a shutdown?

Most federal workers are furloughed during a shutdown. If the government doesnt reach an agreement tonight, as many as 1 million employees will be forced off the jobs. Postal Service workers and uniformed personnel are exempt. The only other employees exempt from the furlough are those whose jobs are national security-related or if they perform essential activities that "protect life and property."

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Will civilian workers be paid during a shutdown?

Civilian employees who remain on the job must wait for the shutdown to lift before they are paid. Congress must approve such retroactive pay and a group of lawmakers has already introduced a bill to make sure that happens again if the government shuts down tonight.

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J. Scott Applewhite/Associated Press

850,000 off the job in 2013

Nationally, the 2013 shutdown resulted in the furlough of 850,000 government employees. The estimated loss of productivity, pay and benefits during the shutdown topped $2.5 billion. You can see each agency's estimated percentages for how many workers would be furloughed here.

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Paul Gattis | pgattis@al.com

What does a shutdown mean for Alabama?

In 2013, more than 12,000 civilian Pentagon employees at Huntsville's Redstone Arsenal were sent home during the shutdown, as were civilians at the state's other military installations. Another 2,000 employees at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center were also off the job during the shutdown.

In 2013, Alabama was ranked fourth on a list of states hardest hit by the shutdown. Many businesses and even charitable organizations in North Alabama, said their revenues were impacted by the loss of income during the shutdown.

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Erin Edgemon | eedgemon@al.com

Will Redstone Arsenal (or Maxwell Air Force Base or Fort Rucker) close during a shutdown?

No, installations will remain open. Uniformed personnel and mission-critical staff will remain on the job. Commissaries would be forced to close, however, and many morale and welfare activities would be suspended, however.

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Rob Carr

Will the military be paid in a shutdown?

Yes, for a while. Military workers would be paid through Feb. 1 and then continue on the job without pay until the shutdown ends or Congress agrees to cover their costs in the interim. That's what happened in 2013, allowing for almost half of the furloughed Department of Defense workers to return to their jobs.

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Paul Gattis | pgattis@al.com

What about government contractors?

If a contractor is working on a project fully funded by the government, they would remain on the job. The Defense Department would be barred from executing many new contracts, however, and many businesses furloughed their workers during the 2013 Congressional standoff. Some companies required employees to use paid vacation time during the shutdown.

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About back pay...

In 2017, a federal judge ordered that more than 25,000 government employees who worked during the 2013 shutdown were owed back pay.

The ruling came as the result of a class action suit that originated with a small group of Bureau of Prison employees who said their work - and delayed paychecks - during the 16-day shutdown constituted a violation of the 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act. The judge ruled the plaintiffs will receive $7.25 times the number of hours worked between Oct. 1 and Oct. 5, 2013, the period in which paychecks were delayed, plus any overtime. Those payments have yet to be made.

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Park shutdown

During the last shutdown, much was made after a group of veterans was denied access to the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C. That won't occur this time, however. The Trump administration has mandated National Parks and public land must be "accessible as possible" during a shutdown. Open-air parks and monuments in Washington will remain open; other services that require park staff will likely close, however.

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Lucy Berry | lberry@al.com

Will the mail still run?

Yes. Despite a shutdown, there will not be an interruption in mail services.

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Alabama is releasing letter grades on report cards for public schools and districts for the first time since 2001 on Feb. 1. Statewide, public education received a 'C' overall.

Jefferson County Superintendent Dr. Craig Pouncey has seen preliminary grades for their 56 schools and wants parents and the public to know that the letter grade, based heavily on test scores, doesn't represent the full value of a neighborhood school.

The preliminary grades for Jefferson County's schools, which Pouncey said range from 'A' to 'F,' will be perceived as a best-to-worst ranking, he said, calling that "unfair." Each school has its own characteristics and varying set of challenges, he said.

For example, he said, elementary schools that have a lot of students moving in and out during the school year face different academic and social challenges than those schools where students are in stable home situations.

Pouncey said labeling schools with letter grades is more about promoting school choice options than helping schools improve.

In anticipation of the state report card release, he said, officials there are preparing their own report card to present to communities before state report cards are released. That report card could include additional measures like how many students are taking advanced classes and participating in music and art, for example.

"We are actually taking the lead in communicating to our communities that we are more than a single letter grade," Pouncey told board members during a Thursday morning committee meeting at the district's central office.

Supporters of grading schools say grading pushes schools to improve. Critics say education is too complex to capture in a single letter grade.

District officials are meeting with their principals on Friday morning, Pouncey said, to get their input on providing additional measures and plan for the release.

The state released preliminary letter grades to local superintendents Jan. 11, and local officials are being given a couple of weeks to examine the grades before they are released publicly on Feb. 1.

The preliminary grades could change slightly, Pouncey told board members. Some schools are one point or half a point under the next letter grade, Pouncey said, and principals are being asked to ensure the data they initially submitted to the state are accurate.

Pouncey said he wasn't surprised by the grades. Many schools in Jefferson County have a large percentage of students in poverty, he said, and while poverty is not an excuse for a low grade, "it does present to any school district many hurdles that have to be overcome."

The value of a school can't be summed up in a simple letter grade, Pouncey said. Oftentimes, he said, that value is in "trying to guide young people who oftentimes have been misguided through society."

Pouncey said he hopes that when grades are published that the public will take the time to understand what the grades represent and, more importantly, do not represent.

"The majority of the public does recognize the value of their community schools," he said. Those who don't interact with schools on a regular basis could be misguided, he said, because of the data reflected on the report card doesn't represent the full picture.

The state's report card is largely based on test results from 2017 on the ACT Aspire. Test results count for 90 percent of the letter grade for schools without a 12th grade, which is the majority of Alabama's 1,300 schools. Results factor into 50 percent of the grade for all other schools and also for districts.

The district's report card will supplement the state report card, Vail-Smith said, and will contain multiple indicators and measures that aren't captured by a standardized test.

The report card that district officials are preparing is based on the "Redefining Ready!" initiative from the American Association of School Administrators, Deputy Superintendent Dr. Shelley Vail-Smith said.

That national initiative uses "research-based metrics," according to its web site, "to more appropriately assess that students are college ready, career ready and life ready."

District Accountability Specialist Kellie Yeager made no excuses for the grades earned under the state's measures and told board members that educators in Jefferson County are working hard, but they know there is more work to do to improve.

"The day I come into work and say 'we're good,' or 'we've done everything we can do' is the day that I go home," Yeager said.

Updated to clarify that schools have previously been given an overall letter grade, but not since 2001.
An Alabama Senate committee debated but did not vote today on a bill that would change the state's program for taxing online sales that would otherwise go untaxed.

Changes could be coming, at least in part, because of Amazon's acquisition of Whole Foods and how that could affect Amazon's collection of taxes on sales to Alabama customers.

The Legislature created the Simplified Sellers Use Tax in 2015. It allowed online sellers with no stores in Alabama to voluntarily collect an 8 percent use tax on sales to Alabama customers. The use tax is the sales tax on out-of-state purchases.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1992 that companies with no physical presence in a state are not required to collect that state's use tax. Congress has not addressed the issue since, even as the online marketplace has exploded.

The SSUT provided a way for Alabama to capture tax dollars lost as customers make more of their retail purchases online. The state collected $56 million from the SSUT during the 2017 budget year.

Sellers who participate in Alabama's SSUT collect an 8 percent use tax, an approximation of the total state, city and county sales taxes for much of the state. Half of the money goes to the state, while counties and cities split the other half, allocated by population.

Amazon signed up for the SSUT and, as the largest online retailer, collects a large share of the state total. But Amazon's acquisition of Whole Foods will give it a physical presence in Alabama because Whole Foods has five stores in the state. That means Amazon is no longer eligible for the SSUT, some officials said.

Sen. Trip Pittman, R-Daphne, chairman of the Senate Finance and Taxation General Fund Committee, proposed a bill that would allow Amazon and other eligible companies with an affiliate in Alabama to participate in the SSUT.

The bill raised concerns from some city officials who say it would open the door to other online retailers with stores in Alabama, like Walmart.com, to participate in the SSUT and collect the 8 percent tax on sales instead of the higher rate on sales to customers in their cities.

"I cannot conceive of a large retailer with an online platform that would not avail themselves of SSUT," Paul Wesch, finance director for the city of Mobile, told the committee.

Some senators on the committee expressed reluctance to change the law to keep Amazon in the program.

"They moved their own goal line," said Sen. Bill Holtzclaw, R-Madison.

Sen. Paul Sanford, R-Huntsville, said it's clear Amazon can't be eligible for the program anymore.

"I'm OK with us sitting where we're at and letting the chips fall where they may," Sanford said.

Sonny Brasfield, executive director of the Association of County Commissions of Alabama, who helped conceive the SSUT, told committee members that lawmakers need to take action to protect the millions in revenue from Amazon.

Otherwise, Brasfield said, lawmakers could be left with a glaring hole in the budget. Seventy-five percent of the state's share of the SSUT goes to the always tight General Fund, while 25 percent goes to the Education Trust Fund.

"We need to pass a bill to deal with this issue," Brasfield said.

Greg Cochran, director of advocacy and public affairs for the Alabama League of Municipalities, said the league's executive committee is asking the Legislature to raise the city's share of the SSUT. Cochran said the league wants the SSUT rate raised to 10 percent, with 4 percent going to the cities. Cochran said that more closely mirrors taxes on sales from brick-and-mortar stores.

Cochran said cities also want to close what he called a loophole in the law. Online vendors who pay to sell their products on Amazon and other online platforms aren't required to collect the SSUT.

Pittman's bill specifies that the SSUT can't be applied to sales of any products purchased from or delivered from any retail location in the state, purchases that are subject to the regular sales tax.

Pittman opted not to have the committee vote on the bill after today's public hearing and but said he plans to bring it back after some negotiations.
Residents of the town of West Jefferson and the Jefferson County Commission have turned to the courts hoping to stop a local landfill from bringing in sewage sludge from New York and New Jersey.

The waste in question -- technically referred to as biosolids -- is the solid material left behind from wastewater treatment operations and often referred to as sewage sludge. It contains the remains of human waste and other materials after wastewater treatment processes, and is sometimes used as fertilizer, or in this case, as cover material for a landfill.

The sludge is brought in by train from New York and New Jersey to a rail yard in unincorporated Jefferson County. From there, the material is transferred onto trucks which drive through the town on their way to the Big Sky landfill in Adamsville about 6 miles away, according to a lawsuit filed by the town of West Jefferson.

Residents of West Jefferson and the surrounding unincorporated areas say the operation is creating a terrible stench and an infestation of flies, especially in the summer.

"The flies, the odor, it's really just diminishing the quality of life for the people of West Jefferson and surrounding areas," said Charles Nix, mayor of the town of West Jefferson. "Property values are going to be dropping and if they continue this, I don't know what's going to happen to the western part of Jefferson County."

Nix said the sewage material has sloshed out of the back of the trucks onto roadways, where it sometimes sticks to vehicles' tires.

"They've spilled it up and down the roads here in West Jefferson," Nix said. "Of course when it was warm weather, it was a bigger problem.

"When it's hot, if people go out to their mailbox and one of these trucks rolls by, they have to go in and shower. It's that bad. The odor is just horrific."

He said on one occasion, the Adamsville Fire Department had to respond to one of the larger spills.

"That was a rather large spill," Nix said. "They couldn't bring their pressure washer out and wash it off the road, they had to call the fire department out to wash it off the road."

John Click, operations manager of the Big Sky landfill, declined to comment on most questions regarding the situation, citing confidential business information. He did say that most residents of Adamsville, where the landfill is located, have not complained about the operations.

Click is also on the Adamsville City Council.

Hearing scheduled today

There are multiple legal challenges to the sludge importation currently in the court system.

On August 3, 2017, the Jefferson County Commission sent notice to Big Sky Environmental and Sumiton Timber Company -- the owner of the railyard -- that using the facility to unload the sewage sludge was a violation of the county's zoning rules.

The property is zoned I-3, as a pulpwood yard, which it was under a previous owner, and the Commission said the current activities would require a I-O zoning, the designation for industrial plots that emit obnoxious odors.

On August 17, Sumiton Timber and Big Sky applied for the property to be re-zoned I-O, about four months after the trains started rolling in, and that application was rejected by the Commission at its Oct. 5 meeting.

The trains, however, continue to roll in.

Sumiton and Big Sky sued the Commission in federal court, asking for a temporary restraining order and arguing that the operation should be governed under the federal laws pertaining to railroad operations, which would supercede local zoning ordinances.

The Commission has responded that neither Big Sky nor Sumiton are classified as railroad operators or have attempted to portray themselves as such and cited other cases where local zoning ordinances were enforced at operations on or around railroad tracks.

A hearing on Sumiton's request for a temporary restraining order began Friday in federal court in Birmingham and will continue Monday.

Separate from that case, the town of West Jefferson has filed a lawsuit in state court seeking to stop the sludge from rolling through town, arguing in court documents that "the continued existence of the obnoxious odors and flies harms West Jefferson's ability to attract residential and commercial developments in West Jefferson."

The suit alleges that the town "has been and continues to be harmed by the Defendants continued and willful violation of the I-3 zoning classification."

That action was filed last week and no court dates have been set.

In addition, the landfill's five-year operating permit is up for renewal with the Alabama Department of Environmental Management, with a public hearing set for 6 p.m. on Jan 25 at the Kemp building in Adamsville.

Nix said the town was fighting the sludge importation on all available fronts, including that public meeting.

"We've complained to everybody we know, from representatives to senators to the health department to ADEM," Nix said. "We're doing everything we can to try to stop this."

Sludge as alternative cover

Documents from ADEM show that in 2016 the landfill asked for and received approval from the Department to use the sludge material as cover to stimulate plant growth on the slopes of the landfill cells.

Included in the proposal were waste approval forms from seven wastewater treatment facilities in the greater New York City area, showing approval to bring in up to 398,000 tons -- or 796 million pounds -- of sludge annually to the landfill.

According to that proposal, the sludge was to be deposited into a compost area at the landfill. It would later be mixed with dirt and mulch to be spread on the cells.

"We will utilize a loader or excavator to take equal parts stabilized biosolids and dirt/mulch and combine into a consistent mixture," the proposal reads.

From there, the biosolid mix was to be spread over the side slopes of the covered landfill cells via off-road vehicles and bulldozers with seeds planted to promote vegetative growth.

The Big Sky landfill is among the largest landfills in Alabama, and is permitted to accept up to 25,000 tons of trash per day from any of the lower 48 states, though in practice it receives far less than that.

*This post was updated at 5:37 p.m. with additional details and to show that the Adamsville Fire Department, not the West Jefferson Fire Department, responded to the sludge spill referenced by the mayor.
State Attorney General Steve Marshall defended his decision to not seek the firing or other disciplinary action against an assistant district attorney accused of sexual harassment 17 years ago, when Marshall was the district attorney of Marshall County.

Byron Waldrop, a Marshall County assistant district attorney at the time of the allegations, conceded that he had sexually inappropriate behavior with investigator Donna Dunlap, but claimed he and Dunlap had "consensual, regular, sex-related discussions," according to the state's response to a lawsuit Dunlap filed in 2003. The incidents allegedly took place between 1999 and 2001, and Marshall was appointed by then-Gov. Don Siegelman as Marshall County District Attorney later in 2001.

Dunlap accused Waldrop of attempted rape in a June 2001 incident in which she alleged Waldrop locked his door, pressed her up against the wall and ran his hands under her bra and panties. Waldrop denied that part of Dunlap's claims.

She also alleged -- and Waldrop denied -- that Waldrop made "repeated sexual advances" and touched her breasts with his hands and elbows "on at least 10 occasions," and rubbed his pelvic area while he had an erection against her buttocks.

Ronald Thompson, then the Marshall County District Attorney, responded to Dunlap's complaints by separating Waldrop and Dunlap in the office - a policy that Marshall continued.

"When I became appointed in August of 2001, my predecessor... a few days afterward came and told me there was an incident in the office," Marshall said. "Both parties were satisfied and everything had been taken care of. I accepted that as it was."

Marshall said he also contacted the state attorney general's office, and two lawyers from the office "independently assessed what had gone on and we followed any and all recommendations that they had." The recommendations did not include firing Waldrop, who went on to become the municipal judge for Guntersville and still practices law.

But the attorneys noted that the office did not have a sexual harassment policy.

"We developed a policy ... and trained new district attorneys on that policy going forward," Marshall told AL.com

Meanwhile, Dunlap's life took a turn for the worse after the lawsuit. She filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection in 2005 and included more than $2,300 in court costs among her more than $200,000 in liabilities. The costs represented about 10 percent of her annual income.

Dunlap did not respond to a request seeking comment; her attorney could not be reached.

Although the state conceded that Waldrop inappropriately touched Dunlap and sexually harassed her, Dunlap's case was thrown out by then-U.S. District Judge Robert Propst on technical grounds. He also said the fact that Dunlap did not file her claim sooner suggested that the harassment stopped after she and Waldrop were separated.

"There is no question that the specific acts ... were horrific," Propst wrote in his June 2004 ruling. "However, there is no question that action was taken to remedy the situation with Waldrop."
Update: The suspect was captured Friday in Limestone County, the sheriff's spokesman said. Further details weren't immediately available.

Original story: An Alabama drug suspect is being sought after leading deputies on a high-speed chase into Tennessee and throwing a stolen gun from his vehicle, a lawmen said.

Christopher Shock (Limestone County Sheriff's Office photo)

Deputies began chasing Christopher James Shock, a 30-year-old felony drug suspect, at Nelson Lane in Limestone County, sheriff's spokesman Stephen Young said. Deputies said the chase continued to Interstate 65 and across the Tennessee state line, reaching speeds over 100 mph.

Shock threw a pistol from his vehicle during the chase, Young said. Deputies recovered the gun, which had been reported stolen. Shock was driving a white Ford Explorer. The vehicle is believed to be a 2005 model.

Young said the chase was called off before deputies could capture the suspect.

Anyone with information is asked to call the sheriff's office at 256-232-0111.
After being out of school for the past two days because of inclement weather, Murphy High School's principal, Joe Toomey, returned to work Friday morning to learn that an 11th-grader at the school had lost his home in a fire. The student's mother came in to the office to ask if it was okay if her son wasn't dressed in a uniform.

Toomey put his hand on her shoulder and said, "Wow, I can't believe you even asked me," he said. When he touched her, "she broke down." He assured her that she didn't need to worry about the uniform. In fact, he told her he would take care of clothes and food for her, her son and her older daughter.

Then he reached out to the community via Twitter and Facebook.

Student lost home in a fire last night. Mom came to see if he was ok to not have uniform. I told her she didnt have to worry about food or clothes, she broke down. Yall, we have a moral obligation to these kids we serve and nothing is better than seeing youve made a difference  Joe R. Toomey (@Joe_toomey1984) January 19, 2018

Donations arrived throughout the day, including $500 in cash, which Toomey used to buy a gift card for the family; two brand-new pairs of Adidas shoes for the student; and 15 to 20 bags full of clothes.

"I was not prepared for the outpouring," said Toomey, adding that he has spent much of the day crying. "It's been unbelievable, and I don't think it's going to stop anytime soon. It goes to show you the goodness of people."

When the student's mother came back to the school to collect some of the contributions, "She just about broke my ribs hugging me," he said.

Toomey said he has made it his mission, since he first found out about the family's loss, "to turn tragedy into a miracle" - which he appears to have done. "It's been amazing," he said. "The goodness of people shows when the chips are down."

Gift cards for gas and restaurants are being accepted at Murphy High School, 100 S. Carlen St. Clothing sizes are men's 32/32 pants and medium shirts, and women's large tops and size 16/18 skirts and pants.
Fairhope Brewing Co. has the Mobile area's biggest beer news this weekend - but not all of it - as the brewery "Force"-fully celebrates its fifth anniversary with music, special brews and more.

Mobile's brewing scene continues to develop rapidly. Earlier this month Old Majestic Brewing announced that it had finalized a 10-year lease for a location on downtown's fast-developing St. Louis St. corridor.

That makes it downtown's fourth announced brewing operation. Serda Brewing opened in November. Haint Blue Brewing is building out its brewery after concluding a zoning dispute in late 2017; meanwhile its beers are available in select area bars and restaurants, and it's offering limited-edition Mardi Gras pint glasses. Construction continues on the Iron Hand brewpub in the DeTonti Square neighborhood.

As exciting as all that is to beer aficionados, it doesn't change the fact that without Fairhope Brewing, Lower Alabama wouldn't have had a locally brewed craft beer to call its own for the last half-decade.

"Anniversary V - The Brewery Strikes Back" runs from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 20, at 914 Nichols Ave. in Fairhope. Among other things, it's a chance for Fairhope Brewing to celebrate a couple of specific recent developments: The addition of a new grain silo and the retail launch of Cheap Sunglasses, a Kolsch-style golden ale that is the brewery's fifth brew to be widely available in bottles.

Saturday's event will feature some small-batch beers brewed just for the occasion: "Breakfast on Endor, a bacon-infused beer; Brewbacca, a black barley wine; The Dark Cider; Jabba the Hop; and JedIPA." You might see a theme there. All told, about 45 flavors will be on tap, including V Bourbon, "a golden barleywine aged in bourbon barrels." See the list here.

$5 admission includes limited edition glassware. Edward David Anderson plays at 2 p.m., followed by the Steel City Jug Slammers at 4 p.m. and Mitch Johnston at 7 p.m. The Blues Burgers Food Truck and Bean & Bistro will provide dining options.
When Amber Selman-Lynn began to plan a woman's march in Mobile for Saturday, she didn't anticipate her name would appear in a New York Times article.

But there she was, explaining how she got caught up in the middle of a dispute between two organizations that are backing women's marches and events on the first anniversary weekend of last year's huge protests.

"Most of us haven't done anything like this before," said Selman-Lynn of Daphne. "We want to build on the momentum from last year. We want to get everyone fired up about 2018 and that Doug Jones winning the Senate election was just the beginning and that women are leading the way.

The South Alabama's Anniversary Women's March will take place from 1-3 p.m. at Public Safety Memorial Park in Mobile. Six women are scheduled to speak, and a march will take place around the downtown park.

As for the controversy between the two groups - Women's March Inc. and Move On - Selman-Lynn said she was required to tweak her event's banner to remove March On's slogan of "March On the Polls."

"I did get an email and it was non-confrontational, but it indicated that they were separate from March On," said Selman-Lynn, who added that March On's resources were important for providing suggestions on how to put on a grassroots event.

The Mobile rally is one of several that will take place in Alabama one year after hundreds of thousands of activists marched on Washington, D.C., in the wake of President Donald Trump's inauguration. Other events are scheduled for Huntsville, Montgomery, Dothan and Birmingham.

This year's national march will take place at Sam Boyd Center in Las Vegas on Sunday, and will serve as a national voter registration and mobilization event carrying at theme of "Power to the polls." Nevada is considered a battleground state in November's election, with Republican Sen. Dean Heller considered a vulnerable incumbent.

In Alabama -- aside from the Mobile event -- there will be a march from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Big Springs Park in downtown Huntsville featuring 21 speakers. Among those scheduled to talk is state Rep. Laura Hall, who has been a member of the Legislature since 1993.

"I think this day is a chance for us to get together and celebrate some recent victories, such as the recent election victory for Doug Jones," said Corrie Wikoff, a planning program committee member with the Huntsville march. "It lets us get together and look forward to 2018 and the items we need to push for and watch for and it's a chance for us to share some of those ideas across multiple groups."

In Mobile, the event will feature speakers such as Cari Searcy, the LGBT advocate whose long quest to adopt her son, Khaya, led to a federal judge overturning the state's constitutional ban on same-sex marriage in 2015.

Political candidates are also expected to speak, including Tabitha Isner, the Democratic candidate for the 2nd Congressional District seat currently held by Republican Rep. Martha Roby.

Selman-Lynn emphasized that the march and rally are not intended to be a political event promoting Democratic candidates. She said, "But we are promoting progressive issues, and Tabitha is a candidate running on a decidedly progressive platform. That's what we're excited about."

The following are other events being held in Alabama:
Joe Songer | jsonger@al.com

Get a jump on the boating season and see all that is new this year at the 2018 Birmingham Boat show at the BJCC. Show hours are: Thursday January 18 until 9 p.m., Friday Noon- 9 p.m., Saturday 11 a.m.-9 p.m. and Sunday Noon- 5 p.m.. Here are 11 cool things to see during your visit to the show. There will be a Yamaha Waverunner watercraft giveaway Sunday and a Kids Fishing Show on Saturday. Get more info at the Birmingham Boat Show website.

Joe Songer

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Joe Songer | jsonger@al.com

11. Free fishing caps

Sylacauga Marine and ATV is giving away really cool Nitro and Tracker ball caps to the first 1,000 show visitors on Saturday. Sylacauga Marine has 26 boats on display on the lower level, including bass boats, ski boats and fishing boats. Owner Lee Holmes shows off one of the caps.

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Joe Songer | jsonger@al.com

10. Yamaha Waverunner giveaway

The Boat Show is giving away a Yamaha Waverunner valued at $9,000 Sunday at 4 p.m.. You do not have to be present to win. Sign up to win on the lower level.

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Joe Songer | jsonger@al.com

9. Book a fishing trip with Reed Montgomery

Book a fishing trip with Reed Montgomery at his booth on the upper level. Reed has been guiding for over 50 years and knows his stuff. Reed guides on most every lake in Alabama so pick your favorite lake.

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Joe Songer | jsonger@al.com

8. Check out a large selection of personal watercraft

See a wide array of Yamaha Waverunner and SeaDoo personal watercraft at the Big #1 area on the lower level. You can inspect and sit on 20 different watercraft at this booth alone.

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Joe Songer | jsonger@al.com

7. Pontoon boat dock

Check out the pontoon boat dock featuring over 20 Pennington and Starcraft pontoon boats at the Hide-A-Way Harbor area on the lower level.

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Joe Songer | jsonger@al.com

6. EZ Kayak Launch

This is cool! Here is an easy way to launch a kayak from a dock effortlessly. It is the EZ Kayak Launch from EZ Dock. I saw this on the lower level at the Shoco Inc. booth.

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Joe Songer | jsonger@al.com

6. EZ Kayak Launch

This is cool! Here is an easy way to launch a kayak from a dock effortlessly. It is the EZ Kayak Launch from EZ Dock. I saw this on the lower level at the Shoco Inc. booth. Here is a view showing how it can be attached to a pier. 11 cool things to see at the 2018 Birmingham Boat Show at the BJCC this weekend.

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Joe Songer | jsonger@al.com

5. Pontoon boat enclosure

Check out this Berkshire 23 RFX STS Arch pontoon boat with a full camper enclosure! The enclosure snaps on easily and allows you to get on the water in cold and rainy weather. I found this on the upper level at Nelems Marine.

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Joe Songer | jsonger@al.com

5. Pontoon boat enclosure

Here is an outside view of how the enclosure looks. Check out this Berkshire 23 RFX STS Arch pontoon boat with a full camper enclosure! The enclosure snaps on easily and allows you to get on the water in cold and rainy weather. I found this on the upper level at Nelems Marine.

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Joe Songer | jsonger@al.com

4. Boat atop a tiki hut

Have you ever seen a boat on top of a tiki hut? You can at the Skier's Marine area on the upper level. They used forklifts to perch the MasterCraft XT21 on top of the hut. Skier's Marine has 25 boats on display this year.

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Joe Songer | jsonger@al.com

3. Scout center console boat

Check out this beautiful Scout 225XSF center console boat. This boat offers a Yamaha 200 four stroke motor, padded seats all glass windshield and plenty of premium appointments.

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Joe Songer | jsonger@al.com

3. Scout center console boat

Show price is $69,395 at Singleton Marine at the top of the escalator on the upper level. 11 cool things to see at the 2018 Birmingham Boat Show at the BJCC this weekend.

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Joe Songer | jsonger@al.com

2. South Bay 523RS Arch model pontoon

Check out this incredible pontoon boat at the Trident Marina area on the lower level. This South Bay 523RS Arch model is full LED lit inside and out.

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Joe Songer | jsonger@al.com

2. South Bay 523RS Arch model pontoon

This 24 foot pontoon offers under deck and underwater LED lighting plus a fully lit cabin and deck area. Check with the Trident Marine folks for show pricing.

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Joe Songer | jsonger@al.com

1. Famous Trout Pond

A visit to the Boat Show isn't complete without a trip to the famous Trout Pond. Over 2,000 rainbow trout are swimming in the pond this year. Anyone can fish for 6 minutes for $5.00. You can keep your catch or catch and release.

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Joe Songer | jsonger@al.com

1. Famous Trout Pond

Owner David Emerson helps four year old Grayson Willoughby of Warrior, land a nice trout.

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Joe Songer | jsonger@al.com

1. Famous Trout Pond

Grayson Willoughby, 4, of Warrior, battles a nice trout. He fought the fish for a couple minutes. You can see from his face he is having fun. 11 cool things to see at the 2018 Birmingham Boat Show at the BJCC this weekend.

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Joe Songer | jsonger@al.com

2018 Birmingham Boat Show

11 cool things to see at the 2018 Birmingham Boat Show at the BJCC this weekend. (Joe Songer | jsonger@al.com).
Al Jazeeras Seoul Producer Musun Kim examines what Trumps unconventional approach to North Korea has meant for the region.

Seoul, South Korea  A year into his presidency, Donald Trump has made the Korean Peninsula, in particular North Koreas advancing nuclear and missile programmes, one of his top foreign policy priorities.

His unconventional approach and startling remarks towards not only North Korea, but also the decades-long alliance with South Korea has rattled many in the region.

During his election campaign, he expressed his willingness to accept North Korean leader Kim Jong-uns visit to the US, and hold direct talks with him over hamburgers, instead of a state dinner.

In the meantime, he stoked fears in South Korea by repeatedly expressing his strong dissatisfaction over the burden of sharing the costs of US military forces stationed in South Korea, even suggesting the withdrawal of American troops, unless Seoul would pay more.

At the same time, he threatened to discard a 2011 bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) claiming that the trade deal was unfair to the US, pointing to a huge trade deficit, especially, in the car and steel sectors.

Rocket man rhetoric

After his inauguration, it became clear that his unnerving remarks were not just a stump speech, pandering to conservative voters for the election, but a prelude to a different reality.

Trumps unknown quantity added a new factor to the North Korea equation, prompting concerns that frequent exchanges of harsh and sometimes even emotional rhetoric between the US president and North Korea could easily spiral out of control and lead to an armed conflict.

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In response to North Koreas successive missile tests, including intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM), Trump warned Pyongyang would be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen.

The North Korean leader responded by calling Trump a mentally deranged dotard in a rare statement to the outside world.

In return, Trump further stepped up his rhetoric by saying that he could totally destroy the regime, adding that Rocket Man, referring to Kim, is on a suicide mission in his speech to the UN General Assembly, and later he went on to Twitter, saying: Why would Kim Jong-un insult me by calling me old, when I would NEVER call him short and fat.

For the first time in more than two decades, South Koreans became worried. Some, especially the older generation, asked whether they needed to have an emergency plan.

This was a worrying development in that South Koreans have become accustomed and apathetic towards what have become rather routine and empty threats from Pyongyang since North Koreas top negotiators threat to turn Seoul into sea of fire prompted widespread fears and many families stocked up instant noodles and water in 1994.

Furthermore, Trumps willingness to consider a military option widened a crack between Washington and Seoul, with South Koreas new liberal President Moon Jae-in repeatedly vowing to prevent another war on the Korean Peninsula.

Even among conservatives in South Korea, who have long held a dogmatic belief in the South Korea-US alliance, forged in blood, doubt began to rise over whether the US would indeed come to South Koreas rescue, given Trumps America First policy and willingness to withdraw troops.

Different from the past?

Despite Trumps self-applause for this new strategy, there were more more sceptical voices whether there were any difference in terms of actual policy between what former President Barack Obama started towards the latter part of his administration and where Trump picked up, besides rhetoric.

Trump managed to turn around his image on his first visit to Seoul in November.

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Beating the publics expectations, his speech at the National Assembly received surprisingly positive responses for portraying South Koreas modern history in a beautiful way, reaffirming the US commitment to the alliance, and rebuking North Koreas leadership in stern yet, measured language.

As the two Koreas held landmark high-level talks earlier this month, to discuss North Koreas participation of the upcoming Pyeongchang Olympics in South Korea, following Kims peace overture in his new year address, Moon openly praised Trump, saying he should be largely credited, indicating that Trumps strategy to put maximum pressure and sanctions may have brought the North to the table of dialogue.

The South Korean government is now engaging with the North Korean government in dialogue and the North Korean delegation visiting South Korea in February, James Kim, a researcher at Seoul-based think-tank Asan Institute, told Al Jazeera.

Were in a very different place than what people thought even two, three, six months ago, he added.

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The real question is what will happen next once the Olympics and Paralympics ends in March.

South Korea and the US are due to resume the major annual military exercises called Key Resolve and Foal Eagle, which Pyongyang often angrily reacts.

North Korea could use the exercise as an excuse to achieve its long-cherished goal of being recognised as a nuclear state by conducting more ICBM tests, possibly over the Pacific, and proving its mastery of technology to fire a missile, tipped with a nuclear warhead, capable of reaching the US mainland.

If and when that happens, a red line is crossed by any measure, and Trump will struggle with much fewer options.
Lesbos, Greece  In March 2016, the European Union and Turkey signed a controversial deal to prevent refugees and migrants from reaching Europe.

The agreement came after more than 46,000 refugees had reached the Greek Island of Lesbos in just the two months before it. In April 2016, the month after the deal was reached, the number dropped to 1,766, according to the UNs refugee agency (UNHCR).

As part of the agreement, the Greek government confined refugees and migrants to five islands for the duration of their asylum process.

Today, it is estimated that more than 7,600 asylum seekers live on Lesbos.

Some 5,000 of them live in extremely poor conditions in Moria, the largest camp on the island which has previously been described by some as a prison.

In November 2017, Lesbos Mayor Spyros Galinos had warned that the island and other border areas could be turning into concentration camps, where all human dignity is denied.

These images give a rare sight on the conditions inside Moria camp, where journalists cannot enter without the prior agreement of authorities.
Tunisia celebrated the seventh anniversary of the downfall of its former dictatorship with protests. For two weeks now, people have been demonstrating in impoverished towns like Tebourba and Ettadhamon, near the capital, Tunis, and towns like Kasserine in the mid-west, Sakiet Sidi Youssef in the north-west, and Sidi Bouzid in the south, where the revolution started in 2010.

Since the Tunisian uprising brought down Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in 2011, a series of demonstrations have marked the anniversary of the revolution. And it is likely that they will grow into more substantial and violent unrest.

Despite continuing popular protests and obvious signs of the rebirth of the Tunisian police state, international media continues to cover Tunisia as a relative success story.

The peaceful transition from the despotic regime of Ben Ali towards a participatory democracy with organised and active political parties, the drafting of a new constitution, and the competitive 2014 elections have been hailed as the ultimate proof of the exceptionalism of Tunisia and its transitional model.

What is central to these narratives is a rather superficial comparison between the relative peacefulness of Tunisias transition and the state disintegration in Libya, Syria and Yemen. After all, having an example of a successful revolution can always provide a glimpse of hope and optimism especially in these dystopian times. But this framing of the democratic transition in Tunisia since 2011 dismisses a dismal reality.

The construction and consolidation of the idea of Tunisian exceptionalism support the fetishisation of Tunisias democracy as a political commodity. In turn, this process of fetishisation enables neoliberal political campaigns and interventions to be implemented while it denies the possibility of establishing radical democratic frameworks and policies.

During Ben Alis era, exceptional improvements in womens rights and the implementation of dogmatic secularism were used to promote the impressive accomplishments of the regime and hide its widespread and systematic human rights violations such the persecution of political opponents and abuse of government critics. France and the EU were complicit in promoting the successes of Ben Alis regime and establishing Tunisia as a pillar of stability and peace despite a deteriorating social and political reality.

Under the current government, the Tunisian political and social elite has exploited this same idea and pushed coercive policies designed to maintain the socioeconomic status quo under the excuse of ensuring economic survival and political stability. More radical changes and demands have been portrayed as dangerous to the stability and progress of the country.

The ongoing protests, for example, erupted after the Tunisian government implemented austerity measures that caused commodity prices to go up dramatically. These policies, pushed onto the government by neoliberal institutions like the International Monetary Fund, fall in line with the ones Ben Alis regime implemented. It was these very policies that led to the mass impoverishment of the Tunisian population and ultimately a pervasive popular malaise.

And it was under the cover of facilitating the democratic transition to a new Tunisia that the ruling majority passed a corruption amnesty bill in September 2017. The law grants amnesty to officials accused of corruption during the autocratic rule of Ben Ali. It signalled a failure of political reformism and a hostile democratic backslide.

The idea of maintaining the internationally celebrated status of the Arab Spring exception has also given the Tunisian authorities an excuse to not only prevent the much-needed reform of the interior ministry and the security apparatus but also bring back securitisation policies of the Ben Ali era.

A bill that could allow security forces to use even more violent means on the public is still under consideration in the Tunisian parliament. The Repression of attacks against armed forces bill, if voted in, will grant members of the security apparatus immunity from prosecution if they use lethal force and will prohibit criticism of the police force.

Again, international institutions and media, especially in Europe, continue to promote the exceptional status of Tunisia as a stable country in an unstable region and to overlook the social and political malaise behind the episodic unrest.

This time, the launching of an LGBT radio station and radical proposals that will grant women equal inheritance rights and allow them to marry outside the Muslim faith are used to maintain the idea of Tunisian exceptionalism. While these political decisions can be seen as revolutionary, they reflect an artificial top-down approach to the issue of womens rights and suffer from the absence of a genuine and healthy public debate. What remains then is the desired circulation of shining headlines in Western media on Tunisias special status.

Tunisian exceptionalism, this logic goes, must be maintained through peace and stability; any demands for radical change are seen as dangerous and disruptive. Hence, when the latest wave of protests erupted, the Tunisian political elite called for unity and peaceful demonstrations and reminded Tunisians how we are being perceived abroad. The angry protestors were portrayed as a threat to the success story.

The more serious problem here is that the rhetorical use of the Tunisian exceptionalism has been a rather successful strategy. For many Tunisians who have long been conditioned to believe in a Western (neo)liberal view of the world and of themselves, the exceptionalism narrative makes sense. This double consciousness of always viewing oneself through the eyes of Western media has made many Tunisians believe in the perceived urgency of maintaining the Tunisian success story. As a result, they have chosen to ignore the reality of a stolen revolution that they live in.

During the demonstrations, the criminalisation of the protesters found a receptive audience in Tunisia because pro-government pundits in international and local media have polarised popular opinion, setting Tunisias success story against criticism from the civil society.

Deepening socioeconomic problems and increased repression have fuelled a toxic relationship between Tunisias youth and its ruling elite that is built on cynicism, confrontation, and excessive violence. The rhetorical question in the Fech Nestanaw (What Are We waiting for?) movements name speaks to the widespread idea that a corrective second revolution is urgently needed.

Tunisias exceptionalism is a myth. Its logic is unsustainable. Long-standing structural issues and the gradual return to a hegemonic ruling elite challenges the forced legitimisation of a failing political leadership.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial stance.
The government will pursue felony charges against 59 defendants, putting them at risk of decades in jail.

The US government will submit a motion to dismiss indictments for 129 of the 188 remaining Inauguration Day defendants, leaving 59 facing felony charges that could land them behind bars for decades.

The government will be filing motions to dismiss without prejudice the indictment against the other remaining 129 defendants, William Miller, public information officer for the US Attorneys Office for the District of Columbia, said in a press statement provided to Al Jazeera by email.

Announced on Thursday afternoon, the statement said the US Attorneys Office for DC made the decision in order to focus its efforts on this smaller, core group that we believe is most responsible for the destruction and violence that took place on Inauguration Day.

During the inauguration of US President Donald Trump on January 20, 2017, police surrounded, attacked and arrested more than 230 people during an anti-capitalist bloc march.

Those arrested included protesters, journalists, medics, legal observers and bystanders. A felony riot charge was subsequently dealt to 234 people. The charge carried up to 10 years in jail and a $25,000 fine.

The city alleges that the protesters are responsible for $100,000 in property damage, while police have been accused of using unnecessary force against the group, including while they were surrounded and posed no threat.

Twenty defendants reached plea deals in exchange for lesser sentences, while another 20 had their charges dropped altogether.

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In April, the DC Superior Court returned a superseding indictment that issued a swath of additional charges, including several felonies to 212 people, among them three who were not initially charged.

In December, a jury found the first batch of six defendants not-guilty on all counts.

Its not over

Although defendants and advocates celebrated Thursdays announcement, many called for the charges to be dropped for the remaining 59 defendants.

YESSS! It's not over until every last one of the #J20 defendants is free, but this is such a positive development. Keep fighting like hell for the final 59 #DefendJ20 #protestisnotacrime https://t.co/0abNuVCT6p  Kim Kelly (@GrimKim) January 18, 2018

Writing on Twitter, Dylan Petrohilos, an Inauguration Defendant who is still facing charges, also called for continued support for those who did not have their charges dismissed.

129 people just had their charges dropped from #J20 59 people remain you gotta #defendj20 resistance https://t.co/fl0dXSoLEF  Youre only punk once (@dpetrohilos) January 18, 2018

Among those still facing charges is independent journalist Aaron Cantu, whose prosecution has been decried by press freedom groups and watchdogs.

In the governments case filing, Assistant US Attorney Jennifer Kerkhoff wrote: In light of the legal rulings by the court and the jurys verdicts in the first trial of these cases, the government has decided to proceed with all of the pending charges set forth in the superseding indictment (to include felony charges) [for 59] defendants.

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Kerkhoff, who is the lead prosecutor, maintained in the filing that the remaining defendants participated in identifiable acts of destruction, violence, or other assaultive conduct, participated in planning the rally or engaged in conduct that demonstrates a knowing and intentional use of the black-bloc tactic.

Black bloc refers to a tactic in which protesters wear all black and cover their faces to create an atmosphere of anonymity and unity while concealing their identity from police or those who seek to identify them and publish their information online.

The American Civil Liberties Union in DC, a rights group, welcomed Thursdays decision but urged the US Attorneys Office for DC to reconsider evidence against the remaining defendants.

For a full year, the governments abusive prosecution has upended the lives of these defendants, whove endured the anxiety of multiple court hearings and suffered disruptions to their educations or careers while facing the prospect of more than 60 years in prison, Scott Michelman, senior staff attorney at the ACLU-DC, said in a statement.

We hope the government continues to carefully examine the evidence it has against the remaining 59 defendants, at least some of whom we continue to believe are innocent.
Monitor says US-led coalition fighting ISIL in Iraq and Syria killed up to 6,102 civilians in 2017.

The number of civilian deaths caused by a US-led coalition fighting ISIL in Syria and Iraq surged by 200 percent in 2017 compared with the year before, a monitor has said.

US and allied strikes killed between 3,923 and 6,102 non-combatants in both countries last year, Airwars, a UK-based group tracking allegations of civilian casualties said on Thursday, calling the 2017 campaign the deadliest year yet for ordinary Syrians and Iraqis.

The group said its estimates were based on publicly available data.

The sharp rise last year was because of intense fighting in densely populated urban areas, as Iraqi troops and Syrian Kurdish-dominated forces, both backed by the US-led coalition, fought respectively to remove the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) group from Iraqs Mosul and Syrias Raqqa.

The administration of US President Donald Trump, in power since January 20, 2017, was also partly to blame, Airwars said.

This unprecedented death toll coincided with the start of the Trump presidency, and suggested in part that policies aimed at protecting civilians had been scaled back under the new administration, the monitor said.

In Syria, the toll for civilians killed in coalition air raids quadrupled compared with 2016, with between 2,786 and 4,374 deaths likely killed in 2017, the group said.





In Iraq, deaths were up by 87 percent, with at least 1,128 non-combatants dying in more than 100 air attacks, it added.

While US officials call the campaign the most precise in history, according to Airwars, the urban battlefields laid waste by bombs, artillery and improvised explosives told another story.

Coalition forces carried out some 11,573 air and artillery attacks in 2017 and dropped a total of 39,577 bombs and missiles against ISIL.

More than 70 percent of those raids were in Syria, largely because of the campaign to capture Raqqa.

By the time the city was seized from ISIL, more than 1,450 civilians were killed, Airwars said, and 80 percent of the city was left uninhabitable.

Kinda Haddad, the head of Airwars Syria team, said the coalition repeated Russian and Syrian government tactics of siege, bomb and evacuate in order to achieve the stated aims of defeating ISIL.

Coalition raids, in the nine-month battle for Mosul, which began in October 2016, claimed between 1,066 and 1,579 lives, Airwars said.

That was the biggest urban assault since World War Two, it said, and left the city reduced to rubble.

An Airwars researcher said that by the end of the campaign in June, it sometimes seemed that the coalition were attacking everything in order to eradicate ISIS from the city.

The coalition said only 93 of its raids caused deaths and injuries, but Airwars said it had identified 673 other such incidents.

In addition to the deaths, some 2,433 civilians were wounded in the attacks.

The group said coalition-linked civilian casualties in 2017 far outnumbered those attributed to Russia.

However, it said it had to suspend its assessments of Russia from March last year because of the massive rise in coalition actions and limited resources.
Muslim leader lambastes cowardly act by right-wing group, which left note warning against what it calls Islamisation.

A decapitated doll was left at a mosque in Amsterdam, police said, in an Islamophobic act that has shocked the Muslim community in the Netherlands.

The head was hung by a rope from a fence above the dolls bloodstained body, pictures showed, and a note was left warning against Islamisation in the Netherlands.

An employee of Emir Sultan Mosque found the doll as he opened the place of worship on Thursday morning, and reported it to the police.

Police confiscated the doll and is investigating it for traces [AT5]

The note on the doll, apparently referencing Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said: Islam is inextricably linked with brutal beheadings. Islamisation must stop. No to the Diyanet mega-mosque in Amsterdam-Noord (north), which is connected to dictator Erdogan.

The Emir Sultan Mosque serves a predominately Turkish community in the north of Amsterdam.

In a statement to Dutch media, the Emir Sultan Islamic Foundation called it a cowardly and disgusting act.

Of course we are shocked and condemn this cowardly attack, but we do not let ourselves be intimidated and played against each other, the statement said.

We will continue to profile ourselves as part of society and continue to work for the preservation of peace and solidarity in Amsterdam-Noord. We request everyone to keep their cool and wait for the police investigation, it added.

Kamber Sener, president of the mosque, wrote on Facebook, asking the community not to worry about this incident.

I hope they will find the perpetrators as soon as they can, he wrote, asking for the city to unite against such acts.

The act was claimed via Twitter by a right-wing group calling itself Rechts in Verzet, or Right in Opposition.

The group tweeted photos of the doll and the note to several Dutch news organisations, adding in the tweet: Beheading! No mega mosque in Amsterdam-Noord. Protest.

The person running the Twitter account was also under investigation, Amsterdams local TV channel AT5 reported.

The protest group had previously criticised the arrival of a mega-mosque in Amsterdam-Noord.
Victims relatives try to prove Saudi involvement in first hearing after Congress removed aspects of sovereign immunity.

New York, United States  Saudi Arabia has again defended its government against allegations of providing support to the perpetrators of the September 11, 2001, attacks in New York, as the kingdoms lawyers faced family members of victims in a Manhattan federal courtroom.

Thursdays hearing marked the third time a group of families of 9/11 victims and survivors have tried to sue the Saudi government for damages relating to the attack that killed nearly 3,000 people.

Fifteen of the 19 attackers were Saudi citizens.

It was the first hearing since Congress passed legislation removing aspects of sovereign immunity that had prevented previous cases against the Saudi government from being heard.

Victims relatives, survivors and insurance companies have claimed that members of the Saudi government supported the al-Qaeda-affiliated men who hijacked and crashed planes into New Yorks World Trade Center, the Pentagon outside Washington, and a Pennsylvania field.

They also accuse Saudi Arabia of funding charities that supported al-Qaeda.

Terry Strada, national chair of 9/11 Families and Survivors United for Justice Against Terrorism, fought for the legislation to limit sovereign immunity.

She said her group would keep pushing to expose what she sees as clear financial ties between the attack and the royal family.

Ill never be tired of doing this, Strada told Al Jazeera. We will fight until the end.

She said her life had not been the same since she lost her husband, Tom, the father of her three children.

I dont have anything else. Im going to take this as far as I can.

In 2015, the suspicion that the Saudi attackers had help from their government was investigated and dismissed for lack of evidence by the 9/11 Commission.

But lawyers for the plaintiffs say the commissions report was inconclusive, and new evidence has since come to light, including previously classified documents and supporting testimony from two former FBI agents and former Senator Bob Graham of Florida, who served on the 9/11 Commission.

Hearsay and speculation

Lawyers for Saudi Arabia say the accusations are baseless and are again trying to get the case dismissed, arguing in court documents that the new evidence is hearsay and speculation, insufficient to support the findings required for jurisdiction over Saudi Arabia.

The families believe the evidence shows that US-based Saudi government agents helped the hijackers and that the government knowingly funded charities that supported anti-Western, jihadist ideology.

Lawyer Sean Carter, who represents victims and their family members, told the judge that the charities were the principal source of funding for al-Qaeda leading up to the 9/11 attacks.

He argued the judge should allow the case to move forward to the next phase, when the plaintiffs would be able to summon prominent members of the Saudi royal family and religious leadership to testify and provide documents.

Saudi officials are trying to stop that from happening and accuse the plaintiffs of equating Islam with terrorism.

To equate missionary work, building mosques, providing Qurans, with terrorism is not proper in this court, lawyer Michael Kellogg argued in court.

The judge could take up to four months to decide whether or not to let the trial proceed.

If the trial is allowed to continue, it is likely to strain diplomatic and economic relations between the US and Saudi Arabia.
France-UK relations: Leaders meet to discuss security

British Prime Minister Theresa May and French President Emmanuel Macron have vowed to continue cooperating on a range of issues, after the UK leaves the European Union.
A three-day US government shutdown came to an end late on Monday after Republicans and Democrats reached an agreement to temporarily fund the government.

US President Donald Trump signed the funding bill, which will keep the government open for 17 days.

The shutdown came late on Friday after the collapse of bipartisan talks on a US spending bill that hinged on continued protections under the DACA programme for undocumented immigrants, which Democrats support.

Mondays bill does not include any provisions on DACA, but Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he would allow a debate on immigration on a level playing field at the outset.

While Senate Democrats ultimately accepted McConnells promise, many, including Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Cory Booker and Kamala Harris voted against the measure.

Prior to the shutdown, Beth Ann Bovino, a senior economist at financial ratings agency Standard and Poors (S&P), said it would deliver a direct and indirect impact on the US economy.

The last shutdown was in 2013 and lasted 16 days.

Al Jazeera examined what effect a government shutdown has on the US.

Whats the direct impact?

The direct impact, Bovino explained, would be an immediate loss of productivity from about 700,000 government employees deemed nonessential.

These workers will be furloughed, meaning they will be put on leave until the government resumes functioning.

While there is no guarantee government workers will be paid for this leave, historically they have been paid retroactively in the case of a shutdown.

Even if they are paid, the US government will experience lost productivity from almost a million people, Bovino said.

The time spent not working on ongoing initiatives will never come back, the economist continued.

How are people affected?

National parks, museums and monuments are expected to shut down, as will the processing of passports and visas.

This will impact tourism. National parks in the west and the Smithsonian Institute museums in the east will not open to the public.

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Another indirect loss will be to contractors  government employees are not the only ones waiting for a paycheck from Uncle Sam.

Over $43bn has been awarded in contracts for the fiscal year 2018, according to government figures.

None of this money will be paid as long as the shutdown continues. That will remove a fair amount of money from the pockets of private citizens throughout the country.

Retail sales would drop.

Its not quite the height of the holiday season, so that suggests the impact would be less severe. However, when we look at holiday sales, they continue into January, Bovino said.

Which government services continue?

Those related to national security and domestic safety, including the military, law enforcement and air traffic control.

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Certain entitlements, such as hospitals for veterans administered by the government and food stamps for families in need, would be unaffected.

Federal courts, where the Trump administration is currently battling an order to undo his decision to end the DACA programme, will continue but are subject to disruption.

How long have past shutdowns lasted?

In the case of the 16-day 2013 shutdown, Republicans and Democrats were at odds over funding then-President Obamas landmark healthcare law, known as Obamacare, and the US debt ceiling, which allows the US Treasury to continue borrowing to pay debts.

There was a 27-day shutdown from December 1995 to January 1996, resulting from a clash between Republicans and Democrats over funding a health insurance programme for the elderly. That came a month after a November shutdown that lasted four days.

Before these examples, shutdowns were rare.

The US government typically only experienced funding gaps over the weekend, not impacting the economy in any major way, according to data from the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a think-tank in Washington, DC.

What is the cost to the economy?

The 2013 shutdown cost the US economy $24bn, according to estimates from S&P. While costly, GDP was over $16 trillion that year.

The firm estimates a shutdown would cost the US economy about $6bn per week in 2018.

Any losses this early in the year could be regained later, Bovino said.
Muslim Association of Greece and other groups receive menacing messages from caller boasting of racist attacks.

Athens, Greece  A neo-Nazi organisation has threatened the Muslim Association of Greece and pro-migrant organisations, amid an uptick in anti-immigrant violence in the Greek capital.

On Thursday, the organisation said it had received a menacing phone call from Crypteia, a far-right group that attacked the home of an Afghan child last year.

We are the group that kills, burns, hits and tortures immigrants, mainly Muslims, the caller said, according to Anna Stamou of the Muslim Association of Greece.

The caller contacted the organisation from a blocked number and identified himself as part of Crypteia.

He boasted of the groups attack on the home of an 11-year-old Afghan refugee, identified only as Emir in Greek media, in November.

Then, masked men had attacked the boys home after he gained national attention for being prevented from carrying a Greek flag during a school parade. They threw beer bottles and stones at the home, shattering the windows, and left a note reading: Go back to your village. Leave.

We reported [Thursdays phone call] to officials here, then late at night we discovered that many organisations had the same threat, Stamou told Al Jazeera, explaining that the Greek Forum for Migrants and others received similar phone calls.

Other civil society groups, which requested anonymity, confirmed that they were among those threatened.

We are not intimidated as groups, Muslims or anti-fascists. The whole society is being targeted by these actions, Stamou added. We dont accept threats.

Crypteias name is an apparent reference to a group of ancient Spartans who were notorious for attacking slaves. The vigilante outfit is believed to have stemmed from the neo-fascist Golden Dawn party, which has 16 seats in the Greek parliament.

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Greek police were not immediately available for comment.

There are around 200,000 Muslims in Athens, according to the Muslim Association of Greece, a civil society group advocating for indigenous Muslims, Greek converts, refugees, migrants and others.

In 2010, the Pew Research Center said there were 500,000 Muslims in the country, but this number has increased with refugees and migrants, most of whom come from Muslim-majority countries.

Tina Stavrinaki, legal officer at the Racist Violence Recording Network, said it was clear that Muslims are the target.

They said the same thing [to all the groups threatened], she told Al Jazeera.

They said they take responsibility for attacks against migrants almost everywhere.

Rising hate crimes

Racist violence is rising in Greece, targeting migrant labourers in neighbourhoods in Piraeus, a port city near Athens.

Between December 25 and January 5, the anti-racist activist group Keerfa recorded attacks on the homes of more than 30 migrant labourers, mostly Pakistanis, in Renti and Nikaia, two neighbourhoods in Piraeus.

While 48 hate crimes motivated by race, skin colour or national origin took place in Greece in 2016, 47 incidents were recorded during the first six months of last year alone, according to police statistics provided to Al Jazeera.

Although Golden Dawn has a long history of attacks on immigrants and political opponents, it has scaled back its violence in recent years.

That decline has coincided with the Golden Dawns ongoing trial, which saw 69 of its members arrested and charged with running a criminal organisation after one of the partys members murdered anti-fascist rapper Pavlos Fyssas in September 2013.

Most of those threatened by Crypteia are witnesses in the Golden Dawn trial, Stamou said.

This is a hate crime, she said.

The Muslim Association of Greece has had pigs heads thrown at its office entrance in recent years and been mailed threatening letters.

We will chop you up like chickens, one of the notes read.

This is their routine, Stamou said. We are not surprised.
Jordans foreign ministry says Israel has promised victims families will be compensated after fatal incident in July.

Israel has formally apologised for the fatal shooting of two Jordanian citizens by an Israeli embassy guard in Amman last year, Jordans foreign ministry said.

The guard, identified as Ziv, shot two Jordanians in a residential building in the heavily fortified Israeli embassy compound in Jordans capital in July 2017.

The two victims were 17-year-old Jordanian Mohammed al-Jawawdeh, and Bashar Hamarneh, the owner of a property rented out to the Israeli embassy in Amman.

Mohammed was supposed to deliver and install a bedroom set at the embassy residence that had been ordered by the Israeli embassy through Hamarneh.

The Israeli government has pledged to follow up on legal proceedings and compensate the victims families, Jordans foreign ministry said in a statement on Thursday.

Full operations at the embassy will resume immediately, a statement from the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed.

Israel attaches great importance to its strategic relations with Jordan, and the two countries will act to advance their cooperation and to strengthen the peace treaty between them, the statement on Thursday read.

In its letter to Jordan, Israel also offered an apology for the death of a Jordanian judge, Raed Zeiter, in 2014.

Zeiter was shot by Israeli soldiers at a West Bank border crossing.

Tensions between the two countries rose last summer after Israel installed metal detectors around the al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.

Thousands of Jordanians took to the streets of Amman to denounce the Israeli measures at the al-Haram al-Sharif. The incident at the embassy came amid the tensions in Jerusalem.

Jordan is the official custodian of Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem. It called an urgent meeting for Arab foreign ministers to discuss the situation.
Teenage boy fatally shot as scuffles broke out between deputy sheriff and family after juvenile hearing in US state.

A teenage boy has been shot and killed by police after a juvenile hearing at an Ohio court during an altercation, local officials said.

Joseph Haynes, 16, was appearing for a hearing about a firearms charge against him at the Franklin County court in Columbus on Wednesday when a deputy sheriff struck him with a bullet in a hallway.

The teenager was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

At some point as the hearing was concluding there was an altercation that ensued involving the deputy and some of the family members, Franklin County Sheriffs Chief Deputy Rick Minerd told reporters.

Jennifer Brisco, Haynes lawyer, said the scuffles broke out when the officer threatened to arrest her client.

Joseph was a little out of sorts because of how things went at the hearing, Brisco told The Columbus Dispatch, a local newspaper.

The officer threatened to lock him up and a scuffle broke out, she added. Joseph was resisting, and thats when there was a scuffle.

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The deputy, who has not been identified for security reasons, suffered a black eye, bruises and abrasions after he was knocked to the ground, Minerd said.

The boys grandmother acknowledged that her grandson grabbed the deputys shoulder, but told the newspaper that the deputy should have used a taser instead of a gun.

There was no reason why that cop would have been terrified of Joey, Geraldine Hayes said.

Meanwhile, Keith Ferrell, executive vice president of the Fraternal Order of Police lodge that represents Franklin County deputies, defended the officer, saying he had no choice.

This was a fight for (the deputys) life at some point, Ferrell told reporters on Thursday.

Police shootings

The incident is the latest in a series of deaths at the hands of police officers in the US.

A total of 987 people have been shot and killed by US police in 2017, according to the Washington Posts Fatal Force database.

Victims of police brutality are often children.

In May, police officers in a Dallas suburb shot and killed Jordan Edwards, a 15-year-old black American, for aggressively reversing towards them. Video footage later contradicted the officials claims.

Gun violence and fatal police encounters have led to widespread protests in recent years.

According to the Guardian newspapers The Counted database, at least 1,092 people were killed by police in the US in 2016.

In a high-profile case in 2016, the aftermath of the shooting of black motorist Philando Castile by a Minnesota officer was streamed live on Facebook.

The killing of another black man, Alton Sterling, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana by white police led to a wave of protests across the country.
Family members of 27-year-old accused of terrorism say he was innocent, anger seethes on social media.

Islamabad, Pakistan  The police killing of a man in Karachi has sparked a social media outcry, as his family members reject claims by authorities that he was a member of the Pakistan Taliban, saying he was an innocent aspiring male model.

Police fatally shot Naqeebullah Mehsud, 27, during a raid on what they described as a terrorist hideout in eastern Karachi last week, according to a police statement.

He was buried in his native town of Makin, in the South Waziristan tribal district bordering Afghanistan, on Friday, family members told Al Jazeera.

So-called encounter killings are common in Pakistan. Rights groups say when police lack enough evidence for a court conviction, they extrajudicially kill suspects.

In 2016, police said they had killed at least 318 suspects during raids and shootouts in Karachi, according to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HCRP), an independent rights organisation.

Some men in plainclothes came and abducted him from a restaurant in Karachi on January 3 [10 days before police said he was killed], said Alamgir Mehsud, Naqeebullahs cousin. Then on January 16, we were told that he had been killed by police. We got his body back the next day.

Naqeebullah, also known as Naseemullah, ran a popular Facebook page where he posted pictures of himself modelling clothes and hairstyles.

He used to work in a garment mill in Karachi, and he used that money to fund his modelling, said Alamgir. He was a sort of idol to young people from the Mehsud tribe in Karachi.

By late December, Naqeebullahs page had more than 14,000 followers, and he often posted light-hearted messages.

On September 16, he posted a warning to young people not to engage in the Blue Whale Challenge, a reported social media campaign that encouraged self-harm.

Social media users used the hashtag #JusticeForNaqib to post messages of solidarity with his family, pictures of him modelling and to demand the police be held to account.

Protests have been held against his killing in Karachi and the northwestern city of Peshawar.

Hardened Taliban member

Police say Naqeebullah was a hardened member of the Pakistan Taliban, who had taken part in several operations targeting security personnel.

According to a police profile that led to the raid, he carried out attacks on military convoys, police personnel and suspected military informers.

A native of Makin, once known as the nerve centre of the Pakistan Taliban, Naqeebullah often travelled between Karachi and the tribal district, Alamgir said.

He denied, however, that Naqeebullah or any other members had associated with Pakistan Taliban members, beyond what was necessary for survival.

Frankly, the governments writ had fallen there [in 2007], and the Taliban were in power, he said. We would go to them for justice or to settle disputes. It would be a lie for me to say that we did not do it [but] he never associated with them for any kind of militant activity.

Naqeebullah would have been 18 when the government re-established control over South Waziristan in a military operation in 2009.

Rights groups demand investigation

Rights groups have called for an independent investigation, rejecting the governments appointment on Thursday of a three-member police inquiry team to investigate the charges.

Their own force is responsible for this, so how can they investigate it freely? said Mehdi Hasan, the chairperson of the HRCP. It needs to be done by an independent body.

We have never seen investigations like this show wrongdoing on the part of the police.

According to a 2016 Human Rights Watch report, there were more than 2,000 encounter killings across Pakistan in 2015, with the practice considered to be routine.

Several police officers who spoke to Human Rights Watch openly admitted to the practice of false or faked encounter killings, in which police stage an armed exchange to kill an individual already in custody, the report said.

Have asked @siyal_anwar to conduct an inquiry into this case. https://t.co/8v26Mz5IlZ  BilawalBhuttoZardari (@BBhuttoZardari) January 18, 2018

On Thursday, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the chairperson of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), which controls the provincial government for Sindh, of which Karachi is the capital, called for an investigation into the killing.

Family members, however, are demanding more be done.

This is just one man, he has been killed, said Alamgir, Naqeebullahs cousin. But who knows how many other Naqeebs there are out there? If someone has committed a crime, there are laws, take him to court, prove the cases and then give him the punishment. No one will stop you.

But this is not the way.

Here are some of the ways people reacted on social media:

Politician Imran Khan called the killing utterly condemnable.

Punjab police's brutal "encounters" are well documented. Sindh's highly politicised police is no better. Today SP (Rao Anwar) killed a boy named Naqeeb ullah Mehsud in Karachi. He had been picked by police on 7 Jan & today he was killed in an "encounter". Utterly condemnable  Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) January 18, 2018

Mohsin Dawar questioned why the authorities did not move against Naqeebullah earlier if they had considered him a terrorist.

Just a question from Rao Anwar. If Naqeeb Mehsud was a terrorist than why did Pak Army issued him a Watan Card which is only issued to those IDPs who has no connection with terrorists in the Army Record ?  Mohsin Dawar (@mjdawar) January 18, 2018

Aliya Kareem shared a video showing Naqeebullah enjoying a dance with a friend.

https://twitter.com/DrAliya7/status/954065504825675776?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Abdul Majeed Khan, who tweets at @koolkopper, said Naqeebullah looks to be a normal young man. His merciless killing needs to be probed.

Naqeeb Mehsud an alleged terrorist who was killed by Karachi Police in a staged encounter doesnt look to be terrorist by an any standard.A terrorist doesnt post pictures of his kids & friends on media. He looks to be a normal young man. His merciless killing needs to be probed.  Abdul Majeed Khan Marwat (@koolkopper) January 18, 2018

Bilal Farooqi, a journalist, said the killing demonstrated how Pashtuns are randomly killed by corrupt cops.

This innocent young man, Naqeebullah Mehsud, fond of taking selfies, was abducted in Sohrab Goth Karachi & killed by LEAs in a fake encounter. Pakhtuns r randomly picked up there & killed by corrupt cops like SSP Rao Anwaar who claim they've killed Taliban #JusticeForNaqeebMehsud pic.twitter.com/u2t2Q83bP3  Bilal Farooqi (@bilalfqi) January 18, 2018

Follow Asad Hashim on Twitter: @AsadHashim
Al Jazeera obtains tape in which Sheikh Abdullah accuses Saudi and UAE of plotting to take Qatars wealth by force.

A member of the Qatari royal family, who was allegedly held against his will in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), has accused Saudi Arabia and the UAE of orchestrating a months-long Gulf crisis in order to seize Qatars wealth, and threatened to commit suicide.

Sheikh Abdullah bin Ali Al Thani was previously portrayed by Saudi Arabia and the UAE as an alternative to the Qatari leadership amid the major diplomatic dispute.

In an audio recording from January 15 obtained by Al Jazeera, Sheikh Abdullah said the rift was triggered by the Saudi and Emirati crown princes, whom he accused of plotting to take Qatars wealth by force.

The Gulf crisis is based on interests and the desire of both Mohammed bin Zayed and Mohammed bin Salman to usurp the wealth and riches of Qatar, the sheikh said, referring to the Abu Dhabi and Saudi crown princes respectively.

I urge my fellow Qataris to defend your position, he added, warning his countrymen that the two crown princes may blind you with money to destroy your own country.

He went on to blame Mohammed bin Zayed for the pressures on me, my confinement, and inability to return home (Qatar) or join my family, namely my two daughters, and added: I have decided to end my life with the aim of preventing any harm to others.

Majed al-Ansari, a professor at Qatar University, told Al Jazeera that the recording came as no surprise.

We know that [Sheikh Abdullah] has been pressured in the past couple of months, he said. He hasnt been as visible as he was in the beginning of the crisis, which tells us basically that he wasnt cooperating with his captors.

Theres nobody better situated than Sheikh Abdullah to talk about what Mohammed bin Zayed and Mohammed bin Salman really want as he was their partner during this crisis, added Ansari.

He was in on everything; he was part of attempts against Qatar through this design to be the replacement of the Emir [Sheikh Tamim]. But it was clear that there was only so much that he could do when it comes to bad things he could say about Qatar.

Prisoner in the UAE

On January 14, Sheikh Abdullah had released a video statement, saying he was a prisoner in the UAE, and that if anything happened to him, Sheikh Mohammed is responsible.

While he did not specify, Sheikh Abdullah appeared to be referring to Abu Dhabis crown prince.

Abu Dhabi denied detaining Sheikh Abdullah.

On Wednesday, he flew to Kuwait where he was transferred to a hospital shortly after his arrival in a wheelchair.

A day earlier, Abdullahs brother, Sheikh Khalid, told Al Jazeera that his siblings health had deteriorated due to exhaustion and pressure he was exposed to under Emirati authorities.

Sheikh Khalid had added that his brother was in stable condition and should be leaving the hospital soon.

After Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt imposed a land, sea and air blockade on Qatar in June, Sheikh Abdullah appeared frequently on Saudi and UAE television programmes expressing his views in support of the measures against Doha.

Sheikh Abdullah was residing in Saudi Arabia since the blockade began.

The Saudi-led group of countries accuse Qatar of supporting terrorism, an allegation Doha strongly denies.
Lebanese army says 10 people crossing from Syria into Lebanon died after after snowstorm hit border area.

The bodies of nine Syrian refugees who crossed into Lebanon were found frozen in a mountainous area near the border with Syria, according to the Lebanese army.

The military said in a statement that the bodies were discovered on a people-smuggling route in the early hours of Friday after a snowstorm hit the Masnaa area, where Lebanons largest official border crossing with Syria is located.

The army saved six other displaced Syrians, one of whom died later in a hospital from frostbite, the statement added, raising the death toll to 10.

The bodies were taken to the hospitals in the area, and the army continues to search for other displaced people trapped in the snow, in order to evacuate them and provide medical treatment for them.

10 bodies of Syrians were found near the Lebanon-Syria border crossing in Masna'a. 5 refugees were found alive. It appears they died while trying to cross into Lebanon. All countries bordering on Syria have locked their borders to refugees. https://t.co/I7mlmDaSJe via @chehayebk pic.twitter.com/58xxSGYtlE  Elizabeth Tsurkov (@Elizrael) January 19, 2018

The identities of the Syrian refugees were not immediately known. According to some reports, at least one child was found among the bodies.

Two other Syrian nationals were arrested and charged with people-smuggling, the army added.

We are deprived of everything

Temperatures dropped on Friday as winter storms battered the Lebanon-Syria border, making the lives of the more than 357,000 Syrian refugees living in makeshift tents in the Bekaa Valley, some 60km north of Masnaa, even more difficult.

Reporting from the region, Al Jazeeras correspondent Zeina Khodr said that Syrian refugees face many challenges during the winter months.

They live in tents that are made out of plastic sheeting, which does little to protect them from the cold and the rain, she said.

Hammadi Chelbi, a Syrian refugee who has been living in Bekaa Valley after he fled the Syrian conflict in its first year, told Al Jazeera that he and his family are living in misery.

We have nothing but pain, sickness and suffering, he said. We are deprived of everything.

There are one million registered Syrian refugees in Lebanon, although government officials estimate that the number is closer to 1.5 million.

The UNs refugee agency (UNHCR) says it is not getting the money it needs to help Syrian refugees in Lebanon through another harsh winter.

Last year, it requested $228m but received less than 60 percent of that, prompting it to warn that life in the camps was getting worse.
Turkish official tells Al Jazeera Russia is moving forces away from likely conflict areas ahead of planned operation.

Russia has started moving military observers away from an area in northwestern Syria where Turkey is planning an offensive against Kurdish fighters, a Turkish official told Al Jazeera.

Moving the observers comes as Turkeys defence minister on Friday said his country would go ahead with the offensive in the enclave of Afrin, saying Syrian Kurdish fighters there pose a real threat to his country.

Ahmet Berat Conkar, a ruling party MP and head of the Turkish delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, said: Russia is taking steps to move its forces in Afrin away from the areas where there might be clashes [during Turkeys operation].

Earlier this week, the Turkish government announced the offensive into Kurdish-held areas in northern Syria, starting with Afrin, after reports that the US plans to create a 30,000-strong border army predominantly made up of Kurdish militias.

Ankara considers the Syrian Kurdish fighters terrorists.

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Conkars remarks came after Turkish army chief Hulusi Akar met his Russian counterpart Valery Gerasimov and other military and intelligence officials in Moscow on Thursday in a gathering to discuss the looming operation.

I believe, after the meeting between top military and intelligence officials, the gap between the views of the two sides over Turkeys operation diminished, and the sides have come to a common perspective, Conkar told Al Jazeera, adding that he did not expect Moscow to oppose to Turkey in Afrin.

On Thursday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told a local media channel that Ankara was in contact with Russia and Iran to coordinate the planned operation over the use of airspace and to ensure the safety of Russian observers.

US warnings

Media reports published earlier this week said that the US-led coalition in northern Syria would recruit around half of the new force from the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), an umbrella group of fighters dominated by the Kurdish Peoples Protection Units (YPG).

Turkey considers the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) and its armed wing, the YPG, terrorist groups with ties to the banned Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has waged a decades-long fight inside the country.

However, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Wednesday that Washington owed Turkey an explanation over reports of the border force plans, adding that the issue has been misportrayed.

That entire situation has been misportrayed, misdescribed, some people misspoke. We are not creating a border security force at all, he said, adding: This is just more training and trying to block ISIS from their escape routes.

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US State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert on Thursday urged Turkey not to take any action in northern Syria.

We would call [] on the Turks to not take any actions of that sort  We dont want them to engage in violence, but we want them to keep focused on ISIS, she said.

However, Turkish MP Conkar told Al Jazeera that no other countrys view could change Turkeys decision to conduct the operation in Afrin.

Other countries views can only change the technical details and the strategy of the operation, he added.

Conker also said that his countrys cooperation with Russia in Syria was improving.

Our cooperation with Russia in the region is far more functional than our NATO ally the US. Russia understands the sensitivities of Turkey, whereas Washington supports and delivers weapons to the terrorist group PYD/YPG, he told Al Jazeera.

Russia respects Turkeys request not to have this group at the negotiation table in the Astana process.

The Astana talks aim at finding a solution to the Syrian conflict and are organised by Russia and Iran, who support Syrian President Bashar al-Assads regime, and Turkey, which backs the moderate opposition.

Ankara reinforcing border

US President Donald Trump decided to arm YPG fighters despite Turkeys objections and a direct appeal from Erdogan at a White House meeting in May 2017.

US arms shipments began before the launch of a months-long offensive to remove ISIL from the Syrian city of Raqqa. The YPG played a prominent role in the eventual defeat of the group later in 2017.

Tensions between the US and Turkey remain high, despite Trump saying last November that Washington would no longer supply weapons to the YPG.

Ankara has been reinforcing its southern border by sending armoured vehicles, tanks, and heavy machine guns, according to local media.

Syria and Russia made statements in line with Turkey earlier in the week, opposing the reported US plans to establish a border force in the north of Syria.

In 2016, Turkey began a military campaign called the Euphrates Shield Operation, which targeted ISIL and the YPG. That eight-month battle officially ended in March 2017.

Follow Umut Uras on Twitter: @Um_Uras
Two more civilians killed as shelling from both sides continues in RS Pura sector in Jammu region.

Srinagar, Indian-administered Kashmir  Two civilians and an Indian soldier were killed and twenty more wounded in the latest ceasefire violations in the border villages of Jammu region in Indian-administered Kashmir, officials said.

State police Chief Shesh Paul Vaid told Al Jazeera that the two civilians, including a 52-year-old woman, were killed in fresh shelling by Pakistani side in RS Pura sector in Jammu region on Friday morning.

One Border Security Force (BSF) trooper has also been killed in the shelling which continues since night, Vaid said, adding that twenty civilians were also wounded.

On Thursday, an Indian soldier and a 17-year-old girl were killed in RS Pura and Arnia sectors of Jammu region, officials said, taking the death toll to five in twenty-four hours from the Indian-side.

Despite a 2003 ceasefire, India and Pakistan regularly trade fire across the so-called Line of Control (LoC), the military demarcation between the Indian and Pakistani controlled parts of Jammu and Kashmir.

India regularly accuses Pakistan of aiding fighters in crossing the LoC to attack Indian targets. Pakistani has been denying the charges.

Since Friday morning, the soldiers of two countries traded heavy gunfire in RS Pura and Ramgarh sectors along the border, officials said, amid the growing tensions between the two neighbours.

The heavy shelling started from Pakistani side at night, one official told Aljazeera.

An official said that Pakistani troopers violated ceasefire by resorting to indiscriminate firing at Indian positions in several sectors of the border. The fresh tension on the border has caused further turbulence in the relations between India and Pakistan.

This is the third exchange of fire between the two countries in this sector in past three days, officials said.

The Jammu and Kashmir police in a statement said that Indian forces are retaliating to the firing from Pakistan.

Following the latest shelling, the officials said that the schools in the area were closed.

The latest exchange of fire started after Pakistan accused Indian forces of killing four of their soldiers near the de facto border.

Despite a 2003 ceasefire, India and Pakistan regularly trade fire across the so-called Line of Control (LoC), the military demarcation between the Indian and Pakistani controlled parts of Jammu and Kashmir.

India regularly accuses Pakistan of aiding fighters in crossing the LoC to attack Indian targets. Pakistan has denied the charges.

The hostilities increased between India and Pakistan since December last year after both accused each other of killing soldiers on either side.

In September 2016, India claimed to have launched surgical strikes on bases used by armed groups in Pakistan-administered Kashmir to fight Indian security forces. Pakistan denied any Indian soldiers were ever on Pakistan-administered soil.

Since independence in 1947, the two nuclear-armed neighbours have fought two of their three wars over Kashmir, which both countries claim in full.

The LoC has remained volatile in the last year. According to official figures, 860 incidents of ceasefire violations by Pakistani troops were reported in 2017, compared with 221 the year before.

Anti-India sentiment runs deep among Kashmirs mostly Muslim population, and most support the rebels cause against Indian rule, despite a decades-long military crackdown to fight dissent.

Rebel groups have been fighting since 1989 for the Indian-administered portion to become independent or merge with Pakistan.

Nearly 70,000 people have been killed in the uprising and the ensuing Indian military crackdown. India maintains roughly 500,000 soldiers in the territory.
More than 250,000 children in war-torn South Sudan could die by July because of starvation, an UN official has warned.

More than 250,000 children in war-torn South Sudan are at risk of imminent death because of severe malnutrition, a United Nations official has said.

Henrietta H Fore, executive director of the UN childrens agency (UNICEF), issued the stark warning on Friday after a two-day visit to some of the areas most affected by the countrys civil war, now in its fifth year.

Its serious here in South Sudan, she told Al Jazeera from South Sudans capital, Juba.

We are very worried that a quarter of a million children are going to be facing death this year before July.

The war, which broke out in 2013 after President Salva Kiir accused his former deputy Riek Machar of plotting a coup, has devastated agricultural production in the East African country, she said

The violence has meant that many of the farmers have run away from their fields, said Fore. They are afraid to farm, and as a result there is just no food in the markets.

Calling for emergency action to boost food security, Fore said South Sudan was now heading into the dry season, which means theres just less food, less water to be found.

The acute and severe malnutrition is growing stronger, she said.

The conflict, which has resulted in the death of tens of thousands and the displacement of a quarter of the countrys 12 million population, has also affected more than half of its child population, UNICEF said.

Some 2.4 million children have been forced to flee their homes since the war broke out. More than 2,300 children have been killed, and 19,000 have been recruited into armed groups.

The agency also said it has documented more than 1,200 cases of sexual violence against children.

More than 70 percent of children are not getting an education because at least one in three schools have been damaged or closed, it added.

Despite the catastrophic humanitarian crisis, aid agencies say the delivery of relief services has been complicated by attacks on humanitarian workers  28 officials were killed last year alone.

In December, South Sudans warring sides signed a ceasefire deal in Ethiopias capital Addis Ababa, and agreed to allow humanitarian aid to get to civilians caught up in the fighting.

But the truce has been repeatedly violated, with both sides blaming each other for the breaches.
Is Trumps foreign policy on Israel, Iran and the GCC all that different from previous administrations?

Just over a year ago, the US government earned the wrath of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after it ignored his demand to veto a UN Security Council resolution condemning Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian land.

Netanyahu summoned the US ambassador in response to the December 2016 vote and made little attempt to disguise his ire at then-President Barack Obama, whose administration he accused of helping the resolution pass.

However, the anger at the US was shortlived, and within a month there was a new president at the helm of the White House; one styled as the most pro-Israelpresident ever.





Under President Donald Trump, the US has announced that it will recognise Jerusalem as Israels capital and obliged Israeli demands to cut funding to UNRWA, the UN development body tasked with helping Palestinian refugees.

However, its not just in Israel and Palestine that Trumps presidency has had an effect, ostensibly at least.

The US president has refused to certify that Iran is abiding by its requirements under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA); the landmark deal between Tehran and world powers, under which Iran agreed to limit its nuclear energy programme in return for sanctions relief. He has, however, waived Iran nuclear sanctions for the last time, keeping the deal in place, at least for now.

Also, when an Arab quartet consisting of Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, and Egypt, broke of diplomatic ties with Qatar, Trump initially tweeted his approval, though he later softened his stance, calling on the countries to resolve their differences diplomatically.

While some experts have suggested Trumps foreign policy is responsible for destabilising the region, analysts Al Jazeera spoke to said the roots of these three diplomatic crises go far deeper.

Jerusalem: Trumps position is not new

Trump was, for example, widely condemned for his decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israels capital and has angered allies with his threats to the Iran nuclear deal, but the extent to which his policies are not in keeping with traditional US foreign policy is up for debate.

Nadia Naser-Najjab, a research fellow in Palestine Studies at the University of Exeter, told Al Jazeera that the main change in US foreign policy on the Palestinian issue since Trump took power was simply bolder language and different wording. His actions, she said, were in keeping with longheld US policy.

I think the problem is that we tend not to look at history...Trump's position is not new, and it is in line with all American presidents Nadia Naser-Najjab, University of Exerter

Trumps policies are not new and they are not an anomaly for the US, Naser-Najjab explained, pointing out that US presidents had backed Israel since its inception.

Since the Second World War, if you look at the quotes by [US President Harry] Truman, you will see a total bias for the Zionist movement.

I think the problem is that we tend not to look at history  Trumps position is not new, and it is in line with all American presidents.

According to Naser-Najjab, this tradition was upheld by Trumps predecessor Obama, and was evident in his opposition to attempts by the Palestinian to secure UN membership in 2011.

The recognistion of Jerusalem and the cuts to UNRWA did not happen under Obama, but they were a long time coming, she argued.

GCC: US establishment restrained Saudi approach

Beyond Palestine and Israel, Trump has also been a participant in the ongoing GCC crisis, which started almost immediately after his visit to Saudi Arabia in May 2017.

Trumps initial support of Riyadh and his condemnation of Qatar put him at odds with both his most senior diplomats and military commanders.

Within days of Trump tweeting out support for the move, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson called on Saudi Arabia and its allies to ease the blockade on Qatar.

The US military also stated that it had no plans to change its posture on Qatar and praised the state for its enduring commitment to regional security.

Qatar is a key US ally and hosts the US Central Command and 10,000 US troops at Al-Udeid airbase.

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After a shift in tone, Trump reversed his previous criticism and praised Qatar for its role in fighting terrorism and extremism.

Joe Macaron, a policy analyst at the Arab Center Washington, DC, explained that Trumps initial support for the Saudis had been tempered by those around him.

It is true that Trump might have insinuated that the US could turn a blind eye to such an assertive foreign policy, however, developments in the past year showed us that the establishment in Washington has successfully restrained the Saudi approach, he said.

In any case, Macaron argued that Saudi Arabias emboldened foreign posture, which accompanied leadership changes in January 2015, worked with little regard for US objections.

The first two major crises Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was involved in; the war against the Houthis [in Yemen] and severing ties with Tehran, were a reaction to President Obamas decision to sign the nuclear deal with Iran.

Once Trump came to power and signalled Iran as a foe, Mohammed Bin Salman shifted focus to consolidating power at home, which led to the embargo against Qatar and [Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariris] mysterious resignation.

Iran nuclear deal: S trong degree of continuity

While the Saudis may have welcomed Trumps ascent to the presidency, for Iranians, his presidency represents a continuation of Obama-era policy, according to the University of Tehrans Professor Mohammad Marandi.





Trump has repeatedly railed against the deal, describing it as the worst deal ever despite objections from his European allies.

Iran and and world powers, including the US, signed the JCPOA in 2015 after years of diplomatic wrangling between western and Iranian diplomats.

The eventual agreement, saw Iran reduce the number of centrifuges that were capable of enriching Uranium to the levels required to produce a nuclear weapon.

In exchange, some US sanctions were lifted and frozen Iranian funds were released.

The deal was widely seen as one of Obamas most significant diplomatic achievements but tensions between Tehran and Washington remained tense.

In October, Trump refused to recertify that Iran was in compliance with the agreement. The move put the onus on Congress to restore sanctions and dismantle the deal, but that did not happen. Most recently, Trump again waived Iran nuclear sanctions, vowing it would be the last time he would do so unless changes are made to the agreement.

Marandi said that Trumps threat to scrap or renegotiate the deal are nothing new, and that the US had not honoured the deal under Obama.

There is a strong degree of continuity, because Trump, like Obama, violated the JCPOA repeatedly, he said referring to sanctions imposed by the Obama administration over Irans ballistic missile programme after the nuclear deal was signed.

Where Trumps threat over the nuclear deal has had an effect is on Irans future readiness to discuss other isues with the US.

According to Marandi, a US failure to abide by the conditions set out in the JCPOA, would confirm Iranian suspicions that the US could never be relied upon to respect a deal.

Until this agreement is fully implemented, there is no way whatsoever that the Iranians are going to negotiate with the Americans over anything else.

This is a litmus test for Iran  the very fact that the US has violated the current agreement, so repeatedly, under both administrations, shows that if the Iranians appeased the Americans and went for further talks, they would simply behave in the same way in the future.
A UF student and fraternity brother was arrested for setting off a fire extinguisher in the Sigma Nu Fraternity house early Thursday morning, University Police said.

Sunil Kumar Ghosal, 19, was playing with a fire extinguisher on the second floor of the fraternity house, witnesses told police, according to an arrest report. Ghosal used the fire extinguisher twice and left.

When the buildings fire alarm went off, residents evacuated the house and waited outside until police arrived, according to the report. Gainesville Fire Rescue made sure there was no fire in the house and then silenced the alarm, police said.

Two residents who witnessed Ghosal use the fire extinguisher twice agreed to take an officer to where Ghosal lived, according to the report.

After his arrest, Ghosal told officers he did spray the fire extinguisher twice in the house, and he said he was just messing around, police said.

Ghosal is currently a UF industrial and systems engineering junior, university spokesperson John Hines wrote in an email.

Ghosal was charged with hindering firefighting equipment and taken to the Alachua County Jail. He was released on his own recognizance just before noon Thursday.

He could not be reached for comment.

Contact Robert Lewis at rlewis@alligator.org. Follow him on Twitter at @Lewis__Robert.

Sunil Kumar Ghosal

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A former Pennsylvania congressman came to UF Wednesday to discuss how extreme political polarization harms the country.

About 70 people came to Pugh Hall Ocora at 6 p.m. to see Jason Altmire, a democratic congressman who served from 2007 to 2013. The Bob Graham Center for Public Service hosted the event to promote the former congressmans new book, Dead Center: How Political Polarization Divided America and What We Can Do About It, said Kevin Baron, the civic engagement coordinator at the Graham Center.

His experience as a former member of Congress makes him a great person to bring in for the Graham Center when we talk about public service, Baron said.

Altmire discussed what it was like working in Congress as a centrist and proposed potential solutions to the hyperpartisan climate in politics, such as reforming the primary system.

We need to elect representatives of the whole rather than the extremes, he said.

Participants during the Q&A asked questions about how Altmire was able to retain a centrist position in Congress and about millennials role in politics.

Lindsey Cazessus, a 21-year-old economics and statistics junior, said she thought the talk made students think about the changes they want to see in politics.

I think its important to have independent or more centrist voices to represent the portion of young people who dont necessarily identify with the extremes on either side, Cazessus said.

Jason Altmire, a former Pennsylvania congressman, spoke at UF about political polarization on Thursday evening.

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When Andrea Ruiz left her hometown of Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, she expected to return in about a month.

Three months later, Ruiz and her family are still in Miami. Ruiz moved to Florida on Oct. 10, a month after Hurricane Maria left her hometown, and much of Puerto Rico, without power.

Ruiz misses home, but she knows shes one of the lucky ones. She still worries about the future of Puerto Ricos schools, especially the neglected public schools.

Everything was destroyed, and it was such a big catastrophe, the 16-year-old said. Yeah, I had a chance to come here and be better off, but just leaving my island so destroyed. Its hard to see whats happening to everyone.

Ruiz is one of 10,324 Puerto Rican students who came to Florida due to power outages in their schools and neighborhoods.

A report issued in December by the Center for Puerto Rican Studies at Hunter College in New York estimates nearly a 5 percent increase in the number of Puerto Rican students enrolled in Florida schools since Hurricane Maria hit in September.

It was quite hard leaving everything so sudden, Ruiz said. You dont expect that change.

Ruiz came to Florida expecting to attend a local public school, but was denied by two schools in Miami-Dade County. The first school, Ronald W. Reagan High School, gave her a uniform and offered her a spot, only for the principal to turn her away on the first day because the school was overbooked. After a two week search, Ruiz enrolled in St. Brendan High School, a private Catholic school in Miami.

For us, it was quite hard to enter a school because they would tell us every time, No you cant be here, no you cant be here, Ruiz said. They say its gonna be easy and you come here thinking that public schools have to accept us no matter what, but it wasnt like that.

***

Edwin Melendez, the director of Hunter Colleges Center for Puerto Rican Studies, said the education report works to provide a reliable indicator of how many Puerto Rican families might stay permanently in Florida as their children attend school.

The report, which uses data collected from the Florida Governors office and school district surveys, looks at student enrollment data because families who enroll their children in school are more likely to remain in the state, he said.

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Some of the figures that are floating around, especially from the governors office, say that more than 200,000 Puerto Ricans have arrived to Florida, he said. The problem is that we really dont know how many of them are going to stay.

Florida schools did not anticipate the influx of more than 10,000 students in about three months, Melendez said. Certified bilingual teachers are scarce, and high school juniors and seniors need special academic counseling to meet Floridas strict graduation requirements.

Meanwhile, Puerto Rican schools continue to close as a result of low enrollment. Severe damage further strained Puerto Ricos education system, disproportionately affecting rural communities, Melendez said.

The report focused on K-12 students, so the number of Puerto Rican high school graduates moving to attend Florida colleges is unclear, Melendez said.

Alachua County Public Schools received 76 students from Puerto Rico and eight students from the U.S. Virgin Islands since Hurricane Maria made landfall, according to ACPS spokeswoman Jackie Johnson. More students from hurricane-battered areas are still expected to come.

***

Lymaries Velez, a second-year UF medical student, gets emotional thinking about her family in Puerto Rico.

The 22-year-old shed a tear during a Latino Medical Student Association panel in October while a UF doctor discussed her struggles moving to the U.S. from Peru.

Velez said the discussion hit close to home because her aunt, Yari Lugo, and 10-year-old cousin, Sofia, would have the same experience when they moved from Puerto Rico in the coming weeks.

I know a lot of people who have come here and struggled to get to where they are, but Ive never seen it from the beginning, and I was about to see it from my aunts point of view, she said.

Velezs aunt, Lugo, worked as a nail technician for more than 20 years and is now a janitor working toward a new nail certificate. She lost her job in Barceloneta, a suburban area in northern Puerto Rico, after her salon lost power.

Unable to secure a job in Puerto Rico, Lugo moved to Lakeland, Florida, in late October to live with Velez family. She enrolled Sofia in an elementary school where she takes ESOL, or English for speakers of other languages, classes.

Although Sofia is coping well in school, she is sometimes frustrated by the language barrier, Velez said.

Its a family effort because my parents were done raising me, and now they all of a sudden have to teach my cousin English, she said.

After talking to two of the panel members, Dr. Victoria Bird and Dr. Giuliano De Portu, Velez decided to start the Puerto Rico Relief Initiative to collect supplies and raise money for those still on the island.

Along with Bird and De Portu, Velez works on the relief initiative with UF College of Medicines Dr. Maria Velazquez and Dr. David Hernandez Gonzalo. The group hopes to become an official nonprofit.

The initiative hosted a donation drive called Stand With Puerto Rico in December to collect hygiene products, mosquito repellant and first aid kits, Velez said.

Four Puerto Rican students from the San Juan Bautista School of Medicine were able to study at UF Health Shands for about two months until their college and local hospital recovered from hurricane damage, Velez said. Two of the students spoke at the event.

As her family adjusts to life in Florida, Velez said she wishes for the public to remember Puerto Rico even as media coverage declines.

Its a lot worse than it ever seemed, and it continues even if you dont hear about it, Velez said.

Contact Amanda Rosa at arosa@alligator.org. Follow her on Twitter at @AmandaNicRosa.

A girl stares out the window of an Alachua County school bus on West University Avenue.
Some days, Fiona Murphy goes out of her way to avoid Turlington Plaza.

When political protesters and religious speakers set up shop in the center of campus, the UF sustainability studies senior would rather take the long way than listen to the noise.

If youre just trying to walk to class and you have people with opposing views from you, its just kind of distracting, the 21-year-old said.

If a new Florida Senate bill passes, Murphy may have a harder time avoiding free speech zones on campus.

The Campus Free Expression Act, would prevent public institutions of higher education, like UF, from restricting free speech to certain areas of campus, known as free speech zones. Under this bill, which was introduced Jan. 11, free speech would be permitted in all outdoor areas of campus, as long as it doesnt disrupt school operations.

Students, faculty or staff who disrupt free speech activities could be fined up to $100,000. Frank LoMonte, director of the Brechner Center for Freedom of Information, said there will be debate over what disrupting means.

Cristian Dionisi, 19, a UF mathematics sophomore, said he fully supports the aspect of the bill that would forbid students, faculty and staff from disrupting another persons speech. He said he feels many speakers on Turlington Plaza are currently heckled by students to the point that it infringes on their free speech.

I strongly support the different perspectives, and whether we agree or disagree with them, I think its important for us to listen to them, he said.

LoMonte said the bill likely wouldnt cause dramatic changes at UF since free speech is already permitted in the most centralized spots of campus like Turlington Plaza and the Plaza of the Americas.

I dont see a big problem today where people are being forced into remote little corners of the campus to give their speeches, he said. Thats where the policies are really the problem.

Contact Jessica Giles at jgiles@alligator.org. Follow her on Twitter at @jessica_giles_.

Junior Lofton, a Christian preacher, talks to a group of pro-Israeli protesters and students. Lofton, 73, has been preaching to students for 32 years as of April 2014 and typically visits Turlington Plaza three days a week.

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You remain snuggled up in your bed as your phone alarm blares next to you. This is the third time youve hit the snooze button this morning, but, to be frank, youd rather die than brace the frigid 23-degree weather waiting for you outside.

By the time you finally muster the courage and energy to get out of bed, cover yourself in several layers of clothing and run out the door, youve already missed your usual bus. Ten minutes later, you hop on the next available bus, fully aware you will be stumbling into class several minutes late.

As you sprint off the bus, trying to minimize your time in the cold, something falls out of your backpack, but youre too frazzled and cold to look back at what it was.

Once you sit down in class, you finally realize what it was: your glasses. After several minutes of intense squinting to see what is written on the board when you walk into class, you decide to move up to the front row. Now, with a full view of the projected words, you see they read 

Darts & Laurels

This past week was an eventful one in the world of UF Student Government. We were both saddened and frustrated by SGs rejection of the proposal to use student fees for free tampons and pads on campus. After 20 minutes of deliberation, the Student Government Budget and Appropriations Committee unanimously voted against the code revision. Its argument for rejecting the proposal? The funding would benefit only the female portion of the Student Body. For this, we give the SG Budget and Appropriations Committee a dart for thinking that just because it doesnt benefit those with male anatomy means its not worth funding.

On a more positive note, we want to award a laurel to the courageous and principled UF Student Body Treasurer Revel Lubin. After he ran for the executive ticket last year with the Impact Party, he quickly noticed the tendency the party has to tokenize minority students. In a letter sent to the Alligator earlier this week, he said minority students, including himself, were marginalized and often were given positions to fill quotas and allow for the use of buzzwords like diversity.

This week, Lubin took a stand against the way minority students are treated within Impact. He revealed what many believed about SG  that it can often be an organization obsessed with appearing diverse than actually being diverse. He also announced he will switch to Inspire Party. We would like to commend Lubin for using his platform to make a real difference and stand up against things he does not believe to be just.

When a state employee in Hawaii mistakenly sent out a false alert, warning Hawaiians of a ballistic missile attack, residents were faced with pure terror for more than 30 minutes until the issue was resolved. We understand everyone makes mistakes, but one of this magnitude should surely not be happening in our government. While we sympathize with Hawaiians who had to live through this terror, we give a dart to that one employee because of the lack of carefulness. We can only hope the workers actions encourage others to use more caution in their positions.

At the state level, many Florida students got great news from the Florida Senate. This week, the Florida Senate unanimously passed a bill that would permanently expand the Bright Futures Scholarships Program for the top two tiers of scholars and require all state universities to adopt a block tuition system. Although the bill still awaits consideration from the Florida House, we are hesitant to consider it a completely good thing. We give a laurel to legislators for expanding Bright Futures, but a dart for trying to bring block tuition to all state universities.

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So let me explain, as an attorney who worked for Judicial Watch under Larry Klayman and has more recently performed legal work for Klayman at Freedom Watch. The elites in Congress and the news media should know better.

During ten hours of questioning by the House Intelligence Committee, on the instructions of the Trump White House, Steve Bannon refused to testify about his work for the Trump administration and the Trump transition team. But the leaks tell us that Bannon did testify about his time working on the Trump election campaign for president.

The Washington establishment was all upset, as if this were something new or unusual. In the adrenaline-soaked, hyperventilating atmosphere of official Washington, this got everyone outraged.

Ranking Democrat Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and others demagogued the incident. As New York magazine reported: after Bannon's attorney, William Burck, conferred with White House officials, Bannon "doubled down" on his refusal to answer the committee's questions, according to Schiff.

"This was effectively a gag order by the White House preventing this witness from answering almost any question concerning his time in the transition or the administration," Schiff said. "The scope of this assertion of privilege, if that's what it is, is breathtaking. It goes well beyond anything we have seen in this investigation," Schiff continued. "If the White House is permitted to maintain that kind of gag rule on a witness, no congressional investigation could ever be effective. So this obviously can't stand."

That article also read: "Schiff wasn't the only committee member who found Bannon's legal justification appalling. Democratic [r]epresentative Jim Himes described it as a 'very novel theory of executive privilege,' on [Anderson Cooper 360]." As reported by [The Hill]: "[t]hat stance infuriated lawmakers. Sources described the meeting as a 'total free-for-all' and 'brutal.'"

But Schiff and Himes are wrong. The reason is Touhy. Or more fully, United States ex rel. Touhy v. Ragen, 340 U.S. 462 (1951), a Supreme Court case that goes back to the 1950s.

The Supreme Court's Touhy doctrine is not in itself a privilege. It is a process by which the government can preserve the status quo while questions of possible privilege or other grounds for confidentiality are considered. A government agency does have the authority under Touhy to prohibit a current or former employee or official from providing documents or testifying  even if the person wants to testify. (The legal precedents only started with Touhy itself, and this doctrine has been discussed and reasserted in federal courts for decades thereafter.)

So it is legally proper and commonplace for a government agency to put a "hold" restriction so that the agency can figure out what parts of a government employee's testimony do or do not qualify under the terms of one or even several types of privilege or confidentiality. For example, law enforcement agencies often withhold information, but only until an investigation is complete or perhaps a case goes to trial.

Steve Bannon had no authority to testify about his time at the White House once ordered not to. The White House has the right to order a current or former employee to stop until it has had time to review the situation and decide whether to invoke one or more privileges in regard to specific parts of the testimony. Anyone in the business of taking testimony from government employees, such as occurs in congressional committees, ought to know this.

In the short run, this serves as a complete block on getting a government employee to testify. Eventually, a government agency will need to review the situation and come to a decision. At that point, the agency must assert a valid privilege that meets all the requirements under the facts of the circumstance. This includes the White House, which is technically the executive office of the president.

As the Supreme Court upheld in Touhy, if government employees went around providing documents (like James Comey) or talking unrestrained (like Robert Mueller), then legitimate privileges would become worthless. By the time a government agency was to assert the privilege, it would already be too late. The horses would already have left the barn.

The only people who got this issue right are White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders and New York magazine. Sanders told reporters, "As with all congressional inquiries touching upon the White House, Congress must consult with the White House prior to obtaining confidential material. This is part of a judicially recognized process that goes back decades."

Ms. Sanders gets it. The preening, self-important members of Congress and the news media seem uninformed.

Now, there was one part of Bannon's refusal to testify on the White House's orders that is somewhat new: do claims of privilege include the time that an employee or official worked on the presidential transition team? Most people don't seem to understand that the transition team is actually "a thing"  an actual government entity. It is a government operation. People on payroll actually getting paid for the transition get a government paycheck.

So there is a question whether the White House can assert executive privilege or other privileges (like the deliberative process privilege) over activities during the transition. But again, Touhy allows any government agency to stop the proceedings until such controversies can be sorted out.
This is the notorious document that purports to detail "Republican candidate Donald Trump's activities in Russia and compromising relationship with the Kremlin."

Among the few givens in the unfolding drama of alleged Russia-Trump collusion is that former MI6 intelligence officer Christopher Steele wrote the Donald Trump-Russia dossier, alternately known as the "Steele Dossier."

The above quote is from the subhead of the document, titled "Company Intelligence Report 2016/080." Yet the same subhead hints at a disturbing pattern evident throughout the document: it appears to be written by someone whose native language is something other than English.

The phrase should read, "Republican candidate Donald Trump's activities in Russia and his compromising relationship with the Kremlin." As shall be seen, it is hard to believe that Christopher Steele actually wrote the original phrase or much of the rest of the eponymous dossier.

Christopher Steele, or "Chris Steele," as he bylined his reporting, attended Cambridge University and wrote for the student publication, Varsity. At Cambridge, he also served as president of the Cambridge Union Society, a debating club.

Contemporaries remember him as an "avowedly [l]eft-wing student with CND credentials." CND is shorthand for "Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament," a British organization that was particularly active when Steele arrived at Cambridge in the early 1980s. At the time, MI5 monitored CND for its reported communist ties.

As the British Guardian observed in an article on Steele, "Cambridge had produced some of MI6's most talented cold war officials. A few of them, it turned out  to great embarrassment  had secret second jobs with the KGB." But this is a story for another day.

The story for today is how a Cambridge journalist and debater could write a sentence like the following: "Alpha held 'kompromat' on Putin and his corrupt business activities from the 1990s whilst although not personally overly bothered by Alpha's failure to reinvest the proceeds of its TNK oil company sale into the Russian economy since, the Russian president was able to use pressure on this count from senior Kremlin colleagues as a lever on Fridman and AVEN to make them do his political bidding."

The articles we have unearthed from Steele's tenure at Varsity read like someone who knew his own language. Much of the Steele dossier reads like the sentence above: a syntactical nightmare with a near random use of punctuation.

The author of the dossier was, however, schooled in British English. The document contains distinctly English usages such as "programme," "defence," "authorised," and "manoeuvre." The use of such words as "regime," "apparatus," and "compatriot" indicates someone fluent in Cold War terminology.

That said, too many of the sentences read as though written by an individual not fully fluent in English, British or American. Here is one of several: "Trump's previous efforts had included exploring the real estate sector in St. Petersburg as well as Moscow but in the end Trump had had to settle for the use of extensive sexual services there from local prostitutes rather than business success." The very idea of linking "sexual services" and "business success" is jarring, as is the stand-alone use of "business success."

There are several basic misuses of the language that should have cautioned officials who read this document. One sentence, for instance, begins with the phrase "Speaking to a trusted compatriot." After parsing the sentence, it becomes clear that the author meant "According to a trusted compatriot." The "speaking to" misdirection makes a jumble out of the sentence.

In writing about sex, the author is particularly maladroit. He famously claims that Russian authorities had compromised Trump by catching him in his "personal obsessions and sexual perversion."

In one instance, Trump was alleged to have gotten revenge on the Obamas, "whom he hated." He did this by "defiling the bed where they had stayed on one of their official trips to Russia by employing a number of prostitutes to perform a 'golden showers' urination show." The common phrase is "golden shower," and what native English speaker would say "'golden showers' urination show"?

Another discordant pattern throughout the dossier is the absence of an article where one expects to see one. For instance, the phrase "to encourage splits and divisions in western alliance" is missing a "the" before "western alliance." The phrase "anchored upon countries' interest" should read, in context, "anchored upon the country's interest." More than once, the author misuses the possessive, as he does here.

The punctuation is bewildering throughout the dossier. As a case in point, several sentences begin with the word "however" without a following comma: "However it has not as yet been distributed abroad." In other instances, the "however" is followed by a comma: "However, there were other aspects ..." The latter is correct. On the use of commas before or after conjunctions such as "and" and 'but," there is no consistency whatsoever.

It is possible that the document had more than one author, one perhaps Russian, one most likely Steele. At one point, the reader is told that the Trump campaign leaked the DNC documents to WikiLeaks "to swing supporters of Bernie SANDERS away from Hillary CLINTON and across to TRUMP." The "summary" section straightens out the language. Now the goal is to switch voters "away from CLINTON and over to TRUMP."

There are many other little details that bug the reader. The author writes, "Things had become even 'hotter' since August on the TRUMP-RUSSIA track." Why put "hotter" in quotes? It is much too common a metaphor to demand that kind of attention.

What is most disturbing is that no one in the media appears to have reviewed the language of the dossier. Whether the primary author is Steele or a Russian associate, the dossier is a mess, both in its content and in its style.

A former KGB spy who defected to the United States, Konstantin Preobrazhenky, did not feel qualified to assess the language of the dossier. English is not his first language. As to content, however, he told us, "There is no information in the dossier whatsoever. It's just foolish speculation. There are no references. It is not an intelligence document of any kind. I was laughing when I was reading it."

One content point that reasserts itself repeatedly toward the end of the document is the notion of "Moscow's interference in the US Presidential election campaign." Another is Trump's perceived "unfitness" for office. Jammed in out of nowhere, these assertions read less like Russian intel than like Democrat talking points.

The question remains: who did the colluding? Was it the Trump campaign or the Clinton campaign? Much hinges on the authorship of this dossier. The media have an obligation to ask who else was involved in its creation. If Christopher Steele wrote it himself, Cambridge should rescind his degree.
A few years ago, one could set up a Facebook account rather easily: just provide an email. Later on, Facebook wanted phone verification. That was easily handled, and if one wanted to use a third-party phone number, to protect one's anonymity, there were ways to get around that phone requirement.

I never liked Facebook that much. I found it a rather frustratingly difficult, counter-intuitive platform  and mind you, I am someone who knows some computer coding and used to write WordPress themes for a hobby. I am used to technically obtuse platforms. However, Facebook's recent behavior haS taken it from the merely difficult to the arena of totalitarian and irrational.

After that, Facebook sometimes asked for a photograph of the account-user's face. The official explanation was that Facebook wanted to be sure that the user was really who he claimed to be. Supposedly, the picture would be analyzed by a computer or a human inspector and then erased.

Yeah, right!

Facebook apparently runs a face recognition algorithm to reduce the picture to a mathematical hash value. After processing, Facebook then can compare the hash value with other values in its records to see if the picture is a duplicate or a fraud.

That alone should set off a red flag. Now Facebook is becoming a quasi-authoritarian compiler of centralized information data.

The problem is that using pictures for facial recognition is somewhat easily defeatable. One can grab a picture off Google, change eye color and skin tone with Gimp or Photoshop, and make a few minor distortions to create an imaginary human being. A simple, almost unnoticeable blurring of an image is enough to defeat the algorithm's hash value calculations.

The Photoshopping of a bogus face may beyond the scope of most users, but it is well within the ability of most graphics artists and hackers, who could take an image and reconstruct a new human face in a matter of minutes.

Facebook was not deterred. Now it sometimes requires a picture of a government-issued photo ID, driver's license, or passport image to allow access to its platform  all in the name of security, they claim: to make sure that you are not using a false name, for example.

There are ways to defeat that ID requirement also  if it is presented to you  but the Photoshop skills required become a bit more daunting. It might take half an hour rather than five minutes. For the technically clueless, there are fake ID apps to walk you through the process.

But what about the metadata that come packaged in every picture, which might let Facebook know that the image is not a selfie, but an altered photo taken from the web? Can't Facebook detect that?

To defeat embedded identifying metadata (date of original file creation, etc.) at the beginning of a .jpg or .png file, one could simply open the picture on screen and take a snippet or screenshot, to create a brand new image with new metadata. Simply saving the altered image under another name might be sufficient. The more technically astute can use Exiftool, which is freeware, to create bogus metadata. This would take only a minute or two.

If one knows what one is doing, one can create a false identity to get a Facebook account and have it set up and authorized rather quickly. The tricks are sophomoric, but they work. The Photoshopping and metadata modifications are the technically hardest parts  and they are not that hard. If you do not know how to do them, there are YouTube video tutorials to help you.

Now Facebook is asking users who have been the victims of revenge and blackmail porn to send Facebook nude photos of themselves so Facebook can generate a hash value of the porn and erase any photos on their network having a similar value.

Facebook is testing a new method to combat revenge porn in Australia, the Australia Broadcasting Corporation reports. The strategy entails uploading your nude photos or videos to Messenger in order to help Facebook tag it as non-consensual explicit media.

The idea is that Facebook will take your nude shot, reduce it to a mathematical hash value, erase the original picture (yeah, right!), and then use that hash value to search out and erase any similar photos on its system, thus stopping revenge porn in its tracks. No longer would you be blackmailed.

But any hacker could tell you that merely blurring an image  in Gimp or Photoshop  over a small range (3-4 pixels) and then re-sharpening the image would be enough to change the mathematical hash value and would be all but imperceptible to the eye apart from a magnifying glass. Metadata can be easily changed as well. So revenge-blackmailers could easily evade detection.

I know what you're saying: who is going to go through all that trouble?

Sixteen-year-old boys! That is who! They are often simultaneously technically adept and fascinated by photos of nude women. And they would demand ransom from revenge porn, payable in bitcoin. Good luck!

Any victim, almost certainly a woman, should be warned against considering Facebook's outrageous advice. The absurdity of that request is amazing. Does anyone really think those nude shots will not make it out to the wider world?

Academia has chimed in.

Hany Farid, a professor of computer science at Dartmouth who helped develop PhotoDNA, described Facebook's pilot [concerning illegal photos] as a "terrific idea[."] "The deployment of this technology would not prevent someone from sharing images outside of the Facebook ecosystem, so we should encourage all online platforms to participate in this program, as we do with PhotoDNA," he said.

And this guy is a professor? Just one more reason to avoid the Ivy League.

The problem is that Facebook is reacting, not thinking. Early scandals forced Facebook to tighten up its controls, but the most damaging crisis came with the Facebook Intifada of 2015.

Palestinians Arabs were using Facebook accounts to "incite" violence against Jews in Israel. (Click here for video.) Facebook did not react fast enough for Israeli authorities, and so the Israel Law Center (Shurat HaDin) filed a billion-dollar lawsuit against Facebook.

The lawsuit was thrown out of court in May 2017. However, Facebook was severely chastened by the prospect of non-stop litigation.

A [U.S.] federal court in Brooklyn on Thursday dismissed both the Richard Lakin and Taylor Force civil cases against Facebook in a blow to efforts to use a new tactic of suing the social media giant for terrorism to get it to rein in Palestinian terrorists' use of its platform.

Now Facebook, which once defied the authorities, is accused of doing an about-face and doing whatever the U.S. or Israeli government wants.

It seems that the Israelis may have lost the lawsuit but made their point. By November 2017, Facebook started requiring selfies as a form of identification.

I am glad that Jewish lives are being saved but simultaneously horrified at Facebook's totalitarian collection of personal information  particularly the request for nude pics.

The only ones reined in by this will be amateurs. The truly competent  which will be top-heavy with 16-year-old boys  will hardly skip a beat. These will be familiar with Photoshop, ExifTool, and...oh, yeah...proxies.

In the meantime, most of you should avoid Facebook unless you are up to creating a false or modified identity. Facebook does not need that all that personal information.

There will be an ethical consideration. Facebook's TOS (terms of service) require one to provide real information and open only one account. However, what Facebook does with the information is unconscionable.

If one wants a web presence  if one is a blogger or is a writer or owns a business  Facebook can be a major asset for building an audience. However, should one consider using a nom de plume instead of a real name to set up the account? That is the question. I think anyone would be insane to give Facebook real information or pictures.

There are manifold ways to defeat Facebook's TOS. One can hire a 16-year-old boy or watch some YouTube tutorials. In the end, whether it is more immoral to lie to Facebook or to give in to Facebook's outrageous requests will be your decision. Of course, one could forgo Facebook altogether, but that may not be much of an option to online businesses, where it has become somewhat of a necessity in some areas.

I cannot recommend any course of action. I do not want to get sued by Shurat HaDin.

Mike Konrad is the pen name of an American who wishes he had availed himself more fully of the opportunity to learn Spanish better in high school, lo those many decades ago. He runs a website about the Arab community in South America at http://latinarabia.com and a website about small computers at http://thetinydesktop.com.
The 'Case Study' against Trump and the Threat of Nazi Psychiatry

The cry-in-their-beer plaint in Politico recently by Bandy X. Lee and Leonard L. Glass, co-editors of the anthology The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump, has a tell. It argues that the mental health professionals in their anthology, in promoting a certain view of the president's behavioral health, are not violating the ethical canons of their profession. Yet the denial doesn't link to the contested rule  or rather, it links selectively and partially, to a secondary gloss that appears to support the co-editors' position, which is that the mental health contributors to the anti-Trump anthology are righteous rebels against an unreasoning and callous bureaucracy. Hardly. The Goldwater rule  to step back  is a provision in the code of ethics of the American Psychiatric Association (APA) prohibiting member-psychiatrists from diagnosing public figures without personally examining them. It is designed to prevent psychiatrists from misusing their "science" to propagandize. If psychiatrists could throw their weight around in political battles, they could sell themselves to the highest bidder. Not to say they haven't, but the rule puts up an impediment.

That's where Lee and Glass's P.R. comes in. Psychiatrists on the faculties of Yale and Harvard, respectively, they claim that a March 2017 opinion by the APA unduly expanded the longstanding Goldwater rule. In direct contradiction to this characterization, the APA said the issued opinion "reaffirms" it. This is a basic difference. Lee and Wolff use the difference to suggest that the authors in their raucously anti-Trump anthology (27 practitioners all told) are acting consistent with their "duty to the public" and that it is management who is deviating from precedent by "gagging" them. This is uncorroborated and will probably stay so  first, because there is no such thing as a "duty to the public" (more on that below), and second, it isn't unusual for a professional organization to issue opinions like the one the APA published in March fleshing out its specific principles. If the APA wanted to alter one of its standing rules, presumably, it would have said so. It could then have ushered in an orderly transition. The notorious background of the rule's adoption bespeaks the need for special care in this area. What is this controversial history that non-specialists know little about? The rule was established in 1973, after Barry Goldwater won a defamation lawsuit against FACT magazine for an article impugning his mental state and fitness for office. The armchair diagnosis was assembled with the help of working psychiatrists, who had been sent a questionnaire about their observations of Goldwater's public conduct during his 1964 presidential run. For the story of how the media destroyed the reputation of a good man and its obvious parallels to Donald Trump, see this excellent piece in City Journal. What is important here is that the machinations of the defendant in that case, a famous, politically influential editor, were so egregious that Goldwater was able to pull off a win. Since he was a public figure held to the near impossible evidentiary standard of "actual malice," the odds were against him. So with Goldwater's victory, with egg on its face, the APA passed the rule as a prophylactic measure. It has served ever since as an antidote to those free-wheeling professionals who would as soon harm the profession as see their faces in Vanity Fair. Now a ring of mental health practitioners palpitating for the limelight are flouting the rule to do a hit job on Trump. They are arguing that Trump's erratic personality presents a special hazard justifying their disobedience, which they refuse to call disobedience because of the alleged unfairness of the "new" interpretation. A plain reading of the APA guidance is enough to show that the restraints the APA is imposing on its members are acceptable time, manner, and place speech restrictions. But even if the Goldwater rule was radically extended last March, there's a case to be made, based on research emerging decades after the Goldwater takedown, that due to psychiatry's long, ignoble and regrettable history of prostituting itself to the power classes, the original Goldwater Rule didn't go far enough. Far from hampering psychiatrists from doing their civic duty, as it is now claimed, the rule might have had with more stringent limitations to begin with. It is safe to say the recent clarification and construal by the APA provided a needed supplement. The research I just referred to is revelant to our historical moment, though it is determinedly ignored by these star psychiatrists acting as high-level apologists for the Trump impeachment movement. In the early 2000s, a slew of studies came out showing that psychiatrists were the original architects of Nazi genocide through their early philosophical and scientific support of child euthanasia and other moral abominations. Somewhat later, psychiatrists played a key role in legitimizing Nazi horrors by furnishing medical rationales. Far from being "passive enablers," as Lee and Glass trendily put it in a reference to the unclean hands of these psychiatrists, they sadistically facilitated and augmented Nazi crimes. Not so unlike the current group, they claimed that their interventions at the highest level of politics were advantageous to society. Further, since World War II, the psychiatric profession's record hardly argues for complete vindication. Its record of involvement in social engineering, collaboration with the insurance industry to medicalize normal behavior, and rabid factionalism leaves much to be desired. Internationally, mental health professionals have infamously collaborated in the pathologization of political opponents in the Soviet Union, China, and Apartheid South Africa. This spotty past underscores the importance of a robust Goldwater Rule. Yet the Politico article asks us to credit the appeal of a small group of self-promoters who, even in the view of the heads of the relevant professional associations, are using their clinical experience as an illicit weapon of political intrigue. The article asks us to accept that they are mavericks breaking free, sacrificing the approval of their betters in order to tell the truth about Donald Trump. Of course, the group frames its ethical breaches in selfless terms. What ideologue doesn't? This goes beyond psychiatrists providing cover for a political coup. It risks harm to the doctor-patient relationship. The APA and other mental health associations have repeatedly voiced concerns about this. They point out that when laypeople see mental health professionals indulging publicly in irresponsible partisanship, they are likely to have misgivings about the profession as a whole. Patients and would-be patients might doubt the scientific rigor and personal integrity of the professionals with whom they have occasion to interact. Indeed, hearing Bandy Lee and Leonard Glass culling data for their assessment of the president from the chintzy tell-all of "the journalist Michael Wolff," who could blame them? Lee and Glass get around the exposure they're creating for their more prudent colleagues by ignoring it. Instead, they prate about their duty to the public to expose the imminent threat posed by Trump's behavior to our collective safety and well-being. Thing is, as mentioned earlier, in the legal realm, no such prescribed duty to the public exists. The psychiatrists who invoke one are either flattering themselves with a noble-sounding conceit or making their martyrdom up out of whole cloth. Innkeepers have duties under the law. So do seatbelt manufacturers and an assortment of others. Shrinks who write careerist bestsellers do not. Unable to point to a tort-law basis for this "duty to question" (the exact language of this alleged duty changes with varying presentations), the article references, without citation, a prior "ethics code" that "obligates psychiatrists to 'participate in activities contributing to ... the betterment of public health.'" Okay, that's fine. The same could be said to be incumbent upon any good citizen. But this generalized expectation to work for the public good is a far cry from the Machiavellian gambit of detecting "signs" of "danger" in one's political enemies and then day-tripping to D.C. to "confidentially" share one's findings with "legislators." Notably, one of the major researchers in Nazi psychiatry asserts that it was precisely this sort of intoxicating sense of mission to direct society's fate that led psychiatrists in the Third Reich to lose sight of the welfare of individual patients and spearhead their evil schemes. No, what we have here is a disgruntled elite longing to recover a sense of its former prestige and authority. Even the title of the book, The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump, plays on the scientific term case study to paint these authors as having superior perception and judgment. But it's no use. The public has already demonstrated its loss of faith in technocrats whose intellectualist tinkering promises perfection but never succeeds in making life better for anybody but the people doing the tinkering in the first place. As psychiatrists, Lee and Glass should be able to accept the change. Okay, sure, they are upset under Trump at their loss of imputed omniscience. We get it. Still, someone ought to gently counsel them that no amount of grandiosity and magical thinking is going to restore their former glory.
'White Privilege' and the Great Stink of 1858

Among the roster of white privileges is the ability not to step in other people's poop too often in public, or to ingest it with our food and drink and pass it on to our children and friends, who could actually sicken and die from some strains of E. coli. Public sanitation as we know it today was invented in Great Britain and France shortly before 1900, with the United States quickly following suit to separate fresh water from disease-carrying offal in places like New York City, where you can still see the first sanitation plant built about a century ago. The Great London Stink of 1858 was a landmark event in public health, and the science and engineering of bio-sanitation has now doubled our average lifespan, for white folks and people of color alike. More than any medicine ever discovered, it is clean water and toilet piping that have improved human health. This is something the rest of the world knows well, but our college students (who take it for granted) still have to kiss butt for being white at Harvard and the rest.

Now that college students are kept in dark ignorance of the past, they will certainly not remember the name of Bazalgette, one of the most beneficent engineers in human history, who pioneered public sanitation in the stinky streets of London after the Big One. According to the BBC, "[a]s chief engineer to London's metropolitan board of works in the mid-19th century, Bazalgette had a significant impact both on London's appearance and, through his design of an efficient sewage system, on the health of its inhabitants. ... He saw to it that the flow of foul water from old sewers and underground rivers was intercepted, and diverted along new, low-level sewers, built behind embankments on the riverfront and taken to new treatment works." Bazalgette's engineering work was aided immensely by the scientific work of Louis Pasteur in Paris, who made one of the greatest medical breakthroughs in history: he discovered that infectious diseases are spread by certain microbes. (Viruses and prions were discovered later.) But Pasteur was a white guy, and we can forget all that. Since students of color now have to be so anti-racist that they are in fact racist against white folks, they might actually learn something here about the infectious past. In sophisticated Roman vacation spots like Pompeii, you can still walk on the double-raised sidewalk as long as you hop over the open excrement channel in the middle. In India, the Untouchables come from native Indian tribes who were kept for centuries out of the governing caste system, because their job was to collect and somehow dispose of mountains of poop that collected in cities like Calcutta. In Arabia, it is still taboo to touch someone's left hand, because that was the hand used to wipe one's bottom before toilet paper was imported from the West. It was only in Europe and America, and soon other places, where great engineering systems were constructed over the 20th century that allow college students and other snowflakes to take all that for granted. College students now being told to apologize for the color of their politically incorrect skin should celebrate the Great London Stink of 1858, because that event changed the world for the better. In the absence of white privilege, the world simply had endless Great Stink years whenever the population of Carthage or Rome pooped more than the local river system could handle. In 1858 London, either the population pooped more than usual or maybe the Thames finally got clogged. Great wooden sailing ships were infamous for collecting human and rat droppings until they could be smelled downwind. Back in 1858, whatever the cause, even hardened Londoners, who could normally tune out the effluvia of horse and human droppings, slaughterhouses, and the rest for centuries, thought the fug was becoming a trifle excessive. Even holding a perfumed silk handkerchief to your nose didn't really help. Endemic Great Stinks don't matter as much as the lessons we learn from them. Today, in much of the stinkier parts of the world, infectious diseases are still passed along from one human digestive tract to another, with the aid of insects and other small disease-carriers. The results are not good. We know that fresh water is a desperate need in many places, but we tend to forget that sanitation engineering is part of that  because you can't keep your fresh water clean without large plants that separate drinking water from body wastes, adding chlorine for swimming pools and all the rest. You've got to separate one from the other to keep people healthy. That scientific and engineering feat was accomplished by whiteys like Louis Pasteur. Donald Trump probably learned that lesson in the international hotel business, where building enormous modern hotels is useless if you don't install sanitary engineering. This is why Trump hotels are where they are. Not bad for white privilege, eh? And white engineering, like white aerodynamics and white space science, is now spreading around the world. But sanitation has to come first, or all the tenured Marxists and feminists on campus would be dead, and would be adding their own personal collection of fecal microbes to the general welfare.
What goes around comes around for the community organizer who became POTUS. Most embarrassingly, the dispute that caused an Alinsky-esque assault on black politicians was over the division of spoils among the black community itself.

An attempt by some African-American Chicago aldermen to publicly praise Obama Presidential Center designers for hiring minority contractors ran into shouts of "Shame on you!" by a group that wants a community benefits agreement to protect residents living near Jackson Park. The dueling news conferences Wednesday by the City Council Black Caucus and activists came after the Obama foundation announced this month that a collective of five construction firms  most of them African-American[-]owned  had been hired to manage the construction of the center. Black Caucus [c]hairman Ald. Roderick Sawyer, 6th, said taking that step is better than Barack Obama signing an agreement to promise jobs to people who live near the presidential center site near Jackson Park.

Those five construction firms have friends on the City Council. The activists have Alinsky and don't trust Obama's word:

[A]ctivist Jitu Brown, who joined a handful of others in shouting down the aldermen, said only a signed agreement would guarantee [that] black residents will be able to benefit from economic development around the presidential center. "We cannot take the president's word on the fact that they're not going to push African-Americans out with the Obama Presidential Center," Brown said. "So we're saying that there's no history that says their word is worth anything. What we need is an in-writing community benefits agreement that says that people who live in those communities will benefit, not benefit in a profiteering way, but jobs, investment in neighborhood elementary schools, transportation infrastructure."

This is going to be fun!

Now that the huge monument to Barack Obama won't be a presidential library and is purely a private endeavor, the gift of precious park land belonging to the people of Chicago to a private group is questionable. And federal permits are necessary for certain aspects of the planned center. This isn't going to be simple or easy. Plenty of people, black and of other races, are not thrilled with the impact the monument will have on their neighborhood, their parks, and their lives. The difficulties in building the project may themselves be the most fitting monument to Barack Obama's legacy.
Becerra was one of the driving forces behind making California a sanctuary state. His threat is the latest salvo fired in what is now a full-fledged war between the federal government and the state of California over sanctuary policies.

California attorney general Xavier Becerra warned businesses that his office would prosecute owners who assist the federal government in immigration sweeps for illegal aliens.

Sacramento Bee:

"It's important, given these rumors that are out there, to let people know  more specifically today, employers  that if they voluntarily start giving up information about their employees or access to their employees in ways that contradict our new California laws, they subject themselves to actions by my office," state [a]ttorney [g]eneral Xavier Becerra said at a news conference. "We will prosecute those who violate the law." Becerra's warning comes as fears spread of mass workplace raids following reports that immigration agents plan to target Northern California communities for deportations due in part to the state's "sanctuary" law, which seeks to restrict local law enforcement agencies' ability to cooperate with immigration authorities.

The Supreme Court has ruled that state and local governments need not cooperate with the federal government in enforcing immigration policies. But the court has been silent about states actively seeking to inhibit the feds in immigration actions.

What guidelines must employers follow to avoid prosecution for helping the feds?

Authored by San Francisco Democratic [a]ssemblyman David Chiu, the bill:  Requires employers to ask immigration agents for a warrant before granting access to a worksite.  Prevents employers from voluntarily sharing confidential employee information without a subpoena.  Requires employers to notify their workers before a federal audit of employee records.  Gives the attorney general and labor commissioner exclusive authority to enforce new provisions of state labor laws.  Prohibits employers from re-verifying information on employment verification forms, unless compelled to by federal law.

In effect, employers who make just about any move to assist ICE in removing illegal aliens from their workplaces are being threatened with jail.

This is positively draconian. If California doesn't want to be part of the union of states, why doesn't it take Hollywood and Silicon Valley and remove itself from our company?

Recently, "New California" declared itself independent from the urban coastal areas of the state  the first step toward becoming the 51st state. Policies like those created by the A.G. give an important boost to those efforts, although the chances of success are still small. But the declaration highlights the vast differences between attitudes toward illegal aliens in the big cities and the rest of the state.

By tying the hands of employers who might want to fully cooperate with ICE, the state government of California is thumbing its nose at the supremacy clause of the U.S. Constitution, which clearly states:

... that the federal constitution, and federal law generally, take precedence over state laws, and even state constitutions. It prohibits states from interfering with the federal government's exercise of its constitutional powers, and from assuming any functions that are exclusively entrusted to the federal government.

By any stretch of the imagination, the federal government's "constitutional powers" include immigration enforcement. But constitutional legality has very little meaning to a rogue state government bent on defying Washington's legitimate powers to say who can come into this country and who can't.
The CFPB is an independent agency that receives its funding from the Federal Reserve. The director must submit a budget request to the Fed every quarter. The most recent budget request came from former director Richard Cordray, an Obama appointee. Cordray asked the Fed for $217 million.

The acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), former congressman Mick Mulvaney, has submitted a budget request that may be a first in the history of government.

But Mulvaney shocked official Washington by making a budget request for zero dollars. That's $0.00 in taxpayer funds.

CNNMoney:

In a letter to Fed [c]hairwoman Janet Yellen on Thursday, interim [d]irector Mick Mulvaney said the bureau already has $177.1 million in its coffers  more than enough funds to cover the $145 million the CFPB's expenses for the second fiscal quarter. "Simply put, I have been assured that the funds currently in the bureau fund are sufficient for the bureau to carry out its statutory mandates for the next fiscal quarter while striving to be efficient, effective[,] and accountable," Mulvaney wrote in the letter. And while Cordray may have kept a "reserve fund" in case of emergencies, Mulvaney said he didn't see a reason for it since the Fed has regularly supplied the money the agency needs. He also questioned whether the the [sic] law even allows the CFPB to maintain such a reserve fund. Instead, Mulvaney, who is also Trump's budget director, said the Fed could use that money to help pay down the country's deficit. "While this approximately $145 million may not make much of a dent in the deficit, the men and women at the bureau are proud to do their part to be responsible stewards of taxpayer dollars," Mulvaney wrote.

Holy crow! A bureaucrat actually wanting his agency staffers to be "responsible stewards of taxpayer dollars"? When was the last time you heard that? And when was the last time a federal agency admitted that it had enough funding and that it didn't need any more?

There is an old bureaucratic trick in Washington that, at the end of the fiscal year, bureaucratic managers scramble to find ways to allocate money that has been appropriated but not spent. The reason is simple. If Congress found out they had money left over at the end of the fiscal year, Congress might cut their budgets.

Bureaucrats can get very inventive when thinking up ways to spend tax dollars.

But now we have Mick Mulvaney saying thanks anyway, but he doesn't need the funds. There is a method to Mulvaney's seeming madness: he wants to get rid of the CFPB, which was designed to "protect" consumers but instead has issued a blizzard of regulations that makes it harder for money-lenders to make loans.

In essence, the agency "protects" consumers from their own stupidity and ignorance. The CFPB was born of a myth that the financial and housing crisis was caused by unscrupulous lenders who tricked consumers into getting bad loans. Surely there were a few of those. But most foreclosures were caused not by evil lenders, but by people who either took on too much debt or didn't understand the terms and conditions of the loan.

It raises an interesting question: should the federal government protect us from ourselves? The Obama administration believed so, but Mulvaney and many conservatives are skeptical.

If Mulvaney succeeds in phasing out the CFPB, it will be a job well done.
Hillary Derangement Syndrome

I have a confession to make. I have HDS  Hillary Derangement Syndrome. It is dormant, but only because Hillary Clinton did not become president of the United States. Had she, I would now be every bit as deranged as are those who exhibit Trump Derangement Syndrome. It would have started on election night. I watched on television as Hillary-supporters wept in disappointment, even anguish, as it became clear to them that their expected victory celebration had suddenly turned into the lamentation of their crushing defeat. In a bizarre way, I felt sorry for them  not because I wished they had won, but because I had pessimistically expected to be in their state of mind. I had expected to be disgusted by the sight of a fiendishly grinning Hillary Clinton coming on stage to don the crown she so fervently believes is her birthright. The depth of my sorrow for America would have been more painful than the grief experienced by the 'Clintonistas.'

After that brief moment of empathy, I felt overjoyed. The Trump victory had rescued the nation from a fate worse than we knew at the time. Given the revelations of corruption that have surfaced since then, the suppuration of bureaucracy is even more sinister than we had imagined. Expecting a Hillary victory, I dreaded what I knew was coming. The Second Amendment would soon be dead, killed by a million regulations and proscriptions put in place by executive orders upheld by a Merrick Garland liberal Supreme Court. Free speech would have been eviscerated by a never-ending escalation of Orwellian newspeak definitions of hate crimes, until even declining to praise every perversion would be considered proof of criminal bigotry. Conservative views would be silenced by law. Freedom of religion would be expanded, but only for non-Christian, non-Jewish faiths. Those two would be snuffed out, beginning with the Little Sisters of the Poor. Within months, the nation would have been swarmed over by immigrants who know nothing of our language, customs, or values. We would be inundated by people who hate us, and a Hillary government would have confiscated our wealth to be given away to them. The very Constitution itself would have become a swirl of words that would mean anything the radical left deemed. Our history would be taught only in terms of condemnation. I could go on, but the bottom line is that, along with millions of my fellow citizens, I would be adamantly opposed with every glint of my being to the policies Hillary Clinton would have imposed. My opposition would be based on the principle "whatever it takes" to preserve freedom for my children and grandchildren. I would no longer view my political opponents as merely mistaken, but as evil, just as they now regard us. Happily, none of this came to pass, and hopefully, it never will. But just thinking about it gives me a little better understanding of those who feverishly and frantically exhibit Trump Derangement Syndrome. Their world is ending, and they know it. They are like the Beast who knows that his time is short and seeks to devour whom he may. They are not to be underestimated. They will stop at nothing.
Appearing last night on Hannity along with Sara Carter, Reps. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) and Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), who have seen the memo, discussed it, while keeping the specifics under wraps. Gaetz uses the expression "palace coup." It is 11 minutes long and covers the potential implications more completely than other sources I have seen. A rush transcript follows the video.

Rush transcript via Grabien:

Joining us now with more information, congressman Jim Jordan and Matt Gaetz and Fox News contributor Sara Carter. Let me ask all three of you, yes or no, am I over the target? Jim Jordan?

>> Sean, what I read today in that classified briefing room is as bad as I thought it was. And every single American citizen should have the ability to see that information to know exactly what our FBI was up to.

>> Sean: Will it shock the conscience of the American people.

>> Sean it, shocked me. I compared it to  I remember the day I walked in two years ago on the Benghazi committee walked in and sought immunity agreements given to people in the Clinton investigation. I didnt know who they had given them to. I opened up that folder and I looked down the justice Department official slid that folder over to me on the table and look down and say they gave Cheryl mills immunity during the Clinton investigation? Clintons chief of staff? Her lawyer, today when I read the material, I had that same shocked feeling I was like wait a minute, this actually happened from our Justice Department and this FBI? Thats how serious this is thats why we are calling on every bit of that information we got to see today to be made public for you to see, for journalists to the see, most importantly for the American people to see.

>> Sean: Matt Gaetz you saw these materials today you are agreeing with Jim Jordan. It sounded like a few people decided they wanted to fix, they fixed it not only so Hillary would get in trouble on the email server scandal we know felonies were. She rigged the primary. Sounds like they are fixing and rigging here a general election or to overturn an election and, you know, I mean, whatever word you want to describe that. Fixing, rigging, a coup, I dont know.

>> You are describing the very elements of a palace coup, and after meadows and others of us reviews intelligence information today its abundantly clear that the entire Mueller investigation is a liability on a foundation of corruption. And what is so important is that we get this information in to the public square. The best disinfectant for this corruption is going to be sunshine and thats why Jim Jordan and I have joined many other members of Congress in calling for this information to be released for the review of all of the American people. You know, Sean, when you been on this show each and every night making claims about the bias and the corruption and the deep state, people have accused you and your guests of being tin foil hat folks, lone voices in the wilderness. This critical intelligence information will convinced indicate the claims that have been made by so many and it is absolutely essential that we share it with all Americans. Thats what were fighting for in the Congress.

>> Sean: It S. It a fair statement that onion we have been unpeeling we have been over the target the whole time, congressman Gates?

>> Well, Sean, we cant get into the specific information, but I can tell you Im as certain as ever that the claims we have been making are accurate claims that there is intelligence information that backs it up. And that there has been a real attempt to undermine this president and it has come from the scariest of places. Some of the very people we have been talking about will be exposed and the key reason that all Americans need to see this memo is that it names names. It says who was involved with who. How different actors and characters we have heard about interacted with one another. And that is the type of information that we need all Americans to see immediately.

>> Sean: Sara Carter you have been all over this all day. What can you tell us about your reporting?

>> Well, I can certainly say that my reporting coincides with what congressman Gates and congressman Jordan are saying. And I think its far worse than what I believed could have happened. From what I have been told, senior government officials may be removed from office, may be fired. I dont know how far this will go. I also want a lot of those questions answered, Sean, who was in relationship to who when it came to these FISA warrants? How did they operate with one another? What were these really egregious actions that took place that only this memorandum and report can tell us? And I have been watching my Twitter feed and I have been watching Twitter all day. Im seeing #release the documents. #Release the documents everywhere. The American public deserves to know the truth here. It is absolutely essential that we understand what was happening and this was a duly elected president of the United States of America and if people within our own government were trying to usurp that and change the trajectory then the American people need to know.

>> Sean: I agree with you on release of documents. The Wall Street journal tonight in an editorial, they are demanding the same thing. Congressman Jordan, we deserve to see this. You agree with that? And how soon will would he be able to get our eyes on these documents?

>> Great question, Sean. Here is the process, chairman nunes in the intelligence committee in the house can he bring the committee back together. They can have a vote. If the majority of the committee votes to release these documents, the executive branch gets a certain amount of time to review them. If the executive branch gives a thumbs up they go public. This could happen real quick. Chairman nunes is committed to getting this information.

>> Sean: Not one Democrat wanted you to see it.

>> No they didnt. After you read it and playing partisan politics you can see why they didnt want us to see that and why though wont want the American people U this is something that needs to be  this should never happen in a country as great as the United States of America and we need every single American, take a look at this and see what exactly their government did and law enforcement division did. This is that kind of information and needs to be public as soon as possible.

>> Sean: Sounds to me like a lot of people, congressman Gates, need to be fired and investigated.

>> Thats right. I think that this will not end just with firings. I believe there are people who will go to jail. I was very persuaded by the evidence. And it also became clear to me why chuck grassley and Lindsey Graham felt it so important to refer this matter for criminal prosecution. You dont get to try to undermine our country, undermine our elections and simply get fired. I think there will be criminal implications here. We have to underscore the point you just made. Every single Democrat on the intelligence committee voted against even allowing other members of Congress to see this information. So you know theyre going to fight against release to the American people. What are the Democrats so afraid of? Why dont they want the American people to know the truth about what was going on with the government, how that impacted the president, his transition, his campaign and it just seems interesting to me that Democrats dont want us to know what the entire basis was in the first place for the Mueller probe they want to drag this out through the midterm elections to embarrass this president and distract from the critical work we have to do to save this great country.

>> Sean: Do you conclude that Mueller, the whole issue of trump-russia collusion should have never come up. Does Mueller need to disand.

>> This was a liability on corruption built on a sham. The entire investigation is a fiction. Its a fallacy. And when the American people see how this began when the American people see how different people I recollect actorred with one another and how different organizations were infiltrated and subjected to biased individuals and how that really played out, I think that every American will understand how absolutely ludicrous it is that we continue to allow the Mueller probe to go forward. It needs to end because the entire basis is a lie.

>> Sean: I know from my sources, Sarah, that they are saying this should result in the immediate firing of Lisa page, of Peter strzok, of Bruce Ohr, also Andrew Mccabe. I have some questions, where does Rod Rosenstein stick in this equation the one who appointed the special counsel? Because we now know the dossier, the phony Clinton bought and paid for dossier that was used for the FISA warrant. All of this leads to Mueller. That never should have happened because it was on opposition party propaganda. And then whats with Comey, whats his involvement here? Where does he stand? Where does Muellers investigation stand based on your reporting tonight?

>> Well, apparently, when this document goes public, which I believe it will I do believe it will be the unraveling of the Mueller probe. And I have been hearing that from other sources. And, Sean, this was all about in the beginning, remember, trump-russia collusion, trump-russia collusion. Now we know from what we have been hearing from the sources, from the congressional members who have seen this memo that the collusion appears to be between certain members of the FBI and the doj and the mostly cloudy campaign and that the foundation of this was all based on lies. Not only do I want to know what Rosenstein who was actually the department of justice was withholding that information for a long period of time, you know, and then finally gave it up to the house intelligence community.

>> Sean: Did Rosenstein sign off on extension of this warrant do we know.

>> I dont know that yet. I havent had the privilege of seeing the actual classified document, of course, the congressional members have. But I do not know the answer to that yet. But I would like to know how Sydney Blumenthal plays into all of this because I think thats going to be a very telling revelation when all of this comes out.

>> Sean: Do you have  can you give us any information, not giving us any details, congressman Jordan about Comey, about mullen? And Im very interested about Rod Rosenstein in all of. This no. There are certain people who can sign FISA application. Only certain people can at the Justice Department. We dont know who did. After did you go read this material.

>> Sean: Woe, we can eliminate this quickly it wasnt Jeff Sessions to ho was recused. Either Rosenstein or I believe one other person has the ability.

>> Only a handful of people at FBI and justice who can sign off on one. Who did that? We dont know. What we do know is what we have been talking about, this should go public. We also know there is more to come. Investigation at the intelligence committee is not complete. Thank goodness they are doing what theyre doing. Push to get these documents in the first place. Their investigation is not complete. When its complete, then you are going to see the Judiciary Committee and the house do even more.

>> Sean: Comey had to know all of this was going on, didnt he?

>> Well, again, we cant talk about specifics who knew what and what we read today. What we read today though was a memo that compiled information that they got that they presented to members of Congress to look at. We called for members of Congress to see this a few weeks ago. Now we are calling on all Americans to be able to see this material so they can see what really took place.

>> Sean: #Release the document. Release all the background associated with the document. Thank you all for being with us.

>> Thank you, Sean.
This much is clear: The left values illegal immigrants over American citizens

What has brought America nearly to the point at which the California attorney general, Xavier Becerra, is threatening businesses who cooperate with federal immigration authorities? If business-owners give information about possibly illegal employees, they will be subject to a $10,000 fine. Because Gov. Brown has declared California a sanctuary state, Becerra has proclaimed that helping ICE is a violation of the law. Senators Feinstein and Harris are supporting Becerra's dictate. Along with the rest of the left, the Democratic Party now stands for illegal aliens over and above American citizens. This is the crux of the current debate over the budget, a continuing resolution, the fate of the DACA illegals, and immigration reform. The left is going to the mattresses over amnesty for illegal immigrants. The right wants current immigration laws enforced. What a dilemma. Abrogate the law, or enforce it?

The left favors nullifying American immigration law because Democrats need the millions of underclass voters who are bound to be dependent upon them. Who else will vote for them? Surely not the American citizens who live by the law, who revere the Constitution and do not want their country transformed by the influx of unassimilable immigrants. They know what has happened to Germany, to Sweden, to the Netherlands. The new governor of New Jersey likewise has promised to make his state a sanctuary for illegals. He plans to establish a state agency dedicated to "aiding undocumented immigrants [sic]," which is to say illegal aliens. Gov. Phil Murphy was Obama's ambassador to Germany. He is a billionaire who, like Tom Steyer, George Soros, and Mark Zuckerberg, has set out to ruin the United States as founded. Why these people who have been so blessed by American capitalism want to destroy the nation that made them rich is a mystery. Our current crop of Democrats in Congress are on the same page: Pelosi, Schumer, Feinstein, etc. They all value the illegal aliens over the people born here and our naturalized citizens. Why? They are all smart enough to know that socialism and communism kill. They surely know the history of the Stalin's Soviet Union, Mao's China, Chavez's and Maduro's Venezuela at this moment in time. Why do they want to sentence America to the fate of those benighted countries? Inexplicable. To those of us on the right, they are traitors, one and all. As Kevin McCarthy said, unity is our strength, not diversity. The immigrants of the distant past wanted to be American, to assimilate. The dictates of multiculturalism changed all that. Academia insisted that all cultures are equally good and must be respected, no matter how primitive, cruel, misogynistic, or murderous. And where academia goes, the media mindlessly follow. That some societies are sick is a fact never addressed on university campuses. Not for a moment. All cultures must be deemed equally valid. All of this brings us to the nonsensical tirade among the left and the media over Trump's alleged verbal crime against certain corrupt nations. If he uttered the word he is accused of uttering, he was indicting not the people of those nations, but their corrupt governments, which have abused their native populations for generations. Haiti had extra help from the Clintons, who diverted many millions of dollars meant to aid the county to their own friends and their foundation. The Clintons, like the rest of the left, could not care less about the people trapped in dysfunctional countries. They care only about preserving and increasing their own power. That Trump won the election has traumatized them. One only had to watch that press conference with Dr. Ronny Jackson to see how deranged the media have become. They were devastated that Trump is a healthy man. Hillary could have had a stroke on stage, and they would have said she only fainted. The numerous signs of her ill health throughout the campaign were so obvious that it was almost comical that the press ignored them. They did not care about her health. They only cared that she win. That is how empty they are. Our self-appointed betters in the media and government are overwhelmingly leftist; they are no longer liberal, but radical. The disdain for the American people among our elites is disheartening. But Trump is winning. Despite the 95% negative coverage of his presidency, he is succeeding masterfully. The left knows it, and leftists are scared. If and when the depth of corruption that was the Obama-Clinton-FBI-DOJ-State Dept. mis-administration breaks out into the mainstream media, they will suffer the shock of their lives, since the folks who deliver their news have not been revealing the crimes of their vaunted people in power. No, no, no. CNN, NBC, CBS, ABC, MSNBC have been keeping the facts they know under wraps. They too value illegals over citizens. They value their power over us peons, over the Constitution and the laws of our land. They need to lose. America needs to be great again.
I have to wonder where they all were when...

Jeff Flake, John McCain, and journalists from all over the spectrum are ripping into Trump for his threat to the media. Flake even compared Trump to Stalin.

Obama continually targeted Fox News (he obviously wanted 100% devotion).

Obama specifically targeted James Rosen of Fox News.

The State Department erased portions of an interview it didn't like on Iran with James Rosen.

Obama's administration spied on Sharyl Attkisson.

The IRS targeted and shut up political opponents.

The Justice Department threatened legal action against those who dared disagree on climate change.

Obama illegally spied on thousands of Americans for years.

Obama spied on a political opponent before an election.

Obama had staff who illegally unmasked people associated with Donald Trump and their conversations.

I can think of nothing Trump has done that is close to the things Obama did to shut up opposition. It was Obama who was the threat to freedom and democracy, not Trump...yet Flake and McCain didn't speak out against Obama. Why?

Trump is trying to give the power back to the people, and Obama was trying to amass more power for the government. Which is more autocratic?

Isn't it a much bigger and better story to lift people up when Apple and other companies bring back billions, invest billions, and give millions of people bonuses and raises than a story about Jeff Flake giving a speech in front of two senators comparing Trump to Stalin? Not once has Trump threatened industries like coal or for-profit universities, as Obama did.

I would love for journalists to explain why around 90% of the stories on Trump since he was elected fail to cover the following things that have happened:

The economy is growing much faster than projected.

Consumer confidence is way up.

Large business confidence is high.

Small business confidence is high.

Home-builder confidence is high.

The stock market continually hits new highs.

Manufacturing jobs are coming back.

The holiday shopping season went exceptionally well.

Unemployment and unemployment claims continually drop.

Minority unemployment has dropped substantially, with black unemployment hitting all-time lows.

ISIS has essentially been decimated in Syria and Iraq.

NATO members are now contributing more to their own defense.

So how is it possible that over 90% of the stories on Trump have been negative, while so much of the reporting on Obama was positive, even though the latter's statistics and results were much worse, unless it is pure media bias?

When Trump gave his awards for fake news, he was trying to get the media to do their job, to report the truth. He is not threatening their free speech the way Obama did.
Posted on: January 19, 2018 2:59 PM

Four primates from member churches of the Anglican Communion have been invited to attend next months meeting of the Church of Englands General Synod. The Synod will debate a motion affirming the companion links between the Church of Englands dioceses and other churches of the Communion. The motion calls on parishes, deaneries and dioceses of the Church of England to make international links a central part of their strategy for mission and discipleship. And it asks dioceses to use companion links to maximise their contribution to the hospitality programme prior to the Lambeth Conference which is due to take place in 2020.

The C of E said that this was the first time that its Synod will have welcomed a group of representatives from other Anglican Communion provinces. The invited primates are Archbishop Moon Hing, Bishop of West Malaysia and Primate of South East Asia; Bishop Humphrey Peters, Bishop of Peshawar and Moderator of the Church of Pakistan; Archbishop Thabo Makgoba of Cape Town, from the Anglican Church of Southern Africa; and Archbishop Winston Halapua, Bishop of Polynesia and one of the Primate of the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia.

International relationships through the diocesan companion links and other ways of linking such as parish links and partnerships with the mission agencies have much to contribute to the development of discipleship and mission in the Church of England, the Bishop of Guildford, Andrew Watson, said in a briefing paper to Synod members. Friendship through sharing of ministries, parish links, gift-giving and many other ways creates the climate for mutual learning and development. An intentional focus is needed to hear the voices of the global church as the Church of England builds the faith of her people to grow in mission.

He said that the emphasis on discipleship and mission in the Church of Englands Renewal and Reform programme was vital to the growth of the church. The contribution of Companion Links and the Mission and Development Agencies to growth in discipleship for people at parish level is very significant but has not always been clearly recognised, he said. A research project conducted on behalf of the World Mission and Anglican Communion Panel of the Archbishops Council entitled The Nature of Companion Link Relationships in the Anglican Communion has shown that through encounter between Christians from different cultures faith is enlivened, friendships are built and vision for mission expands.

Companion Links between the dioceses of the Anglican Communion were initially established a means of supporting the emerging provinces, most of which were originally formed as part of the Church of England and were becoming independent provinces through structural changes in the 20th Century.

In 1998, the Lambeth Conference encouraged the forming of new links, saying that: The time has come for significant new initiatives in encouraging all dioceses to develop companion relationships across provincial boundaries, as part of the process of developing the cross-cultural nature of the Communion.

The bishops resolved that by the next Lambeth Conference every diocese should have made a serious effort to identify one or more dioceses as a companion, in formal and informal ways.

This year, two Church of England dioceses are celebrating key milestones in their companion links with dioceses overseas.

The Diocese of Bath and Wells is celebrating 40 years of links with the Zambian dioceses of the Province of Central Africa. Events will be held in Zambia in April and in the UK in July.

The Diocese of Lichfield is celebrating its 30 year partnership with the dioceses of South East Asia. In July, Archbishop Moon Hing will join other bishops from the province, along with a group of clergy and laity  including young people  in a conference on intentional discipleship in Lichfield.

Time and again, those who visit our companion dioceses as individuals or as part of a group come back with a renewed commitment to mission and a desire to put what they have learned into practice in their local context, the director of world mission of the Diocese of Lichfield, Philip Swan, said. He explained that the discipleship conference was being held in recognition of how much we have to learn about discipleship from our partner dioceses in Malaysia and of the strategic value of sharing and reflecting together.
(ANSA) - Paris, January 19 - Alitalia and Air France representatives had a "very cordial" first meeting over a possible takeover of the troubled Italian airline on Thursday afternoon, French sources told ANSA Friday. In the meeting, sponsored by Italian Ambassador Giandomenico Magliano, it was decided to give Air France access to Alitalia's data room "so that it may have access to information it did not previously have" on the Italian airline.

On the basis of the acquisition of new data, sources said, technical teams from both sides will meet shortly to discuss various aspects of the talks. It was recently reported that Air France had decided to view with Lufthansa for Italy's ailing former national carrier Alitalia - but Air France denied the report.

Air-France-KLM was reportedly ready to put in a rival bid for the troubled Italian airline, alongside EasyJet, sources said.

Air France, again, denied this report.

The US Cerberus Fund is believed to be the third contender to take over Alitalia.

Alitalia's government-appointed commissioners met representatives of the US Cerberus investment fund in New York last Friday.

Lufthansa said earlier last week it would only consider taking over Alitalia if "major" restructuring including job and route cuts were made.

Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr sent a letter to Italian Industry Minister Carlo Calenda telling him that the German airline would only be willing to acquire Alitalia after major restructuring.

"While recognising the valuable measures that have been undertaken to date... we strongly believe that there remains a considerable amount of work to be achieved before Lufthansa would be in the position to enter comprehensively into the next phase of the process," Spohr said in the letter.

Under Lufthansa control the company would be smaller in terms of both staff and fleet, it said.

Alitalia was put into extraordinary administration last year after workers voted against a restructuring plan.

Calenda has said the government is considering three offers for the former flag carrier.

Last Thursday the European Commission said it was eyeing a 600 million bridge loan the Italian government gave Alitalia in April 2017, later boosted by 300 million more, after complaints from major rivals that it broke market regulations against state aid.

Brussels is reportedly in contact with Italian authorities over the 900-euro loan.

The EC is awaiting notification from the Italian government so it can start assessing the case, they said.


Over 2,500 migrants and 200 deaths in Med in 2018 - IOM

(ANSAmed) - GENEVA, JANUARY 19 - A total of 2,583 migrants and refugees have reached European shores by sea thus far in 2018, the UN's International Organization for Migration (IOM) said Friday.



It said 199 people died attempting to cross the Mediterranean from January 1 to January 17, 2018.



Less than half the arrivals - 1,093 - were registered in Italy.



These figures don't include the majority of the 1,671 migrants rescued in waters between Libya and Italy over the course of two days this week: 1,457 on Tuesday and 214 on Wednesday.



IOM said there have been 847 arrivals in Greece since the beginning of the year, and 653 in Spain. (ANSAmed).




BEIRUT - Groups affiliated to the Islamic State have taken some areas of central Syria after two anti-ISIS coalitions, one led by the US and the other by Russia, announced last week the military defeat of ISIS in Syria and Iraq.



According to sources on the ground in regions between Hama and Idlib, ISIS groups that had fled the area of Salamiya, east of Hama, reorganized and carried out a surprise attack against government forces and Syrian insurgents south-east of the military airport of Abu Dhuhur, currently a point of contention between loyalists and Syrian rebels.



Over the past 24 hours, according to the sources, about 10 minor locations between Hama and Idlib were taken by pro-ISIS groups.
Catalonia: Puigdemont says he can govern from Brussels JxCat group formalises his candidacy in Catalan parliament

(ANSAmed) - MADRID, JANUARY 19 - Deposed Catalan President Carles Puigdemont, currently in exile in Belgium but running for re-election, told Catalunya Radio on Friday morning he believes it is "possible to govern from Brussels" but said "from jail I definitely couldn't do it".



The pro-independence front, which has an absolute majority in the Catalan parliament, is pushing for Puigdemont to be invested as the region's new president at the end of the month by teleconference, without coming back to Spain, where he would risk being immediately arrested.



JxCat, Puigdemont's party, formalised his candidacy for re-election in a meeting with Roger Torrent, the new speaker of the Catalan parliament, who took office Wednesday.



Of the 135 MPs in the Catalan parliament, Puigdemont's candidacy is supported by JxCat's 34 members and by the 32 members from the Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC).



On Thursday, Torrent began meetings with the parties in light of nominating the candidate for president of Catalonia with the most support.



The investiture session is scheduled for January 31.



Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy threatened to keep Article 155 in effect if Puigdemont is re-elected in exile without returning to Spain.



On Friday, Puigdemont said that many large businesses manage from abroad with the "use of technologies" permitted by Catalan law.



He said he also hopes that deposed Catalan Vice President Oriol Junqueras, who has been held in prison in Madrid for the past two months, can return to his post in the Catalan government.



"Can you keep an elected vice president in prison? It's a savage situation; every day that passes in prison is a day of injustice," he said. (ANSAmed).




ROME - Saudi Arabia is violating international humanitarian laws in Yemen, New York-based humanitarian organization Human Rights Watch has denounced.



''Mohammad bin Salman's well-funded image as a reformist falls flat in the face of Yemen's humanitarian catastrophe and scores of activists and political dissidents languishing in Saudi prisons on spurious charges'',s aid Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. ''Baby steps on women's rights reforms don't paper over Saudi Arabia's systemic abuses''.



According to the report presented by HRW, the Saudi-led Arab coalition allegedly carried out 87 illegal attacks, killing 1,000 civilians. Al Jazeera reported that the coalition has rejected the war crime allegations.
Jordan: Israel apologizes for two deaths at embassy Israelis spoke about attack past year

(ANSAmed) - AMMAN, JANUARY 19 - Jordan has said that Israel officially apologized for the killing last year of two Jordanian citizens by security guards at the Israeli embassy in Amman in an unclear incident that led to the shutdown of the diplomatic facility and tension between the two countries.



Government spokesman Mohammad al Momani was quoted by Petra news agency as saying that Israel sent a letter of apology, promising to ''continue to follow the issue'' to investigate what happened.



Neither of the two countries provided an official explanation. According to local media reports published on the same day as the killings, one of the two Jordanians stabbed an Israeli at the embassy and security guards fired in reaction.



According to Jordanian authorities, the two men went into the embassy because they had to carry out work on behalf of a furniture company.



A Jordanian government spokesman said Israeli authorities sent a letter of apology to Jordan after paying money to the families of the two men who were killed as compensation.



(ANSAmed)
TEL AVIV/AMMAN - Israel and Jordan have reached an agreement ending diplomatic tensions that began last summer when an Israeli security guard at the Jewish State's embassy in Amman killed two Jordanians following an attack against that embassy and the killing of a Jordanian citizen in March 2014, the Israeli foreign ministry said.



According to the ministry, the embassy in Amman ''will immediately return'' fully operational. Israeli authorities - explained the ministry - will continue to examine material concerning the incident last summer and will take a decision in the coming weeks.



Israel - the ministry also said - lends great importance to strategic relations with Jordan and the two countries will act to make their cooperation progress and so as to strengthen the peace treaty.

Israel apologizes for two deaths at embassy, Jordan says

Jordan has said that Israel officially apologized for the killing last year of two Jordanian citizens by security guards at the Israeli embassy in Amman in an unclear incident that led to the shutdown of the diplomatic facility and tension between the two countries. Government spokesman Mohammad al Momani was quoted by Petra news agency as saying that Israel sent a letter of apology, promising to ''continue to follow the issue'' to investigate what happened. Neither of the two countries provided an official explanation.

According to local media reports published on the same day as the killings, one of the two Jordanians stabbed an Israeli at the embassy and security guards fired in reaction. According to Jordanian authorities, the two men went into the embassy because they had to carry out work on behalf of a furniture company.

A Jordanian government spokesman said Israeli authorities sent a letter of apology to Jordan after paying money to the families of the two men who were killed as compensation.
Netanyahu says if Abbas doesn't want US, doesn't want peace Says Israel apologised to Jordan, crisis resolved

(ANSAmed) - TEL AVIV, JANUARY 19 - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Israeli media on Friday that if Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas doesn't want the US as a mediator, "he doesn't want peace".



"There is no substitute for the United States," Netanyahu said.



The Israeli Prime Minister spoke to the media upon his return from a five-day trip to India, which he called "a historic visit".



He also spoke about the agreement he reached on Thursday evening with Jordan, which put an end to the diplomatic crisis between the two countries that had been going on since last summer.



He said Israel "expressed regret" to the Hashemites royal family for the killing of two Jordanians by an Israeli Embassy guard during an attack last summer.



Netanyahu said Israel places "great interest" in its relations with Jordan and the agreement allowed for the countries to "resolve the crisis". (ANSAmed).




VENICE - The 2018 EU-China Tourism Year was inaugurated on Friday in Venice with the participation of Italian Culture and Tourism Minister Dario Franceschini, European Parliament President Antonio Tajani and Nikolina Angelkkova, tourism minister of Bulgaria, which holds the rotating EU presidency.



The Chinese tourism market represents a key opportunity for Europe with eight million Chinese tourists registered in 2016, 20 million reservations - up 12% on 2014 - and an expenditure of around eight billion euros.



Overall, 122 million Chinese travelled worldwide although less than 10% of the population has a passport.



Many institutional leaders and operators will be meeting in Venice to discuss strategies to attract Chinese tourists to Italy and Europe.



Participants will include Dai Bin, president of the China Tourism Academy, Elzbieta Bienkowska, the European Commissioner for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs and Du Jiang, vice president of the China National Tourism Administration.



Federica Mogherini, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy will be attending, as well as Veneto Governor Luca Zaia and Pansy Ho, the founder and president of theGlobal Tourism Economy Research Centre.



China is the largest tourism market in terms of expenditure and number of trips abroad.



However, the market could further grow by cutting red tape, increasing the number of Chinese interpreters, improving connections and by offering more palatable packages and services, including free wi-fi everywhere, operators say.



Welcome Chinese is the partner for the organization of all events promoting the EU-China tourism year.



Welcome Chinese is the only official certification recognized by the Chinese government dedicated to the hospitality of Chinese tourists, issued by the China Tourism Academy in collaboration with national broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV) and China Union Pay, the only credit card circuit issued in China.



The second promotional event after Venice will take place in Berlin on March 6, to coincide with Europe's leading travel trade show ITB and the third will be held in Beijing on April 16.
Strata Manufacturing, Etihad Airways and German company, Siemens, have come together to create the Middle Easts first 3-D printing service for aircraft cabin parts. Alan Dron reports.

Additive manufacturing  frequently called 3-D printing from its ability to build intricately shaped components layer by layer by melting metal or plastic with incredible precision  is expected to be a transformative technology in the next decade.

Earlier this year, a grouping of two UAE companies  Strata Manufacturing and Etihad Airways  plus German engineering giant, Siemens, was formed to create a pilot project to design, certify and manufacture aircraft interiors.

Under the partnership, the pilot project developed 3-D printing capabilities for aircraft cabin interior products for Etihad.

Siemens employed its expertise in digitalisation and 3-D printing to assist in the selection of materials, testing and the preparation of processes; the design team at Etihad Airways Engineering successfully managed to certify the parts, while Strata qualified the printing process itself and carried out the actual printing in its Al Ain facility.

Strata and Siemens are currently investigating the development of a strategic roadmap over the next three years for the further industrialisation of 3-D printing.

Through our R&D team, Strata managed to coordinate this effort with our partners to establish these unique capabilities in 3-D printing in a record time, said Ismail Abdulla, Stratas CEO. Our goal is to deploy 3-D printing on practical applications to provide value-added solutions for us and for our customers.

A major aspect of the plan will be the training and development of UAE nationals in the skills that will be necessary for the wider use of the technologies.

We see great opportunities for 3-D printing as a disruptive force in manufacturing, and expect it to play a key role in a globally competitive, increasingly digitalised industrial landscape in the Middle East, said Assem Khalaili, executive vice-president, industry customer services, at Siemens Middle East.

We are proud to be working with Strata and Etihad to advance 3-D printing and strengthen local manufacturing here in the region.

Five years ago, 3-D printing was not adjusted for mass production, explained Bernhard Randerath, Etihads vice-president, design engineering and innovation. It was more or less a prototyping tool. In the last three years we have had a massive revolution in seeing how fast we can do 3-D printing and the really brilliant quality we can achieve. The problem is that everything we need to do on an aircraft needs to be certified.

Early in 2017, Etihad embarked on an exhaustive process to gain certification for 3-D printed parts on its aircraft and achieved certification approval during the Global Manufacturing and Industrialization Summit in March.

This will allow the three companies to start the manufacture of cabin components using the 3-D printing process. This will also allow Etihad to start replacing cabin components that require updating.

The initial part to be produced in this way, a plastic frame that surrounds media screens on Etihads aircraft, can be manufactured on demand, cutting production time and eliminating the need for shipping or a locally stored inventory.

The additive manufacturing technology also removes the requirement to design and build tooling for the manufacturing process, allowing future design updates to be modelled virtually and printed swiftly using existing equipment.

The monitor frame was selected for the pilot project because of its complexity and appearance requirements. The 3-D-printed parts can be employed in Etihad Airways aircraft immediately.

With Stratas capabilities they can do really fast prototyping, said Randerath. We prototype it, then put it in the aircraft and know within minutes if it fits.

At present, the 3-D printing system is being used for minor components, but the intention in future is to use the process for much larger pieces of the cabin, such as toilet units.

Strata hopes to expand the applications of this technology and deploy it on practical applications that will allow the development of local knowledge-building that will lead to future innovations benefitting the broader aerospace industry.


Senior Etihad Airways executive, Andrew Fisher, embarks on a journey of a lifetime on 21 January when he attempts to break the world record by flying around the globe in the shortest time frame on scheduled flights, and with the fewest number of sectors.





Fisher, who works as the airlines Vice President Fleet Planning, hopes to shave three hours off the current record of over 55 hours by completing the journey in only four sectors.



His flight path begins in the early hours of Sunday morning in Shanghai, taking him to Auckland, Buenos Aires and Amsterdam before returning to the Chinese city in the early hours of Tuesday morning, 23 January.



A self-proclaimed aviation geek with a love of studying airline networks and schedules, Abu Dhabi-based Andrew is well placed to chart his journey and fulfill a dream he has been keen to attempt for over 20 years.



Its about time the job was done, he said. The planning has taken a long time, essentially to ensure the flight timings, routings and transits are kept as tight as possible and there is only a short window of opportunity for this to happen.

Etihad Airways senior executive, Andrew Fisher, jets off from Abu Dhabi International Airport to Shanghai ahead of his round the world record-breaking attempt.
Flyadeal, Saudi Arabias Everyday Low Fares Airline, will add Abha to its growing route network this month.

Abha will be the airlines fifth destination from Jeddah and third from Riyadh, after having launched flights to Dammam, Qassim and Jazan in its first three months of commencing operations.

Flights will start on February 1. Flyadeal will connect Abha to both Jeddah and Riyadh, with two daily flights between the cities, offering convenient schedules in both morning and evening.

Abha - a mountainous region with year-round pleasant weather - is a popular holiday destination. It was named the Capital of Arab Tourism in 2017 by a committee of experts from the Arab Tourism Organization in recognition of Abhas superb climate, natural beauty, historical, social and cultural heritage, its unique agricultural environment and its particular brand of festivals.

By connecting the heart of the Asir Province with the Kingdoms two largest cities, Flyadeals new routes will allow Customers to explore the national heritage and wonderful scenery in Abha.

Chairman of Flyadeal, Saleh bin Nasser Al-Jasser: Since the start of flyadeal, the new airline has focused on providing service, flexibility and convenience. With the opening of the Abha route, we connect travelers point to point within the Kingdom with a new low fare service, and in the months ahead, we look forward to even further expansion both domestically and internationally. The welcoming of flyadeal by our gracious Customers has led to a great start and we welcome even more new travelers on board.

Con Korfiatis, CEO of Flyadeal said: Were delighted to consistently deliver on our promise to bring affordable air travel to more cities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Each month since we began operations has seen us expand our network further and allowed us to serve many more Customers who would like to travel and experience the flyadeal service and attitude. Abha is a popular tourist destination and we look forward to connecting the city with other points in our network, and increase accessibility to this holiday destination. We urge our Customers to book early on flyadeal.com to enjoy the lowest fares. Seats are limited and when theyre gone, theyre gone.
Qatar Airways showcased its patented, award-winning new Business Class seat, Qsuite, for the first time in 2018 at the Kuwait Aviation Show, along with the airlines ultra-modern extra-wide body Airbus A350-900.

Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, Akbar Al Baker, led a VIP tour of the airlines Qsuite-fitted Boeing 777 on Wednesday. VIPs in attendance included Sheikh Mohammad Al-Abdullah Al-Sabah, Deputy Minister of Kuwait Amiri Diwan Affairs; Sheikh Salman Al-Homoud Al-Sabah, President of Kuwait's Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA); and His Excellency Abdullah bin Nasser Turki Al Subaie, Chairman of Qatar's Civil Aviation Authority.

Akbar Al Baker, said: Our participation in this years Kuwait Aviation Show has provided an excellent start to 2018, which promises to be very busy for us as an airline. We are looking forward to the addition of direct service to a host of key new destinations on our route network, including Pattaya, Thailand; Thessaloniki, Greece and Cardiff, U.K., to name just a few. As this new year begins, we are more committed than ever to delivering an unparalleled experience to our passengers, providing them the very finest experience available in the skies.

We look forward to receiving delivery of the Airbus A350-1000 shortly, for which we will be the global launch customer. This state-of-the art aircraft will allow us to remain ahead of the curve, proving that Qatar Airways always demands the best for its customers.
Turkish Airlines now offers 15% discount on its all domestic and international flights for passengers who download the latest version of the carrier' mobile app.

The new app offers a better user experience when planning trips, purchasing tickets and using Miles. Buying tickets, making reservations and seeing saved flights now much faster than ever with this redesigned mobile app.

It has been also added new payment options to the application to enable the passengers to choose the one which suits them. By this way, they can easily purchase their tickets, or save their credit cards, or use their devices camera to scan their credit card details to be used at checkout.

By remembering the users' selections and likes from their previous flights, the application offers suggestions unique to them.

Using the app also offers a more comprehensive Miles&Smiles experience for the passengers as using Miles to buy award tickets, purchasing additional Miles, and transferring Miles to other members.

The passengers, who download the new app can benefit a 15% discount provided that purchasing their tickets between 18-20 January, 2018.
Onur Air has signed component repair and access (pool) contract with Turkish Technics for its Airbus A330 aircraft. The contract will be effective until 2023.

The contract comprises component repair and access on ATA (The Air Transportation Association) Chapter basis. Access to components will be available from Turkish Technic Istanbul main base and worldwide pooling stations. Repair work of the components will be carried out at the Turkish Technic Sabiha Gokcen facilities, the biggest MRO facility in the region. The contract has enhanced the existing strong business partnership between the parties, and will be contributing to the development of the Turkish global aviation industry.

Turkish Technic CEO Ahmet Karaman said: Offering its services to the most important A330 operating airline, Turkish Airlines; Turkish Technic is an important trademark providing MRO services to more than 700 aircraft through 3 continents. We have been delivering high-end services for Onur Airs A320 fleet since 2012, and we thank our counterparts for their renewed confidence in choosing Turkish Technic component repair and access services for their A330 fleet.

Onur Air CEO Teoman Tosun said: We are pleased to entrust the leading trademark, Turkish Technic, with the maintenance of our aircraft. We put our confidence in the globally recognised services provided by Turkish Technic. He also added that the services to be provided by Turkish Technic were selected for being the ideal solutions for Onur Air Airbus A330 operations.
However, Nana does seem to have a special fondness for Ajay, and talks about him warmly.

The versatile Nana Patekar is set to work on his next Marathi movie, Aapla Manus. While the film is being directed by Satish Rajwade, its being produced by Nana himself, alongside Ajay Devgn.

I have played the part of a policeman in many movies before, but this one is a bit different. The language is a little different too. You dont know if the man is helping you or not, supporting you or not, he says, adding that he cant reveal much right now. You have to watch the film. Its a thriller, a family film that will keep you on the edge of your seats.

The movie looks a lot more polished than other Marathi movies, but Nana explains the reason behind it. I think all other Marathi movies have been made nicely. The only difference is that since the medium has changed for the better, camerawork as well as technicalities have improved. Therefore, Aapla Manus probably looks different from what youve seen with Marathi films earlier,he muses.

So, is Ajay the surprise element in the film? Laughs Nana, No, he isnt. Actually, even if the movie has Ajay in the end, itll look like were grabbing eyeballs. The surprise is something else.

However, Nana does seem to have a special fondness for Ajay, and talks about him warmly. Ajay never came to the sets, reminisces Nana. He definitely did the job of supplying finances on time and fulfilling every need of the production of a film. Indeed, he was not interested. But had someone else been in my place in the movie, Ajay would have had to play producer to the hilt. He was a little carefree since I was on the sets. I think he did not interfere at all. Ive known Ajay for many years now. Hes a very kind and a good soul.
Despite the Supreme Court go ahead, the law and order situation has camp SLB and theatre owners still worried.

After over a long painful year of vandals damaging film sets, death threats to the producers and the actors, accidents and struggle, Padmaavat is all set to release on January 25. Dodging one controversy after another, one would think that the filmmakers are heaving a sigh of relief, following the Supreme Court verdict that says the film cant be banned by any state. Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana and Rajasthan had initially banned the film from a release owing to historical inaccuracies.

However, the ground reality is far from being this uncomplicated, and the struggles of the filmmakers far from over. The notorious Karni Sena, the fringe group claiming to represent the Rajput community, is still openly issuing threats to not just individuals associated with the film but also to movie theatres that may screen the controversial movie.

Back at the Bhansalis residence, there is a similar cautious optimism surrounding the SC verdict banning the ban of the film. A source close to the filmmaker and his family says, Its great to hear the Supreme Court lift the ban. But will the states pay any heed to it? And more importantly, will the fringe groups go by the verdict?

A similar quandary has movie theatres gripped as well. Even if we overlook the threat and decide to release the film, screens that are in shopping malls will have a hard time because there are other patrons there other than the moviegoers. In fact, we are scared that these threats will scare away moviegoers altogether! a manager of a leading multiplex shares his worry with us on the condition of anonymity.

Manoj Desai, executive director of theatres Gaiety Galaxy and Maratha Mandir Cinema in Mumbai, is sceptical about showing the film. So far we havent received any circular related to police security for us. A film like Padmaavat will need enough police protection, he laments. The worried theatre executive thinks that a release might not only be risky to the property but also to audiences. If we dont get police protection, we wont be able to play the film at our theatres. Who is to say it will be safe for our patrons? he questions, worried.

Agreeing with Manoj is film distributor Sanjay Ghai of Mukta Arts. Its quite a tricky situation right now. We havent even put up the posters of Padmaavat outside the theatres, because we are asked to remove it every now and then. We will need police protection at any cost because the audiences are really scared after the threats.

While everyone fears a law and order situation, columnist Anil Dharker thinks that once the state is determined to take charge in case of any chaos, nothing should go awry. The Supreme Court has said that the state is now responsible to maintain an orderly situation and see to it that the film isnt hindered any longer. Now it depends on how determined the state is, he muses.

Calling the fringe group a ragtag bunch of troublemakers, Anil suggests preventive detention as a solution. Considering how such threats and assaults happen in Maharashtra a lot, the police are more than equipped to deal with it. And preventive detention works most of the time  the known troublemakers should be jailed around the screening and released only after everything works out fine.

Shabana Azmi, who has voiced her strong opinions supporting the makers of Padmaavat, demands punitive measures against the disruptive fringe elements. Immediate action needs to be taken against these criminal elements so as to send out a clear signal to the country that abusive language and violent threats wont go unpunished. The law of the land must apply with immediate effect so that a strong message is conveyed that the government has zero tolerance for violence, or a call to violence against any citizen of this country, she resolves.

While the producers of the movie were unavailable for comment, when we contacted the Mumbai Police to know more about their plan of action, Deepak Deoraj, deputy commissioner of police operations and Mumbai spokesperson, said, We have not decided any plan for the pre-release of the film. But, we are going to comply with the court orders and act

accordingly.

 With inputs from Pooja Salvi, Uma Ramasubramanian, Subhash K. Jha
The woman and other relatives claimed that Sanjay had taken ill while working, and demanded compensation from Singhania.

As the reports of a body having been taken out on a hand-cart went viral of social media, hospital authorities sought information from the staff. (Representational image)

Raipur: A woman took the body of her 40-year-old husband out of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Raipur on a hand-cart on Thursday claiming unavailability of any ambulance.

However, a senior hospital official said the woman, identified as Madhu Sharma, didn't approach the hospital staff to arrange a vehicle.

The woman and her family members later landed with the body of her husband, Sanjay Sharma, at the house of Saket Singhnia at Samta Colony.

Police said that according to the woman, Singhania has a stone-crusher where her husband worked.

The woman and other relatives claimed that Sanjay had taken ill while working, and demanded compensation from Singhania, police said.

Police later persuaded them to take the body home.

According to police, the body had been brought to Singhania's house in an auto-rickshaw.

Meanwhile, as the reports of a body having been taken out on a hand-cart went viral of social media, hospital authorities sought information from the staff.

According AIIMS medical superintendent Ajay Dani, the hospital arranges free transport of bodies within the Raipur city limits, but the woman didn't ask the staff to arrange a hearse for her husband.
The counsel argued that the Aadhaar programme deprives aggrie-ved individuals of the knowledge required to exercise control over their information.

There is an inherent danger of aggregating valuable personal data/ information of all Indian residents in one centralised database.

New Delhi: Aadhaaar law, which affects right to privacy and lacks security for protection of data, should be struck down as unconstitutional, argued senior counsel Shyam Divan in the Supreme Court on Thursday.

Continuing his tirade against the Aadhaar programme, Mr Divan told a five-judge Constitution bench, comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A.K. Sikri, A.M. Kanwilkar, D.Y. Chandra-chud and Ashok Bhushan, that Aadhaar law, which is related to breach of personal information, is an ex-facie violation of an individuals fundamental right to privacy.

The counsel argued that the Aadhaar programme deprives aggrieved individuals of the knowledge required to exercise control over their information. Pointing out that there is no accountability on the agency collecting the biometric data, he contended that the handling of sensitive personal information by the UIDAI is, therefore, manifestly arbitrary and opaque, and consequently ultra-vires the Constitution.

Further, he said it couldnt be denied that there have been multiple data breaches from several go-vernmental portals, resu-lting in unfettered, unauthorised access to individuals Aadhaar numbers. He said reports by privacy and security researchers indicated that such breaches have already affected 135 million Indians. There is an inherent danger of aggregating valuable personal data/ information of all Indian residents in one centralised database.
The SFIO had red-flagged a slew of violations of companies law by Mallya, Kingfisher Airlines and officials.

Mallya, who has been based in the UK for a long time, is wanted in India for Kingfisher Airlines' default on loans worth nearly Rs 9,000 crore and some other matters. (photo: File)

New Delhi: A court has directed issuance of arrest warrant against defaulter businessman Vijay Mallya and 18 others in the Kingfisher Airlines case, on a complaint filed by the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO).

The probe agency, which comes under the corporate affairs ministry, has come across various violations of companies law in the case related to Kingfisher Airlines, which was grounded in 2012.

A Special Court, constituted under the Companies Act, in Bengaluru has directed issuance of arrest warrants against Mallya and 18 others, according to a court document. Mallya, who has been based in the UK for a long time, is wanted in India for Kingfisher Airlines' default on loans worth nearly Rs 9,000 crore and some other matters.

As per the document, the amount involved in the case is heavy and that warrant has to be issued against all the accused.

Besides, the court has ordered registering of "special criminal case" against the 19 entities.

Following its investigation, the SFIO had red-flagged a slew of violations of companies law by Mallya, Kingfisher Airlines and officials, including serious corporate governance lapses, sources had said.
The recommendation has been sent to the President for his nod and will lead to by-polls in Delhi.

In 2015, soon after AAP swept the Delhi elections, Kejriwal had appointed 21 legislators as parliamentary secretaries. (Photo: File)

New Delhi: In a major blow to the Arvind Kejriwal government in Delhi, the Election Commission (EC) on Friday recommended disqualification of 20 Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAs for holding 'office of profit,' according to media reports.

The recommendation has been sent to the President Ram Nath Kovind for his nod.

The President is bound to go by the recommendation of the Commission. In cases where petitions are made seeking disqualification of lawmakers, the President sends a reference to the EC which decides on the case by sending back its opinion.

Following the shocking move, AAP approached the Delhi High Court against EC's recommendation to disqualify its MLAs but the court refused to grant interim relief to the party's legislators.

In the present case, the petition was made to disqualify 21 MLAs, but one had resigned a few months back.

The EC, however, said that the disqualification is sub-judice, and it will not comment on what recommendation has been given to the President.

A petition filed by lawyer Prashant Patel sought the disqualification of the MLAs on the grounds that they were holding an 'office of profit' as parliamentary secretaries.

In 2015, soon after AAP swept the Delhi elections, Kejriwal had appointed 21 legislators as parliamentary secretaries.

This disqualification will lead to by-polls in Delhi.

Also read: BJP mocks AAP: Kejriwal govt gone from 'India against Corruption' to 'I am corruption'

The ruling AAP has a massive majority in the Delhi Assembly with 67 out of 70 seats.

This disqualification will not meddle with AAP's position in the assembly, but is definitely a serious setback for the party.

The MLAs' pleas that the case against them be dropped were rejected by the EC in June 2017.

Both Congress and BJP had been pushing the EC to order the disqualification.

Here's the list of disqualified 20 AAP MLAs:
Since the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections last year, the Congress is on an overdrive to shed its pro-minority image.

New Delhi: After his temple run in Gujarat, Congress president Rahul Gandhi is expected to embark on visiting temples in Madhya Pradesh where Assembly polls are due later this year.

Speaking to reporters, senior Congress leader Anil Shastri said that the visits are only about faith. Its purely about faith, if he (Rahul) feels like it, he can visit temples, but I can say this with utmost confidence he wont be doing this to seek votes and win elections, Mr Shastri said.

Endorsing the fact the party would stick to its Gujarat election style of fight in the upcoming polls in MP, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Mr Shastri said, Everybody his praising him now, they are appreciating his balanced speeches.

Since the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections last year, the Congress is on an overdrive to shed its pro-minority image.

To prove that individuals were driven towards religious spots out of faith more than anything else, the Congress leader cited his own example by saying he visited a temple and a church the other day when he was in Mumbai.

The senior Congress leader opined that victory in Madhya Pradesh would definitely strengthen Mr Gandhi.

Interestingly, since last three months senior Congress leader and former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Digvijaya Singh is on a Narmada Parikrama. He has been visiting all temples along the banks of the river Narmada, often spending nights in the villages. The Parikrama is expected to go on for another three months.

Insiders claim that Mr Singh is preparing the ground for the Congress to shed its pro-minority image. In the six months of the Parikrama, Mr Singh will not be commenting on the political developments of the country.

When the Congress officially kicks off its campaign in Madhya Pradesh, temple visits of the Congress president in the state are expected to be among the key highlights.
India has criticised Pak for turning a blind eye towards the evidence available against Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed.

India has, time and again, protested against Pakistan for harbouring Saeed, who is wanted for plotting the 2008 Mumbai attack. (Photo: ANI)

New Delhi: India has criticised Pakistan for turning a blind eye towards the evidence available against Mumbai attacks mastermind Hafiz Saeed.

Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar on Friday said, "If somebody is a designated global terrorist, it's done based on a lot of evidence available in public domain. You can close your eyes, pretend nothing happened but they (Pakistan) have to realise what's in front of them and take action against such people, who are freely operating from their soil."

Pakistan Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, in a recent interview to Geo TV, had said that there was no case registered against Saeed in Islamabad and without it, action cannot be initiated against him.

Dismissing Abbasi's remarks on Mumbai attacks mastermind, the United States made it clear that he should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

At a press briefing, US State Department Spokesperson Heather Nauert on Thursday said, "So we've certainly seen the reports about this, that the Pakistani Government has said that no case has been registered against this individual, Hafiz Saeed."

She added, "Many of you may recall we talked about this a couple of weeks ago, about who this individual is. We regard him as a terrorist, a part of a foreign terrorist organisation. He was the mastermind, we believe, of the 2008 Mumbai attacks which killed many people, including Americans as well."

Saeed was released from house arrest after a Pakistani court cited lack of evidence against him in the 26/11 Mumbai attack case.

India has, time and again, protested against Pakistan for harbouring Saeed, who is wanted for plotting the 2008 attack.
Rahul Gandhi was responding to Modis tweet where he had invited suggestions for 2018s first Mann ki Baat session.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi (R) asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi (L) about his plans for getting jobs for youth, getting the Chinese out of Doklam and curb the rising incidents of rapes in Haryana. (Photo: File)

Mumbai: Day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi invited suggestions for his monthly radio programme 'Mann ki Baat', Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Friday took to twitter and asked Modi about his plans for getting jobs for youth, getting the Chinese out of Doklam, and curb the rising incidents of rapes in Haryana.

The Congress president was responding to a Prime Ministers tweet where he had invited suggestions for 2018's first 'Mann ki Baat' session, which will be broadcast on January 28.

In November 2017, Rahul had attacked at the Centre and blamed demonetisation for destroying millions of jobs while Narendra Modi was harnessing people's anger over unemployment towards communal hatred.

In an op-ed article in Financial Times, titled "Modi's reforms have robbed India of its economic prowess", Rahul said Modi's "arbitrary" act had killed millions of livelihoods by destroying the informal labour sector and wiping out small and medium businesses.

The second suggestion by the Congress chief was aimed at reports of Chinese presence in the Doklam plateau.

On Thursday, Congress accused Modi of compromising with national security and strategic interests and said his government was "caught snoozing" when China was occupying the Doklam plateau with fresh military installations.

Read Also: Modi govt caught snoozing while China occupying Doklam: Cong

The third suggestion to Modi by the Rahul is on the rising number of rape cases reported from Haryana.

In the last one week, the state has reported at least six incidents of rapes, including two incidents involving minor girls.

With the mounting reports of rape in Haryana, the opposition led by the Congress had demanded the resignation of the Manohar Lal Khattar government for failing to control the law and order situation in the state.
In Nagaland, the polling will be held on February 27 and the results would be out on March 3.

New Delhi: Nagaland will be the first state where the BJP and JD(U) will join hands and contest the upcoming Assembly polls after the Nitish Kumar-led party join-ed the NDA in Bihar last year. Party chief and Bihar CM Nitish Kumar will campaign in the state ext-ensively where it has just one MLA in the current Assembly, sources said.

In Nagaland, the polling will be held on February 27 and the results would be out on March 3.

Mr Kumar, who will be in Delhi on January 27, would hold discussions with party members as well as former chief minister Neiphiu Rio, who has quit the Naga Peoples Front and joined the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party Wednesday evening.

Mr Rio, who was being courted by both the BJP and the Congress, might be finally aligning with the NDA after meeting BJP national general secretary Ram Madhav, sources said.

We are talking to both Mr Rio and the Naga Peo-ples Front, led by chief minister T.R. Zeliang. Alliance will be finalised on January 27 during Mr Kumars visit to the capital, JD(U) national secretary general K.C. Tyagi told this newspaper.

Interestingly, this is the first election in which the BJP and JD(U) will fight together after the latter joined the NDA in Bihar in May last year, just before the presidential polls when the Opposition had come together and put up both presidential and vice-presidential candidates. In the last crucial Assembly polls in Gujarat, the JD(U) had put up nearly 100 candidates, but did not have any alliance with the BJP.

The announcement for the polls in Nagaland was made amidst a demand by tribal organisations and the civil society organisations for a solution to the vexed Naga political issue before the elections.
Experts say build up of gases is believed to have forced baby out of corpse.

10 days after she had passed away, staff noticed that a dead baby had appeared between the legs of her lifeless body. (Photo: AFP/Representational)

In a shocking case, a stillborn baby emerged from its mother 10 days after she had died, plunging the family into fresh grief.

The woman, 33-year-old Nomveliso Nomasonto Mdoyi had suddenly complained of breathlessness at her home in the village of Mthayisi in South Africas southern Eastern Cape province.

The mum-of-five died shortly afterwards and her body was given to a firm of funeral directors ahead of her burial.

However, 10 days after she had passed away, staff noticed that a dead baby had appeared between the legs of her lifeless body.

Experts say that the relaxation of muscles after death or even a build-up of bacteria could cause an unborn baby to be expelled experts.

The boss of the funeral directors for Lindokuhle Funerla Fundile Makalana said that when they took the body from the mortuary tray to her coffin, they discovered that there was a newly born baby between her legs.

'The baby was dead. We were so shocked and frightened that we did not even have time to look at the sex of the baby.

He went on to add that even though they have been in business for 20 years, they have never heard of a dead woman give birth.

The shocking incident left her mother Mandzala Mdoyi, 76, even more grief-stricken.

The family reportedly ignored some suggestions of witchcraft and held a funeral and cremation as planned, with the baby in the coffin with its mother.

It is not clear whether the baby's life could have been saved had doctors provided different treatment when the mother fell ill.
A visit to Kala Pani is an emotional one, as it opens ones eyes to the sufferings of our freedom fighters.

The main purpose of my tour was to visit Kala Pani, the Cellular Jail in Port Blair, the capital of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, which at one time housed Indian freedom fighters, who were taken prisoners. Today, there are no prisoners in captivity, but those black bricks are constant reminders of the dark and horrific history of the Indian struggle for independence. I feel that the present generation ought to visit this jail in order to understand the price paid by our countrymen in their struggle.

As many as 238 patriots, who took part in the revolt of 1857, were imprisoned and 87 of them were hanged to death and the remaining were exiled for life to the Andamans. That is how the island got the name Kal Pani Kal meaning death and Pani meaning water. Kal Pani later became Kala Pani.

Entrance to Cellular Jail

The Cellular Jail was the brainchild of the English philosopher and sociologist Jeremy Benjamin. The jail was constructed in such a manner that the prisoners would have no contact with each other and thus could not exchange ideas with any of the other freedom fighters.

Blackish brown bricks brought from Burma were used to build the walls, which were four-feet thick. There were 696 cells in all, each cell measuring 14.8 by 8.9 feet, with a ventilator placed 10 feet high from the floor and housing only one prisoner. It was customary to change the convicts from one cell to the other, so that none of the

convicts had a permanent neighbour.

Cellular Jail

There were two iron pots placed in each cell  one was for water and the other for defecation. Having to spend the whole night in this atmosphere was unbearable. Those being rebellious, harming the authorities or trying to escape from prison faced the gallows.

The punishments meted out to those who disobeyed the rules were horrifying. The convicts had to work nine hours a day and would be bound by chains when they were at these jobs. Those who failed to complete the work were beaten with whips. As many as 650 convicts from India and Burma were kept here. A list of the names of prisoners from various states is displayed here.

Some important names of those imprisoned in the Cellular Jail include Vir Savarkar, Babarao Savarkar, Mahavir Singh, Diwan Singh, Maulana Ahmedullah, Yogendra Shukla, Faizal Ihak and Liakid Ali.

An aerial view of Cellular Jail

It is a historical fact that in 1942 during the Second World War the Japanese invaded the Andaman Islands and drove away the British. The British soldiers who were caught were put in prison by the Japanese. It was during this time that Subash Chandra Bose visited the jail. But in 1945, the British regained control of the islands and ensured supremacy over the jail.

With the passage of time and owing to natural disasters, four of the seven wings of the jail were destroyed. What remains of the structure are the three wings and the central tower.

The two burning torches (Smrithi Jyothi) that were installed in 2004 and 2008 are symbolic of the defiance to British oppression and continues to burn even today.

After the heart-rending narration from the guide, the day ended with a light and sound show in the evening. At the end of every show, the viewers filled with patriotic fervour, shout out Bharat Mata Ki Jai or Vande Mataram. Where else can you witness such display of

patriotism?

(C.A. Francis is Academic Administrator, Devamatha CMI Public School, (CBSE), Trichur. He visited the island as part of a tour by Salesian Cooperators).
While all of them are now stable and out of danger, they have been kept under observation and will be discharged in a day or two.

Mumbai: Around 27 students of a Darool-ul-loom Miftahul madrasa in Bhiwandi suffered from suspected food poisoning after having a meal at a feast organised by a person at his place in Bhiwandi Tuesday afternoon. The students, boys aged 12 to 15 years, on Wednesday started complaining of nausea, vomiting, stomachache and giddiness following which they were rushed to the government-run IGM Hospital in Bhiwandi and later shifted to civic-run Nair Hospital.

While all of them are now stable and out of danger, they have been kept under observation and will be discharged in a day or two. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Thane police (rural) have sent samples of the food served to the minors and their stomach wash to the forensic laboratory for testing, said Nair Hospital dean Dr Ramesh Bharmal.

The students were invited by Atahullah Shaikh (30), a businessman and resident of Bhiwandi, for a Niyaaz function organised in Rohan Baugh area, where mutton biryani was served to them. The next morning, they started vomiting and complaining of severe stomach ache.

Dr Bharmal said, On Wednesday night, we got a call that 27 patients suffering from stomach ache will be rushed to our hospital. We have conducted a medical evaluation, and all of them are out of danger. We have informed the local police and have demanded a FDA inquiry into the incident.

A student of the madrasa, Nabeel Ahmed (23), told The Asian Age, We were invited to recite the Quran at Mr Shaikhs place after which, we were served mutton biryani and sheera in the afternoon on January 16. In the evening, many of us started vomiting and shivering and were had to be rushed to the hospital.
he body of Namrata Patel, who has been missing since Tuesday, was found on the railway tracks in Kanjurmarg.

At the time she went missing, the victim was not keeping well, according to the police. (Photo: ANI | Twitter)

Mumbai: The body of Namrata Patel, a 28-year-old woman who went missing from her residence in Ulhasnagar, was found on Thursday along railway tracks in Kanjurmarg.

The police, which had registered a missing person's complaint earlier, is now attempting to establish whether she committed suicide or she was killed. At the time she went missing, the victim was not keeping well, according to the police.

Patel, a resident of Chinchpada area in Kalyan, disappeared mysteriously on Tuesday while being unwell. The incident came to light after her husband, Veerbahadur, was informed by his neighbours about their two children crying incessantly.

When the caller asked if Namrata was away, a scared Veerbahadur began a search for his wife but, after scouting areas near the Ulhasnagar station, market and other places, he failed to trace her.

He then approached the Vitthalwadi police station and lodged a missing person's complaint.The police is now looking into her disappearance.

The police will record the statements of Veerbahadur, relatives and neighbours, and a case will be registered subsequently as per its .

The government railway police has registered an accidental death report.
The Naupada police said the duo would were promising placements to job seekers in public sector banks.

The Naupada police said the duo would were promising placements to job seekers in public sector banks. (Representational Image)

Mumbai: The Thane police has arrested a 60-year-old woman and her daughter for cheating at least six persons to the tune of Rs 38 lakh by promising them jobs.

The Naupada police arrested the duo after they received complaints from youths who were duped by the duo, identified as Jayashree Mohite and her daughter Megha Kadam. Officials said a similar case was registered against them in 2008.

The Naupada police said the duo would were promising placements to job seekers in public sector banks.

After some meetings, the duo took money from the applicants in several instalments between 2011 and 2013.

When the jobs were never seen coming, the victims approached the duo and sought a refund. The accused, however, kept convincing the applicants that they would receive a selection letter soon. The applicants, however, approached police and lodged a complaint.

A case has been registered against the mother-daughter duo under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including 420 (cheating), 506 (criminal intimidation). The police is probing the money trail in the case.
The court has asked the police to file their repliy within three weeks.

Mumbai: The Bombay high court on Thursday directed the Pune police to respond to the allegations of a Pune resident that they had illegally entered her house in September last year and seized the 56 pet cats she had kept in the house. The court has also asked the Pune police to respond to the allegations that they had carried out seizures on two consecutive days and during the action some gold and other valuables had also been stolen.

A division bench of justices B.R. Gavai and B.P. Colabawalla was hearing a writ petition filed by Kondwa resident Sangeeta Kapur seeking a writ of mandamus against police personnel who had forcefully entered her house on September 11 and 12 for illegal entry and seizure of her pets. Ms Kapur through advocate Madhavi Tavanandi and Harshad Garud had also prayed for interim directions to the police and animal welfare authorities to return the cats who she has not seen since they were seized from her house.

While making submissions, Ms Tavanandi informed the court that Ms Kapur had two flats and had been keeping stray cats that she had rescued over time.

The police had also registered a case against Ms Kapur under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act for neglecting them as a result of which they lived in unhygienic conditions.

The court has asked the police to file their repliy within three weeks.
His family members did try to stop him, but Karu didnt listen to anyone as eating mud became an addiction.

Its quite normal for people to have a craving for specific foods and different people across the world have different preferences. But stories about bizarre and much more severe fixations have been reported in the past few years that can come across as shocking.

In a similar shocking account, a man from Jharkhand is claiming that he needs to feed on mud for survival. The 100-year-old man started eating mud as a child and it soon developed into a daily activity for him.

Karu Paswan said that it was poverty that drove him to start consuming mud when he was 11-years-old. His family members did try to stop him, but Karu didnt listen to anyone as eating mud became an addiction.

But no matter how revolting and weird his food habits may seem, Karu is still healthy at the age of 100. His habit may be a result of pica syndrome which causes people to gorge on different inedible things like hair and chalk.
In Assam and Manipur, the regional parties are minor partners of coalitions led by the BJP.

The news from the three states in the Northeast going to the polls next month is that its going to be a pull in four different directions, with the BJP reinforcing itself to try and make a difference to the end result of the political tug-of-war. If one takes the three poll-bound states together  Tripura, Nagaland and Meghalaya  the fight is between the CPI(M), Congress, the regional parties and the BJP. Five years ago, it was a pull in three directions, meaning this time theres a new element in the contest. The new force is the BJP, that has almost become the toughest challenger to the ruling CPI(M) in Tripura and the ruling Congress in Meghalaya. In Nagaland, though, the situation is a little peculiar as the BJP is part of the ruling Democratic Alliance of Nagaland government, of which the regional Nagaland Peoples Front (NPF) is the dominant partner.

The elections in Tripura (February 18), Meghalaya and Nagaland (both on February 27) are extremely important for all three major national parties in the fray  Congress, BJP and CPI(M). For the Congress, under its new president Rahul Gandhi, retaining Meghalaya and making a bid for power in its erstwhile bastion Nagaland is extremely critical. In fact, if the Congress loses Meghalaya, the party will be left with only Mizoram to boast of about its past glory in the region of 45 million people. And for Manik Sarkar, one of Indias longest-serving chief ministers, and his CPI(M), retaining its traditional hold over Tripura is critical. Losing Tripura would mean a death blow to the Left movement in the country as that would leave the CPI(M) with only Kerala where the Left is in power.

The NPF has emerged as the flag-bearer of regionalism in the Northeast as its the only regional party that is the dominant partner in a coalition government in the region. In Assam and Manipur, the regional parties are minor partners of coalitions led by the BJP. Seen in this context, the polls in Nagaland could be an indicator of the relevance of regionalism in the region.

If one leaves Nagaland out as the BJP is part of the NPF-led coalition, the polls in Tripura and Meghalaya are likely to present watchers a ringside view of the leadership skills of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Congress newly-elevated boss Rahul Gandhi. The BJP is leaving no stone unturned to wrest Meghalaya from the Congress, obviously with the help of its regional allies, and has managed to give the CPI(M) in Tripura some sleepless nights with high-voltage electioneering and political engineering under the leadership of the regions most influential BJP leader, senior Assam minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. Mr Sarma is the convenor of the BJP-floated North-East Democratic Alliance (Neda) and has been made party in-charge of the Tripura polls. The formation of the Neda immediately after its Assam victory in April 2016 was the BJPs masterstroke as it has succeeded in altering political alignments in the region with the coming of several major regional parties under its umbrella. Tripuras key regional party, the Indigenous Peoples Front of Tripura (IPFT), is not yet a Neda constituent, but talks are on between its leaders and the BJP to try and perhaps come to an understanding. If the IPFT becomes a part of Neda, and there were indications late on Friday that it was a done deal, it will give the resurgent BJP in Tripura a major handle to put pressure on the CPI(M), the party that has been in power for five terms with CM Manik Sarkar himself being at the helm for four consecutive terms.

Significantly, all ruling parties in the three states are faced with anti-incumbency and internal rebellion. In Meghalaya, seven ruling Congress MLAs have resigned, of whom five joined the National Peoples Party (NPP), a dominant new regional party headed by Conrad Sangma, and one each joined the BJP and Peoples Democratic Front (PDF). Seven other MLAs also quit their respective parties, bringing the total number of elected representatives resigning from the Assembly to 14. This has brought down the strength of the Meghalaya Assembly from 60 to 46 now. This clearly means veteran Congressman and chief minister Mukul Sangma is facing major dissent as he gets ready to lead his party to seek re-election.

In Nagaland too, the ruling NPF (of which the BJP is an ally) is faced with an internal revolt with the chances of the party technically splitting becoming bright. Former chief minister and Lok Sabha MP Neiphiu Rio, one of the NPFs erstwhile presidents, has since quit and floated a new party called the National Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP). In fact, at least two other senior NPF leaders have since quit and joined Mr Rios NDPP. The emergence of a new regional party has the potential to spoil the BJPs arithmetic of going as junior partner in the alliance seeking re-election. After all, Mr Rio and his party could well turn spoiler and give the dormant Congress some boost. In Tripura, Manik Sarkar is facing anti-incumbency and intense pressure from three fronts  Trinamul Congress, which is waiting in the wings, the Congress, its traditional opposition, and a resurgent BJP.

On the whole, its going to be a high-voltage campaign in the days leading up to the polls in the three states. Nagaland may see protests because almost all stakeholders, from the government to civil society, have been calling on the Centre to work out a final solution to the protracted Naga problem ahead of the polls. That, of course, has not happened. In fact, the slogan that has become a chorus across Nagaland is solution before elections. No prizes for guessing that both Mr Modi and Rahul Gandhi would be seen in these states in abundance as their personal prestige is at stake. Moreover, the polls will provide yet another indicator of the way things could possibly turn in the 2019 general election.
This new technology that could help satellites peer through clouds and analyse storms.

The satellite systems available at the moment are unable to gather accurate temperature and humidity data which are needed to accurately monitor storms. (Representative Image)

The European Space Agency recently announced that it has teamed up with China's National Space Center to conduct ground tests on two complementary devices designed to deliver high-resolution images from an orbit of 36,000 kilometres (22,370 miles). This new technology, which has been tested jointly by these eminent world influencers, could help satellites peer through clouds and analyse storms.

The agency said Wednesday, January 17, said that if these tests are successful, the next stage would be a space mission. This is the first time that Europe and China have worked together to test and build an instrument.

The satellite systems available at the moment are unable to gather accurate temperature and humidity data which are needed to accurately monitor storms.

The tropical cyclones in the northwest Pacific, known as typhoons, pose a serious threat to China and other countries in the region each year and advancing in this direction will save a lot of destruction.
Higbie was the chief of external affairs in the Corporation for National and Community Service, but lasted less than six months at his job.

The report that was published on Thursday which was substantiated with audio clips showed that Higbie's folly was not a one-time slip, but he had a lengthy track record of being strongly racist and anti-Muslim before his appointment. (Photo: Twitter/ @CarlHigbie)

Washington: An appointee of President Donald Trump resigned from the federal agency that runs AmeriCorps and other services after CNN brought to light his comments slandering blacks, Muslims, homosexuals, women, veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and undocumented immigrants.

Carl Higbie was the chief of external affairs in the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), but lasted less than six months at his job.

Higbie's Thursday afternoon resignation was prompted by increased scrutiny for racist or anti-Muslim statements made by the president's appointees in the past.

On Saturday, Higbie took to Twitter to apologise profusely for the incident.

"Im sorry. Im not sorry that my words were published, I am sorry that I said them in 2013. Those words do not reflect who I am or what I stand for, I regret saying them. Last night I informed the WH that I was resigning so as not to distract from POTUS many success. #noexcuses," he wrote.

Im sorry. Im not sorry that my words were published, I am sorry that I said them in 2013. Those words do not reflect who I am or what I stand for, I regret saying them. Last night I informed the WH that I was resigning so as not to distract from POTUS many success. #noexcuses  Carl Higbie (@CarlHigbie) January 19, 2018

The Department of Homeland Security's Jamir Johnson, another of Trump's appointees resigned in November 2017 after his comments linking blacks to "laziness" and "promiscuity" came to light.

The new US ambassador to the Netherlands, former Republican Congressman Pete Hoekstra apologised last week after there was an uproar over baseless anti-Muslim theories he has spread many times in the past.

The CNN report that was published on Thursday which was substantiated with audio clips showed that Higbie's folly was not a one-time slip, but he had a lengthy track record of being strongly racist and anti-Muslim before his appointment.

In 2013, while he was working in Virginia Beach on "Sound of Freedom," an internet talk show that he hosted, Higbie said that black women think "breeding is a form of government employment," and that blacks were "lax of morality," and that culture "is breeding this welfare and the high percentage of people on welfare in the black race."

In another talk show appearance in 2013 itself, he expressed disdain for the term "African-Americans."

"99 per cent people who write down African-Americans have never been to America," he said.

If this was not enough, Higbie's dislike of Muslims takes it a notch higher.

He disparaged Islam saying that he disliked them "because their ideology sucks," and he did not care if his views were racist.

"I just don't like Muslim people. People always rip me a new one for that. 'Carl, you're racist, you can't, you're sexist.' I'm like Jesus Christ," Higbie said on "Sound of Freedom" in 2013.

On another podcast, Warrior Talk Radio he struck a similar chord again in 2014, according to the CNN report.

"I was called an Islamophobe and I was like, 'no, no, no, no, no, I'm not afraid of them. I don't like them. Big difference,' " he said on the show. "And they were like, 'Well, you're racist.' I was like, fine if that's the definition of it, then I guess I am.'"

Higbie worked as the spokesperson for pro-Trump super PAC Great America before the 2016 US elections. He got into a controversy by comparing Japanese internment camps during World War II to some of Trump's upcoming immigration plans, which drew flak from all quarters.

In another audio that has come to light, Higbie, a former Naval officer himself, passed off military veterans with PTSD as having a "weak mind" and said he thought a large number of those suffering from it were actually faking it.

"I'd say 75 percent of people with PTSD don't actually have it, and they're either milking something for a little extra money in disability or they're just, they honestly are just lying," he said on another talk radio show in 2014.

CNCS spokesperson Samantha Jo Warfield, however, declined to comment on the circumstances that led to Higbie's resignation.

On yet another episode of "Sound of Freedom," Higbie said that Americans with guns should be able to shoot undocumented immigrants who attempted to cross into the US at the border.

"What's so wrong with wanting to put up a fence and saying, 'Hey, everybody with a gun, if you want to go shoot people coming across our border illegally, you can do it fo' free,'" Higbie said.

"You cross my border, I will shoot you in the face. I will go down there. I'll volunteer to go down there and stand on that border for, I don't know, a week or so at a time and that'll be my civil duty," he added.

Higbie also expressed a strong will to smack together the heads of California Democrat Sen. Dianne Feinstein and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. The former, he also referred to as a "bitch."

"Nothing gets me going like Ted Cruz, when he went off on that Feinstein bitch about the Second Amendment. And he put her in her place, that was just fantastic. I can't stand that woman. Her and Pelosi. I'd love to just take both their heads and smack them together a couple of times," Higbie said.

Speaking on legalization of gay marriage in Rhode Island on "Sound of Freedom," he expressed strong dislike for homosexuals.

"Congratuf'in'lations, you suck, Rhode Island. Why would you do that?' he said. "I mean, you are breaking the morals, the moral fiber of our country. You know, I don't like gay people. I just don't," he commented, probably not realising the world's axis does not spin on his likes and dislikes.

White House correspondents were not available for a comment on his resignation.
In 2017, Russia signed up to UN sanctions pushed by US as a way to force Kim Jong-Un's regime to come to table and negotiate disarmament.

Tillerson said, 'Moscow is not fully implementing the measures and may indeed be trying to undermine them, in particular by supplying fuel.'(Photo: AP)

Washington: US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson says that Russia is helping North Korea evade some of the sanctions imposed on it to force it to halt its nuclear missile program.

In 2017, Russia signed up to United Nations sanctions pushed by Washington as a way to force Kim Jong-Un's regime to come to the table and negotiate disarmament.

But, Tillerson told reporters on his plane late Wednesday, Moscow is not fully implementing the measures and may indeed be trying to undermine them, in particular by supplying fuel.

"It's apparent to us they're not fully implementing all of the sanctions and there's some evidence that they may be frustrating some of the sanctions," he said.

"We've talked to them about it. Obviously, they say they're not, but we certainly don't get the same assurances from them that we receive from the Chinese."

Asked what in particular Russian sources are allegedly providing to Pyongyang, Tillerson said: "Fuel. Primarily fuel, but some other areas potentially as well."

Washington's top diplomat was speaking after President Donald Trump also accused Russia of hampering sanctions, but in vaguer terms, in an interview with the Reuters news agency.

"Russia is not helping us at all with North Korea," Trump said. "What China is helping us with, Russia is denting."

Trump said Russia's President Vladimir Putin could probably be helpful if he chose to be.

"But unfortunately we don't have much of a relationship with Russia, and in some cases it's probable that what China takes back, Russia gives," he added.

China was North Korea's main trading partner, but says it has implemented the UN sanctions regime.

However, it too is resisting calls to ban all fuel shipments.

Chinese leaders reportedly fear that too harsh a restriction on oil products could cause Kim's regime to collapse rather than simply to surrender its nuclear arsenal.

This could lead to chaos and a refugee crisis on the Korean peninsula, and potentially intervention by US and South Korean troops that would bring them to the Chinese border.

Washington is still working closely with Beijing on the issue, however, and Tillerson says he has begun exploring contingency plans with senior Chinese officials.
Police fear there may be other victims as Rathore was working as a GP for many years.

Jaswant Rathore was found guilty of conducting unnecessary massages on the patients at his Castle Meadows Surgery in Dudley, in the West Midlands region of UK. (Photo: Representational | AFP)

London: An India-born doctor on Thursday was sentenced to 12 years in prison for sexually assaulting four women patients in United Kingdom between 2008 and 2015.

Jaswant Rathore was found guilty of conducting unnecessary massages on the patients at his Castle Meadows Surgery in Dudley, in the West Midlands region of UK.

The 60-year-old, who had moved to UK with his family at the age of three, was also placed on the sex offenders' register indefinitely and made the subject of a 15-year sexual harm prevention order at the end of the hearing at Wolverhampton Crown Court.

"You used your standing within the community as a cloak behind which you could carry out sexual assaults on your patients for your personal gratification," Judge Michael Challinor told him during sentencing.

"By your actions you violated the faith they had in you to carry out legitimate medical procedures. Some of your behaviour demonstrated a breath-taking degree of arrogance you no doubt hoping your standing in the medical community would enable you to talk your way out of any difficulty," he said.

The general practitioner (GP) was convicted of eight charges of sexual assault and two counts of assault by penetration against four women aged in their 20s and 30s following a seven-week trial.

He was cleared of a further eight allegations relating to four other patients.

The judge recounted that many witnesses had spoken highly of his "professionalism, diligence, expertise and amiability" but his personal and professional life had been turned into a "complete shipwreck" due to the "planned and sustained" assaults.

"Many people visit their doctors and submit to the most intimate of examinations because they trust their doctor and that is eroded by people like you," he noted.

Rathore had denied the allegations and insisted he had always acted professionally and, in each case, the touching during "manipulative therapy" had been medically appropriate.

The court was told that the GP had conducted his assaults on patients who had gone to his surgery with regular complaints such as pain in their stomach or back.

Detective Inspector Michelle Thurgood of West Midlands Police, who headed the police investigation in the case, said: "It was a horrific breach of a position of trust. This was somebody who was a trusted GP, respected in the community."

"Many of the patients had gone to him for many years, so absolutely trusted him. We go to our doctor when we're at our most vulnerable and he has abused that trust by carrying out those offences."

Thurgood said the police feared there may be other victims as Rathore was working as a GP for many years and called on any others to "find the strength" to come forward.
Responding to a question, Nauert said the US has 'certainly seen' the reports about Abbasi's comment on Saeed.

Saeed, the chief of the Jamaat-ud-Dawah (JuD), was released from house arrest in Pakistan in November. (Photo: AP | File)

Washington: The United States has called for Hafiz Saeed's prosecution "to the fullest extent of the law", following Pakistan's Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi's remark that no action could be taken against the UN-designated terrorist.

Abbasi, during an interview to Geo TV on Tuesday, referred to Saeed as 'sahib' or 'sir'.

"There is no case against Hafiz Saeed sahib in Pakistan. Only when there is a case can there be action," Abbasi said when asked why there was no action against Saeed.

Reacting strongly to the comments, State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert said the US believes that Saeed should be prosecuted and they have told Pakistan as much.

"We believe that he should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. He is listed by the UNSC 1267, the al-Qaida Sanctions Committee for targeted sanctions due to his affiliation with Lashkar-e-Taiba, which is a designated foreign terror organisation," Nauert told reporters at her daily news conference on Thursday.

"We have made our points and concerns to the Pakistani government very clear. We believe that this individual should be prosecuted," Nauert said.

Responding to a question, Nauert said the US has "certainly seen" the reports about Abbasi's comment on Saeed.

"We regard him as a terrorist, a part of a foreign terrorist organisation. He was the mastermind, we believe, of the 2008 Mumbai attacks which killed many people, including Americans as well," she said.

Saeed, the chief of the Jamaat-ud-Dawah (JuD), was released from house arrest in Pakistan in November. The US has labelled JuD the "terrorist front" for the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), a group Saeed founded in 1987. LeT was responsible for carrying the 2008 Mumbai attack that killed 166 people.

Acknowledging that the US has had some challenging times with the government of Pakistan recently, Nauert said the Trump Administration expects Pakistan to do a lot more to address terrorism issues.

"That's something that we've been very clear about all along. You know the news that we had that came out a couple weeks ago about our decision to withhold some of the security funding for Pakistan," she said.

Nauert said the entire administration is on the same page on the issue of US-Pakistan relationship.

Early this month, the US suspended about USD 2 billion worth of security assistance to Pakistan accusing it of not doing enough in the fight against terrorism.

In retaliation, Pakistan suspended military and intelligence co-operation with the US.

The State Department on Thursday said it has not received any formal information in this regard from Pakistan.
China's reaction came amid reports that it was building a huge military complex close to the site of the Doklam standoff with India.

The reports raised concerns that the China may be preparing for another standoff with India. (Photo: Twitter | ANI)

Beijing: China on Friday justified its massive construction activities in the Doklam area, describing it as "legitimate" and aimed at improving the lives of its troops and the people living on its own territory.

China's reaction came amid reports that it was building a huge military complex close to the site of the Doklam standoff with India.

Asked about reports citing satellite imagery of a Chinese military complex in the area, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said: "I have also noted the relevant report. I don't know who offered such kind of photos."

But at same time he said he did not have detailed information on it.

The reports raised concerns that the China may be preparing for another standoff with India.

Read: Doklam status quo not altered, any contrary info inaccurate: MEA

Lu, however, said: "China's position on the Donglong (Doklam) area is quite clear. Donglong always belonged to China and always under China's effective jurisdiction. There is no dispute in this regard," he said asserting Chinese sovereignty over the area which is also claimed by Bhutan.

He said China is building infrastructure for its troops and the people living in the area.

India earlier on Thursday had said that the status quo has not been altered at Doklam, where Indian and Chinese troops were locked in a stand-off for over two months last year, and rejected any suggestion to the contrary as "inaccurate and mischievous".

"Our attention has been drawn to some reports that question the accuracy of the position stated by the government in respect to the situation in Doklam," Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said.

Kumar said that in response to repeated questions about any change in the status quo at the face-off site, the government has stated that there was no basis for such imputations.
Attorney General Annie Brunet-Fuster described Dagorn as 'not psychotic but psychopathic'.

Dagorn is already serving a five-year prison term for theft, fraud and sequestration involving an octogenarian in the French Alps in 2012 who had agreed to let her live with him in exchange for sexual relations. (Representational image)

Nice: A French woman dubbed the "Black Widow of the Riviera" was jailed for 22-years on Thursday for poisoning four wealthy elderly men, two of whom died.

Patricia Dagorn, 57, was convicted of killing two men found dead in 2011 on the Cote d'Azur and of drugging two others. Prosecutors say she attempted to enrich herself by seducing older men she met mostly through a dating agency.

The "Black Widow", who denied all the charges against her, did not flinch as the verdict was handed down.

Dagorn is already serving a five-year prison term for theft, fraud and sequestration involving an octogenarian in the French Alps in 2012 who had agreed to let her live with him in exchange for sexual relations.

One of the men she poisoned, 91-year-old widower Robert Vaux, told reporters at the courthouse on Monday that Dagorn "was like a ray of sunshine in winter. When you are with a younger woman you know it won't last but you don't deny yourself the moment unless you're a masochist".

The prosecution team called her a "perverted narcissist" while the defence spoke of a "victim" of loneliness.

Attorney General Annie Brunet-Fuster described Dagorn as "not psychotic but psychopathic".

Police began suspecting Dagorn after the body of Michel Kneffel, a man in his 60s with whom she had been living at a residential hotel in Nice, was discovered in July 2011.

No charges were filed at the time, but the investigation was reopened the following year after police found vials of Valium and personal documents belonging to about a dozen different men among her belongings.

The documents included IDs, bank account details and health insurance cards.

Investigators then followed the trail to another suspected murder case, that of Francesco Filippone, 85, whose body was found in his bathtub in an advanced state of decomposition in Mouans-Sartoux, outside Cannes, in February 2011.

Dagorn had earlier cashed a cheque from Filippone for 21,000 euros ($25,600), money which she said was a gift to help her open a jewellery shop.

Police now think Dagorn may have met at least 20 men, after arriving on the French Riviera in 2011, mainly via a matchmaking agency.

Vaux, comfortably retired but lonely since the death of his wife, brought Dagorn to live with him in early 2012 in the coastal town of Frejus.

When he was at his lowest ebb, Dagorn wrote to his solicitor, asking to be written into his will, according to Vaux.

He and another man whom Dagorn is accused of trying to poison, Ange Pisciotta, 82, joined the case as civil plaintiffs.

Dagorn, who has a law degree, had already been handed a one-year suspended prison term in a case involving her ex-husband who was found guilty of fraud.

In 2013, her youngest son told a local newspaper that he was not surprised by the accusations against his mother.

"She has always been obsessed with quick and easy money," the son, identified only as Guilhem, told Nice Matin daily.
The Eugene Bell Foundation made the request during a press conference at South Koreas National Assembly in Seoul. For years, the NGO has been helping in the treatment of North Korean patients with a thousand currently under care. Recently, North Koreas Ministry of Public Health signed a memorandum with the Foundation aimed at treating all the patients with multidrug-resistant TB in South Hwanghae Province.

Seoul (AsiaNews)  The Eugene Bell Foundation (EBF) wants medicines and essential supplies to treat tuberculosis to be excluded from sanctions. The Foundation has been involved in the treatment of TB patients in North Korea for several years, and is currently caring for about a thousand of them.

Two days ago, during a press conference at South Koreas National Assembly in Seoul, the NGO called on the government of President Moon Jae-in to ask the UN Security Council sanctions committee to exempt medicines and supplies for the treatment of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) from its list of punitive measures.

Last September, the UN Security Council had increased sanctions against Pyongyang in response to its missile tests, cutting oil exports to the communist nation and banning ship-to-ship transfers.

The South Korean government needs to make efforts so that medicines and supplies required to treat around 1,000 people can be delivered to North Korea without delay, said Choi Se-moon, an advisor to the NGO.

EBF chief Stephen Linton said that a discussion is underway to resolve the issues, but There isnt yet a clear response.

Linton, in particular, pointed to the need for stainless boilers in makeshift hospital wards. At present, they are included in the list of banned items.

The NGO plans to ask South Koreas Unification Ministry for permission next week to send supplies and medication ahead of a visit to North Korea in May.

The Moon administration in June last year allowed the NGO to ship MDR-TB medication and construction materials for makeshift hospital wards.

North Koreas Ministry of Public Health recently signed a memorandum of agreement with EBF over a project aimed at treating all the patients with multidrug-resistant TB in South Hwanghae Province.

The agreement followed the Ministrys request in November 2017 for help with the treatment of some 3,000 North Korean patients with MDR-TB in the west of the country.

North Koreas request to expand the project is a good opportunity to solve the tuberculosis problem, the fund that the Eugene Bell Foundation has secured is insufficient, Choi said.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), there currently are 120,323 TB cases in North Korea out of a population of 25 million.

A total of KRW 2.7 billion (around US$ 2,530,000) is required to implement the project, according to the NGO, with KRW 900 million to be used for medicine and food and KRW 1.8 billion to be funneled into the construction of wards.

In September, South Korean authorities approved a plan to provide US$ 8 million in humanitarian aid to the North via international organisations. As of January, however, the funds have not yet been delivered.
The legislation was dropped following protests by indigenous groups. The Church is on the side of the poor. Tribals make up about 28 per cent of the States population. About 15 per cent of Indias steel is produced in the State.

Raipur (AsiaNews)  The State of Chhattisgarh has been forced to withdraw a law that would have seized tribal lands following stiff protests by indigenous groups.

On 11 January, the government led by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) decided to withdraw the Land Revenue Code (Amendment) Bill 2017 passed by the legislature less than a month ago.

"The Church is on the side of the people, said Mgr Victor Henry Thakur, archbishop of Raipur and president of the Council of Bishops of Chhattisgarh. It fights together with tribal people and the poor to defend their rights."

According to Mgr Thakur, the local government "does not have a positive attitude towards minorities, tribal people and the oppressed.

People have widely protested against the law, but for the prelate, the issue is not religious. Opposition to the law is led by a people's movement, which sought its repeal."

Fr the local indigenous groups, this piece of legislation is a "black law" designed to allow the seizure of their lands.

The draft bill passed by the state assembly in December includes an amendment that would have allowed the government to buy land directly from tribal people without the consent of the village council.

According to the authorities, such a provision would will speed up development projects started by the state. However, tribal people complain that it is only a stratagem to grab their land, taking advantage of the economic difficulties of landowners.

The archbishop of Raipur notes that the Indian state is home to some "24 million people and tribal groups represent about 27-28 per cent of the total population. In some districts, the latter reach up to 33 per cent. Christians, on the other hand, are a small minority, less than 2 per cent."

About 15 per cent of Indias steel production is manufactured in the state, but half of the population lives below the poverty line.

The state has the largest industrial base for mining, metal and coal sectors, but ownership is in the hands of foreign investors who rarely employ tribal workers.

For Mgr Thakur, "the Church is very concerned about protecting tribal rights. We are happy that the government withdrew the legislation." However, "Our fear is that once re-elected, lawmakers will propose the law again. The danger remains."
Announced more than a month ago, the US vice presidents visit will not include meetings with Palestinian leaders nor Christian religious figures as a result of the US decision on Jerusalem. The trip will only boost relations between the United States and Israel, as well as evangelicals and Jewish fundamentalists. For expert opinion, it would better if he stays home.

Beirut (AsiaNews/Agencies)  US Vice President Mike Pence left the United States today on a four-day tour of the Middle East, which will take him to Egypt, Jordan and Israel.

Announced more than a month ago, the visit was supposed to include several stops in Palestine, at Christian holy sites, and meetings with Muslim and Christian leaders.

However, after President Donald Trump's decision to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, which was rejected by much of the international community, Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, has refused to meet him. Christian and Muslim religious leaders in the Holy Land and Egypt have also decided not to meet the US leader.

As a consequence, the visit was downsized so that the vice president will meet only close US allies, even if it was touted as the "last attempt" to bring peace to the Middle East.

This comes after the United States cut funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) in a move seen by many observers as an attempt at blackmail.

The US administration said its decision was in response to Abbas' refusal to participate in Israeli-Palestinian talks sponsored by the United States. In fact, the US seems to be increasingly tilting towards Israel as the Israeli government continues to expand its settlements in the occupied territories.

Another issue that Pence has emphasised ahead of trip was US support for persecuted Middle Eastern Christian communities.

Despite this, Christian religious authorities  in particular Egypts Tawadros II  have cancelled scheduled meetings with him, describing the US decision on Jerusalem as harmful for peace.

Pence is an evangelical Christian, with strong ties to the Holy Land and the most nationalist and apocalyptic fringes of the Jewish world.

According to some observers, his visit risks strengthening only ties between the US administration and Israel, and make no contribution to peace.

In fact, to prevent the situation from becoming even more inflamed, He should stay home, writes Mideast expert Ilan Goldenberg in Foreign Policy.
Francis met today indigenous people whose land is threatened by business interests but also vy the type of conservationism that has no place for people. I consider it essential to begin creating institutional expressions of respect, recognition and dialogue with the native peoples, acknowledging and recovering their native cultures, languages, traditions, rights and spirituality.

Lima (AsiaNews)  Pope Francis arrived in Puerto Maldonado this afternoon, the first stage of his visit to Peru. In his address, the pontiff made a heartfelt defence of the Amazon region, its people, traditions, vast green spaces, which are heavily exploited by those who want to take its wealth, the gold. But Francis also warned against turning the region into a shrine with no place for the people who have lived there since time immemorial.

Some four thousand people filled the local sport arena, the Coliseo Madre de Dios, representing the peoples of the Amazon, wearing traditional garments, as well as singing and dancing for Francis, a meeting centred on criticism of various forms of exploitation and on demands for the preservation of local traditions and languages.

As he looked on, the pope mentioned the different native peoples of Amazonia: Harakbut, Esse-ejas, Matsiguenkas, Yines, Shipibos, Ashaninkas. Yaneshas, Kakintes, Nahuas, Yaminahuas, Juni Kuin, Madija, Manchineris, Kukamas, Kandozi, Quichuas, Huitotos, Shawis, Achuar, Boras, Awajun, Wampis, and others. At the venue, translations of Laudato Si were available to them. One of them gave the pontiff a crown of flowers to go on his head and body.

I have greatly looked forward to this meeting, Francis said. Those of us who do not live in these lands need your wisdom and knowledge to enable us to enter into, without destroying, the treasures that this region holds. And to hear an echo of the words that the Lord spoke to Moses: Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground (Ex 3:5).

In a long, thought out speech, the pope attacked various forms of exploitation. The native Amazonian peoples have probably never been so threatened on their own lands as they are at present. Amazonia is being disputed on various fronts. On the one hand, there is neo-extractivism and the pressure being exerted by great business interests that want to lay hands on its petroleum, gas, lumber, gold and forms of agro-industrial monocultivation. On the other hand, its lands are being threatened by the distortion of certain policies aimed at the conservation of nature without taking into account the men and women, specifically you, my Amazonian brothers and sisters, who inhabit it. We know of movements that, under the guise of preserving the forest, hoard great expanses of woodland and negotiate with them, leading to situations of oppression for the native peoples; as a result, they lose access to the land and its natural resources. These problems strangle her peoples and provoke the migration of the young due to the lack of local alternatives. We have to break with the historical paradigm that views Amazonia as an inexhaustible source of supplies for other countries without concern for its inhabitants.

I consider it essential to begin creating institutional expressions of respect, recognition and dialogue with the native peoples, acknowledging and recovering their native cultures, languages, traditions, rights and spirituality. An intercultural dialogue in which you yourselves will be the principal dialogue partners, especially when large projects affecting your land are proposed. Recognition and dialogue will be the best way to transform relationships whose history is marked by exclusion and discrimination.

Exploiting women who cry out to heaven

Whilst there are initiatives full of hope that seek to preserve the rights of indigenous people who are a living memory of the mission that God has entrusted to us all: the protection of our common home [. . .] there exists another devastating assault on life linked to this environmental contamination favoured by illegal mining. I am speaking of human trafficking: slave labour and sexual abuse. Violence against adolescents and against women cries out to heaven.

With respect to the Indigenous Peoples in Voluntary Isolation (PIAV), the Holy Father also said that they are the most defenceless, [. . .] the most vulnerable of the vulnerable. Their primitive lifestyle made them isolated even from their own ethnic groups; they went into seclusion in the most inaccessible reaches of the forest in order to live in freedom. Continue to defend these most vulnerable of our brothers and sisters. Their presence reminds us that we cannot use goods meant for all as consumerist greed dictates. Limits have to be set that can help preserve us from all plans for a massive destruction of the habitat that makes us who we are.

The recognition of these people  who can never be considered a minority, but rather authentic dialogue partners  as of all the native peoples, reminds us that we are not the absolute owners of creation. We need urgently to appreciate the essential contribution that they bring to society as a whole, and not reduce their cultures to an idealized image of a natural state, much less a kind of museum of a bygone way of life. Their cosmic vision and their wisdom, have much to teach those of us who are not part of their culture. All our efforts to improve the lives of the Amazonian peoples will prove too little.

Urging indigenous people to preserve their traditions, the pope said that in the face of the new forms of colonialism the family is, and always has been, the social institution that has most contributed to keeping our cultures alive. In moments of past crisis, in the face of various forms of imperialism, the families of the original peoples have been the best defence of life. Special care is demanded of us, lest we allow ourselves to be ensnared by ideological forms of colonialism, disguised as progress, that slowly but surely dissipate cultural identities and establish a uniform, single and weak way of thinking. Listen to the elderly. They possess a wisdom that puts them in contact with the transcendent and makes them see what is essential in life.

Francis also expressed appreciation for all those young men and women of the native peoples who are trying to create from their own standpoint a new anthropology, and working to reinterpret the history of their peoples from their own perspective.

Lastly, the pontiff turned his thoughts to the many missionaries, men and women, [who] have devoted themselves to your peoples and defended your cultures! They did so inspired by the Gospel. [. . .] Each culture and each worldview that receives the Gospel enriches the Church by showing a new aspect of Christs face.

After the meeting with indigenous people in Puerto Maldonado, the pontiff met the local population at a local educational institute, the Instituto Jorge Basadre. Noting that This area has a beautiful name: Madre de Dios, Mother of God, he forcefully added that theirs is not a land of orphans, but a land that has a Mother! And if it has a mother, it has sons and daughters, a family, a community. Where there is a mother, a family and a community, problems may not disappear, but we certainly find the strength to confront them differently.

It is painful to think that some want to reject this certainty and make Madre de Dios a nameless land, without children, a barren land. A place easy to commercialize and exploit.

A culture that only wants to consume

On a number of occasions, I have spoken of the throwaway culture. A culture that is not satisfied with exclusion, but advances by silencing, ignoring and throwing out everything that does not serve its interests; as if the alienating consumerism of some is completely unaware of the desperate suffering of others. It is an anonymous culture, without bonds, without faces. A motherless culture that only wants to consume. The earth is treated in accordance with this logic. Forests, rivers and streams are exploited mercilessly, then left barren and unusable. Persons are also treated in the same way: they are used until someone gets tired of them, then abandoned as useless.

Speaking of these things, allow me to bring up another painful subject. We have become accustomed to using the term human trafficking, but in truth we should speak of slavery: slavery for work, sexual slavery, slavery for profit. It is painful to see how in this land, which is under the protection of the Mother of God, so many women are devalued, denigrated and exposed to endless violence. Violence against women cannot be treated as normal, maintaining a culture of machismo blind to the leading role that women play in our communities. It is not right for us to look the other way and let the dignity of so many women, especially young women, be trampled upon.

As he urged people to resist False gods, the idols of avarice, money and power, [which] corrupt everything, the pontiff also encouraged them to continue organizing into movements and communities of every kind in order to help overcome these situations. I likewise encourage you to gather, as people of faith and vibrant ecclesial communities, around the person of Jesus. Through heartfelt prayer and hope-filled encounter with Christ, we will be able to attain the conversion that leads us to true life. Jesus promised us true life, authentic life, eternal life. Not a make-believe life, like the one offered by all those dazzling false promises; they promise life but lead us to death.

Finally, the last event of the day took place at the Hogar El Principito (The Little Prince House) for abandoned children. In his greetings, the pope said that Not long ago, we celebrated Christmas. Our hearts were touched by the image of the Child Jesus. He is our treasure. You children are his reflection, and you too are a treasure for all of us, the most precious treasure that we have, and one that we are called to guard. Forgive us those times when we adults have not cared for you, and when we did not give you the importance you deserve. Your faces, your lives constantly demand a greater commitment and effort on our part, lest we become blind or indifferent to all those other children who suffer and are in need. Without a doubt, you are the greatest treasure that is ours to care for.


(Ann Muse/Bigstock.com) (Ann Muse/Bigstock.com)

A desire to move the date of Australia Day, the national holiday commemorating the first British ships to arrive in 1788, has been lambasted as a minority view by a Government official.There has been a growing call for the date of the national day to be moved from 26 January but now Assistant Home Office Minister Alex Hawke has said firmly that it should not be moved and there is no general appetite for change.He described calls from the Greens political party for a change as an 'unrepresentative attempt to impose a far-left agenda on everyday Australians'. He went on to say that there is overwhelming support for no change, including among indigenous communities.'This small minority of Greens and their supporters continue to attack Australia Day 26 January as part of a greater political and ideological push. This is despite overwhelming support for Australia Day remaining 26 January including significant diversity of views in our indigenous community,' he said in a statement.'The Greens whole publicity stunt is shameless attention seeking at the expense of our national day and another example of why Australians should reject the divisive approach of the Greens. Australia Day 26 January is an important part of our history and it is vital for us to celebrate our incredible achievements as a nation, freedom, a fair go, mateship and diversity,' Hawke added.He pointed out that Australia Day is the most popular day of the year for people from overseas taking citizenship with hundreds of ceremonies all over the country. 'The Government expects to see record numbers of new Australians receiving their citizenship. Australia Day 26 January rightly remains the most popular day to have citizenship conferred. The Government is resolute in our commitment to safeguard the integrity of citizenship ceremonies to be held on our national day,' Hawke said.He also went on to say on radio that Australia Day should be seen as more than just the anniversary of when white people arrived. 'It wasn't an invasion, a planned invasion, it was colonisation by Britain. It had implications for Aboriginal Australians, there's no doubt about it,' he explained, adding that it should not be moved 'just because we have some elements of our history that we're not proud of'.In the past year Hawke has written warning letters to several local councils who voted to move their celebrations and citizenship ceremony from the contentious date. However, there is growing support for a change with supporters arguing that 26 January represents the beginning of the colonisation of Australia and the suppression of indigenous people.Greens party leader Richard di Natale is asking local party members to push for change at a council level. 'All Australians want a day on which we can come together and to celebrate our wonderfully diverse, open and free society but January 26 is not that day. It's time that we stop papering over an issue that for 200 years has been so divisive and painful for so many of our citizens,' he said.Megan Davis, a law professor at the University of New South Wales and a member of the Referendum Council which has published an Uluru statement for constitutional recognition of Indigenous Australians, has said there should be a more open debate about this part of Australia's history.Last year, councils in Fremantle, Yarra and Darebin, which all feature Greens representatives, voted to shift their citizenship ceremonies and Australia Day celebrations to another day, which led to a swift and hostile response from the Government, including Prime Minister Bill Turnbull.
Australia doesn't recognise or allow polygamy so you would not be able to declare two spouses. Unless your 2nd wife qualifies for an independent visas such as her own 189, I can't think of any way she can get a visa. She would not meet any criteria as your dependent so you cannot sponsor her.



In fact, since you'd need to be able to prove either wife was your genuine partner to the exclusion of all others , you may struggle to include either in your application.
VIDEO: Lowering State-Law BAC Thresholds

State governments can adopt a number of strategies to reduce alcohol-related crashes, according to a new report, including lowering the DWI blood alcohol concentration (BAC) threshold from .08 to .05 percent and raising alcohol taxes.

A committee of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine conducted the study at the request of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Other report recommendations include strengthening policies to prevent alcohol sales to people under 21 and to adults who are already intoxicated, requiring ignition interlocks for all DWI offenders, and making effective treatment available to all offenders.

More than 10,000 alcohol-impaired driving fatalities occur in the U.S. each year, despite progress in recent decades. All 50 states currently have a BAC threshold of .08 percent in place. In 2017, however, Utah passed a law lowering the limit to .05 percent. That state law takes effect Dec. 30.

The committees report asserts that a drivers ability to safely operate a motor vehicle begins to deteriorate at low levels of BAC. The report cites studies showing that adopting a .05 percent BAC limit can markedly reduce road deaths tied to alcohol-impaired driving. Countries that have such a lower threshold include Austria, Denmark and Japan.

The report also recommends that the federal government create incentives for states to lower the BAC limit. Moreover, strong media and enforcement campaigns should accompany such policy changes, according to the report.

The plateauing fatality rates indicate that what has been done to decrease deaths from alcohol-impaired driving has been working but is no longer sufficient to reverse this growing public health problem, said committee chair Steven Teutsch, an adjunct professor at UCLA Fielding School of Public Health and a senior fellow at the Public Health Institute. Our report offers a comprehensive blueprint to reinvigorate commitment and calls for systematic implementation of policies, programs, and systems changes to renew progress and save lives.

Additional report recommendations include:

State and local limitations on alcohol availability, including restrictions on the number of on- and off-premise outlets and the days and hours of alcohol sales

Stronger federal, state and local standards for alcohol marketing content

Sobriety checkpoints to identify and arrest alcohol-impaired drivers

State DWI courts that specialize in changing offender behavior through monitoring and substance abuse treatment

Municipality support for alternative transportation

Further development of Driver Alcohol Detection System for Safety (DADSS) technology.

Last month, National Transportation Safety Board member T. Bella Dinh-Zarr urged employers with motor vehicle fleets to publicly support legislative efforts to lower BAC thresholds to .05 percent.

Many peer-reviewed studies have shown that such a law would prevent impaired-driving crashes, Dinh-Zarr wrote in a blog. While commercial drivers already are required to comply with a .04 BAC limit, employers can be an important influence in the lives of their employees, as well as in the communities in which they operate, by educating their employees and spreading the word about the effectiveness of a .05 BAC law.

On average since 1982, one-third of all traffic deaths are attributed to alcohol-impaired driving, and nearly 40 percent of alcohol-impaired driving fatalities are victims other than the drinking driver, according to the National Academies of Sciences report.

Click here to download the report. To view a video about the recommendations, click on the photo or link below the headline.
Middle East ride-hailing service Careem is looking to hire women drivers, known as Captainahs, Arab News reported.

Women in Saudi Arabia were given the right to drive in September 2017. Photo via Tribes of the World/Flickr

Careem Eastern Province General Manager Iyad Aldalooj told the news source that his companys goal is to recruit and register more than 10,000 Captainahs in preparation to launch a service specifically for women and families.

Women were given the right to drive in September 2017 after a royal decree by King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud reversed the long-standing ban.

Careem offers a fixed salary, bonuses, and discounts with corporate partners.
Pets, Pets, Pets According to a study published in the April 2021 journal Psychological Science, dogs act jealously even when they dont see their competition. Our pups share our homes and seem to...

Pets, Pets, Pets Some rescues are meant to be. Two kittens- Laura from Lynbrook and Matt from Manhattan  are named after the person(s) who saved them and set them on course toward...
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Bartow Police have arrested three suspects believed to be involved in the beating and shooting of an elderly Bartow man on Jan. 15, and theyre working to arrest more.

One suspect a juvenile from Winter Haven

Tip, info from multiple sources led to arrests



Suspects believed to members of a gang



Two of the suspects arrested are juveniles - ages 17 and 15. The other was 19 year old Stanley Smith, of Lake Wales.

The three have been charged with aggravated battery on a person 65 years old or older, robbery with a firearm, and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.

Surveillance video in the area, a tip from a probation officer, and interviews with some people who knew the suspects led Bartow Police to arrest them.

I just think youre talking about a group of individual thugs who made a decision to go out on the weekend and see how many crimes they could commit, said Chief Joe Hall.

Hall believes they may be in a gang. He believes they were in a stolen car at the time of the crime. Investigators said the three may also be involved in other crimes around Polk County.

Detectives arent sure who was the shooter.

We are still piecing that together," said Det. Jason Griffith. "At this point, its kind of some 'he said she said.'



Investigators said the juvenile had a lengthy criminal record, including "possession of firearm by a delinquent, burglaries, thefts and so forth, according to Griffith.

The elderly man was walking with an 88-year-old woman in Mosaic Park at the time. She said shes relieved they were caught.

Its good they got them. I think they should be punished," said the woman, who asked we not use her name in our story. "Especially the one who fired the shots. He definitely should do enough time to grow old to know whats he done and what he couldve done."

Her friend who was shot was released from the hospital Jan. 17, just three days after the incident. He said he felt blessed and was glad there were some arrests.

"In the 35 years that I've been doing this particular job, I don't think I've seen as many cases as we've seen in the last three years of juvenile that we've seen here in the Polk county area," Hall said. "I'm not talking about property crime, I'm talking about violent crimes. This was violent crime."
A fearless 18-year-old from Bradenton is getting some international attention from his YouTube video, asking one of the most famous people on the planet to his senior prom.

Dayton Modderman, 18, asked Taylor Swift to his senior prom

Watch his YouTube video invitation here

Video has been viewed more than 50,000 times

On the court, hes first string.

In class, hes on the A-Team.

But now, Bradenton Christian School Senior Dayton Modderman has his eyes on the end game.

"I've always wanted to take her to prom since my freshman year," Modderman said.

Over the years, Modderman has earned a reputation for his love of Taylor Swift. Hes been to the concerts, has his own social media fan accounts, and even got to meet the superstar at a secret album listening session.

Yup -- he got to meet her! (Photo courtesy: Dayton Modderman)

"Meeting her in person really shows you who she really is, and she's down to earth and so kind hearted," Modderman said.

Modderman is now taking his fandom one step further, with a two minute-long "prom-posal."

His video has been viewed more than 50,000 times on YouTube, and hes been noticed by media outlets around the world.

Daytons allegiance goes beyond the lyrics. He said Taylor has helped him shake off some of the tough times.

"I remember something she said at her concert. 'You are not the opinion of someone who doesn't know you or doesn't like you,'" Modderman said.

In his wildest dreams, Modderman said he sees a prom filled with dinner, dancing, and tons of pictures. The idea may be a long shot, but its one hes always willing to take.

"I'm not going to pout if she doesn't come," Modderman said. "I'm just going to remember that I had so much fun making this video and with all the people that helped me made it even more special, but anything could happen!"



So if youre seeing this Taylor, the invitation has a blank space and Dayton would love to write in your name.

Daytons Prom is at the end of April.
Three state government-managed programs aimed at helping Floridians who are behind on their mortgage payments will end on January 31.

Applications for HHF programs ending must be submitted by end of January

As of Dec. 31, 2017, 48,584 families receiving assistance through HHF funds

For more information: www.flhardesthithelp.org

The Florida Housing Finance Corporation says it will close three Florida Hardest-Hit Fund (HHF) programs. Applications for the Unemployment Mortgage Assistance Program, Mortgage Loan Reinstatement Program, and Principal Reduction Program must be completed on or before the end of January.



The Unemployment Mortgage Assistance Program (UMAP), provides up to 12 months of payments (with a cap of $24,000) to assist homeowners who are unemployed, underemployed or have suffered a financial hardship due to death, divorce or disability. As of Dec. 2017, 19,432 Floridians utilized the program.



The Mortgage Loan Reinstatement Program (MLRP), provides up to $25,000 assistance to reinstate a delinquent mortgage. The Principal Reduction Program (PR) provides up to a $50,000 principal reduction for homeowners who are underwater on their mortgage.



Although these programs were originally scheduled to end in 2020, we are able to distribute these funds well ahead of schedule, said Trey Price, Executive Dir. for Florida Housing.

One family's story



As of December 31, 2017, Florida Housing reported 48,584 Florida families receiving assistance through the Hardest Hit Programs.

Mildred Holton of Lakeland is one of those Floridians receiving aid. After the death of her husband, Holton was left struggling to make her mortgage payments.

"I was struggling," Holton said. "I mean, really struggling."

In 2016, things got much worse after her children moved out of the home. She fell over a year behind on her payments, and her health declined at the same time.

Unable to work after two hip replacements, she desperately looked for help, and one day it came in the mail from Florida's Hardest Hit Fund.

"This came out of nowhere," Holton said. "My approval letter came it said in June, but it came in May. I was just jumping up and down. You shouldve seen me."



The fund approved Holton to receive nearly $15,000 in the form of a loan to cover back mortgage payments, as well as cover mortgage payments for one year going forward. The zero-interest, deferred-payment loan will be forgiven as long as Holton stays in the home for five and a half years.

It was just, its a gift," Holton said. "And I hope more people can benefit from it. I certainly have and Im just grateful for it.

The US Department of Treasury allocated $1.135 billion to Floridas Hardest Hit Fund in 2010 in order to help the state resolve its housing crisis. Florida Housing has released 92.19 percent of those funds to Floridian homeowners.

For more information, head to www.flhardesthithelp.org or www.principalreductionflhhf.org.



The Tampa Bay Community Development Corporation is assisting people fill out applications. Call 727-442-7075 for more information.
There will be no special elections for Pinellas or Pasco counties in the wake of Sen. Jack Latvala stepping down.

That means that about 500,000 voters who live in those areas will not be represented in the Florida Senate until fall.

Latvala resigned in December amid an FDLE investigation into sexual misconduct allegations.

A longtime Republican lawmaker from Pinellas County, Latvala was accused of making inappropriate comments and unwanted physical contact against a female Senate staff member over a period of four years.

One of the major questions after his resignation was who would replace him in the 16th District.

On Thursday, Gov. Rick Scott announced there would be no special election for Latvala's seat.

The governor said that the $1 million price tag for a special election was too high and it makes sense to leave the seat vacant until November, when there would be an election anyway due to Latvala's term limits.

Latvala's resignation took effect Jan. 5.
Florida hasn't been taken off the table yet for an expansion of offshore oil drilling, according to testimony Friday by a Trump administration official.

"We have no formal decision yet on whats in, or out, of the five-year program," said Walter Cruickshank, the Trump administrations director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, to a House Natural Resources Committee panel.

So theres been no decision to exempt Florida? asked Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.).

The secretarys statement stands for itself, Cruickshank responded.

Rep. Darren Soto (D-Florida), whose district includes parts of Orlando area, Kissimmee and Winter Haven, then asked him to clarify what he meant by the secretarys statement stands on its own.

By stand on its own,' ... its not an official action, is that what you mean? Soto asked.

It is not a formal action, no, Cruickshank responded.

Last week, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke met with Florida Gov. Rick Scott in Tallahassee, and afterward announced that drilling off the coast of the state would be "off the table" from the administration's plans to expand offshore drilling in the Atlantic, Pacific and Arctic oceans.

The plan was met with bipartisan opposition. Although Scott hasn't made a formal announcement, he's thought to be eyeing a Senate run this year.
State wildlife officials plan to euthanize the 12-foot, 80 pound reticulated albino python found near a Siesta Key dock earlier this week.

FWC to euthanize 12-foot python found in Siesta Key

Necropsy to be performed on snake to see what it has been eating

Resident saw body of python floating near his dock

FWC: no evidence of this species living in Florida

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officials plan to perform a necropsy on the snake to see what it has been eating.

Resident Joe Volpe said he received a call from a neighbor alerting him to a large reptile in the water by his dock.

When he went to investigate, he saw the body of a large python floating in the water with its head submerged. Volpe said he initially thought the snake was dead.

But he only realized the magnitude of the situation when he placed the snake down by the dock. It stretched to more than 4 yards and weighed about 80 pounds.

Then it started to move, and Volpe put it into a closed container before calling a wildlife rescue expert for help.

Florida Fish and Wildlife officials say there's no evidence of this species of python -- called "reticulated pythons" -- living in the state, so it's likely a pet that either escaped or was released.

In Florida, a special permit is required to own a reticulated python, and with that permit comes the requirement to notify FWC if one escapes.
New Oregon Coast Warnings: Stay off Beaches for Entire Weekend

Published 01/19/2018 at 4:15 AM PDT - Updated 01/19/2018 at 4:35 AM PDT

By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff





(Oregon Coast)  Thursday's storm surges and tidal damage were likely historic, and it's not quite over with yet. More surf warnings have been issued.

Some areas of the Oregon coast experienced waves 50 to 60 feet high marauding up the beaches, and it's quite possible this was the worst tidal surge storm on record for the region in terms of harm to humans. One person is dead and at least two were injured and sent to the hospital. (Above: damage to Kyllo's Restaurant in Lincoln City, courtesy North Lincoln Fire and Rescue).

For a roundup of surf damage and incidents, see the companion article.

The other big headline coming out of Thursday's tidal melee is the National Weather Service (NWS) has issued more warnings about staying off the beaches, with Lincoln City fire chief Jim Kusz even urging everyone stay off the beaches for the entire weekend.

A new high surf warning is in effect from Thursday night through 3 p.m. Friday, with large ocean swells still topping 23 feet overnight, but subsiding slightly to a little above 20 feet in the afternoon.

A High Surf Advisory means that high surf will affect beaches in the advisory area, producing rip currents and localized beach erosion, the NWS said. It can be very dangerous to venture near the coast under high surf conditions. People at times are swept off rocks and jetties and drown while observing high surf. Stay well back from the waters edge and be alert for the exceptionally high wave.

Kusz is correct in warning people to remain off all the danger spots for the weekend. High waves will remain around 20 feet through Sunday, only subsiding a little to around 17 feet on Monday and Tuesday.



Above: Cape Kiwanda gets inundated by massive waves over the top on Thursday, courtesy Oregon State Parks.

Just as on Thursday, stay off all beaches for the weekend, as well as low-lying parking areas, such as those in the Nelscott District in Lincoln City where surf overran the streets  although these have not been officially completely closed. Many beach accesses have been closed off by Oregon Parks and Recreation, but the public is urged to stay clear of any lower parking area that hasn't been officially closed.

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Several beaches on the Oregon coast were shut down Thursday, with no word on when they will reopen. Giant waves crashing over the top of Cape Kiwanda shuttered that access.

Other areas closed because of high surf were Oceanside, Lincoln City's D River Wayside and Road's End, the South Jetty at Newport, Boiler Bay Scenic Viewpoint, and the west Heceta Head Lighthouse State Scenic Viewpoint parking area south of Yachats.

If one thing can be learned during this week's storm surges is that the public is not listening to these warnings as they should. The injuries and fatality are one prime example, but even the plethora of storm videos show people putting themselves in unwise situations. Oregon Coast Hotels for this - Where to eat - Maps - Virtual Tours









Storm surge photos below courtesy Seaside Aquarium.







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Video: Damage, Injuries on Oregon Coast Extensive; One Death

Published 01/19/2018 at 3:12 AM PDT - Updated 01/19/2018 at 4:02 AM PDT

By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff

(Oregon Coast)  It's entirely possible Thursday's massive ocean swells were the worst in recent history for the Oregon coast for tidal surge, both in damage to buildings and harm to people. (Photo above: log pierces the oceanfront Sandcastle Motel in Lincoln City, courtesy North Lincoln Fire and Rescue).

Meanwhile, high surf warnings to stay off the beaches remain, and the public is advised to stay off them through the weekend.

It doesn't help that the people weren't listening, either, in spite of the most publicized set of storm warnings ever for the Oregon coast.

Waves as high as 60 feet in some places pummeled the beaches, resulting in evacuated businesses, destroyed property, one death and at least two injuries.

A roundup of storm incidents (including videos and links to videos):

The biggest tragedy on the Oregon coast was the man living in Newport who was swept into the surf at Depoe Bay. The man, who was in his 40s, went beyond the seawall to get a closer look at the Spouting Horn around 11:30 a.m. and was sucked in. Emergency crews and the U.S. Coast Guard searched for him the entire afternoon but gave up after sundown. He is presumed dead.

Huge waves caused damage to several oceanfront buildings and injured two.

Both the Sea Gypsy Rentals and the Sandcastle Motel were hit by waves, along with Kyllo's Restaurant - all in Lincoln City. The Sandcastle and other buildings were evacuated, while the Sea Gypsy experienced a massive wave punching through one of the units, knocking over a woman in her 70s. She was taken to the hospital and released, later describing her ordeal on regional television stations.

Kyllo's, next to the Sea Gypsy, had a natural gas pipe severed by waves and debris and it too was evacuated.

North Lincoln Fire and Rescue (NLFR) responded to each incident.

Estimated damages will be well over a million dollars combined to all the businesses, not to mention the loss of revenue from not being open, NLFR said on its Facebook page.

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In spite of clear warnings, four women began wandering the beach at the Road's End district, when all were hit by a giant wave. One of them received leg injuries and was sent to the hospital.

In Cape Disappointment, Washington, waves shoved massive logs into an enormous pile of debris, seen in a video taken by a Pacific Northwest photographer.

1-18-18 After checking the surf at Indian, took a stop over at the main parking lot to see what was hitting the Tillamook Head Lighthouse.... quick video, wind was howling, got pushed around by it, but wow! Here is a link to KATU's report on the Oregon Coast, Cannon Beach was featured, and some of our pictures from Cannon Beach Fire & Rescue was used! Good job Chief Benedict on the interview. http://katu.com/news/local/oregon-coast-braces-for-winter-storm-warnings-issued Posted by Cannon Beach Surf on Thursday, January 18, 2018

Other spectacular videos showed towering waves coming over Cape Kiwanda (which is itself at least 50 feet high) as well as waves over 100 feet tall erupting over the Tillamook Rock Lighthouse offshore from Cannon Beach and Seaside.

At Seaside, some waves made it to the Turnaround, which is normally a good 500 feet from the tideline.

Cape Kiwanda Jan. 18. Very dangerous high surf and waves today. View from a safe distance. This video clip shows waves breaking over the top of Cape Kiwanda. Oceanside Wayside is now closed because the high surf is entering the parking area. Posted by Oregon State Parks on Thursday, January 18, 2018

In Yachats and Neskowin, plenty of videos showed waves topping over the clifftops and splashing homes or at least surging through yards. In Cannon Beach, the home of musician Maggie Kitson sits back quite a ways over the bluffs, but heavy seas managed to surge over the dunes and into her backyard.

The north Oregon coast fared better, with no significant damage reported so far. Nehalem streets were flooded for awhile, a buoy for measuring wave height was found on a north coast beach, and one man in Rockaway Beach recorded a particularly nasty encounter with a sneaker wave that came over the dunes and soaked him. Oregon Coast Lodgings for this - Where to eat - Maps - Virtual Tours







Photos below courtesy Seaside Aquarium:





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Kirbyville CISD superintendent Tommy Wallis has appealed a court's decision to release documents about his tenure at Bryan ISD, arguing that they contain evaluations of his performance that are required to be kept confidential.

Wallis has spent the last year fighting the release of documents related to his time as superintendent and contentious departure from the district in response to records requests from Bryan-College Station area media. Judge Tim Sulak ruled last month that most documents requested, including emails and self-evaluation forms, must be released.

In the appeal, filed in Travis County's 345th District Court last week, Wallis' lawyers argue that Sulak's ruling conflicts with the Texas Education Code.

Attorney Neal Adams specifically addresses "The Binder," which he says was compiled for the Bryan ISD board of trustees and includes a performance assessment of Wallis and exhibits related to the evaluation.

"The Binder plainly concerns complaints about Dr. Wallis, reflects a judgment regarding Dr. Wallis, and proposes/directs corrective action," Adams wrote, calling it an "evaluative" document.

The Texas Education Code mandates that "a document evaluating the performance of a teacher or administrator is confidential and is not subject to disclosure."

The appeal halts the release of the documents until the motion is addressed.

Wallis was hired by Kirbyville CISD in March 2017, seven months after he was forced to resign from Bryan ISD. He sued the Attorney General's Office and Bryan ISD in January 2017 to keep the requested documents confidential.

His history was called into question after high school principal Dennis Reeves killed himself in the school's parking lot on May 23 after he was confronted by Wallis and an assistant superintendent about an alleged affair with a secretary.

A document leaked after Reeves' death accused Wallis of more than a dozen alleged ethics violations while in Bryan, including trying to circumvent policy to alter salaries, using district resources to apply for other jobs, making inappropriate comments about staff members and students and interfering with the process for choosing an insurance vendor.

Wallis' lawyers did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

LTeitz@BeaumontEnterprise.com

Twitter.com/LizTeitz
The Supreme Court has denied a former Hardin County judge candidate's request to run for Jefferson County District Attorney.

David Bellow filed last month to run for District Attorney on the Republican ballot. According to a petition filed at the Supreme Court of Texas two weeks ago, he was ruled ineligible by the Jefferson County Republican Party on Dec. 15 because he is not a licensed attorney.

District Attorney Bob Wortham, who Bellow would challenge in November's general election if he remained on the ballot, sent a letter to Republican Party Chair Garrett Peel on Dec. 15, writing that Bellow is ineligible under the Texas Government Code.

In his petition, Bellow alleged that Peel is required to put his name on the ballot and argued that he is eligible to be a candidate despite not meeting the qualifications to hold the office.

Bellow ran unsuccessfully for Hardin County judge in 2014 and for a Hardin County Commissioner's Court seat in 2010 and listed a post office box in Lumberton as his public mailing address when he filed for the DA election last month.

Wortham accused Bellow of running only "to get attention."

"He's not a lawyer and no one's going to grant that, he's not qualified for the position," he said.

Bellow was indicted last January on a third-degree felony charge of stalking. He was accused of placing an illegal tracking device on his estranged wife's vehicle in March 2016. That charge was dropped in November.

He was indicted in June 2016 on a charge of aggravated perjury related to the same tracking device. In December, he filed motions alleging prosecutorial misconduct and asking for Wortham to be removed from the case and replaced by a special prosecutor.

LTeitz@BeaumontEnterprise.com

Twitter.com/LizTeitz
The Kountze Police Department has issued an arrest warrant for a 29-year-old man who officers allege stole laptop computers and Chrome tablets from Kountze Elementary School.

The department identified the suspect on Facebook as J.D. Kinzie. Kinzie is wanted on a state felony charge of burglary of a building, according to the post.
Kashmiris protest in Srinagar after more than 100 women said they were attacked by masked men who sliced off their braids, Oct. 16, 2017.

The Indian government not only failed to stop Hindu vigilantism against religious minorities in 2017, but police frequently filed complaints against victims of such attacks, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said Thursday in releasing its annual report.

The U.S.-based global rights watchdog also took aim at the Philippines for President Rodrigo Dutertes war on drugs that left thousands dead, and Bangladesh for failing to respond to allegations of enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings. Not all was negative for Bangladesh, as HRW offered praise for its handling of the Rohingya refugee influx.

HRWs World Report 2018 gauged the human rights climate last year in 90 countries.

In India, HRW blamed extremist Hindu groups who claim to be associated with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) with committing assaults against Muslims and other minorities over rumors they sold, bought, or killed cows for beef. In 2017, 10 people were killed in at least 38 attacks, while, in some cases, police charged victims for violating laws banning the slaughter of cows.

Indian authorities have proven themselves unwilling to protect minority religious communities and other vulnerable groups from frequent attack, said Meenakshi Ganguly, HRWs South Asia director. There needs to be a serious effort to prevent future attacks and to prosecute all those responsible for the violence.

In August 2017, the nations Supreme Court declared there was a fundamental right to privacy and free speech under the constitution, HRW noted. Despite that declaration, Indian authorities brought sedition and criminal defamation charges against academics, activists and journalists who expressed views critical of the government and its policies.

In addition to vigilante attacks, HRW reported 42 militant attacks in Jammu and Kashmir state that killed 184 people, including 44 security force personnel in the first 10 months of 2017.

In May, the army gave a commendation to an officer who used a bystander unlawfully as a human shield to evacuate security personnel and election staff from a mob in Jammu and Kashmirs Budgam district, the report stated.

HRW also blamed the government for failing to review and repeal the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, which gives soldiers who commit violations effective immunity from prosecution.

An eyewitness concealing his identity gestures during a Philippine senate investigation in Manila into the death of Kian Loyd Delos Santos, a 17-year-old student who was killed in an alleged drug crackdown, Sept. 5, 2017. (AP)

Philippines

In the Philippines, HRW described the rights situation in the Southeast Asian nation as having deteriorated gravely under President Duterte.

Duterte has plunged the Philippines into its worst human rights crisis since the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos in the 1970s and 1980s, the watchdog stated in opening the Philippines section of its 643-page annual report.

While the government claimed that 3,906 suspected dealers and users were killed from July 1, 2016, when Duterte took office, until Sept. 26, 2017, HRW said that by adding in those killed by unidentified gunmen, the death toll was closer to 12,000.

Police have planted guns, spent ammunition, and drug packets on victims bodies to implicate them in drug activities, HRW reported. Masked gunmen taking part in killings appeared to be working closely with police, casting doubt on government claims that most killings have been committed by vigilantes or rival drug gangs.

HRW also blamed Duterte and other officials for reviling and humiliating rights activists. One of Dutertes chief critics, Sen. Leila de Lima, has been jailed since February 2017 in apparent retaliation for leading a senate inquiry into his administrations war on illegal drugs.

Since Duterte will never undertake a serious investigation into the war on drugs, its up to the United Nations to support an international investigation and bring the mass killings to a stop. HRW deputy Asia director Phelim Kine said in a press release.

Speaking at a public event on Thursday, Duterte took a shot at his critics for claiming police had killed thousands of dealers and addicts.

They always claim that, look Duterte killed these people, the Philippine president said. One said 10,000. If that is true, then funeral parlors are already rich. Thats too many.

You did not know the extent of the drug problem in the country until I became president, he said. You would not know that police generals are involved if I had not become president. You did not know that Manila police were involved. But not all of them.

On several occasions in 2017, Duterte blamed police generals, mayors and village officials for being involved in the drug trade.

A Bangladeshi police officer fires tear gas at demonstrators protesting against plans to build a coal-fired power plant, in Dhaka, Jan. 26, 2017. (AP)

Bangladesh

HRW said Bangladesh had a long history of serious violations including arbitrary arrests, torture, enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings  a pattern that did not abate in 2017. The report specifically targeted the polices Detective Branch, Bangladesh Border Guard, the Directorate General Forces Inspectorate and the Rapid Action Battalion.

Law enforcement authorities continued to arrest opposition activists and militant suspects, holding them in secret detention for long periods before producing some in court. Several others, according to security forces, were killed in gunfights, leading to concerns over extrajudicial killings. At time of writing, scores remained victims of enforced disappearances, HRW stated.

The annual report follows a July 2017 HRW report slamming Bangladesh for forced disappearances  it documented more than 300 since 2009.

At the time, HRW recommended inviting the U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, as well as the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances and other relevant organizations, to visit Bangladesh to investigate and make appropriate recommendations to ensure justice and accountability.

HRW, however, praised Bangladesh for its handling of 655,000 Rohingya who crossed the Myanmar border since August 2017, but the watchdog expressed concern over government plans to move the refugees to uninhabitable islands or to return them to Myanmar without citizenship rights and protections.

Bangladesh deserves credit for not forcibly returning Rohingya refugees, and for doing what it can with strained resources to provide safety for them for the time being, HRW Asia Director Brad Adams said in a news release.

At the same time HRW released its annual report, Yanghee Lee, the U.N.s special rapporteur on the human rights situation in Myanmar, arrived in Bangladesh after the Myanmar government had refused to work with her.

I am determined to carry on  to the best of my ability  this very important task of helping the victims of human rights violations and abuses in Myanmar, as mandated to me by the United Nations system, Lee said about her trip. She will be in Bangladesh until Jan. 24 and then travel to Thailand.

By not giving me access to Myanmar and by refusing to cooperate with the mandate, my task is made that much more difficult, but I will continue to obtain first-hand accounts from victims and witnesses of human rights violations by all means possible, including by visiting neighboring countries where some have fled, she said.

Lee will visit Dhaka and refugee camps and settlements near Coxs Bazar district to meet with refugees and community leaders.

Felipe Villamor in Manila contributed to this report.
About 500 Rohingya refugees staged protests Friday at a camp in southeastern Bangladesh to air concerns about their safety and other questions tied to a government plan to repatriate thousands of their people to Myanmar.

The two demonstrations  the first of their kind  took place at the sprawling Kutupalong refugee camp in Coxs Bazar district while Rohingya leaders visited camps to post a list of 21 pre-conditions they want the government to meet before refugees would agree to be repatriated voluntarily.

These demands include that the stateless people be given Myanmar citizenship. Listed on banners, the 21-points were formulated by a new group, the Rohingya Rights Establishment Committee, sources in Coxs Bazar told BenarNews.

We appeal to Bangladesh, the U.N. and the international community not to repatriate us without securing our citizenship. If we get citizenship, we can get our houses and property back and compensation for the loss of lives and wealth, Abdul Khaleq, a Rohingya leader at the Madhuchhara camp in Kutupalong, told BenarNews.

Otherwise, we will be thrown into the bay, said Khaleq, who was involved in framing the 21-point list.

The list was circulated as officials from Bangladesh and Myanmar moved to implement a bilateral agreement signed on Nov. 23 to repatriate about 700,000 Rohingya refugees from southeastern Bangladesh to Rakhine, a state in Myanmar that borders Coxs Bazar.

Two brief demonstrations took place on Friday  one at block-B/3 and the other at block E/3 at the Kutupalong camps in Ukhia. I have talked to the protesters about their demands. They protested against the government plan to repatriate them without ensuring their safety and security in Rakhine, Nur Khan Liton, the former director of a leading Bangladeshi human rights NGO, Ain-O-Shalish Kendra, said in an interview from Coxs Bazar.

They want to return to Rakhine; they are not against the repatriation. But their first demand is: Myanmar must announce granting them citizenship, and ensure their civil rights in Rakhine, Liton said.

A banner listing 21 pre-conditions made by a Rohingya group for the repatriation of refugees to Myanmar is seen at the Kutupalong camp in Ukhia, in Bangladeshs Coxs Bazar district, Jan. 19, 2018. (Tushar Tohin/BenarNews)

Voluntary, safe and with dignity

At least 655,000 Rohingya fled from an outbreak of violence and a brutal military crackdown in Rakhine, which started in late August 2017 following attacks on government security posts by a Rohingya insurgent group. Overall, about 1 million Rohingya refugees are sheltering in Bangladesh, including those who fled earlier waves of violence in Rakhine.

Liton said the demonstrators want to return to Rakhine under the protection of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). They also want assurances that returnees be taken to a safe zone under the auspices of the United Nations before going back to their home villages.

They also demand that the Myanmar authorities must give them compensation for destroying their houses and other property, and try the perpetrators committing killings, rape, arson and other crimes against humanity, Liton added. He was referring to widespread allegations that Myanmar security forces and militiamen in Rakhine carried out atrocities against Rohingya civilians, including the burning of villages.

Bangladeshi police and government officials on Friday denied any demonstrations had taken place at the Kutupalong camp in Ukhia, a sub-district of Coxs Bazar.

Bangladeshi State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam said the first group of refugees would begin returning to Myanmar early next month.

The repatriation would be voluntary, safe and with dignity, he told BenarNews.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the border, government officials told the Myanmar Service of Radio Free Asia (RFA), a sister entity of BenarNews, that they were handling paperwork for more than 700 Muslims and 400 Hindu refugees from Rakhine who had applied to return home.

About 1,100 Muslims and Hindus who lost their houses in fires informed us they want to come back. We have already checked their names and photos and asked Bangladesh to send their application forms, but we havent received the completed forms yet, said Myint Kyaing, permanent secretary at Myanmars Ministry of Labor, Immigration and Population.

Set of demands

In Coxs Bazar, District Deputy Commissioner Ali Hossain said he had not seen or obtained a copy of the 21-point list, which was circulated and posted at the Kutuplaong, Balukhali, Jamtoli and Thaingkhali, and Leda refugee camps and settlements in the area.

We will investigate who set up the boards, he told BenarNews.

Apart from a guarantee of citizenship, the pre-conditions for repatriation, as listed by the committee, include civil rights, freedom of movement, as well as rights to religion and education be guaranteed for Rohingya, and that perpetrators of atrocities against the minority group be arrested and put on trial.

The 21-point list is similar to recommendations made last year by the Rakhine State Advisory Commission, which was headed by former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan. The Annan Commission recommended that Myanmar grant citizenship to the Rohingya and ensure their civil rights as a solution for easing long-running inter-communal tensions in Rakhine state.

We support the demands. We must be given our civil rights back. Otherwise, we will not go back, Abdul Hakim, another leader of a Rohingya refugee camp, told BenarNews.
More than 200 Filipino journalists came out Friday in a show of unity for press freedom in their country, as they protested in public against a government move to shutter Rappler, a popular news website.

Wearing black and carrying signs with slogans such as Defend Press Freedom, the journalists held a peaceful rally in Manila to denounce what they described as President Rodrigo Dutertes crackdown on media and to warn that, if unchallenged, he was leading the Philippines toward dictatorship.

Press freedom and freedom of expression stand side-by-side with the peoples right to know, said Filipino journalist Malou Mangahas, who heads the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism.

If there is no free press, there would be no complete coverage of critical issues that the public need to know, she said, adding, This is a story of the Filipino people wanting to free itself from abridgements of [the] freedom of the press.

Simultaneous protests took place at other sites on Friday, and media groups here and elsewhere in the region sent messages of solidarity for the Filipino press, which is considered to be one of the freest in Asia since dictator Ferdinand Marcos was ousted in 1986.

During Marcos rule, newspapers and news outlets were shut down and journalists were jailed, while thousands of activists went missing and were believed killed. Marcos and his family were accused of plundering state coffers as the rest of the country wallowed in abject poverty.

Mangahas warned that the local press faced more problems under Dutertes rule, with more than 50 Catholic radio stations, which have criticized his administrations deadly war on illegal drugs, facing a likely shutdown by Congress controlled by the presidents allies. Under Philippine law, broadcast franchises are granted by the House of Representatives.

The Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines, one of the first media organizations to back Rappler, said it supported the rally and vowed to stand the line.

The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP), which led the Black Friday protest, said the recent closure order proved that Duterte would stop at nothing to shut down critical voices.

We cannot allow this to happen, the group said, likening Dutertes move to the Marcos dictatorship.

No attempt to muzzle the free press

The protest came days after the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) slapped a closure order on Rappler, accusing it of partly being owned by foreigners who hold Philippine depository receipts (PDRs) issued by the news website. The SEC charged that this was a violation of a constitutional provision that called for full Filipino ownership of media outlets.

Rappler contends that issuing PDRs did not mean that the American groups  the U.S.-based Omidyar Network and North Base Media  were allowed to dictate the websites editorial policies. It said the two firms were only holders of PDRs, the same investment instrument that other Filipino firms, including the Philippines biggest networks, have used.

Duterte has backed the SEC ruling, and accused Rappler of peddling fake news. The president insisted the issue was not about press freedom but about the firms flaunting of the law on ownership.

On Friday, Duterte spokesman Martin Andanar said the government was not clamping down on democracy. He pointed out journalists were allowed to protest in the streets that same day.

Well, the fact that the NUJP can freely speak like that and they are allowed to rally and to peacefully assemble and express their opinions and feelings is proof that there is no attempt to muzzle the free press, Andanar told government radio.

The issue of Rappler is plainly a legal issue, that the Securities and Exchange Commission has seen them commit a violation of the constitution, he said. Its purely a corporate legal matter.

Felipe Villamor in Manila contributed to this report.
Maj. Gen. Ittipol Ittisarnronnachai, deputy commander of Immigration Bureau police, discusses the arrest of Mohammad Iqbal, a Pakistani citizen, during a news conference in Bangkok, Jan. 19, 2018.

Thai officials on Friday said they had arrested a Pakistani man who allegedly counterfeited passports for customers mainly from Middle East countries, including some criminals and others possibly linked to a terrorist organization.

Mohammad Iqbal, 52, was arrested Sunday in suburban Bangkok and charged with forgery, Immigration Police Commander Lt. Gen. Suttipong Vongpint told reporters.

Police said Iqbal had three fake Singaporean passports and an Indian passport, fake entry-visa stickers for Canada, France, Italy and Spain, a laptop as well as laminates to produce the forged documents. Immigration police charged him with passport forgery, possessing fake passports for sale and making counterfeit visas to overseas countries, and detained him for additional questioning.

Earlier this week, Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Gen. Prawit Wongsuwan told reporters that Iqbal may be linked to the terror group Islamic State (IS).

The suspect counterfeited passports for IS members preparing to have them travel from the Middle East to Thailand, he said, according to Agence France-Presse, adding that the efforts were unsuccessful. Prawit also said investigators had not determined if Iqbal was linked to IS.

On Friday, Maj. Gen. Ittipol Ittisarnronnachai, deputy commander of Immigration Bureau police, said Iqbal had sold passports to customers outside of Thailand.

Major customers are from the Middle East. I would not specify their citizenship and do not prematurely conclude they are involved with terrorist groups, Ittipol told BenarNews. It is a national security concern.

Beginning in 2015, police have interrogated suspects and arrested members of a passport forgery network linked to Iqbal. Iqbal is believed to have based his operation in Thailand for more than a decade and was a leading producer and trader of fake passports, according to Ittipol.

We found he had Singaporean passports. It might be because Singaporean passports allow people to enter to many countries easily, Suttipong said. Mostly, he produced French and Italian passports because Middle East customers has similar facial features and its easy to help these people slip into Europe illegally.

Ittipol described two types of fake passports.

The first is a genuine one that is expired, so the person who has it illegally would request that fake pages be added. The cost to produce in Thailand is minimal, but the passport could be sold for more than 100,000 baht (U.S. $3,138) to a European customer.

The second type is a total forgery that can sell for 18,000 to 20,000 baht ($564 to $627).
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Mainly Jem's Birding & Ringing Exploits in the Eastern Province & Ringing Trips to Bahrain
The African Union's anger at United States President Donald Trump's derogatory remarks on Africa is unusual for an organisation that rarely speaks out, according to South Africa's Institute for Security Studies.

 vectortatu via 123RF

Outrage

Backlash

Historic shift

The reaction of the African Union to Trumps latest utterances during a discussion in the White House about migration and refugees, came as a surprise to many AU watchers.Ebba Kalondo, AU Commission spokesperson, told news agencies on 12 January that she was frankly alarmed by Trumps vulgar remarks  allegedly referring to Haiti and African countries as sh*thole countries. She said Trumps statements were particularly surprising since the US remains a global example of how migration gave birth to a nation built on strong values of diversity and opportunity.Kalondos boss, AU Commission chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat, met with US ambassador to the AU, Mary Beth Leonard, at his headquarters in Addis Ababa on 15 January: I took the opportunity to express the AUs outrage at Trumps comments, Mahamat tweeted after the meeting.He said earlier that he was dismayed, given that the US is a unique example of how migration contributes to nation-building based on the values of diversity, tolerance and opportunity.The AU mission to the United Nations in Washington asked for a retraction and an apology and said the remarks dishonour the celebrated American creed and respect for diversity and human dignity.According to the Institute for Security Studies in Pretoria, this flurry of reaction from the AU is unusual for an organisation that rarely speaks out on current affairs issues affecting ordinary African citizens. Up to now, official AU reaction to Trumps statements and travel bans, which have affected several African countries, has been muted.In January last year, at the 28th AU summit in Addis Ababa, Mahamats predecessor Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, did remark that the very country to whom people were taken as slaves during the Trans-Atlantic slave trade has now decided to ban refugees from some of our countries. This aligns with some of the comments from the AU last week.In September last year, Mahamat said he was perplexed by Chads inclusion on Trumps travel ban  but there didnt seem to be any official AU statement.The fact that hundreds of thousands of African refugees and migrants risk their lives to seek a better life elsewhere has certainly been a tricky issue for the AU. There has been little formal discussion in the AU since the crisis of migrant deaths in the Mediterranean started several years ago.Only late last year, after a CNN video showing migrants being sold as slaves in Libya, did Mahamat and the AU make plans to help get the migrants home to safety. A high-level meeting on migration was also held in Morocco earlier this month. And a report on migration is expected to be tabled by Morocco at the 30th AU summit starting in Addis Ababa next week.So does this expression of outrage against Trump mean the AU will be more forthright in future? Will it engage with the rest of the world on the issue of migration and refugees?Of course, the downside of taking a stand is that it leaves the AU open to attack. Since Kalondos remarks, social media has been abuzz with accusations against the AUs habitual inaction and failure to condemn corruption and bad governance in Africa. Others say the AU should focus on human rights and improving our economies rather than fixating on Trumps newest diplomatic blunder.South African columnist and gender activist, Sisonke Msimang, says Africans shouldnt waste their time reacting to Trump, but should rather acknowledge the hardships of Africas poor.Despite the criticism, the AUs statements and Kalondos quick reaction could be seen as a move in the right direction for the AU.John Stremlau, visiting professor in international relations at the University of the Witwatersrand, says Kalondos statement drew attention to the US tradition of aspiring to higher moral values. Stremlau recently authored a report on the first few months of Trumps presidency. He says by emphasising shared values of democracy and civic principles in the US and Africa, Kalondo is speaking over the head of Trump to those in the US who seek the moral high ground.African heads of state and the AU have been largely silent over the issue of Trump up to now, because they have been perplexed, just like other world leaders and analysts  and no one could see what this is leading to, says Stremlau.He says while Trumps authoritarianism, tribalism, attacks on the media and repression of critics will resonate with African strongmen, there is a historic shift in Africa towards creating regional diplomatic norms. The AUs Constitutive Act and the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance are examples.Following the AU statements, several African leaders  including Ghanas former president John Dramani Mahama and Senegals President Macky Sall  have spoken out against Trumps comments, calling them racist and insulting. In several countries the US ambassadors were summoned to explain Trumps remarks  a demarche, in diplomatic terms, that sends a strong signal of disapproval from a host country.The position of US ambassador in South Africa has been vacant for over a year now since former ambassador Patrick Gaspard left at the end of 2016. The fact that Trump hasnt yet appointed ambassadors in key countries like South Africa and elsewhere in Africa, and that the post of assistant secretary of state for Africa is still vacant, indicates his general indifference when it comes to the continent.The diplomats who are in place have tried to mend fences in the past few days by stressing the existing good relations between Africa and the US. The acting ambassador in Pretoria said her country deeply respects the people of Africa. The US embassy to the AU tweeted that the US deeply values its enduring partnerships with Africa.The comments made by African leaders at the upcoming AU summit in Addis Ababa starting on 22 January will indicate whether or not these diplomatic overtures have been successful, concluded the report from the Institute of Security Studies.
Valletta, the baroque cityscape on the island fortress of Malta, is making global headlines this month - indeed this year - as it assumes the mantle of European Capital of Culture 2018. Last year, after having fallen in love with this little corner of the Mediterranean, I relocated to the archipelago for a sabbatical to take a front row seat for the programme of the next 12 months.

The village of Zejtun lies in the south of the island of Malta | Mark Leach

Old money, cafe society and circles of influence

Neighbourhood watchfulness

Rating the ratings agencies Maltese style

After 30 years in the South African marketing communications sector, I had learned a few life lessons. One of those axioms was: "It's not what you know, it's who you know". Although thats a safe generality in most industries, its pinprick accurate in the field of media relations. (In my estimation, 80% of a practitioners success could be attributed to knowing the media worker being pitched to.)What I found here on 'the rock'  the differences to South African culture  has proven to be as instructive to me as it would be to a sociologist. For those of you contemplating island life  and who wouldnt when that island is Malta  the fundamental learning is the importance of connection.Society in Malta supercedes old money, the glamorous blogger world of cafe society or the friends you keep and the circles in which you run. It's class structure and it is the cogs of the nations economy. To understand this, its necessary to recalibrate a South African worldview where social and commercial interaction is constructed around a population of some 55 million-plus.Here in Malta, the whole population is less than 450,000 souls so it feels almost possible to know everyone. (Were talking about an entire country thats about 12% just of Cape Towns inhabitants.) Such small populations are much closer to feudal communities as its only in mass populations that the forces of democracy  and anonymity  kick in. In Maltese public life, there is an evident pecking order which is vastly different to the American Dream that posits anyone can make it if they work hard enough. The hypothesis that you create your own fortune is completely foreign to the Maltese. Here you are born into a structure which takes care of its own as much as it self-perpetuates.This sense of social connection, the who-you-know, also manifests itself in the quaintest alleys of the town. In a typical Maltese community, everybody knows you. In fact, this local omniscience has a name: the 'syndikajri'. South Africans might call them busybodies, but here the sindikajra, the little old lady who sits on her front steps and watches, is a staple of village life. We dont need CCTV, our syndikajri is one of the best forms of neighbourhood watch!Not only do we actually know all our neighbours on the block but we talk to them when we pass them on the narrow pavements. This sense of being seen, of connection, is the antithesis of the depersonalisation attendant on large urban societies such as we have become accustomed to.Thus, when I was in a meeting with an investment adviser at one of the three largest Maltese banks, I shouldnt have been surprised at her opinion of ratings agencies. (Its a South African commonplace that our economic futures are massively impacted by the prognostications of Moodys, S&P et al so we await their reports with great anticipation if not anxiety.)No, said the banker. Here we dont rely on the ratings agencies at all. We dont need them because we know every board member and CEO of every public company. We know whos good and whos bad and we therefore know where to invest and where not.The business takeout: Everything in Malta is by referral, testimonial or personal recommendation. You will need the fixer, the broker, the consultant. Its not just easier than trying to do it alone, its the way business is done on the islands.The social take home: If you dont watch yourself, the syndikajra will!
South African digital and content marketing studio, Content Candy, is expanding its operations to Zimbabwe.

Brendah Nyakudya-Dandala, founder of Content Candy.

During his first working visit to South Africa, Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa encouraged businesses to invest in the country, declaring, Zimbabwe is open for business.Having grown up and been educated in Zimbabwe, founder of Content Candy, Brendah Nyakudya-Dandala, is excited about the opportunity: This is the moment weve been anticipating and working towards  to expand our content marketing services into an exciting, growing market.Like every Zimbabwean, I can attest to the emotional connection we have with the brands we grew up purchasing and being served by. The opportunity to be able to finally tell these brands stories is exciting because all eyes are on Zimbabwe at the moment, and telling a brands story is ultimately telling the story of a country, my country. We, as a company, look forward to being a part of the countrys positive narrative.Already managing a key account in Zimbabwe, Content Candy is gearing up to open shop across the border. We have a strong team with a diverse skill set that is able to serve all content needs for any brand, says Nyakudya-Dandala. And as a Certified Hubspot Partner, Content Candy has the proven experience and expertise to strategise a project and see it through from conceptualisation to conclusion, in any medium. Our goal is to continuously provide added value to every brand story at competitive rates.Africa, as a whole, is in a phase of positive disruption. Its an exciting time for the media and marketing industry and we look forward to new opportunities in Zimbabwe, concludes Nyakudya-Dandala.Content Candy currently has offices in Johannesburg and Cape Town, and soon Harare. The studio provides 360-degree marketing services and solutions across a number of industries, including managing accounts for top-tier clients in the hospitality industry and financial services sector, including Sun International, Liberty Corporate, NMB Bank Limited and the Automobile Association of South Africa.
Nigerian online furniture retailer Skarabrand has sold more than 1,000 items and delivered to 11 cities since its launch in 2015.

Skarabrand offers users a curated experience when buying contemporary household furniture, offering a direct-to-consumer model which cuts out all middlemen by designing, manufacturing and delivering its exclusive products direct to the doorsteps of the customer.We are leveraging technology to disrupt the traditional furniture industry, by offering a wide variety of quality furniture at reasonable prices, conveniently, Raymond Umeh, chief executive officer (CEO) and co-founder of Skarabrand, toldTraditionally, buying furniture entails finding a convenient time out of a usually busy schedule to visit a brick and mortar stores, with limited variety constrained by space and with products that are usually overpriced.This is leading to customers resorting to going online, selecting pictures from foreign websites and getting furniture makers to reproduce.This resulted in poor quality reproduction, no guarantees and returns policy. This was a huge gap, and no Nigerian online furniture brand existed to cater to that rapidly growing market, Umeh said.This clearly showed that Nigerian customers wanted to search for variety and possibly buy furniture at their convenience  at home, at work or on the go, at the right price. I also realised other key characteristics consumers wanted from furniture, that it be transportable and aesthetically appealing. With all this knowledge, founding Skarabrand was a no-brainer.The startup, which is self-funded but always open to backing from the right investors, has seen better than expected funding, Umeh said. The average order placed on the platform is almost US$350, with Skarabrand having so far sold over 1,000 items and delivered to 11 cities in Nigeria.We are happy to have customers who have believed in our offering, and continue to patronise us and spread the word. For instance, our pictures are not copy and paste, but of actual products that we have designed and manufactured. So what you see on the website, is exactly what you get, Umeh said.Currently, Skarabrand is only active in Nigeria, which Umeh said is a large enough market, with a presence in three major cities: Lagos, Abuja and Port-Harcourt.Our mid-term plans are to dominate the Nigerian market with 360-degree home solutions, the one stop shop for everything home, before looking elsewhere. We have pan-African dreams, he said.The startup charges a commission per transaction, and has done tens of millions of naira in revenue since launch.Traditionally, profit margins in furniture are great, anywhere from 50% to 200% or more, Umeh said.
Due to the persistent drought in the Western Cape, the South African Table Grape Industry (SATI) has released a lower estimate in the third Crop Estimate for the 2017/18 table grape season.

Couleur via pixabay

The upper and lower limits are respectively 12.2% and 18% lower than the previous 2016/2017 season. The new estimate is between 55.4 million and 59.3 million cartons.The extreme heat and reduced water allocations to agriculture in the drought-stricken production regions are impacting the harvest.South African producers and exporters expect harvesting to continue with close to normal export volumes for the next four to six weeks. However, they foresee a shorter harvest period compared to previous years due to the drought and hotter than usual temperatures. Producers are still committed to meet programmes and contracted business with a focus on the well-known South African quality offering and taste.
Diversified miner South32 produced 8% more manganese from its local mines in the six months to December than it previously forecast, enabling it to take advantage of favourable prices.

Graham Kerr, CEO South32. Photo: BusinessLIVE

Other South African manganese miners are also pushing up production. According to Statistics SA figures this week, the country's total manganese ore output in October rose 84.6% from a year ago.Apart from manganese, South32 produces thermal coal and aluminium from smelters in SA and Mozambique. It said recently it intended to spin off its South African energy coal business in 2018. It also operates in Australia, Brazil and Colombia.Its shares fell 1.24% to R37.31 on the JSE on Wednesday.South32's 60% share of ore produced at the Northern Cape manganese mines rose 21% to 1.1-million wet metric tonnes in the half-year compared with the matching period in 2016. It has increased its forecast output for the full year to 2-million wet metric tonnes, subject to market demand. South African manganese alloy output fell 3% to 36,000 tonnes as only one of four furnaces was operating.South32 said its Australian manganese business achieved a new output record, as did Mozal aluminium, while South African aluminium was set to increase full-year output to 720,000 tonnes compared with 2017 despite a production outage.The South African thermal coal business produced 9% less coal in the six months at 13.4-million tonnes because of reduced demand from Duvha power station and scheduled maintenance at the Wolvekrans-Middelburg Complex.Weaker domestic demand is expected to persist for the rest of 2018. South32 is investing R4.3bn to extend the life of its Klipspruit colliery.There was little change to South32's two key assets in Australia, Illawarra Coal and the Cannington polymetallic mine. Illawarra's metallurgical coal output in the six-month period halved to 1.9-million tonnes as the Appin colliery was recovering from an extended outage and the Dendrobium longwall moved through a faulted area.Forecast full-year output remains at 4.5-million tonnes.At Cannington, where underground mining is coming to the end of its life, production of silver, lead and zinc fell by 33%-52% because of lower ore grades and mill throughput.Throughput is expected to improve after the commissioning of a replacement underground crusher in March.The full-year forecast is unchanged but depends on a significant improvement in lead and silver grades.In a recent note on diversified miners, Macquarie said South32 remained highly cash generative and although it was likely to allocate some capital to growth options, it could still return about 2bn in share buybacks over the next four years while remaining net cash positive.South32 CEO Graham Kerr said that despite generally good cost control measures within the business, industry costs were rising as a result of the weaker dollar, rising commodity prices and Chinese environmental policies.Cost pressure in items such as metallurgical coal, alumina and price-linked power were particularly apparent in South32's smelters and refineries, Kerr said. But as a producer it was a net beneficiary of these higher prices.The half-year results are due for release on February 15.
New indicators for Africa

A useful tool

This lack of access can be fatal, particularly for children. The absence of clean water and basic sanitation is among the leading causes of mortality among those younger than five all across the continent. It also places a huge burden on Africas women. It is they who must walk long distances to gather water from streams, ponds and wells.Research has also showed how unreliable water supply is simultaneously a cause and result of poverty. South African water researcher Dr Anthony Turton coined the phrase  water poverty  to describe societies that cannot cope with the problem of water scarcity.This prompted the development of the Water Poverty Index by ecological and environmental economist Professor Caroline Sullivan in 2002. The index allows researchers to produce an integrated assessment of water stress and scarcity, linking physical estimates of water availability with socioeconomic variables that reflect poverty.Theres wide agreement that the index is useful and reliable. But its indicators are not appropriate for all contexts . Thats why I set out to create a set of indicators that can be applied in the African context. These indicators include a countrys seasonal variability of rainfall; a nations water investments and how efficiently it uses water in agriculture and industry. Another indicator is a countrys Human Development Index , which takes into account factors like life expectancy, education and average income.This allowed me to map Africas water poverty situation, giving a good sense of how different this is across countries on the continent.My findings offer a transparent analysis for policymakers, governments and organisations that deal with water issues. They can use the information from the index to assess the opportunities and risks involved with interventions. Theyll also have a better understanding of the socioeconomic factors that affect different African countries water management policies rather than treating the whole continent as a homogeneous mass.What will work in Seychelles, which has a low level of water poverty, will not necessarily be useful in Djibouti, whose water poverty levels are high.I chose 15 indicators from 22 variables to compute five components for the African Water Poverty Index: resources, access, capacity, use andenvironment.The results are mapped across a number of water poverty maps that I developed. They show that water poverty follows a complex, diverse spatial pattern. Africas most economically developed countries are also its most water-scarce. These are located mainly in northern and southern Africa and includes Libya, Algeria, Tunisia and South Africa. Water-rich but lower income countries are mainly concentrated in the sub-Saharan region  places like Gabon, Central African Republic and Congo.This suggests that as some countries grow and attract more people looking for work, their water resources will become more pressurised. These countries must put long term, sustainable water management plans in place so they dont run short of water  a scenario that would greatly hamper further economic development and growth.The index also suggests what form these plans might take. North African countries, for instance, ought to pay more attention to improving the use of scarce water resources in agriculture and other sectors. Higher water efficiency and consumer conservation programmes are required.In the sub-Saharan region, meanwhile, access to piped water and sanitation facilities remains generally very low. These countries may be richer in water than their northern counterparts, but this reality is not experienced by many residents. Anyone working in the water sector in these countries ought to be focusing on how to improve access to safe water and effective sanitation.My hope in creating this Africa-focused index is that policymakers, politicians and development experts will be able to apply the data. Such a multi-dimensional assessment of water poverty for the continent could make a big difference to management and planning.
WASHINGTON, USA: The US Senate on Thursday, 18 January 2018, gave final congressional approval to a bill extending a fiercely contested program giving national security agencies broad authority to intercept private electronic communications.

The 65-34 vote approved the so-called Section 702 authority of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, sending the measure for President Donald Trump's signature. The House of Representatives approved the same bill last week.US national security officials have argued they need this authority to be able to monitor online threats and thwart attacks on the United States and its allies.But civil liberties activists have claimed the law - which became the topic of heated public debate after revelations in 2013 by former national security contractor Edward Snowden - opened the door to widespread surveillance of innocent Americans' emails and other online communications.Although the law is intended to target foreign threats, Snowden's revelations showed how data from unsuspecting Americans could be scooped up in "incidental" collection without the need for individual warrants.The American Civil Liberties Union said the reauthorization "extends - and risks expanding - unconstitutional spying powers" of the government."We are currently challenging warrantless surveillance under Section 702 and will continue to fight this unlawful surveillance in the courts," the ACLU said in a tweet shortly after passage.US Attorney General Jeff Sessions said the bill is "crucial to allowing us to continue to gather intelligence on foreign terrorists overseas and foil potential plots against Americans abroad and at home."Trump himself last week initially suggested he opposed the measure, saying in a tweet that the section 702 provision had been used by the Obama administration to "so badly surveil and abuse the Trump campaign."More than an hour later, he reversed himself, saying the bill "is about foreign surveillance of foreign bad guys on foreign land. We need it!"
Technology in the hospitality space has come a long way since the 1950s. Looking forward, it is important to appreciate the development that the hospitality industry previously underwent and what future innovations may hold.



The rise of reservation, automated electronic systems

Revolutionising management system capabilities

The first documented case of overbooking and the consequent denial of service to a guest can be traced back to the occasion of the pregnant woman and her husband, who was forced to look for alternative accommodation because the inn where they wanted to stay was fully booked. The wife gave birth to her child in the next-door stable, and well, you know the rest.Fast forward a few 100 years to the 1400s, we see a formalisation of the hospitality industry when England and France passed legislation that required hotels and inns to keep a guest book or registry  essentially the start of customer relationship management.Before the 1940s, reservations were made by telegram, mail or telephone, and often resulted in lost or forgotten bookings. It was only in 1947 that Westin introduced the first hotel reservation system, called Hoteltype. Roughly ten years later in 1958 Sheraton introduced the industrys first automated electronic reservation system, named Reservatron  it also had the first toll-free reservation number.It was the airlines that were to spark hospitalitys interest in electronic distribution. Hotels began to look at tools for automating the booking process in the early 1950s and developed their own computerised reservation platforms - Reservec and Sabre. However, hotel systems were far from sophisticated with only a limited number of room types on offer, added to this, users were reluctant to learn new terminology, believing that telephonic communication was more efficient.Seeing the need for more efficient platforms and systems, the first property management systems (PMS) in the hospitality industry appeared on the market in the 1980s. During this time, other GDS systems were being developed, such as Amadeus and Compuserve.The increase in travel agent hotel reservations and the introduction of smaller and more powerful desktop computer systems prompted the creation of hotel reservation systems that could be conveniently located at the hotel front desk.As electronic distribution entered the 1990s, issues continued to arise. Hotels seeking to do things their way, wanted improved functionality, customisation, third-party interfacing, payment gateways, personalisation, guest interaction, reporting and superior automation.Ian Lumsden, director of Protel hotel software distributor, Ankerdata says that the hotel reservation system makes business easier, enabling hoteliers to work more accurately and efficiently. As customers demand more convenience, more choice, and greater customisation, these systems guarantee that hoteliers have the right technology in place to maximise efficiency, revenue opportunities and ultimately, remain competitive.He adds that with the progress of cloud computing, property management systems for hotels have expanded their functionality towards new service areas like guest-facing features.These include online check-ins, room service, in-room controls, guest-staff communication, chatbots, mobile concierges and more. Mobile concierges and booking platforms can be designed based on a hotels requirements and internal management flows and processes, and in keeping with its corporate identity. Electronic distribution is still evolving and growing and there is an ongoing focus on connectivity through mobile and social media channels to meet the needs of the consumer  the millennials.Artificial intelligence will be the future of guest engagement - a must for hotels wanting to attract and connect with a younger generation of travellers.
A joint venture involving three international shipping companies - Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK), Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL), and Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha (K Line) - has been given conditional approval by the Competition Tribunal.

 enanuchit via 123RF

This comes after the Competition Commission had originally prohibited a merger on the basis that the transaction would have likely strengthened co-ordination in the market for the transportation of cars, containers and bulk shipping services.The three companies intend to merge their container-liner shipping businesses. They will share ownership in a joint venture known as Ocean Network Express (ONE) and its South African subsidiary, SA JV Co.NYK currently operates its shipping company in SA through Mitchell Cotts Maritime, while MOL operates in the country through its wholly owned subsidiaries MOL SA and MOL ACE SA. K Line operates through a controlled entity, K Line Shipping SA.The firms' activities include the provision of various types of shipping services, including container-liner shipping, car-carrier shipping and bulk shipping, terminal services, logistics services and cruises.After the transaction, the firms will continue to compete in car-carrier shipping and the provision of bulk shipping solutions.Conditions approved by the tribunal address concerns pertaining to the exchange of competitively sensitive information and cross-directorships in the adjacent car-carrier shipping and bulk shipping businesses between the parties.Broadly, the conditions prohibit a cross-pollination of employees and executives between the container-liner JV and adjacent businesses, as well as the imposition of a number of extensive monitoring and reporting mechanisms.Executive and non-executive directors who are on the board of directors of ONE or SA JV Co shall not be involved in the day-to-day operations of the car-carrier and bulk shipping company.
Logistics marketplace Bwala Africa has launched in Kenya, allowing users to hire cars, trucks and delivery vans and source for repairs, service and maintenance from trusted dealers and mechanics.

Key focus areas

With a database of pick-ups, minibuses, trucks, tours and delivery vans, Bwala aims to take the pain of fleet management from corporate firms, SMEs and individuals so that they can focus on their core business.For truck owners, it aims to be the go-to platform for more business, especially on return trips when most of them are empty. The platform also helps mechanics grow their client portfolio.Im a car enthusiast and at times my family was trying to get a good mechanic but we found them engaged. There are many other good mechanics too, but the problem is accessing them. We will list those we vet and let the users rate them, said Kennedy Nyabwala, the startups founder and chief executive officer (CEO).Bwalas key focus areas include vehicle leasing, light and heavy duty cargo haulage, FMCG distribution and fleet management, as well as vehicle repairs and maintenance. The firm will also deal with insurance cover and claims, and also has a segment for genuine auto parts dealers.Now available in Nairobi, Bwala has been under pilot for the last year but will be expanding rapidly to major counties and urban centres in the country this year. It also plans to launch across East Africa, followed by expansion into Asia.We wanted to prove our concept and get customer validation before we go public, Nyabwala said. Our key focus will be in the African market, though we are also looking at the Asian market, starting with India and Philippines, because they have a lot of similarities with Africa, such as the growing middle class and the increasing rate of car ownership. These are the markets we want to play in.
Let's face it. Traditional marketing methods are increasingly becoming obsolete at the speed of the internet revolution. On the other hand, smart technologies are creating immense opportunities that hotel brands can leverage for more cost-efficient guest acquisition.

1. Dreaming/inspiration stage

2. Planning

3. Booking

4. Experiencing

With their revenues being pinched by high operating costs, hoteliers have only one option to increase profits and this is through savvy marketing that taps into in-market guest data. The role of the latter in guest acquisition campaigns cannot be over emphasised as it enables hoteliers to be relevant and timely in their prospecting. Keeping the guest in mind is critical across all points on the sales cycle. After all, the goal of marketing is not to acquire devices, necessarily, but to acquire and retain real people.Typically, the best way to target prospective guests is meeting them in the four critical moments which Google calls micro-moments. These are the times when a user swipes out his smartphone to search for valuable information in their why, where, how and what moments of enquiry.Answering these questions is the fastest way to getting the coveted booking.The modern path to a hotel booking is broken into four moments: when guests are dreaming of a vacation or simply looking for travel Inspiration; travel planning; when they make a booking and finally; and how the hotel experience is delivered on their smart devices.Each moment is very unique and allows hoteliers to engage with their potential guests in a way that quickly converts them into bookers. Like any other vertical these days, customers are in control of the purchase process and seek value first before they make a decision.So how can hoteliers market in these four micro-moments?In this stage, travelers are just looking for ideas on possible destinations. In their quest, they visit between 10-23 websites. Search engines are their starting point. According to a 2017 travel study by Fuel, over 80% of travel searches start on search engines. This means that SEO, search engine optimisation, is a must-have tactic that will allow a hotels information to be found online.Content marketing feeds into the process by providing strategic answers to search queries. Winning content is the one that showcases a hotels local attractions as well as its proximity to other places of interest like restaurants and cinemas.What makes this information important is that it influences destination choice rather than a hotel brand. A person chooses a specific location then later on decides where he will sleep.The best medium for to engage with the prospective guests is visual content. According to research, we process images 60,000 times faster than text. The old adage still applies, a picture says a thousand words and now there is a claim that a minute of video says 1.8 million words.The ability to deliver a brands message as quickly and meaningfully as possible is the difference between success and failure. Why? Smartphone usage has reduced attention spans leaving humans with attention which according to scientists is below that of goldfish. The research findings show that our attention span is now just under 12 seconds. This is the small window of opportunity that hotel brands have to deliver their core messaging.Studies show that visual content is strong in helping brands reach their right audience in an engaging context. According to DemandGenReport.com , visuals are faster and easier for the brain to process, and can help drive better business results and more eyeballs to your page. A picture or video delivers emotive value that drives decision making. To win in this highly competitive space, hotel brands should resort to storytelling. They must not only show the rooms but should also tell a unique story about their property and the experience it offers. This is what sells and not some 'storyless' glossy pictures.At this stage, the guest would have made up his mind on where he will go and now wants to make travel plans. This exercise and the decisions made in it are dependent on detailed information supplied via a hotels digital assets, be it the website or social media pages. Hoteliers should be present in these moments by providing free and exhaustive information about their destination.The quality of information provided should enable travelers to approximate the experience they will enjoy as per their specific interests and expectations. Travel is not cheap and travelers expect value for money. It is useful for hoteliers to give their prospective guests a level of confidence about what to expect when making the booking decision.This is the gold mine moment when a prospective guest is about to take the last but lucrative step. It means that a hotel would have successfully converted a looker into a booker.However, getting a booking is not a walk in the park, as most hoteliers worldwide have found out. According to a Boxever + Skift special report , the travel industry as a whole suffers from 81% abandoned cart rates, compared to just 68% across other online retail sectors.This represents lost potential revenue that could improve most hoteliers ADR Surely, hoteliers ought to do something about this worrying trend. One way of doing it is identifying a good booking engine supplier whose technology can be integrated with other sales, marketing and guest technologies. Most importantly, the engine should work properly on smartphones as most leisure and business travelers make their bookings on their mobile devices.Guests must not find it difficult to complete the booking transaction.The guest experiencing moment provides hoteliers with the perfect opportunity to drive guest satisfaction through the roof, that is, if there is a well-thought strategy in place.Advancement in digital technologies, especially the Internet of Things (IoT), has allowed savvy hoteliers to share practical and relevant information with each guest in a unique way.Hoteliers should always bear in mind that a guest who is wowed by a great hotel experience shares it with his peers on social networks and the proceed to enter positive reviews on sites like TripAdvisor. This is not a small thing. 84% of social media users agree their friends and familys vacations inspire them and reviews have a 95% influence on bookings.It is quite clear that hoteliers have to implement an exact tactical execution plan if they are to connect with prospective guests in each micro-moment. This leads to better message delivery that is relevant to the prospective guests psychology and informational needs. Doing this improves a hotels revenue.
Embattled electricity producer Eskom, which has described its financial situation as "very dire", is in secret discussions to terminate the employment of controversial executive Matshela Koko.

Matshela Koko

The parties are close to a separation agreement as the talks are now centred onthe amount the head of generation would take to agree to leave. Talks are at a sensitive stage, according to three informed sources.Last week, Koko was replaced by Willy Majoa as interim head of generation, a move Eskom said was "a mutual agreement" for Koko "to settle in". Two senior government officials outside Eskom, however, confirmed there were plans to remove Koko within days.The practice of paying officials suspected of corruption to go rather than face charges has been a common feature under President Jacob Zuma's administration. How the ANC's new leadership responds to a generous deal with Koko will be a key indicator of whether it intends to get tough on corruption.The talks with Koko started last week, according to the sources.Eskom failed to take disciplinary and criminal action against Koko, as recommended by independent forensic investigations in 2017 and its own forensic team. If any separation deal involved Eskom paying monies to Koko, the Treasury and the public enterprises minister would have to approve it.At least three forensic investigations into corruption recommended that Eskom lay criminal charges against Koko and five other executives and senior managers, as well as subjecting them to a disciplinary processes for their role in facilitating a R1.6bn illegal payment to global consultancy McKinsey and the politically connected consultancy Trillian - which was majority-owned by Gupta family associate Salim Essa at the time. In an August 2017 forensic report, commissioned by Eskom after media and public outrage, law firm Bowmans recommended that the utility charge Koko, chief finance officer Anoj Singh, former head of procurement Edwin Mabelane, acting head of group capital Prish Govender, senior procurement manager Charles Kalima and Maya Naidoo (or Bhana) for their role in the illegal deal with McKinsey.Eskom also admitted it did not have a contract with Trillian and was not aware of any services provided by the firm. Eskom's own internal forensic unit recommended disciplinary procedures against those implicated in the payments to Trillian and McKinsey. G9 Forensic Consulting arrived at a similar conclusion in its report, also commissioned by Eskom, as did US management consultancy Oliver Wyman.In a report commissioned by Tokyo Sexwale, former chairman of Trillian, advocate Geoff Budlender called the McKinsey/Trillian arrangement at Eskom "a sham". Koko was not charged for his role in facilitating the illegal payment.It emerged in January that the National Prosecuting Authority's asset-forfeiture unit had obtained a preservation order to freeze McKinsey's and Trillian's assets in order to secure and to recover the R1.6bn. This, however, is a civil case that seeks to safeguard stolen property against loss, while a criminal leg may be instituted at a later stage.Koko's position as head of the utility's generation unit became untenable after he was suspended in May 2017, following numerous allegations of conflict of interest in which he was accused of irregularly awarding more than R1bn in contracts to a company in which his stepdaughter, Koketso Choma, owned shares.He was also accused of irregularly removing some colleagues from their positions at the Kusile power station. Koko was found not guilty and reinstated in January after almost eight months on suspension.Asked detailed questions about the negotiations and the legality of any proposed golden handshake, Eskom skirted the questions, instead only confirming Koko's "current status" as an employee.In October, Eskom's legal head Suzanne Daniels issued a letter of demand to McKinsey and Trillian to pay back the money - she was suspended two days later. McKinsey has since offered to repay the money, while Trillian denies any wrongdoing.Bizarrely, Eskom on Wednesday changed its tune on the Mckinsey and Trillian deal: "The investigation into Mckinsey and Trillion (sic) was done by a senior council (sic) and they found the contract was valid, hence Prish Govender's suspension was lifted."
LONDON - British lawmakers probing possible Russian interference in the Brexit referendum revealed on Wednesday that Facebook had agreed to broaden its own investigation into fake news around the vote, after the social media platform's initial efforts drew criticism.

The House of Commons' Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) Committee said Simon Milner, the tech titan's head of policy in Britain, had vowed the company would now search for "clusters engaged in coordinated activity around the Brexit referendum" that appeared to have originated in Russia.Milner said security experts would begin their investigation "promptly" but that it may take several weeks to produce results.The commitment, detailed in a letter to committee chair Damian Collins, follows demands from MPs for Facebook and Twitter to provide further information on alleged Russian social media meddling in the run-up to the June 2016 referendum."It is right that companies like Facebook should initiate their own research into issues like this where there is such clear public concern, and not just act on intelligence that has been passed to them," Collins said in a statement."They are best placed to investigate activity on their platform."Collins had previously criticised Facebook for doing "no work" in its initial probe of Russia's alleged disinformation campaign.The UK Electoral Commission had asked the company to look at accounts identified as part of Russia's "Internet Research Agency" of trolls and propagandists, which interfered in the US presidential election.Facebook concluded last month that their impact in Britain was limited because they had spent so little on adverts before the referendum.But Collins' sceptical committee asked the company to look again.In his letter to MPs, Milner said Facebook believed the Russia-linked accounts identified "seemed to be the most likely area" to find evidence of meddling in Britain, and agreed to look deeper into records.Collins added in his statement: "I look forward to seeing the results of this investigation, and I'm sure we will want to question Facebook about this when we know the outcome."Executives from the platform, as well as from Twitter and Google, are due to give evidence to the parliamentary inquiry into fake news in February, when MPs will visit America for the occasion.
WASHINGTON - Terrorists and hate groups continue to get their propaganda onto social media platforms despite efforts by Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube to shut them down, a US Senate panel heard on Wednesday.

Islamic State, Al Qaeda, and others have stepped up their use of bots and other methods to fight the artificial intelligence and algorithms the social media giants deploy to screen them out.In addition, they are now turning to smaller platforms and messaging apps with encryption and less ability to police users, like Telegram, Reddit and WhatsApp, though none have offered yet the previous broad reach that Facebook and YouTube have had.Nevertheless, the largest social media firms were pressed in a Senate Commerce Committee hearing Wednesday over their reliance on artificial intelligence and algorithms to keep their powerful platforms clear of violent extremist posts.A key concern is the continued ability to use anonymous accounts, which while benefiting pro-democracy activists battling repressive governments, also continue to empower extremists."These platforms have created a new and stunningly effective way for nefarious actors to attack and to harm," said Senator Ben Nelson, who said that crackdown efforts by the social media giants so far are "not enough."YouTube is automatically removing 98 percent of videos promoting violent extremism using algorithms, said Public Policy Director Juniper Downs.Facebook's head of Product Policy and Counterterrorism, Monika Bickert, said that 99 percent Islamic State and Al Qaeda-related terror content "is detected and removed before anyone in our community reports it, and in some cases, before it goes live on the site."Senator John Thune, Chairman of the Commerce Committee, countered by asking why a video showing how to build a bomb -- which was used by the man who attacked the Manchester Arena in June 2017 -- has repeatedly been uploaded to its website every time YouTube deletes it, as recently as this month."We are catching re-uploads of this video quickly and removing it as soon as those uploads are detected," said Downs.Carlos Monje, director of Public Policy and Philanthropy for Twitter, said that even with all their efforts to fight terror- and hate-related content, "It is a cat-and-mouse game and we are constantly evolving to face the challenge."Clint Watts, an expert at the Foreign Policy Research Institute in the use of the internet by terror groups, testified that the efforts by the social media companies have been quite successful, but are still missing significant amounts of unwanted postings."Social media companies continue to get beat in part because they rely too heavily on technologists and technical detection to catch bad actors," said Watts."Artificial intelligence and machine learning will greatly assist in cleaning up nefarious activity, but will for the near future fail to detect that which hasn't been seen before."Last year Google, Facebook, Twitter and Microsoft banded together to share information on groups and posts related to violent extremism, and to share techniques on keeping it off their sites.All are struggling with the problem of anonymous accounts or accounts with fake owners. Watts called that the "most pressing challenge.""Anonymity of social media accounts has in many cases allowed the oppressed and the downtrodden to speak out about injustice," Watts said."But over time, anonymity has empowered hackers, extremists and authoritarians to inflict harm on the public."Monje illustrated the problem: Twitter, he said, believes that less than five percent of its 300 million accounts are fake.But, he said, "They keep coming back... We are now challenging four million malicious automated accounts a week."Watts said extremist groups have nevertheless been frustrated by the effort to censor them on social media and are actively searching for new outlets."They are looking for a place where they can communicate and organize. They have to be able to push their propaganda globally in order to recruit," he told the Senate panel."They are seeking a new home but they just haven't found it yet."
Readers living in Minnesota House District 23B, an open seat created by the resignation of Tony Cornish after a settlement for sexually harassing a lobbyist, sent Bluestem more interesting mail.

Today, a postcard arrived for insurgent candidate Scott Sanders, featuring a classic grip and grin featuring Cornish (left) and Sanders (right), a Watonwan County commissioner serving the St. James area.

No sign at Senator Julie Rosen's official residence

Yesterday in Meadow muffins: MN23B GOP primary blossoms we noted:

Cornish isn't the only area Republican to support Sanders. A source reports that Blue Earth County commissioner Will Purvis has a Sanders sign on his property near Vernon Center, and Sanders signs have blossomed on the usual Republican lawns that spouted Cornish signs in the past. Mewes reports House Transportation Finance committee chair Paul Torkelson, R-Hanska, who owns property in the contested district, has endorsed Sanders, as has House District 23A state representative Bob Gunther, R-Fairmont, chair of the Legacy Funding Finance Committee. Mewes also notes: Munson has picked up endorsements from the state GOP, Republican 1st Congressional District candidate Jim Hagedorn, and several Republican gubernatorial candidates  Rep. Matt Dean, Hennepin County Commissioner Jeff Johnson and former state party chair Keith Downey.

We grew curious whether Julie Rosen, R-Vernon Center, who represents Senate District 23, had made an endorsement in the race. We couldn't find mention of an endorsement online; a friend sent a photo of the official Rosen domicile (red house), where no lawn sign is present along the road.

Perhaps Senator Rosen is focusing her efforts helping her own caucus's efforts in the Senate District 54 special election, staying in her modest pied-a-terre in Mendota while she gives Denny McNamara a hand.

More media reaction to the primary kerfuffle

At the Waseca County News, Dana Melius writes in Election 2018: An early start to the political season:
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KFC Botswanas acquring enterprise, Bradleymores will appear before the Competition Authority on Friday to defend their acquisition, which was first annouced last year.

In a statement the Competition Authority states that the hearing is intended to allow the parties to the transaction to make verbal representations to the Authority with respect to the transaction as well as allow their competitors and the general public to express views on the acquisition.

KFC Botswana portfolio, which consists of 12 restaurants, was placed under liquidation in June last year after the company failed to service its debts and creditors. In November of the same year, Bradlymores which a joint venture company between Vivo Energy is and Baobab Khulisani South Africa acquired KFC Botswana from the liquidator, Nigel Dixon-Warren. Vivo Energy through its network of Shell-branded retail service stations in Botswana is a marketer of various oil products including retail fuels, commercial fuels and lubricants. On the other hand, Baobab Khulisani, a South African KFC franchisee operates 11 stores in South Africa.

The anti-trust body also states that other interested parties not party to the proposed transaction will be afforded an opportunity to voluntarily submit to the Authority any document, affidavit, statement or other relevant information in respect of the proposed acquisition. The hearing will be held with each of the parties to the transaction and other interested parties, pursuant to section 58(3)(a) of the Competition Act, states the Authority.

Bradlymores is a limited liability company incorporated in accordance with the laws of the Republic of Botswana. It is a special purpose vehicle that was set up for purposes of the proposed transaction and, as such, is not involved in any form of activity.

KFC Botswana business is operated through three wholly owned subsidiaries of VPB Propco (Pty) Ltd which includes Greenax (Pty) Ltd (Greenax), QSR (Pty) Ltd (QSR) and Boitumelo Dijo (Pty) Ltd. The aforementioned subsidiaries operate 12 KFC franchises in Botswana situated in the following areas: six in South-East district; two in North-East district; and one in each of Southern (Kanye), Kweneng district (Molepolole), Ngamiland district (Maun), and Chobe district (Kasane).

In 2015 local poultry farmers raised concerns over KFC Botswana, pointing out that the company is not supporting local chicken farmers as it gets most of its products from South Africa. The chicken farmers appealed to the new owners to come with a policy that will at least help them to supply the fried chicken outlet with some of the stock. However, it was revealed that KFCs requirements on slaughtering and handling of the chickens have to meet some of stringiest rules in place, including transportation from the abattoir to the restaurants.
Botswana Insurance Holdings Limiteds asset and investment subsidiary -BIFM -is empowering its citizen employees big, after establishing a trust last month (December) which will enable employees to own part of the company under a share plan scheme.

An extraordinary meeting of shareholders will take place next month to approve and adopt the employee share plan scheme which falls under the trust. If the proposal gets the nod, Botswana Investment Fund Management (BIFM), which has billions of Pula under its care, will release a total of 21, 849, 246 shares to its employees.

This represents 25, 1 percent of BIFMs issued share capital. BIFM is headed by Neo Bogatsu who has over 20 years of experience in the financial services sector. The fair value of such shares has been determined by an independent external valuation exercise, said a notice issued by BIHL Chief Executive Officer, Catherine Lesetedi-Letegele.

On inception, 15 percent of the ordinary issued shares of BIFM will be subscribed to by citizen employees to be held under a trust which is made up of Letegele, Andre Roux, Mahube Mpugwa, Kudakwashi Mukushi and Gerrit Lodewyk Van Heerde.

According to the notice, In the event of these shares not being fully subscribed on the initial issuance of the scheme, the balance of the shares will be transferred to the trust for future allocation. The empowerment scheme is being established by the company as one way of retaining its employees, who in the end can successfully drive the companys strategic plans.

The company believes the implementation of the scheme will enable BIFM to structure a competitive remuneration package, which is designed as an additional incentive tool to reward and retain executives and quality employees, said a notice. All citizen employees including executive directors are eligible to participate in the scheme.

BIFM offers investment services and products to retail and institutional investors. It also manages assets outside the country. Writing in the group annual report for 2016, Bogatsu stated: Despite the 2016 financial year being characterised by a lot of uncertainty in the global political landscape and economic landscape locally, the business remained resilient and as a consequence we saw the Assets under Management (AuM) increase by P5 billion to P25.9 billion as at 31 December 2016.

For us 2016 was a year of building the strategic blocks and foundation for the business and ensuring that going forward the business remains sustainable and able to protect, diversify and grow the existing client base

It remains to be seen how BIFM performed last year. BIHL will release its year end results, which include that of BIFM in two months time.




NEW DELHI (PTI): Indigenously-developed weapon system integrated helicopter Rudra will make its maiden appearance in the Republic Day parade on Rajpath in New Delhi on January 26, Indian Air Force officials said.



The flypast by the Indian Air Force on the Republic Day parade will involve 38 aircraft, including 21 fighters, 12 helicopters and five transporters, Group Captain Rahul Bhasin told reporters.



The Ensign formation of the flypast will include a Mi-17V5 helicopter carrying the ASEAN flag to commemorate the summit meeting of India and the block of South East Asian countries to be held in Delhi on January 29-30.



"The flypast will be divided into two blocks. The second block will start with Rudra formation comprising Advanced Light Helicopter MK-IV WSI. This is the first time this aircraft is being showcased in the Republic Day Parade," Bhasin said.



Other formations will involve C-130J, AEW&C aircraft escorted by two Sukhoi-30MKI, Tejas Light Combat Aircraft, Jaguar, MiG 29 Upgrade aircraft.



The IAF tableau will be themed on "Indian Air Force encouraging indigenisation", while the tri-service tableau will be themed on "veterans are asset to the nation".



The IAF march past contingent will include 75 musicians and three band majors led by junior warrant officer Ashok Kumar Nagar.



"We will pay 15 patriotic and martial tunes on the occasion," Nagar said.



The IAF band will also mesmerise the audience at "Beating the Retreat" ceremony following the Republic Day, by its compositions and use of African drums.



A special tribute will be paid to the Marshal of Indian Air Force Arjan Singh who passed away in September last year with a tune "Great Marshal" employing African drums, Nagar said.






T he 10th edition of Defexpo India  the biannual Land, Naval and Internal Homeland Security Systems Exhibition  will be held at Arulmigu Nithyakalyana perumal Temple, Thiruvidanthai, Thiruvidanthal, Thiruporur Taluk, Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu, India from 11 to 14 April 2018.



The grand military exposition is being organised for the first time in Indias southern state of Tamil Nadu. A large number of leading regional as well as global defence & aerospace companies are expected to take part in the mega defence event to showcase their modern state-of-the-art military technology, systems & platforms.



Pegged as one of Asia's biggest defence expositions, Defexpo India 2018 will also provide a promising platform to hundreds of indigenous defence & aerospace manufacturers to exhibit their latest technologies and products under the flagship Make In India programme.



The previous edition of the event, held in the state of Goa in March 2016, had registered the presence of 232 foreign companies from 32 countries along with 15 country pavilions.



The event was attended by the largest number of official delegations with 63 delegations from 58 countries gracing the occasion. A number of international seminars and conferences were also conducted on the sidelines of the show.

View the Link


The affiliation of INS Vikramaditya with the Bihar Regiment and no. 6 Squadron, Indian Air Force. An Indian Navy photo/Twitter

NEW DELHI (PTI): INS Vikramaditya, the largest navy ship and the country's only aircraft carrier, has been formally affiliated to the Bihar Regiment, a highly-decorated infantry unit of the Indian Army, and Squadron No. 6 of the Indian Air Force, the Navy said Thursday.



The squadron specialises in maritime strike operations and operates the Jaguar fighter aircraft, it said.



A glittering ceremony was held onboard INS Vikramaditya in the Karwar naval base which is nestled in the picturesque Western Ghats, it said.



Vice Admiral Girish Luthra, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Naval Command, and Lieutenant General Amarjeet Singh, Military Secretary and Colonel of the Bihar Regiment, were the guests of honour.



Air Vice Marshal M Fernandez, Air Officer commanding maritime air operations, was the senior officer from the Air Force and the event also saw participation by a host of senior officers from all the three services, the statement said.



The historic affiliation ceremony commenced with an inspection of the tri-service guard of honour by the senior officers of the three services and Rear Admiral R B Pandit, the Flag Officer Commanding Western Fleet, addressed the meeting.



In his address, Pandit spoke of the importance of the affiliation and its relevance in the present day, according to a statement.



He also said the idea behind the affiliation was to foster espirit-de-corps and friendship between the three units that would lead to greater synergy and jointmanship between the three services, the Navy added.



It would also promote interaction between personnel of the three services and their families, he said.



The formal association between the three units commenced with the reading of the "Charter of Affiliation", which listed the aims of the affiliation that the affiliated units were to maintain.



It was later signed by the commanding officers of the three units and by senior officers from respective services representing the unit, the Navy said.



The highlight of the event was an impressive flypast by aircraft of the Fleet Air Arm and it was led by a formation of Chetak helicopters followed by formation of MiG-29K fighters of the INAS 303 squadron from the Goa based naval air station, INS Hansa, it said.




A file photo of Defexpo India.

CHENNAI (PTI): Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Thursday Tamil Nadu will host its first-ever bi-annual defence exhibition, Defexpo-2018, in April.



The exhibition will take place from April 11 to 14 and nearly 80 countries are expected to take part in it.



"There have been queries regarding the expo... As to why it got delayed.. I must say that there was no delay.. After the cabinet reshuffle in September last year, we (Ministry) started the process," she said in her address at the two-day Defence Industry Development Meet in Chennai.



Sitharaman said the ministry officials had earlier visited several states to hold the event and the Tamil Nadu government immediately came forward and allotted land for the same on the East Coast Road near Mahabalipuram.



"Usually, the event is conducted by February end. Because of certain changes in the ministry, we had to take a call and I am grateful to the Tamil Nadu government for having helped us by providing land," she said.



Sitharaman said arrangements will be made for the Navy, Army and Air Force to display their equipment in the exhibition.



In a bid to promote small industries, huge discounts would be offered to them to set up stalls at the exhibition, she said.



Referring to the two-day meet, Sitharaman appealed to the defence firms to utilise the opportunity as officials of the ministry were available to offer any assistance.



On Transfer of Technology, Sitharaman said already 35 companies from Tamil Nadu have signed (TOT) for supply of defence equipment.



"At national level, about 1,500 companies have been engaged with the ministry... So far 712 technology transfers have been made. At the state level, 35 companies have signed Transfer of Technology for supply of defence equipment," she said.


Banking giant HSBC will pay $101.5m to US authorities to settle a criminal investigation into currency rigging.

Europe's biggest bank has entered a three-year deferred prosecution agreement with the US Department of Justice (DoJ) in which it will stomach a $63.1m fine and pay $38.4m in restitution.

The investigation centred on HSBC's foreign exchange (FX) traders who misused confidential client information in 2010 and 2011 during multibillion-dollar FX transactions.

Shares were marginally lower in morning trading on the London Stock Market.

US acting assistant attorney general John Cronan said: "HSBC's admissions in connection with this resolution confirm that the company misused confidential client information for its own profit on more than one occasion.

"This sort of misconduct not only harmed their clients, costing the victims money, but it also ran a serious risk of undermining the public's confidence in our financial markets."

The outcome marks a 15% drop in the financial penalty facing the bank because it co-operated during the investigation.

In a statement HSBC said: "The conduct described in the agreement occurred in 2010 and 2011.

"Since then, HSBC has introduced a number of measures designed to make the control environment in its Global Markets business more robust.

"The DoJ recognises these extensive improvements, noting that HSBC has dedicated significant resources to strengthening its systems and controls."

The move comes after HSBC reached settlements over its forex trading business with the Financial Conduct Authority and US Commodity Futures Trading Commission in November 2014.

HSBC reported a near five-fold rise in third-quarter profits in October, as it pushed forward with its cost-cutting programme and benefited from its pivot to Asia.

The lender said pre-tax profits rose to $4.6bn in the three months to September 30, marking a 448% jump compared to $843m during the same period in 2016.
The Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF) has made its first move into the solar energy market as part of a 140m co-investment in Dublin-based energy developer Power Capital, writes Geoff Percival.

The State-run commercial investment vehicle has teamed up with Capital Stage, a publicly-quoted Hamburg-based solar and wind park operator, on the investment which will see both take an equity stake in Power Capital.
Larry Broderick, who is retiring after 30 years at the Financial Services Union, said his successor will face the challenges of more branch closures and a continuing malign culture at the top of Irish banks, writes Eamon Quinn.

Mr Broderick, who has led the union since 2001 and which up until two years ago was called the Irish Bank Officials Association  told the Irish Examiner that talks with banks about the implications of technology sweeping through the industry had got underway.
UK prime minister Theresa May has provisionally agreed to pay about 40bn (45bn) as part of the countrys exit from the EU, writes Fergal O'Brien.

Some people in Britain are up in arms about the tab, but analysis by Bloomberg Economics shows its a price worth accepting if it helps the UK win favour with EU negotiators and secure a trade deal thats beneficial to the economy.

In fact, it would pay for itself in less than three years by limiting damage to output, even if the UK only secures what Bloomberg Economics describes as a relatively unambitious agreement.

The conclusion, from an investment perspective, is simple; taking even a relatively unambitious trade deal is worth it. Clearly, the motives for leaving the EU dont solely reflect economics, but those trusted with writing the next chapter in the UKs economic history should consider whats at stake, said Dan Hanson and Jamie Murray at Bloomberg Economics.

The new research comes as the UK government debates what kind of trade deal it will seek, before talks on the future relationship start in March.

Given the UKs so-called red lines on getting control of EU immigration and breaking free from the rulings of European judges, the EU side has said it can only offer a trade deal similar to the one it gave Canada.

That accord was the best in its class, but would be a downgrade from the access Britain now enjoys, particularly for the financial services industry.

As the terms of the future trading relationship become clear, theres a risk of rebellion in the pro-Brexit camp, which is already uneasy about the size of the divorce bill.

Mr Hanson and Mr Murray earlier this month said the cost to the economy if Ms May fails to secure an EU agreement would be a 6.5% hit to GDP by 2030.

Thats compared with projections for growth if the UK stayed in the EU. They noted at the time that anything that helps trade would soften the blow.

The benefits of some form of trade pact are echoed in the latest research. With no clear sense yet of what will actually be agreed, Bloomberg Economics compared the no-deal scenario, where the UK ends up on World Trade Organisation rules, with a Canada-style settlement.

Calculations based on a discounted loss of output show the cumulative total at 40bn by the end of 2021 in a no-deal scenario.

Thats less than three years after the exit.

Roll forward to the end of the decade, the sum amounts to 290bn. According to Bloomberg Economics, the benefit of a trade agreement makes the divorce bill a bargain.
iStock/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- Investigators with the Manhattan District Attorneys office raided on Thursday the New York City offices of Newsweek Media Group, the parent company of Newsweek and International Business Times.

Newsweek said in a statement that a search of the company's computer servers was conducted "to obtain technical information about the servers. The company provided the DA's representatives with access to the computer servers on location to allow for a technical inspection within the law."

The media company said "no information regarding the company's content, stories, personnel, or sources was given and Newsweek Media Group has been assured by the DA's office that the investigation is not about content-related issues."

The media company said it will continue to cooperate with the DA's office "to the fullest extent," pursuant to its "expressed policy regarding law enforcement."

It is unclear what the DA's office is seeking in its investigation. The DA's office has not publicly commented on the search.

Newsweek Media Group is the new name of IBT Media, which rebranded last year under the magazine's name.



Copyright  2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved
An appeal to find the family of an Irish man dying "virtually alone" in a UK hospital has resulted in some success after a social media campaign.

The man was named on Facebook as Patrick John Mulligan and his neighbour Dave was seeking help contacting his family.

Facebook user Sue Smyth shared Daves message, putting out the call asking for help.

"If anyone can assist with this message please get in touch.....

"Hi Im dave in London. My friend and next door neighbour of 20 years is from west limerick and I am trying to find his family as sadly he is dying in hospital virtually alone apart from my partner and myself. His name is Patrick John mulligan (john).

"He was born in April 1942. Could you put an appeal on your page for him (people are free to contact me) or could you point me in direction of another page? Thank you for your time thus far...."

After the call went out, Ms Smyths post was shared almost 30,000 times and she followed up by saying some strong leads had been come out of it.

A positive result was reached when Ms Smyth updated those following the story on Thursday.

"I have been contacted by the Luton Irish Forum who saw my post and they informed me that Finders Ireland (Finders International) have found cousins of John".

Finders International, according to their website, "work with anyone requiring help or assistance in identifying and locating missing or unknown beneficiaries, or tracing the next of kin to someone who has died with no known family."

As reported in the Irish Post, they saw the appeal and wanted to help.

"We just thought wed see if we could help and did some genealogy work on it and discovered that Patrick John Mulligan has a cousin in the west of Ireland," Pauric Grennan told the Irish Post.

"We spoke to him and discovered that Mr Mulligan has at least one half sibling still alive in Ireland.

"Mr Mulligans father, a garda, died before he was born and his mother remarried and had three children from her second marriage who would have been younger than Mr Mulligan.

"Theyre really interested in getting to speak to Mr Mulligan."
A new species of fossil starfish has been discovered in the Maam Valley of Co. Galway.

The fossil has been named 'Crepidosoma doyleii' in honour of Dr Eamon Doyle, geologist for the Burren and Cliffs of Moher UNESCO Global Geopark and Clare County Council, who found it.

International researchers from the USA, UK and Holland describe the find as an ophiuroid starfish, commonly known as a 'brittle star', which first evolved around 500 million years ago and have survived relatively unchanged to the present day.

Professor David Harper of Durham University, and co-author of the study, said: "The remote areas of the west of Ireland continue to yield some exceptional fossils with a significant impact on understanding of the history of life.

These unique specimens of fossil starfish from the Silurian rocks of Connemara are a key piece of evidence in the hunt for past life in the ocean that covered Ireland, some 435 million years ago.

"We owe a great deal to the painstaking efforts of Dr Eamon Doyle who combed these distant mountains for fossils during his PhD studies at University College Galway."

Dr. Sarah Gatley of the Geological Survey explained why the find is so important for the area.

She said: "This discovery by Dr Doyle in the area of the Joyce Country aspiring Geopark highlights the need to protect our geological heritage.

"It underlines why the Geological Survey support the three UNESCO Geoparks as well as the aspiring Geoparks in Ireland."

Dr Doyle said: "I am delighted with the honour afforded to me by these eminent international palaeontologists.

"I wish to thank Clare County Council and the Geological Survey for their support and I look forward to presenting some new fossils from the Burren and Cliffs of Moher UNESCO Global Geopark in the near future."

The specimens are housed in the National Museum (Natural History) in Dublin.

The study was published in the latest issue of The Irish Journal of Earth Sciences, published by the Royal Irish Academy.
A detective found guilty of harassing a State solicitor by sending her abusive letters has been jailed for three years.

Judge Melanie Greally said that, while Eve Doherty (aged 50) is considered at low risk of re-offending, she maintains her innocence and has shown no remorse for the crimes.

Doherty, with an address in Blackglen Road, Sandyford, Dublin, was found guilty by a jury at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court of harassing Elizabeth Howlin between September 2011 and March 2013 following a two-week trial last July.

She was found not guilty of two counts of making false statements on two dates in March 2012, in which she claimed Ms Howlin was perverting the course of justice.

At the time in question, Ms Howlin worked with the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) where she was involved in deciding whether or not to direct prosecutions in criminal cases. Doherty held the position of detective sergeant and worked in the crime and security division of An Garda Siochana.

The trial heard that over an 18-month period, letters and emails were sent to Ms Howlin's home, her place of work and to her GP calling her a corrupt bitch, an incompetent useless hobbit and a two-faced bitch.

The court heard Ms Howlin didn't know Doherty until the trial and that Doherty was then in a relationship with the victim's ex-partner. A victim impact statement was handed into court from Ms Howlin, but was not read out.

Judge Greally said the communications by Doherty contained outright and scurrilous lies. They contained statements which were variously disparaging, insulting and offensive, both from a personal and professional manner.

She noted that at the time, Doherty had come into conflict with garda management and was under considerable stress. She said that the death of Doherty's mother had a profound effect on her and she had never entirely come to terms with that loss.

A medical report stated that she continues to suffer from suicidal ideation and noted a decline in her cognitive functioning. She suffers from paranoia and believes that the evidence in the trial was fabricated by gardai to frame her.

Kerida Naidoo SC, prosecuting, said Doherty sent emails from a Dublin city centre internet cafe to hundreds of recipients using anonymous email accounts. The court heard she holds a degree in Cybercrime and diplomas in Psychology and Legal Studies.

Following a garda investigation that involved contacting the Canadian email server company, Hushnet, gardai tracked down the internet cafe from which the emails were being sent. Doherty was arrested after she sent an anonymous email from the cafe while wearing sunglasses and a wig.

As well as letters and emails, Doherty dispensed leaflets around Ms Howlin's housing estate, falsely claiming that Ms Howlin was a political appointee and that she would pull files to prevent the prosecution of anyone connected to her or the government. Ms Howlin is a distant cousin of the TD and labour party leader, Brendan Howlin.

Doherty was suspended from An Garda Siochana but is currently still a serving member of the force, the court previously heard. After her arrest, she spent a month in St John of God psychiatric hospital. She has no previous convictions.

Defence counsel, Michael O'Higgins SC, said Doherty had a singular ambition to become a garda and she rose through the ranks to the level of detective sergeant.

It was a job and a career which, for the most part, she found enriching and rewarding, Mr O'Higgins said.

He said Doherty had a difficult work environment and had some fractious relationships within the job, due in part to her complete lack of diplomacy with regard to her thoughts on how things were run.

A 13-page psychological report was handed into court, which found Doherty suffered from severe work-related stress, depression, anxiety, paranoia and suicidal ideation. She suffers from nightmares, insomnia, headaches and chest pain and is on anti-depressant medication, the court heard.

This is not something that can be explained simply by malice or badness, Mr O'Higgins said, adding it was a complicated case involving psychological issues.

He said the offence was committed by a person who was suffering from depression, paranoia and significant levels of stress. That goes some way in my submission to analysing the content and understanding it better, he said.

Mr O'Higgins said the content of the material was nasty but he urged Judge Greally to also consider Doherty's prior exemplary character.

A number of character references were handed up in court, including one from a retired detective sergeant who worked with Doherty. The court heard she loves dogs and has been involved in dog rescues in the past.

She has a good and productive life and she has done good and productive things, Mr O'Higgins said. She has spread great kindness in her life to other people.

Judge Greally rejected a defence submission to impose a suspended sentence, noting the lack of a guilty plea and the lack of any evident remorse.
By Ann O'Loughlin

A former school chaplain and the second level school where he taught have been ordered to pay a substantial legal costs bill, estimated around 750,000, arising from a High Court judge's finding of sexual abuse by the chaplain of a female student.

The former priest and the school were previously ordered to pay 210,000 damages, including 10,000 aggravated damages to the student, now aged in her 20s.

During the 34-day High Court hearing, the woman gave evidence she was abused and subjected to sexualised behaviour by the man, a chaplain and teacher in her secondary school, between 2005-2007.

She said, during a school trip to Africa when she was aged 16, he invited her and another student to sleep in his bed with him. He first kissed her after she turned 17 and the sexual element between them progressed and they had oral sex about 35 times.

On a youth trip to see the Pope in Cologne, Germany, they had oral sex and also in the chaplain's school office, his bedroom, car and school oratory, she said.

In a judgment last October, Mr Justice Eagar said the former chaplain wrongfully physically and sexually assaulted and falsely imprisoned and sexually abused her - a transition year student when the abuse began in 2005. It continued until 2007.

On the balance of probabilities, he accepted she had proved her case and preferred her evidence to the chaplain's. Some undisputed evidence, including that the girl and chaplain shared a bed during a school trip to Africa, and some medical evidence, supported her case, he said.

He found the chaplain was liable for the abuse and the school was vicariously liable. The school's failure to adequately monitor the chaplain's behaviour had allowed an inappropriate relationship develop into an abusive relationship, he held.

Dismissing an additional vicarious liability claim against the local bishop, the judge said, because the man was not directly employed by the Roman Catholic Church in the school as chaplain and teacher, the bishop was not vicariously liable for the acts committed by the chaplain against the girl.

After his decision, there was a further hearing on liability for costs and, in a judgment on costs today, Mr Justice Eagar awarded costs to the woman against the man and the school.

He ruled the Bishop was entitled to costs against the woman as a result of the rejection of the claim of vicarious liability against him and ordered those costs should be paid out of the costs due to the woman from the former chaplain and the school.

Lawyers for the man and the school told the judge they consider there are substantial grounds of appeal against the judge's findings and the damages and costs orders and sought a stay on his orders pending appeal.

Lawyers for the Bishop said it was "noteworthy" there was no reference to any appeal being taken against the finding the Bishop was not vicariously liable and said their side should get their costs.

Jack Fitzgerald SC, for the woman, disputed there were substantial grounds of appeal, maintained the damages were not excessive, and opposed the stay application.

The judge refused to grant a stay on any of his orders pending appeal but indicated a stay could be sought from the Court of Appeal.
The Government will publish its plan on how to adapt to the effects of climate change later.

The National Adaptation Framework will look at the possible implications on the country and set out a strategy for dealing with them.
By Tom Tuite

A Dublin teenager has been given a last chance to avoid a nine-month sentence for attacking a residents association chairman who was beaten up on his way to a neighbourhood watch meeting.

The victim, who spent years campaigning to improve his community in Dublin, plans to move out of the area after the vicious attack which left him psychologically scarred, the Dublin Childrens Court heard.

The 16-year-old boy, who made his own family homeless through his anti-social behaviour, has pleaded guilty to assault causing harm in connection with the incident in Tyrrelstown in Dublin on a date in August 2016.

A negative probation report on the boy was furnished. Judge John OConnor granted a final adjournment for five weeks and said that unless the teenager began to engage with the Probation Service he would face a nine-month custodial sentence.

The victim had told the court he had been on his way to a neighbourhood watch meeting when he was set on and punched up to 10 times during the beating. The assault last a few seconds but impacted on me for the rest of my life to come, he said.

The teen has also made his own family homeless through his anti-social behaviour, the court has heard.

'Not able to defend myself'

In a victim impact statement, the man said months after the incident he and his young daughter had been chased home by the teen and his gang. The unprovoked attack has led to life changes, he said.

He described how his work with the residents association helped get a school set up and a park opened in the area. He said it was very rewarding for him. However, the community struggled with the rise of anti-social behaviour.

He said he was aware of almost everything happening in the area and tried to push gardai and other agencies to tackle criminal behaviour there. He detailed how after years of helping his community he resigned from the residents association and felt that decision was forced by the incident.

A kid assaulted me and I was not able to defend myself, he said adding that this was very upsetting and after the attack fear took over.

He described how a few months later he had been out with his daughter and the teen walked past them and started following them. The teen and his gang chased them to his house, he told the court.

His daughter had been unaware of the attack. As far as she knew, her dads injury came from a bang on the head that happened in the attic.

He said his daughter has been put in danger and he wanted to move.

The assault lasted a few seconds but impacted on me for the rest of my life to come, he said. The man - who was shaking as he recalled the effect of the attack - told the court he was left psychologically scarred.

He used up annual leave from work and went to counselling. His main hobby was running but he now goes to another area to run.

Judge OConnor commended his bravery for coming to court and sharing his experience.

The defendant, who cannot be named because he is a minor, was granted bail pending sentencing.

The boy, who has no prior criminal convictions, also admitted stealing 900 worth of food from supermarkets on two dates this year.

The schoolboy and his parents now live in emergency accommodation since being evicted.

He also agreed to stay out of the area where he used to live and have no contact with several named youths.

Garda Rosanna Caul told the court the victim had been on the way to a neighbourhood watch meeting when he spoke to a group of youths. It was alleged he was followed and the boy punched him nine or 10 times from behind.

The man was struck to the head and also suffered an open wound over his right eye, the court was told. A medical report was furnished to the court.

Judge OConnor heard that gardai also had CCTV evidence.
A new cruise ferry named after W.B. Yeats has been launched in Germany.

It is set to be the largest and most luxurious ferry ever to sail on the Irish Sea, according to Irish Ferries.

It will have space for 1,885 passengers and crew, 435 cabins including luxury suites with their own private balconies, and almost 3km of car deck space.

The Irish Ferries ship was launched at around midday today at the Flensburger SchiffbauGesellschaft shipyard in Flensburg, Germany - where it is being built.

The name was chosen after strong support from the public in an online competition that had nearly 100,000 entries, according to Irish Ferries.

The 150m, 54,985 gross tonnes cruise ferry will arrive into Dublin next July when it will enter year-round service on Ireland  France and Dublin  Holyhead routes.

Between now and then remaining construction work on the hull will be completed and the vessel fitted out with all of the technical, operational, decor, furnishings and passenger amenities required onboard.

Later, before scheduled services can commence, it will undergo sea trials, crew training and docking procedures at the Irish, UK and French ports into which it will operate.
A man has received a partially suspended sentence of 14 years for a series of knife-point robberies and an attack on a man which left him blind in one eye, write Jessica Magee and Declan Brennan.

Luke Byrne (18) smashed a glass into the face of Mark Beltran (30), a magician from the Philippines who travelled the world with his act, in an altercation over a stolen amplifier.

The victim's injuries left him permanently blind in his right eye. Mr Beltran, who was in court for the hearing, has since lost his eye.

At Dublin Circuit Criminal Court, Judge Martin Nolan said that he could accept that Byrne did not intend to blind the victim but that he must have known that serious injuries would result from his actions and he intended to cause these injuries.

He imposed a sentence of nine years for the attack. He made this sentence consecutive to a sentence of five years for a series of predatory and cold-blooded knife-point robberies which Byrne carried out on women.

Byrne was on bail for the robbery offences when he carried out the assault and was a juvenile at the time.

Judge Nolan said by reason of his age and in order to allow hope for Byrne's reform he was suspending the last four and a half years of the sentence on condition Byrne kept the peace for the period of the sentence. He also ordered Byrne to comply with the Probation Services for a period of two years after his release.

Byrne of Geraldine St., Phibsboro, Dublin pleaded guilty to assault causing serious harm on O'Connell Street, on September 9, 2016.

He also pleaded guilty to carrying out nine robberies in the Phibsboro area over a seven day period between May 24 and 31, 2016.

Byrne, armed with a knife, would come up from behind the women and threatened them with violence. In some cases Byrne did use violence, kicking and punching victims, the court heard.

Judge Nolan said Byrne's behaviour was predatory and the robberies were cowardly, aggressive and hostile. He said the effects of his attacks on the women would be long-lasting.

Byrne's attack on Mr Beltan followed a row over a stolen amplifier belonging to the street performer. The amplifier was recovered by friends of Mr Beltan but a group of people, including Byrne, followed these friends and attacked them.

Judge Nolan said that in a seeming act of vengeance, Byrne picked up a pint glass and smashed it with force into the victim's face.

He said that Byrne had Jekyll and Hyde characteristics. He was well behaved for periods of time but he had a vicious and cruel streak, which he displayed by putting a knife to the throat of his robbery victims.

He said he accepted that Byrne was genuinely remorseful and said he came from a good family. He said that it was hoped that Byrne would reform himself and not become a menace to society.

This is a long sentence for a young man but this young man has behaved reprehensibly and cruelly and viciously. Its hoped this will reform him.

He certainly needs reform. He has done huge damage to a lot of people, Judge Nolan said.

Byrne has 16 previous convictions, including assault, criminal damage, public order and road traffic offences.

Byrne told gardai he didn't know his own motivation for the unprovoked attack on Mr Beltran except that he was angry and locked and being a dick.

I thought I'd be the big man, I hit the busker. I didn't intend to blind him, Byrne told gardai, adding that he was sorry for causing so much pain and being a scumbag.

In a victim impact statement read out on his behalf in court, Mr Beltran said he could not stop thinking how much better his life would have been had he not decided to come to Dublin.

Mr Beltran said that because of the attack he was now blinded in his right eye, and had no depth perception and limited scope of vision in his left eye.

He had a fear of broken glass and of people walking behind him, had become socially withdrawn and suffered from insecurity, anger, confusion, negative self-image and helplessness.

Mr Beltran said he was now a less efficient entertainer, made less money and could not do as many shows because he had a blind spot which made him bump into people and trip over things.

He said he went to street festivals around the world and did magic shows and juggled for a living, which required sleight-of-hand and hand-eye coordination, but that now he was terrible at catching and aiming and had a hard time doing anything and had become a lot slower.

He said his own reflection in the mirror reminded him all the time of the horrible assault.

The court heard that Mr Beltran had been in Ireland for just two days before the assault, which happened after his friends retrieved an amplifier stolen from him while he was performing in the city centre.

Garda John Carroll told Gerardine Small BL, prosecuting, that Mr Beltran had been interacting with a crowd after he finished his magic show in Temple Bar when the amplifier was stolen.

He reported the theft at Pearse Street Garda Station and went for something to eat with a friend when two other friends contacted him and said they had confronted a group of youths and managed to recover the amplifier.

The four friends reunited and were walking towards their B&B accommodation on Parnell Street when they noticed they were being followed by a group of youths, including some women.

Mr Beltran was set upon by six people and struck on his face with an empty pint glass that Byrne had picked up from the street.

Mr Beltran told gardai he remembered being hit by another person with a closed fist punch to his face, then a second hit when he felt a shattering and blood started coming from his face.

Witnesses said the attack was unprovoked and that Byrne then picked up a wooden advertising board from outside the shop and tried to hit Mr Beltran, before the sign was knocked out of his hand.

Mr Beltran was treated at the Mater Hospital by a consultant who said the incident constituted serious harm. He described a deep wound across Mr Beltran's right cornea, iris and pupil, with another injury to his left eye and foreign bodies to both eyes. Mr Beltran was unable to count his fingers with his right eye.

He spent 11 days in hospital, underwent surgery and requires regular medical visits and the constant use of eyedrops.

The Director of Public Prosecutions described the offence as in the high range of seriousness.

Garda Daniel Keaney told the court that all of the robberies committed by Byrne involved confronting women alone and sometimes with an accomplice, threatening them with a knife and robbing their handbags or phones.

Byrne pleaded guilty to all bar one of the robberies and gardai accepted that he seemed at a loss to understand his own motivation for violence.

Fiona Murphy BL, defending, said Byrne was genuinely horrified at his actions and wished to issue a full and unreserved apology to all his victims.

She described Byrne's parents as hardworking, decent people who were absolutely appalled by his carry on but very supportive of him.

The court heard Byrne was diagnosed with ADHD at the age of 10 and that his parents separated when he was young.

Michael O'Higgins SC, also defending, said Byrne left school early and started dabbling in cannabis, amphetamines and ecstasy and hanging out with people who were not good role models.

Mr O'Higgins said the incident involving Mr Beltran had lasted about a minute but left effects that would last a lifetime.

Regrettably, a visitor to this country, who comes to work and bring enjoyment through his work in street theatre...gets a glass in the face, Mr O'Higgins said.

The court heard there had been mammoth efforts to deal with Byrne's case before he turned 18 last September while he could still be dealt with as a child, but this had not been possible.

Positive reports were presented from Oberstown Children's Detention Campus, which said Byrne was willing to use his time in custody to further his education.

This is not a hardened criminal, this is not a person with sociopathic difficulties, Mr O'Higgins said, adding that Byrne had stabilised himself since the offences took place.
Micheal Martin has said there has been no backlash within his party over his stance on abortion.

The Fianna Fail leader told the Dail last night that he would be in favour of repealing the 8th Amendment, allowing unrestricted terminations up to 12 weeks into pregnancy.

Last night he said: "I believe the case for change is justified by the full range of evidence available to us and I will vote for this change.

"Nothing we say or do here could make Ireland a country without abortion."

The statement puts Mr Martin at odds with the pro-life stance taken at his party's recent Ard Fheis.

However, he claims his party colleagues will support him.

He said: "A number of TDs have contacted me appreciating that it was difficult call for me, and it was, I mean this wasn't something I came about easily.

"You may recall in some interviews before Christmas I was wrestling with the issue of rape and incest, because it's one thing to show empathy in that issue, it's a completely differnet thing to have to do something about it."

A junior minister says he cannot support ending a viable pregnancy under any circumstances.

John Paul Phelan told the Dail he will not support a repeal of the 8th amendment.

He said: "A very good friend of mine who was the product of a sexual assault, a most heinous crime that could be committed against any woman, or man in many respects.

"But I couldn't really look him in the face and say that, you know, the world would be better if you didn't exist."
More than 200 jobs have been announced for Dublin and Limerick.

150 of the jobs are on the way to Limerick, as H&MV Engineering is set to double its workforce to 300 over the next three to five years.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar will be on hand for today's announcement.

CEO PJ Flanagan says a major recruitment drive is now underway.

He said: "We have a special taylor-made apprentice programme and graduate programme for employees.

"It is a great area to get into for young people in the area. We also have a number of different showcases going around schools to try and attract the young talent into H&MV."

In Dublin, up to 60 new jobs are to be created.

Flight catering business DNATA, which is part of the Emirates group, is setting up a base at Dublin Airport.

The roles will include chefs, finance staff and logistic personnel.

The company's Robin Pagett outlines why they chose Dublin.

He said: "This is and incredibly aviation-focused city and country with a great track record of passengers going through the airport.

"We suspect this year Dublin Airport will get north of 30 million passengers, that is people we should be supporting and providing great food and great meals for."
A Wicklow woman has bagged herself 40,000 from a scratch card she got as a present to celebrate her new job.

Ciara Moore was given the 3 scratch card by her sister, Aine, who had put it in a good luck card when she started her new job as a childcare professional.

Ciara, from Grangecon in Co. Wicklow, collected her winnings from the the National Lottery with her sister and their extended family yesterday.

The 22-year-old said: "I started a new job on Monday and the night before, my lovely sister Aine handed me a good luck card with a scratch card inside. Little did I know how lucky it would be."

The Money Multiplier 10X scratch card was bought at the Topaz Deerpark Service Station on the Dublin Road in Carlow Town.

Ciara said: "Theres only two things that I really need - an upgrade to my car and a family holiday in the next couple of months and then Ill be happy.

"I have the best family in the world so Ill definitely have to treat them, especially my sister Aine seeing as how she bought me the ticket."

Also, a West Cork woman left National Lottery HQ 30,000 richer after winning big on an All Cash Tripler scratch card.

Her husband bought her the scratch card at the Maxol Mace shop in, Ballincollig, Co. Cork, last week.

She said: "I didnt scratch it until the next day and could not believe my eyes when I saw I had won 30,000.

"Top of the list is a holiday to Spain where a family member lives. We had planned to go anyway but now we can upgrade and book a nice hotel."
Earlier this week, Kim Kardashian West and Kanye West welcomed their third child, born via a surrogate.

In a statement on her official website, she wrote: Kanye and I are happy to announce the arrival of our healthy, beautiful baby girl."

Kardashian West has now revealed her third childs name, posting on Twitter Chicago West with a link to her app.

Kardashian West and West welcomed their first child, North in 2013 and Kim gave birth to a daughter, Saint, in 2015.

Kardashian West and West were married in May 2014.

The reality star followed up the tweet by posting "North, Saint & Chi."

North, Saint & Chi  Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) January 19, 2018

Kardashian West also retweeted a post saying: "And to everyone who thinks its literally pronounced as CHI. No. Its 'Shy'."

And to everyone who thinks its literally pronounced as CHI. No. Its Shy  Leslie  (@rodashian) January 19, 2018

Welcome to the world, Chi.
A mother and father in the UK who lost their day-old son after complications during labour have said safety reassurances from medical experts were false.

Jo Meeke and Matt Gurney's son Puck Meeke-Gurney died in their arms on March 16 2017 at Princess Anne Hospital in Southampton, an inquest at West Sussex Coroner's Court heard.

The couple, from Bosham in West Sussex, were taken to St Richard's Hospital in Chichester the day before.

They had planned a home birth but were advised to go to hospital over concerns of an abruption, where the placenta partially or completely separates from the uterus, which could deprive the baby of oxygen and cause severe bleeding.

The inquest found that the couple were not kept fully informed by hospital staff of the risks encountered during Ms Meeke's labour, preventing the couple from making a potentially life-saving choice.

In a statement from the couple following the inquest, Ms Meeke said: "Since Puck's death we have scrutinised all the medical records and feel that we were never kept fully informed of the progression of my labour.

"Reassurances from the medical experts were false and had we been advised fully about the seriousness and potentially catastrophic risks of the situation and been offered the choice of an immediate C-section, we would have taken that option with open arms.

"If that had happened, the coroner has found that Puck's life would not have been lost. Instead, Puck's life was over before it had really begun.

She added: "We remain devastated at the events in St Richard's Hospital and cannot begin to describe the pain of leaving hospital empty-armed after carrying a perfectly healthy baby full-term."

Puck was delivered by emergency Caesarean section at 6.15pm on March 15 following what the couple previously described as an "uncomplicated, dream pregnancy".

The inquest previously heard how Mr Gurney had expressed a particular interest in the safety of his partner while in hospital, and he was told of a small abruption.

Ms Meeke, 39, was monitored to see if labour could progress naturally or with a Caesarean section through a cardiotocography (CTG) - a test used to check foetal heartbeat - but was not directly told of the findings.

Dr Matthew Jolly, the obstetrician on duty at the time, did not tell the couple that there was a 6% chance the foetus could die if the abruption worsened, as he thought chances were small.

The coroner concluded at the end of the three-day inquest that Puck died of natural causes. A post-mortem examination found he died of hypoxia - a lack of oxygen to the brain - brought on by an abruption.

In a statement, Dr Tim Taylor, medical director at Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: "We would like to take this opportunity to express our heartfelt condolences to Puck's parents and apologise once more that the care we provided fell short of the usual high standards of our maternity service.

"The trust fully recognises that all patients need to have enough information to be able to make an informed decision about their treatment and we are committed to continuing to improve the way in which we do that."

The coroner, who welled up as she thanked the couple for their cooperation, expressed her sympathies and said the evidence had "not been easy to listen to".

The couple thanked her for a thorough investigation.
A teenager who bragged about gaining access to the accounts of senior US intelligence officials was annoyed at the "corrupt and cold-blooded" American government, a court has heard.

Kane Gamble, 18, targeted high-profile figures such as then CIA chief John Brennan and deputy director of the FBI Mark Giuliano between June 2015 and February 2016, from his family home on a Leicestershire housing estate.

Gamble founded the group Crackas With Attitude (CWA) which went online to claim responsibility for the attacks on numerous email and phone accounts.

Several sensitive documents were reportedly obtained from Mr Brennans private inbox, including a 47-page application for top-secret security clearance.

A Comcast cable TV and broadband account belonging to James Clapper, director of national intelligence under president Barack Obama, was also targeted.

Other names on the list of people targeted included Mr Obamas deputy national security adviser Avril Haines, his senior science and technology adviser John Holdren, the then secretary of homeland security Jeh Johnson and FBI special agent Amy Hess.

Gamble also gained access to the FBIs Law Enforcement Exchange Portal, using Mr Giulianos credentials.

Prosecutor John Lloyd-Jones QC told a sentencing hearing at the Old Bailey: "Kane Gamble gained access to the communications accounts of some very high-ranking US intelligence officials and government employees.

"The group incorrectly have been referred to as hackers. The group in fact used something known as social engineering, which involves socially manipulating people - call centres or help desks - into performing acts or divulging confidential information."

Gamble also used an anonymous Twitter profile to talk to journalists.

Mr Lloyd-Jones said: "He told a journalist, It all started started by me getting more and more annoyed at how corrupt and cold-blooded the US government are. So I decided to do something about it."

To gain his victims personal details, Gamble impersonated them, fooling employees at companies such at Comcast and Verizon to divulge personal details.

The house in Leicestershire, where Kane Gamble hacked into the computers of senior US government officials. Photo: Joe Giddens/PA Wire

He used the phone numbers he obtained to call and taunt his victims and their families, and take control of their devices, including iPads.

Gamble used a TV in Mr Johnsons family home to post the message "I own you".

He leaked some of the information gained through accessing phone and email accounts - including thousand of email contacts - using various websites including WikiLeaks.

In online conversations with other CWA members Gamble said he was targeting the high-ranking officials because the US was killing innocent people across the world.

Mr Lloyd-Jones said: "Access to Mr Brennans communications account allowed the group to obtain extremely sensitive documents referring to, amongst other things, military operations, intelligence operations, in Iraq and Afghanistan."

Gamble then posted anonymously on Twitter saying: "@CIA set your game up homies. We own everything. #freepalestine #CWA."

The court heard that Gamble accessed phone lines to transfer calls to the free Palestine movement.

Last October, Gamble, of Linford Crescent, Coalville, pleaded guilty at Leicester Crown Court to eight charges of performing a function with intent to secure unauthorised access to computers and two charges of unauthorised modification of computer material.

Gamble, who the defence submits has autistic spectrum disorder, was aged 15 and 16 at the time of the offences.

He will be sentenced at the Old Bailey when the hearing resumes at a later date.
Pixel nerds unite: Sydney Design Festival has just announced its mind-bending 2018 lineup

After the silliest part of the silly season dies down, you are often left with a sluggish feeling that sits halfway between fatigue and futility. As much as you hate to admit it, you are longing for routine and mental stimulation again. As the old saying goes, idle hands are the devils playground.

What better to fertilise your weary mind than a festival themed Call to Action? Now in its 20th year, the Sydney Design Festival is the ultimate event for anyone with a penchant for design, architecture and art, bringing together thought-leaders from around the world to celebrate and examine future directions in the industry. Taking place from 2-11 March at the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences (MAAS), as well as various satellite locations around Sydney.

Among the highlights, writer, comedian and design enthusiast Tim Ross (from the iconic radio duo Merrick and Rosso) will curate his first exhibition as part of Sydney Design Festival. Design Nation will celebrate the ingenuity of Australian design, showcasing Ross picks of Australias most iconic, everyday inventions from the Museum's collection. From the Ford Capri to the famous Stackhat helmet of the 1980s, take a trip down memory lane when Design Nation opens at the Powerhouse Museum on 2 March. Ross will present curator talks on 9 and 10 March.

Designer Pamm Hong will also present her design process on 2 March, including her commission for the Common Good exhibition; the Watermelon Sugar Wellness Lab. Recently listed as one of the Top 20 Disruptors by the Global Futures Forum 2016, Hongs design approach combines art, science and technology to produce interactive digital works.

Eisuke Tachikawa, the founder of Japanese design collective NOSIGNER, will share his passion for design solutions to social issues in a talk at the Powerhouse Museum on 5 March. Zhang Ke, award-winning architect and founder of ZAO/standardarchitecture , will give a keynote address delving into his design process at Powerhouse Museum on 6 March. Heralding a new era in Chinese architecture, the ZAO/standardarchitecture studio has designed large-scale works in Shanghai, Beijing and Tibet.

Join a panel of designers and social researchers to discuss The Dangers of Empathy on 6 March at Fredas in Chippendale. The panel will explore the role of empathy in designing solutions in sectors such as financial services and government.

With fewer than 10% of Wikipedia editors being women, Hack the Canon: Women in Design Wikipedia-edit-a-thon is a step towards addressing this huge gender imbalance. Be a part of the solution and get editing at St Peters Library on 10 March.

For more information and to book tickets please visit https://sydneydesign.com.au/
As the no waste food movement gains steam, top chefs keep finding practices that go back centuries. Long before bouillabaisse began showing up on Michelin-starred menus, it was a hearty French stew made using the odds and ends of fish; likewise, the ancient inventors of coq au vin found a way to soften up old roosters by cooking them in wine.

Now another modest culinary tradition is getting a makeover. Grano arso, translated literally as burnt grain, has become prized for the earthy, toasty flavour it gives pastas and breads. Its a nuttiness that envelopes you, says Kevin Adey, who uses it to make a smoky orecchiette at his restaurant Faro in Brooklyn.

Burnt flour may sound like a kitchen accident, but its an ingredient steeped in the history of Puglia, in the south of Italy. Origin stories trace its heritage to poor, 18th century villagers who would harvest the scorched grains that remained after farmers burnt their fields to make way for new crops. Others claim it was the burnt flour collected off the floor of communal ovens after loaves were baked. Both are likely correct.

One of the alluring characteristics of burnt flour is that it tricks you. The colour gives pasta a charcoal hue and turns bread loaves a chocolate brown when split open, yet instead of sharp, ashy overtones you get hints of coffee and popcorn.

A gradation of grano arso

And, as with the revolution in coffee-bean roasting, some professional kitchens are investing in their own mills to geek out on the process, start to finish, giving cooks the opportunity to expand the flavours they can extract from grains.

In Philadelphia the James Beard-winning chef Marc Vetri toasts wheat before milling it for use in dishes such as focaccia with smoked fish and creme fraiche. For the pappardelle at the Michelin-starred SPQR in San Francisco, chef Matthew Accarrino chars pre-milled grains by first baking them, then uses a kitchen torch so theyre well-blackened. Burnt flour pairs really well with sweet flavours and is pumped up when you add fat, like cheeses, he says.

At Washingtons Masseria, chef Nicholas Stefanelli is taking the process one step further. When we burn our flour, it caramelises the starches, giving it a deep, bittersweet quality thats incredibly distinct. At Officina, his new Italian marketplace opening this spring in the Wharf, hell sell fresh grano arso pasta, as well as the burnt flour itself.

The trickle-down from chef to consumer is being felt at marketplaces such as Eatalys Downtown New York location. Head baker Stephanie Tantillo, who arrived last June to bolster the bread program, has added a $3.80 charred loaf to the product line. She starts by aggressively toasting flour in the nearby pizza oven, stirring it often. Shes discovered that customers have a ceiling on how blackened they want their food to be. When we changed the description from burnt to charred, sales tripled, she says.

Imported orecchiette from Pastificio Alta Valle Scrivia

Home toques can use it, too. In the $500 five-volume Modernist Bread, which came out in November, authors Nathan Myhrvold and Francisco Migoya suggest using burnt flour in pizza dough to mimic the flavour of a charred Neapolitan crust. The recipe directs cooks to toast flour on a parchment-paper-lined sheet at 400F until black and then cut it with regular flour.

Mitchell Davis, executive vice president of the James Beard Foundation, says its unusual for an ingredient that has such strong associations with poverty to become popular in Italy. But the options for grano arso keep expanding: A recipe on the blog Cravatte ai Fornelli now suggests making cookies from burnt flour and filling them with tomato cream for a savoury whoopie pie.
He has been named the "Hottest Chef of America" by People magazine and has won a Michelin star for his restaurant in New York, but there was a time when people made fun of Vikas Khanna's accent and threatened to chop his fingers just because of his nationality.

The Michelin-starred celebrity chef looked back at his journey and recalled his struggles when he became part of "TED Talks India Nayi Soch" for an episode, a statement from the Star Plus channel said.

"In 2001, the owner of the hotel where I was working, used to put me down in every way possible by saying that I was good for nothing. At every point in time, he would scare me, insult me and make fun of my accent," Khanna said.

Recalling one incident, he said: "One day, just for fun, he spat in my coffee and everyone started laughing at me. Few days later, he got very drunk and picked a big knife to cut my fingers. It was that day that I ran out of that place and realised that my struggle isn't going to be easy."

The episode will air on Sunday.
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Beyond Street estimates, ITC profit jumps 16.74%

Registers net gain of Rs 30.90 billion on an all-round profitability

By Avishek Rakshit

Kolkata, 20 January

Beating Street estimates, diversified conglomerate ITC Ltd posted a 16.74 per cent jump in its net profit at Rs 30.90 billion for the quarter ended December 31, 2017, with a total revenue, inclusive of other incomes, of Rs 105.79 billion. The net profit during the same quarter of the last fiscal year stood at Rs 26.47 billion, while the revenue was registered at Rs 142.58 billion.

In a statement, however, the company said that on account of restructuring of indirect taxes, the gross revenue and excise duty are not comparable.

On a comparable basis, the gross sales value, which includes GST, GST compensation cess and other former taxes under the pre-GST regime, stood at Rs 167.46 billion, representing a growth of 6.3 per cent on a year-on-year basis.

Performances in ITC's non-cigarette segments and one-time gain of Rs 4.13 billion on account of entry tax in Tamil Nadu, which was written back in the quarter, contributed to the enhanced profit figure.

Revenue from the cigarettes business, which accounts for 46 per cent of the overall sales, stood at Rs 46.29 billion in the third quarter (Q3) of the ongoing fiscal year, against Rs 82.88 billion in the corresponding quarter of the 2016-17 fiscal year.

According to Naveen Trivedi, research analyst with HDFC Securities, although it reflects a 44.14 per cent dip on an absolute comparable basis, adjusted against the new accounting standards, revenue from the cigarettes business grew 7-8 per cent, which met his expectations. Trivedis projection was based on the assumption that 96 per cent of last year's excise duty was for the cigarette business.

Backed by price hikes following a cumulative tax increase of 19-20 per cent on cigarettes, the gross profit from this business increased by 7.81 per cent at Rs 32.70 billion against Rs 30.33 billion.

ITCs Q3 FY18 cigarette volumes decline of 5 per cent year-on-year on a flat base was comparatively soft, but at the same time bodes well from the Budget perspective," said Abneesh Roy, research analyst with Edelweiss Securities.

Nevertheless, ITC noted that the business from cigarettes also had to contend with additional costs due to non-availability of additional duty surcharge credit on transition stocks, and the unanticipated revision of GST compensation cess, which impacted the pipeline stocks.

The key monitorable in the short term would be the Budget, which we expect to be moderate, especially considering legal cigarettes account for only 11 per cent of the total tobacco consumption," Roy said.

Driven by the branded packaged foods, personal care and education and stationery product sales, the income from the non-cigarette FMCG business stood at Rs 28.72 billion in the October-December period of 2017 against Rs 25.69 billion in the same months of the 2016-17 fiscal year.

The comparable growth after necessary adjustments in the accounting standard stood at 16.2 per cent during the quarter. Performance of the lifestyle retailing business, however, remained impacted due to the ongoing restructuring of retail and trade footprint. ITC earned a Rs 0.47 billion gross profit from this business vertical in Q3 of 2017-18, against the loss of Rs 0.20 billion in the corresponding quarter.

In the hotels line, despite the gestation costs of



ITC Grand Bharat and Welcom Hotel Coimbatore, increased average room rates and growth in the food and beverage revenue aided this segments revenue to grow by 10 per cent at Rs 4.04 billion on a comparable basis during the quarter, while profitability from this business unit increased by 29.94 per cent at Rs 0.55 billion.

However, the other two verticals -- the agri business and the paperboards, paper & packaging business witnessed slowdown.

Impacted by shortage of leaf tobacco and quality issues amidst currency volatility, in the agri business, the company registered a revenue of Rs 15.30 billion against the earning of Rs 16.72 billion in the period under review. The profitability also remained marginally muted at Rs 2.33 billion.

On the PPP business front, the revenue remained muted at Rs 12.80 billion against Rs 13.36 billion in the Q3 period of 2016-17 on account of prevalent subdued demand environment in the FMCG and legal cigarette industry.

Surplus capacity in the domestic industry along with zero duty imports under Free Trade Agreement with ASEAN countries, and cheap imports from China also dampened sales. However, profitability from this business vertical jumped by 8.9 per cent at Rs 2.68 billion.

On account of projected decline in cigarette sales, analysts had previously estimated the companys net profit to either remain flat or increase by a single digit.

The companys scrip closed at Rs 273.85 apiece on the BSE, rising by 0.37 per cent at the end of the days trade.
The Jt MD of the cinema chain says PVR is currently concentrating on properties that were to be launched before the pandemic struck in March
A tanker carrying ammonia gas leaked on NH-17 in the vicinity of Goa's Dabolim international airport, forcing authorities to evacuate dozens of families from Chicalim village in South Goa in the wee hours of Friday.

The situation was brought under control after nearly seven hours, after fire-fighters, police officials and members of disaster response teams cordoned off the area and eventually brought the leak under control.

"The tanker has been moved from the highway after the leak was brought under control on Friday afternoon. The tanker fell into a ditch while avoiding a vehicle and that caused the gas leakage," Police Inspector N. Raposo told reporters here. The driver of the tanker has been arrested.

Two women residing in the vicinity of the accident site were taken to a nearby hospital for first aid after they complained of suffocation, but were later discharged from the Chicalim Cottage Hospital, an official said.

The accident occurred at 3:30 am in Chicalim village near the airport, some 25km from the state capital, the police said.

The tanker was carrying 15 tonnes of ammonia gas-liquid weighing 35 tonne and was enroute from Mormugao Port Trust to Zuari Agro Chemicals Ltd at Chicalim.

As a precautionary measure, the South Goa district administration directed closure of schools in the vicinity for a day.
The Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) suffer from an acute social diversity deficit in their faculty composition. New data that we have obtained since we first published faculty diversity data at IIM adds even more ballast to the arguments made at the time.

Out of 642 faculty members covered by this data, only two are from the Scheduled Castes (SC) group, and only one from the Scheduled Tribes (ST) group (and only 13 belong to the Other Backward Classes or OBC group). As a public institution, this bleak picture severely undermines the legitimacy of IIMs. In this sequel, we ...
The United States has called for Hafiz Saeed's prosecution "to the fullest extent of the law", following Pakistan's Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi's remark that no action could be taken against the UN-designated terrorist.

Abbasi, during an interview to Geo TV on Tuesday, referred to Saeed as 'sahib' or 'sir'.

"There is no case against sahib in Pakistan. Only when there is a case can there be action," Abbasi said when asked why there was no action against Saeed.

Reacting strongly to the comments, State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert said the US believes that Saeed should be prosecuted and they have told Pakistan as much.

"We believe that he should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. He is listed by the UNSC 1267, the Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee for targeted sanctions due to his affiliation with Lashkar-e-Taiba, which is a designated foreign terror organisation," Nauert told reporters at her daily news conference yesterday.

"We have made our points and concerns to the Pakistani government very clear. We believe that this individual should be prosecuted," Nauert said.

Responding to a question, Nauert said the US has "certainly seen" the reports about Abbasi's comment on Saeed.

"We regard him as a terrorist, a part of a foreign terrorist organisation. He was the mastermind, we believe, of the 2008 Mumbai attacks which killed many people, including Americans as well," she said.

Saeed, the chief of the Jamaat-ud-Dawah (JuD), was released from house arrest in Pakistan in November.

The US has labelled JuD the "terrorist front" for the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), a group Saeed founded in 1987. LeT was responsible for carrying the 2008 Mumbai attack that killed 166 people.

Acknowledging that the US has had some challenging times with the government of Pakistan recently, Nauert said the Trump Administration expects Pakistan to do a lot more to address terrorism issues.

"That's something that we've been very clear about all along. You know the news that we had that came out a couple weeks ago about our decision to withhold some of the security funding for Pakistan," she said.

Nauert said the entire administration is on the same page on the issue of US-Pakistan relationship.

Early this month, the US suspended about $2 billion worth of security assistance to Pakistan accusing it of not doing enough in the fight against terrorism.

In retaliation, Pakistan suspended military and intelligence co-operation with the US.

The State Department yesterday said it has not received any formal information in this regard from Pakistan.
Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Friday announced the commencement of the country's first-ever 'Livability Index' to rank 116 cities.

An official said that the result of the exercise will be announced in June.

"The Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry has decided to assess the livability standard of 116 Indian cities, which include the identified Smart Cities and few more cities with a population of over 1 million," the housing and urban minister told a press conference here.

Among the cities to be assessed for the 'Livability Index', include Delhi's three municipal corporations, Bangalore (Karnataka), Kochi (Kerala), Ghaziabad, Meerut, Varanasi, Allahabad and Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) and Faridabad in Haryana.

The cities will be assessed on 15 core parameters like governance, social infrastructure, education, employment, health and safety and security.

The 'Livability Index' will also take into account physical infrastructure like housing, open spaces, land use, energy and water availability, solid waste management and pollution, among others.

The ministry, through an international bidding process under a World Bank-funded programme, has selected the 'IPSOS Research Pvt Ltd' in consortium with the 'Athena Infonomics India Pvt Ltd' and 'Economist Group Ltd' for the assessment of the livability indices in 116 cities, according a release.
An (IS) recruit from the district has been killed in Syria, police said here on Friday.

Confirming the death of Abdul Manaf (30), a native of Valapattinam in the district in November last year, a senior police official said the news was received by his relatives on January 17 from his friend, who is also in Syria, through Telegram messenger app.

"The news about the death of Abdul Manaf in a fight in November, 2017 in Syria is correct. It was sent by his friend Kayyum, who is also fighting for the IS in Syria", Deputy Superintendent of Police P P Sadanandan said.

Manaf was a local leader of the Kerala based Popular Front India. He had also worked as the office secretary of the outfit in Delhi for some time before joining the IS, he said.

Manaf was also involved in the murder of a CPI(M) worker in 2009, he said.

About 15 persons from Kannur district have joined the terrorist outfit over a period of time.

Of them, six, including Manaf, have been killed in Syria while another five were arrested and handed over to NIA for investigation, Sadanandan said, adding, the remaining four are in Syria fighting for the IS.
Congress chief asked Narendra Modi to spell out his plans for generating employment, taking Chinese out of Dokalam and stopping rapes in Haryana.

Gandhi's question to Modi came after the PM asked people to pitch ideas for the next 'Mann ki Baat' programme to be aired on January 28, the first one this year.

He wrote on Twitter:





Dear @narendramodi, since you've requested some ideas for your #MannKiBaat monologue, tell us about how you plan to:



1. Get our youth JOBS

2. Get the Chinese out of DHOKA-LAM

3. Stop the RAPES in Haryana. pic.twitter.com/pwexqxKrTQ  Office of RG (@OfficeOfRG) January 19, 2018

The Haryana government has come under severe criticism over the horrific spate of sexual violence in the state.

The Congress president's attack came after Prime Minister Modi, through Twitter, urged people to share their ideas for his first radio address of 2018.

Earlier in the day, Modi tweeted:





It is always a delight to read your insightful ideas and inputs for #MannKiBaat. What are your suggestions for 2018s first 'Mann Ki Baat' on 28th January? Let me know on the NM Mobile App. https://t.co/TYuxNNJfIf pic.twitter.com/XSN2MDd905  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 18, 2018

Radio programe 'Mann Ki Baat', which Prime Minister hosts on the last Sunday of every month, is scheduled for January 28.
Having cancelled investment treaties with about 50 foreign governments last year, India is struggling to convince some to accept new terms that make it harder to seek international arbitration for disputes, sources familiar with the talks said. From New Delhi's perspective those treaties, mainly struck in the 1990s when it was desperate for foreign capital, left it too exposed to potential claims awarded by international arbitrators. To reduce that exposure, India has drafted a new model agreement that legal advisors say is similar to those used by other big emerging market ...
Negotiations on a bilateral investment protection pact will figure prominently during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's meeting with Switzerland's President Alain Berset in next week, the Swiss government has said.

The two leaders will also discuss, among other trade and business matter, the envisaged free trade agreement between India and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), of which Switzerland is a member.

The Swiss government statement on topics for the meeting of the two leaders did not mention black money, an issue which has been central to most of the high-level deliberations between the two countries.

India has framed a model Bilateral Investment Protection Agreement (BIPA) and is now negotiating it with several countries. Besides, the talks have been going on for a long time for a free trade agreement between India and the four- member EFTA ((Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein).

The trade pact talks had started in October 2008 and several rounds of negotiations have taken place since then. The proposed agreement covers trade in goods and services, investments, trade facilitation, customs cooperation, protection of intellectual property and public procurement.

The two-way trade between the regions dropped to $19 billion in 2016-17, from $21.5 billion in 2015-16. The trade gap is highly in favour of the EFTA group.

Under an FTA, trading partners give market access to each other with a view to promoting bilateral trade in goods and services, besides investments.

"Topics on the agenda of the working meeting (of President Berset) with Indian Prime Minister Modi on Monday include business and trade matters, particularly the ongoing negotiations on a BIPA and the envisaged free trade agreement between the EFTA and India," the Swiss government said.

Federal Councillor Johann Schneider-Ammann, also the head of the Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research, will also be attending the talks with the Indian prime minister, the Swiss government statement added.

Modi, accompanied by six union ministers, will be in on January 22-23 to attend the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting, where he will give the opening plenary. On the sidelines of the high-profile event, Modi will hold a number of important bilateral meetings with various world leaders.

Announcing schedule of its various leaders, the Swiss government said Berset will also meet US President Donald Trump, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, the British Prime Minister Theresa May, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, among other leaders.

Ammann will also meet India's Trade and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu and will host the traditional informal WTO ministerial meeting on the sidelines of the WEF summit.

The Swiss government said Ammann will focus on fostering bilateral economic relations and free trade negotiations in his various meetings.

The five Federal Council members will be attending the event this year and will hold around 60 bilateral meetings on the sidelines during the five-day summit starting January 22.

At the invitation of President Berset, European ministers of culture will gather in Davos prior to the WEF summit for a conference on 'Baukultur' -- a term used for preservation and development of high-quality cultural heritage.

The results of the conference will be documented in a 'Davos Declaration' on January 22 to launch the European Year of Cultural Heritage 2018.

Federal Councillor Ueli Maurer, the vice president of the Federal Council and head of the Federal Department of Finance (FDF), will hold meetings with numerous counterparts and representatives from international bodies. Maurer is also expected to meet Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, among other world leaders.
Bridges of Friendship Chief of Royal Australian Navy visit Indian Naval Academy





1. Vice Admiral Timothy W Barrett, Chief of Royal Australian Navy along with Royal Australian Naval (RAN) delegates visited Indian Naval Academy (INA) today, Friday, 19 January 2018. During the visit, the Chief of Royal Australian Navy and accompanying RAN delegates were acquainted with Infrastructure, Academic facilities and training processes at INA.

2. The aim of the visit was to build bridges of friendship between the two navies, exchange best practices and to consolidate and enhance bilateral defence relations between India and Australia. Naval cooperation between India and Australia has been traditionally strong, encompassing a wide span which includes operational interactions, training visits, port calls, participation in competitive annual sailing regatta Admirals Cup at INA along with capacity building and capability augmentation initiatives.

3. The visit of Vice Admiral Timothy W Barrett, Chief of Royal Australian Navy along with Royal Australian Naval (RAN) delegates to INA closely follows the successful conclusion of the second edition of biennial Australia-India Maritime Bilateral Exercise (AUSINDEX) conducted off West coast of Australia in the Western Australia Exercise Areas (WAXA) from 13 to 19 June 17. Indian Naval Ships Jyoti, Shivalik and Kamorta participated in the exercise. The AUSINDEX was followed by the visit of Royal Australian Navy (RAN) ship, HMAS Newcastle to Kochi, Kerala from 04 to 07 July 17.

4. In the recently concluded eighth edition of Admirals Cup Sailing Regatta held at Indian Naval Academy Team Australia represented by Sub Lieutanant Alix Peruzzis and Midshipman Bryson Carew lead by Lieutenant Duncan McCowan came third in the overall team position. The naval cooperation between the two countries is in pursuance of Indias Act East policy to promote bilateral relations, enhance interoperability and is reflective of the growing level of cooperation between both Navies.

5. The Chief of Royal Australian Navy, during his visit called on Vice Admiral SV Bhokare, AVSM, YSM, NM, Commandant, INA who is an alumni of the Australian Defence College, Canberra. It was a mutually satisfying and enriching experience for the officers of both Navies and reaffirmed the universal truth that Oceans unite all Nations. The Chief of Royal Australian Navy and RAN delegation departed Indian Naval Academy today, Friday, 19 January 2018.

DKS/RGA
CSIR leveraging technology development by forging synergistic partnership with the Japanese Universities and R&D Organizations





Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has been making endeavours to forge synergistic partnership with the Japanese Universities and Research & Development (R&D) organizations to leverage technology development in cutting edge domains. The partnership with the Hiroshima University has started bearing fruits. The technology areas for cooperation include electronics, robotics, mechatronics, advanced manufacturing, environment and intelligent transportation.

Director General, CSIR, Dr. Girish Sahni, with President, Hiroshima University held the 1st meeting of International Linkage Degree Program (ILDP) on January17-18, 2018 in Hiroshima, Japan. Senior representatives of other partnering Institutes namely IIT-D, IIT-B, IIM-A, BITS-Pilani, IIEST-Sibpur also participated in the meeting to promote student/researchers exchanges and R&D partnership.

Indian Ambassador in Japan Mr. Sujan Chinoy and Dr. Girish Sahni, Director General, CSIR delivered special addresses at the event, alongside Governor of Hiroshima prefecture.

DG, CSIR, Dr. Sahni, has led the CSIR delegation to Japan to vitalise CSIR's ongoing partnership with Japanese National Institute of Advanced Science & Technology (AIST) in Tsukuba. CSIR in collaboration with AIST, Japan is in the process of setting up a unique low cost semiconductor device fabrication scheme Minimal Fab, which will not require setting up of costly clean room and chip fabrication facility. CSIR, with this facility, will be creating an avenue for Electronics System Design Manufacturing (ESDM) sector industries to fabricate semiconductor chips meeting the demand of IOT devices in India and abroad.

CSIR delegation also held bilateral meetings with University of Tokyo and RIKEN Brain Science Institute to build R&D cooperation in the areas of mutual interest, aimed at translational research.

In recent times, CSIR has accelerated its efforts for translational research addressed at unmet needs with strong stakeholder and people connect. In doing so, seamless and synergistic partnership with international R&D organizations of eminence is of prime importance for CSIR to leverage its technology development efforts. In this march of CSIR, Japan has emerged as one of the major country for desired partnerships.
Patna soon to have 100 Percent Sewage Treatment Capacity





Patna will soon be amongst the few major cities along river Ganga to have 100 percent sewage treatment capacity to ensure that no waste water gets discharged into the river. The National Mission for Clean Ganga has put in place a comprehensive sewage management plan for the city, that will replace its existing, defunct system with one that will take care of its sewage treatment requirements till 2035.

The existing sewage treatment plants in Patna have long outlived their utility. The old sewer lines are choked, so waste water cannot flow into the STPs for treatment. As a result the STPs are lying defunct and sewage is getting discharged into the river.

In order to revamp the sewage management system in the city, NMCG has approved eleven projects worth Rs 3582.41 crore that will involve laying down 1140.26 km of sewerage lines and create sewage treatment capacity of 350 MLD. This would cover the sewage treatment requirements of the city upto 2035, when its sewage generation is estimated to be 320 MLD. The new system will also cover Digha and Kankarbagh sewerage zones which have no existing treatment facility so far. Once these projects are completed, Patna will be amongst the few cities having 100 % sewage treatment capacity.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for four awarded sewerage projects costing Rs 738.04 crore on October 14, 2017. The ceremony took place at Mokama. These four projects together will create new STP capacity of 120 MLD and upgrade the existing 20 MLD for Beur, Karmalichak and Saidpur sewerage zones. This will also lay down sewer network of 234.84 km in Beur and Saidpur zones.

Seven other sewerage projects are at various stages of implementation out of which two Digha and Kankarbagh sewerage zones worth Rs 1402.89 crore are sanctioned under Hybrid Annuity-based PPP mode. Sewer network works for two zones Karmalichak and Saidpur zones worth Rs 708.63 crore will be awarded soon whereas three more projects in Pahari zone to create 60 MLD STP capacity and lay down sewer network of 198.38 km costing Rs 732.85 are under implementation.

Alamganj ghat in Patna.

Apart from the foregoing sewage management projects, Patna River Front Development project worth Rs 254.52 crore is at an advanced stage of completion (more than 80% work done). Under this, 16 ghats and 6.6 km of promenade are being developed among other services that include toilets, bathrooms, changing rooms etc. Pathri Ghat in Patna which was developed under Namami Gange programme won 2A Asia Architecture Award 2016. Under the River Surface Cleaning project, a trash skimmer has been deployed in Patna at a cost of Rs 3.96 crore.

It was only with the launch of Namami Gange programme and empowerment of NMCG as an Authority that Patna was given the attention it deserves. Numerous visits of senior officers to Patna and several consultations with technical experts, river scientists, city administration and city dwellers led NMCG to expedite the sanctioning of projects of demographically dense areas generating more sewage water. Because of the citys geographical placing, a significant quantum of pollution load discharges into the river. Keeping in mind these considerations, all sewage management projects in Patna were approved in a time-bound manner. Also, Patna has some of the best quality ghats which have been constructed under River Front Development project under Namami Gange and more are underway.

Trash skimmer in action for river surface cleaning in Patna

Patna is one of the oldest inhabited cities in India with a population of over two million. The western periphery of the city is bound by river Sone whereas on southern side flows Punpun River which later joins river Ganga. It is the second largest city of eastern India and the most densely populated city in Bihar. The swift transformation of Patna into a metropolis, with a population of over 2 millions, makes it a crucial city for Namami Gange programme. A cleaner and healthier river Ganga would augur well for the already ascendant development of this historic city.
Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan (PMSMA) Crosses One Crore Mark!



Safe pregnancy has become a social movement in our country: J P Nadda





Shri J P Nadda, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare expressed heartfelt gratitude to the Honble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi for his un-daunting support to the Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan (PMSMA), as the programme crossed one crore mark in antenatal check-ups. The Union Health Minister stated that Honble Prime Minister of India had envisioned that 9th of every month, symbolizing the 9 months of pregnancy, should be dedicated to pregnant women. The PMSMA programme was launched in 2016 to fulfil his vision and ensure comprehensive and quality antenatal checkups to pregnant women across India. More than one crore antenatal check-ups have been conducted under the ambitious Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan (PMSMA), which has provided quality antenatal checkups to pregnant women on the 9th of every month. Now safe pregnancy has become a social movement in our country," Shri Nadda added.

Expressing satisfaction, Shri Nadda further stated that that the programme has been successful in reaching out to the difficult and remote areas of India, since out of the 1 crore checkups across the country, more than 25 lakh check-ups were conducted in high priority districts identified by the Health Ministry for focussed attention. While all States/ UTs have made significant efforts to reach out to pregnant women, Maharashtra has reported the largest number of check-ups among the Non-Empowered Action Group (EAG) States and Rajasthan has reported the largest number of check-ups among the Empowered Action Group States. All pregnant women visiting the PMSMA sites are examined by an obstetrician/ physician and appropriately investigated," Shri Nadda elaborated.

Shri J.P Nadda also expressed his heartfelt gratitude to all doctors from the public and private sectors, for responding to the call of Honble Prime Minister and making this remarkable milestone possible. He also urged all the doctors to continue their commitment, IPledgefor9 and boost the chance of further reducing maternal and infant mortality in the country.

It may be noted, that in the 31st July 2016 episode of Mann Ki Baat, Honble Prime Minister had urged private sector doctors to dedicate 12 days in a year to this programme and provide voluntary services under PMSMA on the 9th of every month. There are more than 12,800 government health facilities across States/ UTs where PMSMA sessions are conducted on the 9th of every month and pregnant women receive fixed-day assured, comprehensive and quality antenatal care in their second and third trimesters. More than 4,800 private sector doctors have pledged to provide voluntary service under PMSMA. More than 385 private sector volunteers have provided services in the high priority districts such as Bilaspur in Chhattisgarh. Several of these volunteers have provided free services at nearby government health facilities more than 10 times in the past months.

There are several instances where private sector doctors have gone beyond the expectations to serve in remote areas. For example, Dr Pooja Upadhyay, a well-known gynecologist of Raipur turned down the travel support offered by the government and, instead, travelled all the way to Narayanpur, a remote left-wing affected district at her own expense to provide services under PMSMA.

Comprehensive and quality ANC, and identification and follow-up of high risk pregnancies are critical components of the Abhiyan. In order to enable early detection of high risk pregnancies, 84 lakh haemoglobin tests, 55 lakh HIV tests, 41 lakh tests for gestational diabetes, 33 lakh tests for syphilis and more than 15 lakh ultrasounds have been conducted under the programme based on the individual requirements of pregnant women. Based on the clinical conditions and investigations, over 5.50 lakh pregnant women were identified as high risk pregnancies and referred to a specialist or a higher health facility for appropriate care. Identifying high risk pregnancies is the first step towards saving mothers and infants from preventable deaths.

India is committed to reducing preventable maternal deaths through concerted efforts and public private partnership. The PMSMA has reached one crore mark with the commitment from doctors in the government sector across States/ UTs and with the help of the large number of private sector doctors who have voluntarily pledged for this initiative," Shri Nadda stated.
Vice President outlines 12 initiatives to make agriculture viable and remunerative



Delivers the 14th Dr V.K.R.V. Rao Memorial Lecture in Institute for Social and Economic Change





The Vice President of India, Shri M Venkaiah Naidu has said that despite agriculture being the main occupation of most Indians, farmers are finding the profession unattractive because of low and stagnated income and productivity. He said this while delivering the 14th Dr V.K.R.V. Rao Memorial Lecture at the Institute for Social and Economic Change in Bengaluru today. Karnataka Governor Shri Vajubhai Rudabhai Vala, Union Minister for Chemicals & Fertilizers and Parliamentary Affairs, Shri Ananth Kumar and other dignitaries were present on the occasion.

The Vice President said that strategies for faster, inclusive and sustainable growth must address the issues faced by farmers.

Government initiatives like Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana, the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY), e-NAM and Soil Health Cards are helping the farmers to improve productivity and get better returns, he said.

The Vice President said that initiatives like the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana are required for addressing the risks in livestock sector.

The Vice President said that we have a legitimate reason for being proud of our farmers achievements. We have successfully overcome food shortages. We have moved from food import to self-sufficiency and exports. We have made the transition from subsistence farming to intensive and technology-led cultivation. At present, India occupies top position in the production of many crops. It has the highest milk production in the world and has seen many transformative changes as it ushered in green, white, blue and yellow revolutions, he said.

The Vice President said that an enhanced investment, both public and private is required. We need to formulate a long-term and a medium term action plan detailing how private and public investments will be channelled and the strategic directions we should pursue to revitalize this sector, he said.

The Vice President has outlined twelve initiatives that might help increase productivity and generate adequate returns to farmers.
Google Inc is bracing for its first battle in a London court over the so-called right to be forgotten. Two anonymous people want the search engine to take down links to information about their old convictions.

Both describe themselves in their court filings as businessmen. One was convicted of conspiracy to account falsely, and the other was convicted of conspiracy to intercept communications, but they have served their sentences, Judge Matthew Nicklin said at a pre-trial hearing Thursday. This is the first time that the English court is going to decide the ...
The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has re-launched its search to catch four hijackers of the Pan Am Flight 73, almost 32 years after the failed attempt at Karachi airport.

"No matter how much time has passed or the obstacles we encounter, we owe it to the victims and their families to never give up on them," Dawn on Friday quoted an FBI case agent as saying.

The attack, which occurred aboard during an airport stopover in Karachi on September 5, 1986, resulted in the death of 20 passengers and crew. The victims included citizens of the US, India, Pakistan, Britain, Italy, Denmark, Ireland and Mexico.

The FBI has age-progressed photos of the four hijackers -- Wadoud Muhammad Hafiz al-Turki, Jamal Saeed Abdul Rahim, Muhammad Abdullah Khalil Hussain ar-Rahayyal and Muhammad Ahmed al-Munawar -- and released to the media to enable people identify them.

Since two Americans were also among those killed in the failed attempt, the FBI is legally bound to continue to seek the suspects until they are either brought to the US for trial or their death is confirmed.

The US State Department is also offering a $5 million reward for information leading to their arrest, through its Rewards for Justice Programme.

The four suspects are believed to have been members of the Abu Nidal Organisation, which was designated a terrorist organisation by the US Department of State. Each of the men is on the FBI's Most Wanted Terrorists List. The case is being investigated by the agency's Washington Field Office.

According to the FBI, Wadoud Muhammad Hafiz al-Turki was born on June 21, 1955 in Baghdad; Jamal Saeed Abdul Rahim on September 5, 1965 in Lebanon; Muhammad Abdullah Khalil Hussain ar-Rahayyal on November 27, 1965 in Lebanon; and Muhammad Ahmed al-Munawar on May 21, 1965 in Kuwait.

There were 365 and 16 crew members on the Boeing 747-121 when it arrived at the Karachi airport from Mumbai's Sahar Airport on September 5, 1986.

The Pan American World Airways Flight 73 was preparing to depart Jinnah Airport for Frankfurt, and then to its final destination, John F. Kennedy Airport, New York, when a group of five hijackers seized the plane.

The leader of the group Zayd Hassan Abd al-Latif Masud al-Safarini, also a Palestinian, was prominent member of the Abu Nidal group.

The 17-hour long hijacking came to an end when the hijackers opened fire on passengers, causing Pakistani commandos to raid the plane. They freed the aircraft and captured the hijackers.

At a trial held in 1988, all of the convicts admitted to having carried out the hijacking and were given death sentences that were later commuted to life imprisonment.

Safarini was released from prison in Pakistan in 2001 but was arrested a day later by FBI agents in Bangkok on his way to Jordan. In May 2004, a US federal judge in Washington sentenced him to 160 years at Super Max prison in Colorado.

Four other hijackers were released after completing their jail terms and deported to the Palestinian territories. In 2010, news reports claimed that Jamal Saeed Abdul Raheem was killed in a US drone strike on January 9, 2010 in North Waziristan.

(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.)
At least five senior leaders of Al-Qaeda were killed in an operation by the Afghan security forces in eastern Afghanistan's Nangarhar Province on Friday.

The Khaama press agency reported that five top leaders of Al-Qaeda were killed by the Special Forces of the Afghan intelligence directorate in a special anti-terrorism operation.

According to an official statement by the provincial government, it said, "Five senior Al-Qaeda network leaders, hailing from Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Chechnya, were actively involved in planning and coordinating suicide attacks in the country".

"Out of the three killed, one hailed from Chechnya, one hailed from Afghanistan, and one of them was a Pakistani national", the statement added.

The Afghan security forces found four Ak-47 rifles, a PKM machine gun, a pistol and some ammunition after the operations.

No casualties were reported so far.

The Taliban and Al-Qaeda affiliates have not yet given an official statement regarding the development.

This comes days after at least six militants were killed in a US airstrike and 17 suspected Islamic State terrorists were killed in a drone strike by the Afghan security forces.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
At least 52 people have been killed after a bus caught fire in a remote part of the central Asian nation of Kazakhstan.

The bus was travelling along a road in Kazakhstan's north-western Aktau region that links the Russian city of Samara to Shymkent, a city in southern Kazakhstan close to the Uzbek border, reported the Independent.

The route is widely used to transport Uzbek migrant workers to and from Russia.

The Kazakh emergencies department said in a statement that only five people managed to escape.

"Five people who managed to escape are receiving medical assistance," the statement said. "The remaining 52 people died on the spot."

The survivors included three Kazakhs and two Uzbeks, reported Al Jazeera.

The cause of the fire is yet not known.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
In a follow up to the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council meeting held on Thursday, Andhra Pradesh Minister of Finance and Planning, Commercial Taxes and Legislative Affairs Yanamala Ramakrishnudu reiterated the exemption of dried tamarind from GST.

The Minister, in a press note, said while tamarind was exempted under the VAT scheme, only fresh Tamarind is exempted under GST, and tax is still levied on dried tamarind, which is the main commodity used by common people in their daily food.

"Tamarind was initially taxed at 12 percent, and later reduced to 5 percent. It is requested to exempt tamarind dried from GST, as it is mainly used by common people in the southern states of India in their daily food. Just like the food grains, which are exempted, tamarind dried should also to be exempted," he said.

The minister further stated that products sold by the Girijan Cooperative Corporation of Andhra Pradesh, such as honey, coffee, soaps, and so on, be exempted from GST, in a bid to make these products more competitive with other brands. Alternatively, Girijan Cooperative Corporation Ltd, Visakhapatnam and its affiliated Girijan Primary Marketing Cooperative societies, the minister suggested, may be exempted from registration under section 23 (2) of GST Act.

Among other products to be exempted under the GST, as per the Minister include fishnets and fishnet fabrics, cotton yarn in hanks, and fried grams.

The Minister further suggested that the tax rate of Napa Tiles should be reduced to 5 percent, the commodity Natu Tobacco Cheroot may be exempted from cess, the tax rate on Cheroots may be reduced from 28 percent, the tax rate on tractors be reduced from 12 to 5 percent.

Ramakrishnudu also stated that cess on hybrid cars be removed or brought down to 3 percent from the current 15 percent rate, in a bid to encourage people to purchase these cars.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Reacting on the 'office of profit' case, social activist Anna Hazare said on Friday that he has not been in contact with Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, since the day he formed the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

"We parted our ways the day Arvind Kejriwal formed Aam Aadmi Party. We are not in contact anymore. I had told him not to form a party. Nation cannot be served by forming a party, had that been the case, the scenario would have been different in 70 years of independence," Anna, the former mentor of the Delhi Chief Minister, told the media.

In a big setback for the anti-corruption party, AAP, the Election Commission of India (ECI) today recommended to the President that 20 of party MLAs be disqualified for allegedly holding the office of profit.

The ECI has sent its recommendation to the President Ram Nath Kovind for his assent and it remains to be seen what action he takes on it. In cases where petitions are made seeking disqualification of lawmakers, the President sends a reference to the ECI which decides on the case and sends back its opinion.

In the current scenario, the petition was directed at 21 MLAs, but one has resigned.

If the president gives his assent, the disqualification of the legislators would pave the way for bye-elections in Delhi.

The MLAs' pleas that the case against them be dropped were rejected by the ECI in June 2017.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday registered a case against the former Chief Maintenance Engineer (CME) of the Noida Authority for alleged corruption and amassing assets disproportionate to the known sources of income.

The probe agency has also filed a case against a proprietor of a Noida-based private engineers company; three directors of a Delhi-based private technology company; two directors of another Noida-based private Infracon company; a proprietor of another Noida-based private electrical firm; a proprietor of a Ranchi-based private projects firm and unknown officers/officials of Noida Authority on the allegations of criminal conspiracy, misuse of official position, accepting bribe regularly by the then CEC of Noida Authority from the said contractors/firms while awarding contracts.

On Friday, searches were conducted at eight places, including Delhi, Noida, and Ranchi.

The case has been registered under sections 20B of IPC r/w Section 13(2)r/w 13(1)(b)& 13(1) (d) of PC Act, 1988.

The CBI, in a statement, alleged that the then CME in conspiracy with other officers/officials of the Noida Authority as well as with the said contractors had awarded several contracts worth Rs. 116.39 crore (approx) to the five companies/firms in gross violation of tender norms and procedures of the Noida Authority.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Friday said that the advocate general has been asked to review the Supreme Court's order before taking a decision on the screening of 'Padmaavat' in the state.

Chouhan's statement comes a day after the Supreme Court set aside the notification passed by the states of Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan and Gujarat to ban the release of Sanjay Leela Bhansali's directorial Padmaavat.

Speaking to reporters here, Chouhan said "I have asked our Advocate General to study the order, I have not seen it yet. We will keep our concerns, if any, in the Supreme Court after study of the decision".

Earlier in the day, the Apex Court refused to entertain a plea filed by lawyer Manohar Lal Sharma, claiming the certificate issued by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) to Sanjay Leela Bansali's 'Padmaavat' was illegal.

A three-judge bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra said in a statement, "The court has to function as a constitutional court and it has already in its interim order said yesterday that the states can't block a movie from screening 'Padmaavat'.

The court on Thursday stayed notifications issued by four states - Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan and Gujarat - to ban the release of the film 'Padmaavat'.

In its interim order, the court said all states are constitutionally obliged to maintain law and order and prevent any untoward incident during the screening of the film after permission has been granted by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC).

The flick has run into trouble time and again, as members of several Rajput factions have accused director of the film, Bhansali of distorting history.

Starring Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh and Shahid Kapoor in lead roles, the film is based on the 16th century Sufi poet Mohammad Jayasi's poem Padmavat.

The film is all set for January 25 worldwide release in Hindi, Telugu, and Tamil. It will be the first Indian film to get a global IMAX 3D release.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
One civilian was killed on Friday in a ceasefire violation by Pakistan in Mendhar sector of Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch.

Earlier in the day, at least 11 civilians were injured in various areas of Jammu and Kashmir as Pakistan violated ceasefire along the Line of Control (LoC).

Two civilians were injured in the ceasefire violation in Ramgarh sector, five in Hiranagar sector in Kathua and four in RS Pura sector in the Valley.

The Border Security Force (BSF) personnel also launched a massive retaliatory firing.

This is the second consecutive day when the Pakistan Rangers heavily shelled civilian areas and border outposts (BoPs).

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A group of seven dacoits shot at three people and abducted two minor girls from a house in Lucknow's Chinhat area, police said on Friday.

The incident took place on Thursday night after the dacoits robbed the house, the police said.

The three injured have been rushed to the hospital. Their condition is stated to be critical.

An investigation into the case is on.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Delhi Police on Friday assured tight security in the cinema halls for a hassle-free screening of the controversial film 'Padmaavat'.

"Delhi Police will maintain security at all cinema halls. We are constantly in touch with the cinema hall management and the people living in those areas. We believe the film will release here hassle-free," Deependra Pathak, Delhi Police Chief Spokesperson told ANI.

The Delhi Police's statement comes after the Supreme Court on Thursday stayed the notifications issued by four states - Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, and Gujarat - to ban the release of the film 'Padmaavat'.

In its interim order, the court said all states are constitutionally obliged to maintain law and order and prevent any untoward incident during the screening of the film after permission has been granted by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC).

Starring Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh and Shahid Kapoor in lead roles, the film is based on the 16th century Sufi poet Mohammad Jayasi's poem 'Padmaavat'.

The film is all set for a worldwide release on January 25 in Hindi, Telugu, and Tamil. It will be the first Indian film to get a global IMAX 3D release.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Eleven civilians have been injured in various sectors of Jammu and Kashmir as Pakistan violates ceasefire along the Line of Control (LoC) today.

Two civilians were injured in the ceasefire violation in Ramgarh sector.

Meanwhile, five civilians have also been injured in another ceasefire violation by Pakistan in Hiranagar sector in Kathua.

Earlier in the day, two civilians were killed, while four were injured in a ceasefire violation in Jammu and Kashmir's RS Pura sector.

The Border Security Force (BSF) personnel have launched a retaliatory firing. The exchange of fire is still on.

This is the second consecutive day when Pakistan Rangers heavily shelled civilian areas and border outposts (BoPs).

More details are awaited.

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The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) in its reports has confirmed that the fire in Mumbai's Kamala Mills started from 'Mojo's Bistro' and spread rapidly to '1 Above' restaurant.

The reports stated that the fire started from the flying embers from the hookah being "illegally" served in the Mojo's Bistro which had partially unauthorisedly covered their terrace and used all kinds of combustible materials for the construction of the same.

Later it's spread to the 1-Above restaurant, which also had very flammable materials and caught fire immediately from the Mojo's Bistro restaurant's common wall side.

The report held the owner of Kamala Mills "equally responsible" and has recommended action against them for renting the space for pubs and restaurants, which did not took any fire safety precautions.

Apart from that, criminal action against the architect and interior designers of the two restaurants has been recommended by the local body, saying that "they acted unprofessionally and have not shown any diligence in construction of such dangerous unauthorised structure and the materials used for the same."

The civic body has recommended a departmental inquiry against 10 municipal officials and has sought three months time to conduct a detailed survey of the compound to investigate the misuse of the floor space index (FSI) incentives.

The report has been handed over to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis that will be later submitted in the Bombay High Court.

Earlier, the owner of the Mojo's Bistro and 1 Above restaurant were arrested in connection of the incident.

Around 14 people were killed and 12 suffered critical injuries in the massive fire that broke out at the Kamala Mills compound in Lower Parel locality in Mumbai in the wee hours of December 29.

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Initiatives such as cashless economy and Adhaar linkage to various government-run programmes have pushed India forward on the path of digital transformation.

However, the push for 'Digital India' has created a fair and firm ground for innovation and experimentation - a good thing but one with a rider as it calls for incorporating security right at the beginning.

A steep rise in cyber-attacks in 2017 is the proof of impending dangers and clearly indicates how the future is going to look like. The overall security landscape in 2018 will be an extension of what we witnessed in 2017 through ransomware attacks such as WannaCry and NotPetya.

In PwC's opinion, Sivarama Krishnan, Cyber Security Leader, PwC India lists five trends that will define the cyber security landscape in India in 2018:

Privacy and Personal Data Protection:

Privacy and personal data protection will be the focus in 2018. Growing number of organizations are now processing Aadhaar-related information and personally identifiable information of customers, sparking concerns about privacy and personal data protection. Data security of the information will thus take the centre-stage in 2018. First, General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in EU will also have a considerable impact on multi-nationals. Secondly, the Supreme Court of India's ruling in favour of 'Right to Privacy' will also influence the security landscape. Due to this for the first time in many years, organizations will start showing significant interest in advanced encryption and key management technologies in order to secure customer data.

Machine Learning in Cybersecurity

Machine learning (ML) in cybersecurity will go through a trough of disillusionment and will inch closer to becoming mature. As organizations will be keen to adopt solutions and technologies that can help them predict and prevent cyber security instances in real time, the market will witness numerous cyber security products claiming ML capabilities. Stakeholders will rationalize their expectations and focus on tangible outcomes using ML.

Customized security solutions

As the threat landscape is becoming complex with hackers launching targeted attacks on different organizations and their users, organizations are gradually realizing the need to add security layers designed for them or by them in house. As a result, organizations will explore non-standard solutions including building in-house capabilities to meet cyber security requirements. Since the nature of every is different, organizations will also invest more on localized solutions/products. It is probable that many organizations start building their own in-house solutions to fulfill unmet demands.

Indian security start-ups to garner spotlight

With growing need for customized solutions and disillusionment with a number of solutions, cyber security start-ups in India will find traction and may reach a tipping point in 2018. Many large banks, telecom companies, insurance firms, government organizations and ecommerce firms, among others will find their security needs underserved by the existing security products and solutions in the market, thereby forcing them to look up to start-ups to build and implement innovative security solutions.

Back to Basics

Organizations will refocus on basics including protection of crown jewels. While malware and ransomware attacks will continue to grow, organizations will refocus on protecting what is really important. The focus will move from protecting end points to securing organizational data - whether in physical data centres or in the cloud. Encryption, access control, cloud security, and secure DevOps will be some of the key initiatives in 2018.

In 2018, a lot will be on stake as the frequency of sophisticated and targeted cyber attacks will force organizations to beef up their cyber defense. Given the increasing pace and complexity of threats and the clear focus on realizing a more cashless economy, organizations are advised to adopt approaches to cyber security that help them to protect critical information without constraining innovation and growth. It is high time that CIOs and CISOs keep their stakes high to deal with any security challenge that might cross their way in 2018.

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Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Hansraj Ahir on Friday said that the Indian Army won't hesitate from giving a befitting reply to Pakistan's ceasefire violations by firing 10 bullets for every Pakistani bullet across the Line of Control (LoC).

Speaking to ANI, the Union Minister said, "Sending terrorists and initiating ceasefire violation is a part of Pakistan's wicked nature. It is sad that our BSF soldiers lost their lives but they are giving them (Pakistan) befitting reply and will continue to do that. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said to never violate a ceasefire but once a single bullet is fired from Pakistan, we will retaliate with 10 more".

He added that the Indian soldiers are protecting the citizens of the nation, "Pakistan is not going to change this is the truth".

Earlier in the day, at least 11 civilians were injured in various areas of Jammu and Kashmir as Pakistan violated ceasefire along the Line of Control.

Two civilians were injured in the ceasefire violation in Ramgarh sector, five in Hiranagar sector in Kathua and four in RS Pura sector in the Valley.

The Border Security Force (BSF) personnel also launched a massive retaliatory firing.

This is the second consecutive day when Pakistan Rangers heavily shelled civilian areas and border outposts (BoPs).

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The accused girl, who allegedly stabbed a class 1 student of Lucknow's Brightland School, was on Friday released on interim bail.

The accused, a student of Class 6, was granted bail till January 30, after being presented before the Juvenile Justice Board.

The class 1 student, who is admitted in King George's Medical University (KGMU) trauma centre, was attacked with a kitchen knife by his senior on Tuesday .

The matter came to light on Wednesday after the KGMU authorities revealed about it to the media.

The police were informed about the incident by the school when the reporters reached the trauma center.

Lucknow SSP Deepak Kumar, while talking to media, said that they have sent the hair found on the body of the victim for a DNA test.

"A kitchen knife was used for the attack. We have sent the hair found on the body of the child for a DNA test.The principal has been arrested", Kumar said.

Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath also met the injured boy in the hospital on Thursday.

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With the Union Budget to be presented in ten days, dealers in gold and silver jewellery are hopeful of a much-needed tax relief.

Retailers here claim that their sales have been vastly impacted by the recent economic reforms of demonetisation and the Goods and Services Tax (GST).

In lieu of this, shop owners have suggested that tax applicable to silver and gold articles be brought back to one percent from the present rate of three percent.

"The public, as well as owners, have been burdened by the GST. Our sales have seen a decline since this was introduced. It would be better if the tax is brought down to one percent as it was earlier," Jayshree, a gold shop owner, told ANI.

Another dealer recommended that tax applicable on the export of gold and silver should be brought down to four or five percent.

"If the export tax is not brought down, chances of smuggling and other fraudulent activities will increase," another vendor said.

On a related note, the Budget will be presented on February 1.

The first Budget Session of Parliament will be held from January 29 to February 9, while the second session will be held from March 5 to April 6.

This will be the last full-fledged budget that will be presented by Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Union Government.

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One out of the two accused in the gang-rape of a girl here on Thursday has been arrested by the police.

"Based on the information given by the victim, we have arrested one accused, Pawan. We will soon arrest the second accused as well. Our investigation is underway," said Ravindra Kumar, Public Relations Officer of the Gurugram Police.

The victim, a BA second-year student, was allegedly gang-raped by two boys here in Farukhnagar.

The incident took place on Monday when the accused abducted the victim in a car and raped her.

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Dismissing Pakistan Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi's latest remarks on Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed, the United States made it clear that he should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

The Pakistan Prime Minister, in a recent interview to Geo TV, said that there was no case registered against Saeed in Islamabad and without it, action cannot be initiated against him.

At a press briefing, U.S. State Department Spokesperson Heather Nauert on Thursday said, "So we've certainly seen the reports about this, that the Pakistani Government has said that no case has been registered against this individual, Hafiz Saeed."

She added, "Many of you may recall we talked about this a couple of weeks ago, about who this individual is. We regard him as a terrorist, a part of a foreign terrorist organisation. He was the mastermind, we believe, of the 2008 Mumbai attacks which killed many people, including Americans as well."

Nauert stated that Washington has conveyed its concern to Islamabad as the U.S. believes Saeed should be prosecuted.

"The Pakistani Government released him from house arrest not that long ago. We believe that he should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law," she said.

She further emphasised that Saeed is listed by the United Nations Security Council 1267, the al-Qaida Sanctions Committee for targetted sanctions due to his affiliation with Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), which is a designated foreign terrorist organisation.

"So I just want to remind people of that, of who this individual is, and make it clear that we have addressed our concerns with the Pakistani Government," she said.

In November 2017, the Pakistan Prime Minister had claimed that India has provided "no evidence" against Saeed on the basis of which he can be prosecuted.

"The court, a three-judge bench, has released him (Saeed) saying there are no charges against him, the country has a law you know," said Abbasi.

Saeed, the Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) chief, is also looking forward to contesting the 2018 general elections in Pakistan and has, thereby, formed a party by the name of Milli Muslim League (MML).

Pakistan has recently prohibited JuD and Falah-i-Insaniat Foundation (FIF) from collecting donations.

Saeed was released from house arrest after a Pakistani court cited lack of evidence against him in the 26/11 Mumbai attack case.

India has, time and again, protested against Pakistan for harbouring Saeed, who is wanted for plotting the 2008 attack.

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The Delhi High Court on Friday issued a notice to the Enforcement Directorate (EC) on the bail plea of Mohammad Aslam Wani, an alleged hawala dealer, in connection with a money laundering case involving Kashmiri separatist Shabir Shah.

The court further sought a reply of the ED till February 12.

In November last year, the ED sought more time to file its reply on the bail plea of Wani in connection with the case.

The Patiala House Court has allowed the ED's plea and listed the matter for December 1 for further hearing.

Wani is a close aide of Kashmiri separatist Shabir Shah, who has been arrested in terror funding cases.

Earlier, Wani moved the Patiala House Court after the apex court set aside all orders by which bail to an accused was denied due to stringent bail condition in money laundering cases and directed that such cases be remanded back to the respective courts to be heard on merits.

Wani was arrested on August 6.

The ED had, on September 23, told the court that Shah admitted to receiving funds from Pakistan's terror outfits to spread terror in Jammu and Kashmir and others parts of the country.

The chargesheet filed by the ED stated that the separatist had admitted of talking to Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) founder Hafiz Saeed on phone on the issue of Kashmir and had last spoke to him in January this year.

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While he retired from acting long time ago, veteran actor Sean Connery seriously thought of returning to the big screen with the iconic 'Indiana Jones' movie.

While speaking in an interview in 2007, which has now been unearthed by the Hollywood Reporter, the 87-year-old actor revealed that he was unimpressed with the pitch from Steven Spielberg.

The Academy Award-winning star said, "I spoke with Spielberg, but it didn't work out. It was not that generous a part, worth getting back into the harness and go for. And they had taken the story in a different line anyway, so the father of Indy was kind of really not that important. I had suggested they kill him in the movie, it would have taken care of it better."

In the interview, he looked stern while saying that he was totally done with making movies.

The Oscar-winning Connery stopped acting in movies after an immensely stressful production for 2003's panned 'The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen'.

Though, he did provide voice of Sir Billi in the 2012 animated comedy 'Guardian of the Highlands'.

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Emphasising that Pakistan is a terrorist state which only believes in violence, Jammu and Kashmir Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh on Friday said that India is not going to be baffled by all these cowardice act of Islamabad.

"Pakistan which is basically a terrorist state & only believes in violence is not learning the lesson from its misdeeds. It's very clear that India is not going to be baffled by all these cowardice act of Pakistan," Singh told ANI.

Condemning the recent ceasefire violation by Pakistan in the region, Singh said that Islamabad will have to bear its own action.

He also assured that the security forces are continuously giving befitting reply to Pakistan's ceasefire violations.

The Deputy Chief Minister also called Pakistan a shameless country for killing innocent people in the region.

He said the administration and the police are helping people living in the border areas to shift to secure and safer places.

Singh further said that government is providing all the necessary care and treatment to those who have been injured in the ceasefire violations.

Earlier, former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah called the targeting of civilians by Pakistan in ceasefire violation "a matter of great concern" and added that both India and Pakistan will together have to tackle the issues for peace in the valley.

At least eleven civilians have been injured in various sectors of Jammu and Kashmir in multiple ceasefire violation by Pakistan along the Line of Control (LoC) today.

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Contributing to the empowerment of those less privileged than themselves, seems to be a powerful motivator for our new generation of Indians. Many children in metropolitan cities are spending their free time developing applications and content to benefit the wider community, especially those less privileged than themselves.

One such story that has come across relates to Kartikeya Thiyam Sundaram, Head Boy at the G D Goenka World School in Sohna, Haryana.

Kartikeya, a world No.1 in information technolgy in the Cambridge International Examinations in 2016, is today a Grade XII student. Despite having a very demanding academic schedule, he exemplifies the modern generation of Indian who are socially connected and want to empower their less privileged peers.

In 2016, during his internship with the UTSAV Foundation in Gurgaon, he wrote a book "Digital Learning". This book is being widely used by multiple NGOs across India to teach the use of computers to the underprivileged - both children & adults. Multiple batches of students have benefited from the program outlined in the 60-page manual

This manual, published in both Hindi and English has illustrations and links to relevant YouTube videos, especially those in the vernacular language, so as to make it intuitive for students to learn the basics of how to use computers.

When asked what motivated him, Kartikeya said, "The government's Digital India campaign got me thinking on what each of us could do to contribute more effectively in our individual capacity, to supporting our communities and enabling social empowerment."

A official of the Union Ministry of Skill Development commented, on condition of anonymity, "Such initiatives send a powerful signal to our coming generations that a lot of social change can be driven by independent local initiatives that impact the community and develop society. Individual citizens and their efforts can significantly increment government initiatives."

Kartikeya has also been successful in creating a crowd funding campaign on social media to generate online donations for Anjana , a 38 year lady who lives in Rishikesh.

Anjana is born without both arms and has just one functional leg. However, despite her physical limitations, she independently supports a family of six by making sketches with her toes while sitting on a footpath leading towards the Ram Jhoola in Rishikesh.

Her positivity and never say die spirit inspired Kartikeya and a friend to create a crowd funding campaign called "Saving Anjana" that has till now secured almost Rs.400,000 for her future. Kartikeya is now trying to reach out to corporations to contribute under their respective CSR entities to secure Anjana's future.

A recent incident where private photographs of a female student where leaked by a peer on WhatsApp angered Kartikeya deeply. That incident triggered in Kartikeya a plan to initiate the development of a mobile app "Safe Schools" that makes school environments more secure and inculcates a sense of responsibility among students.

The app is currently under construction by Kartikeya, will allow students to report instances of inappropriate behaviour, sexual harassment, drug abuse and other malpractices in their school environment to the school administration, anonymously or directly.

Kartikeya believes this app would allow students to work in collaboration with their school management and become more responsible citizens.

The G D Goenka World School, Sohna, has already accepted to be the lead school for the launch of the app, once its fully developed by Kartikeya later in the year.

Dr. Neeta Bali, Principal and Head of School, said, " Kartikeya represents the new generation of Indians who have empathy for their less privileged peers and a willingness to go that extra mile to make a difference socially. Drawing their inspiration for being sensitive to their environment. Many modern Indians like Kartikeya are moulding our country and it is the coming generation that aims to be socially responsible and create a better India.

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The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) announced on Friday that India will host yoga sessions at the World Economic Forum (WEF) Summit in Davos.

"To showcase India's soft power at the global stage, yoga sessions would be held in the sidelines of the summit", Ramesh Abhishek, the secretary of Industrial Policy and Promotion (IPP), said.

"We are taking the best yoga teachers there. Yoga sessions would be held at the summit and at the Swiss Alps. Our message is that an individual needs to lead a healthy and strong life", he added.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Davos, Switzerland to attend the WEF summit on January 23. He will deliver a keynote speech at the plenary session.

The Prime Minister will also meet with the President of Switzerland, Alain Berset.

The plenary session of the summit will be moderated by Professor Klaus Schwab, the Founder and Executive Chairman of the WEF.

The theme for this year's WEF summit is - "Creating a Shared Future in a Fractured World".

Also, this is the first visit by an Indian Prime Minister to the summit, since former Prime Minister H. Deve Gowda's visit in 1997.

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Union Minister of State (MoS) Jitendra Singh on Friday lauded the Indian Army for their retaliatory action across the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir's Hira Nagar and R.S. Pura sectors.

"I want to appreciate the efforts of doctors and hospital staff as they are taking care of all the injured very well. Whatever Pakistan is doing is not hidden from anyone but this time, the kind of retaliatory action Indian Army has taken has not been seen in decades. Even the people living in this area are the testimony of this", Singh told the media here.

He added that the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) will decide whether or not the talk should happen between the two countries.

"No matter, how big a leader is, but no one has the right to decide on the talks between India and Pakistan", he stated.

Earlier in the day, at least 11 civilians were injured in various areas of Jammu and Kashmir as Pakistan violated ceasefire along the Line of Control.

Two civilians were injured in the ceasefire violation in Ramgarh sector, five in Hiranagar sector in Kathua and four in RS Pura sector in the Valley.

The Border Security Force (BSF) personnel also launched a massive retaliatory firing. The exchange of fire is still on.

This is the second consecutive day when Pakistan Rangers heavily shelled civilian areas and border outposts (BoPs).

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Kashmiri Pandits gathered outside the Governor's House in Jammu on Friday to protest against on the occasion of the 28th anniversary of the exodus of their community from the Kashmir Valley.

Protestors chanted slogans for the peaceful return of Kashmiri Pandits.

"We urge the Jammu and Kashmir Government and the Centre to address the issue of exodus and migration. There should be a CBI probe on the encroachment of Hindu temples in the valley," Vinod Pandit, a representative of the community, told ANI.

Protestors also demanded the opening of the route pilgrimage to the ancient Sharda Temple in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

BJP members of the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Council have demanded the setting up of a Truth commission to investigate the killings of Kashmiri Pandits and the circumstances that led to their forced exodus from valley.

The ethnic cleansing of Kashmiri Pandits was an event that occurred on January 19, 1990, when most of the pandit families were forced to flee from Kashmir Valley due to violence and spread of terrorism.

About one to eight lakh pandits have fled from Kashmir since 1990 it is estimated.

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Balochistan activist Mama Qadeer Baloch has levelled serious allegations against the Pakistan government, including the kidnapping of Indian Naval Officer Kulbhushan Jadhav from Iran.

In a TV interview, Baloch said, "Pakistani terrorists are behind the arrest of Kulbhushan Jadhav from Iran. His name is Mullah Omar, an Iranian Baloch, who brought Jadhav to Maskey in Balochistan and handed over to the Pakistan Army."

He further said that Jadhav was falsely accused and tortured to confess his involvement in Balochistan.

"Jadhav was tortured and forced to confess his involvement in Balochistan. The reality is, Jadhav is not behind any terror activities in Balochistan," he said.

The Baloch activist highlighted that it's impossible for an outsider to enter Balochistan as the authorities have strict security in the province.

"How can Jadhav enter and live in Balochistan? Jadhav's arrest is deliberate to blackmail India. There is no proof with Pakistan and Iran against Jadhav," he said.

Baloch alleged that Pakistani agencies such as Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Military Intelligence (MI) are behind the enforced disappearances in Balochistan.

"Situation in Balochistan is turning bad to worse because of Pakistani agencies, which run terror factories," he said.

"Pakistan has produced terrorists like Hafiz Saeed and Syed Salahuddin," he added.

The Baloch activist mentioned that there are 45,000 missing persons in Balochistan.

"We have a list of missing persons in Balochistan. In 2004, a government official confessed to having abducted 4,000 people in Balochistan. Former Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfaraz Bugti also confessed to arresting thousands of Baloch," he said.

"We want Pakistan government and army to produce the abducted Baloch people in court. We have been receiving tortured and mutilated bodies of them," he added.

Baloch also said that he is constantly getting threats. However, he said he will continue to raise his voice against the atrocities being carried out by Pakistani authorities against Baloch people.

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Bollywood film 'Gul Makai', based on the life of teenager Pakistani activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai, is being shot in the Ganderbal district of Kashmir for the last few days.

Directed by Amjad Khan, the cast of the film includes Reem Shaikh, Divya Dutta, Mukesh Rishi, Abhimanyu Singh and Ajaz Khan.

"The film chronicles the journey of Malala from her days in Swat Valley to her becoming the youngest Noble peace prize winner. Major part of the film has already been shot in Bhuj and Mumbai and we are here in Kashmir to shoot the last leg of the movie," said Khan.

He further said the film aims to capture Malala's spirit, her fight, and also the reality and suffering of the people of Pakistan.

At the age of 17, Malala became the youngest person to win the Nobel Peace Prize after surviving an assassination attempt by the Taliban in 2012.

She founded the Malala Fund, a non-profit organisation and in 2013 co-authored 'I am Malala', an international bestseller. She has continued to speak out on the importance of education.

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Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh on Friday condemned Air India for the mismanagement at Guwahati airport after AI 889 Delhi to Guwahati flight suffered a bird hit on at Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport.

Total 160 passengers were on-board the flight when the incident took place.

The Chief Minister took to Twitter and said, "God is gracious enough our AI flight was hit by a flying bird and airplane landed safely in Guwahati today. The impact is so powerful that it could make a hole. It occurred when it descended and the wheel got unfolded. Thank God! Staying at Guwahati along with around 160 passengers".

Singh further said, "Air India management in the Guwahati airport is so poor and ineffective. Till now many passengers are inside the airport without food and accommodation. Only three AI staff seen there. Extra flight not possible until tomorrow afternoon as per AI authority".

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The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) summoned Pakistan's Deputy High Commissioner Syed Haider Shah on Friday to voice concerns over continued ceasefire violations and deliberate targeting of innocent civilians by Pakistan security forces.

"Pakistan was again called upon to adhere to the November 2003 ceasefire understanding for maintaining peace and tranquility along the Line of Control (LoC) and the International Boundary," the MEA said in a statement.

"It was conveyed to the concerned authorities in Pakistan that deliberate targeting of innocent civilians was against all established humanitarian norms and practices," it added.

More than 100 such violations have been carried out by Pakistan forces on the LoC so far, the ministry statement said.

This comes after Pakistani troops on Friday resorted to unprovoked ceasefire violation along the Line of Control (LoC) in the RS Pura Sector of Jammu and Kashmir, killing a 17-year-old girl and a Border Security Force (BSF) jawan. At least four more were injured.

Also, two civilians were injured in the ceasefire violation in the Ramgarh Sector, while five more were injured in another ceasefire violation by Pakistan in Hiranagar Sector in Kathua, all in Jammu and Kashmir.

This is the second consecutive day when Pakistan Rangers heavily shelled civilian areas and border outposts (BoPs).

India and Pakistan routinely exchange fire across the LoC, causing heavy losses to both soldiers and civilians from both sides.

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United States President Donald Trump has contradicted his chief of staff John Kelly over proposals for a wall along the southern US border with Mexico, tweeting that his opinion on a wall "has never changed or evolved from the first day he conceived it."

Trump's comments on Twitter came a day after Kelly told Democratic lawmakers that some of the hard-line immigration policies Trump advocated during the campaign were "uninformed," reported the Washington Post.

Later during a television interview, Kelly attempted to downplay the disparities with the President.

"He has evolved in the way he looks at things. Campaign to governing are two different things, and this president has been very flexible in terms of what's in the realm of the possible," Kelly told Fox News.

Kelly's comments came amid a shaky effort to craft an accord protecting hundreds of thousands of young immigrants from deportation. Part of negotiators' problem has been uncertainty over what Trump would accept.

Those immigrants, who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children, benefitted from the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which Trump scrapped last year.

According to the reports, Kelly told lawmakers some parts of the border do not need a wall and there will be no physical barrier "that Mexico will pay for."

Trump tweeted that "parts will be, of necessity, see through" and wrote that the wall "was never intended to be built in areas where there is natural protection such as mountains, wastelands or tough rivers or water."

He added that it "will be paid for, directly or indirectly, or through longer term reimbursement, by Mexico, which has a ridiculous $71 billion dollar trade surplus with the U.S."

Despite Kelly's efforts, lawmakers have been frustrated with Trump's shifting position on DACA and a broader immigration deal.

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My basic nature is to convert adversity into opportunity, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in an interview, while talking about his initial lack of experience in foreign policies after assuming the charge in 2014 and turning this deficiency into his strength and using the same for growing India's stature on world stage.

"When I became Prime Minister then I had no experience of foreign policy protocols, but my basic nature is to convert adversity into opportunity. I am a common man, I will admit that I was not too well versed with the protocols, so I behaved like a common person without getting too formal. My inexperience actually helped me as the world liked openness of a common man," Prime Minister Modi said in an exclusive interview given to Zee News, on Friday.

When asked whether India had become a global power, the Prime Minister said, "Earlier the world was divided into two camps but today the situation has changed. Every nation has friendly relations with other nations despite disputes on some issues. The world today is interconnected."

In the interview, the Prime Minister also recalled how India raised the issue of corruption in the G20 summit.

"Today corruption has become a major issue at G20. India has called world's attention over terrorism. (Former) US President Barack Obama had also praised India's role on global warming," the Prime Minister said.

Replying to another question, Prime Minister Modi said the declaration of International Yoga Day by the United Nations (UN) was another achievement of India.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar will be accorded Z-plus category security protection after his convoy was attacked in the Nandar village of Buxar district on January 12.

The Chief Minister's convoy was attacked and pelted with stones by a group of villagers when he was returning after attending a meeting during his Vikas Smaiksha Yatra.

Kumar was rescued safely, however, at least two security men sustained injuries in the stone-pelting.

The Bihar Chief Minister is on a state-wide tour since December 12 to take stock of the state government's development schemes over the years.

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Anti-China slogans were raised during a rally organised by Jeay Sindh Muttahida Mahaz (JSMM) to mark the 114th birth anniversary of scholar ideologue, and founder of Sindhudesh Movement Ghulam Murtaza Shah Syed, also known as G. M. Syed here.

JSSM posted a video on Twitter showing a rally where the protesters were seen shouting slogans such as, "No China, Go China" against the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project.

"Sayed's Birth Anniversary, #JSMM took out a massive rally: Slogans of freedom for #Sindhudesh, No #China, Go China, reverberate in Sann, despite state hindrances. @shafiburfat," JSMM tweeted.

The protesters also demanded freedom of Sindh from Pakistani occupation, the abolition of human rights abuses and religious fundamentalism.

However, state security forces of Pakistan sought to end the rally as quickly as it started.

Banners and flags of the Sindhudesh Movement were removed from Sann and surrounding villages and towns were raided. Political activists were asked to stop their activities.

The masses, however, defied the order and came out to celebrate Syed's anniversary.

They said Pakistani forces were involved in enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, rape and other atrocities.

The families of missing and killed JSMM activists also participated in the rally.

Exiled JSMM Chairman Shafi Burfat delivered an audio message to the gathering

China came up with its One Belt One Road (OBOR) initiative in 2013.

The project comprises a network of railways, roads and pipelines that would connect Pakistan's port city of Gwadar in the province of Balochistan, with the Chinese city of Kashgar in landlocked Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR).

The human rights activists have, time and again, spoken about and highlighted the growing atrocities of Pakistan on the indigenous people of Balochistan and deteriorating human rights situation as a result of the CPEC.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi is not scheduled to meet with Pakistani Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi during the World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting in Davos.

Addressing a press conference here, Ministry of External Affairs Secretary (economic relations) Vijay Gokhale said, "No meeting has been planned between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Prime Minister of Pakistan in Davos".

He added: "The Prime Minister's upcoming visit to Davos is very short. It will be only for 24 hours and will be very focused. This is a sign that we engage with the globe".

During the visit, the Prime Minister will deliver the keynote speech at the plenary session of the WEF in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland on January 23, 2018. He will also have a bilateral meeting with Alain Berset, President of the Swiss Confederation on January 22.

The theme for this year's WEF is "Creating a Shared Future in a Fractured World". The plenary session will be moderated by Prof. Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman, WEF.

This is the first visit by an Indian Prime Minister to the WEF since the earlier one by Deve Gowda in 1997.

The WEF, which describes itself as an international organisation for public-private cooperation and was established in 1971 as a not-for-profit foundation, hosts its annual meeting in Davos every year in January.

Presidents of 60 countries and over 350 international leaders will participate in the forum.

The registered participants from India include Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Railways Minister Piyush Goyal, Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu, Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister of State for External Affairs M J Akbar and Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Development of North Eastern Region of India Jitendra Singh.

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Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah on Friday called the targeting of civilians by Pakistan in ceasefire violation "a matter of great concern" and added that both India and Pakistan will together have to tackle the issues for peace in the valley.

"Violence is not the solution to the Kashmir problem. India and Pakistan need to talk together. There is a regular breakdown of the ceasefire across the border and the Line of Control (LoC). This is something New Delhi and Islamabad need to sort out," Abdullah told ANI.

Atleast eleven civilians have been injured in various sectors of Jammu and Kashmir as Pakistan violates multiple ceasefire along the Line of Control (LoC) today.

The Border Security Force (BSF) personnel have launched a retaliatory firing. The exchange of fire is still on.

Yesterday a 17 year-old-girl was killed in a ceasefire violation by the Pakistani troops along the Line of Control (LoC) in RS Pura sector of Jammu and Kashmir.

This comes less than two days after four Pakistani soldiers were killed by the Indian Army in the cross-border firing initiated by the former in Poonch sector.

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The social media was abuzz with the reports of Akshay Kumar's 'PadMan' being postponed to avoid a clash with Sanjay Leela Bhansali's magnum opus 'Padmaavat' and now it's official.

Trade Analyst Komal Nahta has tweeted that the film's release date has been postponed to February 9, 2018.

Earlier, the movie was scheduled to release on January 25.

The movie is a biopic based on the life of Arunachalam Muruganantham, who makes cheap and affordable sanitary pads for the women of his village and fights for menstrual hygiene.

Helmed by R. Balki, 'PadMan' also stars Sonam Kapoor and Radhika Apte.

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Pakistan Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa confirmed the death sentence of at least 10 terrorists, who were found guilty of carrying out suicide attacks in the country in the last few years.

The punishment for the terrorists was announced by a military court today.

"The convicts were involved in terrorist activities, killing of innocent civilians, attacks on educational institutions, slaughtering of soldiers, attacking law enforcement agencies (LEAs) and the armed forces of Pakistan", the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement.

The terrorists were involved in the killing of 41 personnel while injuring 33 others. They have confessed their crimes before the magistrate and the trial court before the quantum of punishment was given by the military court.

"Arms and ammunition were also recovered from them earlier. Besides these 10 terrorists, another three of them have been awarded imprisonment for a varying period by the military court", the ISPR statement added.

The Pakistan Army launched Operation Radd-ul-Fasaad, a military offensive against the 'latent threat of terrorism', in February last year.

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Pakistan and Iran will be resuming train services between two countries by September as the security situation has improved.

According to the Dawn, a meeting took place between railway officials of the two countries where they decided to resume the fortnightly bilateral passenger train service.

The train will operate between Quetta and Mashhad or Qom.

Both countries also considering to revise the 1959 railways agreement inked between both countries.

To cater to the business community in Pakistan, the railway ministry has further decided to start running 15 freight trains between Quetta and Zahedan.

In October 2017, Pakistan and Iran signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to improve border security between the two countries.

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The Pakistani troops on Friday once again resorted to unprovoked ceasefire violation along the Line of Control (LoC) in RS Pura sector of Jammu and Kashmir.

The Border Security Force (BSF) personnel have launched a retaliatory firing. The exchange of fire is still on.

The ceasefire violation comes after a 17-year-old girl and a BSF Jawan were killed yesterday by the Pakistani troops in RS Pura sector.

Three civilians also suffered injuries in the heavy firing and mortar shelling by Pakistan.

Two days ago, four Pakistani soldiers were killed by the Indian Army in the cross-border firing initiated by the neighbouring country in Poonch sector.

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A Pakistani man suspected of having links with the Islamic State (ISIS) has reportedly been arrested in Bangkok for allegedly producing fake passports for suspected transnational criminals, possibly including those joining a terror group.

Bangkok Post quoted a source as saying that the Pakistani man identified as Muhammad Iqbal, 51, was arrested by the immigration staff, police and the army in Phasi Charoen district of Bangkok on Sunday.

Four Indian passports and three Singaporean passports were found after a body search of Iqbal was carried out by the authorities.

Authorities found equipment used for making counterfeit documents and passports from his room during a search.

The source said Iqbal was being held by the authorities at an undisclosed location, and he has been charged with trading in counterfeit documents.

A probe into the matter has been initiated.

Reportedly, Thai authorities were also investigating with the help of Malaysian authorities, if Iqbal was also involved in making fake passports in 2016 and 2017 for militants from Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and possibly Thailand who wanted to travel to join the ISIS terror group in the Middle East, Bangkok Post reported.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi will host a dinner for the leading global chief executive officers at the World Economic Forum (WEF) Summit at Davos, Switzerland, on January 22.

Industrial Policy and Promotion (IPP) Secretary Ramesh Abhishek said, "Our Prime Minister will host a dinner with the global chief executive officers, along with the Indian CEOs on January 22."

"At least 60 participants will participate - with big names such as Airbus and Toyota. In this session, Prime Minister Modi will address the business opportunities in India, which will benefit the economy", he added.

Prime Minister Modi will also chair a session of around 120 members of the International Business Forum (IBF), which would be held on the sidelines of the WEF summit.

The Prime Minister will also meet with the President of Switzerland, Alain Berset, during his one-day visit.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal, Minister of State (MoS) Dr. Jitendra Singh and MoS, External Affairs M.J Akbar will also visit Davos and hold various sessions during the WEF summit.

The theme for this year's WEF summit is - "Creating a Shared Future in a Fractured World".

Also, this is the first visit by an Indian Prime Minister to the summit, since former Prime Minister H. Deve Gowda's visit in 1997.

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The Delhi Police on Friday said it will be "premature" to comment on anything on the Sunanda Pushkar death case, adding that one should not believe any source in this regard.

"The case is under investigation. It will be premature to make a comment on it now. Let us not believe in any source," Delhi Police Chief Spokesperson Deependra Pathak told ANI.

The Delhi Police's statements came after it was reported that the police has carried out a 'forensic psychology examination', a relatively new mode of investigation, on Congress leader Shashi Tharoor and four of his associates in the death of Sunanda Pushkar.

Pushkar, wife of Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, was found dead at a suite in a five-star hotel in South Delhi on the night of January 17, 2014.

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Two brothers from Punjab have set up a food truck in their homeland in the state, in a bid to help people shun drugs and lead a normal life.

The duo has done hotel management from a reputed college and had also worked at a luxurious hotel chain in Singapore.

Amanpreet Singh and his cousin Satnam Singh started 'Punjab Rasoi', a van decked up with mouth-watering items of the Punjabi cuisine

They want to send out a message of self-reliance and independence to the young and the ambitious.

A man should have a source of income through his work. When a man is working, he remains focused on his work and doesn't think about drugs or other substance addictions, said Satnam.

The rampant cases of drug menace in Punjab are not new to anyone.

Due to easy availability of drugs, young men can be seen inhaling, snorting or shooting up in abandoned buildings or lush fields in the province.

Earlier, the Punjab government had also expressed concern over the drug menace and gave assurance to curb it.

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Congress President Rahul Gandhi asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi how he plans to address issues like jobs, rising rape cases in Haryana, and Doklam in Mann Ki Baat.

Rahul tweeted, "Dear @narendramodi, since you've requested some ideas for your #MannKiBaat monologue, tell us about how you plan to:

1. Get our youth JOBS

2. Get the Chinese out of DHOKA-LAM

3. Stop the RAPES in Haryana."

The Congress president's attack came after Prime Minister Modi, through Twitter, urged people to share their ideas for his first radio address of 2018.

"It is always a delight to read your insightful ideas and inputs for #MannKiBaat. What are your suggestions for 2018's first 'Mann Ki Baat' on 28th January? Let me know on the NM Mobile App," the Prime Minister wrote on the micro-blogging site on Thursday.

Radio programe 'Mann Ki Baat', which Prime Minister hosts on the last Sunday of every month, is scheduled for January 28.

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At least five people have been killed and 30 others injured in airstrikes conducted by the Russian warplanes in Syria's northern province of Idlib.

According to the Anadolu Agency, Syria's White Helmets civil-defense force director Mostafa Haj Youssef said Russian warplanes had targeted a number of residential areas on Thursday.

"Russian warplanes used napalm bombs, which are forbidden [...] according to international laws," he said.

Earlier in December, at least 21 civilians were killed in airstrikes conducted by the Russian forces in Islamic State (IS)-held village in eastern Syria.

In May 2016, Russia, Iran and Turkey signed an agreement to set up de-escalation centres in Syria.

De-escalation zones include the Idlib province, some parts of Latakia, Hama and Aleppo provinces, Homs, Eastern Ghouta, Daraa and al-Quneitra provinces in southern Syria.

Syria has been embroiled in a civil war since 2011.

Protestors have for long been demanding the resignation of Assad over his autocratic rule.

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United States Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has warned that even a partial government shutdown would tremendously impact the country's military's maintenance, training, and intelligence operations.

Mattis replied "yes" when he was quizzed, if a shutdown would have "serious ramifications," for the US military during a question and answer session, reports The Washington Examiner.

"We do a lot of intelligence operations around the world, and they cost money. Those obviously would stop," Mattis added, "And I will tell you training for almost our entire reserve forces will stop. And you must understand the critical importance of our reserves. They are the only shock absorber we have."

The defence secretary further stated that 50 percent of the Defense Department's civilian workforce would have to be furloughed.

The White House announced in a statement that it would be holding a media briefing on Friday over the possible government shutdown, as legislators struggled to keep the United States government funded.

Marc Short, White House legislative affairs director, and Mick Mulvaney, head of the Office of Management and Budget, will conduct the briefing at around 10:30 am (local time).

Earlier, the US House of Representatives passed a Republican-led bill aimed at avoiding a government shutdown.

However, the fight to get the bill through Congress is not over yet. This legislation would likely be dead on arrival in the Senate, where Democrats have said they have enough votes to block the legislation.

The final vote was 230-197, with six Democrats voting for the measure and 11 Republicans voting against it.

If the bill ultimately becomes law, it would be the fourth temporary funding patch since September.

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Suraj Pal Amu, the Bharatiya Janata Party leader who announced a Rs 10-crore reward for the beheading of 'Padmaavat' director Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Deepika Padukone, on Friday requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Supreme Court to understand the public's emotions towards the controversial film and cancel its Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) certificate.

Speaking to ANI here, Amu added that the protests against the release of the film will continue but in a democratic manner.

"I am absolutely hurt from the protests happening across the country against 'Padmavat' film. I want to convey this through ANI that we will continue to raise our voice against this film in a democratic way. We are going to submit a review petition in the Supreme Court in this issue. I want to request the Prime Minister and the Supreme Court to understand the sentiments of the citizens of this nation and cancel the certificate of the CBFC", he stated.

Amu further said every political party in India, except the Congress party, has taken a step against this film.

"In Bihar, the film has been banned since the Gujarat elections took place. I do not know what kind of Rahul Gandhi wants to play. We do not want such protests to take place in the nation but I believe from what I am hearing, in future these protests will only take a serious turn as far as this film is getting released", he asserted.

He added that Bhansali is exploiting the sentiments of crores of people of India.

Earlier in the day, Shri Rajput Karni Sena vented out anger against Central Board of Film Certification chief Prasoon Joshi, saying he will "not be allowed to enter Rajasthan".

Karni Sena leader Sukhdev Singh also said Joshi has misguided the Supreme Court, who has ordered to stay the ban on the release of the controversial film 'Padmavaat' in the four states - Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan and Gujarat.

"We have not received Supreme Court's decision as yet but as soon as we get it, we will go to the President. The court does not give a hearing date before six months, I wonder how Joshi got the date within 12 hours. I am sure he has misled the court", added Singh.

The country's top court, on Thursday, stayed notifications issued by the four states to ban the release of Bhansali's magnum-opus.

In its interim order, the court said all states are constitutionally obliged to maintain law and order and prevent any untoward incident during the screening of the film after permission has been granted by the CBFC.

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The United States and India on Friday urged Pakistan to prosecute United Nations-designated global terrorist Hafiz Saeed "to the fullest extent of the law".

The US State Department criticised Pakistan Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi's move to support Saeed.

Abbasi had earlier said that there was 'no evidence' against him and was 'absolutely innocent'.

US State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said on Friday, "We regard him as a terrorist, a part of a foreign terrorist organisation. He was the mastermind, we believe, of the 2008 Mumbai attacks which killed many people, including Americans as well."

"We condemn the statement made by Prime Minister Abbasi. We have made our points and our concerns to the Pakistani Government very clear. We believe that this individual should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law", the statement added.

The State Department spokesperson stressed that Saeed's name was on the UN's list of designated terrorists, adding: "He is listed by the UN Security Council 1267, the Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee for targeted sanctions due to his affiliation with Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), which is a designated foreign terrorist organisation".

India has also criticised Pakistan for turning a blind eye towards the evidence available against Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar on Friday said, "If somebody is a designated global terrorist, it's done based on a lot of evidence available in public domain. You can close your eyes, pretend nothing happened but they (Pakistan) have to realise what's in front of them and take action against such people, who are freely operating from their soil".

Saeed was released from house arrest after a Pakistani court cited lack of evidence against him in the 26/11 Mumbai attack case.

The Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) chief is also looking to contest the 2018 general elections in Pakistan and has, thereby, formed a party by the name of Milli Muslim League (MML).

Pakistan has recently prohibited Saeed's JuD and Falah-i-Insaniat Foundation (FIF) from collecting donations.

India has, time and again, protested against Pakistan for harbouring Saeed, who is wanted for plotting the 2008 attack.

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United States secretary of defence Jim Mattis has warned that the US military's competitive edge has eroded in every domain.

" Our military is still strong, yet our competitive edge has eroded in every domain of warfare - air, land, sea, space, and cyberspace - and is continually eroding," Fox News, reported, citing Mattis as saying.

"America has no pre-ordained right to victory on the battlefield," Mattis warned, adding at one point.

Mattis's remarks came as he unveiled the Pentagon's vision for the future detailed in a document called the national defense strategy.

The document also states that Islamic State (IS) no longer remains a top threat.

"Great power competition, not terrorism, is now the primary focus of U.S. national security. We face growing threats from revisionist powers as different as China and Russia, nations that seek to create a consistent with their authoritarian models."

In addition to this, Mattis, a former Marine commander who has fought in Iraq and Afghanistan, said rapid technological change and America's long-running wars have diminished US military capabilities. The military was coping with "inadequate and misaligned resources.

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The United States Supreme Court has announced that it would decide the legality of President Donald Trump's ban on travellers from six mostly-Muslim nations.

The court will start hearing arguments in April and intends to issue a final ruling in June on an issue that has been repeatedly struck down by lower courts, reports The Independent.

The case the court will hear stems from a lawsuit filed by Hawaii, some of its residents and a Muslim group based there. They say the travel ban has no precedent in U.S. history.

According to the Hill, the SC concurred to hear two cases from the state of Hawaii and the International Refugee Assistance Project challenging the previous order, which banned nationals from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Sudan and Yemen for 90-days and excluded all refugees for 120 days.

But the court ultimately tossed out the cases after the order expired. The justices said the issue was now moot.

Opponents opine as well that Trump is breaching the Constitution by discriminating against Muslims.

As a candidate, Trump promised "a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States."

The travel ban was one of US President Donald Trump's first official acts since taking office last year.

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The United States has announced that it will not provide USD 45 million in emergency food aid for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) for now.

The U.S. had pledged USD 45 million in emergency food aid to Palestinians as part of the UNRWA West Bank/Gaza Emergency Appeal last month.

Speaking at a press briefing, U.S. State Department Spokesperson Heather Nauert on Thursday said, "We made it clear that it was a pledge, it was not a guarantee, and that it would need to be confirmed later. At this time, we will not be providing that, but that does not mean - I want to make it clear - that does not mean that it will not be provided in the future".

Earlier this week, the State Department announced that it was withholding USD 65 million out of a USD 125 million aid package earmarked for the UNRWA.

According to the Al Jazeera, in a letter, the department said that additional U.S. donations will be contingent on major changes by the UNRWA.

Those funds are "frozen for future consideration", Heather Nauert, State Department spokeswoman, told reporters.

Earlier this month, Palestine rebuked United States President Donald Trump's claims of not providing financial aid to the country in the future, if they did not resume their negotiations with Israel.

Nabil Abu Rudeineh, the spokesman for President Mahmoud Abbas, told Palestine's WAFA news agency that 'Jerusalem and its holy places were not for sale'.

Abu Rudineh also said that Palestine was not against returning to negotiations with Israel, but said 'the real peace and negotiations should be based on Arab and international legitimacy and the Arab Peace Initiative leading to the establishment of the independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital'.

"If the United States has any concern for its interests in the Middle East, it must abide by the principles and references of the United Nations Security Council and the General Assembly, otherwise the U.S. will push the region to the abyss", he said.

Trump and his United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley threatened Palestine with cutting of financial funds to the Palestinians and the UNRWA to ensure that the Palestinians would return to the negotiating table with Israel.

In a strongly-worded tweet, Trump had written: "We pay the Palestinians HUNDRED OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS a year and get no appreciation or respect. They don't even want to negotiate a long overdue peace treaty with Israel. We have taken Jerusalem, the toughest part of the negotiation, off the table, but Israel, for that, would have had to pay more.

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Two Trinamool Congress (TMC) workers on Friday were killed and several people injured in a clash between two factions of the party at Basanti village of West Bengal's South 24 Parganas.

A large police force that rushed to the spot to bring the situation under control, was also attacked with crude bombs being hurled at them and several shots fired.

"Among the two fatalities, one is a 10-year-old boy, while the other is a 27-year-old member of the faction. Currently, seven people have been arrested in this case," police said.

According to media reports, the clash erupted between a TMC faction backed by Tapu Mahato, a leader of the TMC, who is also a follower of Jayanta Naskar, TMC MLA of Gosaba and another led by Aman Laskar, a youth TMC leader and a follower of Saokat Molla, TMC MLA of Canning (East) and the district youth TMC president, at Hentalkhali village of Charavidya gram panchayat within Basanti police limits.

The youth TMC workers allegedly first attacked the workers of the mother party over a dispute regarding a village fair.

"The 10-year-old boy was returning from his school when he was hit by a stray bullet and he was sent to a local hospital in critical condition where he was declared brought dead," police added.

Following the incident, the district TMC leaders held discussions with the local leaders over the clash.

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Underwater archaeologists and divers in Mexico have announced that they found a passage connecting two underwater caves, creating what they say is the world's largest flooded cave.

The Great Maya Aquifer Project (GAM) team - committed to studying the mysterious waters of Mexico's Yucatan peninsula - spent years exploring the caves of Sac Actun and Dos Ojos in Tulum before connecting the two caverns together, reported CNN.

The combined cave will be known as the Sac Actun system, taking on the name of the longer section.

The cave stretches across 216 miles.

The Yucatan Peninsula, where the cave is located, reportedly still holds treasures from the ancient Mayan community.

"This immense cave represents the most important submerged archaeological site in the world, as it has more than a hundred archaeological contexts," said GAM director Guillermo de Anda, in a statement, "Along this system, we had documented evidence of the first settlers of America, as well as extinct fauna and, of course, the Mayan culture.

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Film: "12 Strong"; Director: Nicolai Fuglsig; Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Michael Shannon, Michael Pena, Navid Negahban, Trevante Rhodes, William Fichtner, Geoff Stults, Thad Luckinbill, Ben OToole, Kenny Sheard, Austin Stowell, Austin Hebert, Jack Kesy, Kenneth Miller, Elsa Pataky, Rob Riggle, Taylor Sheridan, Fahim Fazli, Laith Nakli; Rating: ***1/2

Based on a true story and with jingoistic appeal, "12 Strong" takes you directly into the heart of the battlefield -- where 12 American soldiers set out to wipe out the Al-Qaeda backed Taliban from the land known as "the graveyard of many empires" -- Afghanistan.

"12 Strong" is the glorification of the Americans in a revenge drama. After the 9/11 attack of the World Trade Centre, when America was shaken, a dozen of emotionally charged Special Forces Operatives handpicked by Captain Mitch Nelson (Chris Hemsworth) go on a mission of utmost importance and secrecy, to annihilate the enemy, in the town of Mazar-i-Sharif.

After bidding a teary farewell to their families, the soldiers are dropped into the wilderness, 40 miles away from their destination where they meet-up with Dostum (Navid Negahban), a local CIA agent and a warlord, who helps them in their endeavour. Though vastly outnumbered by an enemy who have no fear of death, how Nelson and his men navigate their way into the strategically positioned town forms the crux of the tale.

Despite the modern artillery, soldiers riding on horseback like cowboys in the wilderness makes this modern day war film look like a period western drama.

Picking off enemies with an assault rifle from atop a charging horse at full gallop, Chris Hemsworth as the understated but result-oriented Captain is impressive. And of his pack, it is Michael Shannon as Hal Spencer, Michael Pena as Sam Diller and Trevante Rhodes as Ben Milo who have some meaningful scenes. The rest are only there to fill the screen with nothing much to do.

The film is virtually Hemsworth's show and he, with his natural charm and charisma reminds you of his character Thor more than that of a strategic soldier. Apart from him, it is Navid Negahban as Dostum who with a strong screen presence makes a powerful impact as the key leader in Afganistan's anti-Taliban Northern Alliance.

The script, written by Ted Tally and Peter Craig, is compelling, complete with men promising their women that they will come home, a leader insisting that he won't lose a single man, the bad guys executing women and plenty of battle scenes.

These scenes are backed by motivating and impacting dialogues like, "If we quit now, what happened back home will happen again and again", "Stop being a soldier. Start using your heart and you can be a warrior" or "Your mission will fail because you fear death."

Visually, the film is fascinating as it is mounted on a large scale, and projected with flair.

Director Fuglsig's collaborators, who include cinematographer Rasmus Videbaek, editor Lisa Lassek and a skilled battalion of stunt workers and visual-effects artists who have dramatized the challenges with appreciable consistency and precision. The tone here has a peculiar mixture of appealing and unvarying, fantasy-inspiring frames. Despite some gory and blood-curdling scenes that glorifies the war, the film fails to get into the complexity and futility of it.

Overall, "12 Strong" is both an entertaining and mildly cheerful yarn that keeps you hooked.

--IANS

troy/rb/vm

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Amid a perceived strain in ties with the BJP, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on Friday virtually threatened to drag the Centre to court over the unfulfilled commitments made in state Reorganization Act.

The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) President said the state government could move the Supreme Court to get justice.

"We are not asking for any extra favours. We are demanding what is due to us under Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act. We want the Centre to do the handholding and provide level playing field till the state achieves parity with others. If required, we will go to the Supreme Court on one or two issues," he said at a conference of district collectors and other officials.

Naidu, who met Prime Minister Narendra Modi last week, said the state will take whatever the Centre gives and then chalk out its future course of action.

During the meeting with Modi, Naidu had urged him to release the pending Rs 16,447 crore through NABARD and make other arrangements to fund projects in the ratio of 90:10 between the Centre and state under the Special Assistance Measure announced last year in lieu of special category status.

Naidu also demanded that the Centre fulfill its commitment to bear the entire expenditure on Polavaram project and sought immediate release of Rs 3,450 crore already spent by the state.

The TDP chief's remarks came a day after NITI Ayog Vice Chairman Rajiv Kumar's statement in Amaravati that Andhra Pradesh was a fast growing economy and would not need much of help from the Centre.

Naidu was also upset with his Telangana counterpart K. Chandrasekhar Rao's statement that Andhra Pradesh was no comparison to Telangana.

Stating that Andhra Pradesh had the lowest per capita income in the south with a difference of Rs 35,000 with the nearest competitor, Naidu said this was not because of the mistake of people but due to the unscientific decision of the UPA who split the state in 2014.

He said five crore people suffered as the then rulers did not do "equal justice" by compensating the state for the loss of Hyderabad to Telangana.

He said in the last three and half years, the state had improved but had not recovered from the loss. "If we have to recover there are only two options. We have to work hard or the Centre has to do the hand holding to undo the injustice."

Naidu also reacted to Chandrasekhar Rao's allegation that rulers from Andhra destroyed Hyderabad.

"I developed Telangana and Hyderabad for the benefit of Telugu people. Those making such comments should see what was Hyderabad before 1995 and what was it afterwards," said Naidu, who served as the Chief Minister of undivided state from 1995 to 2004.

--IANS

ms/mr

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Covalent Fund has signed an agreement with the Andhra Pradesh government to set up a Blockchain university.

The pact will also focus on creation of manpower, access to capital and creation of an India-focused Velugu Blockchain stack under Fintech Valley Vizag, the flagship initiative of the state.

Covalent Fund, a family office fund managed by Ram Yalamanchili, will also carve out a venture fund to invest upto $10 million as an initial pilot programme.

Information Technology Minister Nara Lokesh said the state envisages to become Blockchain enabled via its digital assets by 2019. "We believe that a India Blockchain stack will revolutionise the way the economy would function in the near future."

--IANS

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A Border Security Force (BSF) trooper and two civilians were killed and three others injured on Friday in indiscriminate firing and shelling by Pakistan Rangers on the international border in Jammu and Kashmir.

Police said BSF Head Constable Jagpal Singh, injured in Samba district, succumbed to his injuries.

Two civilians were killed and three others were injured in Pakistani shelling on civilian facilities in Arnia sub-sector of R.S. Pura in Jammu district.

The injured civilians were shifted to a hospital.

The Pakistan Rangers resorted to indiscriminate shelling and firing at 20 border outposts of the BSF along the international border in Jammu, Samba and Kathua districts on Friday, a police official said.

"The shelling and firing started at 6.40 a.m. and continued intermittently for over four hours. Indian positions effectively and strongly retaliated the Pakistani fire," a police source said.

Authorities have ordered the closure of all schools in areas close to the international border that have been affected by Pakistan's violation of the 2003 ceasefire agreement between India and Pakistan.

Panic has gripped the residents of border villages along the international border in the three districts, news reports say.

--IANS

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"Den of Thieves" director Christian Gudegast put the cast including Gerard Butler, Pablow Schreiber and 50 Cent (given name Curtis Jackson), through a two-week training camp as a prep for the movie.

The movie, being brought to India by PVR Pictures, revolves around two rival groups -- The Outlaws (Schreiber's team) and The Regulators (Butler's team).

To ensure authenticity, the actors trained in sync with their respective characters and teams. From using actual weapons to being trained by actual members of the forces, the cast did it all.

The Outlaws trained with Paul Maurice, who is currently on active duty with the US Armed Forces and who trains other service members in advanced tactical maneuvers and weaponry, read a statement.

"He gave the Outlaws tremendous confidence," Gudegast said.

"They trained hard out on the firing range. They drilled in repetition until their movements with the firearms were completely fluid: They could load, unload, change 16 mags - the way they manipulated the firearms was just awesome, and that was Paul's doing."

The Regulators worked with Jay Dobyns, a retired undercover detective from the Los Angeles Police Department gang division. The group practiced techniques and tactics used by plain-clothes detectives, drilling down with great specificity.

The two groups used real weapons out in the field to get a feel for the heft and weight of the guns, and then practiced with paintball guns to get used to the mechanics of holding and shooting them while walking, running and jumping.

Schreiber said: "The Regulators would come to the training ground around the time we were leaving, or vice versa. We kept having these moments where we'd be passing each other and there was animosity and a lot of cold stares - as well as jokes thrown from long distance. It bred this healthy competition, which was good for Gerry and me to have because it bumped things up."

A crime saga set in Los Angeles by Christian Gudegast, "Den of Thieves" follows the intersecting and connected lives of an elite unit of the LA County Sheriff's department and the state's most successful bank robbery crew. The film will release in India on February 2.

--IANS

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A CBI judge who sentenced former Bihar Chief Minister and RJD chief Lalu Prasad in a corruption case has applied for a license to obtain a revolver along with his family members.

Shivapal Singh sent Lalu Prasad on January 6 to three-and-a-half-years imprisonment.

Singh, his son and daughter have applied for the license. The application is in the process, official sources said on Friday.

Meanwhile, the Ranchi District Bar Association on Thursday decided to boycott the court of the CBI judge. The Bar was unhappy as Singh allegedly denied time to a lawyer in a Ranchi court whose father had died.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Chinese authorities on Friday detained Yu Wensheng, a prominent human rights lawyer, here just a few days after his law license was revoked over an open letter criticizing President Xi Jinping.

Yu's wife told Efe news that her husband was detained around 6.30 a.m. while he was taking their children to school.

The kids returned home a short while later and told their mother that the police had taken away their father. They saw at least four cars and a score of police personnel.

Yu began to face problems with the authorities after he published an open letter claiming that Xi was not fit to continue as President for extending totalitarian control over the country.

In the letter, published days before the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China held in October 2017, Yu called for reforms in the party to make way for a China that had freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law.

On Monday, the Bureau of Justice sent him a notice saying his license was being revoked on grounds of Yu currently not being employed at any law firm.

The lawyer then claimed that "it was a trick by the government", maintaining that the authorities had been pressuring different law firms against hiring him.

After Yu's arrest, Amnesty International expressed concern that he could be accused of serious crimes such as "inciting subversion against state power", a charge under which activist and blogger Wu Gan was sentenced to eight years in prison in December.

"His detention shows that the Chinese government is less and less tolerant towards criticism of state leaders," Amnesty researcher Patrick Poon told Efe.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
China on Friday downplayed a US Navy official's comments that Beijing is a "disruptive force", wondering why Washington worries about Beijing's rise so much.

A day after the US, India, Japan and Australia expressed concerns over China's increasing assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific region and other international waters, Beijing said it was pursuing the "path of peaceful development".

To US Pacific Command chief Admiral Harry Harris' remark at a discussion forum in New Delhi that China was "disruptive force" in the Indo-Pacific region, Beijing said it was not surprised as such comments have been made earlier too.

"This is not the first time these people make such kind of comments and remarks," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang said.

At the dialogue forum organised by a New Delhi-based think tank and the Indian government, navy officials of India, Japan and Australia discussed China's increasing presence in the international waters.

"In the international order, we maintain to build international relations of mutual respect and equality and cooperation. To pursue the development of such kind of international relations, we will not feel the relevant people should feel worried.

"If some people feel worried about such kind of efforts and they feel that these efforts are disruptive, we can ask those people what make them feel worried," Lu said.

Lu said the US should not speak on behalf of others.

"In his (Harris) remarks, he also named three Asean countries feeling worried about China's development. We didn't hear the three other countries (say) they feel worried about China's development," Lu said, referring to Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia.

"They should not speak for other countries." Lu said.

--IANS

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It was set to be the first major box-office clash of the year on January 25, but in the interest of Sanjay Leela Bhansali's controversial drama "Padmaavat" -- set to hit the screens after a lengthy row -- actor Akshay Kumar on Friday announced that he is shifting the release of his "Pad Man" to February 9.

"Bhansali sir asked me if I can move my film... See, we are one family and I can understand he has gone through a lot, he has put a lot of money, the studio people have put a lot of money. I would want 'Padmaavat' to release solo and would like to wish him luck," Akshay told media persons here.

He addressed a joint press conference with Bhansali at his residence.

Bhansali, who has co-produced "Padmaavat" with Viacom18 Motion Pictures, said he was grateful to Akshay for the gesture.

"I requested Akshay if he can shift the film because he is such a big star and our troubles might have increased if we would have released the film together.

"He knows all our troubles, so he didn't even take two minutes and said, 'Whatever you want, however you want, I am with you'," Bhansali said, adding that he will be grateful to Akshay for a "lifetime".

Asked why "Pad Man" had to shift and not "Padmaavat", Akshay said: "They have a reason to release it this time. It is very essential for them to release it as quickly as possible.

"The point is not about fighting or clashing... But at the moment, the stake of their film is much more higher than mine."

Akshay's "Pad Man" -- which marks his wife Twinke Khanna's maiden production venture -- tells the story of a real-life superhero who invented a low-cost sanitary pad manufacturing machine to bring a menstrual hygiene revolution for women.

Its unique story, inspiring message and Akshay's portrayal -- once again -- as a common man's hero, has kept the anticipation level high for the R. Balki directorial, which also features Sonam Kapoor and Radhika Apte.

Earlier, "Pad Man" was slated to clash with "Aiyaary". But after the makers of "Padmaavat" secured a U/A certificate from the censor board after incorporating five modifications, and locked the release date as January 25 -- tapping into the long Republic Day weekend -- the makers of "Aiyaary" shifted the film's release date to February 9.

Now, the clash is back to square one, with even "Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety" crowding the February 9 date.

It has been a long journey for "Padmaavat", which stars Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh and Shahid Kapoor.

From being assaulted on the film's set in Jaipur to his set being vandalised in Kolhapur to getting threats from detractors -- Bhansali has been facing the ire of organisations that are up in arms against the period drama since its inception -- from when it was titled "Padmavati".

Months after facing opposition, the makers, Bhansali Productions and Viacom18 Motion Pictures, clarified that the film is based on 16th century Sufi poet Malik Muhammad Jayasi's epic poem "Padmavat", and does not distort historical facts -- as was being alleged by some Rajput outfits.

"It is an ode to the famed valour, legacy and courage of Rajputs," the makers have maintained.

However, its detractors, with Shree Rajput Karni Sena at the forefront, have been persistent in their protests against the movie and in their demand for stopping its release.

But the makers heaved a sigh of relief when the Supreme Court on Thursday paved the way for an all-India release for the movie, saying it was incumbent upon the state governments to ensure maintenance of law and order.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Actor Colin Firth has said he will not do any projects with Woody Allen in the future.

His comment came on the same day as Dylan Farrow gave her first televised interview accusing her adopted father Allen of sexually assaulting her when she was seven years old, reports The Guardian.

"I wouldn't work with him again," Firth, who worked in Allen's film "Magic in the Moonlight" in 2013, said in a statement.

He had worked with Allen before Farrow published an open letter the following year alleging that her father molested her in an attic and accusing Hollywood of turning a "blind eye".

Allen denied the accusation as "untrue and disgraceful" at the time and again rebuffed the claims this week, accusing the Farrow family of "cynically using the opportunity afforded by the Time's Up movement to repeat this discredited allegation".

The Time's Up initiative us in response to the reckoning around sexual abuse in Hollywood. It stemmed from sexual harassment and rape allegations against producer Harvey Weinstein.

In December last, Farrow wrote an op-ed repeating her claims and questioning why the movement against sexual violence had spared Allen. She called on other actors to support her.

Since then, many high-profile actors have publicly expressed empathy for Farrow and have said they regret working with Allen, including Mira Sorvino, Rachel Brosnahan, Greta Gerwig, Rebecca Hall and Timothee Chalamet. Hall and Chalamet, who have parts in in Allen's next film, "A Rainy Day in New York", which was scheduled to be released this year, said they would donate their salaries to charities.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The AAP on Friday alleged a political conspiracy behind the EC's recommendation for the disqualification of its 20 MLAs for allegedly holding office of profit.

"This recommendation has been made by the Election Commission without hearing the arguments of MLAs on the allegation of office of profit," party's chief spokesperson Saurabh Bhardwaj told media persons here.

He said Chief Election Commissioner Achal Kumar Joti, a retired 1975-batch IAS officer -- who was Gujarat Chief Secretary when Narendra Modi was the Chief Minister -- is "paying back" to the Prime Minister now.

"He (Joti) is going to retire on January 23 once he turns 65, and thus, he is swiftly doing all this before retiring," alleged Bhardwaj.

"After that, neither the Prime Minister nor anybody else can make him the CEC."

Bhardwaj said that in the case of the allegation of holding office of profit, there were no proceedings, magisterial inquiries or inspections.

He said hearing was done in the case of the accusation that AAP legislators were unconstitutionally appointed as Parliamentary Secretaries to assist various Ministers of the Delhi government and not in the case of holding 'office of profit'.

"Someone complained against these MLAs saying they are holding office of profit. The MLAs haven't been given the chance to present their case before the commission."

"If there is a case of office of profit, the MLAs must have been profited. Why don't they ask the reporters or the general public in their respective constituencies whether these MLAs own any government bungalows, have any government vehicles," he questioned.

"If any reporter or anybody else says that any of these legislators have had money transferred to their accounts by the government, I would agree there is a moral responsibility."

He said it was "shameful" that a constitutional body like the EC was being put on stake with this "biased" decision.

He said the party received the information about EC's recommendation from sources.

"Be it ED (Enforcement Directorate), CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) or the EC, we get the report through sources. There is no direct information," he said.

--IANS

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Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's former Principal Secretary Rajendra Kumar and others on Friday appeared before a court here in connection with a corruption case.

Kumar appeared before the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Judge Arvind Kumar in pursuance of summons issued against him in December 2017.

Rajendra Kumar, a 1989 batch IAS officer, was accused of abusing his official position in awarding Delhi government contracts totalling Rs 9.5 crore to private firm Endeavour Systems Pvt Ltd (ESPL).

Arrested on July 4, 2016, on corruption charge, Rajendra Kumar was granted bail on July 26, 2016.

He has denied the charges against him which mainly relate to the period before Kejriwal became the Chief Minister.

Others accused, who appeared before the court were -- then Intelligent Communication System India Limited (ICSIL) Managing Director R.S. Kaushik and former MD G.K. Nanda, Kumar's aide Ashok Kumar, Endeavour Systems Private Limited directors Sandeep Kumar and Dinesh Kumar Gupta, former VAT Department Assistant Director Tarun Sharma and two Microsoft employees Jaydev Rath and Mukesh Mehta.

The company ESPL was represented by an authorised representative.

The court granted bail to Microsoft employees Jaydev Rath and Mukesh Mehta observing that they were not arrested during investigation in the case and have joined the investigation whenever required.

The court asked both to furnish a personal bond and surety bond of Rs one lakh and directed them not to leave country without permission.

The court directed the CBI to supply copies of chargesheet to accused and listed the matter for a February 28 hearing.

--IANS

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Delhi Police on Friday said it has made proper arrangements to maintain law and order in the capital for the release of "Padmaavat" next week in the wake of a bandh call by the Shree Rajput Karni Sena against the film.

Speaking to IANS, Special Commissioner of Police, Dependra Pathak said, "In view of the screening of 'Padmaavat' movie next week in the national capital, we have done proper arrangements. We are continuously in touch with various big and small cineplex managements."

"We have proper security in the periphery of the national capital and additional force has been kept in readiness. We are urging groups not to indulge in any act which could violate the law and order situation," Pathak said.

The Karni Sena has been stridently protesting release of 'Padmaavat' on the grounds that it distorts history.

--IANS

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Throwing his weight behind the beleaguered Test side which lost the ongoing Test series 0-2 to South Africa, former India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Friday said it was important to look at the positives of the team's performance.

Ending their unbeaten streak of nine consecutive series victories, the Virat Kohli-led side succumbed to their first series loss going down to South Africa in the first two Tests of the ongoing three-match rubber.

Dhoni, however, defended the side saying the team had taken 20 opposition wickets in both Tests, giving themselves a chance of a win.

"I won't answer that but I'll say look at the positives. To win a Test match you need 20 wickets. We have taken 20 wickets. That is the biggest positive," Dhoni said at a promotional event here.

"If you can't take 20 wickets, you can never win a Test. Irrespective of whether you are playing at home or outside. We are taking 20 wickets, which means you are always in a position to win the match.

"Once you start scoring runs, you are there (with a chance of winning)," Dhoni added.

The Ranchi stumper, who will join Kohli's men for the ODI and T20I series against the Proteas, was also asked questions about his return to the Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Conceding that several IPL franchises had approached him ahead of the Player Retention event earlier this month, the 36-year-old said there was no question of him playing for any team other than the yellow brigade.

"A lot of people approached me, I can tell you that. But, you know, I can't think (of) not coming back to CSK," he said.

Dhoni also wished that premier off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin will be part of the CSK, saying that the franchise would try to buy back the tweaker in the IPL auction on January 27 and 28 in Bengaluru.

"As I have said, it is always a tough call. With Ashwin, you know we had done the same thing in the past. We will definitely go for him (Ashwin) in the auction.

"Ashwin definitely being a local lad, we want a lot of local players to be part of CSK," Dhoni said.

"We have two right-to-match options but having already retained three capped Indians, don't think we can use it. We will have to buy him out in the auction. As of now, it is tough to say, whether we will get him," he added.

"Ashwin will come first in the auction for us. But we will have to wait and watch. We will try to get him," he said.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A former US Republican lawmaker was sentenced to 18 years in prison for drug trafficking, officials said.

Michael Lange, 57, will spend 216 months in prison for two felony drug distribution charges, according to a sentence issued by Susan Watters, a US district judge of the Montana district court on Thursday.

Lange served three terms as a state lawmaker in the northwestern US state of Montana. He was the Republican House majority leader during the 2007 legislature, Xinhua reported.

Ironically, Lange had even supported as a lawmaker a bill to give $4 million to the Montana Meth Project, a large-scale prevention programme aimed at reducing first-time teen Meth use.

In September 2016, US agents began an investigation into a broad drug-trafficking organisation selling large quantities of methamphetamine in the Billings area in Montana.

Lange was identified as a large distributor for the organisation, so agents applied for and received search warrants for his cell phone content and ultimately his residence.

Lange's text messages indicated that he was selling methamphetamine along with cocaine to a number of individuals. On October 11, 2016, agents executed a search warrant on Lange's residence in Billings where they discovered more than 1 kg of methamphetamine and 442 grams of cocaine.

Interviewed by agents on two occasions, Lange admitted to participating in the conspiracy and obtaining approximately 20 pounds of methamphetamine for redistribution.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Even as tourists faced hardships at major transit points in Goa, the tourist taxi drivers in the state on Friday extended their day-long strike by one more day.

Even though the state government declined to accede to the demands of the striking cabbies, two Goa ministers joining the protesting taxi operators in solidarity put more pressure on the government.

Nearly 3,000-odd taxis stayed off the roads in Goa from early Friday morning. As a result, the tourists alighting or travelling to the Dabolim International Airport and various bus and railway stations in the state faced tremendous hardship.

"Now private vehicles are charging more than taxis. For a distance of 30km, we have paid as much as Rs 3,000 for a ride to the airport," said Ankush Jain, a tourist, who was travelling back to Delhi after a brief holiday in Goa.

The one-day strike, which will continue through Saturday, has been called by tourist taxi associations in North Goa and South Goa districts, protesting the implementation of speed governors on tourist taxis and harassment by Transport Department and police officials.

Speaking to reporters, North Goa Tourist Taxi Association President Vinayak Nanoskar said that strike would continue on Saturday because the government had failed to five any assurance to them.

"We have no concrete assurance from the government of Goa. We have no option but to continue the strike," Nanoskar said, after more than 1,000 taxi drivers staged a protest meet at the Azad Maidan in the state capital.

Two Ministers in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led coalition government -- Town and Country Planning Minister Vijai Sardesai and Rural Development Minister Jayesh Salgaonkar -- and opposition leader Chandrakant Kavlekar also expressed solidarity with the striking taxi operators.

"We have to think about tourists...we can have alternative facilities. But taxi owners who are striking are our own people. We should talk to them and resolve issues. I am in agreement with demands with taxi owners," Sardesai told reporters.

Even as the district administration in North Goa imposed Section 144 to deter the striking taxi operators, Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar said that some of the demands made by the taxi operators, like scrapping of speed governors, were unrealistic, because the decision to outfit taxis with speed governors was based on a direction by the Supreme Court of India.

"Speed governor is a law, I can't change it. No fitness certificate will be issued (to taxis) if there is no speed governor after February 24," Parrikar said.

The Chief Minister also said that he would not "go after" the striking taxi drivers and that the Essential Services and Maintenance Act (ESMA) was invoked only to deter the striking cabbies from indulging in violence.

"ESMA was invoked so that some one does not do anything untoward and if I need, I can force some of them to ply. That is a power, but that does not mean I will use it. That power can be used against those who violate law and those who go for violence. But, it doesn't mean that I am going to go after them," he said.

Meanwhile, Goa Tourism Development Corporation Chairman and BJP MLA Nilesh Cabral said the Corporation was mulling starting an app-based taxi service, which would work as an umbrella service or cab operator.

--IANS

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A former Ecuadorian President has said the current administration's decision to grant citizenship to WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange "will not convince the British to let him exit the UK".

"If that was the Foreign Ministry's strategy, they're quite naive. You could give him the Pope's passport and the British authorities wouldn't let him leave," Rafael Correa, who served as president for a decade, said in an interview with Efe here on Thursday.

Correa's leftist administration had granted Assange political asylum in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London in August 2012.

"I granted asylum to Julian Assange not because I agree with what he did,... but because it was clear that he wouldn't be guaranteed a fair trial, and there were even voices in the US that wanted to (prosecute him under a law) that would have implied the death penalty," Correa said.

"The Ecuadorian government must protect him," the former president said, stressing the importance of "acting in accordance with principles and values".

In his remarks to Efe news, Correa examined Assange's situation in light of the Moreno government's decision to make the WikiLeaks Founder an Ecuadorian citizen.

The decision followed a request by Assange made in September 2016.

Foreign Minister Maria Fernanda Espinosa said that on December 20, eight days after Assange was granted citizenship, she asked the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office to consider granting the WikiLeaks Founder diplomatic immunity, a request that London denied.

The Australian citizen had sought refuge at the Ecuadorian mission in June 2012 after losing a battle in the British courts to avoid extradition to Sweden, where prosecutors had been seeking to question him about rape allegations dating back to 2010.

Following Sweden's decision in May 2017, to end the probe, the British police said that they would arrest Assange if he left the embassy, as he still faces charges of failing to surrender to the court that was hearing the extradition case.

Assange, who denies all the accusations, says he believes that if he leaves the embassy British authorities could hand him over to the US for prosecution based on WikiLeaks' publication of classified documents.

Politicians and pundits in the US called for Assange to be prosecuted - or even assassinated - after WikiLeaks disseminated thousands of sensitive US diplomatic cables as well as a video of a 2007 attack that showed an American military helicopter crew killing a Reuters photographer and several other civilians in Iraq.

Referring to the naturalisation process, Correa said he was unaware of the "legal and technical details" but that he believed Assange's years in the embassy, which is Ecuadorian territory, made him eligible for citizenship.

Correa, who was president from 2007 to 2017, is in the country to encourage his countrymen to vote "no" in a February 4 referendum called by his hand-picked successor, Lenin Moreno.

Correa and Moreno have had a political falling-out in the last few months, with the former accusing the current head of state of betraying his "citizens' revolution", aimed at achieving wealth distribution and other goals.

In the upcoming plebisicite, voters would be asked among other things whether they wanted to repeal a constitutional amendment backed by Correa that allows the indefinite re-election of presidents.

A "yes" vote on that question would effectively bar Correa from leading the country again.

--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 has said that Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed, the mastermind of the Mumbai terror attack, should be prosecuted to the "fullest extent of the law" as Washington regards him as a terrorist.

Washington has sent a message to Islamabad to act against Saeed, said US State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert on Thursday.

Pakistan Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi had earlier decided not to prosecute Saeed, referring to him as "Sahib" in an interview to Geo News earlier this week. He said there was no case against him in Pakistan.

Nauert, reacting to Abbasi's remarks, said: "We regard him as a terrorist, a part of a foreign terrorist organisation. He was the mastermind, we believe, of the 2008 Mumbai attack which killed many people, including Americans as well.

"We have made our points and our concerns to the Pakistani government very clear. We believe that this individual should be prosecuted.

"The Pakistani government released him from house arrest not that long ago. We believe he should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. He is listed by the UN Security Council 1267, the Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee for targeted sanctions due to his affiliation with Lashkar-e Taiba," she said.

The White House has already clarified that there would be repercussions for US-Pakistan relations unless Islamabad takes action to detain and charge Saeed.

Pakistani authorities released Saeed from house arrest in November due to lack of evidence, much to the US administration's frustration.

In May 2008, the US Department of the Treasury designated Saeed as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist under Executive Order 13224.

He was also individually designated by the UN under UNSC R1267 in December 2008 following the November 2008 Mumbai attack in which 166 Indians and foreigners were killed.

Amid increasing pressure from the US, however, Pakistan recently started a decisive move against proscribed organisations, including Saeed's JuD and its subsidiary Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation (FIF).

Fundraising and other activities by proscribed organisations and their subsidiaries had been banned in Islamabad.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Indian School of Business (ISB) on Friday announced the appointment of Harish Manwani as the new Chairman of the ISB Executive Board, effective April 2018.

Manwani succeeds Adi Godrej who has been the Chairman of the Board since April 2011.

The decision of his appointment was taken during the Executive Board meeting held in Mumbai.

Harish Manwani is the Non-Executive Chairman of Hindustan Unilever Ltd. He has been a member of the School's Board since April 2006.

"My stint as Chairman of ISB has been a very precious experience as I had the opportunity to work with my friends from the industry in helping build ISB as a world class institution in India.

"ISB's progress on multiple fronts is truly heartwarming. We have successfully integrated the culture of excellence and brand consistency across both the campuses in Hyderabad and Mohali," said Godrej.

He noted that the portfolio of ISB programmes had expanded to 11 full-time and modular programmes from one flagship programme in 2001.

"We continue to be ranked at the top in international rankings and our faculty excellence has led us to be the most research productive management school in India. Our 8,600 alumni spread across 42 countries are agents of transformation who make us proud," he said.

Manwani said he had always been proud to be part of this great institution of learning and was honoured to take on the role of the Chairman.

He said he was looking forward to working with the Board members and the Dean to help take ISB to greater heights.

--IANS

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The Haryana government is considering a proposal to exhibit photograph of teachers in classrooms to ensure that the students are taught by their real teachers and not by proxies.

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said on Friday in Jind that the move was being made to ensure that the appointed teachers carried out the teaching work and no proxy teacher went to engage classes.

In the past few years, there have been complaints that some teachers in government schools, especially in rural areas and small towns, sent other people as a proxy to teach in their place.

Khattar, who was addressing a public rally, said that efforts were being made to speed up the process of filling up the vacant posts in government departments, including educational institutions.

"Selection has been made for 35,000 posts and results have already been announced," he said.

All youth could not be provided government jobs, but steps were being taken to provide employment and self-employment opportunity to each youth, the Chief Minister said.

"Companies are making huge capital investments to set up industries in the state, and in the near future, there would be no shortage of employment opportunities for the youth in the state," he added.

Jind is around 200 km from here.

--IANS

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The Delhi High Court on Friday refused to grant interim relief to Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAs against the Election Commission's recommendation for their disqualification on grounds of holding office of profit as Parliamentary Secretaries.

Justice Rekha Palli declined immediate relief to six AAP MLAs, who had approached the court against the disqualification, after the advocate appearing for the Election Commission (EC) told the court that there is no information on whether the EC has sent any such recommendation to the President.

The court said it can't pass an order till it is clear whether the EC has taken any decision and asked the Commission to respond by Monday on whether a decision on disqualification of the AAP MLAs has been taken.

During the hearing, the court questioned the conduct of the MLAs and said they appeared before the poll panel taking shield of the fact that their pleas were pending in the High Court.

"The counsel of Election Commission is not able to get instruction whether the Commission has already given its final opinion and whether it has been communicated to the President. At this stage the court is not inclined to pass any (interim) order," the bench said.

Earlier in the day, the EC recommended to President Ram Nath Kovind the disqualification of 20 AAP MLAs for allegedly holding office of profit.

The petition before the EC was filed by one Prashant Patel seeking disqualification of 21 MLAs, including Jarnail Singh, who were appointed as Parliamentary Secretaries by the AAP government in Delhi.

The proceedings against Jarnail Singh were dropped after he resigned as the Rajouri Garden MLA to contest the Punjab Assembly polls last year.

Under the Constitution, the President is bound to act in accordance with the poll panel's recommendation.

There was no official word from the poll panel. But sources said the Commission's recommendation had been sent to President Kovind.

--IANS

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Against the backdrop of only half of the about Rs 8 lakh crore (over $125 billion) investments proposed in the past three editions of Bengal Global Business Summit reaching the "process" stage, the just concluded fourth edition has seen a Rs 15,000 crore drop in proposals from last year.

Experts and economists say the challenge for the state now is to translate higher proportions of these proposals into Industrial Entrepreneur Memorandums (IEMs) filed with the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) of the central government and also move into the implementation stage.

According to the state government, the 2015 and 2016 summits had fetched investment proposals of Rs 2.43 lakh crore and over Rs 2.5 lakh crore, respectively. The third edition netted proposals of over Rs 2.35 lakh crore.

This year, the summit has received proposals of about Rs 219,925 crore, the lowest since the government kicked off the process of branding the state.

Describing the latest edition as the "top of the top" business summit, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said: "Even last year, of what we discussed, 50 per cent of the businesses (proposals) are in process... Earlier also, the situation was like this."

Expressing satisfaction, West Bengal Finance and Commerce and Industries Minister Amit Mitra, a former Secretary General of industry lobby FICCI, said the state had done well to draw investments given the low gross capital formation in the country and slower Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth.

Industry doyens like L.N. Mittal, Mukesh Ambani and Sajjan Jindal and other majors praised Banerjee's leadership and the state government for creating a friendly climate and an enabling policy infrastructure.

However, the chink in the armour remains the realisation of these business announcements.

The state's opposition parties -- the Congress, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) -- have demanded a White Paper from the government on the number of proposals the state had received in the earlier summits and those that had fructified.

"The signing of memorandum of understanding in a business summit, like this, will gain more relevance if these pacts are translated into filing in the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) of central government. A general trend suggests that only about 10-15 per cent of the total proposals coming from these summits are filed with DIPP. Though, there are some exceptions, the trend is applicable to almost all the states and West Bengal is no exception," economist and Professor of Jadavpur University Ajitava Raychaudhuri told IANS.

Investments proposed at a particular summit do not necessarily have to be filed in the same year and the IEMs filed may include earlier proposals.

Union Commerce Ministry data suggests that out of 2,279 IEMs filed during the year 2016-17, 406 were for Gujarat, 376 for Maharashtra and 322 for Karnataka. However, in terms of proposed investments, Karnataka led with Rs 171,347 crore followed by Gujarat (Rs 73,559 crore) and Maharashtra Rs 38,188 crore.

In 2016-17, West Bengal bagged 63 IEMs worth Rs 4,690 crore.

"In terms of implementation of the Industrial Entrepreneur Memorandums, the picture is even worse. Again, the trend suggests that only about 10-15 per cent of IEMs filed are being reported as implemented. This is an all-India phenomenon and includes West Bengal. So, the challenge for the state is to improve the proportion of filings and implementations," Raychaudhuri added.

Do these summits have any relevance? Given the "dull" investment scenario in India, several states have been competing to net industries and investments and organising such business summits is becoming necessary to be in the competition, Raychaudhuri said.

"It wouldn't be correct to see West Bengal in isolation. The world economy, as well as India's, is going through a sluggish trend. Unless and until the country's economy is steadied, investors will continue to be cautious," economist and former Professor of Presidency University Debnarayan Sarkar said.

Echoing Raychaudhuri, Sarkar told IANS: "There is a marked difference between IEMs filed and investments proposed in summits. But West Bengal has a better translating rate than leading states. For example, in 2016, proposed investment of IEMs filed was about Rs 56,000 crore in Gujarat while IEMs implemented were worth about Rs 8,200 crore. In contrast, West Bengal saw about Rs 5,204 crore of proposed investments in 2016 and implementation was Rs 3,400 crore."

However, the flip side of the summit was absence of central ministers, which could be a direct off-shoot of Banerjee's constant anti-Narendra Modi stance.

Usually, central ministers attract industry honchos and public sector entities tend to announce projects that swell the investment kitty. But unlike the previous editions, no major business announcements surfaced from central PSUs this time.

According to official figures, 350 delegations from over 32 countries and over 4,000 delegates participated at the summit.

(Bappaditya Chatterjee can be contacted at bappaditya.c@ians.in)

--IANS

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The Hyderabad High Court on Friday ordered a fresh probe into the rape and murder of a pharmacy student in Andhra Pradesh a decade ago.

A division bench headed by Chief Justice Ramesh Ranganathan directed the police to conduct fresh probe and submit the report to the court by April 28.

Ayesha Meera, a 19-year-old bachelor of pharmacy student, was raped and brutally murdered in a private women's hostel in Ibrahimpatnam near Vijayawada on December 27, 2007.

The Special Investigation Team (SIT), constituted by the state government in August last year, will conduct the investigations under the supervision of the court.

Headed by Deputy Inspector General of Police Ch. Srikanth, the SIT has DSPs D. Hemavathi and Sree Lakshmi and inspector Shehrunnisa Begum as the members.

The High Court directed that the SIT officials should not be transferred till the completion of the probe.

The court passed the orders on a writ petition filed by the parents of Ayesha Meera and the PIL filed by Prof Rama S. Melkote and two others seeking direction to the government to initiate re-investigation.

The sensational case took a dramatic turn in April last year when the High Court acquitted Satyam Babu, who was sentenced to life by a lower court in 2010.

Ayesha's mother Shamshad Begum hailed the latest court order. She said this would ensure that the real culprits who are still roaming freely are brought to book. She said the police had arrested an innocent youth in the case to shield the real culprits.

Ayesha Meera was found dead in the bathroom of the hostel at Ibrahimpatanm near here, in the early hours of December 27, 2007. The police after investigations concluded that she was first murdered and then raped by Satyam Babu, who they said was given to sexual perversions.

The Mahila Court in Vijayawada, on September 10, 2010, convicted and sentenced him to life imprisonment.

After spending eight years in jail for a crime he didn't commit, Satyam Babu walked free after he was acquitted by the High Court, which also directed the state government to pay Babu Rs 1 lakh compensation for the wrongful conviction. It also ordered action against the police officers who investigated the case.

Meera's parents alleged that Babu, a Dalit, was made a scapegoat to save the real culprits. They also alleged that relatives of then state minister Koneru Ranga Rao were involved in the crime.

--IANS

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The improved Indo-US relationship goes back many years and has seen multiple heads of state from different parties in both countries and the shared bond is no longer the property of one person, or party on either side, US Consul General for Mumbai Edgard Kagan said on Friday.

Speaking to reporters in Panaji, Kagan also said that the US was looking for increased interaction at a people-to-people level and keen on looking at economic relationship with India with a strategic perspective.

"When you look at the US-India relationship, it is to my mind what's striking that this sort of improvement in ties goes back to 1999-2000. For us it started under President Clinton and under Prime Minister Vajpayee for India. In US we are now on our fourth President who has made real efforts to really focus on improving relationships. India has its third Prime Minister," he said.

"In both countries we have had governments from both parties, all committed to improving the relationship. So, for us I think the important thing is that this is not the property of one person, or one party on either side. This is bi-partisan with India's two major parties and multiple Prime Ministers and multiple Presidents from the two US parties all showing a commitment to improving the relationship," Kagan said.

He said that one of the indicators of the improved relations was the increase in bilateral 4trade from $30 billion in 2003-04 to $110--115 billion last year.

Kagan also met Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar and Governor Mridula Sinha during his brief visit to the coastal state.

--IANS

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India on Friday strongly condemned the continued violation by Pakistan of the ceasefire along the international border in Jammu and Kashmir.

"We strongly condemn the continued and unprecedented ceasefire violation by Pakistan, which has caused loss of lives and property," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said in a media briefing here.

"Our sincere condolences to the families of those affected by this incident," he said.

"You are aware Pakistan violates the ceasefire as a cover to infiltrate terrorists across the border into India. We, of course, retaliate in such cases and we also take up the matter at the appropriate level with the Pakistani side."

Earlier on Friday, in the latest such violation, a Border Security Force (BSF) trooper and two civilians were killed and three others injured in indiscriminate firing and shelling by Pakistan Rangers on the international border in Jammu and Kashmir.

Police said BSF Head Constable Jagpal Singh, injured in Samba district, succumbed to his injuries.

Two civilians were killed and three others were injured in Pakistani shelling on civilian facilities in Arnia sub-sector of R.S. Pura in Jammu district.

The injured civilians were shifted to a hospital.

The Pakistan Rangers indulged in indiscriminate shelling and firing at 20 border outposts of the BSF along the international border in Jammu, Samba and Kathua districts on Friday, a police official said.

"The shelling and firing started at 6.40 a.m. and continued intermittently for over four hours. Indian positions effectively and strongly retaliated the Pakistani fire," a police source said.

Authorities have ordered the closure of all schools in areas close to the international border that have been affected by Pakistan's violation of the 2003 ceasefire agreement between India and Pakistan.

Panic has gripped the residents of border villages along the international border in the three districts, media reports say.

--IANS

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After the Wassenaar Arrangement and the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), India on Friday notched up another success as it was made a member of the Australia Group, the third of the four key global export control regimes that will help pave the way for entry into the Nuclear Suppliers' Group.

India became the 43rd member of the Australia Group, an informal forum of countries which seeks to ensure that exports do not contribute to the development of chemical or biological weapons.

"I am happy to announce that India has joined the Australia Group on January 19, 2018, following the completion of internal procedures for joining this group," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said in his weekly media briefing here.

"The Australia Group decided to admit India as the Group's 43rd participant through a consensus decision. India would like to thank each of the Australia Group participants for their support for India's membership," he said.

Kumar also expressed New Delhi's appreciation for Ambassador Jane Hardy of Australia, former chair of the Australia Group, for her role in facilitating India's accession to the Group.

"India's entry into the Group would be mutually beneficial and further contribute to international security and non-proliferation objectives," he said.

In a separate statement, the Australia Group said "there was very strong support expressed for India's membership at the June 26-30, 2017, Australia Group Plenary, after which consensus was reached intersessionally." and then India reaffirmed its intention to join the Group.

"In warmly welcoming India to the Group, the other Australia Group members recognised the government of India's commitment to bring India's export control system into alignment with the Australia Group and India's determination to contribute to the global effort to prevent the proliferation of CBW in the security interests of all members of the international community," it stated.

"With its admission into the Australia Group, India has demonstrated the will to implement rigorous controls of high standards in international trade, and its capacity to adapt its national regulatory system to meet the necessities of its expanding economy."

The statement added that India was "also aware of the need to constantly adapt its export controls in the face of rapidly evolving scientific and technological challenges, and in this regard, affirmed its readiness to act in close cooperation with all members towards the furtherance of Australia Group objectives".

The other Australia Group members are Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Republic of Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, European Union, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Republic of Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom and United States.

This is the third of the four export control regimes that India has joined since 2017.

Last year, India became the 35th member of the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), an informal and voluntary partnership of countries to prevent the proliferation of missile and unmanned aerial vehicle technology capable of carrying above 500 kg payload for more than 300 km, and the 42nd member of the Wassenaar Arrangement, which seeks to contribute to regional and international security and stability by promoting transparency and greater responsibility in transfers of conventional arms and dual-use goods and technologies.

China has been opposing India's bid to become member of the NSG, on the ground that for a country to join the 48-nation bloc, it has to be a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

Asked if membership of the Australia Group will help India's efforts to join the NSG, Kumar said that "it helps credentials for NSG".

It may be noted that China is not a member of any of the other three regimes to which India has been admitted.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Officials and citizens from India and Myanmar on Friday launched a cleanliness campaign along their border.

Myanmar Army and civilian officials came to the no man's land to spruce up the areas which had become a dumping ground for rubbish from both sides. They brought excavators too.

On the Indian side, Superintendent of Police S. Ibomcha, Assam Rifles commanding officer A.S. Rawat and other officials took part in the drive.

Ibomcha said: "The joint campaign is welcome. It is to be seen whether such campaigns can be held once a month."

Locals who took part in the campaign said they would cooperate with the government in the campaign.

"It will go a long way in furthering the good neighbourly relations between the two countries," said L. Achou, a resident.

The joint campaign comes after two recent stand-offs between the two countries.

In the first, some residents of Myanmar along the border started levelling the ground at the no man's land. The Indian authorities stopped it since India was not informed about it.

Last year, Myanmar officials came to Hollenphai village in Manipur and dismantled a saw mill saying that it was built in Myanmar territory.

--IANS

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India and Pakistan on Friday blamed each other for violations of the ceasefire at the border, with civilian deaths being reported from both sides amid heavy shelling and firing along the International Border (IB) in Jammu and Kashmir.

A Border Security Force (BSF) trooper, an Indian Army soldier and two civilians were killed and three others injured on Friday in indiscriminate firing and shelling by Pakistan Rangers. Pakistan meanwhile reported that one civilian was killed, and nine were injured on its side in Indian shelling.

India condemned the continued ceasefire violations by Pakistan, stating that it was being done so that terrorists can infiltrate. In Islamabad, Indian Deputy High Commissioner J.P. Singh was summoned to condemn the "unprovoked ceasefire violations" by Indian forces.

Pakistan Rangers resorted to indiscriminate shelling and firing at 20 border outposts of the BSF along the International Border in Jammu, Samba and Kathua districts on Friday.

In Samba district of Jammu and Kashmir, and BSF Head Constable Jagpal Singh, who was injured in the cross border firing succumbed to his injuries. Border Security Force (BSF) officials said it was the third day when Pakistan continued its unprovoked cross border firing, targetting civilian areas.

Two civilians were killed and three others were injured in Pakistani shelling on civilian establishments in Arnia sub-sector of R.S. Pura in Jammu district. The injured civilians were shifted to a hospital.

"The shelling and firing started at 6.40 a.m. and continued intermittently for over four hours. Indian positions effectively and strongly retaliated the Pakistani fire," a police source said.

Authorities have ordered the closure of all schools in areas close to the International Border affected by Pakistan's violation of the 2003 ceasefire agreement as panic gripped the residents of villages in the three districts.

Later in the day, Pakistan Army initiated unprovoked and indiscriminate firing with small arms, automatic weapons and mortars around 1.30 p.m in Sunderbani sector along the LoC, in which a soldier -ALance Naik Sam Abraham died.

External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar "strongly condemned" the continued violations by Pakistan, and said it has caused loss of lives and property.

"We, of course, retaliate in such cases and we also take up the matter at the appropriate level with the Pakistani side," he said.

In Islamabad, Indian Deputy High Commissioner J.P. Singh was summoned at the Foreign Office to condemn the "unprovoked ceasefire violations by Indian forces along the International Border in Sialkot Sector".

A Pakistan Foreign Office statement said a 24-year-old man was killed and nine, including women and elderly persons, were injured.

Director General (SA & SAARC) Mohammad Faisal conveyed to Singh that the Indian forces were "continuously engaged in indiscriminate and unprovoked firing with heavy mortars and automatic weapons on the civilian populated villages, since the last two days".

In the statement, Pakistan said that the Indian forces have carried out more than 125 ceasefire violations along the Line of Control and the International Border in just 19 days in 2018, resulting in the death of four civilians, and injuries to 20 others.

"This unprecedented escalation in ceasefire violations by India is continuing from the year 2017 when the Indian forces committed more than 1,900 ceasefire violations," it said.

"The ceasefire violations by India are a threat to regional peace and security and may lead to a strategic miscalculation", the statement added.

India Army Chief General Bipin Rawat had on January 12 said that India will scale up "action" if Islamabad continues supporting terror and infiltration of militants.

--IANS

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China on Friday said Doklam is Chinese territory and India has no business to comment if it builds infrastructure in the region.

Some satellite images purportedly show massive infrastructure build-up in Doklam by China, as close as 81 meters to the point of face-off between Indian and Chinese troops in the disputed plateau last year.

In India, the Congress party has accused the Modi government of snoozing while China kept building infrastructure in Doklam even after the resolution of military stand-off last year.

"I don't know who offers such kind of photos. I don't know the detailed information," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang said when asked about the images.

"You must be quite clear. Donglong (Doklam) always belongs to China and is always under China's effective jurisdiction. There is no dispute in this regard," Lu said.

"China is exercising its sovereignty in its own territory. It's legitimate and justified. Just as China will not make comments about Indian construction of infrastructure on India's territory, we hope other countries will not make comment on China's construction of infrastructure on its territory," Lu said.

Lu said the Chinese construction in Doklam was done to patrol the border and protect the lives of its troops and residents.

India and Chinese troops were locked in a 73-day stand-off at Doklam, which is claimed by Bhutan.

The face-off began when the Indian military halted road building by the Chinese at Doka La in the region, which is very close to India's highway.

Even as both sides resolved the crisis by retreating from the point of face-off in August, news reports suggested that China was busy building infrastructure to fortify its position in the region.

The Indian government says the status quo at Dokla La in Doklam remains unaltered.

Asked if there could be another stand-off, Lu said: "We hope Indian side learn the lesson and avoids the incident to happen again."

Lu invoked the meet between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the BRICS Summit in Xiamen last year where the two leaders agreed to promote peace between the two countries.

--IANS

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'The Journey Within', penned by ISKCON spiritual head Radhanath Swami Maharaj as a sequel to his earlier New York Times bestseller 'The Journey Home', was released here in the presence of a galaxy of personalities.

A much-awaited follow-up of the first book 'The Journey Within', which was the autobiography of an American Swami in India, in 'The Journey Home' the author has highlighted his own experiences as a long-standing guru of Bhakti Yoga which illustrates the basic teachings of the ancient Indian philosophy and spiritualism.

"My experiences, which I hope, would enlighten the readers with spiritual thoughts and philosophy, as we take a long journey across the globe.. We derive happiness which is short lived or may derive no happiness because we seldom take a 'journey within', which can reveal our purpose of existence and guide us on the path of eternal happiness," Radhanath Swami said on Thursday night.

He said the mysteries of the soul have evaded mystics, sages and gurus for centuries, humanity has long yearned to discover the purpose of our existence, and many spiritual traditions have evolved through sacred texts that facilitate journeys of transformation and discovery.

"Yet, never before have all of the spiritual traditions been distilled so simply into one easy-to-follow path -- of Love and Devotion -- to provide these answers," added Radhanath Swami, who heads the International Society for Krishna Consciousness temple, at Chowpatty in south Mumbai.

Present on the occasion were Bollywood producer Smita Thackeray, athlete Kranti Salvi, Hungarian Consul-General Norbert Revai-Bere, Mauritius Consul-General Bineshwaree Napaul and TV actor Nitesh Bharadwaj, among others.

With illuminating references to western religions and ideologies, 'The Journey Within' goads readers from all backgrounds to discover the simple truths that unite the people and answer timeless questions like "What is Love, Soul, Who is God, How to live in the physical world without losing touch with the spiritual, etc", said a spokesperson.

--IANS

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Cigarette-to-FMCG major ITC Ltd on Friday reported a 16.8 per cent increase in its net profit to Rs 3,090.20 crore in the quarter ended December 31, 2017 as compared to Rs 2,646.73 crore in the year-ago period.

On a comparable basis, gross sales during the quarter stood at Rs 16,746.20 crore representing a growth of 6.3 per cent over Rs 15,746.93 crore in the corresponding period of 2016-17.

EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) at Rs 3,904.50 crore registered a growth of 10.1 per cent during the quarter.

The company said it delivered steady performance during the quarter despite a challenging operating environment marked by severe pressure on legal cigarette industry volumes and limited trading opportunities in agri-business.

While the FMCG industry witnessed progressive recovery during the quarter from the transitional impact of goods and services tax (GST) rollout, overall demand conditions remained subdued.

Total comprehensive income (TCI), for the quarter, was at Rs 3,177.06 crore registering a growth of 27.8 per cent.

The cigarette maker said that the legal cigarette industry volumes remained under severe pressure due to sharp increase in tax incidence and intense regulatory pressures.

The sharp upward revision in GST Compensation Cess announced by the GST Council at its meeting on July 17, 2017 exacerbated the situation.

"While the intention of the government was to correct an apparent anomaly in cigarette taxation under the new tax regime announced earlier on account of the removal of the cascading effect of Excise Duty which existed in the pre GST regime, the upward revision resulted in significantly higher tax incidence on cigarettes compared to the pre-GST scenario which is not in keeping with the fundamental principle of revenue neutrality," it said in a statement.

Further, the company said that in fact the combined impact of increase in excise duty announced in the Union Budget 2017 and the revision in GST Compensation Cess resulted in an incremental tax burden of over 20 per cent on the company.

In terms of others fast moving consumer goods (FMCG), comparable growth, based on gross sales Value (which includes adjustments only for taxes that are excluded from reported gross revenue), stood at 16.2 per cent during the quarter.

Such growth was driven by the branded packaged foods, personal care and education and stationery products businesses.

Performance of the lifestyle retailing business, however, remained impacted due to the ongoing restructuring of retail and trade footprint, the city-headquartered firm said.

It also reported that in hotels business, increase in average room rate, growth in food and beverage revenue aided segment revenue to grow by 10 per cent on a comparable basis during the quarter.

Improvement in room rates and operating leverage aided faster growth of about 30 per cent in segment results notwithstanding gestation costs of ITC Grand Bharat and the recently commissioned WelcomHotel Coimbatore.

The company also reported steady progress was made during the quarter in the construction of ITC Hotels at Hyderabad, Kolkata, Ahmadabad and WelcomHotels in Guntur and Bhubaneswar.

The firm also said performance in the agri business during the quarter was impacted by shortage of leaf tobacco in Andhra Pradesh due to successive reductions in authorised crop size exacerbated by drought in 2016.

During the quarter, the agri business forayed into the fruits and vegetables segment in select markets under the 'Farmland' brand. It also launched dehydrated onion flakes under the 'ITC Master Chef Smart Onions' brand for the institutional segment.

"The product, a first-of-its-kind in India, offers convenience and consistent quality along with lower oil absorption. Plans are on the anvil to roll out the product in consumer packs in the ensuing months," it added.

--IANS

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The 42nd edition of International Kolkata Book Fair is dedicating its "largest-ever" theme pavilion of 14,000 sq.ft. to France, that is also the focal theme of the event rated as the world's most attended book fair, the organisers said on Friday.

"Though the total space of this year's book fair has got reduced due to the change of venue, we have allotted 14,000 square ft to the French pavilion to celebrate 70 years of Indo-French diplomatic relationship.

"This will be the largest ever individual pavilion in the history of Kolkata Book Fair," IKBF General Secretary Tridib Chatterjee told reporters here.

Slated to be held from January 31 to February 11, the fair would have 580 book stalls, 20 less than its previous edition.

"The biggest individual pavilion so far stood at 5,000 sqft and was dedicated to the UK in 2014. The French pavilion this year would be nearly thrice as big," he said.

Chatterjee said an additional 4.5 acres of land has been acquired by the state urban development authority and the Bidhannagar municipality to deal with the space crunch in the new venue.

The book fair this year has been shifted to 'Central Park Mela Complex' in Salt Lake satellite township from its regular venue 'Milan Mela' grounds, which is being revamped, in east Kolkata.

The fair would also have its exclusive 'App' this year that would help the visitors locate any stall on a real-time basis even without Internet connection.

About the French connection to the book fair, Damien Syed, Consul General of France in Kolkata, said the French pavilion in this edition, entitled 'Experience: The Digital Journey of France', would focus on highlighting various aspects of Indo-French relations.

"There would be three sections on innovation, creativity and partnership between the two countries in the French pavilion. Also there would be testimonies on Indo-French partnership in the future days to come.

"That is our key focus," Syed said, adding the French Minister of Culture and Communication Francoise Nyssen would be present at the inauguration ceremony alongside Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

Ten prominent French authors, including Christian Garcin and Gerrard Meudal, would grace this year's book fair along with a host of important authors from Spain, Columbia, Bangladesh.

--IANS

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Hundreds of tourist guides and drivers working for various tiger reserves in Maharashtra and central India protested on Friday against UK-based NGO Survival International's appeal to foreigners to boycott Indian tiger reserves.

The protests at the Pench Tiger Reserve (PTR) and Nawegaon-Nagzira Tiger Reserve (NNTR) come in the wake of a formal protest lodged against SI and its Director Stephen Corry by various organisations including the Satpuda Foundation, working for tiger and forests conservation.

Their ire stems from an open email alleging that the Indian government was "illegally evicting" tribals from their forests violating their rights, and asked tourists to stop visiting the 50 tiger reserves spread across India.

According to National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) figures, the 50 reserves in India, spread across 18 states, are home to an estimated 2,226 tigers in the wild, the highest in the world, and attract over one crore tourists, including around 15 per cent from around the world.

With jungle tourism a major source of revenue and employing over 80,000 directly besides a few lakhs indirectly, the SI's threat has sent alarm bells ringing among the tiger reserves, the workers and other stakeholders.

Satpuda Foundation President Kishor Rithe attacked SI for what he termed as its "suo moto, anti-India campaign" which has no locus standi, and without being aware of the ground realities.

"Our tribals and forest-dwellers have been protecting these forests and reaping the benefits through wildlife tourism. Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR) alone earns more than Rs 50 million (Rs 5 crore) annually, of which a major share is ploughed back to the local community," Rithe told IANS.

He said the TATR and other tiger reserves adhere to the Supreme Court orders and NTCA guidelines on this which has created a win-win situation for all concerned.

Condemning SI's campaign, Rithe pointed out that the tribals and villagers living in and around the forests of various tiger reserves are happy with this as they earn livelihood from tourism and conservation unlike bush meat in Africa.

NNTR's Mukund Dhurve said they would take their message to all the seven tiger reserves in central India, communicate the sentiments and opinion of the Indian tribal communities to the global arena about the misleading and mischievous campaign initiated by SI.

"It's totally unethical to appeal to foreign tourists in the name of the Indian tribal communities. Nobody has authorised SI to speak on their behalf. We shall request the Indian government to take stern action against SI," Rithe said.

PTR's Bandu Uike said the SI move was shocking since "there are no forced evictions of tribals anywhere, including Pench", and on the contrary, many villagers around the buffer zones are voluntarily coming forward to relocate as per the government policies.

On an average, each tiger reserve generates around 1,500 direct employment opportunities, apart from a few thousand indirect jobs, besides the revenues generated through various tourism activities activities.

Of the estimated nearly ten million wildlife tourists in all these tiger reserves, around 15 per cent are foreigners, and SI's "irresponsible appeal" will severely hit the revenues, Rithe said.

Since the foreign tourists also visit other famous places like the Taj Mahal or Ajanta-Ellora Caves, this could hit the overall tourism sector in India, he cautioned, urging the authorities concerned to act in the matter.

--IANS

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A man has been arrested in connection with the gang-rape of a 15-year-old girl in a slum cluster here while his accomplice is at large, police said on Friday.

"Mohammad Islam, 45, was arrested on Thursday from his hideout, while his accomplice, Ramjani, 63, is on the run," Deputy Commissioner of Police Milind Mahadeo Dumbere said.

"The incident took place on Tuesday in Chattarpur area where the victim stays with her parents in a shanty. Mohd Islam and Ramjani entered the shanty and raped the girl when her mother had gone out for work," Dumbere said.

"The victim's mother filed a complaint after she returned home and found her daughter in disheveled state," officer added.

--IANS

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ATTN EDITORS: This article, by Namita Gokhale, is the first of two exclusively written for IANS ahead of the Jaipur Literature Festival. The second article, by William Dalrymple, will move on Saturday. Editor IANS

By Namita Gokhale

For me, the idea of India resides in her Sahitya, in her words, her poetry, her songs, and the oldest, richest and most diverse traditions of oral and textual literature in the world. India lives in her languages: Twenty-two scheduled languages, including English, six classical languages -- Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Odia; 122 spoken languages, 1,635 classified mother tongues, and 1,957 pending classification. This vast linguistic landscape is the backdrop for the annual ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival.

As the eleventh edition of the ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival approaches, I look back at the last decade, where, in the month of Magh, we have consistently celebrated both the unity and diversity of Indian literature. I am struck afresh by the number of extraordinary writers from the Indian languages that we have had the privilege of hearing in the beautiful precincts of the Diggi Palace.

There is a generation of great and inspiring writers gone by, like the late Mahasweta Devi, who delivered the evocative keynote speech in 2013, my dear friend U.R. Ananthamurthy, who addressed us at the opening of the 2009 edition, and the incomparable Sunil Gangopadhyay, who was with us in the same year. I remember chatting with them outside the Durbar Hall and their childlike enthusiasm for the vibrant energy of the festival. In 2013, when he was to speak once again at the festival, Sunil da had left the world, and U.R. Ananthamurthy, who had been shortlisted for the DSC Prize for South Asian Writing in 2012 as well as the Man Booker international award in 2013, (both of which were announced at our festival) was unable to attend because of ill health. Last year, octogenarian S.L. Bhyrappa, best-selling Kannada writer and revered literary figure, was in conversation with Vivek Shanbhag, Ananthamurthy's son-in-law, whose Kannada fiction has had a worldwide impact.

Across languages, across generations, the rooted traditions of Bhasha writing and the heritage of the Indian languages continue to enrich each other, and the ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival, with its predominantly young audiences, (60 per cent of our audiences are under 25) remains a crucial platform for the young to read and encounter these legendary names. Be it the great Rajasthani writer and scholar Rani Lakshmi Kumari Chundawat, who was at our festival in 2012 and 2013, before she died in 2014 at the age of 93; or Vijaydan Detha, 'Bijji' to his adoring fans, who addressed us via a film shot by the brilliant Hindi writer Uday Prakash, our festival remains a crucial space for honouring the languages and literature of India.

We are equally invested in folk cultures, narratives and the oral traditions. The great maestro of Rajasthani Dingal poetry and performance, Shakti Dan Kaviya, has performed at Jaipur, as have the late Mohan Bhopa, Ghafaruddin Mewati, the last custodian of the Pandoon ka Kada traditions of the Mewati Mahabharata, and so many others.

Our festival celebrates both the heritage and the evolution of Hindi, in its many dialects and nuances. Ashok Vajpeyi, Narendra Kohli, Om Prakash Valmiki, Chitra Mudgal, Mridula Garg, Alka Saraogi, Pushpesh Pant, Mrinal Pande, Uday Prakash, as well as the next generation that includes Ravish, Shazi Zaman and Yatindra Mishra, have been friends and well wishers of what has been described as "Sahitya ka Mahakumbh".

Be it Volga and C. Mrunalini in Telugu; Dhrubajyoti Bora, Anuradha Pujari Sarma, Arupa Kalita Patangia and Aruni Kashyap in Assamese; Pratibha Ray and J.P. Das in Odia; Bama, Salma, Charu Nivedita and Perumal Murugan in Tamil; the greats of Indian literature have graced us with their presence. K. Satchidanandan, Paul Zachariah, K.R. Meera, Sethumadhavan, as well as the towering figure of M.T. Vasudevan Nair, have all been speakers at the festival. The video recordings of their sessions provide an accessible and invaluable video resource for the understanding and study of literary traditions.

Each of the Indian literatures carries rich historical and aesthetic traditions, with the languages rooted in their physical and cultural geography. The writing that is emerging in these many avatars is dynamic and contemporary. It is full of questioning, sometimes anger, but it also carries a continuity of thought and identity.

India exists in a constant and ongoing state of translation. Quality literary translation from source languages is the key to understanding and facilitating exchange between the Indian Bhasha writing. Jaipur Bookmark, the publishing segment of the festival, has provided steadfast support to publishers and translators and acted as one of the catalysts and enablers for changing on-ground attitudes.

The ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival and countless other valuable literary events and initiatives across the Indian subcontinent have helped establish a literary community, forged through language and the intangibles of culture, establishing a common matrix of understanding. The idea of many languages and one literature continues to hold true.

(Namita Gokhale is one of India's foremost authors and co-director of the upcoming Zee Jaipur Literature Festival. The views expressed are personal. She can be contacted at jlf@teamworkarts.com)

--IANS

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The Meghalaya election department on Friday instructed all banks to monitor and submit report on detecting suspicious cash transactions by individuals and political parties in this poll-bound state.

"We have asked all banks to share information with respective District Election Officers on finding any unusual and suspicious cash withdrawal or deposit of cash in a bank account exceeding Rs 1 lakh during the process of election," Chief Electoral Officer Frederick Roy Kharkongor told journalists after a meeting with the state-level bankers' committee.

"We have also asked the banks to look into unusual transfer of amount by real time gross settlement (RTGS) from one bank account to accounts of several persons in a district or constituency without any precedent of such transfer," Kharkongor said.

There are 36 banks in Meghalaya, which include the State Bank of India, Meghalaya Rural Bank and Meghalaya Cooperative Apex Bank, and these banks have around 395 branches.

In Garo hills, the State Bank of India has 41 branches, MRB (30) and MCAB (25).

During the meeting, the election official said the banks have been instructed to open dedicated counters for election purpose to facilitate prompt service to the candidates for opening of bank accounts and allow withdrawals and deposits from such accounts on priority during the election period.

He also said that a standing provision also stated that if withdrawal is more than Rs 10 lakh, such information should be passed on to a nodal officer of the income tax department for taking necessary actions under the income tax laws.

District election officers should also activate the 180 flying squads to act on tip off over movement of cash and take necessary action.

Meanwhile, Magistrates of various districts have promulgated an order under section 144 CrPC prohibiting any person or group of persons from carrying money above Rs 50,000 following information that some persons may carry large amount of hard cash to bribe voters to cast their votes in favour of a particular candidate.

Elections to the tenth Meghalaya Assembly will be held on February 27 and counting of votes would be held on March 3.

The ninth Meghalaya Assembly, comprising 60 members, was constituted on March 7, 2013, and its term expires on March 6.

--IANS

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Pandemonium marred the proceedings of Jammu and Kashmir assembly on Friday as the opposition again created an uproar over the murder of a minor girl in Kathua district.

As the speaker took his seat to start the day's proceedings, MLAs of opposition National Conference (NC) and the Congress stood up to protest against the murder of an 8-year-old girl belonging to a nomad 'Bakerwal' (Goatherd) family in Kathua district.

The girl had been abducted last week and her body was found in Hira Nagar area of Kathua district on Wednesday.

Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Abdul Rehman Veeri tried to calm the opposition by assuring that a special investigating team (SIT) had been formed to probe the murder, but the unrelenting opposition continued to raise uproar.

The MLAs of the ruling BJP raised the issue of Pakistan's ceasefire violation on the international border in which two civilians were killed and three others injured on Friday in Arnia area of Jammu district.

The BJP members demanded that a resolution be brought up in the house to condemn Pakistan firing on civilian habitations.

--IANS

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi will leave for Davos, Switzerland, on Monday to attend this year's World Economic Forum, it was announced on Friday.

This will be the first prime ministerial participation from India in two decades after the participation of then Prime Minister H.D. Devegowda in 1997.

Explaining the significance of Modi's visit, Vijay Gokhale, Secretary (Economic Relations) in the Ministry of External Affairs, said that in 1997, the Indian economy was well below $1 trillion whereas it is now above $2 trillion.

"The main event is the keynote speech the Prime Minister will give at the plenary session on January 23," Gokhale said.

"There will also be a bilateral engagement with the President of Switzerland and there will be occasions for pull-asides with other leaders as and when these are fixed and depending on the requirements."

Gokhale said this visit is going to be a signal that India is "engaging with the rest of the world in a very multi-dimensional way".

"This is occurring at a time when India's attractiveness as an economy has grown," he stated.

"There has been a quantum jump in our rankings in multiple indices and in the context of the recent reforms that the government has announced, particularly in the last one year. The focus, therefore, is for our Prime Minister to articulate his vision of how he sees the Indian economy as contributing not only to the domestic improvement but also on a global scale."

Giving details of Modi's programme in Davos, Ramesh Abhishek, Secretary in the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, said there will be a dinner on January 22 which will be attended by CEOs of 60 companies.

Of these, 40 will be from 18 different countries, while 20 will be from India. These 60 companies are across 26 different sectors.

"The market cap of these companies is $3.3 trillion," Abhishek said. "If it had been a country it would have been the fifth largest in the world."

He said these companies have created four million jobs around the world of which one million are in India. Twelve companies have been operating in India for over a century.

"We are looking forward to the Prime Minister's interaction with the CEOs because of the opportunities that India provides today in terms of various sectors, ease of doing business and so on," Abhishek said.

Among those attending the dinner will be the heads of Airbus group, Hitachi group, BAE Systems, IBM, and the Carlyle group.

On January 23, Modi will interact with 120 members of the International Business Council which is a part of the WEF. This will include the CEO of General Motors, the CEO of Royal Dutch Shell, and the Executive Directors of BASF, Nestle, and J.P. Morgan Chase.

On January 22, DIPP will also be organising a reception in which 1500 delegates are expected to participate.

"We will be showcasing the various achievements that India has made in the last few years in terms of ease of doing business, in terms of massive opportunities in future," Abhishek said.

Asked if Modi will have a bilateral meeting with US President Donald Trump, Gokhale said the two leaders will not be present in Davos at the same time. He also said that there is no meeting planned with Pakistan Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi.

After Modi, Finace Minister Arun Jaitley, Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu, Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal, Minister of State for Development of the Northestern Region Jitendra Singh, and Minister of State for External Affairs M.J. Akbar will also participate in different sessions of the annual event.

--IANS

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Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said his country is in favour of collective leadership instead of US global leadership.

Asked on Friday at a news conference at UN Headquarters whether Washington is losing global leadership on key issues and in key conflict areas under the Trump administration, Lavrov said: "In today's world, leadership can only be a collective thing," Xinhua reported.

There are a lot of examples as proof, he said. "The creation of the Group of 20 reflects the fact that we need to create a collective agenda, using the leaders of all regions of the world. And the same applies in the fight against terrorism -- we need collective efforts."

The first year of Donald Trump's presidency has seen many departures from the foreign policies of previous administrations. Washington has announced to withdraw from the Paris Agreement on climate change, the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, and a UN-led initiative to formulate a global compact on migration.

It has also threatened to pull out of the UN Human Rights Council.

The Trump administration has also cut aid to various countries and its contributions to the United Nations.

Most recently it has withheld funds for a UN agency that supports about 5 million Palestinian refugees both in the occupied territories and neighbouring countries.

Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as the Israeli capital and to move the US Embassy in the country from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem has triggered an international outcry.

Lavrov said on Friday that people may draw their own conclusions on whether those US actions are in line with US interests. "We are in favour of solving everything together."

Lavrov is in UN premises for high-level meetings at the Security Council.

--IANS

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Imagine getting only 360 seconds of sunshine in a whole month -- sounds pretty depressing? Moscow had its darkest December on record in 2017, getting just six minutes of sunshine, media reports said.

Temperatures in parts of the Siberian region of Yakutia dropped to minus 67 degrees Celsius, prompting even eyelashes to freeze, a CNN report said on Thursday.

Residents of the remote region, about 3,300 miles east of Moscow, were certainly accustomed to record-cold weather, but the selfie posted by Anastasia Gruzdeva taken on Sunday in the city of Yakutsk shocked many.

The BBC report said early in December, late in the day, when Oleg Boldyrev, a reporter, looked up to the sky, he was startled "to find a thin golden, circular wedge of something other-worldly hung well above the roofs of central Moscow".

"I Googled it -- my hunch was confirmed. I saw a crescent Moon. But when I looked up again the clouds had engulfed it. I haven't seen the Moon since," Boldyrev said.

Roman Vilfand, head of the Russian meteorological service, confirmed in December Muscovites were deprived of clear skies more than ever.

The darkest month of the year became the gloomiest ever observed -- only six minutes of open sunlight was registered, well down from the previous low of three hours in December 2000, the BBC report said.

--IANS

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The CBI has registered a fresh corruption case against Noida's former Chief Engineer Yadav Singh for awarding contracts worth Rs 116.39 crore to five private companies by violating tender norms, an official said on Friday.

The central agency on Friday also conducted searches at eight places -- five in Uttar Pradesh's Noida, two in Delhi and one in Ranchi.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed the FIR against Yadav Singh, five private companies based in Delhi, Noida and Ranchi and some unidentified Noida officials in the case.

The Noida officials, including then Chief Maintenance Engineer Yadav Singh, are accused of criminal conspiracy and misuse of official position and accepting bribe regularly from contractors and firms while awarding contracts, a CBI official said.

"It was also alleged that Yadav Singh, in conspiracy with other officials of Noida as well as with the said contractors, had awarded several contracts worth Rs 116.39 crore to the five companies in gross violation of tender norms and procedures," the official said.

Those named in the FIR along with Yadav Singh are Javed Ahmed, proprietor of Noida-based Gul Engineers Company, three Directors of a Delhi-based SMP Technology Pvt Ltd -- Sai Raju, Manish Kumar and Prem Pradeep -- and two directors of Noida-based Abu Infracon Pvt Ltd Kumar Saurav and Prem Pradeep.

A proprietor of other Noida-based private electrical company, identified as Sanjay Kumar Gupta, and a proprietor of a Ranchi-based Shakambari Projects, Sanjay Kumar Sharma, were also named in the FIR.

The CBI mentioned charges under criminal conspiracy of the Indian Penal Code and Prevention of Corruption Act in the fresh case against Yadav Singh who is already under the agency's radar for amassing disproportionate assets worth Rs 23 crore in connection with which it had also filed an FIR on July 30, 2015.

--IANS

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Read a compelling translation of a masterpiece by Rabindranath Tagore, delve into the friendship of three flatmates in London, enjoy the thrills that an obsessed seductress unleashes on a perfect couple, and finally take a look at the world of godmen, spiritual seekers, and the men and women whose lives are ruled by the sex market and its overlords.

The IANS bookshelf offers a diverse range this weekend, some of which may make their way to your shelves:

1. Book: My Reminiscences; Author: Rabindranath Tagore, translated by Devabrata Mukherjee; Publisher: Niyogi Books; Price: Rs 395; Pages: 258

It is not possible to surmise when exactly Tagore started writing "Jibonsmriti" (My Reminiscences). It is generally believed that he was going through its first draft after the publication of the play "Raja" (King, 1910). "Jibonsmriti" was translated into English by Tagore's nephew, Surendranath Tagore, though retouched and slightly changed by the author himself. It was serialised in Ramananda Chattopadhyay's The Modern Review under the title "My Reminiscences" from January to December 1916.

To thwart the attempt by any foreign publisher to publish it, all the issues of The Modern Review carried the declaration, 'All Rights Reserved. Copyrighted in the United States of America'.

Interestingly, Tagore himself advised Ramananda Chattopadhyay to mail one copy each of the issues of The Modern Review carrying "My Reminiscences" to W. B. Yeats and Ernest Rhys. In April 1917, it was published as a book by MacMillan, New York, with a colour portrait by Sasi Kumar Hesh as the frontispiece, apart from 12 paintings by Gagnendranath Tagore. The latest translation is by Devabrata Mukherjee and carries an introduction by Nirmal Kanti Bhattacharjee.

2. Book: Love Curry; Author: Pankaj Dubey; Publisher: Penguin; Price: Rs 250; Pages: 202

Three flatmates in London begin to see how different their lives are and at the same time how similar their backgrounds. And when life begins to deal its rough cards, how easy things become when they are all together!

Ali is a Pakistani chef with the dream of setting up his own nihari restaurant. Shehzad is a cool tattoo artist from Bangladesh with a broken past and Rishi is an Indian with nondescript skills and trying to hide himself from the world.

They all make one mistake -- that of falling in love with the same girl. They become arch-rivals. But when their worlds turn topsy-turvy, they have no one but each other to turn to, learning that love is as much about letting go as it is about possessing.

Equally thoughtful as it is entertaining, sensitive as it is quirky, "Love Curry" is a glimpse of life truly at its fullest!

3. Book: The Buddha of the Brothel; Author: Kris Advaya; Publisher: Fingerprint; Price: Rs 299; Pages: 336

When Kris made a trip to India to study Ayurvedic massage, he never thought he would find love, adventure -- and heartbreak. Traumatised by the loss of his friend and army brutality, Kris came to India to practise meditation and chastity, but both efforts were turned head-over-heels when he caught sight of Radha, a sex worker in Pune's notorious red-light district. Before he knew it, Kris was wrapped up in the world of pimps and crime lords, losing his hold on the life he had been pursuing and all the dreams of stability he had once built in his head. To be with the woman who had stolen his heart, a life-altering decision awaited.

A true story, "The Buddha of the Brothel" is a poignant look into the world of godmen, spiritual seekers, and the men and women whose lives are ruled by the sex market and its overlords. The account, written in refreshingly sparkling prose, is by turns anguished, humorous, hopeful, and bewildered, as the writer wades through a world he had never expected to encounter.

It is sure to appeal to readers of Gregory Roberts' Shantaram with its less than glittering setting.This is a literary memoir that opens readers' eyes and minds and will not let go easily of their imaginations.

4. Book: Rasia; Author: Koral Dasgupta; Publisher: Rupa; Price: Rs 295; Pp: 238

Two women wait for him at two different sides of the crossroads. He knows which path is his, but he can't walk that path till he has attended to the other. One perfect couple. An obsessed seductress. A Bharatanatyam show in Manhattan, New York. One hell of a love story.

Raj Shekhar Subramanian and Manasi, both Bharatanatyam dancers, are made for each other. Till an obsessed fan, Vatsala Pandit, enters their lives, testing the man's character and his wife's patience. But then why does Manasi invite Vatsala to her Bharatanatyam show, for a dance of passion with her husband -- the very man Vatsala wants to take from her? Why did Shekhar agree to take in Vatsala as his student in the first place?

This singular love story deftly explores the many facets of love -- mutual trust, obsessiveness, the arrogance of passion, the need for self-fulfilment, the yearning for the beloved and the complexity of modern relationships.

--IANS

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By now, many of you who sat for your SPM exams early this year  which was postponed from November 2020 due to the pandemic  may be shopping for the right...
She was one of the first few Indian designers to showcase her collection at the Paris Fashion Week and the London Fashion Week, and is well-known for celebrating the country through her designs. Veteran designer Anamika Khanna says one can easily write a book on her journey in the fashion industry.

"The fashion industry has made me the person I am today. It has given me courage and taken me on a journey that one can write a book about! It will be tough to describe the ups and downs in such a small space, but I can easily say that every morning is a new high and a new challenge," Khanna told IANS in an email interview from Mumbai.

Khanna will be back on the fashion runway of the Lakme Fashion Week (LFW) with the forthcoming Summer-Resort 2018 edition, where she is the grand finale designer. She will showcase her line on February 4.

The Lakme Absolute Grand Finale promises to bring together the best of Khanna's contemporary designs interspersed with the diverse nude palette that Lakme will be introducing this season. She will have actress Kareena Kapoor Khan as the showstopper.

What kept her away from the ramp in the past few seasons?

Khanna said: "Doing a show at Lakme Fashion Week is always special. But sometimes it's important to take a step back and think. That gives us the space to push fashion boundaries further."

On the collection, she said it is difficult to define and put it any bracket.

"It is very experimental, using couture techniques. The inspiration is the new millennials who are bold enough to wear their individuality on their sleeves. This time, the mix of materials is done, which has never been used before. A lot of fabric development and manipulation techniques are used.

"Using traditional zardozi in the most experimental ways and mixing various textile colours and print make each piece one-off. Not to forget, the collection is an interesting interpretation of Lakme's theme of Reinventing Nudes," she said.

Best known for her eponymous label, Khanna is much revered in the industry. Her philosophy is about innovation with the Indian style, while also keeping it relevant to the modern world. For instance, the dhoti pant, commonly accredited to her brand, is now accepted as a modern high waist trouser worn with a dupatta or the Indian skirt.

On how the Mumbai market has evolved over the years for designers, she said: "It is difficult to segregate Mumbai as a separate market."

"I think fashion and the market in the whole country are going through a huge change. On one side, you have the extreme bridal space and on the other there is the young, bold and experimental fashion. I feel the middle path is getting blurred; there is no such thing as safe fashion," she said.

With Kareena being her showstopper, is she planning to do some Bollywood association with her brand soon?

"Bollywood films is a different space. It needs the skin of costume design and more than fashion; it needs to relate to the script. It's not like we have shied away fully, but we are into fashion for the industry," Khanna said, adding that there are expansion plans for her brand in the near future.

(Nivedita can be contacted at nivedita.s@ians.in)

--IANS

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India on Friday said Pakistan cannot keep its eyes shut over Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed, mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks.

In his weekly media briefing here, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar pointed to the fact that Saeed is a globally designated terrorist.

"Pakistan has to fulfil its international obligations and demonstrate seriousness in taking action against such global terrorists and not hide behind flimsy excuses," Kumar said.

"You can't close your eyes and pretend that nothing has happened. They have to realise what is there in front of them and they have to take action against such people who are operating and are allowed to freely operate from their soil."

The spokesperson's remarks came after Pakistan Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi earlier this week decided not to prosecute Saeed, referring to him as "Sahib" in an interview to Geo News. He said there was no case against the JuD chief in Pakistan.

On Thursday, the US said that Saeed should be prosecuted to the "fullest extent of the law" as Washington regards him as a terrorist.

Washington has sent a message to Islamabad to act against Saeed, State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert said.
Pakistan and Iran have decided to restore a fortnightly passenger train service between the two countries by September due to improvement in the security situation.

A Joint Expert Committee meeting was held here on Thursday, Xinhua news agency reported. The train service will run between Pakistan's southwestern city of Quetta and the Iranian cities of Mashhad and Qom.

The service will largely cater to the needs of pilgrims during Muharram, the first month of the Islamic calendar.

The two sides also decided to run 15 regular freight trains between Quetta and Iran's Zahedan due to the demands of the business community.

The Islamabad-Tehran-Istanbul train also came up for discussion at the meeting.

--IANS

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Pakistan on Friday summoned Indian Deputy High Commissioner J.P. Singh to condemn the "unprovoked ceasefire violations" by Indian forces along the International Border in Sialkot Sector, that left one civilian dead and injured nine others.

A 24-year-old man Irfan, resident of village Harpal, was killed while the injured included women and elderly persons, a Foreign Office statement said.

Director General (SA & SAARC) Mohammad Faisal conveyed to Singh that the Indian forces were "continuously engaged in indiscriminate and unprovoked firing with heavy mortars and automatic weapons on the civilian populated villages, since the last two days".

In 2018, the Indian forces have carried out more than 125 ceasefire violations along the Line of Control and the International Border in just 19 days, resulting in the death of four civilians, and injuries to 20 others, the Foreign Office statement said.

It said: "This unprecedented escalation in ceasefire violations by India is continuing from the year 2017 when the Indian forces committed more than 1,900 ceasefire violations."

It deplored the "deliberate targeting of civilian populated areas" which it said was "contrary to human dignity, international human rights and humanitarian laws".

"The ceasefire violations by India are a threat to regional peace and security and may lead to a strategic miscalculation", the statement said.

However, India, maintaining that Pakistan was continuing violation of the ceasefire along the international border in Jammu and Kashmir, said a Border Security Force (BSF) trooper and two civilians were killed and three others injured in indiscriminate firing and shelling by Pakistan Rangers on the international border in J&K.

"You are aware that Pakistan violates the ceasefire as a cover to infiltrate terrorists across the border into India. We, of course, retaliate in such cases and we also take up the matter at the appropriate level with the Pakistani side." External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said in a media briefing in New Delhi.

"We strongly condemn the continued and unprecedented ceasefire violation by Pakistan, which has caused loss of lives and property," spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said.

Pakistan Rangers indulged in indiscriminate shelling and firing at 20 border outposts of the BSF along the international border in Jammu, Samba and Kathua districts on Friday, official reports received in Delhi said.

--IANS

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The 16-year-old son of a property dealer who was kidnapped for ransom on Thursday was found murdered here on Friday, police said.

The body of Raunak Kumar, a Class 9 student and son of Sudhir Kumar, was found in a shuttered shop in Kadamkuan locality. His hands were tied with a rope.

"Raunnak was kidnapped by motorcycle-borne criminals in broad daylight on Thursday morning when he was on way to his school," Patna's Senior Superintendent of Police Manu Maharaj said.

According to a relative, the kidnappers demanded a ransom of Rs 25 lakh from his father for the teenager's safe release. Sudhir Kumar received repeated phone calls from the abductors.

One of the kidnapper arrested on Friday revealed that the boy was killed after the father failed to cough up the money on time.

The opposition mounted fresh attacks on the government of Nitish Kumar over what they said was rising lawlessness in the state.

"Hardly a day passes without murder, kidnapping, extortion and robbery reported in the state but Nitish Kumar is more busy in his 'yatra'," RJD state President Ram Chander Purve said.

--IANS

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Russia will create a new bank to finance defence needs and major state contracts in the wake of Western sanctions, the Russian Finance Ministry has said.

The new bank should be "optimally suited" for the role through its size and an extensive network of branches, the ministry said in a statement on Thursday, Xinhua news agency reported.

Corporate procedures necessary for the transfer of the new bank into the ownership of Russia will be completed in the near future, it added, without providing more details.

The US and its allies have sanctioned a number of Russian officials and companies over Crimea and the Ukrainian crisis, complicating the operation of various companies involved in Russia's military and industrial sectors.

Washington is expected to announce a new set of sanctions at the end of January in retaliation for Moscow's alleged meddling in the 2016 US presidential election, which may further hinder the work of such companies and banks.

Earlier this month, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law restricting information on certain government transactions and legal entities, which made the list of banks involved in financing the defence sector a secret.

The Russian central bank has consequently ceased to publish the list of such banks.

--IANS

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As Samsung heats up the smartphone market in the New Year with two new offerings, the South Korean giant is looking to grow its business across channels, including online, as the year progresses, Asim Warsi, Global Vice President, Samsung India, said on Friday.

"We are wherever our users are. And that's why we have the largest retail network in the country with over 1,50,000 touch points. We are constantly looking to grow our business and are looking to pave growth stories in all channels including the online space," Warsi told IANS.

Samsung, which is gearing up to take on Chinese rivals in the online segment, has launched two back-to-back "online exclusive" handsets.

The two devices -- Galaxy A8+ and Galaxy On7 Prime -- are from different price segments.

While A8+ is priced at Rs 32,990 and will compete in the premium segment, On7 prime starts at Rs 12,990 and will compete in the highly-competitive, mid-price segment.

"A8+ will help Samsung consolidate its leadership in the premium segment (above Rs 30,000) where Samsung has nearly 60 per cent volume market share, according to Gfk," Warsi added.

So far, Samsung was reluctant to go all out in the online segment as it has huge stakes in the offline trade, with over 1.5 lakh retail outlets.

Samsung has 43 per cent market share in the offline market, which account for nearly 75 per cent of all smartphones sales.

Besides Amazon and Flipkart, Samsung has partnered with Paytm for online sales. It recently recruited over 5,000 online dealers as part of its tie up with Paytm Mall.

Galaxy A8+ will compete directly with OnePlus in the premium category, while On7 Prime is a strong contender in the Rs 10,000-Rs 15,000 price bracket.

"Both the phones have been priced competitively and it seems that Samsung is gearing up to take on Chinese companies' dominance in the online segment," industry expert said.

The South Korean giant is planning to introduce a number of smartphones in the Galaxy "J" and "On" series in the coming months, industry sources told IANS.

Samsung first launched its online exclusive "On" series in 2015. Since then, the company has launched nearly eight models of online exclusive smartphones under the "On" series.

The company's focus, said Sandeep Singh Arora, Vice President, Samsung India, is to address consumers' needs in online as well as all price segments.

"Our focus is to address consumers' needs across all channels, whether it is online or offline. If our consumers are on a particular channel, we would make sure that we address them," Arora told IANS.

Both Galaxy A8+ and Galaxy On7 Prime will start selling on Amazon from January 20.

--IANS

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The Supreme Court on Friday upheld the acquittal of "Peepli Live" co-producer Mahmood Farooqui in an alleged rape case, rejecting a plea by the complainant challenging the Delhi High Court order.

Farooqui was accused of rape by an American woman.

Observing "it was an extremely well decided case, no need for intervention", Justice S.A. Bobde and Justice L. Nageswara Rao rejected the plea by the victim challenging the High Court order.

Farooqui was convicted by the trial court and sentenced to undergo seven years in prison on charges of sexually abusing a 35-year-old research scholar from Columbia University who was in India for research on her doctoral thesis.

He was convicted by the trial court in August 2016.

The Delhi High Court had on September 25, 2017 acquitted the "Peepli Live" co-director, giving him benefit of doubt in the case.

Acquitting him of rape charges, the High court had said: "...it remains in doubt as to whether such an incident, as has been narrated by the prosecutrix (victim), took place and if at all it had taken place, it was without the consent/will of the prosecutrix and if it was without the consent of the prosecutrix, whether the appellant could discern/ understand the same."

The American woman came in contact with Farooqui after she moved to Delhi in 2014 and was looking for contacts for her research work in Gorakhpur.

The alleged incident took place on March 28, 2015 when Farooqui invited her for dinner at his house.

The police had on June 19, 2015, lodged the FIR against Farooqui on the woman's complaint after which he was arrested.

According to the police chargesheet, the woman, who reached his house at 9 p.m, found Farooqui was very intoxicated, and he asked her to go to the other room which was his office.

After 20 minutes, she left the office room to smoke in the porch when he told her to come in and sit down, it said. After talking with her for a while, he suddenly kissed her and forced himself on her, the prosecution had said, adding that the woman was scared after the incident.

During the trial, the American researcher stood by her complaint and alleged that Farooqui had raped her, while he denied the allegations and claimed he was falsely implicated.

--IANS

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Automobile manufacturers body SIAM is hoping to release documents on hybrid and other alternative fuel vehicles during the upcoming auto expo, an official said here on Friday.

"We have submitted a white paper on electric vehicles in December," the official of the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) said.

"We will be coming out with two more documents -- one on hybrid vehicles and the other on alternative fuel vehicles -- that we hope to bring in during the Auto Expo," SIAM's Deputy Director General Sugato Sen told reporters here.

"These documents will be our inputs to the government," Sen said.

Amid a buzz on the electric vehicles and cleaner fuels, the society called for a policy and clear roadmap for the automobile industry.

"The Automotive Mission Plan 2016-26 has been in place. This document was prepared in 2015 and now things have changed drastically.

"At this moment, the Ministry of heavy industries, which is a nodal ministry for the automobile industry, is working on a new auto policy document. The dialogue is on. We hope this new document will bring in clarity," Sen said.

Responding to a query about the visibility of electric vehicles in the upcoming expo, SIAM Trade Fair Group Chairman Arun Malhotra said, "What was seen last time was some form of electric utilisation in the vehicles.

"What has been talked at the present time is either 100 per cent electric vehicle or strong hybrid...it is a very evolving phase....there will be some visibility (of electric vehicle) but it will grow as we go along."

Sen also said the visibility of hybrid vehicles was there last time.

The white paper on electric vehicles said that pure electric vehicle penetration currently remains "quite low in India, 0.1 per cent in passenger vehicles, 0.2 per cent in two-wheelers and practically nil for commercial vehicles" due to significant affordability gap and low level of consumers' acceptance (lack of demand), low level of electric vehicle manufacturing activities (lack of supply), lack of comparable products (especially in the two-wheeler category), non-existent public charging infrastructure etc.

Speaking on the upcoming Auto Expo-The Motor Show 2018, to be held at India Expo Mart in Greater Noida from February 9-14, Sen said more than 100 companies would be participating in the Expo.

There would be some new entrants in this edition like Kia Motors, India Kawasaki and Cleveland Cyclewerks, etc.

"Last time, there were about 106 unveiling of products and this time we are also expecting more than 100 unveiling. About 24 vehicles are to be launched this year," Sen added.

The Auto Expo, organised by SIAM jointly with Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India (ACMA) and CII, would focus on launching newer greener technology and products to reduce the pollution level further, hence promoting green mobility.

--IANS

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The Central government on Friday appointed senior IPS officer Sudeep Lakhtakia as the new Director General (DG) of the National Security Guard (NSG).

The order was issued by the Appointment Committee of the Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The 1984-batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer is currently serving as a Special Director General in the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) headquarters in New Delhi.

He will take over from incumbent S.P. Singh who will retire from the post on January 31.

Lakhtakia will be at the top post of the elite counter-terror force till July next year, which is also his scheduled retirement.

Commandos of the NSG, which was raised as the federal contingency force to counter terrorists and hijack-like incidents in 1984, are based in five hubs across the country, apart from their main garrison in Gurugram's Manesar.

The NSG also provides personal security to most high-profile VIPs like Home Minister and some Chief Ministers.

--IANS

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Pope Francis has landed in Peru for a four-day trip that will take him into the sweltering Amazon jungle to meet with indigenous communities and put him face-to-face with a president narrowly escaped impeachment in December, the Associated Press reported.

January 19, 2018, 11:44 Pope Francis arrives in Peru

STEPANAKERT, JANUARY 19, ARTSAKHPRESS:Francis arrived in Lima Thursday afternoon after finishing a trip to Chile.

Francis will meet with Amazonian indigenous groups who are hoping he will call on the state to grant them formal land rights and encourage the government to support the cleanup of rivers and land spoiled by illegal mining and deforestation.

He is also slated to speak with President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, who sparked nationwide protests in December after pardoning former Peruvian strongman Alberto Fujimori. The pardon reopened wounds from a bloody chapter in Perus history.
The Deputy of the UN special Envoy to Syria has said the Syrian government has agreed to take part in the planned Syrian talks in Vienna, Austria later this month.

In a press briefing following his meeting with Syria's Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekadd, Ramzi Ezzedine Ramzi said on Thursday that Mekdad informed him about the approval of the Syrian government to take part in the Vienna talks, Xinhua reported.

Meanwhile, Ramzi hoped for a positive engagement in the Vienna talks by the participants, linking the success of the Vienna talks with the success of another Syrian talks that are supported by Russia and will take place after the Vienna talks in the Russian resort city of Sochi.

"We are looking forward to a constructive engagement from all Syrian sides whether from the government delegation or the opposition because without a doubt, the success of the Vienna talks is the success of the Sochi talks," he said.

A day earlier, the United Nations Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura said he had invited the Syrian government and opposition to a special meeting that would focus on constitutional issues in Syria, which is to be held on January 25-26 in Vienna.

According to a statement issued by De Mistura's office, the UN envoy said the specific focus of the Vienna talks will be on the constitutional basket of the agenda towards the full implementation of the Security Council resolution 2254, an internationally-backed text that basically seeks a new constitution, UN-supervised elections in Syria.

The Vienna talks will precede a Russian-backed talks in Sochi on January 29-30.

The Sochi talks will also tackle the constitution topic, a coincidence that pushed observers to believe that the Vienna talks were designed to affect the Sochi talks.

--IANS

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Tata Steel on Friday said its wholly own subsidiary incorporated in Singapore, Abja Investment Co Pte Ltd, has successfully issued dual tranche of $1.3 billion of unsecured bonds in the international markets.

The issue comprises $300 million 4.45 per cent unsecured bonds due on July 24, 2023 and $1 billion 5.45 per cent unsecured bonds due on January 24, 2028.

"The transaction was launched on January 18, 2018 (Thursday). By the time books closed at the end of the day, the peak order book was in excess of $7 billion across tranches," a statement said.

"The proceeds of the bonds will be used to refinance the offshore obligations of the Group, which will help de-risk the balance sheet, enhance financial flexibility, diversify the investor base and improve the overall debt maturity profile.

"The completion of the refinancing also marks an important step forward to create a sustainable financial structure in preparation of the proposed joint venture in Europe," said Koushik Chatterjee, ED and CFO of Tata Steel.

The bonds are rated BB- by S&P and will be listed on the Singapore Exchange (SGX).

Road shows were organised simultaneously in Dubai, Singapore, London and Hong Kong and on the back of overwhelming investor response.

"The tremendous response enabled the issue to be priced about 42 bps tighter than the initial price thoughts on both the tranches. The deal was distributed to a wide number of long term buy-and-hold institutional investors, banks and private banks across regions," it said.

Chatterjee also said based on the buoyant trading performance of the existing bonds and strong credit appetite from quality investors, the company launched an innovative bond structure.

"The success of the issue demonstrates the investor's confidence in the long-term strategy of the company and we are very happy with the quality of the investors in the issue," he added.

--IANS

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The government of Telangana and Clean Authority of Tokyo have signed a MoU in the field of municipal solid waste incineration facilities.

They will exchange information on knowledge in municipal solid waste incineration facilities and make an effort to realize human resource exchanges in view of technical cooperation in the future.

The MoU was signed on Friday in Tokyo during the visit of a Telangana business delegation led by Information Technology and Industries Minister K.T. Rama Rao.

Jayesh Ranjan, Principal Secretary, Industries & Commerce (I&C) and Yoshimi SATO, Vice President, Clean Authority of Tokyo, signed the MoU in the presence of Rama Rao and India's ambassador in Japan, Sujan R. Chinoy, said a statement from the minister's office

The government of Telangana and ISE Foods Inc also signed a Letter of Intent in Tokyo. ISE Foods will set up a pilot project for egg production using advanced technologies. The firm will set up a solar park to support the egg production facility including the development of storage devices.

The Japanese company will also focus on the development of local human capacity building on advanced technologies of poultry by designing and conducting training and capacity building programmes.

Rama Rao met representatives of the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO). He addressed the delegates at "Telangana State: India Investment Promotion Seminar" at JETRO Headquarters in Tokyo.

He talked about the investment opportunities in Telangana and highlighted the Telangana government's progressive industrial policies, TS-iPASS, a single-window clearance initiative for investors.

Later, he also held discussions with the representatives of Japan Bank for International Cooperation in Tokyo.

--IANS

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US State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert has said Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will visit London, Paris, Warsaw and Davos on January 21-27, as the trans-Atlantic ties have been challenged by widening division over the US proposed revision of the Iran nuclear deal, among others.

According to her announcement on Thursday, Tillerson will meet with British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and National Security Advisor Mark Sedwill to discuss bilateral cooperation on such issues as Iran, Syria, Libya, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and Ukraine, Xinhua reported.

While in Paris on January 23, Tillerson is expected to meet with senior French officials to discuss global issues of mutual concern. He will also attend the launch of the International Partnership against Impunity for Use of Chemical Weapons.

He will then travel to Davos, Switzerland where he will participate in the 2018 World Economic Forum from January 24-26. During the Forum, he will follow US President Donald Trump's schedule of meetings.

The last stop will take Tillerson to Warsaw on January 26, where he will meet with senior Polish officials to discuss how to promote the US-Poland bilateral relationship in issues regarding global challenges, regional security, and economic prosperity.

The trans-Atlantic ties between the United States and Europe at large has been shaky ever since Trump assumed the presidency on January 20, 2017.

The two sides have also seen snowballing differences on multiple issues like Trump's retreat from the Paris climate accord, his decision to recognize Jerusalem as Iarael's capital at the end of 2017 and his refusal to certify Iran's compliance with the historic Iran nuclear deal in October.

Trump on January 12 said he will extend sanctions relief on Iran under a landmark nuclear deal for the last time, threatening a US withdrawal from the pact if the US Congress and his European allies cannot fix the alleged "disastrous flaws."

One day ago, he made a sudden announcement that he has cancelled his trip to Britain to inaugurate new US embassy due to stated disappointment over the bad spot for the embassy, sparking further irritation in London, as many people and government officials asked British Prime Minister Theresa May to withdraw her invitation to Trump to pay a state visit.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
US President Donald Trump has appeared to undercut his party's attempts to reach a budget deal with Democrats, on the eve of a possible government shutdown.

In a tweet, the Republican president criticised a sweetener added to the spending bill by congressional leaders to win Democratic lawmakers' votes, BBC reported on Thursday.

The White House later had to issue a statement maintaining the president fully endorsed the short-term measure.

The last US shutdown occurred in 2013 and lasted for 16 days.

The House of Representatives is due to vote on the spending measure on Thursday afternoon.

But it is unclear if there are enough votes to pass it in either the House or Senate.

At least some Democratic votes are needed to pass the budget measure ahead of the Friday midnight deadline.

Republican leaders also face resistance from their rank-and-file conservatives, who are demanding more military spending, among other things.

This so-called stopgap spending measure would keep federal agencies funded only until February 16.

The US government is already operating on its third temporary funding extension since this fiscal year began last October.

Democrats are demanding help for "Dreamers", more than 700,000 immigrants who entered the US illegally as children.

Liberals were in uproar when Trump last year ordered the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (Daca) programme, which shielded Dreamers from deportation, to end this March.

In order to convince Democratic lawmakers to back their budget bill, Republicans are offering a six-year extension of the Children's Health Insurance Program (Chip), which benefits lower-income families.

However, Democratic House leader Nancy Pelosi said on Thursday: "This is like giving you a bowl of doggy doo, put a cherry on top, and call it a chocolate sundae."

The president caused a minor muddle on Thursday morning when he tweeted: "CHIP should be part of a long term solution, not a 30 Day, or short term, extension!"

The President's posting appeared to contradict Republican lawmakers' legislative strategy.

A White House spokesman was forced to issue a clarification later clarifying that Trump did actually support the House measure.

Arriving at the Pentagon for a visit, the president told reporters the government "could very well" shut down.

Another conservative lawmaker vented his frustration with Trump.

"We don't have a reliable partner at the White House to negotiate with," said Senator Lindsey Graham, of South Carolina, according to the Washington Post.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
US President Donald Trump is set to depart Washington to celebrate his one-year inauguration anniversary at a glitzy gala at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, hours before the deadline to avoid a government shutdown on Friday midnight.

On Saturday, Trump will mark his first 12 months in office with a lavish party at the resort. The couple will spend the weekend in Mar-a-Lago, CNN reported.

The gala is being hosted by Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna Romney McDaniel and gambling magnate Steve Wynn, according to reports.

Trump's trip comes amid the looming shutdown deadline as the President and Republican leaders in Congress raced to meet the Friday deadline to pass a short-term spending bill to keep agencies from shutting down.

"We believe that the bill will pass and the President will have an opportunity to sign it," White House Deputy Press Secretary Raj Shah told reporters.

"I mean, some of the timing and logistics of travel will have to reflect the reality, but we expect it to be passed. And we expect the President to be able to travel to Florida this weekend."

Vice President Mike Pence is also scheduled to leave Washington on Friday evening for his three-country tour to the Middle East. He will visit Egypt, Israel and Jordan.

The House voted on Thursday night to keep the government open through mid-February but the legislation to prevent shutdown encountered obstacles in the Senate a few hours later.

The mix of Democrats and Republicans in the Senate who opposed the House bill for varying reasons left the legislation on the verge of defeat.

A bitter fight broke out on the Senate floor shortly after the House passage and was expected to continue on Friday.

Democrats demanded an immigration measure be added to the funding bill to protect a large group of young, undocumented immigrants known as "Dreamers".

The President, meanwhile, continued to push to build a wall along the US border with Mexico that many lawmakers do not want as part of any immigration deal.

--IANS

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The Trump administration is accelerating its transfer of the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem with a plan to have the facility ready by 2019, senior officials have said, despite insisting last month that the move would not happen until the end of President Donald Trumps term.

To expedite the move, the US will not build a new structure, but will instead convert an existing consular building in the Arnona neighbourhood of West Jerusalem into the new US mission, the New York Times reported citing officials.

That plan will reduce the cost of the project and allow US Ambassador David M. Friedman and his staff to move to Jerusalem as early as next year.

Friedman had reportedly pressed to move the US Embassy in 2018, according to the Times. But Secretary of State Rex Tillerson lobbied Trump on Thursday for more time to upgrade the consular building's security.

The Arnona building is relatively new, though it would need to be secured to allow the Ambassador conduct classified operations, according to the daily.

After Trump announced in December that the US would recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital and move its Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, the State Department estimated that it would take years to complete the move.

That timetable, however, was based on the assumption that a new Embassy building would be constructed.

Trump, a former property developer, has taken a personal interest in the location and cost of embassies.

This month, he said on Twitter that he had cancelled a planned visit to London out of pique that the previous Barack Obama administration had sold "the best located and finest embassy in London for 'peanuts', only to build a new one in an off location for $1.2 billion".

--IANS

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She believes that education, not charity, is the only way to bring a change in India's existing educational and social system. And to turn this thinking into reality, she battled the inequality in the classroom through pioneering school reforms.

This is the story of Sister Cyril, an Irish nun, who has been living in Kolkata for the past six decades. Her first impression was that of a hot, humid and crowded city, but what moved her emotionally was the poverty and hopelessness of children dwelling in Kolkata's numerous slums. And she had a different approach towards uplifting these slum dwellers who the upper classes often looked down upon.

"It struck me that we live in a layered society whose upper levels have little to do with the lower levels unless the latter come into the former's houses as domestic help. It will be very difficult to change this system unless we bring all children from all backgrounds and mix them together on an equal footing. Only then will it be possible for us to have a fully integrated nation," Sister Cyril told IANS in an email.

She remembered that when she began her experiment in 1979, there was hardly any support from the local residents. In the same year, she took charge as the principal of Loreto Convent, Sealdah, an institute where mostly students from well-to-do families studied.

Questions were raised when she decided to open the doors of the school to slum children, but she was determined to bring about change in society through educational reforms. She fiercely battled the inequality in the classrooms and now Loreto has 50 per cent of its seats reserved for children from economically backward families.

"The people said it couldn't be done, I have proved that it can -- by creating a school where all children are friends even though they belong to radically different backgrounds," she maintained.

Not just this, but Sister Cyril, who recently co-authored a book titled "Girls Are Our Future -- Thoughts of a Practical Radical Nun", has been the brain behind many social initiatives like "Rainbow Homes", the "Brickfields Project" and "Barefoot" which helped tremendously in educating children belonging to the poorest sections of the community.

These 60 years have been quite a challenging journey for her. From landing in Calcutta in 1956 till now, Sister Cyril has seen many facets of the city -- indeed, has seen it changing. Not just infrastructural development, Sister Cyril believes that there have been many vital educational reforms brought in by the West Bengal government over the years. Now, she finds even the slum children carrying a school bag and walking towards a school. For her, this is a satisfactory improvement.

But there are still a few black spots that exist. One of these, she pointed out, was the marginal socio-economic development in the city's slums.

"Very little improvement can be seen in the slum areas and in many cases the people are dislodged for high-rise buildings (to come up). The slum dwellers have been simply pushed to the outskirts," the nun noted.

Kolkata has been a city that has been home to many missionaries and charitable institutions and with Mother Teresa, the city also learned compassion and empathy, but unlike her who believed in charity, Sister Cyril has always strongly believed in helping such children through education.

"We (Sister Cyril and Mother Teresa) had a good working relationship, she gave help to destitute people while I believed strongly in educating children so that they can get employment and support themselves to be independent," she explained.

Asked if she ever thought of going back to Ireland, Sister Cyril firmly said no.

"Though some of my ideas would have been good for Ireland, there was no moment when I seriously considered going back -- except maybe in the very hot summer months of April and May," she said.

(Somrita Ghosh can be contacted at somrita.g@ians.in)

--IANS

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A woman about to have a hospital procedure involving her "naughty bits" (to use the official medical term) asked for a female nurse to do it. In walked a beefy individual with a crew-cut, deep voice, facial hair and tattoos.

When she politely pointed out that this nurse was clearly a man, staff told her that their colleague was a transsexual who had chosen to retain some male characteristics.

Staff made her "feel like a bigot" for what she'd said and she left the hospital without treatment.

Details of this incident in a North London hospital, reported in the UK Sunday Times a few days ago, were sent to me by reader Sherwood Tang, who said: "I'm as politically correct as the next man, but it seems to me that the West has gone mad."

I hear you, Mr Tang. Major international media (which means Western media) now require that reporters MUST refer to individuals by their "current self-chosen gender", not their DNA gender.

But at least we get to use real words, unlike North American university teachers, who are increasingly required to use made-up gender neutral pronouns, including zir, ze, zem, xemself, hirs, pers and ve. Classes can have hundreds of undergrads, so teachers have no hope of remembering who is what.

Zir will almost certainly accidentally call hirs or xem ze or pers, and Zir will be charged with a hate crime.

Last year, a Canadian psychology professor said he had decided to simply use "he" for boys and "she" for girls. This statement caused utter shock and outrage in the West, and total bafflement among Asians, who struggled to see the problem.

Penalties for getting this wrong are mounting. A law was recently passed in California which makes nursing home staff who repeatedly use "he" for a male who has said he prefers "she" (or vice versa) punishable by a $1,000 fine plus a year's jail sentence.

I told Sherwood that we don't have this problem in Asia. "We've basically only got one sex left," I said. China and India have like a billion men each and only a few women.

You think I'm joking but there was a very telling scandal in China a few days ago. Police swooped on the offices of dozens of Tinder-style Chinese language dating apps and found that all the women were robots.

In text conversations with men, the robots gave out random responses with zero logic, jumping from topic to topic, and the men apparently never once realised that they were not talking to actual women.

I have not the slightest idea why, and male readers who value their lives are strongly recommended to make the same claim.

Anyway, this reporter has resigned himself to the fact that he will have to use the new politically correct non-gender pronouns when working for Western media. So the story at the beginning of this column could go something like this:

A pers went to hospital to have zir private parts checked and asked xem for a xim nurse. But a xir entered. "You're not a zem, you're xir," pers said. Em replied: "I am a zem inside but have chosen to retain selected xir characteristics." The pers understood. And ze lived happily ever after.

(Nury Vittachi is an Asia-based frequent traveller. Send ideas and comments via his Facebook page)

--IANS

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Armenias Ambassador to Romania Sergey Minasyan on January 18 presented his credentials to Romanian President Klaus Iohannis, the Armenian foreign ministry said.

January 19, 2018, 11:54 Armenia expects continuation of Romanias balanced position on NK conflict

STEPANAKERT, JANUARY 19, ARTSAKHPRESS:During the meeting the Romanian President congratulated the Ambassador on his appointment and wished him a productive diplomatic mission. The President expressed hope that Ambassador Minasyan with his activity will contribute to deepening the bilateral ties and further strengthening the relations between the two friendly peoples.

The Armenian Ambassador thanked for the warm wishes and stated that he will make the maximum efforts to give new impetus to the bilateral relations and further strengthen the friendship of the two peoples.

The Ambassador said over the past years the two countries recorded significant achievements in political, cultural and educational spheres. The sides agreed that in this context it is necessary to further deepen the economic relations which still are not at the desirable level.

During the meeting Ambassador Minasyan touched upon the Armenia-EU Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement signed on November 24, 2017 in Brussels, adding that it creates a favorable political environment for further development of bilateral and multilateral cooperation.

As for the upcoming Francophonie summit in Yerevan on October 11-12, 2018, the Ambassador stated that the Romanian Presidents participation will give new impetus to deepening the Armenain-Romanian cooperation at multilateral and bilateral formats, especially taking into account Romanias important role as a Francophonie regional center.

Sergey Minasyan also highlighted the importance of settling the Nagorno Karabakh conflict through negotiations within the mediation mission of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs, stating that over the recent period Romanias position on the NK conflict has been balanced, and the Armenian side expects this position to remain so.

The Ambassador said Armenia and Romania can effectively cooperate also within the framework of the European structures, especially in the spheres of emergency situations, crisis management, research and education.

He thanked President Klaus Iohannis for Romanias policy on protecting the rights of ethnic and religious minorities, stating that Romania became a second homeland for Armenians who resettled there centuries ago, as well as in 1915 after the Genocide. Romania was the first country that offered asylum at state level to the Genocide survivors.
China on Friday said it will keep building infrastructure in Doklam and India has no business to comment on construction activity on Chinese territory.

Some satellite images purportedly show massive infrastructure build-up in Doklam, as close as 81 meters to the point of face-off between Indian and Chinese troops in the disputed plateau last year.

"I don't know who offers such kind of photos. I don't know the detailed information," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang said when asked about the images.

"You must be quite clear. Donglong (Doklam) always belongs to China and is always under China's effective jurisdiction. There is no dispute in this regard," Lu said.

"China is exercising its sovereignty in its own territory. It's legitimate and justified. Just as China will not make comments about Indian construction of infrastructure on India's territory, we hope other countries will not make comment on China's construction of infrastructure on its territory," Lu said.

India and Chinese troops were locked in a 73-day stand-off at Doklam, which is claimed by Bhutan.

The face-off began when the Indian military halted road building by the Chinese at Doka La in the region which is very close to India's highway.

Even as both sides resolved the crisis by retreating from the point of face-off in August, news reports suggested that China was busy building infrastructure to fortify its position in the region.
Leading Zimbabwe opposition politician Roy Bennett has been killed with his wife in a helicopter crash in New Mexico state of the US, authorities said.

The private helicopter crashed in a mountainous area on Wednesday, killing the couple and three others but the deaths were confirmed by authorities on Thursday.

One person survived the accident, the BBC reported.

Bennett, a 60-year-old former farmer, was a leading figure in the Movement for Democratic Change. He was elected to Parliament in 2000.

The politician, who had been in exile in South Africa since 2010 after having been jailed by Parliament for pushing a fellow MP, was in the US to spend time with friends at a ranch belonging to Texan businessman Charles Burnett III.

Bennett's wife Heather, Charles Burnett III, pilot Jamie Coleman Dodd and co-pilot Paul Cobb were also killed in the crash, the police said.

Cobb's daughter and Burnett's partner Andra Cobb was the only survivor.

--IANS

soni/mr

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Gujarat's first woman Chief Minister has been appointed as Governor of Madhya Pradesh, government sources have confirmed.

Gujarat BJP official spokesperson Bharat Pandya congratulated the former Chief Minister on her appointment as Governor on his official Twitter account on Friday.

The post of Madhya Pradesh Governor was vacant and Gujarat Governor O P Kohli was assigned the charge till now.

had stepped down as Chief Minister in August 2016 citing overage reasons. During the 2017 state assembly elections, she had refused to contest, and it was believed the BJP would assign her a larger role in

She will be the second Gujarat Minister from BJP to have been made a Governor. Earlier, Vajubhai Vala, a former BJP MLA from Gujarat, was made Governor of Karnataka.

Madhya Pradesh will see state assembly elections this year and Patel might have been assigned the role by the saffron party high command, keeping the forthcoming polls in mind.
Puducherry government today announced sale of ten-year securities in the form of stock to the public by auction for an aggregate amount of Rs 100 crore.

A release from Puducherry Finance Secretary V Candavelou said the auction would be conducted by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) at Fort Mumbai on January 23.

The release said that the securities would be issued for a minimum nominal amount of Rs 10,000 and in multiples of Rs 10,000 thereafter.

Auction would be conducted by RBI Mumbai Office (Fort) on January 23.

Interested persons, firms, companies, corporate bodies, institutions, Provident Fund, Trusts, Regional Rural Banks and Cooperative Banks may submit a single consolidated non-competitive bidon behalf of all its constituents in electronic format on the RBI Core Banking Solution (E-Kuber) available in the website www.rbi.org.inon January 23 between 10.30 a.m. and 11.30 a.

m.

The competitive bidsshould be submitted electronically on the RBI Core Banking Solution (E-Kuber) between 10.30 a.m. and 12 p.m. on the same day.

The result of auction would be displayedby RBI Fort Mumbai on January 23 on its above website.

Successful bidders should deposit the price amount of the stock covered by their bids by means of a banker's cheque or Demand Draft payable at RBI Mumbai Fort or Chennai on January 24 before the close of banking hours, the release said.

The release also stated that the government stock would bear interest at the rate determined by RBI at the auction.

Interest would be paid on July 24 and January 24 of every financial year until repayment.

The stocks will qualify for 'ready forward facility,' the release said.

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A local court in Bihar's Munger district today awarded 10 years imprisonment to three persons who were apprehended last year with over 20 litres of country liquor, despite the total prohibition in force in the state.

Additional district judge Tribhuvan Nath also slapped a fine of Rs 1 lakh on each of the three convicted and ordered an additional six months in jail in case of default.

According to special public prosecutor Sanjay Kumar Singh, the trio were arrested on March 16, 2017 from Jamalpur police station area of the district with pouches -- each containing 200 ml of country liquor.

The total quantity of liquor seized from the three were about 26 litres.

The sale and consumption of liquor was completely banned in Bihar by the Nitish Kumar government in April, 2016.

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The Delhi High Court today asked the Tihar Jail superintendent to file a report on the medical condition of a former Congress councillor, serving life term in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case, on his claim that he has suffered a fracture.

A bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice Anu Malhotra directed the jail authorities to file the status report during the hearing of convict Balwan Khokhar's plea, seeking interim bail on the ground that he wanted to undergo treatment at Ganga Ram Hospital here as he suffered hairline fracture on his nose.

The court listed the matter for hearing on February 1.

Congress leader Sajjan Kumar was acquitted in this case by the trial court but Khokhar was convicted along with four others.

Khokhar's counsel claimed that he fell down in jail on December 17, 2017 and suffered the injury and there was a swelling on his face.

To this, the bench remarked that Khokhar appeared to be fine when he had appeared before it earlier this month in another riot matter.

Khokhar was earlier too granted bail for 14 days to enable him to sell his property and arrange funds to pay his lawyers.

Khokhar, retired naval officer Captain Bhagmal, Girdhari Lal and two others were held guilty in a case relating to the murder of five members of a family in Raj Nagar area of Delhi Cantonment on November 1, 1984, after the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

They had challenged their conviction and the award of life sentence by the trial court in May 2013.

The trial court had acquitted Congress leader Sajjan Kumar but awarded life term to Khokhar, Bhagmal and Girdhari Lal and three-year jail term to two others former MLA Mahender Yadav and Kishan Khokhar.

The convicts have filed appeals before the high court while CBI too has filed an appeal alleging they were engaged in "a planned communal riot" and "religious cleansing". The agency has also appealed against the acquittal of Kumar.

The high court had on March 29 last year issued show cause notices to 11 accused including Khokhar and Yadav in five 1984 anti-Sikh riots cases. The accused, who were acquitted of the charges, were asked why should the court not order reinvestigation and retrial against them as they faced allegations of "horrifying crimes against humanity".

The bench had issued notices on the complaints filed regarding the violent incidents on November 1 and 2, 1984 in Delhi Cantonment area.

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Two bombs were found from the Bodh Gaya pilgrimage centre near here tonight following a small explosion-like sound amid stringent security measures in view of the Dalai Lama's stay, a top police official said.

The bombs were found from the vicinity of the Kalachakra ground during an intensive combing operation by a police team led by DIG (Patna Range) Vinay Kumar, Inspector General of Police (IGP), Patna Zone, N H Khan said.

The Tibetan spiritual leader has been holding discourses at the ground, he said.

The IGP said that the operations were carried out after a small explosion took place at a kitchen set up at the Kaalchintan ground, causing panic among the devotees who had gathered to hear the Dalai Lama's discourse.

The explosion had taken place shortly after the Dalai Lama had completed his discourse and retired for the day at the Tibetan monastery, he said.

During the operations, a burst thermos flask was found at the kitchen. This might have caused the sound, the IGP said.

Meanwhile, a team of forensic experts was dispatched to the site of the incident from Patna to ascertain the nature of the explosives found, he said.

The Tibetan spiritual leader had arrived in Bodh Gaya on January 1 and he is likely to stay there for a month.

A host of VIPs, including Bihar Governor Satya Pal Malik Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Hollywood actor Richard Gere have visited Bodh Gaya recently to receive blessings from the Buddhist monk.

Significantly, in 2013, the Maha Bodhi temple, situated on the spot where Buddha is said to have attained enlightenment, was rocked by a series of explosions in which five people, including two monks were injured.

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In a shocking incident, a four- year-old girl was allegedly raped today by two minor boys here, following which they were apprehended, police said.

They said the two accused, aged 13 and 12 years, are students of classes 7th and 5th.

The girl was admitted in a local hospital where her condition was stated to be serious, Salem Tabri Police Station SHO A S Brar said.

The alleged incident took place in a colony here, he said, adding the accused have been nabbed and were being dealt with as per law.

As per an FIR lodged in connection with the case, the girl's mother was not at home when the incident took place.

The accused live on the upper storey of the same house as the girl, the SHO said, adding the victim and accused are from poor families.

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Two security forces jawans and as many civilians were killed and 35 others injured in mortar shelling by the Pakistani troops on civilian areas and BoPs along the InternationalBorder and the LoC in four districts of Jammu and Kashmir today, officials said.

"The Pakistani Army initiated unprovoked and indiscriminate firing by small arms, automatics weapons and mortarsfrom 1830 hours in Sunderbanisector (in Rajouri district) along the Line of Control (LOC). Indian Army retaliated strongly and effectively," an army officer said.

However, in the exchange of fire, Lance Naik Sam Abraham was grievously injured and succumbed later, he said.

The 34-year-old Lance Naik belonged to Poonakam village of Allepey district in Keralaand is survived by his wife and a daughter, aged 1 year and 10 months.

"LanceNaik Sam Abraham was a brave and sincere soldier. The nation will always remain indebted to him for his supreme sacrifice and devotion to duty," he said.

Earlier today, the PakistanRangers resorted to heavy unprovoked firing and shelling along the IB in several areas in R S Pura, Arnia and Ramgarh sectors since 0640 hours, a BSF officersaid. He said they targeted BoPs and villages in over 50 kms of IB.

"Firing and shelling has spread in the afternoon to IB in Kathua district," he said.

They targeted around 45 Border Out Posts (BoPs) in three sectors using 82 mm and 52 mortar bombs, automatic and small weapons, he said, adding BSF troops gave a befitting reply.

One BSF head constable Jagpal Singh, who received injuries during exchanges in Samba sector along the IB, died and two other jawans suffered injuries, the officer said.

A police officer said the Pakistani troops resorted to heavy shelling targeting over 50 civilian villages in Arnia, R S Pura, Ramgarh, Samba and Hirangar sectors of three districts of Kathua, Samba and Jammu along IB till now.

In the firing and shelling by Pakistan, two civilians were killed and 32 civilians injured, they said adding, the civilans have been identified as Sahil (25) and Bachno Devi (50) of Korotana (R S Pura) and Saikurd (Arnia) respectively.

While nine people were injured in Kathua district, 19 were injured in Jammu district and four in Samba district, they said, adding 15 of them have been admitted to the GMC hospital in Jammu for specialised treatment and other in district hospitalis.

Over 2,000 border-dwellers have migrated and taken shelter with their relatives so far and schools along the borderline have been closed, they said.

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1960s newspaper advertisement for cadet patrol officers & other junior PNG government officials

CHRIS OVERLAND

The greatest care is taken in selecting and building up patrols which are to penetrate an uncontrolled area and establish a new post. Only experienced officers are used in this work. New and inexperienced officers are not posted to a new area until my responsible officers are satisfied that it is under control, and only then in company with experienced officers  PNG Administrators Press Release, 12 November 1953 (from A Kiaps Chronicle by Bill Brown)

ADELAIDE - The nominal restrictions on what young, inexperienced Cadet Patrol Officers and Assistant Patrol Officers were allowed to do in terms of their field operations in colonial days are of interest to me.

My first two patrols as a brand new APO in 1969-70 were in the Kukukuku country north of Kerema. This area had been officially declared "controlled' a couple of years earlier, but that control was still tenuous at best.

On neither of those patrols was I accompanied by a senior officer, other than by Assistant District Officer John Mundell for the first week of a 32-day patrol surveying a road between Kaintiba Patrol Post and Murua Agricultural Station.

John was recalled for some reason and I was left to my own devices under the wise guidance of the redoubtable Father Alex Michelod, who was helping survey the road.

The second time, I was dropped off by helicopter at a remote mountain village in the same area to coordinate efforts to deal with the Hong Kong influenza epidemic of 1969-70. On that occasion I was accompanied by two capable medical assistants and two experienced RPNGC constables.

The patrol came under threat at one point, accused of working black magic and causing the epidemic. In a roundabout way, this was partially true. After all, if PNG had been left undisturbed, maybe the flu would never have got there.
Two civilians and a BSF jawan were today in unprovoked firing by Pakistan in Samba sector of the Indo-Pak International Border (IB) in Jammu and Kashmir, officials said.

They said the BSF head constable was injured in the incident in noon and later succumbed to his injuries.

Two civilians were killed and three others were also injured as Pakistan Rangers heavily shelled civilian areas and border posts for the second consecutive day along the IB in Jammu and Samba districts.

A Border Security Force (BSF) jawan, Head Constable A Suresh, was killed in similar firing on the border last night, following which the force had mounted heavy retaliation.

Calling the situation at the IB "tense", BSF Director General (DG) K K Sharma told reporters yesterday here that he has asked his field commanders to "retaliate with full force" and that the Pakistani forces must be taught a lesson.

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At least two persons from Bihar were killed and 10 others injured when a bus carrying pilgrims collided with a truck on NH-23 in Ramgarh police station area, police said.

Around 40 pilgrims were returning to Biharsharif in Bihar from Rajrappa temple in Ramgarh district when the accident occurred near Chhattar-Mandu village.

The injured were admitted to hospital.

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At least two women were on Friday shifted to a hospital and hundreds of residents in Goa's Chicalim village evacuated from their homes after a tanker carrying ammonia overturned on the nearby highway connecting Vasco City to Panaji.

The incident occurred around 2.45 am when the tanker carrying ammonia from Mormugao Port Trust to Zuari Industries Limited, both located in Vasco, overturned at the highway and gas started leaking from it.

"The disaster response teams were sent to the site immediately while police and fire and emergency service personnel were asked to wake up the people and evacuate the entire area," Deputy Collector Mahadev Arondekar told PTI.

"Two women had to be shifted to a nearby hospital as they complained of breathlessness," a senior district administration official said, adding that they were sleeping inside their house which is close to the accident spot.

Vasco Police Inspector Nolasco Raposo said he contacted the safety officer at Zuari Industries factory after receiving the information about the leak.

"A rescue team was sent to the site to tackle the situation," said Raposo.

The highway crossing through Chicalim village has been blocked and the traffic diverted through other roads.

"We have stopped the motorists from using the road. Also, we have informed the public in the vicinity to evacuate and to cover their mouth with masks or wet clothes," he said.

Nearly 300 houses are located in the area, a few kilometres from Goa's Dabolim Airport, where the incident took place.
A day after the date for Assembly election was announced for Tripura, ruling CPI(M) and opposition BJP today clashed in Dhalai district leading to injury to five persons, police said.

Supporters of the two parties clashed again later near a hospital where the injured have been admitted and the police lobbed tear gas shells to control the situation there.

Trouble started at about 12 noon when CPI(M) took out a procession at Baligaon area alleging that BJP supporters threw away its party flags from where they had been stuck yesterday night.

The BJP activists also hit the street claiming that CPI(M) workers damaged publicity materials of the party in the same night.

When the two processions came face to face, workers of both the parties attacked one another with batons and three CPI(M) activists and two BJP men were injured, Dhalai district Additional SP Kulwant Sinha told reporters.

The injured were admitted to Kamalpur sub-divisional hospital.

Sinha said both the sides gathered again near the hospital and started pelting stones at each other.

Police lobbed two rounds of tear gas shells to disperse the groups and deployed paramilitary forces, he said.

Singh said the situation is tense but under control.

The Election Commission yesterday announced that polls for the 60-member Assembly would be held in Tripura on February 18 and counting on March 3.

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Nine French authors will be attending the Kolkata Literature Festival that will be hosted as part of the International Kolkata Book Fair this year.

The five authors will be Volodine, Christian Garcin, Gerard Meudal, Jean Claude Perrier, Katia Legeret, Philippe Forest, Sabine Wespiser, Sebastian Ortiz and Shumona Sinha, the general secretary of the Kolkata Book Fair organisers Tridib Chatterjee said at a press meet here today.

While the 42nd International Kolkata Book Fair, recognised by International Publishers Association Geneva, will be inaugurated on January 30 by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and conclude on February 11, the Kolkata Literature Festival will be held at the fair ground from February 8-10.

France is the focal theme of the International Kolkata Book Fair this year and the theme country's pavilion will be bigger than last year.

"The French pavilion will cover a large area of 14,000 square feet and it will have the latest digital look reflecting the change in technology over the years. It will showcase the French culture and heritage," the French Consul General in Kolkata Damien Syed said.

Tridib Chatterjee said the gates of the book fair will also have French architectural references.

The guild will also confer a special honour to legendary actor Soumitra Chatterjee on the inaugural day while French Culture minister Francoise Nyssen will confer Legion of Honour to the Dada Saheb Falke winner in a separate event at a city hotel.

The minister will also attend the Book fair and visit the French pavilion.

In addition, five authors from Russia, including Peter Voltsit, Lev Danilkin and Tatiana Moskvina, will be attending the Kolkata Literature Festival (KLF) at the Book fair.

A total number of 65 authors will be attending the KLF.

There will also be representatives from Bangladesh, Spain and Columbia among others.

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Gurgaon Police today arrested nine women, including four Thai nationals, from a spa centre at a high-end mall in the city for allegedly running a flesh trade.

The police said the women were involved in flesh trade in the shade of providing massage to potential customers. They worked at Nature Spa at the MGF Megacity Mall on MG Road.

"They have been booked under relevant IPC sections for Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act," the police's PRO Ravindra Kumar said.

The arrests were made on a tip-off.

A constable posed as a decoy customer. "A police team raided it after a deal was struck with the receptionist at Rs 2,500 for an hour of massage and sexual pleasure," Kumar said.

"It was found that the operators were also contacting potential customers through WhatsApp and Facebook. Besides, they randomly send text messages to unknown customers with attractive rate cards and packages," he added.

The accused have been produced before duty magistrate and it sent them to 14-day judicial custody, he added.

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A member of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad was today hacked to death by a three-member gang in the district, the police said.

Shyam Prasad, an ITI student, was going to his house atKoothuparamba on his motorcycle when the unidentified gang came in a car and attacked him at Kommeri around 5.30 pm, they said.

The student tried to flee but the gang chased and hacked him with machetes, seriously injuring him.

Though locals rushed him to the government hospital at Koothuparamba, he died on the way, the police said.

No arrests have been made in connection with the incident, they added.

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The Allahabad High Court has taken serious note of non-filing of reply by the Centre for over three months despite several opportunities in a sensitive case challenging the legality of detention of a person.

Initially, the Centre was granted four weeks on October 13 last year to file the reply by the High Court in a habeas corpus petition relating to the alleged detention of a person involved in meat business. Again on November 21, 2017, two more weeks were granted.

However, despite the expiry of a period of about three months, no counter affidavit by the Union of India till date, the court noted in its order passed yesterday.

Habeas corpus plea relates to the legality of arrest or detention or imprisonment of a person.

The Lucknow bench of High Court was hearing a plea filed by Gonda resident Dilbahar, through his lawyers Amul Mani Tripathi and Vimlesh Mani Tripathi, who had filed the habeas corpus plea against his preventive detention.

Irked at the approach of the Centre, a bench of Justices Dinesh Kumar Singh and D K Upadhyaya said, "we cannot appreciate the situation that even in a period of three months, counter affidavit could not be filed.

"The matter at hand relates to preventive detention of the petitioner where his personal liberty is involved. We, therefore, provide that in case within two weeks from today no counter affidavit is filed, the Court may proceed ex-parte and the averments made in the writ petition qua the Central Government may be treated to be uncontroverted," the bench said in the order.

At this juncture, Assistant Solicitor General of India S B Pandey assured the HC that he would personally deliberate the issues relating to filing of the counter affidavit in all Habeas Corpus petitions with the Home Secretary.

He said he would ensure that a more effective mechanism is evolved so that such important matters are contested more effectively.

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Lt Governor Anil Baijal today asked authorities to launch joint drives against encroachment on 29 major roads in Delhi, including the busy stretch from ITO to Vikas Marg, Aurbindo Marg, Kalindi Kunj Road and M B Road, from February 1.

The L-G directed the traffic police to ensure strict enforcement of discipline by four-wheeled, goods vehicles and buses in their designated lanes.

He also asked the department to publicise its Twitter handle and WhatsApp group to enable residents to register their complaints.

The orders were issued at a meeting called to review the progress of removal of encroachment on 29 corridors identified by the Delhi High Court.

"Joint drives by traffic police, MCDs and transport department will be launched from Feb 1 to remove encroachment on these road stretches. Initially, the joint drives would be undertaken twice a week in each MCD zone," the L-G office said in a statement.

It stated that a minimum of 3-5 kilometres of a road stretch of the 29 corridors will be covered under the drive.

"ACP (Traffic District); ACP (MCD Zone); ACP sub division/district. Police and executive engineer, PWD will be the nodal agency in organising the joint drives," the statement stated.

Among the 29 major roads that will be made encroachment- free include the stretch from ITO to Vikas Marg, M B Road cut to IGNOU crossing, Khajuri Chowk to Chilla Border on Pusa Road, Nizamuddin to Badarpur flyover on Mathura Road, Aurobindo Marg, CDR Chowk to petrol pump on Mehrauli-Gurgaon Road, Sarita Vihar Red Light to Kalindi Kunj flyover, Chirag Dili crossing to Savitri flyover and Vijay Nagar to Burari.

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Banking finance company AU Small Finance Bank has signed an MoU with LIC to offer Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY), a company official said.

Under the MoU, LIC will give a life cover of Rs 2 lakh in case of death to the customer at a nominal premium of Rs 330 per annum.

The aim is to provide best services to the customers under one roof, MD and CEO of the company, Sanjay Agarwal said in a statement.

Briefing about another recent development, Agarwal said the company has re-entered the housing finance segment.

The company will also offer loans under governments affordable housing and subsidy schemes like Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, he added.

He said the customers can avail loans up to Rs



1 crore.

The product will be targeted for both salaried and self- employed (professional and non-professional) customers in urban, semi-urban and rural areas which is the banks core market segment.

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Bryan Kramer MP

MEDIA STATEMENT | PNG Facts

MADANG - Madang was once known as the most beautiful province in Papua New Guinea, with its iconic landmarks such as the Coastwatchers memorial lighthouse and white sandy beaches popular with surfers and divers.

Sadly, this is not the case today because of law and order issues and the drift or rural people to urban areas where they hope  and mostly fail  to find work.

However, the member for Madang, Bryan Kramer MP, has vowed that the town will regain its glory days.

He said that over recent years Madangs reputation has spiralled downwards due the lack of proper approaches by the provincial government and the provinces leaders.
Veteran actor Shabana Azmi today called for action against the "those who put a price" on Deepika Padukone's head and threatened to harm "Padmaavat" director Sanjay Leela Bhansali.

Azmi, who took to Twitter to praise the Supreme Court's decision to allow the countrywide release of the controversial movie on January 25, said the issue will be completely resolved only after serious actions are taken against the "criminal elements".

"I welcome the SC decision on #Padmaavat. But the unresolvd issue is those who put a price on Deepika Padukone's head and publicly threatened to burn her alive, and harm Sanjay Leela Bhansali, are roaming free with impunity.

"Only when state takes action against the criminal elements will justice be seen to be done. (sic)" Azmi tweeted.

The apex court yesterday stayed notifications and orders issued by Rajasthan and Gujarat prohibiting exhibition of the lavishly-mounted period drama in their states.

The producers, Viacom18 Motion Pictures, had approached the top court challenging the notification and orders issued by four states -- Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh -- prohibiting exhibition of the film.

The governments of Haryana, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan had declared that they will not allow screening of the movie which also star Shahid Kapoor and Ranveer Singh in lead roles, despite the censor clearance.

The movie is based on Sufi poet Malik Muhammad Jayasi's epic poem "Padmaavat".

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A huge fire emanated from the highly polluted Bellandur lake, the biggest water body of the city, giving anxious moments to hundreds of residents living nearby.

The locals noticed huge clouds of smoke billowing from the lake replete with sewage, chemical effluents and construction debris.

The fire was in the middle of the wetlands, fire brigade officials said.

Soon pictures and videos of the smoke and fire went viral even as various government agencies and Defence personnel doused the blaze, which also raised strong contingentpathy of civic agencies towards a recurring problem in the lake.

According to Defence officials, a strongcontingent of 5,000 army jawans of the ASC centre led by Major General N S Rajpurohit doused the fire in the lake.

Spread over 1,000 acres near the infotech hub, the lake is highly contaminated receiving 60 per cent of the sewage generated in the city.

The lake is in bad shape despite the Green Tribunal pulling up the government and its various agencies for failing to prevent pollution and not doing enough to restore the lake to its pristine glory.

Bengaluru Mayor R Sampath Raj said the fire seems to be an outcome of the accumulation of chemicals.

The water samples will be collected and tested to find the reason behind the fire, he said.

Raj said government agencies and Bangalore Development Authority and Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) would seek the assistance of the Indian Institute of Science to find the reason and chalk out steps to prevent any recurrence.

Following the incident, a blame game erupted between the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board and the defence department.

KSPCB chairman Lakshman alleged that the fire started from the land held by the defence department and spread to the lake area.

"Actual cause of the fire is not known.It started from the defence area. We have taken the samples of the water and will send it to lab for ascertaining the reasons behind the fire," Lakshman said.

The defence department maintained that the fire was in the lake area and not anywhere near the land held by it.

Rajya Sabha member Rajeev Chandrasekhar, whose organisation Namma Bengaluru Foundation, had petitioned the Green Tribunal to save the lake, flayed the government for its "inability" to protect the lake.

"I think it is evident that the Siddaramaiah government is not serious about protecting the lakes and abiding by the NGT's directions on maintaining the sanctity of its buffer zone," he said.

The state government is going to spend Rs 80,000 crore in the next 75 days on various projects but not a single penny will be spent on the improvement of any of the lakes in Bengaluru, Chandrasekhar alleged.

The Bellandur lake had caught fire in May 2015 and August 2016, also.

In 2015, the lake had turned into a frothy, foam-filled water body due to the high concentration of pollutants in the water. Foam from the lake had spilled onto the roads and other areas surrounding the lake.

The Varthur lake also had caught fire in May, 2017 when some garbage was set ablaze.
BJP legislators today wore black ribbons and held protest dharna in front of the legislative complex and demanded setting up of truth commission to probe killings of Kashmiri Pandits and reason behind their exodus from the Kashmir Valley in 1990, as the forced exodus enters its 29th year.

Ahead of the commencement of the proceedings of the state legislature, the BJP legislators led by Surinder Ambardar batted strongly for setting up of truth commission.

In wake of eruption of militancy in the Valley, thousands of Kashmiri Pandit families were forced to leave their homes and hearths beginning from January 19, 1990.

Raising anti-Pakistan slogans and shouting "apne desh mein visthapan, manzoor nahi manzoor nahi" (exodus not accepted to us in our own country), they alleged the government was not serious about initiating confidence building measures like setting up of truth commission and removal of encroachments on KP properties in the Valley.

"In 1990, Kashmiri Pandits were en masse forced out from Valley and it was an attempt to put an end to a civilization in Valley. We demand setting up of truth commission to probe selective killings of KPs and destructions of their properties besides the circumstances that led to forcible exodus of KPs from Kashmir Valley," Surinder Ambardar said.

MLC Girdhari Lal Raina said the government should remove encroachment on the lands and properties of Kashmiri Pandits.

"We demand the government immediately remove these encroachments," he added.

Later, in the Legislative Council too, the BJP members raised the issue and demanded constitution of a truth commission in this regard.

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Bharip Bahujan Mahasangh chief and Dalit leader Prakash Ambedkar today said the Congress can not dislodge the BJP from power till 2024, as it can not counter Prime Minister Narendra Modi's image as a "non-corrupt" leader.

Ambedkar, who is the grandson of Dr B R Ambedkar and whose stock in the Maharashtra rose recently when he gave a call for a shut-down over the Koregaon-Bhima violence, was speaking at an interaction organised by the Mumbai Marathi Patrakar Sangh here.

The BJP will opt for simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha and several state Assemblies including Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan in December 2018, he predicted.

"Prime minister Narendra Modi may be errant, but his image as a non-corrupt leader is sill intact," he said.

"Modi, in his speeches, talks about the Congress's tainted past, which cannot be countered. Congress president Rahul Gandhi has a good image, but not other leaders of the party. That's why it cannot take on the BJP. The Congress cannot beat the BJP till 2024," Ambedkar said.

However, if the Left parties take an initiative to form a grand alliance against the BJP, the political scene can change, he said.

"The Left can match Modi's image as non-corrupt. Their credibility is intact. If that happens, the BJP will be reduced to the numbers which the Congress has today," he said.

The results of Karnataka Assembly elections will decide the next government in Delhi, he said.

Ambedkar, a former MP, also announced that he will contest the next Lok Sabha election.

Maharashtra will witness a multi-cornered contest as the BJP, Shiv Sena, Congress and NCP will fight the elections separately, he said.

The young generation does not believe in caste consolidation, he opined.

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The mortal remains of BSF jawan A Suresh, killed in cross border firing in Jammu and Kashmir, was buried at his home town in Tamil Nadu with full military honours today.

State Higher Education Minister K P Anbalaghan placed a wreath on the body of Head constable A Suresh of 78 Battalion at his house at Bandarasettypatty in Dharmapuri district after which it was laid to rest.

Suresh and a teenaged girl were killed after Pakistan Rangers heavily shelled Border Outposts and villages along the international border in three sectors of Jammu and Samba districts on January 17.

Five civilians were also injured in the incident.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami, in a statement, condoled the death of Suresh and announced a solatium of Rs 20 lakh to the bereaved family.

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Prosecutors in Oklahoma have charged a 13-year-old boy with first-degree murder in the crossbow killing of a 10-year-old friend.

The death happened last fall in the small town of Chandler, about 65 kilometres northeast of Oklahoma City.

Authorities say 10-year-old Austin Almanza was fatally struck by an arrow, which travelled through his body and then pierced his 8-year-old brother in the arm.

Prosecutors charged the 13-year-old boy as an adult, making him one of the youngest ever in Oklahoma to be charged as an adult with first-degree murder.

At a hearing yesterday, a judge ordered a psychological evaluation of the boy to determine how his case should be handled in the future.

The boy's attorney and mother declined comment when contacted by The Oklahoman.

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Launching an attack on CEC A K Joti after the Election Commission recommended disqualification of 20 of its lawmakers, the AAP today said the poll panel head was "repaying the debt" to Prime Minister Narendra Modi before his retirement.

Noting that the EC's order defied the "principles of natural justice", AAP's Delhi unit's chief spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj said the poll panel did not hear the MLAs' case.

He, however, stated that the party is yet to get any official communication on the matter.

Senior AAP leader Ashutosh said the Election Commission had never touched this low.

The Election Commission is learnt to have recommended to the President the disqualification of the 20 AAP MLAs for allegedly holding office of profit.

In its opinion sent to President Ram Nath Kovind, the EC said by being parliamentary secretaries, they held office of profit and were liable to be disqualified as MLAs of the Delhi Assembly, highly placed sources said.

Hitting out at Joti, Bharadwaj said the decision comes at a time when the Chief Election Commissioner is due to retire on January 23.

"A K Joti was the principal secretary under (the then Gujarat Chief Minister) Narendra Modi and then the chief secretary of Gujarat. He is retiring on Monday. So you want to repay Modi ji's debt. You are mortgaging a constitutional post like the Election Commission," he alleged.

Joti, an IAS officer of 1975 batch of Gujarat cadre, took charge as an election commissioner in 2015.

This is not the first time the AAP has targeted the Election Commission. In the past, it had hit out at the poll panel on the electronic voting machines issue.

"The hearing before the Election Commission was not about disqualification. The ongoing hearing was whether the Election Commission can hear the Office of Profit proceedings when the Delhi High Court has stated that they are not parliamentary secretaries," Bharadwaj claimed.

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Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu expressed "pain" today over NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Rajiv Kumar's observation that the state might not require handholding support to surmount the problems caused by the bifurcation.

The chief minister said the state would approach the Supreme Court, if required, to get its due, asserting that he was not seeking any "extra favour".

"After reading newspaper reports today, it pained me a bit. Yesterday, he (Rajiv Kumar) made that comment and at the same time Telangana Chief Minister (K Chandrasekhar Rao) also remarked that there was no comparison with AP. This pained me," Naidu said.

He was speaking at the second day session of the two-day conference of district Collectors here this morning.

NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman, during his day-long visit to AP yesterday, observed that the state neither required handholding nor special category status (SCS) given its economic growth story.

"With an average per capita income higher than the national average, special status demand is...well, you should think about it," he also said.

Naidu pointed out, "Yes, even today the highest GSDP contribution in the country is ours, which means we are number one in (economic) growth. But the main problem is we are in the low base."



He said he seeking the Centre's handholding till a level-playing field was established.

"I am not asking any extra favour. Once you give me level-playing field, then we can fight, we can contribute for the nation building. I am taking this up with the Centre every time. If it does not happen...we will go to court on one or two issues," the chief minister said.

"We will go to Supreme Court, the highest in the country. We will list out all the injustices done to AP (on account of bifurcation). We will take whatever the Centre gives. Then we will move forward," Naidu asserted.

He said AP hasn't yet recovered from the affects of bifurcation.

"Everybody is talking that injustice has been done to AP. To recover from this and come up equally with other states, there are two ways. One, we have to work hard. Two, the Centre should cooperate in creating a level-playing field through handholding," he added.

Referring to the comments of his Telangana counterpart, the AP chief minister said there was only one answer to it.

"Before and after 1995...analyse Hyderabad's growth...it becomes obvious," he said.

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China today justified its massive construction activities in the Dokalam area, describing it as "legitimate" and aimed at improving the lives of its troops and the people living on its own territory.

China's reaction came amid reports that it was building a huge military complex close to the site of the Dokalam standoff with India.

Asked about reports citing satellite imagery of a Chinese military complex in the area, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said: "I have also noted the relevant report. I dont know who offered such kind of photos."



But at same time he said he did not have detailed information on it.

The reports raised concerns that the China may be preparing for another standoff with India.

Lu, however, said: "China's position on the Donglong (Dokalam) area is quite clear. Donglong always belonged to China and always under China's effective jurisdiction. There is no dispute in this regard," he said asserting Chinese sovereignty over the area which is also claimed by Bhutan.

He said China is building infrastructure for its troops and the people living in the area.

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The US has slammed China and Russia for failing to embrace the market oriented economic policies championed by the World Trade Organization (WTO) and alleged that the two countries are not living up to their key commitments made before they joined it.

China became a member of the WTO in 2001 and Russia joined the WTO in 2012.

China and Russia have failed to embrace the market- oriented economic policies championed by the WTO and are not living up to certain key commitments they made when they joined it, US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, said in annual report released on each country's compliance with WTO rules.

The reports, delivered to Congress, are required by law and assess China's and Russia's implementation of their respective WTO commitments.

"The United States is committed to working with all WTO Members who share our goal of using the WTO to create and enforce rules that lead to more efficient markets, reciprocal benefits and greater wealth for our citizens," Lighthizer said.

Referring to the contents of the two country-specific reports, he said global trading system is threatened by major economies who do not intend to open their markets to trade and participate fairly.

"This practice is incompatible with the market-based approach expressly envisioned by WTO members and contrary to the fundamental principles of the WTO," he said.

According to the report, almost two decades after China pledged to support the multilateral trading system of the WTO, its government pursues a wide array of continually evolving interventionist policies and practices aimed at limiting market access for imported goods and services and foreign manufacturers and service suppliers.

"China's regulatory authorities do not allow US companies to make their own decisions about technology transfer and the assignment or licensing of intellectual property rights. Instead, they continue to require or pressure foreign companies to transfer technology as a condition for securing investment or other approvals," it said.

China is determined to maintain the state's leading role in the economy and to continue to pursue industrial policies that promote, guide and support domestic industries while simultaneously and actively seeking to impede, disadvantage and harm their foreign counterparts, even though this approach is incompatible with the market-based approach expressly envisioned by WTO members and contrary to the fundamental principles running throughout the many WTO agreements, the report said.

USTR said many of the policy tools being used by the Chinese government are largely unprecedented, as other WTO members do not use them, and include a wide array of state intervention and support designed to promote the development of Chinese industry in large part by restricting, taking advantage of, discriminating against or otherwise creating disadvantages for foreign enterprises and their technologies, products and services.

According to USTR, so far, Russia's actions strongly indicate that it has no intention of complying with many of the promises it made to the US and other WTO Members.

"This trend is very troubling.Russia has done little in 2017 to demonstrate a commitment to the principles of the WTO or to many of the specific commitments that it made in the negotiations leading to Russia's membership in the WTO," it said.

Noting that the agricultural sector continues to be one of the most challenging sectors for US exporters, it said in addition to the import ban on nearly all agricultural goods from the US and other WTO Members, Russia continues to erect barriers to US agricultural exports.

"In 2017, notwithstanding a few tariff reductions, Russia increasingly appeared to turn away from the principles of the WTO, instead turning inward through the adoption of local content policies and practices. Russia continued to rely on arbitrary behind-the-border measures and other discriminatory practices to exclude US exports," USTR said.

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"This year, many communities experienced severe and repetitive flooding along the shores of Lake Ontario due to historically high water levels and New York has been fighting all year to ensure the federal government provide appropriate support to help counties get back on their feet," Cuomo said.

Cayuga County's federal representatives learned Friday that the county would be eligible for aid.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called it "great news" for the region.

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"This disaster declaration finally covers the full geographic scope of this severe flooding," Schumer, D-N.Y., said. "With the addition of Monroe and Cayuga counties, Lake Ontario towns and communities will finally have the federal funds needed to address the damage from the relentless lake flooding."

U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand added, "I am grateful that FEMA has finally included Monroe and Cayuga counties to receive the federal assistance necessary to recovery from the severe flooding last year. "These communities have carried the burden in the rebuilding process, and this disaster declaration will greatly assist in the work to repair the damaged infrastructure and better protect against future flooding."
China has planned to deploy robots to probe the wreckage of the Iranian oil tanker which exploded off its coast five days ago, spilling huge amount of condensate oil, according to a media report today.

Officials spotted four oil slicks and planned to send robots to the wreckage to assess the environmental damage, the state-run Global Times said.

China's transport ministry said Wednesday that the vessel, which exploded, lay at a depth of around 115 metres and that robots would be deployed to explore the shipwreck.

The ship Sanchi, which was carrying 136,000 tonnes of light crude oil from Iran, sank in a ball of flames in the East China Sea on Sunday, a week after colliding with Hong Kong-registered bulk freighter the CF Crystal.

So far, three bodies of have been found. The ship carried 32 sailors, including 30 Iranians and two Bangladeshis.

Chinese State Oceanic Administration said that it was monitoring four slicks with a total area of almost 101 square kilometers, roughly the same size as Paris.

The office is attempting to "control the spread of the oil spill and is carrying out work to estimate its impact on the marine ecological environment," it said.

The type of condensate oil carried by the the tanker Sanchi does not form a traditional surface slick when spilt but is nonetheless highly toxic to marine life and much harder to separate from water, the Global Times report said.

"The swathe of oil slick is being diffused and disappearing," the coast guard said in a statement. "Chinese and other patrol ships continue to look for missing [crew] members and carrying out oil removal missions.".

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West Bengal Health Regulatory Commission has directed a reputed private clinic in south Kolkata to pay Rs 50,000 compensation for irrational trade practice with regard to a case in May last year.

Commission chairman Justice Asim Kumar Roy told a press meet today that after the hearing of the case the verdict was given asking the concerned clinic to pay Rs 50,000 as compensation to the patient party.

"The clinic had adopted irrational trade practice and irrational treatment and even did not properly respond to the commission's queries. We imposed the fine after due deliberations examining all aspects," Justice Roy said.

About the death of a two-year old girl at a super speciality private hospital earlier this week which triggered agitation by her family, Justice Roy said, "All I can say is we have sympathy for the bereaved family but we have to assess the reasons and circumstances in a fair and dispassionate manner."



He said the commission had received 264 complaints of which 29 were disposed off till today while 78 cases were already heard.

There is also the case of a big hospital in Kolkata where a patient was first given wrong treatment by one of its doctors. The hospital rectified the treatment when the patient went to it the second time and did not charge Rs 1.5 lakh due for it. It told the commission no charge will be taken during the third phase of treatment related to this case as well, Justice Roy said.

"But the case will be under our scanner," he said.

To a question, he said the cases were being taken up on first come first serve priority as otherwise a section of people will complain about their cases being pushed back.

He said the commission, which was announced by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on February 22, 2017, was bringing private medical establishments under control in the past few months.

To a question on whether hospitals were strictly following the commission's guidelines, including those on rates, a senior health official present at the meet said deadlines have been given to the hospitals. "Some hospitals have responded while some have not.

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Puducherry Lt Governor Kiran Bedi today stressed the need for close collaboration between police and private security agencies in the Union Territory to curb crimes.

Addressing a joint meeting of police officers and personnel of private security agencies at the Raj Nivas, the former IPS officer said there should be a comprehensive and collaborative security plan involving police and security personnel to ensure citizens remained safe.

Bedi said it was mandatory for private security outfits to get licenses from the government to run their units.

She recalled the interest evinced by students of a government higher secondary school at nearby Bahoor during her one of her week end visits to the school to take up career in police services and also in the armed forces.

Members of rivate security agencies would be imparted training by police here and a joint meeting of police and the security agencies would be held at the Police Training school here on January 29, the Lt Governor said.

Beat officers in Police department and security agencies should work together and share information which would lead to prevention of crimes.

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Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti expressed grief and anguish over the killing of three persons during shelling by Pakistan in the RS Pura, Suchetgarh and Arnia sectors today.

Pakistan forces targeted over 50 villages and 45 border outposts along the 50 kilometer stretch of the International Border (IB) in Jammu, Samba and Kathua district of Jammu and Kashmir leading to several deaths.

The chief minister said that it was very unfortunate that the people in border areas of the state continued to bear the brunt of cross border firing.

She said today's incidents proved her assertion that the people of the State were the worst victims of the acrimony between the two neighbouring countries and appealed for cessation of hostilities on the borders.

Mufti also directed the Jammu divisional administration to ensure specialized treatment to the people injured in the shelling. She has also directed the respective Deputy Commissioners to organise camps for the affected people at safe locations and ensure that all basic amenities were provided.

Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh Singh also expressed grief and anguish over the killings in border shelling.

Talking to reporters he expressed anguish over firing and shelling from across the LoC and International Border and called for ending the hostilities.

He said the brunt of border skirmishes is being faced by the people of Jammu and Kashmir, especially those living in forward areas.

Singh expressed solidarity with the bereaved families and prayed for peace to the departed souls. He also prayed for early recovery to the injured.

He today visited Government Medical College and Hospital (GMC&H) here, to enquire about the condition of people injured in cross-border firing last night in RS Pura, Suchetgarh and Arnia sector of Jammu region.

He was briefed by a team of doctors, led by Principal, GMC, Dr Sunanda Raina, Medical Superintendent about the treatment being provided to the patients.

Singh directed the concerned officials to ensure best medicare to the injured.

Minister for PHE, Irrigation and Flood Control Sham Lal Choudhary today visited R S Pura to take stock of the arrangements put in place at the relief camps established at several places in R S Pura for people affected in cross border firing.

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The Opposition Congress today launched a campaign to strengthen the organisation in the BJP- ruled Madhya Pradesh and make it election-ready.

Under the campaign, the Congress, out of power in MP since 2003, will hold over 2,000 meetings of the party workers at various levels during the next one month and also start a movement against the "failures" of the BJP government.

Assembly polls in the state are due by the year-end.

"The party will hold over 2,000 meetings at smaller towns to launch a movement against the state government's failures and to reorganise the party units across the state," AICC general secretary in-charge of Madhya Pradesh Deepak Babaria said at a press conference here.

"We have constituted 60 teams of senior members to monitor this process besides setting up teams at 12 divisional headquarters," he said.

Earlier, Babaria held a meeting with Congress leaders and office-bearers from across the state at 'Indira Bhavan', the PCC headquarters here.

Babaria said, "The party prepared a blueprint during the past one-and-a-half months (to rev up the organisation) and from today it started its implementation."



The Congress leader, however, parried questions about the party's chief ministerial face. If needed, the party would take a decision in this regard at an appropriate time.

MPCC president Arun Yadav, who was also present at the press conference, said at the meeting, party leaders discussed ways to strengthen the organisation.

"We are starting reorganisation of the party down to the booth level in the state," he added.

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Former Union minister Mani Shankar Aiyar, suspended from the Congress for his controversial remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, today expressed confidence that he will be re-inducted.

He said he was hopeful that the party would do so anytime.

"It (revocation of suspension) may happen either in the next six hours, or in the next six days, or in the next six weeks or in the next six years," Aiyar said.

"I would know that one day, I think they (will) take me back. Because however much they might feel that they have alienated me from the Congress, I am a Congressman and I shall remain absolutely loyal to the party," he said at the "India Today Conclave South 2018" here.

Aiyar was suspended from the primary membership of the Congress on December 7 amid speculation that his remarks against Modi had undone the gains made by party president Rahul Gandhi during campaigning in the Gujarat elections.

Modi had used Aiyar's remark that he (the prime minister) was a vile sort of person to the hilt at the hustings to whip up a sense of Gujarati pride. The Congress had also issued him a show cause notice over the remarks.

Explaining the sequence of events that led to his suspension from the party, Aiyar said he was reacting to the PM's reference to B R Ambedkar and said "neech kism ka aadmi".

He asserted that he never spoke of "neech jaati" or low caste.

Aiyar said he regrets missing Rahul Gandhi's election as Congress president as he was with the Gandhi scion during the filing of nominations for the post.

To a query on Tamil film superstar Rajinikanth's political debut, he said, "Cinema would never translate into politics, but politicians have leveraged their film background for
Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Arun Jaitley on said online availability of data has opened corporate activities to public gaze and raised the possibility of detecting any impropriety.

He said the ease at which the data is available now and is open for dissection has put pressure on everyone to ensure that there is compliance and transparency.

"It's now all open to public gaze. And being open to public gaze has its own advantages. It has the advantage that there is a pressure on everyone to make sure that compliances do take place, everyone is on his feet and realised that if there is any impropriety the possibility of it being detected is going to be very high," said Jaitley, who also holds the charge of the Corporate Affairs Ministry (MCA).

The minister was speaking at the launch of National CSR Data Portal and Corporate Data Portal of the MCA.

He said because of online availability of data, it has become easier to dissect any impropriety, including that of funds being channeled through shell companies.

"Therefore this transparency is good for the system, good for corporate India, it's good that your details to the extent that are to be made public, are being made public," Jaitley said.

With regard to corporates undertaking CSR activities, Jaitley said the 2013 amendment in the Companies Act has almost "formalised corporate philanthropy" in India.

Under the Companies Act, 2013, certain class of profitable entities are required to shell out at least two per cent of their three-year annual average net profit towards Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities.

Jaitley said philanthropy in India, unlike in the West, was more family and community centric, religious groups and caste groups, social groups did it.

"But corporate India didn't have a structured manner of doing it. Some did it on their own initiatives. Now even though the provisions have been incorporated persuade corporate India to move in that direction, so far I think there has been a fairly credible and positive response to it," he said.

Jaitley said a public gaze into the CSR activists through the MCA portal would further institutionalise and consolidate it.

As per the Companies Act, in case a company fails to spend the specified amount, then its board has to provide the specific reasons for the same in the board report.

A total of 5,870 companies shelled out Rs 9,553.72 crore towards CSR activities in 2014-15. In 2015-16, as many as 7,983 companies incurred CSR expenditure of Rs 13,625.24 crore, as per official data.
The AAP government has notified 'Delhi Advisory Contract Labour Board', a body which will advise the city administration on various problems of contractual workers in the national capital.

According to the Delhi government, the board will also ensure implementation of the provisions of Contract Labour Act, 1970.

"In order to address various concerns of contract labour, and to implement the provisions of Contract Labour Act, 1970, Delhi government has notified Delhi Advisory Contract Labour Board," Labour Minister Gopal Rai said in a statement.

It stated that the main purpose of the board is to advise the government on various problems of contract workers working on continuous jobs with principal employers.

"Although, the (Contract Labour) Act provides for regulation & abolition of the contractual labour system but there are many organisations where contractual workers have been employed in jobs of perennial nature," the statement also said.

The government said that large scale violations have been reported by contract workers to labour department from time to time which relate to non payment of notified minimum wages, violation of PF and ESI, non-payment of bonus and gratuity among others.

In addition to these violations, there is constant threat looming large on contract workers with regard to their temporary nature of job who could be terminated or discharged at any point of time by the contractor, the government said.

"The board will advise the government on dealing with such issues," an official said.

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In a blow to Delhi's ruling Aam Aadmi Party, the Election Commission today asked the President to disqualify 20 of its MLAs for holding offices of profit, setting the stage for their ouster from the Assembly.

The development does not threaten the AAP government as it has 65 MLAs in the 70-member Assembly. Still, the BJP and Congress demanded that Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal resign on moral grounds.

Reacting furiously to the EC order, AAP claimed the Chief Election Commissioner was trying to destabilize its government at the behest of the prime minister.

Seven of these MLAs moved the Delhi High Court challenging the EC's recommendation but the bench headed by Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal refused to pass any interim order.

In its opinion sent to President Ram Nath Kovind this morning, the Election Commission said the MLAs, by occupying the post of parliamentary secretaries between March 13, 2015 and September 8, 2016, held office of profit, and were liable to be disqualified as legislators, highly-placed sources said.

Parliamentary Secretaries assist ministers with their work. The AAP insisted that despite holding the office these MLAs did not take any salaries or perks.

The AAP launched an unrestrained attack on Chief Election Commissioner A K Joti, saying he was "repaying the debt" to Prime Minister Narendra Modi before his retirement on Monday, January 22.

"A K Joti was the principal secretary under (the then Gujarat Chief Minister) Narendra Modi and then the chief secretary of Gujarat. He is retiring on Monday. So you want to repay Modi ji's debt. You are mortgaging a constitutional post like the Election Commission," AAP's Delhi unit spokesman Saurabh Bharadwaj alleged.

"The EC should not be the letter box of the PMO. But that is the reality today," another senior AAP leader Ashutosh tweeted.

Joti, an IAS officer of 1975 batch of Gujarat cadre, took charge as an election commissioner in 2015 before his elevation as CEC.

Noting that the EC's order defied the "principles of natural justice", Bharadwaj said the poll panel did not hear the MLAs' side.

The President is bound by the recommendation of the Commission. Under the rules, petitions to the President seeking disqualification of lawmakers are referred to the EC. The poll panel takes a decision and sends its recommendation to the Rashtrapati Bhavan which is accepted.

In the present case, the petition was made to disqualify 21 MLAs, but one resigned a few months back.

Once the president accepts the recommendation, by-elections will have to be held for 20 Assembly seats.

The disqualification will not put into jeopardy Kejriwal's government because of its huge majority in the Delhi assembly. However, the disqualification will bring down its strength drastically to 45.

The BJP was quick to question if the AAP government had any "moral right" left after the EC's recommendation to the president.

BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra cited corruption and criminal cases against AAP MLas to claim that the party which started its political journey from India Against Corruption movement has become "I am corruption".

"Many of the Kejriwal cabinet members had to resign. Fifteen of their MLAs have cases against them and 12 were arrested under different charges. In this scenario, the biggest question before the people is whether Arvind Kejriwal government has any moral right to remain in power," Patra told reporters.

Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari lauded the EC's action, saying it is a "moral defeat" for Kejriwal who should resign. He said the BJP stands prepared for elections "any moment".

"We welcome the EC decision disqualifying 20 AAP MLAs. Arvind Kejriwal should take responsibility for moral defeat and resign," he said.

Delhi Congress president Ajay Maken also said the chief minister had lost the moral right to be in power.

"Where is Lokpal? The MLAs and Ministers enjoying perks of power and foreign travel-Where is political probity," he tweeted.

The 20 MLAs set to be disqualified include a minister, Kailash Gahlot of Najafgarh constituency and high profile MLA Alka Lamba.

Late in the evening today, the Delhi High Court refused to grant interim relief to AAP. But it asked the ECI to inform the court by January 22 whether any final communication has been sent to Kovind on the disqualification of the MLAs.

During the brief hearing, Justice Rekha Palli questioned the conduct of the MLAs, and said they hadappeared before the poll panel and took shield behind the fact that their pleas were pending in the high court.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
In a blow to Delhi's ruling Aam Aadmi Party, the Election Commission today recommended to the President to disqualify 20 of its MLAs for holding offices of profit, setting the stage for their ouster from the Assembly.

Seven of these MLAs, meanwhile, moved the Delhi High Court challenging the poll panel's recommendation. The matter was mentioned before a bench headed by Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal, which has listed the matter for hearing today itself.

In its opinion sent to President Ram Nath Kovind this morning, the Election Commission said the MLAs, by occupying the post of parliamentary secretaries between March 13, 2015 and September 8, 2016, held office of profit, and were liable to be disqualified as legislators, highly-placed sources said.

Parliamentary Secretaries assist ministers with their work.

Reacting sharply to the EC's decision, the AAP attacked Chief Election Commissioner A K Joti, saying he was "repaying the debt" to Prime Minister Narendra Modi before his retirement.

"A K Joti was the principal secretary under (the then Gujarat Chief Minister) Narendra Modi and then the chief secretary of Gujarat. He is retiring on Monday. So you want to repay Modi ji's debt. You are mortgaging a constitutional post like the Election Commission," AAP's Delhi unit spokesman Saurabh Bharadwaj alleged.

"The EC should not be the letter box of the PMO. But that is the reality today," another senior AAP leader Ashutosh tweeted.

Joti, an IAS officer of 1975 batch of Gujarat cadre, took charge as an election commissioner in 2015 before his elevation as CEC. He is set to retire on January 22.

Noting that the EC's order defied the "principles of natural justice", Bharadwaj said the poll panel did not hear the MLAs' side.

The President is bound to go by the recommendation of the Commission. Under the rules, petitions to the President seeking disqualification of lawmakers are referred to the EC. The poll panel takes a decision and sends its recommendation to the Rashtrapati Bhavan which is accepted.

In the present case, the petition was made to disqualify 21 MLAs, but one resigned a few months back.

Once the president accepts the recommendation, by-elections will have to be held for 20 Assembly seats.

The disqualification will not put into jeopardy the fate of the Arvind Kejriwal government as the AAP has a massive majority in the 70-member Delhi assembly with 65 seats. The number of its MLAs will, however, come down drastically to 45.

The BJP was quick to question if the AAP government had any "moral right" left after the EC's recommendation to the president.

BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra cited corruption and criminal cases against AAP MLas to claim that the party which started its political journey from India Against Corruption movement has become "I am corruption".

"Many of the Kejriwal cabinet members had to resign. Fifteen of their MLAs have cases against them and 12 were arrested under different charges. In this scenario, the biggest question before the people is whether Arvind Kejriwal government has any moral right to remain in power," Patra told reporters.

Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari lauded the EC's action, saying it is a "moral defeat" for Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and that he should resign.

He said the BJP stands prepared for elections "any moment".

"We welcome the EC decision disqualifying 20 AAP MLAs. Arvind Kejriwal should take responsibility for moral defeat and resign," he said.

The Delhi Congress also demanded Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's resignation, with its president Ajay Maken saying that Kejriwal had lost the right to be in power.

"Kejriwal has no right to continue. Half of his cabinet ministers removed on corruption charges! 20 MLAs who were enjoying ministerial perks would be disqualified! (sic)," the Congress leader tweeted.

"Where is Lokpal? The MLAs and Ministers enjoying perks of power and foreign travel-Where is political probity (sic)?," the tweet further read.

The 20 MLAs set to be disqualified include, Adarsh Shastri (Dwarka), Alka Lamba (Chandni Chowk), Anil Bajpai (Gandhi Nagar), Avtar Singh (Kalkaji), Kailash Gahlot (Najafgarh) -- who is also a minister -- Madan Lal (Kasturba Nagar), Manoj Kumar (Kondli), Naresh Yadav (Mehrauli), Nitin Tyagi (Laxmi Nagar), Praveen Kumar (Jangpura).

Others are: Rajesh Gupta (Wazirpur), Rajesh Rishi ( Janakpuri), Sanjeev Jha (Burari), Sarita Singh (Rohtas Nagar), Som Dutt (Sadar Bazar), Sharad Kumar (Narela), Shiv Charan Goel (Moti Nagar), Sukhbir Singh (Mundka), Vijendar Garg (Rajinder Nagar) and Jarnail Singh (Tilak Nagar).

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Gov. Andrew Cuomo is urging New Yorkers to get vaccinated as flu cases spike across the state.

The number of flu cases increased by 54 percent over the past week, according to the state Department of Health. There were 1,606 people hospitalized with confirmed cases of the flu  the highest number of flu-related hospitalizations since the state Department of Health's tracking began in 2004.

It has already been an active flu season in New York. As of Jan. 13, there were 17,362 confirmed flu cases and 5,267 people were hospitalized.

The most common flu strain in parts of New York has been influenza B. One reason why Cuomo is asking New Yorkers to get vaccinated is the flu vaccine is more effective against influenza B.

"With flu cases on the rise, New Yorkers should take steps to get vaccinated and protect themselves and their loved ones," Cuomo said in a statement. "I am directing the Department of Health to work with local providers to help protect our communities from this flu outbreak, and I urge all New Yorkers to visit local health centers and get vaccinated as soon as possible."
Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said today efforts were being made to speed up the process of filling up of vacant posts in various government departments.

Selections have been made for 35,000 posts and results have already been announced, he said at a public meeting at Jind, according to an official release here.

Khattar said all youths cannot be provided with government jobs but steps are being taken to provide employment and self-employment opportunity to each and every youth.

Companies are making huge capital investments to set up industry in the state and in the near future, there would be no shortage of employment in the state, he said.

The chief minister said many schemes were implemented by the Central and the state government for providing employment and self-employment and people must take full benefit of these schemes.

He claimed all constituencies were being developed equitably.

"Same amount of money is being provided for the development of all constituencies, even to those which are represented by opposition MLAs. Every constituency has been provided with funds ranging from Rs 150 to Rs 200 crore for executing development works," he said.

Khattar said the state government was considering a proposal to exhibit the photograph of the teacher in the classroom to ensure that the students are taught by their real teachers, not "proxies".

Transport Minister Krishan Lal Panwar said that there has been equitable development in the state under the BJP rule.

In Jind district, development projects to the tune of Rs 200 crore were completed and more are in the works, he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Eight police personnel were injured today in a grenade attack by militants at Tehsil office in the Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir.

"Eight policemen were injured after some terrorists in a cowardly act, hurled a grenade at Tehsil office in Pulwama," a police spokesman said.

The injured cops were shifted to the district hospital in Pulwama for treatment from where two of them -- ASI Mohammad Shafi and head constable Ghulam Nabi -- were shifted to 92 Base hospital of the Army at Badamibagh for treatment, the spokesman said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A Bangladesh government engineer has confessed in the court that he incited people to attack Hindu homes in Rangpur after rumours that a youth from minority community has published a blasphemous Facebook status, according to a media report today.

A mob of around 20,000 protesters, from six to seven neighbouring villages, had gathered and set on fire at least 30 houses of Hindus in Thakurpara in Rangpur district, about 300 km from here, on November 10, the bdnews24.com reported.

One person was killed while five others were injured when police fired rubber bullets and lobbed tear gas shells to bring the situation under control.

Fazlar Rahman, a resident of village Mominpur adjacent to Thakurpara, is one of the five accused who allegedly incited thousands of Muslims to attack the homes and businesses of Hindus, Gangacharha Police Station Sub-Inspector Mister Ali was quoted as saying in the report.

Rahman, who is a sub-assistant engineer of Rangpur District Council, had gone into hiding after the incident but was arrested from Shyamoli area here on December 21.

He was questioned by the police for 12 days before being produced before the court yesterday, the official said.

"Rahman gave a confessional statement before the Rangpur senior judicial magistrate's court," Ali said.

Police has named 159 people and over 2,000 unidentified ones in two cases registered in connection with the attack.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The former mayor of Berhampur Municipal Corporation (BeMC), Siba Shankar Das, was arrested for allegedly grabbing land of Scheduled Casts and Scheduled Tribes in Ganjam district, police said today.

Das, a BJP leader, had allegedly grabbed land in Golanthara police station area, the police said.

"He was picked up from his house at Goshaninuagon on Thursday," said sub divisional police officer (SDPO), Berhampur Sadara, Ashok Kumar Mohanty.

The former mayor, who is now a corporator of Berhampur Municipal Corporation (BeMC) of ward number 28, denied the allegation.

He was the first mayor of the BeMC from 2009 to 2013. "Police falsely implicated a case against me," he said.

Earlier, he was arrested by the police from New Delhi on July 8, 2016, for illegally possessing explosive materials.

Police had also registered at least 36 other cases against him, including land-grabbing, attempt to murder and threatening.

Das was released on bail on July 8, last year, after spending more than one year in jail.

He switched over from ruling BJD to BJP before the state Assembly election in 2014 and unsuccessfully contested the elections from Berhampur assembly constituency on a BJP ticket.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The invite for the passport seva kendra inaugural here by the External Affairs Ministry, reportedly naming the BJP Puducherry unit head as guest of honour led to a row with fringe outfits resorting to protest.

A Saminathan, President of Puducherry unit of BJP was reportedly named guest of honour and his name found place with the same prominence as Puducherry Agriculture Minister R Kamalakannan.

Leaders of Viduthalai Chiruthaikal Katchi and Tamil Nadu Muslim Munnetra Kazhakam demanded to know how the Puducherrry BJP president could be invited as guest of honour at a Government function.

Cadres of both outfits made a vain attempt to show black flags to External Affairs Minister when she arrived here to inaugurate a post office passport service kendra.

However they were all detained and later released, police said.

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Delhi pace sensation Navdeep Saini has been called to South Africa not just as a net bowler for Indian batsmen but also as a future prospect for the team after his prolific domestic season.

Saini and Mumbai's Shardul Thakur have been called up to the Indian team ahead of the third Test in Johannesburg on January 24. The visitors have already lost the series after going down comprehensively in the first two matches in Cape Town and Centurion.

"Saini's inclusion is important because it is in keeping with the rotation and intended experimentation in the pace department," a team source said.

"His name has cropped up recently in selection meetings and he could be on the fringes of the Indian team. This will be an opportunity to take a look at him, and maybe he will get involved with the team in the near future," he added.

Saini took over 30 wickets in a sensational Ranji season, the highlight of which was him running through a strong Bengal line-up in the semifinals.

India will get down to practice on Sunday for the final match of the series.

It is in keeping with what the team management had done earlier, including the likes of Mohammed Siraj, Ankit Rajpoot and Basil Thampi to bowl in the nets ahead of this Test series.

It ought to be recalled that India forego the chance of a practice match, and instead held net sessions in Cape Town before the Newlands Test.

It is to be noted that Thakur is already part of the limited-overs squad that will be arriving here later in January with the first ODI to be played in Durban on February 1.

Saini's inclusion though is eye-catching. He had been part of the management's plans to arrive here with the previous group, but had stayed back to help Delhi finish runners-up in the Ranji Trophy.

"It is in keeping with team policy to get some experience of conditions. So Thakur's early arrival will help him get acclimatized quickly ahead of the ODI series," said a team source here.

There is a school of thought that the team wants to prepare in a specific manner for the third Test to save a 3-0 whitewash.

With a green pitch in the offing, with a lot of pace and bounce, the management doesn't want to rely on local net bowlers who "might not be upto the mark" to help in this endeavour.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Over 31 years after the hijacking of a Pan Am plane in Pakistan, the FBI has released new age-progressed images of four wanted suspects in the incident that left 20 people, including Indian flight attendant Neerja Bhanot, dead.

Chandigarh-born Bhanot was the senior flight purser on Pan Am Flight 73 hijacked in Karachi in 1986. She was killed while helping passengers to escape through emergency exits when hijackers opened fire and set off explosives during the 16-hour ordeal.

Using new age-progression technology, FBI technicians created new photos of four alleged Pan Am Flight 73 hijackers.

The bureau hopes the updated images -- rendered using Adobe's Photoshop programme to show what the men might look like now -- will generate new leads and encourage anyone with information to contact the FBI directly or submit a tip online.

The four suspects, listed on the FBI's 'Most Wanted Terrorists' page, include Wadoud Muhammad Hafiz al-Turki, Jamal Saeed Abdul Rahim, Muhammad Abdullah Khalil Hussain ar- Rahayyal and Muhammad Ahmed al-Munawar.

They were allegedly part of the Abu Nidal Organisation, which was once considered a foreign terrorist group by the State Department, the FBI said.

"The FBI has worked tirelessly over the past 31 years to bring the perpetrators of the horrific 1986 hijacking aboard Pan Am flight 73 to justice," said Andrew W Vale, assistant director in charge of the FBI's Washington, DC field office.

"The use of aged-progressed photographs is just one investigative technique the FBI is utilising to accomplish this mission."



The State Department's Rewards for Justice Programme is offering a reward of up to USD 5 million each for any information that proves useful in the arrests or convictions of the alleged hijackers.

Officials stress that no matter how insignificant a tip may seem, it has the potential to bring the FBI one step closer to identifying the suspects' whereabouts.

It's been more than 31 years since the deadly 16-hour tarmac standoff on September 5, 1986, when a band of terrorists led by Zaid Hassan Abd Latif Safarini seized control of Flight 73.

The hijackers killed 20 passengers and crew, including two Americans. More than 100 people on board were injured in the attack.

Pakistan handed Safarini over to the FBI in September 2001. The fate of the other four is clouded in mystery.

Safarini, who confessed to the attack and pledged allegiance to the Abu Nidal Organisation (ANO), was sentenced to 160 years in 2004.

In 2009, the US media claimed the four were deported to the Palestinian Authority, against the wishes of the United States and India, according to Washington Post.

For Bhanot's bravery, the Government of India posthumously awarded her the Ashoka Chakra Award, the country's highest gallantry award for bravery in the face of the enemy during peace time.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A major fire broke out on the fourth floor of an industrial complex at Lower Parel in Central Mumbai shortly after midnight, an official said on Friday.

The fire broke out around 1 am at a dilapidated 'Navrang studio' -- which was shut years ago -- in Todi Mill Compound at Senapari Bapat Marg, he said.

So far, no casualty has been reported, the official said, adding that fire fighters are trying to contain the blaze.

Eight fire engines, seven tankers and an ambulance have been rushed to the spot.

"The studio building is old, unoccupied and precious," the official said, adding that the exact reason of the fire is not yet known.

On December 29, a fire broke out in the Kamala Mills Compound in same locality of Central Mumbai in which 14 people were killed and more than 21 injured.
Nearly 120 children were taken ill after eating a meal at a school and admitted to a hospital here.

The children were from a lower primary school at Thonnakel in the district.

Though the condition of the none of the affected children was serious, they would be discharged only after monitoring their health condition, a release from the Medical College Hospital said today.

Parents rushed their children to local hospitals initially as they complained of uneasiness after they had noon meal served in school on Wednesday. Later they were admitted to the hospital.

Samples of the food the students had were being sent for examination.
French President Emmanuel Macron will boost defense spending in the coming years to guarantee his country's domestic security and maintain French military engagement abroad, as he repeated his wishes for an increased European military cooperation today.

Addressing soldiers onboard the assault ship Dixmude off the naval base of Toulon, Macron promised to increase spending by 1.8 billion euros (USD 2.2 billion) this year to 34.2 billion euros (USD 42 billion).

He also pledged to bring defense spending to 2 per cent of GDP from about 1.8 per cent currently by 2025, in a move aimed at "stopping the erosion of our military capacity."



Six months after a crisis over cuts in the military budget led to the appointment of a new chief of staff of the armed forces, Macron said the financial effort was "unprecedented."



Last summer, Gen. Pierre de Villiers submitted his resignation after a clash with Macron and was replaced by Gen. Francois Lecointre. De Villiers had resisted 850 million euros (USD 1 billion) in cuts to last year's budget.

Macon also confirmed his plan to restore a national service one of his campaign promises, a measure that will be funded with a separate budget. The one-month conscription is expected to involve about 600,000 people every year, aged between 18 and 21.

The former banker added that France's nuclear arsenal will remain at the heart of France's dissuasive military strategy, and stressed the importance of maintaining the army's capacity to intervene "everywhere in the world."



Revealing that French soldiers had rescued 106 migrants off Libya coast earlier this week, Macron praised French troops for their involvement in current French overseas operations, including Sahel, Western Africa and Middle East.

"We have entered an era of great turbulence," Macron said. "With globalisation, our country's interests are no longer limited to our territory. Sometimes, defending our territory consists in fighting terrorists thousands of kilometers away."



The budget for overseas operations will be gradually increased to reach 1.1 billion euros (USD 1.3 billion) in 2020, compared to 450 million euros (USD 551 million) last year.

Insisting on the need for better European cooperation aimed at developing a "strategic autonomy," Macron said Germany will be an essential partner alongside Britain. He insisted the alliance, including both EU members and non- member states, would not be in competition with NATO.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
In other news

 The Equal Rights Cultural Heritage Center is moving closer to construction. The council approved three resolutions related to the project.

First, council awarded the construction contract for the center's exhibits to Hadley Exhibits of Buffalo for $781,753. The contract for construction inspection services was awarded Syracuse's Popli Design Group for $482,200.

Councilors also approved a nearly $118,000 change order for the project's design firm, nArchitects, for additional production of exhibit content including 38 portraits, six speeches, four songs, approximately 50 posters and one aerial image. The exhibit work will be done by nArchitects' subcontractor MTWTF, a New York City-based graphic design firm. This is the second change order awarded to the design firm. In total, $1,280,484.60 will be paid to the firm though completion of the project.

City Manager Jeff Dygert said construction should begin in early February. Residents will be notified about changes to traffic and pedestrian patterns via the city's website and social media within the next two weeks. City staff is still meeting with contractors to hammer out the final construction plan.

Staff writer Natalie Brophy can be reached at (315)282-2239 or natalie.brophy@lee.net. Follow her on Twitter @brophy_natalie.

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The Bombay High Court today issued notices to the CBI and the accused in the Sohrabuddin Shaikh encounter case on two petitions filed by journalists against the trial court's ban on reporting the proceedings.

Justice Revati Mohite-Dere will hear the petitions on January 23.

When the petitions came up for hearing today, CBI lawyer Sandesh Patil said the investigative agency has "no stand" on the issue. "We are neutral. We leave it to the court to decide," he said.

One of the petitions has been filed by the Brihanmumbai Union of Journalists, and the other by nine court reporters of various national dailies and channels.

On November 30, 2017, a few days before day-to-day trial in the fake encounter case was to begin, the special CBI court in Mumbai restrained media from reporting the proceedings.

The order was passed on an application by one of the defence lawyers, seeking a ban on media coverage.

Raising security issues, the defence lawyer referred to a media report on the death of judge B H Loya who had dealt with the case earlier, and said "misreporting has already caused prejudice to both sides". It was a "sensational" case and some untoward incident could happen if publication of reports was allowed, the plea said.

The judge agreed with the view, noting that "publication (of reports) may create security problem for the accused, prosecution witnesses, defence team and the prosecution as well".

When asked about the CBI's stand, the agency's counsel had only said that the court may "pass appropriate orders."



Calling the ban "illegal", some journalists moved the high court, insisting that the trial court cannot pass such an order when the proceedings were not being held 'in-camera'.

The trial has a "large element of public interest," and people have the right to know what transpired during it, one of the petitions said.

Gangster Sohrabuddin Shaikh, who the Gujarat police claimed was also a terrorist, was killed in an alleged fake encounter by the Gujarat and Rajasthan police in 2005. His wife Kausar Bi disappeared, and was alleged to have been eliminated by police. Shaikh's associate Tulsi Prajapati was also later killed in an alleged fake encounter.

The CBI took over the probe in February 2010 and filed charge sheet in July the same year against 23 accused including BJP president Amit Shah, who at that time was the minister of state for home in Gujarat.

The trial court discharged several accused in the case later, including Shah and three IPS officers.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Galaxy Surfactants today said it has fixed price band between Rs 1,470 and Rs 1,480 per equity share for its initial public offer (IPO).

The company plans an IPO of up to 6,331,674 equity shares of face value of Rs 10 each for cash. The offer consists of an offer for sale of up to 39,250 equity shares by the promoter selling-shareholders up to 2,107,804 equity shares by the promoter group selling-shareholders and up to 4,184,620 equity shares by the other selling-shareholders.

The company's IPO proposes to open on January 29 and closes on January 31.

Galaxy Surfactants is one of India's leading manufacturers of surfactants and other speciality ingredients for the personal care and home care industries. The company's diversified customer base currently comprises multinational, regional and local FMCG companies, including, Cavinkare, Colgate-Palmolive (India), Dabur India, Henkel, Himalaya, L'oreal, Procter & Gamble, Reckitt Benckiser, Ayur Herbals, Jyothy Laboratories and Unilever.

At present, it has seven strategically-located manufacturing facilities, out of which five are located at Tarapur & Taloja in Maharashtra; and Jhagadia in Gujarat and two are located overseas in the US and Egypt.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Congress today accused the Modi government of endangering national security due to its "directionless" political actions and policies.

Congress communications incharge Randeep Surjewala said the government's "uncertain" foreign policy and continuous "flip-flops" to the Chinese "misadventure" in Dokalam is harming India's strategic interests. He asked it to come out of its "slumber" and act.

"The Congress is deeply concerned by the present national security situation that has been compromised by the political inactions of the Modi government. Simply the question is, when will the Modi government wake up from its deep slumber and act?" he asked.

"National security strategy cannot be centered on the PM's personal propaganda machinery instead it should be centered around our armed forces and national interests," he said.

Surjewala said while the country's brave and valiant armed forces should be applauded for their valour, "the lack of political direction, strategy and policy on part of the Modi government is harming Indias interests".

He said the disquiet at two ends of the country's border can be gauged by the series of instances which is a serious cause of concern.

Reacting to the external affairs ministry's statement earlier today, the Congress leader said it does not say a word about the alleged construction of military infrastructure by the Chinese Army purportedly depicted in satellite imagery produced in recent media reports.

"The Modi government cannot have multiple stands on the Chinese misadventure. It will only harm India's interests," he said.

"The Congress demands the Modi government take the nation into confidence and disclose the measures it has taken as also its policies for the future," he said in a statement.

Talking about the western border, he said that in the period since May 26, 2014, when the Modi government was inaugurated, 304 security forces personnel and 194 civilians have been killed in Jammu and Kashmir alone.

Ceasefire violations from across the border in the past 44 months of Modi government, he said, have increased by an alarming 500 per cent as compared to the last 44 months of the the UPA government led by the Congress.

He also said there have been 70 reported ceasefire violations till yesterday along the international border and the LOC by Pakistan in January alone.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Harish Manwani, Non-Executive Chairman of FMCG major Hindustan Unilever, has been appointed the new Chairman of the Executive Board of the Indian School of Business (ISB).

Manwani's appointment as the ISB Executive Board Chairman will be effective April 2018, the premier business school said in a statement here.

He succeeds Adi Godrej, who has been the Chairman of the board since April 2011.

Manwani, Non-Executive Chairman of HUL, has been a member of the board since April 2006, it said.

"My stint as the Chairman of the ISB has been a very precious experience as I had the opportunity to work with my friends from the industry in helping build the ISB as a world- class institution in India.

"Our 8,600 alumni spread across 42 countries are agents of transformation who make us proud. Our research centres and institutions are responding to the needs of academia, government and business," said Godrej.

Reacting to the appointment, Manwani said he will work towards taking the ISB to greater heights.

"I look forward to working with my board members and the Dean to help take the ISB to greater heights. On behalf of the board and the school, I thank Adi for his committed leadership.

"The school has grown tremendously during his tenure. I am delighted that he will continue to serve as a member of the Board," Manwani added.

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The Delhi High Court today asked the Election Commission to examine the grievances raised in a plea, claiming the presence of lacunae in the law dealing with techniques adopted by political parties to raise funds.

A bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar asked the poll panel to address the petitioner's grievances and take a view thereafter.

It disposed the PIL by Congress MLA, Anumula Revanth Reddy, seeking direction to the Election Commission to address the law on political funding.

Senior advocate Salman Khurshid, appearing for Reddy, an MLA form Kodangal constituency in Telangana, contended that there was a glaring lacunae in the law governing the fund raising schemes initiated by various political parties.

It has sought action against Telangana Rashtra Samithi's fund raising schemes and to determine if these were within the parameters laid down by the poll panel.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Madras High Court today upheld a single judge order directing authorities to stop sand mining in Tamil Nadu within six months.

On November 29 last year, Justice R Mahadevan had directed the Tamil Nadu government to stop all sand mining and quarrying activities in the state within six months and not to open any new sand quarries.

Dismissing appeals filed by Collectors of Tuticorin, Tirunelveli and Kanyakumari districts, a division bench comprising Justices K Kalyanasundaram and T Krishnavalli directed authorities to strictly comply with the single judge's order.

The bench said the ban on sand mining would continue.

Justice Mahadevan in his order had said that sand had been quarried beyond permitted level affecting the flow of water in rivers and impacting agriculture in the state.

Besides ground water level had also dipped in several places due to mining of sand, he had said.

The order was passed on a petition of M R M Ramaiya, a trader seeking a direction to the state to permit him to sell the river sand he had imported from Malaysia and stored at the Tuticorin port.

The single judge had ordered that quarries of granites and other minerals, except gravel, be periodically closed to maintain ecological balance.

The petitioner had submitted that he had imported one lakh tonnes of sand from Malaysia and sold 96 tonnes to a customer in Marthandam in Kanyakumari district.

The Kanyakumari collector, however, had seized the lorries carrying the imported sand.

The writ appeals were filed by the state government against the single judge order stating that the state has powers to control storage and transportation of imported sand.

Also imported sand was 'silica sand.' While this could not be used for construction purposes, it could be used for industrial purposes, the government submitted.

Advocate General Vijay Narayan contended that the direction of the single judge was in the nature of legislating laws, amounting to transgression into the legislature's powers.

He also contended that the refusal of the single judge in coming to the issue as to whether the imported sand was fit for construction purpose or not, would itself vitiate the order.

Stating that sand was sold online by the government, he said since the power of the government to quarry was approved by the Supreme Court, the order of the single judge was against the dictum laid down by the top court.

Further, the courts have been emphasising balance between development and environmental protection and the ban on mining river sand was unwarranted.

Rejecting the arguments, the bench, in its order, quoting a report of an assistant professor in architecture, said the most common constituent of sand was silica.

The river sand also will contain silica. Further, in all import documents it was clearly mentioned that the sand imported was river sand for construction purpose.

Also, the Karnataka government has already imported river sand from Malaysia to curb illegal mining and there were many skyscrapers in Malaysia as well.

Hence, the contention that the imported sand from Malaysia was not fit for construction activities is rejected, the bench said.

Observing that Tamil Nadu has been unsuccessful in curbing illegal sand mining, the court said the directions of the single judge were not legislative in scope.

The directions were only issued for non-compliance of statutory provisions and for failure to safeguard environment and the ecology, which was a duty enshrined on the High Court under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, it said.

"Further, when there was an alternate sand source permissible in law, this court is of the view that the directions cannot be termed as beyond the scope of the writ petition," the bench held.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Madras High Court today stayed all the criminal proceedings against Tamil poet and lyricist R Vairamuthu with regard to his alleged remarks against a Hindu goddess.

Justice M S Ramesh granted the injunction while passing interim orders on a criminal original plea from Vairamuthu, who had sought a direction for quashing the proceedings against him at the Kolathur police station here.

The judge also orally observed that prima facie no case was made out against Vairamuthu.

The Kolathur police had lodged a case against Vairamuthu, following a complaint from Muruganatham, who is said to be an office-bearer of the "Samudaya Nalliyakka Peravai", a wing of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP).

According to the complainant, the lyricist had made some remarks against Hindu goddess Andal, which could lead to communal disharmony and a law-and-order problem as they hurt the religious sentiments of the Hindus, especially the Vaishnavites.

In his petition, Vairamuthu had submitted that in an article published in a Tamil daily, he had merely incorporated a quotation of an American author referring to Andal and that it was not his opinion.

The complainant had lodged the "false complaint with ulterior and malicious motives", the petition read.

Andal, the only woman among the 12 revered Vaishnavite saints hailed as "Alwars" in Tamil, is also venerated as a goddess and a gifted poet on account of her classic Tamil work, "Thiruppavai", in praise of Lord Krishna.

According to spiritual texts, she lived in the eighth century AD in Srivilliputhur.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Officials of the Mizoram Excise and Narcotics department seized 52.9 grams of heroin from a woman in Champai district today, department spokesman Peter Zohmingthanga said.

The spokesman said the 37-year-old woman was arrested from Mualkawi village near the Mizoram-Myanmar border for possessing contraband.

The seized contraband is worth Rs two lakh in the local market, he said.

The accused was booked under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985.

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The Haryana government has decided to celebrate the birth anniversary of legendary freedom fighter Subhas Chandra Bose on January 23 across the state in a befitting manner.

"Tributes will be paid to Netaji Bose and at least one Indian National Army (Bose's erstwhile force to fight the British before Independence) soldier would be visited by the ministers in their districts," an official release said here today.

It said that the remaining INA soldiers and widows in every district will also be visited by deputy commissioner or any other IAS or HCSofficersposted in their district. They would be given a shawl, a certificate of honour and a memento each.

Requiredassistance, in consultationwith the Sainik and Ardh Sainik Welfare Department, would also be provided in this regard, it said.

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It's the biggest curb to the constitutional right to an abortion in decades, and Republicans in other states are considering similar measures.
India has urged the UN Security Council to focus on eliminating terrorist safe havens in Pakistan and accused Islamabad of differentiating between good and bad terrorists.

"There is a common Afghan saying that roughly translates as "If water is muddied downstream, don't waste your time filtering it; better to go upstream to clean it," Indian Ambassador to the UN, Syed Akbaruddin told the UN Security Council during a special ministerial meeting on Afghanistan.

"As such, support for voices of peace in Afghanistan alone is not enough. We must focus on addressing the challenges posed by cross border terrorism emanating from safe havens and sanctuaries to our region and especially to Afghanistan," Akbaruddin said.

"If we do so, the decay, which has been inflicted on Afghanistan, can be made reversible," he added.

It is India's vision that Afghanistan regain its place and New Delhi remain committed to work closely with its regional and international partners to bring peace, security, stability and prosperity in Afghanistan.

"It is with this in mind that our Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his visit to Afghanistan on December 24, 2015 to inaugurate the Parliament building, stopped over in Lahore, Pakistan," he said.

"Unfortunately, these visits were followed by a heinous and barbaric terrorist attack on the Pathankot airbase on January 1, 2016, perpetrated and planned by the very same mindsets which attack the spirit of Afghanistan every day," he added.

"These mind sets differentiate between good and bad terrorists. These mindsets refuse to see reason in peace. They are mindsets that are reluctant to join hands in moving the region forward to build a shared future for our people and our youth. These mindsets, Mr. President, need to change," Akbaruddin said.

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India today gained entry into the Australia Group (AG), an important non-proliferation regime which seeks to ensure that exports do not contribute to the development of chemical or biological weapons.

After the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) and the Wassenaar Arrangement (WA), the membership in another of the four major export control regimes is expected to give India a leg-up in its bid to secure a berth in the 48-member Nuclear Suppliers Group, which has been blocked by China at the behest of Pakistan.

China is not a member of the MTCR, the WA and the AG.

"On 19 January 2018 India formally became the 43rd member of the Australia Group (AG), the cooperative and voluntary group of countries working to counter the spread of materials, equipment and technologies that could contribute to the development or acquisition of chemical and biological weapons (CBW) by states or terrorist groups," the AG said in a release.

The AG is an informal forum of countries which, through the "harmonisation of export controls, seeks to ensure that exports do not contribute to the development of chemical or biological weapons".

It decided to admit India as the Group's 43rd participant through a "consensus" decision, the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.

Reacting to India's entry to the group, MEA spokesperson Ravish Kumar said it would be "mutually beneficial and to help in non proliferation".

Kumar said the membership in the AG would be further contribute to the international security and non-proliferation objectives.

"India would like to thank each of the AG participants for their support for India's membership. We would also like to thank Ambassador Jane Hardy of Australia, former Chair of the Australia Group, for her role in facilitating India's accession to the Group," Kumar added.

Membership in the Australia Group comes months after India secured a berth in the Wassernaar Arrangement in December last year. New Delhi had bagged membership in the elite Missile Control Technology Regime (MTCR) in 2016.

The Wassenaar Arrangement on Export Controls for Conventional Arms and Dual-Use Goods and Technologies is a multilateral export control regime.

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In a first, India will host Yoga training sessions at the (WEF) in Davos next week, a top government official said today.

"We will showcase Indian heritage and culture in Davos. As part of this, Yoga has been included in the main WEF programme for which we will be taking two acharyas to Davos to provide yoga classes during the five-day summit," Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) Secretary Ramesh Abhishek told reporters.

This will be Prime Minister Narendra Modi's first Davos visit and also the first by an Indian Prime Minister since the one by H D Deve Gowda in 1997.

Modi will deliver the keynote address at the plenary session.

Providing details of Indian engagement in Davos, Abhishek said we will offer yoga classes everyday.

DIPP is also hosting a welcome reception for the WEF members on January 22 where 1,500 people are expected to come.

"We will showcase India's progress while also giving a taste of our exquisite cuisine and Indian culture and heritage," Abhishek said.

"We will also set up an India Lounge in Davos," Abhishek added.

Desi cuisine and yoga will mark the start of the five-day annual jamboree of the rich and powerful from across the world in the snow-laden Swiss ski resort town of Davos. This is the first time India will host the welcome reception at the summit.

The Indian presence is set to be the largest-ever with as many as six Union ministers, two chief ministers, several top government officials and over 100 CEOs, figuring among the registered participants.

The official sessions at the WEF will also have special India-focused discussions including one on "India's role in the world", how it is rethinking economics with the use of big data in policymaking and the country's role in securing peace and stability in the Asian century.
An Indian-origin law graduate who lived with her businesswoman girlfriend for many years is suing her for a share in a 1.3-million-pound home they jointly owned in north-east London.

Shree Ladwa has likened the case to a divorce and says she deserves a share in the property as the effective "housewife" in the partnership.

The 43-year-old told the Central London County Court this week that while she did not have a permanent job, she had cooked and cleaned for Beverley Chapman until they split up in 2016.

"Isnt it the truth that Shree was effectively housewife? She kept care of the house, she made sure it was always immaculate. She took care of you, supported you when you were stressed. She cooked and cleaned and did all the household chores. She was effectively the housewife and you were out making the money, Anthony Geadah, representingLadwa, asked Chapman during a hearing yesterday.

Chapmans legal team has claimed that she was treated like a "cash cow" by Ladwa as she ran a successful construction company and funded the couples lifestyle.

The 45-year-old had put the home under dispute in Chingford in both their names only after months of badgering.

"You get to the point where you are really tired out by hearing the same thing again and again and again," Chapman said, explaining why the house bought in 2007 under her name was changed to both their names.

Her lawyer, Elizabeth Darlington, told the court that Ladwa received 25,000 pounds a year in allowance from her mother and had not worked despite obtaining a law degree.

"The bottom line is you didnt want to work, Darlington said.

Ladwa, on the other hand, maintains that she had spent time on training after her degree and had applied for jobs but had not got a positive response.

Judge Stephen Murch has reserved his ruling in the case until a later date.

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Maharashtra Swabhiman Paksh leader Narayan Rane today asked Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to induct him in the state cabinet at the earliest.

He was speaking to reporters at his office here.

"I will be meeting the chief minister late in the evening today to discuss various issues. Fadnavis should take the decision on my inclusion in the cabinet before my patience runs out," Rane said.

The 65-year-old leader, who recently quit the Congress to join the NDA, also opposed the 'green refinery' project in the coastal Ratnagiri district.

A leader of the local Sangharsh Samiti which is opposing the project was "threatened" by a top Shiv Sena leader, Rane, who started his political career with the Sena, alleged.

The refinery will destroy the flora and fauna of Konkan and its marine life, he said, disagreeing with chief minister Fadnavis's averment that it will not cause pollution.

Sena leaders have purchased huge tracts of land near the proposed project site, he alleged.

"On one hand (Shiv Sena chief) Uddhav Thackeray says he is against the project. But Subhash Desai, his party leader and minister (for industries) allowed the land acquisition process," Rane said.

"The Centre cannot push any project without the consent of the state government. This means the Sena is supporting the refinery," he added.

His party will not allow the project to materialise, he asserted.

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The Supreme Court today asked CBI to apprise it of its stand on a plea of Ravi Vishwanathan, who is under scanner over the alleged INX Media deal along with Karti Chidambaram, seeking nod to go abroad from January 24 to February 5.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud asked Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, to seek instruction from the CBI on the plea of Vishwanathan.

"Let these matters be listed on January 22. Tushar Mehta, Additional Solicitor General, appearing for the Union of India, shall obtain instructions with regard to the prayer made," the court said.

The Centre opposed the submission of senior advocate Kapil Sibal, representing Karti Chidambaram, that the appeals filed by all the parties relating to the issuance of Look Out Circulars (LOC) against Karti and others be remanded back to the High Court for disposal on merits.

"Please decide the issue of territorial jurisdiction. The question of territorial jurisdiction goes to the root of the issue," the ASG said, adding that the Madras High Court had no territorial jurisdiction to stay and decide the matter arising out of the issuance LoC against Karti and others as the FIR in the case was registered in Delhi.

The court, however, asked the law officer to also seek instruction on whether the probe agency was agreeable to transfer of cases to the High Court.

During the hearing, there was an exchange of words between Sibal and the ASG when the law officer said that Karti has been again seeking permission to go abroad.

"I want to go for leisure. Who can stop me?," Sibal retorted.

"Law can stop you," the ASG replied.

"Not this kind of law," Sibal responded.

The apex court, on November 20 last year, had allowed Karti to visit the United Kingdom from December 1-10 for his daughter's admission at the Cambridge University there.

The CBI FIR, lodged on May 15 last year, had 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 Chidambaram's father was the Union Finance Minister.

The top court is hearing pleas including the CBI's appeal challenging the Madras High Court order staying the LOC against Karti Chidambaram. The CBI had on September 1 said there were "good, cogent" reasons for issuing the LOC.

Earlier, the apex court had said that Karti would not be allowed to leave India without subjecting himself to probe in the case. The court had then stayed the high court order putting on hold the LOC against Karti.

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The Jammu and Kashmir government has declared use of Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) in Momos as unsafe and conducted an awareness drive against its use, Health and Medical Education Minister Bali Bhagat said today.

The Minister was replying to a Calling Attention Notice by Ramesh Arora in the Leigslative Council.

Arora drew government's attention towards "the situation arisen due to use of MSG/Azinomoto in momos and supplements used in Gym which cause serious kidney problem and other related diseases including cancer".

Bhagat said a special drive to detect use of MSG in Momos was conducted by Drugs and Food Control Organisation J&K.

The minister said that eight samples of Momos were lifted for analytical purposes, of which six were declared as unsafe for human consumption.

He said the defaulters were immediately prosecuted in the appropriate Court of Law and the matters are still sub-judice.

He said that awareness programmes against the use of Monosodium Glutamate were also conducted.

Replying to a supplementary, the minister said the Ajinomoto is an additive used to enhance taste and its main ingredient is MSG.

He said main health effects of MSG includes high cholesterol, high blood pressure, high blood sugar, excessive body fat, sterility in females and it may also cause water retention during pregnancy and Asthma problems.

On food supplements, the minister said the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has requested all the states to initiate a special drive to check use of banned substances in food supplements and in case of any suspicion, samples, may be drawn and sent to National Anti-Doping Agency.

Bhagat said in response to the communication of the FSSAI, nine samples of food supplements were sent to the said agency, of which one product was declared to be containing a prohibited substance, at low concentration and which can put the health of its users at risk.

He said the reports of three samples of health supplements sent to National Anti-Doping Agency are still awaited.

The minister informed the House that accordingly the manufacture, storage, sale, distribution of the supplement was prohibited in Jammu and Kashmir by the Commissioner, Food Safety.

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Billionnaire Mukesh Ambani's telecom arm Reliance Jio, which has been blamed for the declining profitability in the sector, today broke into profits in just second quarter of commercial operations on the back of its cheap data offerings.

Reliance Jio posted net profit of Rs 504 crore for the three months ended December 31, 2017, against a loss of Rs 271 crore in September quarter.

Ambani had returned to the telecom sector in September 2016 with Jio's disruptive offerings of free voice and data that weaned away subscribers from established operators.

Jio started commercial operations in second quarter of 2017-18 fiscal. It has often been blamed by the industry for falling profits and financial distress in the sector.

Bharti Airtel, India's largest telecom operator yesterday reported its seventh straight quarter of profit decline. the Sunil Mittal-promoted company reported over 39 per cent fall in its consolidated net profit for the third quarter this fiscal to about Rs 306 crore.

Jio today claimed it is world's fastest growing digital services platform and country's largest wireless data subscriber base.

"Jio's strong financial result reflects the fundamental strength of the business, significant efficiencies and right strategic initiatives. Jio has demonstrated that it can sustain its strong financial performance," Mukesh Ambani, Chairman, Reliance Industries said in a statement.

The company is committed to push newer innovative products, which would radically transform customer lives and generate huge societal value, he added.

The revenue from operations came in at Rs 6,879 crore, 12 per cent higher than the trailing quarter.

The earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) jumped 82.1 per cent sequentially to end at Rs 2,628 crore during December quarter.

The operating profit margin improved quarter-over-quarter to 38.2 per cent (23.5 per cent in September quarter). Jio's subscriber base as on December 31, 2017 stood at 160.1 million.

The gross subscriber addition stood at 27.8 million during the quarter with net subscriber addition at 21.5 million.

Jio's Average Revenue Per User was pegged at Rs 154 each subscriber per month.

Amongst other operational metrics, Jio logged total wireless data traffic of 431 crore GB (9.6 GB per subscriber per month), while the overall voice traffic was 31,113 crore minutes.

The video consumption crossed 200 crore hours per month on the network (13.4 hours of video consumption per subscriber per month), the statement added.

The company said it is on track to achieve 99 per cent population coverage during the year.

The growth in Jio's subscriber base is getting further accelerated through the launch of JioPhone -- its 4G-enabled feature phone priced at "effective" zero, that wooed low income users with life-long free voice calls and cheap data bundled with the handset.

"Reliance Retail is geared to increase capacity of supply of JioPhone, considering the tremendous response from Indians to embrace Digital Life," Jio statement said.

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A number of JNU students today protested outside the Haryana Bhawan over a spurt in rape cases in the state, police said.

They belonged to the All India Students Association and the Krantikari Yuva Sangathan.

The students gathered outside the Haryana Bhawan at 2.30 pm and protested for around an hour.

The Haryana government has come under severe criticism over the horrific spate of sexual violence in the state.

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SCIPIO CENTER  Philip V. Buckhout, 89, of Wyckoff Road, Scipio Center, died Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2018 while in rehab after a brief illness.

Mr. Buckhout was born Oct. 14, 1928 in Chenango Forks, the son of Richard Buckhout and Erma Fausnaugh Buckhout Clark, and had been a resident of Scipio most of his life.

He met Janet, the love of his life at the Sherwood High School, before enlisting in the Marine Corps. After four years of service he returned home to marry Janet and he farmed in Scipio Center for 40 years. During this time Phil served his community as a Town Councilman, Highway Superintendent, Supervisor, and Assessor.

Upon his retirement, he and Janet traveled extensively with their four grandchildren, creating many lasting memories. He also assumed the role as Scipio Town Assessor and he enthusiastically worked on many carpentry and remodeling projects.

Phil was a member of the Scipio Community Church where he served in many leadership positions. For 66 years he was an active member of Cayuga Lodge #221 F&AM where he was awarded The Distinguished Service Award. He was also active in Chapter #173 Order of Eastern Star.
The Shree Rajput Karni Sena said today that it will protest censor board chief Prasoon Joshi's lecture at Jaipur Literature Festival (JLF) that begins on January 25.

The fringe group, which has been protesting against Sanjay Leela Bhansali's film 'Padmaavat' are upset at the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) for clearing the movie after suggesting some modifications.

"We don't want to hear his lecture. He has put the pride of Rajasthan at stake. How can he deliver a lecture here after humiliating us? People of Rajasthan don't want such lectures. We will protest against him," president of the group Mahipal Singh Makrana said.

Joshi will come to know what kind of protest it will be when he reaches Jaipur, Makrana said on being questioned further.

CBFC chairman Joshi plans to participate in the Jaipur Literature Festival here on January 28, just days after the scheduled release of 'Padmaavat' on January 25.

Joshi will take part in 'Main aur Woh: Conversations with Myself'.

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All State Kashmiri Pandit Conference, an organisation of the displaced Kashmiri Pandits, today protested outside the Raj Bhavan in Jammu against their forced exodus from the Valley.

Led by its president, Ravinder Raina, they protested near the Raj Bhavan.

The community commemorated the "holocaust" day of January 19, 1990, when they were forced out of the Valley. The day is observed by the displaced community every year.

Later, they submitted a memorandum to Governor N N Vohra.

"We demanded separate area in the Valley for KPs, where they shall be politically empowered with an unhindered applicability of the Indian Constitution," Raina said.

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The anti-extortion cell of Thane police today arrested three persons including a BJP corporator from Kalyan Dombivli Municipal Corporation, Mahesh Patil, for allegedly plotting to kill another corporator.

Thane police spokesperson Sukhada Narkar said a case had been registered with Manpada police station of Kalyan division last year.

It is alleged that Mahesh Patil sought help of hired shooters to kill his political rival Kunal Patil, also a KDMC corporator.

However, before the plan could be executed, police got a whiff of it and arresed seven persons, but Mahesh Patil and three others were at large till now.

The Bombay High Court recently rejected the anticipatory bail applications of Mahesh Patil and two others and directed them to appear before the Kalyan Sessions Court.

AEC officials today sought the custody of the trio from the court.

The judge granted police their one-day custody, said inspector Rajkumar Kothmire.

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Kenya is eyeing 12-15 per cent growth in tourist arrivals from India this year.

It also plans to promote meetings, incentives, conferences and events (MICE) and adventure segments to increase its traveller base.

Well known for its safaris, Kenya now wants to expand beyond this to cater to different tastes and age groups, Kenya Tourism Board (KTB) CEO Betty Addero Radier told PTI here.

She said, Kenya is mainly considered as a leisure destination among Indian travellers, however, KTB is working on changing its positioning and expanding it to include MICE, adventure, weddings and honeymoon.

Adventure tourism is one of the segments, which is rapidly picking up in India and for Kenya, it is going to be a major growth driver, she added.

"Kenya is among the best adventure destinations in the world and offers an array of activities to travellers. For the adventure lover, Kenya offers a wide variety of outdoor experiences, from climbing the iconic mount Kenya, to para-gliding in the scenic Kerio Valley, skydiving over the pristine Diani Beach or white water rafting along river Tana in Sagana," Radier said.

India is the third largest source market of Kenya after the US and UK. In 2017, Kenya hosted 64,116 Indians travellers.

"Looking at the momentum we are expecting the footfalls from India to grow by 12-15 per cent this year," she further added.

In terms of spending also, she pointed out that India is highly ranked and among top four countries with people mostly spending on experiences, hotels and transport.

On an average, Indians spend USD 500-700 per day per person, she said.

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The Himachal Pradesh High Court today rejected the bail plea of Inspector General of Police (IGP) Z H Zaidi in connection with thecustodial death of an accused in the Kotkhai rape and murder of a minor girl.

The court had heard the bail plea on January 12 and reserved the judgement which was announced today.

Rejecting the bail plea, Justice Sandeep Sharma observed that it would not be appropriate to grant bail to the petitioner at this stage.

It further observed that the alleged crime was of serious nature anda detailed investigation was required in this case.

Zaidi and seven others were arrested in the custodial death case of Suraj, who was found dead in the Kotkhai police station on July 18 night.

The CBI has already filed the charge-sheet against the accused.

A 16-year-old girl had gone missing in the Kotkhai area on July 4 and her body was found from the Halaila forests on July 6.

The post mortem report confirmed rape and murder and a case was registered, and amid huge public outcry an SIT, headed by Zaidi was constituted.

The SIT arrested six people, one of whom died in the police station, following which the high court handed over the investigations of both the cases to the CBI on July 19.

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Delhi Lt Governor Anil Baijal today directed constitution of a task force for integrating efforts for de-addiction, skilling and rehabilitation, after he conducted a review of steps taken to check drug and liquor abuse.

Baijal suggested engaging educational institutions and field experts to sensitise people, especially of young age, to make them aware about ill effects of drugs.

The review meeting was attended by the chief secretary, the principal secretary (home), the Commissioner of Police, special CPs, joint CPs and special commissioner (transport).

"The L-G directed for constitution of a task force to have a coordinated and structured mechanism to integrate efforts for de-addiction, skilling and rehabilitation.

"He also stated that a regular mass campaign in various media must be undertaken by all the departments concerned," the L-G office said in a statement.

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A local council in east London has voted in favour of declaring its area a "Trump-free zone" if the US President was to visit the UK.

Tower Hamlets Council, the local authority headed by the Opposition Labour party in what is known as London's East End, unanimously voted in favour of an independent councillor's motion to declare the borough "closed" to Donald Trump at a meeting on Wednesday night.

"We have demonstrated a clear leadership on this issue. I hope my campaign has contributed in conveying a clear message to President Trump," said Councillor Ohid Ahmed.

"But the fact remains that Downing Street and the White House are adamant that the invitation has been accepted and a date is still to be finalised. That's why it's important the council declares Tower Hamlets a Trump-free zone just like Chicago," he said.

Ahmed has also written to British Prime Minister Theresa May and US Ambassador to the UK Woody Johnson, requesting the invitation to Trump to visit the UK be withdrawn.

"He is failing in his leadership and we should not welcome him here. We must be vigorous in our intolerance of his intolerance," the Council's mayor John Biggs said.

The move by Tower Hamlets,an area with a large Bangladeshi migrant population, follows a similar Trump-free zone declared by its neighbouring Royal Borough of Greenwich last month.

Greenwich Council, also headed by Labour, adopted a motion calling for the state visit invitation extended to the US President to be withdrawn and declaring that "should a state visit go ahead, President Trump would not be welcome in the borough".

The anti-Trump campaign in London has been building up since the US President retweeted a string of unverified anti- Islamic videos posted by far-right group Britain First.

London mayor Sadiq Khan has repeatedly declared that the American leader is not welcome in the city.

"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 citys values of inclusion, diversity and tolerance," Khan said in a statement after Trump tweeted his decision to abandon a so- called "working visit" to London in February to open the new US embassy building.

"His visit next month would without doubt have been met by mass peaceful protests," Khan said.

Downing Street was believed to have been caught off-guard by Trump's announcement to abandon his two-day UK visit, planned for February 26 and 27.

Officials who were at an advanced stage of planning for the visit were said to be working on engineering a meeting between Trump and Theresa May on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos next week.

However, in another sign that US-UK relations have hit a bit of a freeze, the White House is said to be lukewarm to the idea of such a meeting.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson,the stand-in for Trump at the opening of the new US embassy building in Nine Elms area of south-west London, added to the intrigue by claiming that Trump had cancelled his visit to Britain because May needed to "focus on Brexit".

Trump had said he pulled out because of cost overruns on the new mission.

Sources close to the US President have indicated that in fact Trump had been put off by not being "shown enough love by the British government and fear of mass protests that are likely to greet him in the UK.

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The under-fire Indian Test team today got the backing of former captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who said there are quite a few positives to pick despite the drubbing handed out by South Africa -- the prominent one being the bowlers' performance.

Virat Kohli's world no.1 India are trailing 0-2 in the three-match series after heavy losses in Cape Town and Centurion. The third and final Test is scheduled to be held in Johannesburg from January 24.

"I would say look at the positives. To win a Test match you need 20 wickets and we have taken 20 wickets. If you can't take 20 wickets, what is the next thing? You look to draw a Test match," Dhoni, who has retired from Tests but continues to be a part of India's limited-overs teams, said at a press conference here.

"How you can draw a Test match is by giving less runs and by scoring runs," he told reporters here at a promotional event.

Dhoni said the fact that Indian bowlers are taking 20 wickets in a match is a sign that the side is never too far from a win.

"If you are not able to get 20 wickets, you can't win a Test match irrespective of whether you are playing in India or you are playing outside. But that is the big positive. We are taking 20 wickets," he said.

"This means we are always in a position to win a Test match. Once you start scoring runs, you are there," he added.

The Jharkhand stumper, who led the Chennai Super Kings in the first eight editions of the IPL before it was suspended in the wake of the 2013 spot-fixing scam, said he was happy to be back at the franchise.

"I never thought of playing for any other franchise other than CSK. Chennai is my second home. Fans here have adopted me as one of their own," Dhoni said.

"A lot of people approached me, I can tell you that. But I can't think of not coming back to CSK. What we have been through, how we have conducted ourselves, how the management has been. How the fans have been. This is a special place. So that thought of being in any other franchise was never a question," he added.

Apart from Dhoni, CSK also retained Suresh Raina and Ravindra Jadeja.

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A 26-year-old man was allegedly shot dead today by two unidentified persons at Sanaswadi village near Koregaon Bhima in Shirur tehsil, around 60 kms from here, police said.

Sanaswadi is the village, where violence had broken out on January 1 during the bicentennial event to commemorate the Koregaon-Bhima battle, in which British imperial forces comprising Dalits had defeated the army of Peshwas. One person had died in the violence.

Police sources said the deceased, identified as Gangaram Dasarwad (26), was shot at by two bike-borne assailants.

"People around thought that the deceased had met with an accident and he was rushed to a hospital, where it was declared that he died after being shot at," a police officer said.

He added that police are looking for CCTV footages of the area and a probe is on.

"It seems that he was killed out of some personal enmity...We are in the process of registering the case under IPC section 302 (murder)," the officer said.

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A delegation from the Madras Chamber of Commerce and Industry today visited Sri City at Tada, about 100 km from here.

Sri City Managing Director Ravindra Sannareddy received the delegation, led by MCCI Secretary-General, K Saraswathi on their arrival at the town in Andhra Pradesh.

"We are very happy to receive the delegation from MCCI. We consider your visit very important as each one of you lead business across diversified sectors", Sannaredy said in a press release.

Reddy briefed them on the advantages and features available for companies setting up their units in Sri City.

The delegates hail from various companies, including Avalon Consulting, ICRA, Rays Power Infra, Shriram EPC, Standard Chartered Bank, Super Auto Forge among others.

Later, the delegation visted the campus and also some manufacturing facilities of a few companies in Sri City, the release added.

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Over the past year it has become increasingly clear that Rep. John Katko does not represent the people of central New York. He is unresponsive to the people of the 24th District  turning down requests to meet us face-to-face in open town hall meetings and limiting constituent access to his well-guarded office.

John Katkos most recent vote on the tax plan is further evidence of this dismissal of his constituents voices. Without soliciting public input and despite the thousands of calls to his office opposing it, he voted for this horrible plan that gives vast cuts to corporations and the very wealthy and explodes our deficit, thereby justifying cuts to so many of the programs we rely on here in CNY and across the country.

We need a change  and luckily, we have a superior candidate prepared to take the responsibility to lead  Dana Balter. Danas life and experience are a testament to her values. She has been an advocate for people with disabilities, a professor of democracy and citizenship at the Maxwell School, and a citizen with the courage to act in support of our community. In Dana, the people of CNY will have a representative who is smart, ethical, courageous and well versed in policy and the legislative process.
"Creed" star Michael B Jordon says he is dating but is not in a serious relationship.

The 30-year-old actor, who originally hails from California, said after he moved to LA, getting in a relationship does not seem like a good idea.

"(I'm) dating, but technically single," Jordon told WSJ Magazine.

"LA isn't the best place to date. No offence to LA," he added.

The actor said even if he finds a girlfriend he has to take approval from his parents, who happened to be his "roommates".

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Election Commission has never "touched this low", an angry AAP today said after the poll panel recommended disqualification of 20 of its MLAs while Delhi units of both the BJP and Congress demanded Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's resignation.

While the AAP alleged that the EC "should not be the letter box of the PMO", the Delhi BJP said it "stands prepared for elections any moment" while regretting that the EC allowed "undue" adjournments of hearings of AAP MLAs, which "dearly" cost the people of Delhi.

The Election Commission recommended to the President the disqualification of 20 AAP MLAs for holding office of profit, setting the stage for their ouster from the Assembly.

In its opinion sent to President Ram Nath Kovind this morning, the Election Commission said the MLAs, by occupying the post of parliamentary secretaries between March 13, 2015 and September 8, 2016, held office of profit, and were liable to be disqualified as legislators, highly-placed sources said.

AAP's Ashutosh tweeted, "The EC should not be the letter box of the PMO. But that is the reality today."



"A person like me who has covered EC as a reporter during (T N) Seshan days, today I can say EC has never touched so low ever," the scribe-turned politician added.

Meanwhile, BJP's city unit chief Manoj Tiwari said the EC allowed long adjournments to the 20 MLAs during the hearings of the issue which cost dearly to the people of Delhi.

"We welcome the EC decision disqualifying 20 AAP MLAs. Arvind Kejriwal should take responsibility for moral defeat and resign," he said.

Taking advantage of EC's long adjournments of hearings on the issue, these MLAs have not only "looted and cheated" the people of Delhi but also denied development, Tiwari said.

"Taking advantage of this delay the AAP has succeeded in sending three persons to the Rajya Sabha and in the process has also sullied the image of the Upper House of Parliament," he said.

The Delhi Congress also demanded Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's resignation, with its president Ajay Maken saying that Kejriwal has lost the right to be in power.

"Kejriwal has no right to continue. Half of his cabinet ministers removed on corruption charges! 20 MLAs who were enjoying ministerial perks would be disqualified! (sic)," the Congress leader tweeted.

"Where is Lokpal? The MLAs and Ministers enjoying perks of power and foreign travel-Where is political probity (sic)?," the tweet further read.

In the present case, the petition was made to disqualify 21 MLAs, but one had resigned a few months back.

The President is bound to go by the recommendation of the Commission. Under the rules, petitions to the President seeking disqualification of lawmakers are referred to the EC. The poll panel takes a decision and sends its recommendation to the Rashtrapati Bhavan which is accepted.

Once the President accepts the opinion, by-elections will have to be held for the 20 assembly seats. The ruling AAP has a massive majority in the 70-member Delhi assembly with 65 seats.

The disqualification will not endanger the Arvind Kejriwal government though its numbers will come down to 45. They would still enjoy a comfortable majority.

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Mortar fire on a town in northern Syria held by Turkish-backed rebels wounded at least 14 people in a psychiatric hospital, a monitor said today.

The fire on the town of Azaz just across the border from Turkey came after Ankara bombarded the adjacent Kurdish-held enclave of Afrin for five straight days ahead of a threatened invasion.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor of the war, said the mortar rounds were fired by the Syrian Democratic Forces, a US-backed alliance dominated by the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG).

But SDF spokesman Mustefa Bali denied that the alliance fired the rounds that hit the hospital, when asked by AFP.

Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman said most of the wounded were among the more than 100 patients being treated at the hospital, many for post-traumatic stress disorder resulting from Syria's near seven-year civil war.

Paramedics transferred the wounded patients to a nearby clinic, an AFP correspondent reported. One had lost several fingers.

The mortar fire destroyed a second-storey wall of the hospital, showering the beds of the ward with debris.

The Turkish army condemned the mortar fire and said wounded civilians were also taken across the border into Turkey for treatment.

Turkish forces on Friday began shelling the YPG enclave of Afrin from frontier Hatay province, according to the state-run Anadolu agency.

Turkey has said repeatedly this week that an operation to oust the YPG from Afrin is imminent and has massed troops and armour on the border.

It regards the YPG as an offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), an outlawed rebel goup that has waged a deadly insurgency in southeastern Turkey since 1984.

The YPG, which also controls a much larger stretch of the border region further east, has vowed to defend the enclave.

Russia has some 300 military observers deployed in Afrin and, on Thursday, Turkey's army and intelligence chiefs held talks in Moscow that were seen as an essential precursor to any invasion.

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With an aim to further develop the alternative investment industry, a Sebi panel today recommended suitable tax as well as regulatory framework for AIFs.

The suggestions of the committee, chaired by Infosys co-founder N R Narayana Murthy, also recommended social enterprises as a separate category of alternative investment funds (AIFs).

To incentivise offshore fund managers (who invest in India but operate from abroad) to shift their fund management and administration to the country, the panel has suggested a suitable tax and regulatory framework for the domiciliation of AIFs in International Financial Services Centres (IFSCs).

Further, it has pitched for allocation of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds to Category I AIF -- Social Venture Funds.

Also, it said nominee and non-executive directors appointed by AIFs on the boards of their portfolio companies should be excluded from the provisions of the Goods and Services Tax (GST).

"The issue of levy of GST on such profit sharing between Limited Partners and General Partners may lead to uncertainty. It should be clarified that GST is not applicable on distribution of share in income or profits to General Partners or their employees," the panel said in its 157-page report.

The regulator had constituted a 21-member standing committee -- Alternative Investment Policy Advisory Committee -- in March 2015 with the mandate to prepare a new regulatory framework for alternative investments. This is the committee's third report. It had submitted its first and second set of recommendations in January 2016 and November 2016.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has sought comments from the public till February 9 on the report.

The panel has suggested promoting AIFs with foreign limited partners in IFSCs, a move that will enhance the development of the Indian capital markets.

It has also suggested exemption from tax for any income earned by an offshore investor from investments made outside India through an AIF in an IFSC as well as relaxation from filing return of income and obtaining PAN for offshore investors in IFSCs.

The current regulatory regime for the establishment of AIFs in an IFSC is restrictive and offers investment in limited products and sectors.

Further, it has recommended implementing an investor- level taxation approach for Category III AIFs. Under such a regime, such AIFs will pay tax on income/gains arising from investment in units of Category III AIFs.

It has suggested exemption to listed AIFs for all streams of income earned by listed AIFs on its investments in Indian portfolio entities.

"In recent years, the government has done much to reform and institute pass-through taxation of Categories I and II AIFs. The committee will highly appreciate if the taxation of AIFs in Category III can now be addressed given that the present trust-based taxation approach is complex and ambiguous," Murthy said.

Overall, the number of all categories of AIFs increased by nearly 50 per cent in the last 15-month period ended September 30, 2017, reaching 374 funds.

Category III AIFs have nearly doubled in number, reaching 67 funds, while Category II AIFs have grown by 42 per cent and Category I AIFs have climbed 21 per cent to 108.

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Kerala Travel Mart 2018,to be held in September this year, has seen nearly 600 registrations in just four days for Indias flagship tourism event, a top official said today.

From domestic buyers alone, KTM received 485 applications and 105 registrations from international buyers, a KTM release said here today.

July 28 is the closing date for the registration.

Baby Mathew, President of Kerala Travel Mart Society, said the huge initial response from buyers was a clear indication of a larger number of tourism stakeholders getting attracted to the stellar tourism gathering over the years.

"No doubt, nearly 600 applications in four days is very encouraging. We are expecting a record number of registrations for this years edition," he said.

Mathew said business-to-business meets offered by the KTM contribute to a great deal in attracting potential buyers.

Acclaimed as the largest gathering of tourism industry stakeholders in India, the KTM 2018 will be inaugurated in Kochi on September 27, coinciding with World Tourism Day.

The opening ceremony will be followed by three days of business-to-business meetings.

Offering a wide array of opportunities, the meet will be a perfect conduit for buyers and sellers to expand their business territories, organisers said.

The KTM Society has started implementing a comprehensive nine-point charter, 'Agenda 9,' which focuses on making Kerala a sustainable destination.

It mainly calls for measures to tackle waste management, promote organic farming, efficient use of energy and extensive use of local produce and products.

Other key areas to come up for deliberations are rainwater harvesting, reducing use of plastics, and improving greenery, the release said.

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A plea alleging that rainwater harvesting systems have not been installed in schools and colleges despite National Green Tribunal's order has prompted the green panel to seek a response from the Delhi government and others.

A bench headed by acting Chairperson Justice U D Salvi issued notices to the Public Works Department, Directorate of Education, Central Groundwater Authority, Delhi Jal Board and others while seeking their replies before March 20.

The tribunal's direction came on a plea filed by city resident Mahesh Chandra Saxena seeking implementation of November 16, 2017 order of the NGT directing government and private schools and colleges to install rainwater harvesting systems in their premises within two months at their own cost.

He claimed that the government departments, educational institutions and residential societies have either not installed rainwater harvesting systems or have systems which are non-functional.

The tribunal had ordered that any institution which fails to install the rainwater harvesting system within the stipulated period would be liable to pay environment compensation of Rs 5 lakh.

It had directed schools and colleges to approach a committee constituted by it. The committee was to inspect the premises and grant permission to institutions for operating the system.

If it was not possible to install a rainwater harvesting system, the institution should approach the committee, it had said.

According to the tribunal, the institution that gets an exemption certificate shall be subject to environment compensation, which would be used for setting up rainwater harvesting systems in possible nearby areas, including parks.

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NIIT Technologies today posted 21.2 per cent increase in consolidated net profit to Rs 75.6 crore for the December quarter of the current fiscal.

Its net profit was Rs 62.4 crore in the October-December quarter of last fiscal, the company said in a statement.

NIIT's revenues increased 9 per cent to Rs 756.5 crore in the third quarter of 2017-18 as against Rs 693.8 crore in the year-ago period, it added.

It also said that the board has approved the appointment of Sudhir Singh as the company's Chief Executive Officer.

Besides, Arvind Thakur has been elevated to the role of Vice Chairman and Managing Director, the statement said.

"Operating margins expanded 97 bps sequentially to 17.1 per cent as a result of growth in Digital engagements in US and Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA)," Singh said.

Revenues from EMEA expanded 7.2 per cent sequentially during the quarter and now accounts for 30 per cent of the revenue mix.

The US business grew 1.5 per cent sequentially contributing to 50 per cent of the mix. India and APAC business now represent 10 per cent each of the total mix.

"Continuing with the good intake in the previous quarter, fresh business of USD 130 million was secured during the current quarter which included 3 large deals and 8 new logos," NIIT Technologies Vice Chairman and Managing Director Arvind Thakur said.

The company said it continues to experience good traction in the banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) segment with revenues expanding 4 per cent sequentially during the quarter, contributing to 43 per cent of the revenue mix.

Travel and Transportation segment grew by 4.4 per cent and now represents 27 per cent of the total revenues.

Of the fresh business secured during the quarter, USD 82 million was from the US, USD 25 million from EMEA and USD 23 million from rest of the world.

Digital revenues grew 11 per cent sequentially, accounting for 25 per cent of the company's revenues.

The company has roped in three senior executives to drive growth.

Gautam Samantha, a former Infosys executive, will head Europe business, while ex-Fujitsu executive Anantha Basavaraju has joined as APAC head.

Another former Infosys executive, Madan Mohan has taken charge of a new service line around Data Services and Automation with his base in the US.

NIIT Technologies added 59 people during the quarter, taking the headcount to 9,081.

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has expressed regret to African ambassadors who were outraged by President Donald Trump's alleged description of African countries as "shithole" nations, the head of the African Group said.

Haley asked to meet the African ambassadors at the United Nations after they released a joint statement demanding an apology from Trump for his "outrageous, racist and xenophobic remarks."



Ambassador Anatolio Ndong Mba of Equatorial Guinea, who chairs the Africa Group, said the US ambassador did not offer an apology during the closed-door meeting yesterday, but she did express regret.

Haley told the meeting that "she was not there at the White House, she is not sure what was said, but she regretted all this situation that has been created," the ambassador said.

The US mission declined to say whether Haley had addressed the furor over Trump's remarks allegedly made a week ago at a White House meeting with lawmakers on immigration reform.

Ndong Mba said the Africa Group "made a recommendation" to Haley to defuse tensions, which she promised to pass on to Trump.

Diplomats, who declined to be named, said they had suggested that Trump send a friendly message to African leaders at their upcoming summit in Addis Ababa as a gesture of goodwill.

"We appreciate the fact that she came and she talked about all the cooperation between the United States with Africa," said Ndong Mba, who described the meeting as "very friendly."



The US mission posted photos of the meeting on Twitter and said: "Thank you to the Africa Group for meeting today.""We discussed our long relationship and history of combatting HIV, fighting terrorism, and committing to peace throughout the region," it said in the post retweeted by Haley.

Trump's remarks were condemned by the 55-nation African Union while some African governments summoned the US ambassador in their capitals to demand an explanation.

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."



Earlier this week, 78 former US ambassadors to Africa wrote a letter to Trump expressing "deep concern" over his comments and urging him to "reassess" his views on Africa.

The United Nations slammed the reported remarks as "shocking and shameful" as well as "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.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi government for equipping the AIIMS at Patna with requisite facilities and taking the decision to set up another such hospital in Bihar.

"If these institutes function properly there will be less pressure on the AIIMS in Delhi which treats a large number of patients from Bihar," he said inaugurating a state-of-the-art medical facility set up by the state government here.

Kumar's comment came in the backdrop of an alleged comment by Union Minister Ashwini Kumar Choubey a few months ago that "Biharis are crowding AIIMS (in Delhi)".

The Bihar chief minister lauded Union Health Minister J P Nadda for adopting a "preventive" health policy which was reflected in measures like the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, an official release.

The medical facility 'Samrat Ashok Tropical Disease Research Centre' was inaugurated by Kumar and Nadda during the day.

"Bihar is doing its bit for the nation-wide cleanliness drive through schemes like Lohia Swachhata Abhiyan, ensuring availability of clean drinking water and putting an end to the practice of defecating in the open", Kumar said at the inaugural programme.

The chief minister said his government has been working towards regaining the trust of the people in state-run health services.

"The number of patients visiting a primary health centre per month which was a dismal 39 in February 2006 has shot up to 2000 eight months later. Today the figure has crossed 10,000," he said.

The 'Samrat Ashok Tropical Disease Research Centre' would specialise in treatment of serious infectious diseases. It has been built at a cost of Rs 100 crore and has 150 beds, including six for the intensive care unit, said Bihar health minister Mangal Pandey who was present on the occasion.

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A day after the Supreme Court paved the way for nationwide release of "Padmaavat", Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said today the advocate general has been asked to study the order before taking a decision on its screening in the state.

"We have told the state advocate general to study the Supreme Court order. After this, we will see if we have to say something in the honourable apex court. We have not taken any decision so far," Chouhan told reporters in response to a query after a function here.

The apex court yesterday stayed the orders and notifications issued by the Rajasthan and Gujarat governments prohibiting the screening of the controversial movie, clearing the decks for its nationwide release on January 25.

The SC bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra yesterday also restrained other states from issuing such notifications or orders prohibiting the exhibition of the film. The bench, also comprising Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud, observed that the states are obliged to maintain law and order.

"We direct that there shall be a stay of operation on the notification and orders issued and we also restrain other states from issuing such notifications or orders in this matter," the SC bench said in its interim order.

No formal order prohibiting the release of the film were issued by the Madhya Pradesh government.

However, Chouhan had recently indicated that the film "Padmaavat" will not be allowed to be released in his state.

Talking to reporters on January 12, the chief minister had said, "Jo kaha tha, wo hoga (What I had said, will happen).

(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.)
There are no "plans" of a bilateral meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on the sidelines of the (WEF) meeting at Davos next week, the external affairs ministry said today.

The annual meet of the WEF would be beginning on January 22. Modi would address the opening plenary on January 23.

"As far as I am concerned there are no plans for meeting with the Pakistan Prime Minister," Secretary (Economic Relations) at the External Affairs Ministry Vijay Gokhale told reporters here.

He was responding to a query on whether Modi would be meeting his Pakistani counterpart as the latter would also be there at WEF on the same day.

The relations between India and Pakistan are strained following series of attacks by Pakistan-based terror groups and incidents of ceasefire violations, causing casualties on both sides.

When asked whether Modi would be meeting US President Donald Trump, he said the two will not be there on the same day.

This would be Modi's first Davos visit and also the first by an Indian prime minister since the one by H D Deve Gowda in 1997. In case of Trump, he would be the first US President to attend since Bill Clinton in 2000.

To a question on whether Modi is sending a message by not meeting Trump at the event, which has the theme of 'Creating a Shared Future in a Fractured World', Gokhale said there were never any plans for the two leaders to meet.

"Besides, this is a multilateral event and the Prime Minister's central message will be that we are an economy that can be an engine of global growth. We want others to participate in our growth and we also want to participate in others' growth," he said.

There were never any plans for the two leaders to meet and therefore whether they are present at the same event and are not meeting is not important, he said, adding, "Our focus has always been in a global economy that is open and inclusive".
Actor Carey Mulligan has expressed her unhappiness over lack of leading roles for female actors in the film industry, saying she is no longer interested in playing the girlfriend and wife parts.

The 32-year-old actor said showbiz has always offered meatier and more important roles to their male counterparts, Contactmusic reported.

"I think for the most of female actors I know it's just about going where the better writing is. Films have tended to provide a lot for men in terms of great leading roles and not so much for women...

"I think essentially following great writing, trying to play real people and not play the girlfriend, the wife. I've done that a lot and it's not fun and this is the opportunity to play a fully rounded, flawed, interesting person," Mulligan said.

The "Drive" actor cited HBO's "Big Little Lies" as an example of pro-women good writing.

"I think it's been led by the writing and the opportunities particularly for women. That's certainly the case for me, I just want to play the most interesting, complicated real person and interesting complicated real people in film are really, really rare," she said.

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With Justice J Chelameswar, one of the four Supreme Court judges who rebelled against Chief Justice Dipak Misra, away from the national capital, there was no apparent progress today in finding a solution to the unprecedented crisis.

"Things remained silent today," a source close to one of the four dissenting judges said, adding that any development in finding a solution can take place only after the return of Justice Chelameswar from Chennai on Monday.

However, sources said some of the judges are holding informal parleys in a bid to resolve the crisis in the wake of the virtual revolt by the four judges against Chief Justice Dipak Misra.

Meanwhile, senior advocate Vikas Singh today clarified that on January 17, he had written a letter to five senior- most judges of the Supreme Court condemning an activists' body for its complaint against the CJI in his personal capacity and not as the President of Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA).

He said a section of media has reported that he wrote the letter on behalf of the SCBA which is not correct.

Singh, who has been appearing for the Medical Council of India in medical college bribery case, had written a letter to five seniormost judges--Justices J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, M B Lokur, Kurian Joseph and A K Sikri alleging that a group of activists under the banner of CJAR were trying to "scandalise the judiciary" by levelling "false charges" against the CJI.

In the letter, Singh, in his personal capacity, had condemned the conduct of Campaign for Judical Accountability and Reforms (CJAR) in filing a complaint with them accusing the CJI of alleged misconduct in the case related to Prasad Education Trust.

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Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah today strongly batted for talks between the national security advisors of India and Pakistan to end ceasefire violations.

He was reacting to the ceasefire violations by Pakistan along International Border in Jammu in which five people, including three civilians and two BSF personnel, were killed and 28 others injured in the past two days.

"I hope that our NSA (Ajit Doval) can pick up the phone and talk to his counterpart (retired Lt Gen. Nasser Khan Janjua) in Pakistan to put an end to ceasefire violations," he told reporters here.

"The ceasefire must hold. The shelling and violence on the International Border and the Line of Control must end, and then hopefully India and Pakistan can take step towards normalising, what is otherwise an abnormal relationship," he said.

Omar also took a dig on the "secret talks" between the NSAs of India and Pakistan in Thailand in view of the ceasefire violations.

"We are told that our NSA had secret talks with the NSA of Pakistan in Bangkok. What are those talks about, if we cannot even maintain a ceasefire on the border. What are we talking about.

Ultimately talks have to be about something, he said.

"There is a regular breakdown of ceasefire. This is something that Delhi and Islamabad need to sort out," he said.

The National Conference has always maintained that violence is not the solution to the problems of Jammu and Kashmir and the two countries need to talk each other, he said.

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Terming the controversy-hit Bollywood film "Padmaavat" as 'bakwas' (rubbish), AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi asked Muslims not to waste their time watching it.

"Don't go. God has not created you to watch a two-hour film," the Hyderabad Lok Sabha member said on Wednesday night while addressing a public meeting in Warangal district.

"Mr (Narendra) Modi (Prime Minister) has formed a 12- member committee for that film; take out what you can...(but) nobody was consulted when law (to end triple talaq) was being made against us," he said.

"The film is 'bakwas' and bad...The Muslim community has to learn from Rajputs, who are united in not letting the film release," he said.

The Supreme Court yesterday cleared the decks for the all-India release of "Padmaavat" on January 25 and stayed notifications and orders issued by Rajasthan and Gujarat prohibiting exhibition of the film in their states.

The Karni Sena has opposed the Sanjay Leela Bhansali- directed film, alleging it "distorts historical facts" and "hurts sentiments" of the Rajput community. The set of the movie was vandalised twice in Jaipur and Kolhapur, while Bhansali was roughed up by members of the Karni Sena last year.

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Union Minister Jitendra Singh said today that "Kashmir-centric Pak apologists" who shamelessly speak on behalf of Pakistan even on a day when heavy civilian casualties have been inflicted on the borders by unprovoked Pak firing owe an explanation to the nation.

"Kashmir-centric Pak apologists owe an explanation to the nation and that there can be no pardon for them when they continue to shamelessly speak on behalf of Pakistan even on the day when heavy civilian casualties have been inflicted on the borders by unprovoked Pak firing," Singh told reporters here.

The Union minister, who soon after his arrival from New Delhi, went straight to the GMC Hospital in Jammu and thereafter to Hiranagar Hospital to enquire about the condition of the injured.

Singh said, any political leader, however, highly-placed he may think of himself, does not enjoy the prerogative of giving instructions to the Ministry of External Affairs or the Centre about how to deal with Pakistan particularly when he or she is not privy to latest intelligence and confidential inputs available with the government agencies.

Leader of Opposition and former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had today said that National Security Adviser of India Ajit Doval should make a phone call to Pakistan NSA (retired) Lt Gen Nasser Khan Janjua and put an end to ceasefire violations.

Abdullah questioned secret talks between the two NSAs and said "what are these talks about, if two countries cannot maintain ceasefire".

It is high time, Dr Jitendra Singh said, these self- righteous leaders should stop playing convenient of appeasement.

This is the same bunch of leaders, he alleged, who post a tweet or give a TV byte even on subjects not even remotely connected with them, but they neither have the courage nor conviction to post a single Tweet of condolence when security persons get killed in their own constituency.

Singh said, the morale of the people living in border areas is very high and for the first time in several decades, they are witnessing a befitting retaliatory response from the Indian side by the military and para-military forces.

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Pakistan's Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa today confirmed death sentences awarded to 10 "hardcore terrorists" by military courts for their involvement in various acts of terrorism.

The hardcore terrorists were convicted of killing civilians and soldiers and attacking law-enforcement agencies, armed forces personnel and education institutions of Pakistan, the army said in a statement.

"In total these 10 terrorists were involved in killing of 41 personnel while injuring 33 others," it said.

General Bajwa confirmed death sentence the terrorists, the army said.

The military courts were set up in January 2015 for speedy trial of militants after the Peshawar school attack that killed about 150 people, mostly students.

These convicts were tried by military courts which also awarded imprisonment of varying terms to three other militants.

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Describing the heavy mortar shelling by Pakistan along the IB as an outcome of the "wrong foreign policy" of the Centre, the Jammu and Kashmir Congress today said it had exposed the "hollow and tall claims" of the Modi government.

Two civilians and a BSF jawan were today killed and 23 others, including 2 BSF men,were injured in heavy mortar shelling by Pakistan, along the International Border, in three districts of Jammu and Kashmir.

"The unabated cross-border firing in the Jammu division is an outcome of wrong foreign policy on part of the Narendra Modi government," J-K Congres chief G A Mir said.

"We express deep sorrow over the loss of lives due to the exchange of heavy firing on the LoC. As a result, many precious lives were lost, besides leaving the border residents homeless," he said.

Lashing out at the Centre for allegedly failing to ensure the safety of people living near the border, Mir said, "The unabated cross-border firing has once again exposed the hollow and tall claims of the Modi government about the situation getting back to normal."



"As incidents of the indiscriminate firing are increasing, it indicates that the Centre has no policy or roadmap to deal with the disturbances escalating on the borders. As a result, our people are facing a lot of hardships and threat to their lives," he said.

Mir said people were feeling insecure in their homes and asked how long they would "suffer due to the wrong policies of the government".

The Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress chief strongly condemned the killing of the civilians living near the borders and urged the Centre to take effective measures to ensure their safety.

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As a goodwill gesture, Pakistan today handed over an Afghan boy who went missing during his visit to the country.

The Foreign Office said that Foreign Secretary of Pakistan Tehmina Janjua handed over the custody of an Afghan child to the Afghan Embassy in Islamabad.

The child, whose age was not disclosed, had come to Islamabad with his parents for medical treatment of his father. However, during their stay in Islamabad, Ubaid Ullah went missing.

The mother of the child could not find any clue about his whereabouts and after the death of Ullah's father she returned to Afghanistan.

The child was found by Islamabad Police in 2015 and was referred to Child Protection and Welfare Bureau who took the custody of the child.

Meanwhile, the Pakistani authorities as well as Pakistani Embassy in Kabul has continued efforts for tracing his family in Afghanistan.

"Today, after successful conclusion of these efforts, Ubaid Ullah was handed over to the Afghan Embassy in Islamabad. He would be travelling later today to reunite with his family in Afghanistan," the Foreign Office said.

The government and people of Afghanistan have deeply appreciated Pakistan's efforts for taking good care of the destitute Afghan child and his safe reunion with his family, according to the FO.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Pakistan's Supreme Court today termed as "national shame" the fake degrees scandal involving a Pakistani company and ordered a probe by the country's top investigating agency in the so-called "diploma mill" that sold thousands of sham qualifications to British nationals.

Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar ordered the head of Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to submit a detailed report in the court within 10 days about the scandal involving Axact company.

"It is an issue of national shame for us if the allegations are correct," the judge observed.

According to a report on Tuesday by the BBC, Axact sold more than 3,000 qualifications in Britain between 2013 and 2014, including PhDs and doctorates, the BBC reported.

The company reportedly invented hundreds of universities online and used fake stories in an attempt to dupe employers who might check the references on applicants' CVs, the report said.

Axact, which claims to be the "world's largest IT company" and has invented names such as Brooklyn Park University and Nixon University, is run by agents from a call centre in Karachi, it said.

Axact fake degree scam first surfaced in 2015 when a New York Times report titled "Fake Diplomas, Real Cash: Pakistani Company Axact Reaps Millions" was published.

Pakistan government launched a case against the company and also arrested its CEO Shoaib Sheikh and several other employees.

The case against Axact is still pending with the Sindh High Court, which granted bail to Sheikh and 13 other co- accused in August 2016. After coming out of custody, Sheikh launched Bol TV channels network.

However, Umair Hamid, a vice president of Axact, was last year sentenced to 21 months in prison in the US for his role in selling degrees to US nationals.

The company denies all wrongdoing.

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Calling Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed a "prime organiser" of the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, India today asked Pakistan to demonstrate seriousness in taking action against him and stop hiding behind flimsy excuses.

India's strong reaction came hours after the US told Islamabad clearly that Hafiz Saeed is a "terrorist" and should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, rebuffing the Pakistan prime minister for his remarks that there was no case against the Mumbai attacks mastermind and the chief of the UN-designated terror group.

"He (Saeed) is a globally designated terrorist. He is the prime organiser of the 2008 Mumbai attacks and Pakistan has to fulfil its international obligations and demonstrate seriousness in taking action against him and stop hiding behind flimsy excuses," external affairs ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said.

During an interview, Pakistan Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi had said, "There is no case against Hafiz Saeed sahib in Pakistan. Only when there is a case can there be action." He was asked why there was no action against Saeed.

Reacting strongly to Abbasi's comments, State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert said, "We believe that he should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law."



"He is listed by the UNSC 1267, the Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee for targeted sanctions due to his affiliation with Lashkar-e-Taiba, which is a designated foreign terror organisation," Nauert told reporters in Washington.

"We have made our points and concerns to the Pakistani government very clear. We believe that this individual should be prosecuted," she said.

When asked about the Pakistan government summoning the Indian Deputy High Commissioner repeatedly over incidents of ceasefire violations, Kumar said India very strongly condemn the continued and unprecedented ceasefire violations by Pakistan which has caused loss of lives and property.

He reiterated India's contention that Pakistan indulges in ceasefire violations to provide cover to infiltrators to cross over into India.

"We of course retaliate. We take it up appropriately with Pakistani side. We will do it," he added.

He also added that "Whatever has to be done will be done. There is an established mechanism when such violations take place. We do take it up and there are established protocol for that.

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Pakistan shut down the US-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's Pashto-language station in the country today for airing content "against the interest of Pakistan".

The office of RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal in the capital Islamabad was ordered closed by the ministry of interior, which said Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) -- Pakistan's top spy agency -- had found its programmes to be "in-line with (a) hostile intelligence agency's agenda".

The notification, posted on the RFE/RL website and seen by AFP separately, did not identify the agency.

It accused Radio Mashaal of portraying Pakistan as a "failed state" and "a hub of terrorism and safe haven for different militant groups."



The government further alleged that the station was "distorting facts (to) incite the target population against the state and its institutions", referring to ethnic Pashtuns.

The notification specified Radio Mashaal's audience in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces, and the northwestern tribal areas along the border with Afghanistan.

These areas have been the hardest hit by unrest since 2007, and have seen several large-scale operations by Pakistan's military against extremist groups.

RFE/RL President Thomas Kent said in a statement that he was "extraordinarily concerned by the closure" and was "urgently seeking more information about the Pakistani authorities' intentions."



Kent said his organisation has "no connection to the intelligence agencies of any country.""We hope this situation will be resolved without delay."The closure comes amid heightened tensions between Islamabad and Washington in recent months.

President Donald Trump recently froze up to $1.9 billion in funding to Pakistan in a move designed to force Islamabad to halt its alleged support for the Afghan Taliban and other Islamist groups.

Pakistan has long denied the allegation, and in turn accused Washington of dismissing its sacrifices in the war against extremism.

The Pashto-language Radio Mashaal was launched in 2010 to help undermine Islamist militants.

RFE/RL, founded in 1950 to beam programmes into the communist bloc, is funded by a grant from the US Congress, according to its website.

It currently broadcasts in 25 languages and aims to "serve as a 'surrogate' free press in 23 countries where the free flow of information is banned or not fully developed.

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A photo exhibition here showcases the diverse hues of Kashmir and Ladakh with a special section dedicated to the 'Kumbh of the Himalayas' or the Naropa festival that is celebrated once in 12 years.

"Glimpses of Ladakh, Kashmir and Naropa Festival - Kumbh Of Himalayas" has photographs by Irfan Nabi and has been curated by author-documentary maker Nilosree Biswas.

The images have been gathered over a period of five years and range from rarely seen Nubra Valley, to not so known Gurez. Even the familiar Dal Lake or Gulmarg are filmed in a most salient way, bringing out a fresh perspective.

"Extending the thought of our book 'Alluring Kashmir: The Inner Spirit', this exhibition plays around with the lesser known elements of both Kashmir and Ladakh," says Nabi.

Biswas and Nabi had come out with the coffee table book "Alluring Kashmir: The Inner Spirit" in 2016.

"Setting the desire to travel to those locations that Irfan's images have captured was the underlined theme that I worked on. I deliberately created a snapshot narrative rather than water-tight division location wise. The idea was to trigger personal connect of the viewers with the vast unexplored Ladakh and less seen Kashmir and a rare festival of Naropa," Biswas told PTI.

The photographs chosen are intended to showcase the diverse hues of the two regions leaving a lingering flavour that also can be used as a catalyst for further exploration, she says.

According to Nabi, travelling to different locations is a liberating experience for him and through his artwork he wants to share with the viewers a sense of wonder and joy felt during the shoot.

"These photographic moments should make the viewer feel to slow down and help reconnect with nature," he says.

The Naropa festival was an experience of a lifetime, he says.

Held once every 12 years, people from far and wide gather at the Hemis Monastery in Ladakh to celebrate Saint Naropa's life in a spectacular event.

The photographs in the exhibition, which is on at the India International Centre here till January 29, showcase some rarely seen moments of the festival like the display of the sacred six bone ornaments belonging to Naropa by the head of the Drukpa order.

These ornaments symbolise the origin of many practices of Tibetan Buddhism and are considered among the holiest treasures in the Himalayas.

Among other photographs include the ceremonial unfurling of the historic silk thanga, a brocade measuring 70 feet by 40 feet.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi will impress upon world leaders at WEF in Davos next week that India is an open economy and ready for global investments across sectors, top government officials said today.

Announcing details of Modi's visit to the Swiss resort for the World Economic Forum (WEF), Secretary (Economic Relations) in the External Affairs Ministry, Vijay Gokhale said, "it will be a 24 hour visit but a very focused one".

In the first visit by an Indian Prime Minister since 1997, Modi will be in Davos on January 22-23, and address the opening plenary of the WEF.

"Our economy has expanded significantly since the last time an Indian prime minister went to Davos and therefore this visit is very important," Gokhale said.

"In addition to the keynote address, Modi will also have bilateral meeting with Swiss President Alain Berset. Besides, there will be scope for pull asides, details of which are being worked out," he said.

This will be a very significant visit and will give a message about our engagements with the world, he said.

The focus will be on prime minister's vision about India's economy's at the domestic as well as global level.

Talking about the business engagements of Indian leaders in Davos, Ramesh Abhishek, Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), said that PM will also host a round table dinner on January 22 for 60 top CEOs including 40 from global corporates and 20 from India.

They will include CEOs of Airbus, Hitachi, BAE Systems and IBM.

Modi will also have an interaction with 120 members of the investor community at WEF on January 23 which will include heads of General Motors, Salesforce and Royal Dutch Shell, Nestle and JP Morgan.

Abhishek said DIPP will also host a welcome reception for the WEF members, where 1,500 people are expected.

"We will showcase India's progress while also giving a taste of Indian cuisine as well as of Indian culture and heritage," he said.

Besides PM, there will be six Union Ministers including Arun Jaitley who will address three sessions on January 24. Suresh Parbhu will have nine sessions over three days, Dharmendra Pradhan will have five sessions, Piyush Goyal (10), Jitendra Singh (3) and M J Akbar (2).

There will also be a large number of round tables including on financial inclusion in India.

Abhishek said the reforms that have been taken in the last few years will be showcased in Davos.

"The central message the prime minister will give is that India is open and ready to do business in a big way. We want to tell the world to come and invest in India," Gokhale said.

"PM's message will be about India being an economy that can be engine of global growth. We want others to participate in our growth and want to participate in others' growth as well," he added.

When asked why PM has chosen to go Davos this year, Gokhale said: "My sense is that PM wanted things to change on the ground before speaking about them. We have already opened our economy and it is no more the case that we are going to do it."



The five-day WEF Annual Meeting 2018 beginning on January 22 will be attended by 70 state heads. Besides, 38 heads of major international organisations such as the WTO, the IMF and the World Bank, as also nearly 2,000 CEOs will be present.

The theme of the meeting, spread over 400 sessions, would be 'Creating a Shared Future in a Fractured World'.

The meeting will also see the largest ever proportion of women leaders (21 per cent), with all co-chairs being women this time, including social entrepreneur Chetna Sinha from India and IMF chief Christine Lagarde.

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Police today launched search operationsnear a village in the district following information about the presence of a four-member armed gang of Maoists, including a woman.

The gang visitedthe house of one Abraham at Kunthode village between 7.30 and10.30 pm yesterday and demanded food, Deputy Superintendent of Police (Rural), Srinivas said today.

They family members, who were afraid, offered them foodand tea, he said.

They took away rice and other groceries from the housebefore disappearing into a nearby forest area.

Srinivas said the four, including a woman member Srimathy, have been identified. The others are Karthikeyan, Danish and Yogesh, he said.

All arein the age group of 30 to 40 years.

A police team visited the spot on getting information from Abraham's family and are searching for the gang, Srinivas said.

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Poland's president has thanked President Donald Trump for fighting "fake news," saying his own country experiences the power of fake "first hand."



President Andrzej Duda voiced his thanks to Trump in English on Twitter today, a day after the US leader revealed his promised "fake awards."



In his tweet, Duda wrote that Trump "just stressed again the power of fake Thank you. We must continue to fight that phenomenon. Poland experiences fake news power first hand. Many European and even U.S. officials form their opinions of PL (Poland) based on relentless flow of fake news."One of the "awards" went to Newsweek for reporting that Duda's wife, Agata Kornhauser-Duda, did not shake hands with Trump during a visit to Warsaw last summer. In fact, she briefly avoided Trump's outstretched hand as she reached out to shake the hand of US first lady Melania Trump, but she did shake Trump's hand afterward.

Critics say Trump's attacks on what he calls "fake news" are attacks on media freedom that embolden authoritarian leaders around the world.

Duda's tweet comes as Poland faces sharp criticism from the European Union over new laws that increase the ruling party's control over the judiciary.

While the Polish government says the laws are needed to clean up a corrupt judicial system, the EU says they violate fundamental democratic values and has threatened sanctions against Poland.

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Presidency University students staged a protest today against the alleged delay in completion of the renovation of heritage Eden Hindu Hostel when the Chancellor, Governor K N Tripathi was present at the campus for the inaugural of the Presidency Museum.

Members of Students Federation of India, Independents Consolidation (an indepedents students body) and Democratic Students Organisation held sit-ins before the main building of the University in College Street.

Among others who were present at the university during the demonstration were its Vice-chancellor Anuradha Lohia and Presidency Mentor Group 'Chair' Sugata Bose.

They were there to attend the inauguration of the Presidency Museum set up to mark the completion of the 200th year of the institution.

The Eden Hindu Hostel had been closed in July 2015.

Shouting slogans like 'Hindu Hostel debona' (won't give away Hindu Hostel) and 'Halla Bol' the students waved placards but did not stop the governor's convoy when it entered or exited the campus.

"In the name of renovation we won't allow the Presidency management to destroy the heritage of the 200-year old institution. We won't allow them to shut down Eden Hindu Hostel. Apart from being a part of Presidency's heritage the hostel is very conveniently located for students from the districts," Students Union president Suvabrata Ganguly said.

"We have to travel from the hostel in New Town to College Street, which takes time. It is also expensive for the students as there are very few direct bus routes to the campus," a hostel inmate Md Anisur Haque said.

minister Partha Chatterjee had earlier said that the state government had taken up the issue of delay in completing the renovation of Eden Hindu Hostel with the Presidency University authorities.

A senior university official said, "The Eden Hindu Hostel will be opened for use by students once the renovation is completed. We will talk with the students."



The Governor did not comment on the students' agitation while speaking to reporters.

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The draft of a comprehensive and uniform Punjab Municipal Outdoor Advertisement Policy and By- Laws 2018 has been readied by the local bodies department.

The policy has been prepared with a view to accord a uniform look to all the cities/towns of Punjab as well as making the urban local bodies self-sufficient from economic point of view, an official release said here today.

The department has invited suggestions from the public to make the draft policy more effective.

The department would incorporate the feedback/suggestions received till January 31 and finalise the comprehensive and effective advertisement policy which would be implemented from the month of March this year.

Local bodies minister Navjot Singh Sidhu said the main aim of framing the advertisement policy is to increase the income of the urban local bodies and penalise the violators through stringent laws.

Apart from this, it is aimed to make a uniform policy for giving a beautified look to the cities and accord uniformity to all the haphazard outdoor advertisements acting as eyesore thus damaging the look of cities/urban centres, he said.

Stating that the need to frame a new policy arose from the ineffectiveness of the earlier advertisement policy which was sans any provision to levy any punishment or penalty on the violators, Sidhu added that the new policy would be broadly based on enacting the laws and implementing them in letter and spirit.

Listing the salient features of the draft of new advertisement policy, the minister said that nobody would be allowed to display advertisements on the rooftops.

The shopkeepers would only be allowed to display a single advertisement per floor on their shops and that too would be of a fixed size. The shopkeepers would be given two months timeframe for taking down the earlier boards and display new ones.

"Besides this, the advertisements to be displayed on the spaces in the urban centres would also be of same size. In the earlier Municipal Act, there was provision to remove any illegal advertisement or board but sans any imposition of penalties. So, the new draft would also include amending the Municipal Act thereby levying hefty penalties as well as entailing imprisonment," he said.

As per the draft policy, the government officials would submit their compliance report regarding implementation of the policy in their respective areas on weekly basis to the concerned commissioner/executive officer who would in turn submit the report of their city/town every month to the director, local government.

In case of any financial loss to the state exchequer due to the negligence of any government officer then the amount would be made good from the salary of the official concerned.

Sidhu said the draft also entails forming of flying squads to ensure compliance with the provisions of the policy which would conduct random checks to make sure that the advertisement boards have been displayed as per the policy.

The police barricades would also display the advertisements of the licensed and approved company regarding which the action taken report would be sent by the respective police commissioners/SSPs to the director local government every month.

The minister said every bit of information concerning the advertisements would be uploaded on the website of the department as well as displayed on the notice boards of the departmental offices.

The information would contain the number of advertisements, type, size, name of the advertising agency with contact number and the duration of advertisement displayed. The same information would also need to be compulsorily given on the advertisement hoarding.

The minister also said that any state resident can complain with regard to any violator of the advertisement policy on the helpline number and website of the department.

The draft also carries the proposal that no blacklisted company or the one banned by any of the state governments can participate in the bid to display advertisements.

Apart from this, the concerned department whose advertisement in city/town would be displayed on government, co-operative, public sector undertaking or board or corporation and would be facing the city would have to pay the 50 percent revenue to the department.

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Rahul Gandhi would lead from the front for the Congress in poll-bound Karnataka, launching the campaign with a three-day tour from February 10, a key state party leader said today.

Working President of Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee, Dinesh Gundu Rao, also indicated that party MLAs facing anti-incumbency in their constituencies, may not get tickets in polls, due in May.

He added that joining hands with the JD(S) in case Congress fails to get majority is not being looked at as an option as his party is confident of coming to power on its own, and also that the H D Deve Gowda-led outfit is "not dependable".

Speaking to PTI here, Gundu Rao said Gandhi is going to be a "very key" campaigner for the Congress in the state where, he noted, it also has "very powerful" state leaders like Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, M Mallikarjuna Kharge, G Parameshwara and D K Shivakumar.

"At the same time, I think Rahulji is getting resonance amongst people, and he is leading the campaign for us," Gundu Rao, who was here to attend an event, said.

The Congress president is starting his campaign with a three-day tour of the state from February 10. He might visit again later next month and also in March.

"In the run-up to the elections, he will be spending lot more time, and he is definitely going to lead from the front for us", he said.

"We have started our campaign from KPCC and the chief minister has also toured the state", he said.

"Gandhi would be intensively campaigning and you can say more or less launch of the campaign for the Congress (with his February tour)," the Congress leader added.

He claimed there is no anti-incumbency on the government because out of 165 promises made in the election manifesto, it has implemented 155-156. In fact, Gundu Rao said the Congress is seeing pro-incumbency wave creeping in, adding, it would win more number of seats than the last time.

Gundu Rao, however, said that some Congress MLAs might have "built-up" anti-incumbency in their constituencies.

"That's what we need to look out for. If they have not done well, we have to change then, that's going to be the key thing," he said.

Congress MLAs facing anti-incumbency will be "definitely changed", as the party's aim is to field "best available candidates", he said.

On whether the Congress would look for an understanding with JD(S) in case it falls short on numbers in post-poll scenario, he said, "There is no question of us wanting an alliance because we are clearly in the race to get absolute majority."



"But post-poll...what happens...who knows? I can't predict right now. JD(S) is not dependable. They have been with BJP, they have formed government with us, they are not people who can be trusted because they don't have ideology, don't have fixed agenda, they can play anything; they are not dependable at all. So, I will not look at that option," he added.

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'Peepli Live' co-director Mahmood Farooqui today got a major relief from the Supreme Court which dismissed an American woman's plea challenging a Delhi High Court verdict acquitting him in a rape case.

The top court said they were "good friends" and she had even expressed her "love" to him after the alleged incident.

It also said the woman appeared to have responded in a "positive manner" when they had met on the day of alleged incident and it was a case of "relationship" in which they have known each other.

The apex court referred to the e-mail communications between the 30-year-old woman and Farooqui and asked her counsel how could the woman say "I love you" in her mail to the accused after the alleged 2015 incident, which she later termed as rape.

A bench comprising Justices S A Bobde and L Nageswara Rao observed that the high court's verdict of September 25 last year acquitting Farooqui was a "well written judgement" warranting no interference.

"We are not satisfied (with her arguments). We will not interfere with the high court verdict. It is a well-written judgement," the bench told advocate Vrinda Grover, who was representing the woman.

Farooqui was earlier convicted and sentenced to 7-year jail term by a trial court here in August 2016. However, the high court had acquitted him in the case last year.

The Delhi Police had onJune 19, 2015, lodged an FIR against Farooqui on the woman's complaint.

The police had filed a charge sheet against him alleging he had raped the research scholar from Columbia University at his Sukhdev Vihar house in South Delhi on March 28, 2015. Farooqui had denied all the allegations.

During the hearing, the top court asked her counsel, "How many rape cases you have gone through where the prosecutrix (woman) has said 'I love you' to the alleged accused much after the alleged incident."



However, Grover told the bench that the matter related to "forced oral sex" and the woman had not given her consent.

She said that the argument of alleged consensual relation was advanced by Farooqui's lawyer before the high court for the first time and claimed that this issue was not raised before the lower court during the trial.

But the bench observed that it was not a case where strangers came, met and did something as both Farooqui and the woman were known to each other.

"It is a case of relationship. They were known to each other," the bench said, adding, "This is a very hard case. We would like to say that it has been decided extremely well (by the high court). It is not a case which can be decided easily".

When the counsel said both the woman and Farooqui were known to each other, the bench asked, "according to her evidence, they had drinks together. The point is they knew each other, had drinks together and did many other things together".

Referring to the high court's verdict, Grover said the judgement said she was a "sterling witness" and the issue was of consent. She also argued that the woman had said 'no' to Farooqui's advance towards her.

"But initially 'yes'. There appeared to be a positive response by her which according to her was faked. People give false smiles. How would the other person know it is a false response. This is very difficult to understand," the bench said, adding that the high court had also observed that it was not reflected that she was saying 'no'.

However, her counsel claimed in the court that during the alleged incident, the woman was afraid that "something bad" would happen with her as he had become forcefull.

The bench then referred to the e-mail exchanged between the woman and Farooqui and said the records showed they were very good friends.

The court also asked the counsel as to how many times the woman had visited Farooqui's house and had drinks together.

It, however, clarified that the top court was not at all saying that if somebody visits the house of another regularly, then such act amounts to waiver of right to be protected against offence like rape.

The court also referred to a document in which the woman had said that she and Farooqui had exchanged kiss. "This does not happen between friends," the bench said.

The lawyer said it was prior to the alleged incident and added, "consent must be appreciated in terms of the incident in question and not prior intimacy".

She also argued that "refusal was clear in this case".

The bench, while dismissing the plea, said it was not satisfied and would not interfere with the high court's judgement and no question of law was involved in the matter.

The high court had acquitted Farooqui saying it remained doubtful whether any such incident took place. It had asked Tihar jail authorities to release Farooqui who was in custody following the trial court's order.

The high court had said in the order that "the testimony of the victim is not reliable and there are discrepancies."



The high court had, however, brushed aside her contention and noted that "what the appellant has been communicated is, even though wrongly and mistakenly, that the prosecutrix is okay with it and has participated in the act."The trial court, which on July 30, 2016 had held Farooqui guilty of raping the woman in 2015 in a drunken state, had also imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 on him.

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The demand for Yoga equipment and accessories in foreign countries, including Australia and Canada, has been growing for the past few years, an expert has said here.

The Yoga products are being sought after by the people in foreign countries due to the "high level of allergy", he said.

"There has been a huge demand for neti patra, a traditional pot used in cleansing the nasal passage, and other Yoga accessories in foreign countries. The demand has been growing since the last few years," Ramchandara Surve, general secretary of Sri Ambika Yoga Kutir, a premier Yoga institute, told reporters yesterday.

"This rise in demand is mainly due to the high level of allergy and humidity in these countries," he added.

"A large number of youths are now turning to Yoga as they have become health conscious...This is a very good sign," Surve said.

Sri Ambika Yoga Kutir, which has 91 branches across the world, said 1,000 neti patra are being dispatched by it to Australia and 800 to Canada this month alone.

The Maharashra government had last year appointed a committee headed by Surve to prepare a roadmap for Yoga treatment system. A couple of months back, the panel submitted to the government a report with several recommendations.

"The recommendations include using a combination of Yoga and Ayurved to treat patients, inclusion of study of Yoga in educational institutions, spread of Yoga in rural areas and at tourism centres," he said.

As per the recommendations, Yoga training should also be imparted in institutions like health centres, ashram schools and anganwadis.

The committee also suggested that the teaching methods of various Yoga institutes be studied and a unified system be developed for the people, Surve said.

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Saffron valued at Rs seven lakh was seized from a passenger at the Calicut International Airport today, Customs officials said.

The passenger had arrived from Sharjah by an Air India flight, they said.

Customs Commissioner Sumit Kumar said officers seized some material, suspected to be narcotics, concealed in a consignment meant for export to Kuala Lumpur, from the Thiruvananthapuram Air Cargo Complex.

The material, concealed in plastic pouches in six plastic folders were opened on suspicion and found to contain a white crystalline powdery substance.

CISF and state Excise department personnel, who were called in, tested samples, which showed that the material could be narcotic drugs, he added.

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The RSS is going to hold a mega rally on Sunday in Guwahati, where more than 33,000 of its members in Sangh uniform will perform yoga, it publicity incharge said today.

The rally will be addressed by Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat, he said.

The Assam unit of the RSS includes some districts of Assam, the entire Nagaland and Meghalaya.

The 'Luitporia Hindu Samabesh' is being organised ahead of the February 27 Assembly elections in Nagaland and Meghalaya.

The BJP is aiming to make further inroads into the northeast after having formed governments in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.

"A mega public rally of the RSS's Assam unit will be organised on January 21 in Guwahati. The meeting is expected to be attended by more than one lakh people, including over 33,000 Sangh workers," the Sangh's Assam prachar pramukh (publicity incharge) Shankar Das told PTI.

Sangh members will perform different 'asans' (exercises) wearing Sangh dress, he said.

Das said over 20,000 families from across the three states have decided to provide five food packets each for distribution during the rally.

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Health Minister J P Nadda today said safe pregnancy has become a social movement and claimed that more than one crore antenatal check-ups of expecting mothers have been conducted under Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan (PMSMV).

He expressed gratitude towards government and private sector doctors, who have volunteered for the PMSMA, a scheme launched in 2016.

Maharashtra has reported the largest number of check-ups among the non-empowered action group states, while Rajasthan has reported the largest number of check-ups among the empowered action group states, Nadda said.

The programme has been successful in reaching out to the difficult and remote areas of India, he claimed.

"More than one crore antenatal check-ups have been conducted under PMSMA, which has provided quality antenatal checkups to pregnant women on the ninth of every month. Now safe pregnancy has become a social movement in our country," the minister said.

He also expressed gratitude towards Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his un-daunting support to the scheme.

Nadda said the prime minister had envisioned that ninth of every month, symbolising the nine months of pregnancy, should be dedicated to pregnant women.

The PMSMA programme was launched to fulfil his vision and ensure comprehensive and quality antenatal checkups to pregnant women across India, he said.

"The programme has been successful in reaching out to the difficult and remote areas of India, since out of the 1 crore checkups across the country, more than 25 lakh check-ups were conducted in high priority districts identified by the Health Ministry for focussed attention," he said.

He said all pregnant women visiting the PMSMA sites are examined by an obstetrician or physician and appropriately investigated.

He also urged all the doctors to continue their commitment, 'IPledgefor9' and boost the chance of further reducing maternal and infant mortality in the country.

In the July 31, 2016 episode of 'Mann Ki Baat', the prime minister had urged private sector doctors to dedicate 12 days in a year to this programme and provide voluntary services under the PMSMA on the ninth day of every month.

There are more than 12,800 government health facilities across states/UTs where PMSMA sessions are conducted on the ninth of every month and pregnant women receive assured, comprehensive and quality antenatal care in their second and third trimesters.

More than 4,800 private sector doctors have pledged to provide voluntary service under the PMSMA, he said.

More than 385 private sector volunteers have provided services in the high priority districts such as Bilaspur in Chhattisgarh.

The Health Ministry statement said that there are several instances where private sector doctors have gone beyond the expectations to serve in remote areas.

"India is committed to reducing preventable maternal deaths through concerted efforts and publicprivate partnership.

"The PMSMA has reached one crore mark with the commitment from doctors in the government sector across states and UTs and with the help of the large number of private sector doctors who have voluntarily pledged for this initiative," Nadda said.

In order to enable early detection of high risk pregnancies, 84 lakh haemoglobin tests, 55 lakh HIV tests, 41 lakh tests for gestational diabetes, 33 lakh tests for syphilis and more than 15 lakh ultrasounds have been conducted under the programme based on the individual requirements of pregnant women.

Based on the clinical conditions and investigations, over 5.50 lakh pregnant women were identified as high risk pregnancies and referred to a specialist or a higher health facility for appropriate care.

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The Supreme Court today decided to hear on Monday the pleas seeking an independent probe into the alleged mysterious death of special CBI judge B H Loya.

The top court fixed January 22 for the hearing and directed listing of petitions before "an appropriate bench".

A bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud said an appropriate bench of the apex court would hear the petitions filed by Congress leader Tehseen Poonawalla and Maharashtra journalist B S Lone.

Advocate Varinder Kumar Sharma, appearing for Poonawalla, said they wanted clarification on the date of hearing of the petition in the wake of the order passed by a bench of Justices Arun Mishra and M M Shantanagoudar.

"List the matters on January 22, 2018, before the appropriate bench as per the roster," the CJI's bench said.

A bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra had on January 16, ordered the matters to be listed before an appropriate bench and had not fixed any specific date for hearing.

It had left it to the Maharashtra government to decide which documents, relating to Loya's death, could be handed over to the petitioners.

The state government, which had filed documents in a sealed cover relating to Loya's death, had during the hearing opposed the petitioners' demand that the entire material should be handed over to them for perusal.

The apex court, in its January 16, order said, "Let the documents be placed on record within seven days and if it is considered appropriate, copies be furnished to the petitioners. Put up before the appropriate bench".

The case, whose assignment to the bench hearing the PILs was a bone of contention of the unprecedented press conference by four senior-most judges of the apex court on January 12.

Loya, who was hearing the sensitive Sohrabuddin Sheikh encounter case, 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.

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.

The issue of Loya's death had come under the spotlight inhiNovember last year after media reports quoting js sister had fuelled suspicion about the circumstances surrounding his death and its link to the Sohrabuddin case.

However, Loya's son had on January 14 said in Mumbai that his father died of natural causes and not under suspicious circumstances.

The court had earlier termed as "serious matter" the issue of Loya's death and had asked Maharashtra government to file certain documents, including the autopsy report.

Poonawalla's counsel had told the court that this was a case of alleged mysterious death of a judge, who was hearing a sensitive case, and an independent probe was required.

In his plea, he had claimed that circumstances revolving around the death of the judge were "questionable, mysterious and contradicting".

The other plea filed by the journalist has submitted that a fair probe was needed into the mysterious death of Loya, who was hearing the 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 was also filed before the Bombay High Court on January 8 by the Bombay Lawyers' Association.

The Indian judiciary was thrown into a turmoil on January 12, when four senior apex court judges, Justices J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, M B Lokur and Kurian Joseph, had convened an unprecedented press conference raising some issues, including "selective" allocation of cases by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra. The cases indicated by them included this case.

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The Supreme Court today granted time to CBI to file a report on its probe relating to reports, photographs and videos showing former Bihar minister Tej Pratap Yadav, son of RJD supremo Lalu Prasad, along with men accused of killing scribe Rajdev Ranjan.

A bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud considered the submission of CBI counsel that two more days be granted for filing the fresh status report on the probe conducted on the alleged meeting of the accused with the then Health Minister.

"List after two weeks," the bench said.

Earlier, the apex court had sought the CBI's response as to whether it has probed the photographs and videos showing Yadav along with Mohd Kaif and Mohd Javed, accused of killing the scribe who were then absconding. The accused are currently in judicial custody.

It had then directed the CBI to file a status report on the probe into the allegations of harbouring and sheltering the then absconding accused in the murder case and the reports that purportedly showed them in the company of Yadav and Mohd Shahabuddin, jailed RJD strongman and a co-accused in the sensational murder case.

The apex court had issued notices to Shahabuddin, Yadav and the Bihar government on the plea of Ranjan's wife seeking transfer of the case from Siwan in Bihar to Delhi.

The Supreme Court had directed the CBI to proceed with the probe and ordered police protection to the scribe's wife Asha Ranjan and their family.

Asha had moved the top court seeking transfer of the probe and trial in the case to Delhi alleging that media reports had shown two absconding killers of her husband in the company of Shahabuddin and Yadav.

She had sought relief, including a direction to the CBI, to take up the investigation forthwith in view of the fact that the offenders, Mohd Kaif and Mohd Javed, were spotted with Shahabuddin and the then state Health Minister, where several cops were also present.

Kaif had surrendered in the Siwan district court on September 21.

The scribe, working with a vernacular daily, was shot dead on the evening of May 13 in Siwan town by some sharp- shooters allegedly at the instance of then jailed RJD leader, the plea alleged.

Despite being named by the family of the journalist, the Siwan police did not name Shahabuddin in the FIR as a key conspirator, it alleged.

It also alleged that the RJD leader was irked over some reports by the slain journalist on the issue of murder of three sons of Chandrakeshwar Prasad. Shahabuddin was awarded life term in one of the cases.

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A German court jailed a man for seven years today for supplying a pistol to a teenager who killed nine people in a 2016 rampage at a Munich shopping centre.

The court found Philipp Koerber, 33, guilty of nine charges of manslaughter as well as bodily harm and illegal weapons dealing.

At seven years, the sentence comes close to the term called for by prosecutors, who said Koerber shared German- Iranian killer David Ali Sonboly's extreme far-right views, knew of his plans and bore a share of responsibility for his crimes.

Victims' relatives had called for an even harsher sentence for aiding and abetting murder.

"The accused is guilty of deliberate illegal arms trading, in concurrence with manslaughter and bodily harm," judge Frank Zimmer said.

"He is undoubtedly a right-wing radical... a convinced adherent of the Fuehrer of the Third Reich" Adolf Hitler and a "can certainly be described as a racist," he added.

Police arrested Koerber in August 2016 after tracking him down online and luring him into a fake weapons deal.

Koerber and Sonboly met via the so-called Darknet -- hidden internet sites often used for criminal dealings that can only be accessed using encryption technology.

He sold the 18-year-old a pistol and ammunition, which the younger man used in July 2016 to kill nine people and wound five before turning the gun on himself.

Almost all of Sonboly's victims had a migrant background, and he struck on the fifth anniversary of a massacre by Norwegian far-right extremist Anders Behring Breivik.

Both he and Koerber used the Nazi greeting "Heil Hitler", and investigators found the dictator's manifesto Mein Kampf on Koerber's computer.

But police said Sonboly wanted revenge for years of bullying rather than political goals, targeting people similar to his tormentors.

Koerber's defence acknowledged the arms dealer had broken weapons laws, but insisted he did not know what the buyer planned.

It also underlined the accused's full confession.

"I never wanted this. I am unbelievably sorry about what happened," Koerber told the court early Friday.

Sonboly's killing spree came four days after a 17-year- old Afghan refugee seriously injured five in an axe attack on a train.

In the same week a suicide bomber wounded a dozen people.

The spate of violence spread disquiet in Germany, where some feared an increased risk of terror attacks after the arrival of more than a million migrants and refugees in 2015- 16, many of them from war-torn parts of the Middle East.

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The Bombay High Court today rejected a petition filed by former media baron Peter Mukerjea, an accused in the Sheena Bora murder case, seeking a case diary from the suburban Khar police.

Justice Anuja Prabhudessai held that there is no law which gives the accused person the right to access the police case diary (where details of probe are recorded daily) on mere suspicion that it might contain some contradictory material.

Mukerjea had demanded access to the personal diary maintained by sub-inspector Ganesh Dalvi, a prosecution witness who was part of the team that arrested prime accused Indrani Mukerjea's driver, Shyamvar Rai.

Rai later turned an 'approver' (prosecution witness).

Rai, originally arrested under the Arms Act in 2015, told police about the 2012 murder of Sheena Bora, Indrani's daughter from an earlier relationship.

While Mukerjea's lawyer said making available the case diary won't cause any harm, the CBI said an accused can not demand to see it unless he or she already knows of a wrong statement made by a witness and wants to corroborate it.

Mukerjea has no idea whether there is any contradiction in Rai's statement, the agency said, adding that the diary contains some crucial details, and making them public can hamper the investigation and pose risk to witnesses and informers.

Police have arrested Indrani Mukerjea, her former husband Sanjeev Khanna and Peter Mukerjea in the murder case.

Meanwhile, during a hearing of the Sheena Bora murder case before the special CBI court here today, Peter Mukerjea's lawyer alleged that following the CBI's or the Khar police's instructions, telecom service provider Airtel tampered with the call data records of Rai which were later submitted in the court.

The CBI denied the allegation, saying that Airtel had provided the CDR on the trial court's instructions, and the agency had no role to play in it.

Peter's lawyer also moved an application before the special court seeking the log book of the police jeep which was used when Rai was arrested.

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Unidentified miscreants set fire to eight shops located behind the famous Naaroshankar temple here in the early hours, police said.

All eight shops, which sold puja material, were completely gutted, but no casualties were reported, said Dinesh Bardekar, in-charge of Panchvati police station.

After security guards of the temple alerted the fire brigade, fire tenders were sent to the spot to douse the blaze.

Further probe in on.

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The Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), the apex body representing the automobile industry, would soon submit two white papers on hybrid and alternative fuel vehicles to the Centre.

SIAM had earlier submitted a white paper on electric vehicles to the Ministry of Heavy Engineering.

"We are shortly going to submit two white papers on hybrid and alternative fuel vehicles to the government. A white paper on electric vehicles has been been already submitted," deputy director general of SIAM, Sugato Sen, told reporters here today.

He said SIAM was of the view that the automobile industry needed a stable policy in future, as a number of manufacturers were struggling to shift from Euro IV to Euro VI standards, and also many of them were moving onto electric vehicles.

Announcing the bi-annual Auto Expo to be held in Greater Noida from February 9-14, SIAM said a number of companies would showcase their electric vehicle technology at the exhibition.

More than 100 companies would participate in the expo along with 24 product launches, Sen said, adding the new participants were KIA Motors, Kawasaki and Cleveland.

He said the fiscal 2017-18 would witness a nine per cent growth in passenger vehicles in the country.

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A city-based lawyers' association today filed a public interest litigation in the Bombay High Court against the CBI decision not to challenge a lower court order discharging BJP president Amit Shah in the Sohrabuddin Shaikh fake encounter case.

In the PIL, the Bombay Lawyers Association has urged the high court to issue a direction to the CBI to file revision application challenging the sessions court order discharging Shah.

The petitioner's lawyer Ahmad Abidi said the plea would be mentioned before a division bench of justices S C Dharmadhikari and Bharti Dangre on January 22.

"The CBI is a premier investigating agency. It has public duty to observe the rule of law in its action which it has miserably failed," the petition said.

It submitted that the trial court had similarly discharged two Rajasthan Police Sub Inspectors Himanshu Singh and Shyam Singh Charan and senior Gujarat Police officer N K Amin.

"The petitioner has learnt that the CBI has challenged their discharge before the high court. This act of the CBI in challenging discharge of the accused persons on selective basis is arbitrary and unreasonable, rather malafide," it alleged.

The petition claimed that the Supreme Court, while transferring the trial in the case from Gujarat to Mumbai, had ordered that it to be concluded expeditiously.

"The Supreme Court had said the Administrative Committee of the high court would assign the case to a court where the trial may be concluded judiciously, in accordance with the law, and without any delay. The Administrative Committee would also ensure that the trial should be conducted from beginning to end by the same officer, the apex court had said in its order," it said.

Sohrabuddin Shaikh, alleged to be a terrorist, was killed in an alleged fake encounter by the Gujarat and Rajasthan police along with his wife Kauser Bi and his associate Tulsi Prajapati in 2005.

The CBI took over the probe into the case in February 2010 and filed its charge sheet in July the same year against 23 accused including Amit Shah, who at that time was the minister of state for home in Gujarat.

The trial court over a period of time discharged several accused in the case, including three IPS officers.

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Moderate Hurriyat Conference chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq today expressed concern over the loss of lives in heavy mortar shelling on either side of the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir, saying the soldiers from both the sides becoming "cannon fodder" was a consequence of the unresolved Kashmir issue.

Two civilians and a BSF jawan were today killed and 23 others, including 2 BSF men,were injured in heavy mortar shelling by Pakistan, along the International Border, in three districts of Jammu and Kashmir.

"Each day, civilians, including children, on both the sides of the LoC are being killed and are becoming the target of the unresolved Kashmir conflict, which is very sad and painful," he said.

"The soldiers also become cannon fodder of this hate as a consequence of the lingering Kashmir dispute," the Mirwaiz told a Friday congregation at the Jamia Masjid here.

He said that these soldiers, on either side, belong to the poor segment of the society and join the forces to make a living and support their poor families.

The Hurriyat chairman said it was strange that both India and Pakistan boast of killing each other's soldiers and swear to avenge the deaths, which leads to more killings and destruction.

"This senselessness and bloodshed is given the name of nationalism and defence of national honour," he said.

The Mirwaiz appealed to India and Pakistan to end these killings.

"The only beneficiaries of this death and destruction are those who provide the arms and ammunition for this mayhem," he added.

The Hurriyat chairman urged the two nuclear neighbours to give up confrontation and come to a dialogue table to resolve the Kashmir dispute.

On the 29th anniversary of the exodus of the Kashmiri Pandit community from the Valley, the Mirwaiz appealed to them to return to their roots.

The Mirwaiz said the migration of the Kashmiri Pandits was a human issue and it makes all the "Kashmiris sad that they are away from their motherland and yearn to come back".

"Kashmir belongs to them as much as it does to Muslims and we want to share our future together," he said.

The separatist leader said that the demand for the right of self-determination was for each inhabitant of Jammu and Kashmir as they have an equal right to have their say in its future dispensation.

"On the call of the joint resistance leadership (JRL), a joint platform of separatist outfits, a peaceful protest was held outside the Jamia Masjid against the state terrorism and tactics adopted by the NIA and Enforcement Directorate," Mirwaiz said.

The protesters denounced the allegations against the Hurriyat leadership filed in NIA charge sheet, he said.

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Indigo Airlines today told the Delhi High Court that some headway has been made in its meeting with IGI airport operator DIAL to resolve the issues related to partial shifting of its flights as well as those of GoAir and Spicejet from Terminal-1 (T-1) to T-2 of Delhi's aviation hub.

IndiGo counsel told a bench of Justices Hima Kohli and Rekha Palli that more time should be given as there was a likelihood of an amicable resolution of the issue.

Pursuant to this submission by senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for IndiGo, the court listed the matter for further hearing on January 24.

The bench, however, made it clear that if there was no resolution of the issues, no further accommodation would be given to either side.

It also told both the sides, the airline and Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL), to be ready with sector wise break up of their flights and passengers, if there was no resolution of the issue by the next date.

The court on January 18 had given a "last opportunity" to DIAL and all the three airlines to sit and resolve the issues relating to partial shifting of their flights T-1 to T-2 of IGI airport.

Aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), on the last date had told the court that while IndiGo flew 12.7 million passengers per annum (mppa) between April 1 to December 31, 2017, Spicejet and GoAir's traffic load was 3.7 and over 2 mppa.

DGCA had given the information in pursuance to the court's earlier direction to provide details of the number of passengers who flew on these airlines to and from Delhi in this period.

The direction came during the hearing of an appeal by IndiGo against a single judge's December 20 last year order upholding the decision of the DIAL to partially shift its operations from T-1 to T-2.

IndiGo had contended that the decision would cause "complete confusion and inconvenience" to passengers and virtually have the effect of destroying its business.

It had said in view of T-2's operational capacity, both GoAir and Spicejet, keeping in view their traffic load and operations as per data provided by DIAL, could be accommodated there and Indigo could continue operating from T-1.

DIAL had rubbished IndiGo's claims and said there was no error in the single judge's order.

On October 21 last year, DIAL had asked the three airlines to shift their flights to and from Delhi to Mumbai, Kolkata and Bengaluru, to T-2 from January 4. All other flights of the airlines shall continue to operate from T-1, the airport operator had said.

While upholding DIAL's decision, the single judge had given the airlines time till February 15 to partially shift their operations.

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Former Union minister Jairam Ramesh has kicked up a debate on the issue of governance in BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh, saying a division of the state would become inevitable due to its size and large population.

Delivering the second V Ramachandran Memorial Lecture, organised by the Centre for Management Development here yesterday on "Reflections on India's demographic future", Ramesh said, "I for one believe that the reorganisation of Uttar Pradesh will become inevitable, sooner rather than later."



This was because a state with a population of over 400 million by the middle of the century "will simply become ungovernable, even with landslide mandates for the political party in power", he added.

Ramesh had played a key role in the division of Andhra Pradesh and creation of Telangana during the tenure of the previous Congress-led UPA government.

The Rajya Sabha MP said that over 60 years ago, a Keralite, Kavalam Madhava Panikkar, had written a dissent note in the States Reorganisation Commission report and advocated the breaking up of Uttar Pradesh.

He also claimed that the issue of delimitation of the parliamentary constituencies would present itself by 2026, if not earlier.

It would be highly iniquitous if the states that had succeeded in family planning ended up losing seats in Parliament and the states that had not curbed reproductive profligacy ended up increasing their numbers, the Congress leader said.

Referring to long-term population projections for individual states, Ramesh said the five south Indian states would see their combined share of population fall from the present level of about 15 per cent to around 12 per cent by the middle of the century.

He said the relative shares of the states would also undergo a considerable shift.

"In fact, the share of only four states in the country's population is expected to increase -- that of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. The share of all other states will almost certainly fall," he said.

The share of these four states would most likely increase from something like 40 per cent now to about 44 per cent by the middle of the century. This would have great implications for the country's political economy, Ramesh said.

He said Kerala's population was expected to peak at about 39 million by 2041 and start declining thereafter.

Tamil Nadu's population was expected to peak at about 78 million by 2041 and start declining thereafter, he added.

"The population of Karnataka and undivided Andhra Pradesh will begin to decline 2061 onwards. The other states will follow likewise in 2071 and 2081," Ramesh said.

According to him, as per the latest Total Fertility Rate trends and assuming that the pace of decline can be sustained, it does appear highly probable that India's population will begin to decline from 2081.

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The US has said that the status quo regarding continued terror safe havens in Pakistan is not acceptable and insisted that Islamabad join its efforts to bring a resolution to the conflict.

US Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan was speaking at a ministerial meeting of the Security Council at the UN headquarters in Afghanistan.

"We seek to work cohesively and effectively with Pakistan, but cannot be successful if the status quo, one where terrorist organisations are given sanctuary inside the country's borders, is allowed to continue," Sullivan told the meeting.

"Stability and prosperity in Afghanistan will benefit Pakistan as well, since it will enable a return of refugees and remove the ability of ISIS and other terror groups to operate against Pakistan from outside the country," he said.

"This is why Pakistan should join our efforts to bring a resolution to the conflict, also as spelled out in our South Asia strategy," Sullivan said.

Pakistan, he said, has suffered greatly from the effects of terrorism, and thus the country can and should be an integral partner in its shared efforts to achieve peace and stability within the region.

Sullivan rued that the international community has thus far fallen short in providing that kind of unified support to the Afghanistan government.

"We have even seen certain countries pursue counterproductive strategies that provide support to the Taliban in the name of countering ISIS. This approach is misguided, or worse, pernicious," he said.

"We can and must fight ISIS in Afghanistan, while ensuring the Taliban is forced to the negotiating table. Working closely with our Afghan partners, we have made significant progress against ISIS in eastern Afghanistan," Sullivan said.

"Together, we have maintained persistent pressure on ISIS, significantly reducing its territory and eliminating one-third of its fighters. Supporting the Taliban only serves to prolong the conflict and foster an unstable and insecure environment, one that ISIS exploits to threaten Afghanistan and the broader region," the top American diplomat said.

"Ultimately, to defeat ISIS in Afghanistan and prevent the group's spread across the region each country at this table must be aligned in the strategy, and in their commitment to follow-through. Ineffective strategies that enable insurgent groups must cease instead, they need to join together and provide unwavering support for the Afghan government," he said.

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The Telangana government today said it had signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Clean Authority of Tokyo in connection with municipal solid waste incineration.

"The government of Telangana and Clean Authority of Tokyo have signed an MoU for municipal solid waste incineration facilities. They will exchange knowledge in municipal solid waste incineration facilities and make an effort to realize human resource exchanges in view of technical cooperation in the future," an official release said.

According to the release, a Telangana business delegation to Japan, led by IT and Industries Minister KT Rama Rao, met industrial heads and leaders of multinational companies in Tokyo.

In a separate event in Tokyo, the state government and ISE Foods signed a letter of intent, as part of which, the Japanese firm would set up a pilot project for egg production in Telangana using advanced technologies, it said.

The firm will set up a solar park to support the egg production facility including the development of storage devices, officials said.

The Japanese company would also train people here in these advanced technologies, the release added.

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The Bombay High Court today asked the Maharashtra government to come up with a mechanism for constructing pothole-free roads taking into account the varying weather conditions in different parts of the state.

A division bench of Justices AS Oka and PN Deshmukh was hearing a public interest litigation on the poor condition of roads in the state and the failure of municipal corporations and councils to prevent and repair potholes.

The court said the government should step in and exercise its powers over municipal corporations and councils.

"What is the stand of the government on the technical aspect of road construction? The weather condition in Sindhurdurg is different from that in Wardha. Temperature in Wardha exceeds 40 deg C during summer. Therefore, the methods for building roads should be different. We want a proper mechanism," Justice Oka said.

The bench took note of the interim recommendations of a two-judge committee, set up by the High Court, on the issue of potholes.

The court would next hear the matter on February 9.

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Tata Trusts' Managing Trustee R Venkatramanan today moved the Bombay High Court against a sessions court order quashing summons issued to ousted Tata Group chairman Cyrus Mistry in connection with a defamation complaint filed by Venkatramanan.

A Mumbai sessions court, on December 26, had quashed the summons issued to Mistry and others in the Rs 500-crore defamation case.

A metropolitan magistrate's court had issued the summons in July 2017, directing Mistry and others to appear.

Venkatramanan's petition termed the sessions court's order as "arbitrary and illegal", saying the court exceeded its jurisdiction while examining the merits of the case.

The petition will come up for hearing before Justice Revati Mohite-Dere in due course, according to the high court roster.

Venkatramanan filed a criminal defamation complaint in the magistrate's court against Mistry and others last year for making "false" statements and sought Rs 500 crore as damages.

According to the complaint, after Mistry was ousted as the chairman of Tata Sons on October 24, 2016, he, in an e-mail to the directors and trustees of Tata Trusts, alleged that fraudulent transactions of Rs 22 crore had taken place at the group's aviation venture, AirAsia India, and accused Venkatramanan of having tried to cover them up.

The issue is now being probed by the Enforcement Directorate.

Venkatramanan said the e-mail, which was leaked to the media, caused "irreparable damage to his reputation".
Analysis of China's Sedan Sales in December 2017

Shanghai (Gasgoo)- According to the data released by China Passenger Car Association (CPCA), China's sedan sales reached 1,206,652 units in December, down 3.4% year on year. Due to the rising of SUV market shares, sedan sales accounted for 46.4% of the total sales of passenger vehicles in December, down 1.8% compared with November. The cumulative sedan sales reached 11,879,598 units with a year-on-year drop of 1.9% throughout 2017.



In December, German and American brands saw slight YoY sedan sales growth. Self-owned sedan brands boasted large YoY sales rise. Specifically, sales of self-owned sedans rose 11.58% year on year to 282,440 units, lagging behind German brands with a slight sales gap. Deliveries of German-branded sedans totaled 309,843 units with a YoY increase of 0.57%, taking up 25% shares of the sedan market. The Japanese sedans suffered 7.57% year-on-year drop to 226,501 units.

American-branded sedans reached sales of 225,857 units, up 1.62% over the previous year. Though American-branded sedans followed Japanese-branded sedans with sales gap less than 1,000 units, it posted smaller YoY sales growth compared with last month. Korean brands saw YoY sales drop and MoM sales growth in December to 121,571 units. Hyundai and KIA released small-size vehicles with lower entry-level prices, indicating that Korean brands will rival self-owned brands to snatch the market share in China. French-branded sedans deliveries were 30,274 units, slumping 45.78% compared with the same period last year.

As to segments, sales of A-class sedan took up 61% of the sedan segment market to 736,293 units. With nearly 30,000 units less than November sales, it suffered a year-on-year sales drop of 7.99%. 48,391 units of A00-class were sold in December, soaring 105.05% year on year. The A0-class sedan posted sales of 168,689 units, sliding 4.53% over the previous year. It also saw a month-on-month sales drop in December. The B-class sedan deliveries reached 204,498 units, down 0.73% year on year. The C-class reached 48,781units with an increase of 15.42% on an annual basis.

Among the top ten automakers by December sedan sales, SAIC-GM took the lead with deliveries of 161,525 units, up 9.8% year on year. FAW-VW ranked third with an apparent MoM drop but a year-on-year increase of 8.1% to 119,873 units. SAIC-VW endured a year-on-year sales fall of 11% to 141,187 units.

During December, six of the top ten automakers suffered YoY sales drop. With deliveries of 77,005 units in December, Dongfeng Nissan took the fourth place of the sedan sales among the top ten automakers, but has a large gap with the third automaker. Beijing Hyundai sold 74,735 units with a year-on-year slump of 23.8%, ranking fifth among the top ten. Dongfeng Yueda KIA delivered 46,836 sedans, dropping 22.4% year on year. Changan Ford posted deliveries of 64,332 units, a decrease of 14.4% on an annual basis, ranking sixth among the top ten. Geely Auto, with deliveries reaching 59,833 units, saw a year-on-year drop of 11%. Soaring 115.9% year on year, SGMW entered the top ten list with deliveries of 41,268 units. GAC Honda remained the tenth with deliveries of 37,786 units in December, down 11% year on year.

As to the top ten models by December sedan sales, the Lavida remained the sales champion with deliveries of 45,554 units, jumping 21.32% year on year. With a slight sales gap with the Lavia, the Sylphy was the second best-selling sedan with a YoY increase of 0.71% to 44,141 units. The new Excelle grabbed the third place of top ten models, growing 29.04% over the previous year to 40,939 units.

Notably, The Baojun 310, a self-owned brand model, with deliveries reaching 35,048 units in December, took the fourth place among the top ten, increasing 9.09% year on year.

Gasgoo's chart shows that sales of the last five models among the top ten remained large sales gap with the top five models. Sales of the Cavalier soared 44.1% year on year to 21,379 units, bottoming the top ten models. Another popular self-owned model, the Emgrand EC7 saw its ranking improvement with sales reached 22,090 units in December.
After a hiatus of six years, Tamil Nadu government today hiked the fares of buses under State run transport corporations and private entities approximately by 20 to 54.54 per cent, saying it was inevitable.

Significantly, the government also announced a fund for accident compensation and prevention, besides a panel to go into restructuring of bus fares in future.

Effective from tomorrow, the fare has been hiked for buses across categories viz moffusil, city, ordinary, express, deluxe, bypass-non-stop, ultra deluxe, airconditioned and Volvo modes, an official release said.

While the minimum hike is in moffusil ordinary category, where the fare of Rs 5 for 10 km would now be Rs 6 (20 per cent hike), the highest is in Volvo buses, where the fare of Rs 33 for 30 km will now go up to Rs 51 (54.54 per cent hike).

In town buses the fare has been hiked from a minimum of Rs 3 to Rs 5 and the maximum from Rs 12 to Rs 19.

The government cited a host of factors for the hike, including increase in fuel price and maintenance, annual increment in salaries, pension and purchase of new buses to increase efficiency.

Defending the hike, it said the last time fares were increased was on November 18, 2011 when diesel cost Rs 43.10, whereas the price now was Rs 65.83.

The government also cited data to claim that the fares, despite the increase, was lesser than in neighbouring states, including Andhra Pradesh.

A recent interim direction of the Madras High Court in a transport related petition was also cited to support the decision to effect a hike in fares.

The government quoted the interim order as saying, "data furnished in the supporting affidavit shows that the present bus fare is inadequate to meet,even the operational cost."



The court had also said "with the existing funds and resources, maintenance cost, debt, loss and such other economic factors ...the need to revise bus fare, appears to be inevitable, though it may cause inconvenience."



The government said that since 2000 till date, Karnataka had hiked the fare 16 times, while Andhra Pradesh and Kerala had done so eight times.

In the past seven years, the Tamil Nadu government gave Rs 12,059.17 crore subsidy to State-run transport corporations to help them tackle the fund crunch.

These corporations have so far incurred a recurring loss of Rs 20,488 crore, the government said.

"Though the increase in fare was avoided so far,it is now inevitable so as to tackle the fund cruch and to continue to give the people a good transport service," the release said.

In a significant step, the government said an integrated 'Accident prevention, compensation and toll fee fund' would be set up, under which speed governors would be installed in long distance express buses as part of accident prevention efforts.

Private transport entities will be permitted to establish similar funds.

Unlike neighbouring states, the fare in Tamil Nadu presently does not cover insurance and toll fee components.

Henceforth, the fare will cover an integrated component of accident insurance and toll fee as well, it said.

From a minimum of Rs 1 (upto Rs 25 fare) a maximum of Rs 10 will be levied (for fares above Rs 501) for this purpose.

Defending its decision, the government said since timely compensation for accidents was not provided, as many as 652 State-run transport corporation buses were under court attachment proceedings. Also, the state transport corporations spent an average of Rs 12 crore per month towards toll fee.

A new accident compensation fund will ensure that victims (or their kin in case of death) would be provided compensation ranging between Rs 2.5 to Rs five lakh immediately, it said.

For those injured, it would be between Rs 10,000 to Rs two lakh depending upon the nature of injuries and duration of hospitalisation. For those who suffer permanent disability or head injury, the compensation will be Rs five lakh, it said.

The government said restructuring of fares in future would be done by a committee of senior government officials based on computation involving indices covering fuel price hike,changes in maintenance and repair cost and increment in salaries.

There are eight State run transport corporations in Tamil Nadu with 22,509 buses, employing 1,40,615 personnel.

Workers of Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC) owing allegiance to 17 trade unions,including those affiliated to DMK and Left parties, had gone strike on January 4 after failure of talks with the government on wage revision.

While unions wanted a 2.57 times hike, the government offered only 2.44, resulting in a stalemate.

The strike severely crippled public sector bus services, causing immense hardship to public, including office-goers in cities though the government tried to maintain services by roping in temporary drivers and private buses.

The AIADMK backed union, besides some others, had not participated in the protests.

the unions had called off the strike on January 11 after the Madras High Court appointed an arbitrator to settle their wage dispute with the government.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Telecom regulator Trai today recommended allowing mobile phone calls and internet services like wi-fi on domestic and international flights in India.

Trai recommended to the government that inflight mobile telephony and internet services can be allowed, using satellite and terrestrial network but after providing a mechanism for lawful interception and monitoring of wi-fi in aircraft cabins to ensure safety.

The recommendation will now go to the telecom ministry for further decision and implementation of the services.

"The authority recommends that both, Internet and Mobile Communication on Aircraft (MCA) service should be permitted as In-Flight Connectivity (IFC) in the Indian airspace," Trai said in its recommendations on 'In-Flight Connectivity' (IFC).

The Department of Telecom had sought views of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) on August 10, 2017, over proposal to introduce voice, data and video services over Indian airspace for domestic, international and overflying flights in Indian air space.

The regulator said that Internet services through wi-fi onboard should be made available when electronic devices are permitted to be used only in-flight or airplane mode and announcement regarding this should be made after boarding is completed and the aircraft is about to taxi.

The regulator recommended creation of an IFC Service Provider for IFC services at annual licence fee of Re 1 only initially, after entering into an arrangement with telecom licence holder having appropriate authorisation.

The regulator said that the IFC service provider should be permitted to use either INSAT systems (Indian Satellite System or foreign satellite capacity leased through Department of Space) or foreign satellites outside INSAT systems in the Indian airspace.

"The deployment of a gateway in India provides an effective mechanism to lawfully intercept and monitor the in- cabin Internet traffic while the aircraft is in Indian airspace. Therefore, the onboard Internet traffic must be routed to a Satellite Gateway on Indian soil," Trai recommended.

It added that routing of traffic through satellite gateway in India should be imposed regardless of whether the satellite in question is an Indian satellite system or not.

"The operation of MCA services should be permitted with minimum height restriction of 3,000 meters in Indian airspace for its compatibility with terrestrial mobile networks," Trai recommended.

Trai said that for mobile services, there should be flexibility to IFC service providers in terms of use of technology and frequencies inside the aircraft cabin that should be consistent with international standards, provided no harmful interference is caused.

During the consultation rounds held by Trai, Reliance Jio had proposed that besides satellite connectivity, IFC can be provided using cellular network as well.

International satellite players also expressed willingness to set-up gateway in India if IFC service is allowed.

"We continually review our product offerings and this will be reviewed as part of that process as well," a spokesperson for full service carrier Vistara said when asked about the Trai recommendations.

"There will be 1 billion passengers journeys on planes (about a quarter of the total) will be on aircraft equipped with in-flight connectivity (IFC). It will be a wonderful service for the traveller as it will help them to use their time productively and be in touch with their near and dear ones but the downside could be the noise level in flight could be increased," Deloitte India, Partner, Hemant Joshi said.

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US President Donald Trump will meet British Prime Minister Theresa May in Davos next week on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum meeting, the White House said.

Trump is scheduled to travel next week for the first participation by a US president to this meeting of world economic leaders in nearly two decades.

"President Trump looks forward to having a bilateral meeting with UK Prime Minister May in Davos next week to further strengthen the USUK Special Relationship," White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said.

Sanders's statement in this regard indicated that there has been no change in Trump's Davos travel plan in view of a government shutdown beginning Saturday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is also scheduled to attend the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos.

The two leaders are unlikely to have a meeting in Davos mainly because of their different days of attendance at the forum meeting.

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Two motorcycle borne miscreants snatched Rs 3 lakh from a CISF jawan when he was returning home after withdrawing the money from a bank in Begusarai district today.

Sadar Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) Mithilesh Kumar said the incident occurred when Surendra Rai, CISF jawan, was walking back home with the money he had withdrawn from a local state-run bank.

The incident happened barely a few meters away from the bank, he added.

Town police station SHO Sunil Kumar said that CISF jawan is a resident of Rajaura village under the jurisdiction of Mufassil police station of the district.

Rai filed an FIR with the town police station, he said, adding, efforts were on to nab the culprits.

The investigating officers are going through CCTV footage to ascertain the identities of the culprits, the SHO added.

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The leaders of Britain and France met against a military backdrop to pledge closer cooperation on defense, security, and borders after Britain leaves the European Union.

But President Emmanuel Macron also delivered a firm message: the UK cannot keep coveted access to the European Union for its financial sector after Brexit unless it continues to play by the bloc's rules once it leaves.

"The choice is on the British side, not on my side," Macron said at a joint news conference with British Prime Minister Theresa May on Thursday.

"If you want access to the single market -- including the financial services -- be my guest," he said. "But it means that you need to contribute to the budget and acknowledge European jurisdiction."



May said Britain would be leaving the single market, but wanted a free-trade deal with the bloc covering both goods and services. She said London would remain a major financial centre after Brexit.

The visit, Macron's first to Britain since he won the French presidency in May 2017, was aimed at strengthening security and intelligence ties between nations that are both neighbors and historic rivals, and building goodwill as Britain negotiates its exit from the EU.

The venue -- the Sandhurst military academy southwest of London -- was selected as a signal that the relationship between western Europe's two biggest military powers won't be weakened once the UK leaves the EU in March 2019.

May treated the French leader to a pub lunch of crab and duck breast, followed by a serving of British military pomp. Macron was greeted at the Sandhurst officer-training academy by a band and troops from the Coldstream Guards in gray coats and bearskin hats.

Amid a sudden hailstorm, Macron and May inspected the honor guard before taking a salute from soldiers on horseback.

Senior ministers from the two countries attended the one-day meeting and signed agreements on everything from space exploration to tackling online extremism.

In a significant gesture, May offered millions to ease French annoyance over a 2003 deal that placed British border controls in the northern French port of Calais. The town has become a magnet for migrants hoping to reach Britain, and the accord puts the burden of blocking their entry to the UK on France.

Alongside a new treaty aimed at better management of their joint border, Britain agreed to pay $62 million for fences, security cameras, and other measures in Calais and nearby English Channel ports. France also wants Britain to take in more migrants from Calais, especially unaccompanied children.

May pointedly declined to give a number of migrants that Britain would take when asked by journalists at a joint press conference. Instead, she stressed the need to clamp down on people smugglers and take other measures to stop migrants from getting to Calais.

Macron said the treaty would mean "smarter and more efficient management of the border" and a more efficient, humane processing system for migrants.

The UK also said it will send three Royal Air Force Chinook helicopters and dozens of personnel to join France's military mission against Islamic militants in Africa's Sahel region. France has led efforts to fight al-Qaida and IS-linked jihadi groups in the vast region south of the Sahara desert.

The leaders of the five main UK and French spy agencies also met for the first time, as the two countries seek to increase intelligence-sharing. France and Britain have both faced a string of violent attacks by extremists inspired or directed by the Islamic State group.

May said the UK-French summit "will underline that we remain committed to defending our people and upholding our values as liberal democracies in the face of any threat, whether at home or abroad."



In a boost to Macron, Britain is throwing its backing behind the European Intervention Initiative, a multinational European military force that the French president has proposed. He also wants a common European defense budget and security doctrine.

In return, France will send troops to join a UK-led NATO battle group in Estonia in 2019, aimed at countering an increasingly assertive Russia.

Macron also came with the news that France will loan Britain the Bayeux Tapestry, an 11th-century panorama depicting the Norman conquest of England.

Macron said that despite Brexit, "we are facing common challenges and sharing the same destiny."



"We are somehow making a new tapestry together," he said.
Insurgent outfit United Liberation Front of Asom (Independent) and its leader Paresh Baruah were 'outdated' now, said former Union Home Secretary G K Pillai who had been negotiator between the pro-talks faction of the ULFA and the Centre.

The ULFA(I) is carrying out certain activities with the support of NSCN (K) in upper Assam but thous would bear no fruit, Pillai said.

"The ULFA(I) and its commander-in-chief Paresh Baruah were outdated and he is running the group in the name of revolution by using some youths of the region with a misguided concept," the former union home secretary said.

Pillai, who came to Assam to attend the All Bodo Student Union's Golden Jubilee celebrations at Batachipur in Dhekiajuli district, was talking to mediapersons yesterday.

He had been the mediator for several rounds of negotiation between ULFA pro-talk faction and the central government and met their leaders in jail.

The Paresh Baruah led faction was named ULFA (Independent) in April 2013.

To a query on Pakistan, Pillai said the neighbouring country's intention is to create disturbance in India.

He also suggested that the government set up border outposts on the Sino-India border areas.

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Union Minister Jayant Sinha conducted a surprise inspection at the city airport here and expressed satisfaction over measures taken up by authorities under the Centre's 'Swachch Bharat' campaign.

The minister of state for civil aviation shared pictures of himself on social media, inspecting the premises and also visiting toilets and trolley area at the airport.

"Conducted a surprise cleanliness inspection at the @aaichnairport. Gratifying to see our facilities are adhering to @swachhbharat objectives", he wrote on Twitter.

The Ministersaid that adopting VIP culture at the airport was "strict no", holding that airport premises were "equal for all".

"Airport premises and amenities are equal for all. Practicing VIP culture is a strict No!", he said in another tweet.

Before winding up his brief visit to the city, Sinha also shared picture of him with an artwork at the airport, displaying the harvest festival Pongal in the background.

"Art and culture are synonymous with India. Beautiful artwork on display at @aaichnairport showcasing the festival of Pongal and our traditions", he said.

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A federal court in the US today imposed a USD5million civil penalty on the North America subsidiary of India's Dr Reddy Laboratories for distributing prescription drugs in blister packs that were not child resistant, the Department of Justice said.

"Dr Reddys failed to ensure that children were protected from potentially harmful prescription drugs," said Acting Assistant Attorney General Chad A Readler of the Justice Department's Civil Division.

The court in New Jersey imposed the fine after a complaint that Dr Reddy Laboratories (DRL) failed to comply with the Poison Prevention Packaging Act (PPPA) and the Consumer Product Safety Act (CPSA).

"Child-resistant packaging is a critical safety measure put in place to protect our country's children, said CPSC Acting Chairman Ann Marie Buerkle.

In addition to the USD 5million civil penalty, the consent decree generally enjoins DRL from distributing household oral prescription drugs in violation of the PPPA and CPSA.

The injunction further requires DRL to maintain internal controls and procedures designed to ensure timely, truthful, complete and accurate reporting to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) as requiredby law.

Under the terms of the consent decree, DRL will implement a compliance programme designed to ensure compliance with the PPPA and the CPSA.

The Department of Justice filed a complaint in the District of New Jersey on December 18, 2017 on behalf of the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

It was alleged that DRL knowingly violated the CPSA with respect to household oral prescription drugs in blister packs that were not child resistant as required by the PPPA.

According to the complaint, DRL distributed such prescription drugs until 2012, despite being previously warned by its employees that the blister packs had not been tested for PPPA compliance and that certain blister packs were expected to fail the child test protocol.

In addition, the complaint alleged that DRL failed to notify the CPSC "immediately", as required by law, that its products were not compliant with the PPPA, that the products contained a defect presenting a substantial product hazard, and that the products created an unreasonable risk of serious injury or death.

It alleged that DRL failed to certify that its products were in conformance with the PPPA.

In agreeing to settle this matter, DRL has not admitted that it violated the law.

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The US has expressed concern over Islamabad's decision to shut down the US-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's Pashto-language station for airing content "against the interest of Pakistan".

"We have seen these reports and have expressed our concerns to the government of Pakistan. We are closely monitoring the situation," a State Department Spokesperson told PTI.

"The US supports media freedom around the world. An active and independent press is a cornerstone of democratic governance," the spokesperson said.

Radio Mashaal was established in 2010 by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, which is funded by the US government to provide an alternative to extremist propaganda in the tribal regions along Pakistan's border with Afghanistan, reaching audiences that are otherwise subject to the "mullah" radio of Taliban extremists and the recruitment efforts of other militant groups.

A day earlier, Pakistan's Interior Ministry had asked to close down the radio after Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) alleged that its programmes are "against the interest of Pakistan" and "in line with (a) hostile intelligence agencys agenda."



The allegations have been refuted by REF/RL.

"Radio Mashaal serves no intelligence agency or government, said RFE/RL president Thomas Kent.

"Our reporters are Pakistani citizens who are dedicated to their country and live and raise families in the villages in which they report. We demand that their safety be ensured, and that they be permitted to resume their work without fear or delay," Kent said.

New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists in a statement called on Pakistani authorities to immediately reverse the order issued to close the Islamabad bureau of Radio Mashaal.

"The order to close Radio Mashaal's office in Islamabad is a draconian move by Pakistani authorities and a direct threat to press freedom in the country," Steven Butler, CPJs Asia Program Coordinator, said from Washington DC.

"Radio Mashaal is an important source of information in Pakistan and should be allowed to continue operating in the country without further harassment from the government," he said.

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The US government today edged closer to a potential shutdown after Senate Democrats angered by a lack of progress on a broader budget and immigration deal threatened to block a short-term extension of a spending bill to keep federal offices open.

After the House last night passed the measure, 230 to 197, with strong Republican support, the bill was headed for probable defeat in the Senate amid opposition from most Democrats and a few Republicans.

Democrats are rejecting the package because it lacks an immigration deal to protect so-called Dreamers from deportation.

To avoid a government shutdown, the Senate needs to pass the short-term spending approving government funding through February 16 and then it needs to be signed by the US President Donald Trump.

The passage of the bill and the presidential approval has to be done before midnight today, otherwise the working of the federal government would come to a standstill.

Hundreds and thousands of employees would have to stay at home without pay. Overseas, visa and passport services could be closed.

Except for those involved in national security and national emergency would, everyone would have to stay at home.

House Speaker Paul Ryan urged the Democratic Senators to avoid a government shutdown.

"Whether there is a government shutdown or not is entirely up to them. (Senate Minority Leader) Senator (Chuck) Schumer, do not shut down the federal government. It is risky, it is reckless and it is wrong," he told reporters.

"We want to move forward, we want to get something done, we dont want to keep kicking the can down the road," Schumer said.

Meanwhile, the State Department said that it is putting in place prudent management of this.

The Secretary's office is reviewing all the available options as to how it should handle some of the decision-making going forward, if this were to happen, if there were to be a government shutdown.

"We will be prepared for all contingencies including the possibility of a lapse. That would mean a government shutdown," State Department Spokesperson Heather Nauert told reporters.

The Office of Management and Budget, has requested that all agencies determine ways to minimise the impact on the American people, she said.

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Edgar Kagan, US consul general for Mumbai, today said that his country's relationship with India should stand on its own.

"For many years, one of the things that we heard from India is importance of delinking India and Pakistan from US perspective," Kagan said, talking to reporters after meeting Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar here.

The US' relationship with India is independent of its relationship with Pakistan and vice versa, he said.

"I would like to see more delinking relationship, I would like to see our relationship with India to stand on its own regardless of what happens with Pakistan and vice versa," he said.

"When you look at the US-India relationship...to my mind what's striking is that this sort of improvement in ties goes back to 1999-2000.

"For us it started under President Bill Clinton and under Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee for India. In the US, we are now on our fourth President who has made real efforts to really focus on improving relationship," Kagan added.

In both countries, both main parties are committed to improving the relationship, he noted.

"....this is not the property of one person, or one party on either side. This is bi-partisan with India's two major parties and multiple prime ministers and multiple presidents from the two US parties all showing a commitment to improving the relationship," he said.

To a question on Indian students who increasingly flock to US universities, Kagan said, "We want to see more people study in the US. We welcome them. We are happy with the increase in the number of Indian students in the US which is somewhere 12 per cent in 2015-16.

"Indians are the second-largest group studying in US. We want to see more of that. We want to make sure that they are going to good educational institutions and they are qualified," he added.

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The Trump administration is considering a plan to move the US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem as early as next year, rather than waiting for several years.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has said previously that planning is under way for a new facility in Jerusalem that will take at least three years.

In the meantime, three US officials say Tillerson may designate an existing US consular building in West Jerusalem as the interim embassy.

The officials say Tillerson hasn't made a decision.

The officials weren't authorised to discuss the situation by name and demanded anonymity.

Two of the officials say Vice President Mike Pence is pushing the State Department to accept the proposal quickly so Pence can announce it while in Israel. Pence departs Friday for the Middle East.

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Supreme Court judge Justice Deepak Gupta today said that judgements passed by the apex court may not suit everyone but they should be respected.

His remarks assume significance in the present day scenario when some activist-lawyers have questioned some of the recent verdicts of rejection of PILs by casting aspersions on the judges.

Justice Gupta, speaking at the 14th K K Luthra memorial moot court held at the Delhi University, also advised the budding lawyers to learn law in a systematic manner so that in future they may become expert on criminal law.

While referring to various apex court verdicts, the judge said that all judgements may not suit everyone but they should have a respect for the highest court of the country.

While paying homage to Luthra, Justice Gupta said he was the symbol of courage, spirit and values.

The three-day event, which started today and would end on January 21, was organised at DU's Campus Law Centre and this year's programme focuses on regime change and how the criminal process can respond.

This year, the competition has received participation from 72 institutions from India and abroad and the teams shortlisted are from 52 institutions including NLSIU, Bangalore, NALSAR, Hyderabad, Symbiosis Law School and ILS, Pune.

Besides the apex court judge, Additional Solicitor General Pinky Anand, DU Vice Chancellor Yogesh Tyagi, CLC professor-in-charge Usha Tandon, dean of law faculty Ved Kumari, convenor of moot court society Parikshet Sirohi and Luthra family members were also present at the programme.

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BJP general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya today claimed that there is an "international conspiracy" which is fuelling discontent among the Dalits.

Speaking to reporters here, he said, "The discontent among the Dalits is being fuelled as part of an international conspiracy. Some forces do not want unity in the society. We all need to be on alert on this issue."



When asked, he didn't specify who he meant by "forces". "There are several such forces, who would be exposed at the right time," he said.

Some political parties, now marginalised by people, too are trying to incite the Dalits, he said.

Recently, Maharashtra witnessed strong Dalit protests over violence at Koregaon Bhima in Pune district.

On the Rajput organisation Karani Sena's protest against Sanjay Leela Bhansali's film "Padmaavat", Vijayvargiya said, "Filmmakers should avoid making films on subjects which tarnish the image of any community. Social sentiments should be respected.

"I will not say anything either in favour or against the call for boycott of the film. Law and order should be maintained....Constitution and the court should be respected," he added.

The Supreme Court yesterday paved the way for the nation-wide release of the film by staying notifications issued by some states banning its screening.

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A wanted militant commander who was involved in a number of attacks and carried a Rs five-lakh bounty on his head was arrested here today, police said.

Sadiq Shah, belonging to the banned militant outfit of Lashkar-e-Islam, was apprehended by Khyber Pakthunkwa Police's Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) near the main gate of Khyber Teaching Hospital.

Shah was wanted in a number of terror attacks in Sarband and Pishtakhara areas of Peshawar district, police said.

He carried a bounty of 5 lakh rupees, they said.

The CTD shifted the militant commander to an unknown location for further interrogation, police said.

Peshawar, the capital of the restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, has seen many terror attacks, including the horrific 2014 attack on an army-run school in which nearly 150 people, mostly children, were killed on December 16.

The terror activities intensified in the province when the Taliban began an unsuccessful attempt to seize the control of the province in 2004.

Pakistan security forces launched operation Zarb-e-Azb against the Taliban militants.

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Moved by the plight of women whose husbands were killed by tigers in the Sunderbans, the West Bengal government today said it would join hands with social oganisation Sulabh International to ameliorate the miseries of the 'tiger widows'.

According to reports over 1000 men were killed by tigers in the Sunderbans forest in the past few years when they ventured inside the dense mangrove forest in the absence of toilets in their homes and for collecting wood and honey.

The hapless widows have been branded as 'swami-kheko" (husband eaters) by their superstitious in-laws.

The Sunderbans, which is the world's largest mangrove forest located between India and Bangladesh, has attained the dubious distinction of being home to a large number of widows.

The initiative was announced at the day-long 'Workshop on the Emancipation and Empowerment of Widows' held by Raja Ram Mohan Roy and Pandit Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar Foundation here.

About 12 widows from the Sunderbans attended the function. Besides them widows from Nabadwip in West Bengal and from Vrindavan and Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh were present at the workshop which deliberated on the plight of women whose husbands were dead and ways to erase the social stigma attached to them.

Among the personalities present at the programme were Subrata Mukherjee the West Bengal public health engineering and panchayat minister, Sashi Panja the minister of state for women and child development, Sulabh International founder Bindeshwar Pathak and Niladri Banerjee, descendant of legendry 19th century social reformer Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, who had pioneered widow remarriage.

Mukerjee lamented that even after so many years since Independence the condition of the widows is poor.

He hailed the initiative of Sulabh International to work for the welfare of the Sunderbans widows and said that the state government would cooperate with it.

Panja too appreciated the Sulabh International initiative and emphasised on changing the people's mindset towards widows.

"Laws exist but a real change in the fortune of widows can be achieved only by changing the mindset of the people towards these hapless women," Panja said and promised to work in tandem with Sulabh International for widows of the Sunderbans and other areas of West Bengal.

Pathak expressed his sorrow over the fate of the 'tiger widows' and said Sulabh International would work with the state government to improve their lots and make them financially strong.

Pathak said that instead of using the term 'vidhwa' (widow) these women should be addressed as 'saheli' (friend) to erase the social stigma attached to them.

Banerjee, who is a lecturer of Physics at the University of Cambridge, expressed sorrow that even after more than 150 years of enactment of Hindu Widow Remaariage Act of 1856 social evils remain in the society.

Vidyasagar's descendant said he would associate himself with Sulabh initiative for widows in the Sunderbans and other parts of West Bengal.

Sulabh International, a noted NGO in the field of sanitation, has earn praise for working for the widows of Vrindavan.

The organisation is working for their welfare to pay its respect to a wish of the Supreme Court which had in 2012 asked National Legal Service Authority (NALSA) to see if Sulabh could help the widows of Vrindavan.

Pathak said since August 2012 Sulabh International has been providing a monthly stipend of Rs 2000 to nearly 800 widows living in the ashrams in Vrindavan. In addition they are provided regular medical assistance and an honourable funeral in case of death.

They are also provided training in computer and trades like tailoring, knitting, machine embroidery and incense stick manaufacturing to make them economically independent.

Sulabh on its part markets their products.

Karuna Mondal of Hiranmoypur village in Basanti area of the Sunderbans, whose husband was killed by a tiger 10 years ago when he had gone to collect honey in the forest, expressed happiness over initiative. Saraswati Chowkidar and Sheela Chowkidar, who too hail from Sunderbans, echoed similar views.

They said there are more than 1000 widows like them in the Sunderbans who are struggling hard to survive. Over 200 of them are under the age of 25.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Pakistan has a twisted mindset, Union Minister of State for Home Hansraj Ahir today said, and asserted India will respond with 10 bullets for every bullet fired by the neighbouring country.

"Sending terrorists into India, violating ceasefire has become their (Pakistan's) nature. They have a twisted mindset. Be it our home ministry, defence ministry or the Jammu and Kashmir police, everybody has to keep co-ordinating and give reply to Pakistan's misadventures," Ahir said, speaking to reporters in Yavatmal, Maharashtra.

"The home minister has said we should not fire the first bullet. But if one bullet is fired from their side, we should respond with 10," he said.

Two civilians and a BSF jawan were today killed and 23 others, including 2 BSF men,were injured in a heavy mortar shelling by Pakistan along the International Border in three districts of Jammu and Kashmir, officials said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Several police personnel posted close to the International Border (IB) escaped narrowly when shells came flying thick and exploded in the compound of their post in the Samba district of Jammu and Kashmir today.

However, a woman who had come for vacations was injured in shelling, and lost her life.

There was a narrow escape for policemen numbering eight to nine when shells from across the border exploded on the back side of the police post in the Kamore area of IB in Ramgarh sector, a senior police officer told PTI.

The police personnel were sitting on the front side of the post when mortar shells fired by Pakistan exploded near the back wall of the post resulting in splinter hits to the building, he said.

However, 17-year-old Neelam Devi was not as lucky to escape the border shelling.

A resident of Kathua district, Devi, had come to spend a few days of vacation at her maternal home in Pindi in R S Pura when shells exploded close to her causing severe injuries. She later died, officials said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Zipping down the swanky six-lane will come at a price from mid-night on Friday as vehicles using the route will have to pay toll tax.

The Yogi Adityanath government has fixed toll rates for vehicles using the 302 kilometre long expressway, which even boasts of a 3.3 km airstrip that defence aircraft can use as a runway during emergency.

The toll will vary from vehicle to vehicle and will be applicable on vehicles travelling from both sides, a state government spokesperson said on Friday.

"The rates have been fixed at Rs 570 for car, jeep, van or light motor vehicles; Rs 905 for light commercial vehicle or mini bus; Rs 1,815 for bus and truck; Rs 2,785 for heavy construction work machine and multi-axle vehicle (3 to 6) and Rs 3,575 for over-sized vehicle (7 and above axles)," he said.

The toll will be same from both the sides but it will be proportional to the distance travelled by the commuters, the official said.

Justifying more tax for as compared to the Lucknow-Kanpur-Agra National Highway, an official of the UP Expressway Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA), explained that total distance covered by the national highway is 364 km and toll is Rs 390.

Whereas, the is just 302 km long and travelling by this road costs less because of less consumption of fuel and it saves time too, he said.

The government notification has spared dignitaries like President of India, Prime Minister, Governor, Chief Minister, MPs, Legislators, Judges and Padma Award winners from paying toll tax.

The decision to levy toll tax was taken in a high-level meeting here last week.

The Indian Air Force has already tested the airstrip twice by landing and taking off its fighter jets, including Mirage, Sukhoi 30, MIG and C-130J Super Hercules four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft.

For the security of travellers, the UPEIDA has decided to set-up nine police stations along the expressway, built in record 22 months.

It will also station 'Dial 100' police interceptors and ambulances on the route to provide safe and secure routes to travellers.

Interestingly, as a goodwill gesture, the UPEIDA will offer a cup of tea to drivers of trucks and buses travelling at night. The purpose is to keep them awake during the journey, the official added.
By John GeddieSINGAPORE (Reuters) - (In January 13 story, Corrects to show that Sentek Marine & Trading's managing director issued a note to employees as an internal memo and not a public statement. Also makes clear that Sentek Marine & Trading has not been charged and its name does not appear in court documents. Corrects Sentek's spelling in 6th paragraph)A Singapore court last Saturday charged three men suspected of involvement in large-scale oil theft at Shell's biggest refinery, days after bringing charges against 11 under an extensive probe by authorities in the city state.The Singapore ...
HSBC Holdings Plc on Thursday agreed to pay $101.5 million to settle a US criminal probe into the rigging of currency transactions, which has already led the conviction of one of its former bankers. The payment includes a $63.1 million fine plus $38.4 million in restitution to a corporate client, according to a deferred prosecution agreement filed on Thursday with the US District Court in Brooklyn, New York. In the settlement with the US Department of Justice, HSBC also agreed to bolster its internal controls, and admitted and accepted responsibility for wrongdoing underlying ...
By Sudarshan VaradhanNEW DELHI (Reuters) - India will allow Coal India to build 11 new coal mines, the government said, a move that could increase annual production of the world's largest coal miner by two-fifths.The mines, in Odisha, Jharkhand and Bihar, are expected to operate at full capacity by 2022, Coal Minister Piyush Goyal told reporters.Coal India, which is 79 percent state-owned, had asked the government to grant it additional capacity.The new mines are expected to increase Coal India's annual production, which was 554 million tonnes in the year to March 2017, by 225 million tonnes. ...
By Anshuman DagaSINGAPORE (Reuters) - Singapore Exchange Ltd (SGX) is to allow companies to list with dual-class shares, a move which aims to attract blockbuster tech listings and follows a similar action by its Hong Kong rival.SGX's move is designed to make it the go-to-place for potential initial public offerings of Southeast Asian start-ups, such as ride-hailing services Grab and GO-JEK, and online retailers Tokopedia and India's Flipkart, analysts said.It also fits with the Southeast Asian city-state's moves to provide funding and light-touch regulation, as it seeks to reinvent itself as ...
By Sam Nussey and Yoshiyasu ShidaTOKYO (Reuters) - SoftBank Group Corp's expected spin-off of its Japanese telecoms business will lure investors seeking exposure to a solid tech name, but the prospect of tougher competition in a mature industry may turn off those chasing higher returns. SoftBank shares have risen about 3 percent this week since it said it was considering what would be the largest IPO by a Japanese company in nearly two decades, a deal that would accelerate the group's transformation into one of the world's biggest tech investors.The company aims to sell about 30 percent of ...
In a major blow to Price Waterhouse, the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) today rejected its appeal for a stay on the two-year audit ban ordered by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) last week.

SAT, a statutory body established to hear and dispose of appeals against Sebi orders, said PW and its network firms "shall not take new assignments and new clients" adding that the firm has to submit a list of its existing clients before the tribunal as well as the market regulator.

It, however, conceded that the Sebi order "shall not come in the way of audit assignments undertaken by PW and it network firms for fiscal 2017-18". PW would also be allowed to complete audit assignments already undertaken for clients who follow the financial year beginning on January 1, 2018.

In its 108-page order issued on January 10-which is arguably the most stringent order ever passed by any regulator against one of the Big Four auditing firms in the country-Sebi had found PW guilty of concealing accounting fraud amounting to $1.7 billion at Satyam Computer Services back in 2009. So it not only banned entities/ firms practicing as chartered accountants in India under the brand and banner of PW from directly or indirectly issuing any certificate of audit of listed companies for two years, but also directed disgorgement of all wrongful gains by the auditing major and its two erstwhile partners-S. Gopalakrishnan and Srinivas Talluri-who worked on the erring software firm's accounts.

The amount to be paid within 45 days is pegged at over Rs 13 crore, "with interest calculated at the rate of 12% per annum from January 7, 2009 till the date of payment". In a small reprieve to PW, Sebi had allowed it to continue auditing books for the current fiscal year ending in March so that its order would not adversely impact ongoing assignments. Also, most Indian companies follow an April-March financial year, so the reprieve made sense.

A day after the Sebi order was announced, PW had released a statement claiming that there had been no intentional wrongdoing by its firms in the Satyam case and expressed confidence on getting a stay on the order. The firm then appealed to SAT to lift the ban.

The nine year-old tussle between Sebi and PW (then called PricewaterhouseCoopers or PwC) has played out in several battlegrounds over the years. When Sebi issued a show cause notice, PwC moved Bombay High Court challenging the stock market regulator's jurisdiction to act against audit firms. It argued that only a body such as Institute of Chartered Accountants of India had the authority to do so.

When, in 2010, the court ruled that Sebi had jurisdiction to conduct an inquiry in the interest of investors-though Justice Majmudar had significantly mentioned that "On the Price Waterhouse network...it is a matter of investigation whether there were omissions without mens rea or connivance"-PW approached the Supreme Court. In January last year, the apex court, in turn, asked Sebi to decide the matter but that's the order being challenged right now. SAT will continue to hear the matter on February 13.

With agency inputs
The 25th GST Council meetended in New Delhi's Vigyan Bhavan on Thursday. Speaking to media post the GST Council meet, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said Nandan Nilekani, as part of Infosys, the service provider of GST, closely interacted with the two committees which include a ministerial group led by Sushil Modi and an IT committee under Ajay Bhushan Pandey.

Fitment committee recommendations on new rates for 29 goods and 53 services were accepted by the Council. New rates on these will come into force from January 25, the Finance Minister said.

The issue of bringing petrol, diesel and other items exempted from GST did not appear before the GST Council, but they will be taken up during the next meeting, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said in the press conference.

Bihar Finance Minister Sushil Modi said the GST Council will take up bringing real estate, electric duty, petroleum products under GST in its next meeting. A lot of tax evasion can be plugged through E-way bill and those who do not take e-way bill will be penalised, Sushil Modi said after the meeting.

"Composition scheme was seriously discussed in the GST Council meet. Most of the applicants for composition scheme have declared their turnover under Rs 20 lakh, so there seems to be cases of under-declaration as far as composition scheme is concerned. Out of 17 lakh dealers who have registered for 1 per cent tax rate under the composition scheme, only 307 crore have been collected. These findings will be factored in when the CGST, SGST, IGST Acts are amended," said Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.

07:00 pm: 26th meeting to be held via video conferencing, the Finance Minister added.

06:56 pm: Fitment committee will fix the rates of 40 handicraft items, says Finance Minister Arun Jaitley

06:45 pm: Speaking to CNBC TV 18, Finance Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, Haseeb Drabu said that Nandan Nilekanni presented a new returns filing model. Nandan Nilekani wants matching at the level of buyer and seller, Drabu said.

06:42 pm: GST Council meeting ends.

06:40 pm: Revenue collection for the month of December looking lower than earlier expected, says J&K FM

06:38 pm: Quite a few services and goods have been moved from 18% to 12%, says J&K FM

06:35 pm: No consensus on convergence of bills, J&K FM

06:30 pm: Nilekani said GST should be a part of business process, J&K FM

06:10 pm: No decision on bringing petroleum and real estate under the GST yet

06:07 pm: 29 handicrafts have been brought under the 0 per cent GST rate category. While tax rate on other handicrafts have been reduced.

06:05 pm: Rates reduced on some agri products

06:03 pm: GST Council to meet in 10 days via video conferencing to finalise simpler GST filing

06:00 pm: Return simplification is still underway

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley recently told Rajya Sabha that the Centre was ready to include petroleum products under the new tax regime but it would want a consensus with the state governments. While the state governments are yet to clear their stand on the issue, industry body Assocham said that the consensus on inclusion of petroleum would never emerge as the state and the Centre were over-dependent on the sector for revenue collection.

In November, the Council had brought down taxes on over 200 goods. As many as 178 items of daily use were shifted from the top tax bracket of 28 per cent to 18 per cent. The move, however, cost the exchequer dearly as following months GST collections declined. The Council will also analyse the possible reasons behind the continuous decline in GST collections.

In the last three months, the GST revenue has gone down. The data show that the GST collection for November stood at Rs 80,808 crore, lowest since the GST roll out in last July. In October, the GST revenue was Rs 83,346 crore and in September it was Rs 95,131 crore. This slump in GST collections has been the biggest worry for the Finance Minister.

In the meeting, the Council may also take up compliance issue and could come up with a single stage return filing to smoothen the tax filing procedures for small and medium enterprises. After the introduction of single form filing, the traders/firms will have to file just 12, one each month. Currently, there are three return forms: GSTR1, GSTR2 and GSTR3 that taxpayers file every month.
Last year in September, WhatsApp came up with a new pilot application built specifically for Businesses. Few popular names in India like BookMyShow had participated in the pilot phase. Now, the company has finally started launching the service for more countries and users.

The instant messaging application made it to Android's Play Store in India and you'll soon start receiving texts from businesses with a green tick with thier name. This green tick will signify that the message is coming a verified business.

WhatsApp Business aims at strengthening and streamlining the reach of small businesses without making hefty investments in website development, infrastructure related to customer support and more. However, how will this affect normal users?

For normal Messenger users, WhatsApp claims that there will be no major change. The official blog states "people can continue using WhatsApp as usual - there's no need to download anything new. And people will continue to have full control over the messages they receive, with the ability to block any number, including businesses, as well as report spam."

WhatsApp Business will be a separate application from the instant messaging platform which will authorize businesses to communicate with their consumer/client on a personal level in the form of a chat.

For now, the service only extends to small businesses. However, WhatsApp plans to use a similar or same service for bigger companies. For bigger enterprises, WhatsApp might charge for specific tools that will help them analyse and improvise their businesses.

How to start using the App?

WhatsApp Business is a separate application which can be downloaded in addition to the normal messenger application. However, the user will have to register using a different number for the business. Currently, the application is only available on Android's Play Store and is only rolling out to supported markets.



What's more than normal WhatsApp?

The owner of the account or the business will be able to setup an elaborate profile with crucial information like website, location, contacts etc.

An Away feature will leave a preset message for the customer texting you out of business hours. The message can even contain instructions or answers to frequently asked questions.

A business account can also be setup using a landline phone number. The account holder will only have to choose the "call me" option at the verification step.

The account holder can also use WhatsApp Web for additional efficiency in interacting with customers/clients.

WhatsApp Business will allow these accounts to analyse user activity on a mass level. For instance, they can know the number of messages that have been read.

Other than these, the application will have all the features found on the normal messenger app.

If a user tries to restore a WhatsApp Messenger back up to WhatsApp Business, the former app won't be able to restore the same back up on the Messenger.
While the world has been busy blaming regulatory crackdowns for the bloodbath in the cryptocurrency market, where the price of Bitcoin fell by over 40% within a month, a side-show-the shutting down of Bitconnect on Tuesday-should be of more interest to investors. There's a big lesson here for those looking to make a quick profit by snapping up digital currencies, Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin et al, currently trading at a significant discount.

Bitconnect, a popular lending and exchange platform, which entered crypto street in December 2016, boasted a market cap of $2.11 billion at its peak on December 17, 2017. In fact, it was considered one of the year's best performing currencies on CoinMarketCap, a leading global index of digital currency prices. You can guess it its reach from the fact that the website was reportedly translated into several Asian languages, including Hindi.

The platform basically asked users to use their Bitcoins to buy BCC, which would then be lent out again to the BCC team with a lock-up of 2-6 months for a guaranteed daily return.

But three days ago, the platform suddenly announced that it will close down operations in five days, blaming "bad press", cease and desist orders from the securities regulatory bodies of Texas and North Carolina, and continuous hacker attacks for the move. In the bargain, the price of BitConnect Coin (BCC)-already reeling from broader selloffs in the crypto market since the beginning of the year-further tanked 87% in just one day post the announcement, from around $240 to $32. For all the hype and hoopla around it, it turned out to be nothing more than a Ponzi scheme.

"The requirement to hold BCC in order to participate in the program created an artificially inflated demand for the coin, resulting in a massive price surge," writes Smartkarma Insight Provider Rohit Varma in a recent report. He adds that Bitconnect deployed a four-tiered investment system that guaranteed a daily return of up to 0.25% based on the initial amount invested in the scheme. On an annualized basis, this amounts to roughly 90% risk-free return, and that's not including the potential additional returns of up to 40% by their mysterious proprietary 'volatility software and trading bot' that trades the Bitcoin exchanged for BCC. No logical insight has ever been provided as to how exactly the trading bot works and manages to make money on a magnitude sufficient to support its stated returns to investors.

In an attempt to aggressively expand Bitconnect's user base, the founders also used a multi-tiered referral system where users were rewarded up to 7% every time one of their referrals contributed BTC to the platform. "The source of funds for these outsized referral bonuses was not disclosed. One logical conclusion is that the team is using funds from the new users to pay off the referral bonuses and guaranteed daily interest for the earlier users. This business model is economically unsustainable and the catastrophic collapse of the project was predictable right from the outset," says Varma.

Despite these red flags, the platform was able to mobilise huge investments from the gullible public using snazzy promotional videos on social media channels. YouTube personality CryptoNick, who was big on promoting Bitconnect, became a popular scapegoat the last couple of days.

On Wednesday, the platform reportedly announced that it would refund all outstanding loans at a rate of $363.62, the average of the token's price over the past couple of weeks, but it did little to soothe irate investors. Its latest press release claims that "the current BCC price drop is the direct result of us releasing all of our members' coins at one time. We will do our best to honor the value of BCC as close to what it has been holding during past several months. At this time, we are closing the lending platform only. The BCC Exchange will work as usual from tomorrow and the wallet service will remain operational to hold your BCC on the website."

Bitconnect is also planning to launch a "new, superior system as an exchange that will support several cryptocurrencies as soon as possible" and claims that its Bitconnect X initial coin offering (ICO) is still active. "BitConnect Coin are limited in supply to 28 million and there are currently only 9.6 million in circulation. This scarcity of supply should create a market demand, with help and support from the community, once this new exchange begins operation. We still expect BitConnect coin (BCC) to gain its value back," added the release. This caused BCC price to suddenly jump up to over $82 yesterday but investors apparently have learnt their lesson-prices have dipped again in the past day.

The Bitconnect saga is worrying because it reportedly inspired several other platforms, including XRPConnect and EthConnect. A 2017 research paper by four academics at the University of Cagliari in Italy found a "a remarkably high number of Ponzi schemes" on the Ethereum blockchain-191 schemes collecting $418761 from 2304 distinct users before its second birthday. At that time, its market cap was just $8 billion. Since the total capitalization of the digital currency has now mushroomed to $101.95 billion, it stands to logic that the impact of Ponzi schemes has also increased proportionally.

Our finance ministry incidentally considers cryptocurrencies itself a Ponzi scheme. "Virtual currencies don't have any intrinsic value and are not backed by any kind of assets. The price of bitcoin and other VCs... is entirely a matter of... speculation resulting in spurt and volatility in their prices," it said in a statement in December, adding that, "Consumers need to be extremely cautious so as to avoid getting trapped in such Ponzi schemes."

Given that the cryptocurrency market has been rocked by at least one big, bad apple every year over the past few years, it really isn't for the fainthearted. Last year, it was OneCoin-arrests were reportedly made in India too after several people invested close to ?70 lakh in the scheme-and before that, in 2015, Hong Kong-based bitcoin trading company MyCoin shut down suddenly and wiped out $387 million of investors' fortunes.
CAMEROUN :: Power and Political Guinea Pigs in Cameroon

Elections in autocratic regime are another political experimentation where the dictator tricks the people into gaining an undeserved political unction. Authoritarian regimes are all built on fraudulent practices that in times come to be seen as natural. In practice, the dictatorship is in fact a quest of political experimentation. The history of dictatorship is always a history of deceptive practices and the people its guinea pigs.

Thus, election is not the cornerstone of democracy in autocratic regimes where there all the institutions are privatized, there are no checks and balances and no public liberties to say the least. The dictator constantly undermines of the judicial system through the appointment of pliant judges across all levels of the judiciary, appointments that will continue to have an effect long after the dictator leaves office and have the potential for subsequent administrations to get away with eroding human rights more easily.

Authoritarian regimes are known to rig the voting system from the bottom-up---from choice of candidates to cheating at the polls. The privatization of the state in the hands of the tyrant makes running for office not merely expensive but impossible for anyone but the super-connected because nepotism runs rampant in autocracy.

More, not all Cameroonians who are eligible has equal access to vote because we have political prisoners who are deprived of their rights. Another one is that voters go to the polls to make an informed decision. Yet, however, the education system sucks and the media - both of which are prerequisites for voters to be less susceptible to populism, are in the hands of the dictator.

Hence, democracies die when voters want to be lied to. Studying liars who just happen to come along and supply what happens to be in demand is secondary. Dictators will come and eventually go - but what if the system only for a string of psychopaths to come to power?

One of the CL2Ps missions is to provide for civic knowledge for ordinary citizens to think critically & vote accordingly. That begins with ordinary Cameroonians refusing to continue the Biyas regime charade that uses them solely as guinea pigs. Knowing the difference between propaganda and demonstration which mean actions that make sense in their own lives in order to make the difference between biological and biographical lives.

The French scholar, Didier Fassin, calls biographical life, the capacity to sanctity one own life through personal integrity and testimony. It begins with the knowledge that life is never grasped more fully than when existence and living come together. Thus, the life through which ordinary Cameroonians can, independently, give a meaning to their own existence. As such, making one's life into a biography implies two specifically human qualities: making sense of events which have occurred and using language to transmit it. Thus, a politics of life that constitute forms of politics that give specific value and meaning to human life as opposed to the bare life or the naked life produced by punitive autocratic states where human life is reduced to flesh and the state of guinea pigs.

Biographical lives are predicated on humanitarian principles, as the practice of governing precarious lives, that must consider every person as equal. In his formulation of the concept of biolegitimacy, consequently, Didier Fassin begins from the recognition that the right to life has gained priority on the human rights agenda in relation to social and economic rights.

Therefore, the first mandate of any humanitarian government is to protect human life not endanger it.
| BY Ricki Green |

BMF has a new ECD. The agency has promoted creative director Alex Derwin to lead the agencys creative output, following the departure of Cam Blackley.

Since joining BMF from Clemenger BBDO Melbourne in 2015, Derwin has led the ALDI creative account, helping it become one of the most creative accounts in the country, garnering 76 creative and effectiveness awards including One Show, AWARD Award, LIA, Spikes, Sirens and Effies. In that time, Derwin has also played a key role in the agencys new business success, winning TAL, Dulux, Agoda and Transport NSW and launching Australias largest life insurer, TAL, as a consumer facing brand.

With twenty years experience in the UK, the US and Australia, Derwin has an international resume that includes award-winning work on Nike, Nestle, Oak Milk, Toyota, The Star, St Vincent de Paul and The Observer newspaper.

Says Steve McArdle, managing director, BMF: Alex has been the creative director behind a huge amount of the BMF work thats dominated the effectiveness awards and been creatively celebrated over the last three years. Were delighted that, after a three month recruitment process involving some outstanding candidates, were able to recognise one of our own

for the ECD job.

Says Derwin: BMF has a history of picking leaders with potential and giving them what they need to grow. Cam, Christina and Steve have achieved a lot over the last few years and theyve always supported my development. Looking around the agency you see so much talent, so much potential, but most importantly, so many lovely human beings. Weve got one of the best creative offerings in the country, and with creative leaders like Jen and Ant by my side, were well equipped to kick-on and get even better with every piece of work that we make.
| BY Lynchy |

PepsiCo and BBDO Guerrero Philippines have partnered up to launch the beverage companys global brand of purified water: Aquafina.

PepsiCo expands its partnership with the agency by adding Aquafina to a roster of products being handled by BBDO Guerrero including Pepsi, Quaker and Frito Lay among others.

Aquafina is the worlds best-selling water and having gone through the best technology available to purify water, the brand guarantees purity in every bottle. In launching this product in a fast-growing Philippine market, PepsiCo introduces the brands new spokesperson Pia Wurtzbach, who knows what it takes to be the best.

Each of us has what it takes to be best at something. No matter how big or small they may seem to be, these successes deserve to be celebrated. Aquafina hopes to give every individual the inspiration they need to become their best self, shares Melai Lazaro-Javier, PepsiCo Category Manager for Juices & Water.

BBDO Guerrero puts together a full campaign across multiple channels including public relations, television and social media.
Friday, January 19, 2018 at 3:22AM

Patent drawings showing what it'll look like with the selfie camera, earpiece, and sensors placed behind the screen

With bezels continuously shrinking, placing key components are becoming a bit of an issue. Weve seen recently how the fingerprint sensor is being moved behind the glass display, are front cameras next? A new Samsung patent suggests so. They take this a step further by moving even the earpiece as well as proximity and ambient light sensors. Xiaomi tried putting the earpiece below the screen with the Mi Mix but it apparently didnt sound great. But no one has attempted to put the selfie camera behind the glass. We arent sure the technology exists just yet.

An early patent, which has been referenced by Samsung, Apple, LG, and others, suggests a transparent OLED that has a high refresh rate and could turn the screen on and off to let the camera have a look during inactive periods. But for now we have to wait and see if this ever comes into fruition. Perhaps it might but its too early to tell. For now we need to live with notches and weirdly placed cameras as a response to slimmer bezels.

Source: GSMArena
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A second ACT crew has been sent to fight a blaze that continues to burn north of Braidwood. The 332 hectare fire, burning off Nerriga Road, is set to continue to burn for days to come as the area is difficult to access. On Saturday evening, one shed had been lost but there were no reports of injuries or stock losses. "We had about 55 crews out there [on Saturday] with SES support, and support from National Parks, and NSW RFS crews from the ACT, the far south coast," Incident controller Chris Allen said. Mr Allen said they would have 23 tankers on the fire ground working hard to consolidate the edges of the blaze and strengthen containment lines on Sunday. The ACT Rural Fire Service has sent 18 crews in three heavy tankers, two medium units and a command unit. Wind was expected to pick up on Sunday afternoon, but Mr Allen said while it was in the back of his mind, there was wind out there on Saturday and it had little effect on the fires behaviour. "The firefighters have done a fantastic job today," he said. In a letter to newspapers in the region, residents of the area Virginia and Barry Hooker, of Durran Durra, said they were thankful for the "local heroes" who were fighting the fire. "Facing a massive red and black smoke plume billowing from a nearby hill is very scary," the letter read. After a phone call from the Charleyong Brigade information officer to tell the couple to put their fire plan into action, they said "soon helicopters and planes were doing their job and more and more fire trucks streamed up our local road". "The fire was described as 'lively' and difficult to contain. Twenty-four hours later, the RFS and planes are still on the job. To all those who give their time, their experience gained from hours of voluntary training, and disrupt their own (and their families lives) to protect us, we offer heartfelt thanks. Truly local heroes." The fire started at 2pm on Friday and firefighters went into "protection mode" on Friday night as several properties were threatened. Crews worked through the night to battle the blaze and bring it under control. Work carried out since then has meant no homes are currently under threat. The current alert level is set to advice. Firefighters who are continuing to tackle a blaze burning north of Braidwood have been offered a heartfelt thanks from residents in the area. The fire, burning off Nerriga Road, is set to continue to burn for days to come as the area was difficult to access. The ACT sent three heavy tankers, two light units and one command unit to assist their NSW counterparts. The blaze was expected to burn for a number of days as inaccessible terrain hampered efforts to put the fire out. Mr Allen said it was likely smoke would be visible for five to six days. Residents across the region are being warned to expect dangerous and severe fire conditions on Sunday. Canberra is forecast to reach 38 degrees on Saturday, while Braidwood is tipped to reach 36 degrees. A total fire ban is place for a number of regions including the Queanbeyan-Palerang council area and Goulburn Mulwaree. The public is being urged to monitor conditions with the hot temperatures and if a member of the public sees a fire without a fire truck in attendance to report it to 000 immediately. NSW RFS spokesman said it was also a timely reminder to ensure you have a bushfire survival guide in place and to speak with family and neighbours about what to do in the event of a fire.

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Eirene Mort  A livelihood. Canberra Museum and Gallery. Until February 25. Eirene Mort was born in Sydney in 1879 and died in Bowral in 1977. She studied design in Sydney before travelling to London in 1899 to study for a career in the arts. Her arrival in London coincided with the popularity of the Arts and Craft movement. The Arts and Craft movement, in sympathy with its members' aim of extolling the applied arts and their place in everyday life, had found a ready clientele in the homes of the moneyed classes in Britain. Freed from the constraints of the traditional art academy prescription of art being confined by the hierarchy of the arts, with oil paintings in the pre-eminent position, artists developed their talents across many disciplines. They worked in print making, ceramics, wood carving, jewellery, interior design, book illustration, furniture and textiles. Such a multitude of options provided artists with the means of making a living from their art. In the case of women artists this coincided with the time women were beginning to experience the freedom of living an independent life that did not always depend on the financial security of family or marriage. It did not mean it was an easy life for any artist, especially as women there were still mostly prejudiced against the single woman having a career. Mort never married. The exhibition of the life and work of Mort at the Canberra Museum and Gallery provides a fascinating insight into this period of history. Mort was a talented artist but to survive she spread her talents widely and it is this breadth of her skills that the exhibition demonstrates so ably. In 1903 Mort returned to Sydney with her close companion, fellow artist Nora Weston. In order to have a steady regular income Mort became a teacher of art at private schools, at home in her studio and then in a series of commercial studios she and Weston set up to cater to public interest in the applied arts. During all this time she continued to make a living from her art designs. I know Mort's work from seeing her Australian bush alphabet blocks designed in 1903 that are held in the collection of the National Gallery of Australia. They testify to Mort's interest in and indeed championing of the use of Australian fauna and flora motifs in art along with a need to document Australian history through its architecture and her family history. It is these interests that became the key notes of her art practice. Works of Mort in the exhibition that will be of special interest to Canberrans are the series of prints, drawings and watercolours she did of the Canberra region. In her later years she and Nora lived at Mittagong before finally retiring to Bowral in 1960. As a small girl Mort visited relatives such as the Campbell family at Duntroon and the Crace family on their property at Gungahlin. Some of the drawings and prints of early Canberra were published by Mort in a book called Old Canberra: A Sketchbook of the 1920s. The copy in the exhibition is on loan from the National Library of Australia. Other artefacts and artworks come from family, friends and national institutions, including the bequest of a representative collection of Mort's art and ephemera given to the Canberra Museum and Gallery by the artist's family. The works and items on display testify to Mort's wide-ranging skills and encompass needlework designs, ceramics, pokerwork, book illustrations and book plates, illuminated certificates and even buttons. I found this exhibition insightful because it displays the art practice of a woman artist at the turn of the century in Australia. Mort was the founder member of the Society of Arts and Crafts of NSW in 1906 and was one of the organisers of the Australian Exhibition of Womens' Work in 1907, an important exhibition that validated the art practice and work of Australian women artists. Mort may have been more talented than most but her life was representative of a particular epoch in the early years of the 20th century where the craft and skills she mastered were valued. Artists like Mort made and designed objects that found their way into middle-class homes not just the homes of the very wealthy. A lot of this work did not survive the vagaries of fashion. This is why this exhibition that brings together so much of Mort's surviving artworks is so valuable.

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Residents of the Esque apartments in Franklin are considering taking legal action to force the property's developer to fix defects inside the building. The property developer behind the project, the M and A Group, was recently placed under administration and is believed to owe more than $2 million to unpaid subcontractors. A recent "defects report" shows the building has been plagued with issues such as leaking toilets, faulty air conditioning and cracks in the walls and ceilings. Last week the first annual general meeting was held for Esque residents, with the election of an executive committee to represent unit owners one of the main items of business. It is understood that residents have discussed how to get the list of defects addressed while the developer is in administration, and whether legal action is the best avenue to do so. "It was a productive meeting," said one attendee. "But there was a general feeling of frustration against the developer." Representatives from the Independent Property Group, which sold units inside the apartment block, were present at the meeting. "The AGM went well considering the issues that are facing the unit owners in the Esque development," a company spokesman said. "The executive committee will be investigating all options available to them and are awaiting communication from the appointed administrators. "Until communications are received and authorisation from the committee has been provided no further disclosures can be made." Representatives of the administrator appointed to the M and A Group were also present at last week's annual general meeting. Deloitte, the company appointed as the administrator of the M and A Group, did not reply to questions from Fairfax Media. In December Esque apartment owners were sent a "defects report" detailing 29 separate issues with the building. The list was compiled on behalf of residents by the Independent Property Group, which is the real estate agent selling apartments inside the Esque building. Each defect described on the report was accompanied by a list of the apartments affected. It showed that five units have complained about toilets that either leak or do not flush, six apartments have complained about their air conditioning not working, and four apartments needed a plasterer to fix cracks or holes in the walls. Twelve apartments had complained about receiving either the wrong white goods, or advertised white goods not being supplied at all. Minutes from a meeting between residents and the Independent Property Group on December 11, 2017, revealed a growing frustration among apartment owners. "Independent Property Group understands the disappointment owners are feeling and would like to ensure that all issues are being raised," the minutes read. The lawyer acting for the M and A Group, Bernard Tan, has previously said he could not comment on the appointment of an administrator to the company. "At this stage, we haven't been contacted by the receiver and administrator so have no comment," he said. "However, construction of the Esque development is completed, the units plan has been registered and all except a handful of the settlements have already occurred. "I would expect that the receiver will settle the rest of the units in the ordinary course."

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The lack of private clinics dealing with chronic pain has increased the long waiting time to access the pain management unit at Canberra Hospital, ACT Health and Wellbeing Minister Meegan Fitzharris says. "There are only a small number of private clinics that support residents of the ACT and surrounding region, which increases the demand placed on public services," Ms Fitzharris told Fairfax Media. She defended the long waiting time for patients to access the unit, highlighting the different wait times for people experiencing acute (sudden, short-term) pain and those with chronic (ongoing, long-term) pain. "For urgent patients, the current wait time to access the Pain Management Unit is less than four weeks," Ms Fitzharris said, but she did confirm that for those with chronic ongoing issues is much longer. "The current waiting time for routine, non-urgent medical appointments is approximately nine months," she said. The difficulty for public patients to access pain management services in the ACT has been highlighted as the clock ticks down to February 1, when medications containing codeine will become available only with a prescription from a doctor. The ACT government and the Australian Medical Association support the move, but with just 68% of GP appointments bulk-billed in the ACT in the 2016-17 financial year (compared to 78% across the whole country), referrals and prescriptions are harder to come by. "Changes in accessing codeine are important for minimising harms associated with the abuse and misuse of over the counter codeine, with the potential for addiction. Some Australians don't realise how much harm codeine can cause," Ms Fitzharris said. The minister didn't commit to considering new measures for pain management services in the ACT, but pointed towards the ACT government's existing investment in health, including the new rehabilitation hospital at the University of Canberra, which is due to open this year. "ACT Health would welcome an expansion of trained general practitioners in this area to provide better outcomes to patients experiencing chronic pain," she said. "Chronic pain currently costs the Australian economy approximately $39 billion (according to 2009 data)," Ms Fitzharris said, emphasising the wider issues around dealing with chronic pain. "Pain management is a secondary qualification and Australia wide there is a shortage of specialists within this field."

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The ACT government is considering a federal plan to release of a carp virus into Canberra waterways in 2019 - and has asked the public for feedback. Environment Minister Mick Gentleman said carp were "Australia's worst introduced freshwater fish" and dominated the Murray-Darling Basin waterways. "Carp muddy the water through their bottom-feeding behaviour, which has flow-on effects for plants, invertebrates, other fish, and bird life," Mr Gentleman said. "Carp also affect all water users, including irrigators, local communities and those who use our waterways for recreation." The Canberra release of the carp virus, cyprinid herpesvirus 3, is part of a national carp control plan to release the virus nationwide. The carp virus was already used in 33 countries with no evidence of the carp or any fish virus causing disease in humans, Mr Gentleman said. CSIRO scientists had researched and tested the virus over the past decade and were "very confident" it virus was specific to carp and would not cause disease in any other fish, animals or humans. Mr Gentleman said the government had established a taskforce to consider specific risks in the ACT. The government is holding a briefing for the public on February 19, one of 40 meetings being held in carp-affected areas in Victoria, NSW, South Australia, Queensland and Western Australia. Release of the virus would need commonwealth environmental approvals and approval from the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority, as well as national agreements on implementation and funding. This would happen in late 2019. "Release is also contingent on a comprehensive plan being in place for infecting the carp, the clean-up of dead fish," he said. The virus damages the kidneys, skin and gills of carp. It multiplies for seven to 12 days after infection, killing fish within 24 hours of signs of illness developing. The public briefing is at the Ainslie Football Club, February 19, 6-8pm.

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The Coalition should cap contractor numbers, dump a $65 billion corporate tax cut and invest money in its agencies to rebuild services, the main public sector union has said ahead of the federal budget. In a submission to the government lashing its growing use of contractors, and rejecting its controversial push to relocate agencies to the bush, the Community and Public Sector Union also called for more Tax Office funding to increase revenue made stopping corporate tax avoidance. The CSPU attacked the Coalition's multibillion dollar contractor spend saying caps on staff numbers had created a "perverse incentive" to outsource work and increase costs. Agencies were using labour hire and contractors to get around a staffing cap imposed by the Coalition, while outsourcing was "hollowing out" the Australian Taxation Office, and the Human Services department overseeing Centrelink, it said. The union pushed for a cap on contractors, and said work given to consultants and outsourced elsewhere should return to agencies to rebuild the public sector's capacity and keep personal data secure. "Ruling out further cuts will undo the damage that has already occurred," it said. The government should identify savings it could make by cutting consultants and contractors, and reinvest them in the public sector. Even where agencies had the funding to hire additional staff, the Coalition's staffing cap forced them to engage casuals and contractors, and use labour hire, the CPSU said. "The arbitrary cap is creating a perverse incentive that it not guided by the best use of resources and those employees are paid significantly less with far worse conditions than the equivalent APS employees. "The cap is an ideologically-driven commitment that is damaging to the capacity of the public service and costing the community." The ATO faced limits to its work stopping corporate tax avoidance with its resources, and previous cuts to its staff were illogical given the need for more revenue. "This disconnect between public expectations that tax avoidance should be addressed and what the ATO can actually do must be addressed by the government," the CPSU said. "It should commit to an increase in base funding and providing more staffing for the ATO if it is serious about tackling corporate tax avoidance and increasing revenue for our public services." The government receives hundreds of submissions to the budget process - with business groups, unions, community organisations and non-profits laying out their wish lists for the year ahead. Some proposals are adopted, while others are ignored. A spokeswoman for the new minister assisting for the public service, Kelly O'Dwyer, said the government would consider proposals made ahead of the budget, but was committed to reducing the overall company tax rate to 25 per cent for all businesses. The Coalition had reinforced tax integrity rules with new anti-avoidance measures targeting multinationals, including a new 40 per cent penalty rate of tax to stop companies diverting profits offshore when made in Australia. "The government has made clear that every company, indeed every taxpayer, must pay the right amount of tax, including big business," the spokeswoman said. The CPSU also called the government to increase regional public sector employment by reversing job cuts and increasing the APS' footprint, while rejecting relocating agencies under the Coalition's decentralisation push. It said the government should buoy stagnant wage growth with departmental wage rises, and use the APS to reach a goal of full national employment that would keep the jobless rate at no higher than 3 per cent. Across the public service, the Coalition has ordered departments and agencies to keep their "average staffing levels", or ASL, in line with the numbers from 2006-07, the final year of the Howard government. Prime Minister and Cabinet boss Martin Parkinson in December labelled federal government-mandated caps on public service employment a "blunt instrument" for management, calling for new thinking on workforce capability and headcounts in Canberra. Dr Parkinson also defended careful spending of taxpayer funds for external consultants in the bureaucracy. The government's multibillion dollar spend on contractors will come under the scrutiny of a new parliamentary probe after the national auditor found massive growth in work going to consultancy firms since 2012-13.

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Last years drought was a real eye opener for Cape Coral officials struggling to keep enough water in city canals to be able to fight fires and for residents to water their lawns.

This year, the city has asked for help from the state and its state representative to make sure it is prepared in the future.

State Rep. Dane Eagle, R-77, has filed an appropriations bill requesting $1,115,000 in state funds for the city of Cape Coral to engineer, design and permit a 3.5-mile pipeline from Southwest Aggregates Mining reservoir in south Charlotte County to Gator Slough in northeast Cape Coral.

The pipeline would provide an additional freshwater supply for the citys canal system, which provides irrigation and fire protection in Cape Coral.

Eagle said the issue is both qualitative and quantitative. The pipeline project into the reservoir would allow the city to use that water during drought and for a variety of purposes.

A lot of the water going into the Caloosahatchee is runoff water. We would be diverting some of this water into a reservoir northeast of Cape Coral, Eagle said. We had a record drought last year and were at a loss regarding irrigating lawns and the canals were drying up.

Eagle sought funding last year for the project in the midst of the drought, but was unable to get the $2.5 million the city was looking for.

This year, the city met the state halfway, agreeing to match the states payment for the project, which could be used in a way so that during unusually wet winters, the pipeline could be shut down so as to not flood the canals.

Eagle said the citys contribution is par for the course regarding this type of allocation, which will only help its case when decisions are made.

We allocate each year a certain portion of money for these types of projects in our communities, Eagle said. The fact the city is matching that is helpful and makes it more favorable when we consider it.

In the past, the city used its reclamation facility as the main source for irrigation water, with the canals being a supplement. In recent years, it has gone the opposite way.

The city has evaluated using the reservoir as potential storage area for irrigation water for several years.

Last year, the city was able to accelerate a test run on the reservoir when severe drought conditions were depleting the citys freshwater canal system. Officials say the test proved to be very successful.

Water from the reservoir property flowed into drainage ditches along U.S. 41 and into the Gator Slough canal system.

We were looking at a point where we needed to see whether the reservoir could be a solution for us, city spokesperson Connie Barron said.

Barron said the city worked with the South Florida Water Management District, Southwest Florida Water Management District, Florida Department of Environmental Protection and the Florida Department of Transportation to acquire the necessary permits to allow the city to pump water from the reservoir to replenish the citys freshwater canals.

The pipeline would likely be installed along the U.S. 41 drainage ditches underground, into the slough, which would feed the canals throughout the city.

The project could also benefit the Charlotte Harbor Flatwoods Initiative area by reducing flooding in the Cecil M. Webb Wildlife Management Area.

Were looking at it as a long-term solution to meet the irrigation demands of the city as it continues to grow. To move forward on it, we need to design the design and engineering and that is what the money would be for, Barron said.

Our freshwater canal system provides the majority of irrigation water for our residents during the dry season, said Utilities Director Jeff Pearson. As demand increases, the city needs to continue developing additional sources of water, and the reservoir could be a reliable long-term option for our community.

If funding is approved, the design would take about 18 months to complete, while construction of the pipeline could cost about $8 million and take up to two years to finish, Barron said.
The Lee County School District is expected to consider a sales tax initiative on Tuesday.

Superintendent Greg Adkins has proposed that the school board call for a special election on May 15 for voters to decide whether they are willing to pay an extra half cent in sales tax to fund capital projects such as new schools.

The board met this week to discuss whether they were in support of that sales tax referendum. Six of seven board members were in support of the plan.

We believe if people are informed, then its undeniable that its the right way to go, said Steven Teuber, District 4 School Board member. We want voters to understand why were doing it, why its a good decision and we want to be able to answer any questions that they bring to us.

The board did not formally vote Tuesday. It will continue discussion on Jan. 23 when members are also expected to vote on whether to proceed.

Over the past year, the district increased by 1,800 students, and members of the board say they anticipate this growth yearly. However, there is no extra funding in the formula that pays for this growth, they maintain. Ten years ago, the district was bringing in a capital budget of $318 million per year. Now, the capital budget is $118 million, $200 million less than it was before.

According to the tax plan formula presented at this weeks meeting, the sales tax is a viable income stream to help contribute to the costs of new constructions and renovations, which is expected to be about $401 million over the next five years. This includes the construction of seven new schools, an expansion to a high school and the renovation of two schools to accommodate the fast-growing county.

The plan also predicts a potential $59 million in sales tax revenue annually. The money brought in with the sales tax would help cover capital improvements, which includes maintenance, school buses, technology equipment, fixtures and so on.

The boards debt service is now $84 million per year. Teuber says that continuing to borrow money is not favorable because they have to focus on paying more money to the banks for paying off their debt, rather than putting that money into classrooms and toward the students education.

If youre going to go buy something, is it better to buy with credit, or is it better to buy it with money you already have? Teuber said. When kids come to our door, we have to have a seat for them, thats the law and thats whats right. So, we have to buy the seats.

Of Floridas 67 counties, 61 have some type of additional sales tax, officials said. Being that Lee County is one of the fastest-growing populations in the country, members of the board feel it is necessary to join the other 61 with this sales tax to accommodate the extreme growth in population.

I just hope people understand that we take bringing forward a referendum for a tax increase very seriously, and if we had another way to do it, we would, Teuber said.

Weve never asked for money for operating, this is the first time the Lee County School District has come for a referendum in the 16 years that I have been in the school district. When the state legislature tells you Youre on your own, everyone else has the problem solved, then thats when we have to do what we have to.

One issue is the call for a special election for voters to weigh in on the tax plan.

There have been some concerns from the public as to why the district is planning to spend money on a special election, which could cost $880,000 or more, when there are Primary and General Elections coming up in August and November.

The November General Election ballot will include nine very complex issues from the Constitution Revision Commission, as well as candidates running for different positions, including the run for Florida governor. School board members are concerned with voters being occupied with the other very important issues raised on the ballot, and not being fully informed about this tax plan decision.

We want the voters to go into that voting booth with only one issue on that ballot, Teuber said. We want the public to be fully aware that if we dont get the sales tax, were going to have to borrow, and our future generations of citizens are going to have to pay that burden. So thats why having a special election is necessary for this issue.

The board will meet at 6 p.m. Tuesday, in the board meeting room at the Lee County School District Office, 2855 Colonial Blvd.
To the editor:

In my (84) years of life in the USA, I have has occasion to observe a wide variety of economic swings, political changes, social changes and military engagements. Both good and bad. I have also observed a wide variety of military equipment changes. From M-1 rifles to Hydrogen bombs. Is this progress?

According to the history books, the primary stated reason for the war against Mexico was Manifest Destiny. Simply stated, this was a conviction that God himself wanted all of the land in North America to be solely under the control of America. Today Manifest Destiny has become USA Interests. These are both B.S. statements promoted by the Congressional-Military-Industrial-Complex and their lobbyists that are actively destroying the USA, in spite of their disingenuous promises to the contrary. According to documents published from information provided by the US Congressional House Committee on international relations, since 1775 to the present time, the USA has deployed troops for military conflict a total of 289 times. Total deaths = 1,343,812. Total wounded = 1,529,230. Grand total of dead & wounded = 2,489,335. Isnt that outrageous, incredible and inappropriate?

The constitution, the supreme law of the land, gives sole responsibility to the House of Representatives for originating and approving appropriations and taxes. The House of Representatives, not the president nor the Senate, can approve any budget they want. If the president vetoes it, they have the authority to overrule his veto and pass it in spite of the veto. The have the final word on spending and taxing. They own the national debt!

Here are a few questions we need to ask Congress and the White House:

1) We have in excess of 13,000 registered lobbyists in D.C.? Many of whom are retired members of Congress! Why?

2) Since members of both parties are against deficit spending, why does it exist?

3) Congress writes the tax code. Why is it unfair and somewhat worthless?

4) Why do we have thousands of American troops in Europe, Africa, Asia, the Middle East, etc. and have since the mid 1940s? The USA has troops deployed in more than 150 countries around the world, with more than 300,000 active-duty personnel serving outside the USA, according to our Department of Defense. Why?

5) Why are members of Congress covered by an elite retirement program not available to the general public? A plan they wrote and installed for themselves. Why?

6) Politicians of every stripe create problems and then campaign against them. Why?

7) The budget is in the red, year after year. Why?

8) All political parties practice divisiveness. It impedes progress. Why?

9) We have term limits on the President and many state political offices. We do not, however, have term limits on Congress. Term limits would solve many problems. Why not term limits for Congress?

10) We have 23,368,984 government employees. Why?

11) We have 29,088,466 citizens living in abject poverty. Why?

12) The USA has millions of illegal immigrants living here. Why?

13) We have a $20.4 trillion national debt. Why? I suggest you reread question 4.

14) Within the last few decades Congress has deemed it necessary to create 16 more intelligence agencies in addition to the FBI and CIA. We now have 18 agencies. Why?

Some of these questions may appear to be redundant. The answer to all of them is rather simple and obvious. All of these questions have the same answer. Every member of Congress, both past and present, have helped create these undesirable conditions. This is precisely and exactly the way Congess wants it! No more. No less. They write all of the laws and they alone control the national purse strings. In the event they did not seek these conditions, they would not exist.

I suggest we all consider forcing a change by NEVER voting for any incumbent, regardless of political affiliations or preference. Toss all of the bums out of Congress! Nothing else will do the job and force change!

Robert E. Workman

Cape Coral
Autonomous electric vehicles have fast become all the rage, and BMWs planning to get in on the action with a new concept. Not only that, but it wants to put it into production.



Auto Express reports that the show car, dubbed iNEXT, will be unveiled sometime next year in the form of an SUV.

Its groundbreaking, said Alexander Kotouc, product manager for the BMW i division. The iNEXT will be more of the shape and size of an X5. It will have a completely different interior and be able to seat five people.

The as-yet unseen concept is earmarked to yield a production version to launch in 2021, based on a new common architecture that will underpin a dozen new electric vehicles to come from the Bavarian automaker  all of them to arrive by 2025. Among the first will be the i5 sedan previewed by the Vision Dynamics concept (pictured) presented at the 2017 Frankfurt Motor Show.

The platform is being designed to accommodate a wide range of electric powertrains, ranging from 134 horsepower to 443, with batteries from 60 kWh to 120, and driving ranges from 280 miles to 435. Placing electric motors at both axles could even lead up to 800 hp.

I can promise you that this year you will see something and touch something  you need to let people experience what is coming, Kotouc told Auto Express. I saw last week the latest design ideas and I can say its really impressive. Its looking bold; people will buy it even if they dont want an electric car because of the design.

The iNEXT is expected to incorporate level-3 autonomous capabilities, allowing the vehicle to operate autonomously most of the time, and prompting the driver to take over when needed. Eventually it could lead to level-four or even five, requiring little if any driver intervention at all. The automaker is working on developing the technology necessary with the Here digital mapping operation it acquired (together with Daimler and Volkswagen) from Nokia, and with Mobileye (recently acquired by Intel).

Were going to see what we believe to be the first full autonomous capability, said BMW sales and marketing chief Ian Robertson. There are a lot of people talking about autonomous driving at the moment, but first of all the technology isnt robust enough. Its not good enough to say it will be better for most of the time  it needs to be better all of the time.

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Buick recently introduced the LaCrosse Avenir at the Los Angeles Auto Show and it appears a number of new Avenir models are on the horizon.



In an interview with Automotive News, Buick and GMCs global vice president revealed Avenir is the way we go toe-to-toe, I think, with some of these Tier 1 luxury brands such as BMW and Mercedes. Duncan Aldred went on to say Youll see Avenir roll out across many more models and maybe the whole range over time.

The Avenir sub-brand launched on the 2018 Enclave and the model features unique styling cues such as an exclusive mesh grille and 20-inch alloy wheels. The crossover also comes equipped with premium leather upholstery, heated / ventilated front seats, a wireless smartphone charger, and standard GPS navigation.

Aldred declined to say which model will receive the Avenir treatment next but the Regal is a leading candidate as the model was introduced last year and it is one of the companys best-selling sedans in the United States. Other possible candidates include the popular Encore and Envision.

Buick wants the Avenir sub-brand to mimic the success of the GMC Denali lineup which launched on the Yukon in 1999 but has now spread to every non-commercial vehicle the company makes. Denali models now make up approximately 25 percent of GMC sales and this has pushed the brands average transaction price to a record $55,600.

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Chinas largest search company, Baidu, believes that, in the long term, HD maps will represent a much bigger business than their current online commercial activities.



This, according to Technology Review, comes straight from Baidus Chief Operating Officer, Qi Lu, who shared his thoughts with reporters during this years Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

According to Lu, Baidu will sell HD maps as a service to car makers, who can either opt to charge service fees or add the cost into the overall price of the vehicles.

The Chinese tech firm also announced a partnership with mapping company TomTom, which will help with the integration of HD maps into the Apollo autonomous-vehicle software. Baidu currently has 90 partner companies, including BMW, Ford and Nvidia.

While other tech companies, such as Intel, are also working on HD maps for self-driving cars, Baidu appears to have the lead in China, as Lu spoke about how his firms relationship with the countrys government and other entities, are helping pave the way for autonomous cars. Not that we will become the national standard, he added, showing that in spite of his aspirations he is still aware of the stiff competition .

PHOTO GALLERY
Ford is recalling even more models equipped with faulty airbag inflators supplied by Takata. The latest action, which is part of the NHTSAs planned expansion, counts a total of 364,523 vehicles, 327,796 of which are in the United States and federalized territories, and 36,727 in Canada.



The models affected are the 2009 and 2010MY Ford Mustang, Fusion, Ranger, Edge, Lincoln MKZ, MKX and Mercury Milan, and the 2013 Mustang, whose front passenger airbag inflators will be replaced by the automakers technicians, free of charge.

Alongside the Takata airbag recall expansion, Ford has announced a separate campaign for 363 units of the 2018 Ford Expedition and Lincoln Navigator, in the USA and Canada, made from November 27 to December 9, 2017.

According to the Michigan-based automaker, the SUVs have an incorrect electronic component in the rear power-operated windows, which could prevent them from automatically reversing when they encounter an obstruction, thus increasing the risk of injury. Fords dealers will inspect the faulty component and replace it with a new one free of charge, if necessary.

Note: 2013 Ford Mustang Boss 302 pictured

PHOTO GALLERY
Ever since Lexus pulled the plug on the LFA in 2012, there have been several reports regarding a possible successor.



The latest one comes courtesy of CarBuzz, which quotes the brands VP and General Manager Jeff Bracken, who spoke about this issue during the 2018 Detroit Auto Show, and hints that the Japanese automaker might eventually make a new supercar.

We need more halo representation. We hear often from our dealers if we can have an LFA follow-up. So you never know, said Bracken. I think that when we hear so many emotional and high number of requests for a follow-up to LFA, we certainly wont ignore that. Its not a closed door.

Lexus global President Yoshihiro Sawa shares that idea as well, but thats all for now, as we have no info whatsoever concerning such a model.

In the meantime, Lexus continues its SUV push with an entirely new concept that debuted in Motor City earlier this week, called LF-1 Limitless, with a futuristic front end design and an undisclosed powertrain.

Lexus parent company, Toyota, on the other hand, is testing the waters with the Gazoo Racing GR Super Sport hybrid hypercar. The study was shown during the Tokyo Auto Salon, and combines a Toyota Hybrid System with a 2.4-liter twin-turbo V6 for a total output of 1,000PS (986hp).

PHOTO GALLERY
Renault invited journalists from all over the world to Spain recently, to drive the new generation Megane RS.



This means that the first reviews will arrive shortly, but before they do, the automaker decided to treat us to an extensive image gallery of the car, using different backgrounds.

Unveiled during the 2017 Frankfurt Motor Show, the latest Renault Megane RS comes with two chassis settings, a clever suspension setup, four-wheel steering, and other cool features implemented from the automakers motorsport division, with the help of their F1 driver, Nico Hulkenberg.

After having been involved in the development process during 2017, Im very proud to be the ambassador for the new Renault Megane RS, Hulkenberg said. I had the opportunity to drive the car at various racetracks  Monaco, Montlhery, and Spa-Francorchamps  and I was impressed by the efficiency of the latest onboard technologies.

It takes 5.8sec to accelerate from 0 to 100km/h (62mph) in the French hot hatch, which is powered by a 1.8-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine, rated at 280PS (276hp) and 390Nm (lb-ft) of torque. The numbers may not be on par with those of the Ford Focus RS, Audi RS3 Sportback, or Mercedes-AMG A45, but for a front-wheel drive car, its quite something.

Also, a more potent Megane RS Trophy is coming by the end of this year, with 300PS (296hp) and 400Nm (295lb-ft) of torque, and this one is expected to challenge the Honda Civic Type Rs Nurburgring lap record for FWD production cars.

PHOTO GALLERY
Toyota disappointed its most hard-core off-roading fans and customers when it pulled the FJ Cruiser in 2014, and ceased production altogether last year. But it could introduce a new model to take its place in the near future.



Theres room for an authentic small off-road SUV, Toyota Motor North America CEO Jim Lentz told Motor Trend at the Detroit Auto Show this week. Everyone moved out of that segment because of truck CAFE ratings. But were getting a lot of requests from folks who want another FJ or some variant.

The automotive giant has recently showcased two concepts for just such a vehicle in the forms of the FT-4X in New York and the FT-AC (pictured) in Los Angeles. Those appeared more as design studies than pre-production models, but with the demand evidently there, it could put one into production  if it can meet restricting regulations.

There is room on the lower end, in terms of price or authenticity, for an off-road, frame-based SUV, said Lentz. This would be for people going outdoors, but truly going offroad. This would not be all-wheel-drive for safety, this would be four-wheel-drive with ground clearance.

The new model would slot in under the 4Runner and alongside the RAV4 crossover, but with an entirely different approach  closer to that of the Jeep Wrangler.

The difference is in wheel travel, and you can only do that with frame-based, Lentz said. This could be FJ sized, but for an enthusiast, its gotta be something with a small wheelbase to be more maneuverable when in the rocks.

Photo Gallery
Photo: Contributed

A deadly fungus that has wiped out a large portion of brown bats in Eastern Canada has landed on the West Coast.

White nose syndrome, is a fungal disease responsible for the death of millions of bats in North America.

There are confirmed cases in Washington state in 2016 and 2017, the presence of the fungus is very worrisome for the health of bat populations in British Columbia, with near 100 per cent mortality for some species of bats exposed to the fungus.

White nose syndrome does not affect humans. But, the public is being asked to help monitor and prevent the spread of the disease.

We knew this deadly fungus was moving westward across North America says Mandy Kellner, co-ordinator of the BC Community Bat Program, but we thought we had many years to prepare.

Instead, the disease has suddenly appeared in the West, spurring B.C. researchers into action.

Not enough is known about where B.C. bats hibernate, so researchers are turning to the public for assistance in monitoring the progress of the fungus.



A typical first sign of the fungus is bats flying during the winter, unusual because they should be hibernating. Another surefire sign are dead bats.

We are encouraging the public to report dead bats or any sightings of winter bat activity to the Community Bat Project (CBP) toll-free phone number, website, or email. Bat carcasses will be submitted for testing for White Nose Syndrome and would provide the earliest indication of the presence of the disease in B.C. says Kellner.

Reports of winter bat activity will help focus research, monitoring and protection efforts.
Photo: The Canadian Press

On Nov. 19, 2017, the country watched as emergency responders from across the world marched together in support of a fractured family.

At the memorial service for Abbotsford Police Const. John Davidson, Sgt. Judy Bird cried.

Davidson was shot and killed in the line of duty Nov. 6.

"The fact that people saw me crying on TV was hard because my kids have never seen me cry," says Bird.

It's not easy for police officers to show that level of vulnerability, she explains.

"We constantly see people in pain and distress, and we need to control our emotions when we see these things because people come to us as their rock."

Abbotsford Police Chief Bob Rich said at the service that a long-standing attitude in policing must come to an end. "Suck it up is not part of what we do. If you get hurt because you've responded heroically on behalf of this community, doing your job, then I want you to take a knee."

Police officers have learned to shield themselves, to not allow the human side to show.

"You were tough," says Bird. "I remember being called to a really bad fatal accident. My supervisor at the time said you need to go see one of the police psychologists. And I was embarrassed. I was appalled. I thought I was weak. I went because I had to go ...Taking a knee historically has not been OK."

Bird remembers the days when officers didn't talk about mental health; days when no matter what an officer experienced, they did not seek help.

"We have excellent resources for our membership, and slowly but surely we are acknowledging it's OK to use those resources."

She no longer cares the public witnessed her cry. It was a necessary crack in the armour.

"I only have five years left. I want to go out and be able to enjoy my family and not suffer."

Bird laughs when asked about the start of her career.

"I think the only reason I was hired is that I was an athlete," she says.

Bird compares policing to a bell-curve.

At the bottom of the curve, you go to work. At the top of the curve, you're at work.

"By the time you get home, you are in the negative and you have nothing left."

She adds, "somehow, police officers have to come into more of a balance, to make that curve not so high and not so low. I'll give my time to my work, but when I get home I need to give my time to my family and look after me."

In the early years of her career, Bird says divorce and alcoholism rates were high. It wasn't uncommon for officers to allow work to consume them.

"Your shift could be from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. and you had a file at 3 in the morning; you've got some people in custody. You don't go home until that file is done, and that could be 10, 11, 12 o'clock in the day."

The effects of shift work have been well documented, one study even stated: "Shift work is definitely among one of the most serious occupational health problems of our time.

While an organization has a responsibility to its members, Bird says as individuals, officers have to share in that responsibility, and that is knowing when to go home.

We are asking normal people to do an abnormal job.

Bird developed a persona a long time ago that she refers to as "police Judy." That's the person who wears the uniform.

The mask is necessary to protect "regular Judy" from the realities of the job.

Law enforcement rarely gets a pass.

"We constantly feel like people don't call us to come to a barbecue," she says. "Every day, there are people threatening you or your family."

"So you put on your armour, and it doesn't matter.... You deal with that long enough, why would you even bother taking the armour off even a tiny little bit?"

When the public paints all law enforcement with the same brush, it affects Bird to her ethical core.

"People calling me corrupt, I don't think there's a swear word that you could call me that would come close to that ... When you talk about bad cops, we all get very defensive because we live our lives every single day having to be role models."

"I can honestly tell you that was not 'police Judy' (at Davidson's memorial) ... My armour was broken, but you know what? Somebody needed to stand and talk. And I'm fine standing and talking. And here I am."

Bird says police sometimes have to take the armour off and check and see if there's any damage.

"I don't think before we ever checked ... we just sort of went off and dealt with it," she said. "But, I think now we actually have to come forward and say 'I need a second. I'm a little bit broken.'"

In part six of Front-line Frequencies, we speak with the only first responders in our series who are completely volunteer-based, Vernon Search and Rescue.

*Sgt. Bird was speaking from personal experience and does not speak for all members of law enforcement. And, even though her armour has changed, she is doing OK.
Photo: CTV Vancouver Fentanyl-containing tablets

The city of Vancouver has had 335 overdose deaths last year, compared with 234 the year before.

There was a huge jump in response to overdose calls by firefighters and ambulance paramedics.

In 2017, the city says there were 6,324 overdose calls compared with just over 4,700 for the year before.

Mayor of Vancouver Gregor Robertson said the number of deaths caused by opioids is straining emergency responders, front line workers and community volunteers.

-with files from CTV Vancouver
Photo: Contributed

RCMP hope to slow down a rash of vehicle break-ins after taking two people into custody in West Kelowna Thursday morning.

A 34-year-old Kelowna man and 50-year-old Peachland man were arrested in the Shannon Lake area after an officer patrolling the area stopped a suspicious Chevrolet Cavalier.

Several allegedly stolen items, including credit cards and personal identification in various names, and small electronic devices, were found in the car.

Information released by the RCMP shows a significant spike in thefts from vehicles across the Central Okanagan.

2017 YTD in West Kelowna - 12

2018 YTD in West Kelowna - 38

2017 YTD in Kelowna - 56

2018 YTD in Kelowna - 144

2017 YTD in Lake Country - 1

2018 YTD in Lake Country - 9

Cpl. Jesse O'Donaghey says while a small portion involve damage to vehicles in order to gain entry, a vast majority involve vehicles left unlocked.

RCMP are once again appealing for the public to always lock their vehicles and remove their valuable possessions, he said.

The number of completed thefts and attempted thefts being committed is alarming and had prompted increased mobile patrols in those areas identified by our crime analysts, as affected most by the uptick in crime.
Photo: The Canadian Press

Premier John Horgan says he wants to reconnect British Columbia communities with the province's forest industry.

He says previous Liberal government policy allowing forest companies to ship timber to mills of their choice hurts some communities and small contractors.

Horgan told delegates at the Truck Loggers Association's convention in Victoria that he wants to fix the broken social contract between the industry, government and communities.

Although the premier didn't promise any changes in policy, saying his government is awaiting recommendations of an industry sustainability review from former Liberal cabinet minister George Abbott within the next month.

In 2003, the former Liberal government dropped long-standing provisions that required companies harvesting timber from public land to mill near the harvest location.

Horgan says back then just eight per cent of B.C.'s lumber exports were raw logs, but that figure rose to 23 per cent by 2017.
Photo: The Canadian Press

The Alberta government is investigating a video that shows a Kodiak bear from a central Alberta zoo being taken through a fast-food drive-thru and being hand-fed ice cream by the restaurant's owner.

The video, posted on social media by the Discovery Wildlife Park in Innisfail, shows a one-year-old captive bear named Berkley leaning out the driver's side of a truck's window for her treat at the local Dairy Queen.

"We've got Berkley in the drive-thru testing out some ice cream so she can pick out her birthday cake," says a man identified as Mark in the video. "We've added some peanuts to this batch and she seems to like it  so I think we've got a winner here."

Officials with the province said they are investigating the video and the terms of the zoo's permit, which is regulated by Alberta Environment and Parks.

"Public safety is a top priority for our government," said spokesman Brendan Cox. "The content of the video in question is disturbing and both Environment and Parks, and the Fish and Wildlife enforcement branch are actively investigating this incident.

"The involvement of Discovery Wildlife Park in this matter is also subject to investigation. If non-compliance is found, action will be taken."

Bear experts are calling the video irresponsible and disrespectful.

"It's a challenge every day out there in our parks and protected areas to try to teach people who are visiting these places or live here in Alberta that we don't feed wildlife, that we don't feed bears," said Kim Titchener, who runs a business called Bear Safety & More.

"We need to conserve and protect them, and respect them."

Serena Bos, a trainer at Discovery Wildlife Park, said there was no safety concern because the bear was on a chain in the truck the entire time.

"There was never any public present. It was done long before the Dairy Queen even opened," she said. "Berkley is a captive bear, so not a wild bear in any way."

The message in the video with the bruin in the truck is about the importance of staying inside a vehicle when a bear is on the side of the highway because they have a keen sense of smell, she said.

Mark Kemball, owner of the Dairy Queen, said he was never concerned about his safety as he fed the bear.

"This bear is as tame as any animal I have ever seen," he said. "She is as gentle as can be. She has never been in the wild."
Photo: pixabay

Residents who receive water through the Sun Valley Water System have been placed on a boil water notice.

The Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen issued the notice in response to a power outage and loss of system pressure Wednesday.

The boil water notice will remain in effect until further notice.

Residents on the system may notice some discolouration or sediment. If you detect dirty water, simply run the water until the water runs clear again.

Residents should also check the water quality before laundering of clothing during this time to minimize potential staining or discoloration.

All residents are advised to use a safe alternate source of water or to boil water for all drinking, infant formula preparation, brushing teeth, food preparation/cooking purposes and ice making . Water should be brought to a full boil and allowed to boil for at least one minute

.

All business owners/operators (bed and breakfasts) and public facilities operators are reminded it is their responsibility notify customers of the boil water notice.
Photo: CTV

Waves as high as 9.5 metres slammed the west coast of Vancouver Island on Thursday.

The winter storm produced some of the largest waves seen in a decade.

Environment Canada issued a gale warning for the region, and the District of Tofino closed all its beaches due to the hazardous conditions.

Ucluelet also closed several beaches, and Pacific Rim National Park issued an extreme wave hazard advisory.

Ocean Networks Canada said it was the largest storm its models had ever seen, said Karla Robison, Ucluelet's environmental and emergency service manager.

Barricades and warning tape went up on trails between Ucluelet and Tofino, and beaches will remain closed until further notice.

 with files from CTV Vancouver Island
Photo: Google Maps

The Correctional Service of Canada has fired two more workers at a maximum security prison in Edmonton following an investigation into allegations of workplace harassment, intimidation and bullying.

The move follows the termination of four other staff from Edmonton Institution on Jan. 9, including two managers.

Commissioner Don Head said the firings were based on disciplinary hearings that determined there was inappropriate staff conduct.

"These types of behaviour are simply not tolerated in our organization," Head said in the statement Thursday.

"Workplace well-being is a priority for us and my management team and I are working tirelessly with labour partners and all levels of management to restore and maintain a respectful workplace of which we can all be proud."

Head said further disciplinary hearings are pending and additional investigations are ongoing.

He said Edmonton police are also looking into possible criminal charges as a result of behaviour at the prison.

A workplace assessment completed last year by investigation company TLS Enterprises described the prison as a toxic environment and made dozens of recommendations for change.

The Correctional Service has said it has already increased training and created a confidential tip line for employees to report misconduct.
Photo: CTV

Three workers were injured in a sawmill fire in South Vancouver early Friday.

Firefighters continue to battle the two-alarm blaze, which is believed to have started in the basement of the mill, on Yukon Street, south of Marine Drive.

Three staff suffered smoke inhalation and minor injuries.

Fire crews were concerned about acetylene tanks inside, and have been attacking the flames from outside the building.

Thick, black smoke is hanging over the neighbourhood.

 with files from CTV Vancouver
Photo: The Canadian Press Christopher Garnier

Christopher Garnier, who strangled Nova Scotia police officer Catherine Campbell and then used a green bin to dispose of her body, is appealing his conviction.

In December, a 12-member jury found the 30-year-old man guilty of second-degree murder, rejecting his claim that she died accidentally during rough sex. He was also found guilty of interfering with a dead body.

A notice filed with the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal identified several grounds for the appeal, including that Nova Scotia Supreme Court Justice Joshua Arnold's final instructions to the jury were too complex.

"The (judge's) charge to the jury was so complicated and convoluted that no ordinary juror would be able to understand it," the four-page document said, filed on Tuesday.

The jury deliberated for less than five hours before coming back with a verdict.

Arnold then sentenced Garnier to life in prison  the automatic sentence for a second-degree murder conviction. A hearing to determine his parole eligibility is set for May 7.

The appeal claims Garnier's rights were violated under Section 7 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms  which protects the life, liberty and security of a person  and that the verdict was not "reasonably supported by the evidence."

It also said Arnold was wrong to determine that a second statement Garnier gave police was free and voluntary, and that he erred in not allowing opinion evidence from a doctor on whether the statement was free and voluntary.

Court heard Garnier met the 36-year-old Truro police constable at a Halifax bar in the early hours of Sept. 11, 2015.

The jury watched surveillance video showing Garnier and Campbell kissing and dancing before leaving the Halifax Alehouse around 3:30 a.m. The prosecution said the two went to a McCully Street apartment, where Garnier was staying with a friend.

Crown attorney Christine Driscoll told the jury Garnier lost control during a sexual encounter with Campbell, stuffed her lifeless body into a compost bin, and dumped her remains in thick brush near the Angus L. Macdonald Bridge and the city's naval dockyards.

During a nine-hour recorded interview with police, Garnier said he hit Campbell with his fist and had his hands around her throat as she was choking, but he repeatedly said he could not remember other details from that night.

Testifying in his own defence, Garnier told the jury through tears that during sex play, Campbell encouraged him to choke and slap her.
Photo: Thinkstock.com

A 15-year-old Quebec boy is challenging his school's policy of confiscating a smartphone for 24 hours if it is used during class.

A school board in the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean region confirms it received a letter from Vincent Duguay this week.

The letter notes that confiscating a cellphone for a whole day is unconstitutional and causes problems for teens, including being unavailable if employers try to reach them.

Duguay has never had his own phone confiscated and his father tells Radio-Canada the reason for his intervening has nothing to do with wanting to use the phones in the classroom.

Rather, the teen's father says it's to ensure teens don't find themselves without a smartphone device for an extended period of time as some of his son's friends have.

Duguay is a student at Charles-Gravel High School  one of four in the region.

Claudie Fortin, a spokeswoman for the Rives-du-Saguenay school board, says each school establishes its own rules in different areas, including cellphone use.

Fortin says the letter is in the hands of the board's lawyers and a reply is coming soon.
Photo: The Canadian Press

UPDATE: 1:10 p.m.

One of the most closely watched Canadian trials in recent years ended Friday with the acquittal of three former railway employees who were charged with criminal negligence causing the death of 47 people in the Lac-Megantic tragedy.

The jurors reached the verdict on their ninth day of deliberations.

Tom Harding, Richard Labrie and Jean Demaitre were charged with criminal negligence in the 2013 tragedy that killed 47 people when a runaway train carrying crude oil derailed and exploded.

"Mr. Harding is too moved by the situation to give a coherent expression of what he feels inside," Thomas Walsh, one of his lawyers, told reporters after the verdicts were handed down. "But I know he feels terribly relieved and terribly thankful to the system, the jury system, and this jury in particular."

Crown prosecutor Veronique Beauchamp said it is too early to say whether there will be an appeal.

"You'll understand it is not necessarily the decision we were expecting, but we respect the verdicts that were handed down and, especially, the work the jurors put in," Beauchamp said.

"Criminal negligence causing death is one of the Criminal Code provisions that is difficult to prove."

Harding was the train's engineer, Labrie the traffic controller and Demaitre the manager of train operations.

All three accused could have been found guilty of criminal negligence causing death, while jurors had the option of convicting Harding on one of two other charges: dangerous operation of railway equipment or dangerous operation of railway equipment causing death.

Walsh said the verdict was proof that the institution of trial before jury is an important one in a democratic system.

He said he still believes the trial should never have taken place.

"I think it was more proper that there be some kind of a public inquiry to find out and determine all of the circumstances that led to this tragedy  and not just the role one or two people might have played," Walsh added.

He said Harding is still facing other accusations, which are coming up later this month.

"Those are the ones we always felt were more appropriate for the sitauation and those are the accusations of non-conformity with the rules, something we have always admitted."

UPDATE: 11:38 a.m.

The three men charged in the Lac-Megantic railway disaster have all been found not guilty of criminal negligence causing the death of 47 people.

The jurors reached the verdict on their ninth day of deliberations today.

Tom Harding, Richard Labrie and Jean Demaitre were charged with criminal negligence in the 2013 tragedy that killed 47 people when a runaway train carrying crude oil derailed and exploded.

ORIGINAL: 11 a.m.

Jurors at the trial of three men charged with criminal negligence causing death in the Lac-Megantic railway disaster asked the judge for certain clarifications on Friday.

Thirty minutes into Day 9 of its deliberations, the jury sent Quebec Superior Court Justice Gaetan Dumas an envelope.

The eight men and four women were seeking clarification on the concept of "marked difference"  the comparison between the actions of the three accused and the actions of colleagues if they had faced the same circumstances.

Dumas is discussing the matter with lawyers before addressing the jury.

There had been no word from the jurors since Tuesday, when they told Dumas they were at an impasse.

The jurors are deciding the fate of Tom Harding, Richard Labrie and Jean Demaitre, who are charged in connection with the July 2013 tragedy in which 47 people were killed when a runaway train carrying crude oil derailed and exploded.

Harding was the train's engineer, Labrie the traffic controller and Demaitre the manager of train operations.

All three can be found guilty of criminal negligence causing the death of 47 people, while jurors have the option of convicting Harding on one of two other charges: dangerous operation of railway equipment or dangerous operation of railway equipment causing death.

In his instructions to the jury on Jan. 10, Dumas explained some elements of criminal law, such as the fact the three accused were not required to prove they are innocent. In fact, he said, they had nothing to prove.

It was up to the prosecution, he continued, to prove beyond a reasonable doubt the behaviour of the three men  by their actions or omissions  constituted a marked and important departure from what a reasonable person would have done under the same circumstances.

In order for the three men to be guilty, Dumas said, the accused must have omitted to do something they were required to do, thus showing a reckless disregard for the life of others.
Photo: Monique Kozub Anderson

UPDATE: 10:30 p.m.

Highway 1 reopened to single-lane, alternating traffic about 5:45 p.m., DriveBC reports.

UPDATE: 2:45 p.m.

DriveBC has revised its estimated time of reopening at a rock slide on Highway 1 near Spences Bridge.

It had been hoped to open the highway by 3 p.m., but that time has now been pushed back to 6 p.m.

ORIGINAL: 11:45 a.m.

The Trans-Canada Highway is expected to reopen this afternoon, following a large rockslide on Thursday near Spences Bridge.

The highway has been closed six kilometres east of the community since Thursday afternoon, when massive chunks broke free of a rock face and came crashing down on the highway, striking a tractor-trailer.

DriveBC reports an estimated time of reopening as 3 p.m.

Meanwhile, traffic has been detoured via Highway 12 to Lytton, Highway 8 to Ashcroft and Highway 5 to Kamloops.
Photo: The Canadian Press

Canadian sun seekers in Jamaica are being urged to "exercise a high degree of caution" following a spate of violent crime in the popular winter getaway.

The Canadian government has issued a travel warning in the wake of a military lockdown in St. James Parish, which includes the popular tourist destination Montego Bay.

The government's safety note urges anyone staying at a resort in the affected area to "restrict your movements" to the property.

Those who venture beyond should use transportation arranged by the resort and only use organized tour operators for excursions and travel.

Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness has said escalating criminal activity was endangering public safety, necessitating a state of public emergency and the deployment of military forces.

A married couple from Winnipeg was found dead earlier this month while visiting Jamaica.

"If you are in the affected area, be extremely vigilant, follow the instructions of local authorities and monitor local news," says the Canadian travel warning.

Sunwing was quick to reassure customers that its flights, cruise and vacation packages were operating as scheduled.

The travel company also said in a statement that it's waiving its usual fee to allow customers to change their reservation to an all-inclusive resort if they are currently booked in a non-inclusive resort or hotel in St. James Parish. Customers would still be required to pay the applicable price difference.

Sunwing says it sends approximately 5,000 visitors through Montego Bay airport each week, and more than 95 per cent of vacationers choose all-inclusive resorts.
Photo: The Canadian Press

Three geriatric military aircraft flew in formation above Halifax harbour Friday, marking the long-overdue retirement of the 54-year-old East Coast Sea King fleet.

Several journalists were taken for a ride to record the flight, which comes one week before the helicopters end their operational duties on the East Coast at 12 Wing Shearwater.

The Sea Kings operating on the West Coast at Patricia Bay near Victoria will remain in operation until the end of this year as crews from that base are trained to fly the new CH-148 Cyclone, which has been plagued by delays and cost overruns.

The first Sea Kings arrived at Shearwater on Aug. 1, 1963, and were expected to serve mainly as submarine hunters to deter the former Soviet Union from violating Canadian sovereignty.

But since then, the choppers have had to adapt to a variety of missions as their operational life was repeatedly extended.
Photo: CTV

A Vancouver Island farm that cultivated a unique live-work program to help the homeless is shutting down.

The society that operates Woodwynne Farms in Central Saanich issued a statement Thursday saying financial backers have withdrawn their support after the Agricultural Land Commission denied a request to build additional housing for up to 40 people.

The farm, which offered a grassroots treatment program for up to eight homeless people or those recovering from drug addictions, is to be sold.

Central Saanich Mayor Ryan Windsor says the main concern now is finding a safe and stable environment for those still living at the farm.
Photo: 20th Century Fox

Mayor Gregor Robertson says it's great to hear that Vancouver remains in the top two places in North America for movie makers to live and work.

Movie Maker Magazine puts Vancouver behind only Atlanta in its latest annual ratings, saying the city's "neo-Hollywood reputation" is well earned.

Robertson says the city's reputation as an international hub for film and television has grown in recent years and the industry now hosts over 400 productions and provides about 19,000 jobs per year.

City officials add it's important to recognize that the award also belongs to all of the municipalities in the region, from Port Moody to Surrey and Squamish, which support the film industry.
On Sunday, National Park Service (NPS) Assistant Chief Anthony Garner contacted the Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) Knoxville District Emergency Regional Dispatch Center and requested THP aviation to assist with the search for a missing husband and wife, along with their dog who went for a hike in the Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area (NRRA) in Scott County.

The couple contacted their daughter on Saturday night advising they were lost and unable to find their vehicle. At approximately 7 a.m. Sunday, they called their daughter advising they spent the night in the woods and were going to attempt to find their way out. When they did not come back to their vehicle, a search was initiated. Due to rugged terrain and sub-freezing temperatures, NPS rangers requested air support.



Lieutenant Brad Lund and Trooper Ryan Quinn flew a THP Jet Ranger helicopter to the search area and conducted a visual and forward-looking infrared (FLIR) camera search. After approximately an hour and a half of searching, they located the woman along with the dog. She appeared disoriented and had trouble moving. Lund and Quinn guided ground searchers to her location. Searchers made contact with her, but indicated that they were having trouble communicating with her. She told the searchers she became separated from her husband and that he was lying on the ground somewhere not doing well.



Lund and Quinn continued searching for the man, and eventually found him lying down appearing to have trouble moving. Searchers were guided to the mans location by THP aviation. The woman was transported to an area hospital with non-life threatening, cold weather related injuries, including frostbite. The man was flown to The University of Tennessee Medical Center in serious condition.

The Scott County Sheriffs Office, Scott County Rescue Squad and Rangers with NPS conducted the ground search.






Antonio Conte's side return to Premier League action this weekend, following Wednesday's dramatic FA Cup third round replay victory over Norwich at Stamford Bridge.

The Blues will make the trip to the south coast to take on Brighton at the Amex Stadium, although we will be without the services of Spanish duo, Pedro and Alvaro Morata, following their dismissals against the Canaries.

We got the thoughts of the boss ahead of the clash with the Seagulls a little earlier today, where he confirmed in his pre-match press conference that duo Gary Cahill and Cesc Fabregas are both expected to miss out through injury. You can watch back the presser via this website and Chelsea TV.

Training
Clariant completed the project to expand its industrial facility in Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz, and increased production capacity by around 15 percent.

This investment in the expansion of the plant was made to strengthen the group's ability to serve industrial and consumer markets - not only in Mexico, but around the world, especially in the Americas.

Hariolf Kottmann, CEO of Clariant, said: To make progress on our way to becoming a leading specialty chemicals company, Clariant focuses on the allocation of investments in areas with excellent growth potential. One of these important strategic markets in the Americas is Mexico, particularly due to its growth potential, its export strength and our highly motivated and qualified workforce.

Fernando Hernandez, Country Head of Clariant Mexico, added: "We have a strong presence in Mexico, with production plants, laboratories, and sales offices located in Santa Clara (Mexico State), Puebla, and Coatzacoalcos, which provides solutions to multiple industries and we continuously invest in new technologies to better meet the needs of our customers".

The expansion project in Coatzacoalcos took approximately two years to complete, concluding within the planned timeframe and budget and with zero accidents. Included amongst the benefits it is bringing to the local communities is the creation of indirect service jobs in areas such as transportation and maintenance, among others.

Since its opening in 2002, the Coatzacoalcos plant has continuously been expanded over the last 15 years. It currently occupies an area of 76,000 square meters, has over 100 employees and manufactures a wide variety of Clariant products.
Evonik and Siemens are planning to use electricity from renewable sources and bacteria to convert carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) into specialty chemicals. The two companies are working on electrolysis and fermentation processes in a joint research project called Rheticus. The project was launched today and is due to run for two years. The first test plant is scheduled to go on stream by 2021 at the Evonik facility in Marl, Germany which produces chemicals such as butanol and hexanol, both feedstocks for special plastics and food supplements, for example. The next stage could see a plant with a production capacity of up to 20,000 tonnes a year. There is also potential to manufacture other specialty chemicals or fuels. Some 20 scientists from the two companies are involved in the project.



We are developing a platform that will allow us to produce chemical products in a much more cost-effective and environmentally-friendly way than we do today, explains Dr. Gunter Schmid, technical project responsible of Siemens Corporate Technology. Using our platform, operators will in future be able to scale their plants to suit their needs. The new technology combines multiple benefits. It not only enables chemicals to be produced sustainably, it also serves as an energy store, can respond to power fluctuations and help stabilize the grid. Rheticus is linked to the Kopernikus Initiative for the energy transition in Germany which is seeking new solutions to restructure the energy system. The Rheticus project will receive 2.8 million euros in funding from Germanys Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).



With the Rheticus platform, we want to demonstrate that artificial photosynthesis is feasible, adds Dr. Thomas Haas, who is responsible for the project in Evoniks strategic research department Creavis. Artificial photosynthesis is where CO 2 and water are converted into chemicals using a combination of chemical and biological steps, in a process similar to how leaves use chlorophyll and enzymes to synthesize glucose.



Siemens and Evonik are each contributing their own core competencies to this research collaboration. Siemens is providing the electrolysis technology, which is used in the first step to convert carbon dioxide and water into hydrogen and carbon monoxide (CO) using electricity. Evonik is contributing the fermentation process, converting gases containing CO into useful products by metabolic processes with the aid of special micro-organisms. In the Rheticus project, these two steps  electrolysis and fermentation  are scaled up from the laboratory and combined in a technical test facility.



Rheticus brings together the expertise of Evonik and Siemens. This research project shows how we are applying the Power-to-X idea, says Dr. Karl Eugen Hutmacher from the BMBF. Using electricity to generate chemicals is an idea from the Power-to-X concept. As one of the four pillars of the Kopernikus Initiative, the idea is to help convert and store renewable, electrical energy efficiently. At the same time, the Rheticus platform also contributes to the reduction of carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere, as it uses CO 2 as a raw material. Three tons of carbon dioxide would be needed to produce one tonne of butanol, for example.



Evonik and Siemens see great future potential in the Rheticus platform. It will make it simple to scale plants to the desired size  the chemical industry will be able to adapt them flexibly to local conditions. In future, they could be installed anywhere where there is a source of CO 2  power plant waste gas or biogas for instance.

Its modular nature and flexibility in terms of location, raw material sources and products manufactured make the new platform attractive for the specialty chemicals industry in particular, says Haas. We are confident that other companies will use the platform and integrate it with their own modules to manufacture their chemical products, adds Schmid.
"We have to live with the point," said Dortmund coach Peter Stoeger, whose side missed the chance to go second ahead of the rest of the 19th round.
The Fire receive $900,000 in Target Allocation Money and $300,000 in General Allocation Money spread over the 2018 and 2019 seasons.
This transfer further demonstrates the commitment of our club to bring top level, dynamic young players to Atlanta and to MLS. We are excited to welcome Ezequiel to our club and our city.
Yet backers of net neutrality could gain even if they lose. The idea of preventing a handful of service providers from controlling the internet is hugely popular with millions of voters, who in the next election could rally behind the politicians who fought to preserve a more open and affordable World Wide Web.
Amazon shared little about how it narrowed the pool of 238 applicants beyond the fact that it used the criteria it laid out when announcing the search. The list of 20 contenders was unranked, and Amazon said it planned to work with each location in the coming months. Still, experts said its unlikely Amazon thinks all 20 have an equal shot.
Promised incentives: The package includes reimbursements of up to $7,500 for every worker who moves to D.C., wage reimbursements of up to $30,000 per new job filled with local veterans and a five-year freeze on property taxes on every building in the city at least half occupied by Amazon, according to the Business Journal.
The NLRBs complaint follows an initial complaint, filed in September, from UNITE HERE Local 1, the union representing most of the Hyatt Regency Chicagos employees and more than 8,000 workers in the city. Employees at the hotel are working under a contract that will not expire until Aug. 31.
Jimmy Johns said it made the decision to stop serving sprouts across the country after an investigation in the last 24 hours indicated that sprouts purchased from two growers in Minnesota  could be linked to seven food safety complaints received over a one-week period in December in Illinois and Wisconsin.
Tony obviously is unlike Birdbath, but he is able to keenly deliver Birdbath because they do have in common this depth, inner elegance and generosity that, for whatever reason, one wouldnt expect at first glance, maybe because Tony is a hulk who only wears suits at funerals. But Tony, like Jack, shares with those who know him, a broad, sophisticated and engaging intellect, and a huge soul. Even though he might look like a guy a loan shark sent around to collect your debt.
As a show at TimeLine, Boy functions as an overly efficient melodrama. As soon as you hear Barnes say the line and you can never tell her, you hear the cue for creepiness, which is the way director Damon Kiely and Parkes approach the character, which makes it yet harder to believe the parents would have been so duped. The script has a rigorously symmetrical structure: I found myself resisting some of that and wanting the central character of Adam, the only person who really matters here, to have more time to be, to breathe, and for the script to be willing to rip away some of this impositional neatness. Although carefully wrought and visually rich (the set is by Arnel Sancianco), the emotionally restrained production follows the same path: Whenever the actors are beginning to approach a deep place, and both Germaine and Marso do at times, were whisked elsewhere to a scene that could wait.
But now, the pill is at a crossroads, with 31 percent of American abortion patients choosing pill-induced abortion over surgery, and bold new initiatives dangling the prospect of dramatically increased access. The Gynuity study is allowing women in Maine, Hawaii, Washington and Oregon to confer with a doctor from home via video chat, and then get the pills delivered to their homes by mail. In California, women may soon be offered an even more streamlined medication-by-mail option. In Hawaii, the American Civil Liberties Union recently filed a lawsuit that could open the door to ordinary doctors nationwide prescribing the pill, and women picking it up at their local pharmacies.
You really sit down and you ask yourself, did you do the right thing? she said. Seeing baby clothes or anything related to babies, it reminds you of the decision you made. But it also motivates me to put effort into all of those reasons  school, work. I do want to build a better life for it when I do have a baby. To give it a better life.
The test is not yet available in the U.S. If and when it does come to market, he said, it probably would not replace colonoscopy as the gold standard for screening. Rather, it most likely would supplant the preliminary stool-based tests that people often are reluctant to use, Nimgaonkar said.
I was against even talking about this issue or putting it in those terms of a woman chef versus a man chef, shes quoted as saying. However I will tell you that recently I have experienced not harassment but sort of that boys club mentality. I had this aha moment where I was like: This is what its like. Excluding women that are in a room  theres so much testosterone in the room that they cant even see that there is another person in the room. Women arent like that, and I see the difference now.
Over my tenure at NPU I have sat with countless LBGTQ young people who wrestle with whether or not they are worthy of love, who feel crushed under the weight of the shame they feel because of their inability to overcome their attractions and who fear they will never be able to truly be themselves in the churches in which they were raised, she wrote. And I have done my best to be their pastor.
He shouldnt hold his breath. In becoming the first state to impose a work requirement for Medicaid, something that needed the approval of the Trump administration, Kentucky is not likely to move many people into the dignity of paid employment. Its more likely to move them into the indignity of doing without medical care until illness or injury forces a visit to the emergency room.
Pallmeyer was already considering issuing sanctions for those issues when it was revealed Thursday that Salvador was named in another recent civil rights lawsuit even though he had testified under oath that he wasnt involved in any other litigation. In fact, Salvador was represented in both cases by the same city lawyer, Assistant Corporation Counsel Scott Cohen, who failed to notify Evans attorneys about the suit.
Hours after the fire, the windows behind the unit were broken out. They were covered by steel beams meant to dissuade robbers. The apartment's smoke-streaked walls could be seen from the outside, along with the family's damaged belongings.
When he was questioned a second time, Christensen changed his story, telling agents he got the date mixed up, according to court records. He said he was driving on campus, came across an Asian woman looking distressed and offered her a ride because she said she was late to an appointment, authorities said. Christensen said the woman panicked after he made a wrong turn, and he let her out of his car a few blocks from where they met, prosecutors said.
Even if the Supreme Court overturned the conviction and granted him a new trial, there is virtually no chance that he will ever be a free man, because at the same time he was trying to win a new trial, he was also scheming to have his nemesis  Will County States Attorney James Glasgow  murdered.
The police informed us that this has not been common for our area, he wrote. It is our prayer that by informing all of you, that we may be supportive of each other and watch out for each other, not only today after school, but here on out in the future.
A filing from 2016 noted her exceptional behaviors, leadership skills and participation in programming. She earned her high school diploma last year and participated in talent shows and soccer tournaments. Her good behavior earned her special visits from family members, the records show. Apart from one incident last year in which she yelled at a staffer who told her she needed to be searched, she was described as a positive role model for other residents, one report said.
ONeal then bailed out of the Jaguar and fled on foot as Diaz chased him through the backyards of several homes in the 7300 block of South Merrill Avenue, firing a total of five times, according to the report. Diaz appeared to take the final shot while aiming his pistol over a backyard fence that ONeal had scaled, the report said. ONeal was struck once in the middle of his back and collapsed near a back porch.
Canadians and Americans know we are all better off when we work together to grow the middle class, and create more opportunities for people on both sides of the border, Trudeau said in a statement. I look forward to meeting with government and business leaders in the United States again to explore new opportunities for collaboration and growth, so we can build a more prosperous future for people in both countries.
*Quick spin: A day after African-American aldermen held a news conference to praise the Obama Presidential Centers construction team choices, a pair of Latino aldermen criticized the lack of Hispanic participation. "I am disappointed that my former colleague, Barack Obama, would turn his back on his Latino brothers and sisters in his home state," said state Sen. Martin Sandoval, who is the chairman of the Illinois Legislative Latino Caucus. Ald. Gilbert Villegas, 36th, was part of the news conference as well. ... Northside Democracy for America announced it endorsed Aaron Goldstein in the crowded Democratic primary for attorney general.
Rauner already has been airing a one-minute version of the ad featuring a snippet of one conversation between Blagojevich and Pritzker. Never played in court, the wiretapped conversations obtained by federal agents and first reported and released by the Tribune on May 31 feature Blagojevich and Pritzker discussing possible scenarios to fill the U.S. Senate vacancy of Barack Obama, who had just been elected president in November 2008. At the time, it was widely known that Blagojevichs administration was under federal investigation.
Castillo told the Tribune then that if the stalemate hadnt been resolved, he was prepared to send a doomsday email that would have halted all trials at the busy downtown courthouse because he had no more money to pay jurors and court-appointed attorneys or cover other costs of a trial. Officials in Washington had told him to give jurors IOUs for their service if necessary  something he refused to do.
"I think Bruce Rauner is trying to do what he thinks is best for the state of Illinois," Kennedy said. "And we may disagree on what that is, but his willingness to speak truth to power, to take on the powers that have been strangling our economy for decades in this state is something that I think he should be applauded for."
RATON, N.M.  Andra Cobb was frantic when she called for help, telling an emergency operator that a helicopter she was riding in with her father, longtime partner and others had crashed in a remote part of New Mexico and that she was watching her "family burn."
"What's so wrong with wanting to put up a fence and saying, 'Hey, everybody with a gun, if you want to go shoot people coming across our border illegally, you can do it fo' free,'" Higbie said. "You cross my border, I will shoot you in the face. I will go down there. I'll volunteer to go down there and stand on that border for, I don't know, a week or so at a time and that'll be my civil duty."
To Psaki, the reason is benign: The most valuable tool a president has, she said, is his time. Though the president is the leader of the nation, each is also the head of his political party and must manage both duties accordingly. That means advancing their policies, but also raising money for their campaigns, visiting swing states and stumping for candidates.
The U.S. Capitol is seen reflected in the windows of the Capitol Visitors Center as lawmakers work on Jan. 19, 2018 in Washington. The Senate failed to pass a short-term spending bill, sending the government into shutdown. (Aaron P. Bernstein / Getty Images)
BUDAPEST, HUNGARY  Hungarian police had an arrest warrant open for Sebastian Gorka during the eight months he spent as a national security aide to U.S. President Donald Trump.



The warrant issued in September 2016 is for unspecified weapons or ammunitions charges. It remained posted Thursday on the website of Hungary's national police.



The British-born Gorka has Hungarian heritage and lived in Hungary for years starting in the early 1990s. He worked for Hungary's defense ministry during 1993-1998 and tried to establish a radical right-wing party in Hungary, the New Democratic Coalition, in 2007.



That he was wanted by Hungarian law enforcement while working for the White House appears to have escaped public notice before it was first reported Thursday by Hungary's 444.hu website, based on a reader's tip.



Reacting to reports saying the warrant might have stemmed from charges possibly filed in 2009, Gorka tweeted: "I moved to America in 2008. (LEGALLY!)."



Hungarian police have not released any details about why the warrant was obtained and has languished so long.



Gorka joined the Trump administration as a counterterrorism adviser. But his exact responsibilities were not clearly outlined, and he was unable to get clearance for the National Security Council because of a January 2016 charge for carrying a weapon at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.



Gorka entered an Alford plea to the charge later that year, acknowledging that prosecutors could likely prove their case but admitting no wrongdoing. A Virginia court ordered him to forfeit the weapon and "be on general good behavior" for six months.



Gorka left his White House position in August, a week after the exit of chief strategist Steve Bannon. Bannon was an ally of Gorka's, who was an editor at Breitbart News from early 2014, known for his hard-line views on immigration and terrorism.



Gorka told The Associated Press he resigned, though a White House official said that was not the case.



Since November, Gorka been a national security strategist for Fox News.
Heres where we get to the heart of the matter: Contemporary feminism isnt really about getting results. Its not about treating men and women as human beings with equal rights, equal agency and equal worth. Its a blind pursuit of a goofy ideology, no matter the cost to women. Men and women are different, and despite the best efforts of our friends at Vox, thats probably not going to change. But thats only because were socialized that way, todays feminists tell us. To rectify the situation, among other things, young women should act like the most boorish of men, hooking up early and often and without a second thought. I dont wander into casual sex expecting it to yield a relationship, wrote one woman recently in The New York Times Modern Love column, after spending hundreds of words describing herself doing exactly that.
Census findings serve as the basis for nearly $20 billion in federal money that Illinois gets every year for a vast array of needs  from highways and housing to health care and foster care. This state appears sure to lose one of its 18 seats in the U.S. House but could lose two. As that number shrinks, so does Illinois voice in the Electoral College. Whats the basis for the boundaries of federal, state and local voting districts? The census. And businesses from Walgreens to Walmart, sensitive to population growth or decline, use census data to help decide where to open and close stores.
Every year, millions of Americans fail to heed medical advice to get the shot. Reasons (read: excuses) abound, none of them good. If avoiding the nasty symptoms of the flu isnt enough incentive for you to get the shot  which even at this point in January is still a good idea  then consider this: Taking the shot doesnt merely immunize you against the flu. It inoculates you from all those smug know-it-alls whose first remark upon learning of your misery is always the same: Too bad you didnt get the flu shot. Tsk. Tsk.
These women, as a group, do have a few advocates: individuals and organizations trying to extricate victims-in-waiting from their perilous lifestyles. But when a crime is private and takes place in an economic underground  when its a Murder on the margins, as the headline on the Tribunes report put it  there may be no one who misses the victim. No one who says, We want to help solve this crime.
Today, as more immigrants continue that tradition, I would have hoped that we had a president who would inspire them to become good citizens and proud Americans. Unfortunately, with the presidents actions and words, people around the world are quickly realizing that for many, this president is not the one that the American people deserve and need at this point in our history.
The truth is, I have been critical, Pritzker said to McQueary. And the first thing I would say is that Im not endorsing anybody in any primaries. Im running in my own primary. The second thing Id tell you is that I think there are massive flaws in the property tax system in Cook County and across the state of Illinois. I think that running for governor we ought to be proposing solutions to that instead of calling people out by name.
A new storm system develops in the southern Great Plains on Saturday and will be the next precipitation producer for Chicago. Low pressure at the core of this system is forecast to form over Kansas on Sunday, then move northeast into Iowa by early Monday and then continue northeastward from there. Rain associated with this system arrives in Chicago by late Sunday.
In light of the brimming load, PAWS Chicago will waive all adoption fees for adult dogs and cats for one day only  tomorrow, Jan. 20  for the Help Us Save More event at both its Lincoln Park and Highland Park adoption centers. PAWS works with Chicago Animal Care and Control to transfer pets from CACC on an ongoing basis, and this event is designed to [make] room for PAWS to save more pets during a particularly crowded time. PAWS is a no-kill shelter.
According to the Harper College website, Johnston taught three courses called introduction to psychology, introduction to research, and theories of personality during the fall 2017 semester, but the website does not list him as a professor for the spring 2018 class schedule.
A: Yes, it can be sad. When people come into my office, they're often going through the worst time of their life. The world that they were building has come crashing down, and for some people, they just don't know why it's happening. But then I see them start to lead a new life ... find a new career or job, a new passion and spending more time with old and new friends. For those who felt beaten down in their marriage, it's exciting to see them develop confidence and a new life. It's very rewarding to be able to help people at the worst time in their lives and assure them that life will go on, and in some cases, they will have a much better life. Most people are very resilient, and they come out the other side better than they were before.
Officials declined further comment outside of the lawsuit. Mayor Richard Irvin and aldermen supporting the Scientel site said they see it as an economic development issue. City officials have maintained that the federal government, through the Federal Communications Commission, decides issues of interference between towers and the city could not base its decision concerning Scientel on that.
A group backing several objectors to the Aurora Election Commission referendum is still considering what it will do, if anything, to stop the referendum. Their objections were dismissed and ruled against by 16th Circuit Court Judge David Akemann earlier this month, which paved the way for the referendum to go on the March 20 ballot.
"One of the big changes is now allowing 16- and 17-year-olds to be organ and tissue donors as well as legislation regarding preschool children, who can no longer be suspended from school," she said. "We also have about 10 to 15 veterans' laws designed to help reduce suicide as well as a veterans suicide task force recommendation and changes regarding cost obligations for those who have been deployed."
Loved ones, including younger brother Gordon Russell of Somonauk, are determined to find a way to keep him in his own house, where he can maintain his independence and dignity. Like so many desperate people, they started a GoFundMe page a couple weeks ago, hoping to raise $50,000. But just as importantly, they want to call attention to Illinois laws that make it difficult for people like Russell to collect Medicaid unless they go into a nursing home, which can run more than twice the cost of living in his own house.
The turn of the page on the calendar brings with it a turning of the page in the academic year. Many college students are returning to classes for the second term of the year while others are starting classes for the first time. Each student begins college at different times and with unique circumstances. Those circumstances are part of what makes the college experience valuable for all of us.
500 39th St., Downers Grove: $1,595,000 | Listed: July 31, 2021



This five-bedroom home has four full bathrooms, one half-bath and an arched entry with leaded glass side lights. The kitchen as a Thor 6-burner cooktop, a built-in double oven, granite counters, a center island and a walk-in pantry. The breakfast room features detailed millwork and allows access to an elevated deck. The primary bedroom suite has a wall-mounted fireplace, a sitting room with an octagon-sided ceiling, and a bathroom with a blue marble floor, a whirlpool tub and a separate shower with full-body sprays. A grand staircase, a paneled library, a dining room with a crystal chandelier, a game room and a home theatre with a built-in entertainment center complete this home.



Agent: Joe Patyk, Coldwell Banker, 630-917-4661



*Some listing photos are virtually staged, meaning they have been digitally altered to represent different furnishing or decorating options.



To feature your luxury listing of $800,000 or more in Chicago Tribunes Dream Homes, send listing information and high-res photos to ctc-realestate@chicagotribune.com.



Join our Chicago Dream Homes Facebook group for more luxury listings and real estate news.
At the start of the trial Wednesday, Assistant States Attorney Randi Freese said ODell and the other man hid in the home and then launched a surprise attack on the group as they walked into a darkened kitchen. According to prosecutors and trial testimony, one woman was dragged into a bathroom, hit on the head with a gun, threatened and had her cellphone stolen by ODell, while two men present were brutally beaten with a gun, pots and pans. One of the men testified that ODell stole his wallet.
I think that, in the future, some of these national (fraternity) organizations may be held accountable, Gary Bogenberger said when reached by telephone. I dont know how much has changed and that is the problem. There are continually news articles about deaths attributed to alcohol and hazing activities.  And that is very unsettling, because at some point people have to recognize the tremendous liability they are creating for their universities, their organizations  or for their sons and daughters.
"That's all we asked for was the time," she said, adding that she thought with more time the school could have met its enrollment target, which would have helped it meet its financial goal.
A south suburban man has been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for manufacturing synthetic cannabinoids into a smokeable drug known as K2, or "spice," according to the U.S. attorney's office in Chicago.
Will County prosecutors allege that Woulfe was driving east in his Chevrolet S10 pickup truck at a speed more than 20 mph over the posted limit when he ran a stop sign at Corning Road and Yates Avenue in Beecher. He is accused of striking a 2014 Subaru Outback carrying Schmidt's pregnant wife, Lindsey, and their three sons.
The lawsuit points to state law that holds the owner liable if a dog, unprovoked, bites or attacks a person. According to the lawsuit, Fazzini sustained injuries to her right hand and "continues to be sore" and will continue to suffer in the future from the injury.
Ramos added, "Just be aware of things like that. I know it's kind of scary and I know it's unsettling but just imagine or understand that other places don't have it as lucky as you. You're in a school that gives you an opportunity to speak to people like me. Just don't take that for granted. So even if you feel like you can't do anything for disaster relief or anything like that, know that there's a lot you can do here. Do good in your space. If you see a friend or anyone here being bothered, do something for them. And that'll grow into something. Little seeds grow into big trees."
The village said in the release that trustees had approved an economic incentive agreement with Pete's at Tuesday's Village Board meeting, with a public-private partnership being used to renovate the vacant space. The village said the cost of the project is $8 million and will create 150 jobs.
"In negotiations we're not where we need to be but we hope to get there. We're closer than we were in November," Jones said. "My goal is to get the task force to be as aggressive as possible" in advocating additional funding for safety-net hospitals. "Some of the opposition thinks the number is still too high."
Lalley said the department is still working with School District U-46 to determine how the cameras will be used in the school system. Considering detectives wear street clothing and the nature of their work, the department also is working out details of how and when detectives will use the cameras.
"At this time, there does not seem to be any reason to believe there is any validity to the threat as police or school administration has not received any further threats," the release said.
Fichtner said a new job he started in October will require too much of his time and would limit his ability to run a successful campaign and serve another four years. He waited to make sure his new job as chief financial officer of a company in Chicago was a good fit before withdrawing.
For months, Martinez and others at St. Cyprian had worked to raise funds in an effort to reach a goal of $500,000, one of the conditions requested by the Archdiocese of Chicago in an attempt to keep the school up and running. The effort had managed to raise $85,000, and the Wednesday night announcement revealed what those at the school had fought to prevent  St. Cyprian's school would close at the end of the school year. Also, St. Cyprian and St. Celestine would unite to form a new parish.
When she first listened to Hamilton, Christenson said what stood out to her was Philip Hamiltons death because Alexander Hamilton had a difficult life so losing his son must have been that much more challenging for him. The poem is written from Alexander Hamiltons point of view as he talks about the death of his son, she said.
According to the agreement, Eckerling added his wife to the payroll of Pagecomm and its successor company, PCW Holdings, even though she was employed elsewhere and did no work for the companies. In the agreement, the U.S. Attorney's Office said the arrangement was an attempt to get family health insurance coverage without disclosing that Eckerling was an income-earning employee of the companies.
Investigators would later learn of Adams' true identity, according to the statement, and it was found he was wanted for a sexual offense in Boise, and a warrant was obtained for his arrest. Adams was taken into custody and also charged locally with obstruction of justice for giving a false name, the statement added.
According to Contreras and Waukegan police, Cambray was reported missing after he didn't return home after dropping off a girlfriend on Christmas Day. He was dropped off at a BP gas station at Grand Avenue and Jackson Street because, he told the friend that was driving him, he had to do something. He was never heard from again.
It was in talking to neighbors that some said they first noticed fees and property taxes were varied, even though they have the same style homes and are privy to the same amenities, such as a fitness center and fish-stocked lakes, they said.
If you think that polite rejection was because Amazon was only interested in major, major players, consider that the published roster of 238 prospects also included Danbury, Connecticut, a New York City suburb with a population of 80,000; Wilmington, the most populous city in Delaware at 70,000 people; and more than two dozen communities in Massachusetts alone, including localities such as Holyoke and Leominster, which sound like they'd be more at home attracting an episode of "Ask This Old House."
However, that did not stop other people from creating their own Facebook listings for local events, something Naperville Women's March Action could not fix because it was not authorized to make changes to those online sites.
Alex Orlowski, one of the attorneys representing the 39 former members, declined to discuss the ongoing case other than to say, "We're pleased with how litigation has progressed and look forward to getting these plaintiffs the refunds promised by the club."
In an epoch where the Democratic party must reckon with uncertainty, we citizens of the 7th must encourage a robust and earnest debate amongst viable candidates. Davis' name recognition is trumped by his absence: absence from debate, absence from the democratic processes, the absence of real economic development and the care and devotion to this diverse constituency. Clark has already shown his devotion without banking on the lazy inertia of name recognition. It is time to put an end to the tricks; it is time for Clark's name to be on the ballot, so the 7th can hear and see what he plans as our representative in the federal government. It is time for some new and enthusiastic voices for the 7th and for the Democratic Party in 2018.
In July, Bayne told police that Klotz was upset with him because he was dating Klotz's former fiancee, who told police she ended their relationship in May and began dating Bayne around June 1, the probable cause affidavit states.
Rice said around 9:30 p.m. Wednesday Parks allegedly struck the victim several times with a handgun. He said the gun's serial number had been filed off. Rice said Parks then allegedly fled the scene in the victim's car, which Parks allegedly stole.
The play, originally set in a sequestered jury room on a hot summer day in 1954, opens during the concluding moments of the trial of a 19-year-old man accused of the fatal stabbing of his father. As the 12 jurors are taken into a stark jury room, what originally seemed to be "an open-and-shut case" shifts to doubt, clouded facts and flared tempers as the personalities of all gathered are revealed during heated debate. As time slips by, the murder is re-enacted and a final vote by the jurors is filled with suspense.
St. Mary Catholic Community School: 405 E. Joliet St. The school will host a pancake breakfast and open house from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Jan. 28. Those interested in learning more about the school's faith-based education are invited to attend. An evening open house also will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. Jan. 31. Attendees will have an opportunity to tour the school and meet the faculty and staff. St. Mary's School has space for new students at all grade levels from preschool through eighth grade. More information about the school and tuition rates is at www.stmarycp.org/school or at 219-663-0676.
"It's an intimate venue; people will be coming there specifically to listen and see the band," Livingston, a Highland resident, said. "They won't be distracted by other things; some venues have other things going on."
Shirley Heinze Land Trust has donated 17.34 acres of protected natural land to Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore (IDNL). The transfer, which took place last fall, consists of four parcels that lie adjacent to park boundaries. The largest property is 13.73 acres of prairie adjacent to IDNL's 300-acre Hobart Prairie Grove unit in Lake County that contains a variety of habitats including wetlands, prairie remnants, white oak flatlands, and a rare bur oak savanna. It protects 343 types of native plants and wildlife. Another 1.88-acre parcel of land adjacent to the southern edge of Mnoke Prairie will now become part of the Bailly/Chellberg and Little Calumet River Trail section of the park in Porter County. An assortment of 16 lots totaling 1.55 acres of wooded dunes becomes part of the Miller Woods portion of the park in Lake County. Another small group of lots totaling 0.18 of an acre has been added to the Tolleston Dunes unit in Porter County. More information on the work and nature preserves of Shirley Heinze Land Trust is at www.heinzetrust.org or (219) 242-8558.
Hayden served as deputy executive director at the Gary airport from 1999 to 2001. He spent more than 15 years working in various roles for the Chicago Department of Aviation at O'Hare International Airport, including assistant commissioner for terminal operations, assistant commissioner for airside operations/vehicle services, and assistant commissioner for safety. Hayden also served as general manager of Meigs Field and worked for United Airlines.
Doug Grimes said it's time to look forward to what the district's new configuration will look like. "I think we have to work on the mindset that what was there will not be there again. It's over."
Those seats were held by Anthony Jones, Louise Neese, Sandra Heston and Roger Jackson. Neese, the board's president, Heston and Jackson were appointed in January 2014 and are finishing their first terms, according to county documents. All three submitted letters seeking to be reappointed for another four years. Jones was appointed in August 2015 to fill a vacated seat whose term also expired in January, but he did not submit a letter seeking reappointment.
"I think (the ordinance) was passed to deal with the mayor of Portage, but, instead, what the council did was take on every mayor in the State of Indiana," Snyder said. "If the mayor can be threatened to lose his executive power at the utility, then every mayor in the state has a problem."
The former Nike C-32 site was farmland that was sold to Department of Defense in the mid-1950s, according to the planning proposal document. The defense department used the property for the operation of Ajax and Nike Hercules surface-to-air guided missile firing and control until the site was deactivated in 1976. It's had several private owners since then.
The money for Indiana's grant program comes from $14.7 billion that Volkswagen has agreed to spend after selling diesel-powered cars that emitted more pollution than allowed. Some $10 billion will be used to replace the polluting cars with cleaner ones, $2 billion will go for developing non-polluting vehicles, and $2.7 will help states develop programs to reduce NOx pollution.
"Life will not be the same," said Chiume, who is looking forward to being one of the first trainees at the sewing center. "This new skill will allow me to be more responsible for my grandkids. For that I thank the Lord."
Suicide is the No. 2 killer of men between the 18-45 age group. Reaching out for help when you need it is not a sign of weakness. Trusting your friends and asking for help is the ultimate sign of strength. If you sprain an ankle, we go to the doctor. If we're struggling emotionally we have to learn to treat it the same way.
I am very much in agreement about finding a solution to the immigrants that are career criminals. But just returning them to Mexico is not working. If you have deported them 7 times and they keep coming back and do the same, you have to try something else.
A: There are five things that hip-hop as a culture has in common with the message of Martin Luther King. I think that you'll be pleasantly surprised with the manner in which the materials are delivered, and the connections that are made. It makes me look at Martin Luther King differently, and makes them look at hip-hop differently.
"We plan to make everything fresh," he said. "We make the dough. Every day it's going to be fresh  the bread, the donuts, the coffee. Everything is going to be fresh daily. Often, everything is handmade. We're not going to use a machine or something."
State Fair Fiesta Day celebrates Hispanic culture in Pueblo

Fiesta Day took over the streets of Bessemer once more to celebrate Colorado's rich Hispanic heritage and advocate for Hispanic identity.
Our weekly round up of other news affecting foreign investors throughout Asia:

Malaysias Digital Free Trade Zone

Malaysias Digital Free Trade Zone (DFTZ) seeks to establish Malaysia as a leading logistics center for global marketplaces by opening opportunities for companies both in Malaysia and other ASEAN countries.

Indias FDI Policy Amended: Single Brand Retail, Medical Devices Win Big

The federal government approved major amendments to Indias FDI Policy on January 10 to ease doing business and remove unintended obstacles for investments in certain industries. Major beneficiaries include single brand retailers and the medical devices industry, with the government providing more clarity on compliance requirements and easing the investment process.

Russia Raises Minimum Wage Level, Comparable to Southeast Asia

ussias overall trade with the Chinese territory of Hong Kong rose by 53 percent in 2017, with Hong Kongs total exports to Russia soaring by 43 percent to US$2.1 billion in the first ten months of 2017, while imports from Russia surged by 63 percent to US$870 million.

China Increases Trade with Belt & Road Countries to US$1.14 Trillion in 2017

The total value of Chinas imports and exports to Belt and Road countries rose by 17.8 percent in 2017 on a year-on-year basis, according to Huang Songping, spokesperson for the General Administration of Customs at a press conference held by Chinas State Council Information Office on January 12th.

Expanding Investments in Dong Nai

With an economic growth of eight percent, Dong Nai province with its rising per capita income, growing exports, and FDI is fast emerging as the preferred choice for high-tech and environment-friendly firms. Read more to know about its growth, infrastructure, regional competitiveness, and opportunities.



About Us Our Briefing updates are written by and provided by the various regional offices of Dezan Shira & Associates throughout Asia. To obtain a complimentary subscription to Asia Briefing please click here. To contact Dezan Shira & Associates concerning foreign investment and assistance in Asia, please email us at asia@dezshira.com

Dezan Shira & Associates Brochure

Dezan Shira & Associates is a pan-Asia, multi-disciplinary professional services firm, providing legal, tax and operational advisory to international corporate investors. Operational throughout China, ASEAN and India, our mission is to guide foreign companies through Asias complex regulatory environment and assist them with all aspects of establishing, maintaining and growing their business operations in the region. This brochure provides an overview of the services and expertise Dezan Shira & Associates can provide.

An Introduction to Doing Business in ASEAN 2017

Doing Business in ASEAN introduces the fundamentals of investing in the 10-nation ASEAN bloc, concentrating on economics, trade, corporate establishment and taxation. We also include the latest development news in our Important Updates section for each country, with the intent to provide an executive assessment of the varying component parts of ASEAN, assessing each member state and providing the most up-to-date economic and demographic data on each.

An Introduction to Doing Business in China 2017

Doing Business in China 2017 is designed to introduce the fundamentals of investing in China. Compiled by the professionals at Dezan Shira & Associates in January 2017, this comprehensive guide is ideal not only for businesses looking to enter the Chinese market, but also for companies who already have a presence here and want to keep up-to-date with the most recent and relevant policy changes.

An Introduction to Doing Business in Hong Kong 2017

Doing Business in China 2017 is designed to introduce the fundamentals of investing in China. Compiled by the professionals at Dezan Shira & Associates in January 2017, this comprehensive guide is ideal not only for businesses looking to enter the Chinese market, but also for companies who already have a presence here and want to keep up-to-date with the most recent and relevant policy changes.

An Introduction to Doing Business in India 2017

An Introduction to Doing Business in India 2017 is designed to introduce the fundamentals of investing in India. As such, this comprehensive guide is ideal not only for businesses looking to enter the Indian market, but also for companies who already have a presence here and want to stay up-to-date with the most recent and relevant policy changes.

An Introduction to Doing Business in Singapore 2017

An Introduction to Doing Business in Singapore 2017 provides readers with an overview of the fundamentals of investing and conducting business in Singapore and outlines the citys role as a trading hub within ASEAN. The guide explains the basics of company establishment, annual compliance, taxation, human resources, and social insurance in the city-state.

An Introduction to Doing Business in Vietnam 2017

An Introduction to Doing Business in Vietnam 2017 will provide readers with an overview of the fundamentals of investing and conducting business in Vietnam. Compiled by Dezan Shira & Associates, a specialist foreign direct investment practice, this guide explains the basics of company establishment, annual compliance, taxation, human resources, payroll, and social insurance in this dynamic country.
Chinas GDP growth accelerates for first time since 2010

Chinas GDP grew by 6.9 percent in 2017, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. In nominal terms, GDP increased by 11.2 percent to reach a total value of RMB 82.7 trillion (US$12.86 trillion). The 6.9 percent growth rate outperformed the official GDP growth target of 6.5 percent, or higher if possible in practice.

The stronger-than-expected performance brings to an end six consecutive years of declining GDP growth rates. In 2016, Chinas GDP grew at 6.7 percent  its slowest rate in 26 years.

Analysts have attributed the impressive growth rate to government infrastructure stimulus, consumer spending, a hot property market, and a recovery in overseas demand for Chinese products. The growth comes in spite of a year-long crackdown on debt accumulation and financial risk, as well as a campaign to reduce pollution.

The higher growth rate brings the Chinese Communist Party closer to its promise to double 2010 GDP and per capita income by 2020, and also gives the government more leeway in implementing economic reforms and restructuring. Analysts expect the government to announce a 2018 GDP growth target of around 6.5 percent at the Two Sessions meetings in March.

Business Intelligence from Dezan Shira & Associates

FDI in China rises 7.9% in 2017

Foreign direct investment (FDI) into China rose 7.9 percent year-on-year in 2017 to reach a total of RMB 877.56 billion (US$136.33 billion), according to a statement from the Ministry of Commerce. The FDI performance is a marked improvement over 2016, when FDI increased by only 4.1 percent.

An impressive number of companies entered the Chinese market in 2017, with 35,652 new foreign companies established in 2017  a 27.8 percent increase over 2016. FDI in high-tech was particularly strong, as investments in the sector rose 93.2 percent year-on-year, for a total of RMB 184.65 billion (US$28.79 billion).

The Chinese government introduced a number of measures to attract FDI in 2017, partially in response to increased competition from low-cost jurisdictions such as India and Vietnam for attracting FDI. The government liberalized market access with the new Catalogue for the Guidance of Foreign Investment Industries and the Free Trade Zone Negative List, and implemented administrative reforms to cut red tape and improve the business environment.

Avocado sales could more than double in 2018

Mission Produce, the worlds largest distributor of avocados, has stated that avocado sales to China could more than double in 2018, per a report from CNBC.

Avocados have exploded in popularity in China in recent years, as young middle and upper class consumers in first tier cities such as Shanghai, Beijing, and Guangzhou grow a taste for the foreign fruit. Avocado exports from Latin America have been growing by around 250 percent per year, increasing from only 154 tons in 2012 to over 25,000 tons in 2016.

Although Chinas avocado market still pales in comparison to that of the US  Mexico alone shipped over 800,000 tons to the US in the 2016-17 season  it is a rapidly growing market for avocado producers with considerable room for further growth. For overseas consumers, however, Chinas newfound interest for avocados may result in higher prices for the fruit as producers struggle to meet increased demand.



About Us China Briefing is published by Asia Briefing, a subsidiary of Dezan Shira & Associates. We produce material for foreign investors throughout Asia, including ASEAN, India, Indonesia, Russia, the Silk Road, and Vietnam. For editorial matters please contact us here, and for a complimentary subscription to our products, please click here. Dezan Shira & Associates is a full service practice in China, providing business intelligence, due diligence, legal, tax, IT, HR, payroll, and advisory services throughout the China and Asian region. For assistance with China business issues or investments into China, please contact us at china@dezshira.com or visit us at www.dezshira.com

Dezan Shira & Associates Brochure

Dezan Shira & Associates is a pan-Asia, multi-disciplinary professional services firm, providing legal, tax and operational advisory to international corporate investors. Operational throughout China, ASEAN and India, our mission is to guide foreign companies through Asias complex regulatory environment and assist them with all aspects of establishing, maintaining and growing their business operations in the region. This brochure provides an overview of the services and expertise Dezan Shira & Associates can provide.

An Introduction to Doing Business in China 2017

This Dezan Shira & Associates 2017 China guide provides a comprehensive background and details of all aspects of setting up and operating an American business in China, including due diligence and compliance issues, IP protection, corporate establishment options, calculating tax liabilities, as well as discussing on-going operational issues such as managing bookkeeping, accounts, banking, HR, Payroll, annual license renewals, audit, FCPA compliance and consolidation with US standards and Head Office reporting.

China Industries Outlook 2018

In this issue of China Briefing magazine, we analyze macro-level foreign investment trends into China, and how the high-tech sector stands out above others. We then shift our focus to Chinas healthcare sector in the context of policy reforms and demographic changes. We also examine how to invest in Chinas education industry and how Chinas war on pollution introduces new opportunities for foreign investors.

Dezan Shira & Associates
In mid-19th century France, a group of painters gathered at the Forest of Fontainebleau, where the tranquil natural scenery became the subject of their paintings. Their work depicted rural villages blending smoothly with nature and featured a tonal quality and loose brushwork.





This rising movement was later known to the world as the Barbizon School, named after the village where the artists lived and worked.





Today, lovers of Barbizon School paintings regularly visit the village that lies southeast of Paris while the school's works tour worldwide, sharing their visual feast with a wider audience.





Dozens of paintings by the school's leading artists are currently on show at the Jia Li Art Space in Qingdao, Shandong province, through Jan 29. Featured painters include Theodore Rousseau, Charles-Francois Daubigny and Narcisse Virgilio Diaz.





The rise of the Barbizon School reflected a pursuit of simplicity and serenity as artists grew bored with the industrialization and urbanization of French cities at the time.





The paintings were previously shown at Beijing's World Art Museum and will travel to Hangzhou.





Also on show are nine works by Picasso, which will serve as a warm-up to an exhibition devoted to the Spanish artist due toward the end of the year.




For nearly 50 years, Zhao Yuming has been immersed in his own world of clay figurines. At age 62, Zhao is the only remaining clay sculpture master craftsman in Laoting County, Hebei Province.

Five hundred year history

Clay sculpture is one of the main traditional crafts in Laoting. For Zhao, becoming a master of intangible cultural heritage is not only an honor, but at the same time a responsibility and a source of pressure.

Zhao can get financial support from the government, but he must personally teach the next generation to avoid the loss of this traditional art.

Laoting clay sculpture has a nearly 500-year history.

"If we do not pass it on, we will do a disservice to our country. Inheriting the skills, honoring ourselves and repaying the country is the best option," Zhao said.

In ancient times, Laoting clay figurines were mainly children's toys made by rural artisans. But in the 1930s, folk art, such as drum operas and shadow play, provided another use for figurines that exhibited decorative or collection value, which became known as "literary clay figurines."

After the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, there were several workshops in villages in Laoting County and the production reached a high level, but the prices were too low. Clay figurines were sold for just a few pennies each.

Nevertheless, for a long period, many clay artists relied on making and selling clay figurines at those meager prices to make ends meet.

Until the end of the last century, the clay figurines were the only toys of many Chinese children. At that time, even children living in cities had few toys, let alone those in rural areas.

In the past 10 years, China has become the second largest economy in the world and is now a significant toy production and consumption market. Shopping malls are full of high end toys, so the rustic Laoting clay figurines have gradually fallen out of favor.

However, some craftsmen, like Zhao, have chosen to continue the tradition. He said that although his children have other jobs to feed their families, he still wants to pass on his skills to them and his grandchildren.

Facing a demand for sustained economic development, many regions are increasingly attaching importance to the protection and inheritance of valuable traditional cultural skills, so as to promote the development of local economies and contribute to the goal of building "a beautiful China."

Revival in a new era

Shi Tinghong, director of the Laoting Cultural Heritage Center, said that the government has encouraged the elderly to pass on traditional skills as much as they can.

Supportive policies include subsidies, encouraging folk artists to produce more products and organize more performances for local residents, and granting "Master of Intangible Cultural Heritage" certificates at national, provincial and local levels.

Shi said that the government will also step up efforts to protect and support Laoting clay figurines, and continue to develop and innovate on the basis of preserving its artistic features and combining them with modern aesthetic needs, so that this craft can better reflect the characteristics of the times and retain its beautiful nostalgia.

With the support of the government, local craftsmen have begun to pay more attention to passing on their skills. In some families parents are actively encouraging their children to pick up the craft they had given up many years ago.

Thirty-one-year-old Dong Zhuangzhuang was born into a family of craftsmen in Laoting. From his grandfather's generation, the Dongs have been renowned clay artists.

Dong has been influenced by his family since he was a child, and it is not a surprise that as an adult he has continued the tradition. However, after graduating from the sculpture department of Langfang Teachers College in 2008, Dong spent some years working in other regions, without a clear plan for his life.

Finally, he chose to return to his hometown and open a clay figurine workshop.

Laoting is known as the "Home of Chinese Folk Opera," and its bass drums and shadow play are also listed as state-level intangible cultural heritage.

In Dong's mind, Laoting clay figurines are just as important as drums and shadow play, because they have been loved by the people for many years and have provided for many generations of Laoting residents. He said that he cannot bear to see this tradition lost.

"All I know is that I do not want to let this local characteristics disappear. I want to pass it on to let more people know about this distinctive cultural feature from Laoting," he said.

Dong is so obsessed with his work that he often eats in his workshop, and sometimes even continues working past midnight. He also has a furniture store but, as he is busy with his art, the store and the care of his son are left to his wife.

Dong's mother, Song Jingyan, was one of his early mentors. She did not challenge his decision to ignore the furniture business, despite it was the economic foundation for the family, as she was adamant he must continue studying the skills of clay sculpture.

Dong's wife, Zhang Yunqing, admitted she initially questioned her husband's choice. "For a long time after our wedding we could not agree about the future of our family and our life."

She said her husband often told her that he had a mission to pass on the skills of clay sculpture to the next generation, and demanded that their son, now five, should follow suit.

Although clay figurines are not very profitable, definitely not enough to feed their family, she eventually agreed to support her husband.

Dong skills have improved substantially. He has attended various exhibitions, and some of his works are now part of a collection at Dhaka University in Bangladesh. Currently, he is planning a trip to Japan to research Japanese methods of clay sculpture, with the hope to raise the level of craftsmanship in Laoting.

In 2017, Laoting clay figurines were listed as a provincial-level intangible cultural heritage, and Zhao, who is a county-level master craftsman, will soon become the first provincial-level master.

His future plans coincide with those of Dong. "I must work hard and make great strides in the production of clay figurines, creating pieces of even better quality," Zhao said.

Laoting clay figurines has now entered the school syllabus at the district's number two and number four experimental primary schools.

Clay sculpture classes are aimed at encouraging more young people to fall in love with the art and, eventually, produce more craftsmen like Zhao.

Yue Jing, an art teacher in Laoting County, said that schools are a fertile ground passing on the skills. Introducing local intangible cultural heritage into the syllabus is of extraordinary significance. Children can play and at the same time learn to appreciate art and see the aesthetic value of the figurines. And what's more important, they are a guarantee that this traditional craft will be inherited by the next generation.
You are here: Arts

An artist's sketch of the Cai Hong Ju Ji which is believed to have lived in what is now northeastern China 161 million years ago [Photo: gmw.cn/Zhao Chuang]

A group of researchers have revealed new details about a fossil of a winged dinosaur they've been studying which lived in what is now northeastern China 161 million years ago, reports Reuters.

The near complete fossil was unearthed in Hebei in 2014.

Research has now concluded that the duck-sized dinosaur - dubbed Cai Hong Ju Ji, or Rainbow with a Big Crest in English - had iridescent feathers on its head and neck.

Scientists were able to determine the color of its feathers through the detection of cell structures that are similar to those of hummingbirds with iridescent feathers.

Scientists suspect the Cai Hong's colorful feathers likely helped it attract mates rather than fly.

A photo of the fossil of the Cai Hong Ju Ji unearthed in Hebei Province [Photo: gmw.cn/Hu Dongyu]

They also believe what we know as modern-day birds evolved from small feathered dinosaurs near the end of the Jurassic Period. Cai Hong and the earliest known bird lived 11 million years apart.

The discovery of the Cai Hong fossil "suggests a more colorful Jurassic World than we previously imagined," said evolutionary biologist Chad Eliason from the Field Museum in Chicago.
U.S. authorities have cleared the acquisition of a U.S. semiconductor manufacturer by a Chinese counterpart for the first time since Donald Trump assumed office.





It is rare to see acquisitions by Chinese semiconductor equipment producers being approved by the U.S. government.





"As far as we can see, this was the first time that the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) has approved such an acquisition since Trump assumed office," said Fang Xue, partner at Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP.





A lawyer from a subsidiary of China's NAURA Technology Group Co., Ltd, confirmed on January 17 that its acquisition of Akrion Systems LLC (Akrion), an American semiconductor equipment manufacturer, has been completed, according to tech.sina.com.cn.





The transaction, valued at 15 million U.S. dollars, was much smaller than transaction standard, but still faced scrutiny from CFIUS. CFIUS is responsible for evaluating transactions that might jeopardize national security.




The older a father is, the higher the possibility his child will suffer from early-onset high myopia due to a mutation in a gene, Chinese scientists found.

It is the first causal gene that has been proven, through complete animal model tests, to lead to high myopia, nearsightedness of6.00 diopters, said Jin Zibing, one of the leading researchers on a team from Wenzhou Medical University in Zhejiang province.

The gene is mainly expressed in the eye's ciliary body and neural retina, which may offer key insight into future medical treatment and prevention of high myopia, the cause of which remains unclear, Jin said.

"Through our research we speculated that the ciliary body and neural retina are probably the root place where high myopia happens, which may help future treatment to be more accurately directed," he said.

On Saturday, the China Medicinal Biotech Association and the journal Chinese Medicinal Biotechnology listed the team's research result as one of last year's top 10 progresses in the medical biotechnology field in China.

In May, a paper about their discovery was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States.

Jin, also an ophthalmologist at the Eye Hospital at Wenzhou Medical University, said the research started with the collection of patient samples to find out possible reasons for early-onset high myopia among children under 6 years old.

"Preschool children encounter fewer risks from environmental pressures. We propose that the condition of early-onset high myopia is driven by genetic predisposition more than environmental factors," he said.

Jin said the team found 18 families where the parents did not have myopia but a child younger than 6 did. They conducted gene sequencing and found that a mutation had occurred in the child's BSG gene, but not in those of the parents.

"Interestingly we found in these cases the fathers' reproductive ages are relatively old. And for most of the 12 families who have two children, the elder child did not suffer myopia while the younger one had high myopia," Jin said.

In lab tests, mice showed lengthened eye axis when the mutated gene was knocked in, manifesting symptoms of nearsightedness, and it proved their assumption.

Myopia is the most common ocular disease and uncorrected myopia is the leading cause of vision impairment worldwide, according to the World Health Organization.

Jin said the team now plans to conduct the study with a larger sample size.

"We also want to figure out whether early-onset high myopia is related to in vitro fertilization, which is gaining in popularity when some couples of advanced reproductive age are eager to have a second child," Jin said.




The Sichuan-Tibet Railway's first tunnelthat runs more than 16 kilometers along the canyon area of the plateaumanaged to cut through on Wednesday under extremely high temperatures, Xinhua News Agency reported.

The 16.4-km Samdrubling Tunnel in Sangri county of the Tibet autonomous region, which passes through the Yarlung Zangbo Grand Canyon, is an important section on the railway that will link Lhasa and Chengdu, according to China Railway Corp.

More than 1,200 workers had toiled on the project since December 2014. They had to overcome many difficulties and dangers, including rock burstsviolent and spontaneous fracturing of the rock.

The highest air temperature within the tunnel was 56 C. Workers could not stay for more than two hours in the tunnel, and in order to cool it down a wind machine, water system and ice blocks were set up, Zhu Xuren, manager of the project from China Railways No 5 Engineering Group Co, told Xinhua.

The rock burst zone in the tunnel covered 9.5 km and rock outbursts happened about 16,000 times during the construction, Li Chuanghai, an engineer of the project, told Xinhua.

"Like earthquakes, the rock bursts happened without any signs at all. The rock slices or rock pieces shoot off in a certain direction or collapse suddenly," worker Cheng Yingbin told Xinhua.

Working deep underground also increased the difficulty of construction. Emergency rescue stations were deployed to guarantee safety.

Yang Hao, a railway professor at Beijing Jiaotong University, said that the tunnel cut through a complicated geographical area of the Tibetan Plateau and needed to be carried out extremely carefully.

"It is a very challenging project for railway construction in China. The tunnel is quite long, so the ventilation and lighting systems are also very important to guarantee safety," Yang said.

As the second railway connecting Tibet with the rest of the country, the Sichuan-Tibet Railway is expected to be completed in 2025, and will reduce the travel time from Chengdu to Lhasa to about 13 hours from about 36 hours.








The 2018 Spring Festival Gala for foreign experts in Anhui Province was held at the Hefei Canada International School on Jan. 14.

Foreign experts from 17 countries participated in the event, coming from the U.S., Germany, Canada, France, the U.K., Cuba, Japan, South Korea, and Chile. These foreign experts were praised for their contributions to the development of Anhui's economy.

According to Pan Yaqun, director general of Anhui Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs, Anhui Province plans to establish 20 overseas talent recruitment workstations and introduce 20,000 foreign talents in the coming five years.

In 2017, the local authorities issued its first provincial comprehensive policy to introduce more foreign talents to work in Anhui Province.

During the year, more than 5,200 foreign talents arrived in Anhui Province through 262 projects. More than 2,900 foreign experts have received work visas in Anhui Province.

During the period of the 13th Five-year Plan (2016-2020), Anhui Province plans to employ 5,000 talents with post-doctorate degrees from home and abroad. Pan said he hopes that the experts at the gala will help to recruit more foreign talents to work in Anhui Province.




Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in northwestern China will complete its network of expressways to link all 15 prefectures and cities in the region by the end of 2018. In addition, the region will improve 15,000 kilometers of rural roads, according to officials from the Transport Department of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in northwestern China will complete its network of expressways to link all 15 prefectures and cities in the region by the end of 2018. [Photo/VCG]

During 2018, Xijiang plans to spend 49 billion yuan (US$7.6 billion) on building 772 kilometers of national and regional highways and 224 kilometers of new expressways, officials said.

To better serve as the transportation hub on the Silk Road Economic Belt, Xinjiang will improve key highway crossing points in border areas connecting to Pakistan, Tajikistan, Mongolia and Kyrgyzstan. The region will also put a group of passenger and freight transport stations into operation.

Meanwhile, Xinjiang will speed up road construction in poor areas and step up support for poverty reduction by developing local industries and facilitating rural people to take non-agricultural jobs.

In 2017, Xinjiang spent 201.5 billion yuan on road construction. The total length of roads in Xinjiang has so far reached 186,000 kilometers, with 4,578 kilometers of expressways connecting with 14 prefectures and cities in the region.




 Flash

Snowflakes swirled around the Helsinki-Vantaa International Airport on Thursday morning, as a crowd welcomed a pair of Chinese giant pandas eating bamboo inside two transparent glass boxes.





Workers load the boxes carrying a pair of Chinese giant pandas who have just arrived in Helsinki, Finland, on January 18, 2018. A pair of giant pandas have departed a panda base in Sichuan Province of China bound for Finland on a 15-year research project. (Xinhua/Matti Matikainen)





The boxes were drawn by a vehicle with 60 reporters and photographers documenting the proceedings as they were loaded onto a container truck to be transported 300 km further north to the Ahtari Zoo, where the couple will stay for 15 years.

The male, Hua Bao, and the female, Jin Baobao, are the first pair of Chinese giant pandas arriving in the Nordics. Jukka Salo, an expert of giant pandas from the Ahtari Zoo, said the zoo had made special preparations for the newcomers, including an installation that brings more sunshine during the long dark winter time.

Salo said he was relieved when he saw Hua Bao and Jin Baobao were in good condition after arriving at the airport. "What was the male doing? He was just eating bamboo happily," said Salo, adding that the female one was actively looking around, which is "always a good sign."

Salo was optimistic that the couple would quickly adapt to the zoo, which he believed is "the best place for giant pandas to live in the world" after their original habitat in China.

Finns have given the two Chinese guests Finnish nicknames "Pyry" and "Lumi", which mean "heavy snowfall" and "snow".

Coincidentally, heavy snow fell in Scandinavia prior to the arrival of the pandas, which "seems like a sign of welcome," said Chinese Ambassador to Finland Chen Li.

"Although Chinese people have seen giant pandas in their life, it is rare to see pandas playing with the snow, and pandas in snow will become a unique scene in the Ahtari Zoo," said Chen, adding that the arrival of the giant pandas would promote exchange of knowledge and ideas between the two peoples.

The fact that Finland received the first pair of giant pandas in the Nordic area signifies that mutual understanding between Finland and China has reached a very high level, said Finnish Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Jari Leppa.

Leppa said he hoped cooperative research on giant pandas at the Ahtari Zoo would foster more scientific, economic and cultural cooperation between experts, institutes and enterprises of Finland and China.

Representing the Chinese Forest Administration, its chief engineer Ma Guangren said more countries in the world were working with Chinese authorities on the protection and research of giant pandas.

Thanks to the efforts made in China and worldwide, the habitat of giant pandas in China has expanded to a size of 2.58 million hectares. Currently, a total of 1,864 giant pandas live in the wild and 518 are raised in captivity in China, he said.

Negotiations over the giant pandas between Finland and China started in 2015 and made good progress, said the Finnish Agriculture and Forest Ministry in a press release. Documents about the joint research on giant pandas in the Ahtari Zoo were confirmed in April 2017 when Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Finland.

An enormous panda house, spanning 10,000 sqm was built in 11 months in the Ahtari zoo to accommodate the animals. They will meet the public in late February during the Chinese spring festival.

It is anticipated that Hua Bao and Jin Baobao, both young and robust, will bear babies in the Finnish zoo. Any offspring will be sent back to China, according to the agreement between the two nations.
 Flash

Malaysia Airlines Flight MH122, an Airbus A330-300 flying from Sydney to Kuala Lumpur, was forced to divert to Alice Springs on Thursday due to "technical reasons," the airline company said in a statement.





The aircraft experienced a technical fault on "one of the engines," it said, adding the plane safely landed in Alice Springs Airport at 5:48 p.m. local time, more than four hours after its take-off, it said.





A specification chart from the airline's website shows that the twin-engine aircraft has 290 seats.





The Malaysian national carrier did not elaborate on the details of the incident, but emphasized that "safety was not at any time compromised and the commanding captain decided to divert the flight for technical assistance."





A flight path provided by flightaware.com, showed that the plane turned around when it almost left the airspace over the Australian continent.





"All of a sudden a massive vibration, the whole plane was shaking," a passenger named Donna Edwards, told the Australian media 9news.com.au. She also said that the passengers were told by the crew to "brace for impact" but 30 minutes later they were told "it was under control."





The airline said all affected passengers have been given hotel accomodation, meals and transportation. They will also be transferred to another flight.




 Flash

More people in the world approved of China's leadership than US leadership in 2017, according to a Gallup poll released on Thursday.





The Gallup World Poll survey found the median approval of US leadership at only 30 percent, trailing the 31 percent for China. The new finding contrasts to the frequent rebuke by US politicians of China's growing global influence.





The US approval rating plunged to an all-time low, by 18 percent from the 48 percent in the last year of President Barack Obama and four points lower than the previous low of 34 percent during the last year of President George W. Bush.





And disapproval of US leadership climbed. The 43 percent median disapproval, 15 points higher from the previous year, set a record as well, not only for the US but for any other major global power that Gallup has asked about in the past decade.





Comparatively, China boasts an edge with its worldwide disapproval rating of only 30 percent.





US leadership approval ratings declined by 10 percentage points or more in 65 of 134 countries and areas, and declined the most among residents of allies and partners in the Americas and Europe, according to the poll conducted between March and November last year.





The US approval rating suffered most in its own neighborhood, the Americas, where the ratings dropped to a new low. Approval of US leadership plummeted in every country in the region in 2017. Only a median 24 percent approved of US leadership, while a whopping 58 percent disapproved US leadership.





In two of its immediate neighbors, only 20 percent in Canada and 16 percent in Mexico approved of US leadership.





Comparatively, China performed better with 28 percent approval and 35 percent disapproval in the Americas.





US leadership approval ratings declined nearly as much in Europe to 25 percent as they did in the Americas. It declined substantially in 21 out of the 28 current members of the European Union.





China tied with the same 25 percent approval rating in Europe. But China's disapproval rating there of 48 percent is lower than the 56 percent scored by the US.





The US also suffered a major drop in its leadership approval leading in Asia, where its contest with China has made the most headlines in Western media.





Overall, only 30 percent in Asia approved of US leadership while 32 percent approved of China's leadership. The US disapproval rating in the region of 39 percent is higher than China's 31 percent.





In some US security allies in Asia  New Zealand, Australia and Singapore  the US approval ratings dropped to new record lows in 2017, a decline of more than 30 points. Japan, South Korea and the Philippines also saw double-digit declines.





Of the four countries surveyed by Gallup on leadership, Germany stood at the top with its 41 percent approval rating. China was at 31 percent and Russia at 27 percent.





The US only beat China slightly in Africa with an approval rating of 51 percent, compared to China's 50 percent, but its disapproval rating there is 20 percent, higher than China's 15 percent.





In its analysis, the Gallup report, released just days before President Donald Trump embarks on a trip to Davos, Switzerland, for the World Economic Forum, criticized Trump for keeping his campaign promise to put "America First" in his foreign policy.





"In doing so, he walked away from key institutions and alliances in 2017 that he felt didn't serve US interests, including abandoning the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal and withdrawing from the global climate agreement. He further rankled relations with neighbors Canada and Mexico, repeatedly threatening to terminate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and insisting that Mexico would pay for a wall along their shared border," the report says.





The US government received worldwide condemnation in December for its recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital. Its withdrawal from UNESCO and cutting of funding to the United Nations also received negative response in the global community.





Richard Haas, president of the Council on Foreign Relations(CFR), believes the US global leadership has become worse for the most part. "The bottom line is that the United States has added a degree of unreliability," Haas said about Trump's first year in office in a CFR podcast on Tuesday.





"We've gone from being the principal preserver of the world order such as it was, now we become something of a principal disruptor," said Hass, who has served decades in the US government, including being the director of policy planning at the State Department from 2001 to 2003.





The Gallup results released on Thursday are based on face-to-face and telephone interviews with some 1,000 adults aged 15 and older in each country or region. Residents were asked to rate US, German and Russian leadership in 134 countries or areas, and residents in 135 countries or areas were asked to rate the leadership of China, according to Gallup.




By Brad Haynes,Anthony Boadle, Reuters | Jan. 19, 2018

Boeing is working to overcome the Brazilian military's objections to its proposed tie-up with Embraer SA (with alternatives that would preserve the government's strategic veto rights and ensure safeguards for its defense programs, four people familiar with the matter told Reuters.

The U.S. planemaker was forced back to the drawing board after Brazilian officials balked last week at the idea of turning Embraer into a subsidiary such as those that Boeing operates in Australia and Britain, according to the sources, who requested anonymity to discuss the negotiations freely.

"Boeing came to buy Embraer, not for a partnership or a joint venture that we are open to, but to take control of the company. This was rejected,"said one of the sources, a government official. "It is up to Boeing to come back with a new proposal."

Boeing's proposed tie-up with Embraer, the world's third largest planemaker, would give it a leading share of the 70- to 130-seat market and create stiffer competition for the CSeries program designed by Canada's Bombardier Inc and run by European rival Airbus SE since last year.

Since the news broke last month that it was in talks with Boeing, Embraer's shares are up 22 percent in New York, where 51 percent of its stock is listed, bringing its market capitalization to US$4.6 billion.

Boeing's proposal would value the company at US$5 billion to US$6 billion, a person familiar with the negotiations said.

New York-listed shares in Embraer, which were down 1.6 percent in afternoon trading, erased losses after the Reuters report to gain as much as 0.5 percent.

Boeing's plan has snagged on concerns in Brasilia that Washington would get final say over Brazilian defense programs and use of technology developed in the country, including satellite and air-traffic control systems.

The Brazilian government holds a 'golden share' in Embraer giving it veto power over strategic decisions involving military programs and any change in its controlling interest.

Boeing would be willing to preserve the government's golden share in Embraer, the people familiar with the matter said, but that may not be enough to win support.

Embraer and Boeing declined to comment on the matter.

Representatives for the Defense Ministry, which is coordinating talks with the government, did not immediately reply to requests for comment.

AIR FORCE RESISTANCE

Officials at the Finance Ministry and development bank BNDES, which owns 5 percent of the planemaker, have been supportive of the deal, but military officials are far more skeptical, according to the sources. The BNDES declined comment and the ministry did not respond to a request for comment.

"The Air Force is the main source of resistance," said an aide to President Michel Temer. "The military oppose any split up of Embraer." The aide said Jungmann has not yet made a recommendation on the Boeing deal to the president.

In an emailed comment, the Air Force said it "considers Embraer a strategic company that is fundamental for our national sovereignty, so a possible partnership with Boeing should also be studied from this point of view."

Air Force commander Lt Brig Nivaldo Luiz Rossato joined Defense Minister Raul Jungmann last week in Brasilia at a meeting with senior Boeing executives including Chief Financial Officer Greg Smith, which failed to sway the Brazilians.

Embraer's special relationship with Brazil's Air Force dates back to its creation in the 1960s as part of a government push to create a domestic aviation industry. The planemaker was opened to private capital in 1994 and fully privatized in 2006, but it still works closely with the Air Force, which is now financing development of the KC-390 military airlifter.

Boeing, which struck a joint sales and services agreement on the KC-390, has underscored to officials that a tie-up would help to market Embraer's defense products globally and bolster Brazil's nascent space program, one person said.

Yet government officials are steering Boeing toward a more narrow joint venture with Embraer focused on commercial aviation-an idea Boeing has dismissed because it would limit long-term flexibility, according to two people familiar with the talks.

Neither the government nor the companies want to entirely split off Embraer's commercial or defense operations, given the integration of their technology and engineering resources, the sources said.

With a presidential election looming in Brazil this year and airlines delaying orders until the shape of the industry is clear, all sides of the negotiations are eager for a resolution. Still, government officials are keen on pressing their hand.

"We think Boeing will end up agreeing to a partnership or a joint venture because they have been weakened by the Airbus-Bombardier deal," said the official familiar with the talks. "They have no other possible partner and need a quick fix."
[Photo provided to China Daily]

In mid-19th century France, a group of painters gathered at the Forest of Fontainebleau, where the tranquil natural scenery became the subject of their paintings. Their work depicted rural villages blending smoothly with nature and featured a tonal quality and loose brushwork.

This rising movement was later known to the world as the Barbizon School, named after the village where the artists lived and worked.

Today, lovers of Barbizon School paintings regularly visit the village that lies southeast of Paris while the school's works tour worldwide, sharing their visual feast with a wider audience.

Dozens of paintings by the school's leading artists are currently on show at the Jia Li Art Space in Qingdao, Shandong province, through Jan 29. Featured painters include Theodore Rousseau, Charles-Francois Daubigny and Narcisse Virgilio Diaz.

The rise of the Barbizon School reflected a pursuit of simplicity and serenity as artists grew bored with the industrialization and urbanization of French cities at the time.

The paintings were previously shown at Beijing's World Art Museum and will travel to Hangzhou.

Also on show are nine works by Picasso, which will serve as a warm-up to an exhibition devoted to the Spanish artist due toward the end of the year.
Netflix has been driving hard at original content ever since they struck gold with House of Cards and Orange is the New Black. Netflix has had enough success stories that they declared a goal of having 50 percent original content  makes sense when you consider that Disney is planning to yank all of their stuff and launch their own streaming service within the next couple years!

Last year, Netflix pledged $8 billion in the coming year to original series and movies, and weve noticed something a whole lot of others have noticed  theres a lot of anime here! Some of that cash is going toward 30 anime productions in the new year, which makes a lot of sense. We dont have the numbers in front of us, but were pretty confident that an episode of anime isnt going to cost as much as the $6 to $8 million they spent per episode on the second season of Stranger Things!

But, Netflix might also be recognizing their part to play in a cultural moment. While anime has had a small core of fans in the United States since the early 90s when Anime Expo first came to California, its popularity stateside has been uneven.

Cartoon Network was probably responsible for the last big surge in animes popularity. The WB carrying the Pokemon animated series probably got things started (that theme song), but Cartoon Network introduced a bunch of kids to a whole lot more anime series with Toonami, which from the late 90s onward carried shows like Dragonball Z, Sailor Moon, Voltron, and Rurouni Kenshin, with the networks Adult Swim late night slate popularizing series like Cowboy Bebop, Bleach, Naruto, and Ghost in the Shell. But, the late 90s and early 00s proved to be a heyday of sorts  Toonami was moved from weekdays to Saturday nights, while Adult Swim started carrying more and more western animation series. Cartoon Network currently sticks the anime series they still run on Toonami, which airs late Saturday nights. You can kinda see the same effect in Anime Expo  attendance grew from 6,400 people to 40,000 people between 1998 and and 2006, but only grew to 49,000 by 2012 (granted, the Great Recession might have had something to do with that).

The cause of the slowdown in excitement can be debated, but whatever the case, it sure looks like theres a renewed surge. Anime Expo hit 100,000 people in 2016, and newer series like One Punch Man are working their way into the public consciousness like those older series had been able to.

Enter Netflix. Not only does Netflix see the growing popularity here, the companys rapid growth abroad is making them high on original anime series  hence the big 2018 they have in store. Here are a handful of those series coming to Netflix this year. If youre new to anime and have a Netflix subscription anyway, some of them might be worth a look!

Next page: Cannon Busters
Chris Floyd Published: 19 January 2018 Hits: 26916

The US has passed another historic week focused on some of the most burning issues of our time, complex and contentious matters that have rightfully provoked many hours of nuanced analysis and intellectual discussion throughout every form of news media: print, video and digital. We refer, of course, to those twin peaks of public concern, embodied in a pair of vital but mystery-shrouded questions that might never fully be resolved:

1. Is Trump fatter than he says he is?

2. Is Trump a foul-mouthed, knee-jerk racist?

Loath as I am to turn anyones attention away from these unfathomable enigmas, I would like, with your pardon, to point out a bit of news that is of course far less important than Trumps pants size or the question of whether, after 40 years of repeatedly belching crude bigotry in public forums, he could perhaps be said to hold somewhat less than completely enlightened views on racial equality. But I do think it is worth noting, at least in passing, that this week also saw the United States commit itself to an open-ended military occupation of territory in a foreign country with which it is not at war  in a region which has been turned into a tinderbox of violence and extremism by open-ended US military invasion, occupation and intervention.

This week, Secretary of State Rex Ex-Exxon Tillerson made a formal announcement that the United States  which has several thousand troops on the ground in Syria  will keep its forces there until the government of President Bashar al-Assad is overthrown. In other words, the United States has now embarked on a military regime change operation in Syria  in flagrant contradiction of Donald Trumps repeated promises not to do such a thing. (Im sure you join me in astonishment at the idea that Donald Trump would ever lie or break his word about anything.) As Buzzfeed reports:

The speech represents the most comprehensive case Tillerson has ever made for a lasting US military presence in the war-torn country and marks a departure from language drafted between the US and Russian officials in Vietnam in November.

The remarks also are a significant departure from President Donald Trump's campaign rhetoric, which maintained that the only objective the US should have in Syria is fighting ISIS, and are likely to revive debates in Congress between staunch advocates of regime change and those who fear an open-ended commitment to a US presence in Syria.

What we should do is focus on ISIS. We should not be focusing on Syria, Trump said in October 2016. Youre going to end up in World War III over Syria if we listen to Hillary Clinton.

Tillerson said this week that the regime is corrupt, and its methods of governance and economic development have increasingly excluded certain ethnic and religious groups. Well, he should know; hes a leading player in just such a regime. And he and Trump work in close partnership with another such regime  Saudi Arabia  especially in their extensive collusion with the Saudis (first launched by Obama) to wage a war of berserking aggression against Yemen, killing many thousands of innocent people and plunging millions into starvation and famine. But in this case, Tillerson was apparently talking about the Syrian regime, which is indeed full of bad hombres, but is nowhere near as exclusionary and corrupt  and dangerous to the world  as our bipartisan elites buddies in Riyadh.

Early on, we were told that US warplanes were attacking Syria to root out the ISIS forces trying to take over the country, but there would be no boots on the ground. Then we were told a small number of boots (and the soldiers wearing them) would be required to help target the air attacks. Then we were told, belatedly, that at least 2,000 (many put the figure as high as 5,000) pairs of US boots (with accompanying soldiers) had somehow been installed on Syrian territory while no one was looking. (Or rather, while everyone was looking at the latest emissions from Trumps nightly sessions of playing with his Tweeter on the toilet.) But all of this, we were told  first by Obama, then by Trump  was simply in service of a single goal: defeating ISIS in Syria.

To accomplish this singular mission, the US supported rebel fighters made up largely of Islamic fundamentalists, some of whom were even from Syria. The US-backed militias often worked closely with another rebel group, Al-Nusra, a franchise of al-Qaeda. Its undisputed that millions of dollars worth of US weaponry somehow ended up in the hands of al-Qaeda during the course of the war, most of it passed through or sold by the rebel groups backed directly by the US. This particular noble effort of aligning with al-Qaeda and other extremists to overthrow yet another secular government in the Muslim world (Iraq, Libya, and reaching back to the days of good old godly Jimmy Carter, Afghanistan) began under the noble administration of the entirely scandal-free Obama, and has been accelerated by Trump.

Despite these efforts, ISIS (which also somehow ended up with scads of US weaponry) was not defeated until Russian forces combined with the Syrian army in a brutal, mass-slaughtering campaign very reminiscent of the US invasion of Iraq under the now-huggable George W. Bush. In any case, ISIS is pretty much gone  but Trump has planted his rump firmly on the Syrian sand irregardless.

So indefinite intervention and occupation are now on the cards. Im so old I can remember when cynical nay-sayers were taken fiercely to task by the most thoroughly vetted and verified true-blue liberals for suggesting that this was the intention all along  even during the days of Obama, who has such a nice family and loves dogs and who was (as the NYT solemnly told us) as prayerful and mindful and godly as St. Thomas Aquinas when he met with his security apparatchiks in the White House every blessed week to go over the lists of people to be assassinated around the world on the basis of secret intelligence whose provenance and credibility remains forever shrouded in mystery. (Although I think we can safely assume it was at least as credible as the intelligence that led to the aforementioned mass-slaughtering war of aggression launched by the noted portrait painter George Bush.)

I suppose its not really surprising that our vetted and verified professional progressive liberals were largely untroubled by the fact that their hero and champion was running a death squad out of the Oval Office; as we all know, partisanship is thicker than blood. (Although to be fair, our verified progressives werent really all that bothered even when Bush was running the presidential death squad.) But given such thick, oozing partisan gooeyness, I guess its no surprise they didnt object to Obamas ever-expanding intervention in Syria. (Just as they said doodly squat about Obamas essential role in the Saudi assault on Yemen  the second greatest war crime of this atrocity-choked century.)

But given their revulsion to every aspect of Trumps corporeal being, youd think they would find  or at least fake  a modicum of outrage over Tillersons announcement of an armed regime change operation in the white-hot center of the Middle East cauldron, with the armies and militias of Russia, Syria,Turkey, Iran, the Kurds and various Saudi-backed extremists all thrashing around in the pot: a situation that some trenchant analysts say could easily end up in World War III.

Yet once again, its all quiet on the progressive front. Democratic leaders  Im sorry, Resistance leaders  like Nancy Pelosi, Adam Schiff, Dianne Feinstein, Mark Warner and newly minted progressive liberal hero Doug Jones have all found ample time to give Trump (and that cute-as-a-little-bug enforcer of his, Jeff Beauregard Yezhov Sessions) vastly expanded surveillance powers over American citizens. But thus far the Democratic resistance has not said one word about this new declaration of a permanent commitment to use US military power to force regime change on yet another nation.



Why, its almost as if their Resistance is mostly just for show, a profusion of poses and soundbites, signifying nothing. Its almost as if they are trying to do the barest minimum possible to get back into power without really offending or threatening the elite interests  corporations, Wall Street and, above all, the ever-growing, all-devouring, insatiable maw of the War Profiteering Complex  in which the Democratic Party now lives and moves and has its being.

But Ive taken up enough of your time with such minor concerns. Yes, the new Syrian policy will exacerbate and extend the continually widening circles of death, hatred, extremism, revenge and corruption that our bipartisan elites have set in motion  a horrific, ruinous legacy that will doubtless bring even more evil fruit to bear for ourselves, our children and grandchildren, and the unnumbered and ignored multitudes of our victims in shattered countries across the world  but forget all that! Did you hear the latest? It turns out that the porn star Trump paid to keep quiet about their affair said she used to spank him with a rolled-up copy of Forbes magazine! Now watch the mighty Resistance spring into action with outrage and umbrage and hilarious memes! Thatll show the Trumpster Dumpster!!
The Catholic bishop of Portsmouth has suggested that churches should keep their doors open even after its services, just like what the Church of England does.

On Jan. 14, Bishop Philip Egan posted a complaint on Twitter about being greeted with closed church doors during a recent trip outside his diocese. After being unable to visit any Catholic church, he suggested that they follow the example of the Church of England in keeping their doors open, The Telegraph relayed.

"Why oh why?! Just spent a few days outside the Diocese but every Catholic church I tried to visit was locked," said Bishop Egan on Twitter. "One even had the utter hypocrisy to display a poster 'From Maintenance to Mission'! Why is this, when every Anglican Church is welcomely open?"

The Church of England usually keeps its churches' doors open even beyond service schedules for security reasons. It said criminals feel more confident in attacking a closed church than an open one where people could come in any time.

A representative for Catholic bishops in England and Wales said there was no national rule on keeping church doors open. However, the bishop in charge is the one who decides when it comes to that matter.

For the Catholic Diocese of Westminster, locking up its doors is its way of keeping vandals away. A spokeswoman for the diocese added that they also want to protect the sacrament.

In November last year, Bishop Egan made headlines after he criticized what he said was a "draconian" crackdown on pro-life vigils outside an abortion facility in Portsmouth. He slammed the city council for its alleged part in restricting freedom of expression, the Catholic Herald reported.

After the council voted in favor of blocking pro-life vigils by the group 40 Days for Life outside the abortion clinic in question, Bishop Egan said their gatherings merely constituted prayers for the unborn, mothers, and the medical staff. He also said the organization would continue its advocacy in another forum.
The Church of Scientology is the one that orchestrated the sexual assault allegations against Oscar-winning screenwriter and producer Paul Haggis, according to "Scientology and the Aftermath" co-hosts Leah Remini and Mike Rinder.

In an open letter shared on Jan. 15, Remini and Rinder said they believe the Church of Scientology was the one that funded the sexual assault allegations of four women against Haggis. The co-hosts of the A&E show and the embattled producer are all prominent former Scientologists who have now opened up about the practices of the controversial organization, The Daily Mail noted.

Haleigh Breest, a publicist, filed a civil lawsuit against Haggis last month accusing him of rape. The three other accusers have chosen to stay anonymous.

"We expect the next 'revelations' about Paul Haggis in this campaign to destroy him to be based on information culled from his scientology files in the form of more 'anonymous' accusers, hiding behind a lawyer who will never have to disclose who is paying their bill," Remini and Rinder said in their letter.

In addition, the two hosts said Scientologists are pressured into sharing the smallest details of their lives. The church allegedly uses this information against anyone who leaves the organization or speaks out against it.

"With the name of everyone one might have thought of, flirted with or taken on a date, it takes little imagination to conjure a string of accusers being contacted and suddenly appearing out of the woodwork," the letter added.

Haggis has since denied the sexual misconduct claims against him. He had also responded to Breest's complaint with a civil lawsuit alleging that she tried to extort $9 million from him in exchange for not pursuing the case against him.

Meanwhile, Haggis' ex-wife Deborah Rennard asked Deadline exclusively to publish her narrative defending her former husband against the sexual assault allegations. She explained that she could not just stay quiet and not speak up for the man who has stood up for other people many times.

Rennard, who was married to Haggis for 12 years and was also a former Scientologist, echoed her ex-husband's story about Breest's alleged extortion attempt. She added that Haggis had just undergone serious back surgery at the time that the alleged incident happened in 2013 and had been in "no physical condition to restrain a young woman against her will."

Moreover, Rennard refuted the claim of an anonymous female publicist that Haggis had raped her in 1996. Rennard said she had been with him in his office at the time and even had the adjacent office, and there had been no publicist working there at that point.
The city of Calgary, in Canada, has cancelled an "all ages" nude swim organized at the Southland Leisure Center, citing 'volatile public comments' and security concerns.

The naked swimming event, organized by nudist group Calgary Nude Recreation, had been planned for January 14 but sparked a flood of negative comments when it publicly announced that "children are welcome" to the event, the Daily Wire reports.

A Change.org petition was created to counter the Naked Water Slides and Wave Pool event.

It voiced serious concerns about the appropriateness of having children and adults attend a nude event together, and whether it was putting children at risk of sexual predators.

The petition requested that the event be made adults only and was signed by over 20,000 people.

The petition states: "There's an upcoming event in Calgary that really concerns me, as well as other people. I respect the concept and believe in an 18+ setting it could be a popular event. However, having naked children around a bunch of naked adults doesnt [sic] seem like a good idea for any reason. Realistically there is alot [sic] of mental illness out there that this event could trigger/effect."

Acting director of recreation services James McLaughlin announced the event cancellation, after a review by the Calgary Police Service and corporate security, reports the Calgary Herald.

"I can't say there was one specific threat, it was a series of things over time," McLaughlin said.

The City of Calgary released a statement saying: "Under the terms and conditions of facility rental agreements, the city reserves the right to cancel or amend permits should special circumstances arise. Unfortunately, recent events have created the potential to impact the safety of participants, public and staff, and required the cancellation of this booking."

Global Calgary journalist Jill Croteau tweeted that "volatile public commentary motivated the final decision on cancellation of the nude swim."
A part-time driver in Malaysia has been charged with abducting Christian pastor Raymond Koh after months of having no strong leads in the case, which has been going on since February last year.

On Jan. 16, the Malaysia Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) suddenly stopped its public inquiry into Pastor Koh's case after 31-year-old Lam Chang Nam was charged with kidnapping. Malaysian police chief Mohamad Fuzi Harun reportedly sent a letter to the commission that said a case involving Koh was pending in court, The Straits Times relayed.

In March last year, Lam was accused of extorting 30,000 Malaysian ringgits (over $7,600) from Pastor Koh's son, Jonathan Koh Szu Hao, in exchange for his father's freedom. The kidnapping charge, however, was new information for the Koh family, as they only found out about it during the inquiry.

"Yet again another wall has been constructed just as they were about to get their long-awaited closure over what truly happened to pastor Koh," the Koh family's lawyer Gurdial Singh Nijar explained to The Straits Times. "They're deeply disappointed."

In addition, Nijar criticized the Inspector-General of Police and other top police officers in charge of Koh's case for their alleged lack of cooperation. He said the officers had stated under oath that Lam was not involved in the case and yet he is now charged with kidnapping the missing pastor.

On Jan. 17, Pastor Koh's wife, Susanna Liew, released a statement that said her family had not known that Lam would be charged with kidnapping her husband. Nevertheless, she was thankful that the key witnesses had been able to testify before the Suhakam panel, The Star Online reported.

In addition, Liew expressed hope that the Suhakam's investigation into the other missing persons cases would resume without a similar disruption. That way, she said, the truth will have a chance to surface.

Pastor Raymond Koh has been missing since Feb. 13, 2017 after he was taken in what witnesses said was a military-like operation in Petaling Jaya in broad daylight. The evidence which led to the abduction charge against Lam has not yet been revealed.
A young boy held hostage by an armed robber for 30 hours says he was able to stay calm through the ordeal because of his faith in God.

In a tense standoff in Liberty Township, Ohio, ten year old Sincere Trammell was held hostage by the robber - a family friend - last Friday night.

According to Trammell, he and his mother were alone at home when a man, later identified as 31-year-old Donald Gazaway, Jr., entered their home and demanded that they hand over $10,000.

Gazaway then chased Sincere Trammell into a room, apparently because he had thought that Sincere had a phone. Shortly after, the authorities arrived, including a SWAT team.

Donald Gazaway, Jr. was reportedly a long-time family acquaintance who Sincere had known since he was a little boy.

According to Trammell, Gazaway would even spend Thanksgiving, Christmas day and New Year with them. The suspect, according to his hostage, was armed with four guns and didn't want the boy to go anywhere because he didn't trust the boy.

Sincere's grandmother, Iris Trammell, was shocked that the same man they spent Christmas and Thanksgiving with took her grandson hostage. She believes that Gazaway may have been on drugs Friday night when the standoff began.

The standoff lasted a grueling 30 hours. When asked why he was calm during the hostage scenario, Trammell responded with "I knew that God had me."

The standoff ended when Sincere convinced Gazaway to lay down his weapon and surrender to the police.

"I said that jail would probably help you get better at life, and that would be a better option to do," he said.

"So I said it's better to have a punishment than kill yourself, and I'm saying that God basically will give you another chance to become a better person in life."

Gazaway is currently being held at Butler County Jail at $1 million bond.
The Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints, better known as the Mormon Church, recently appointed former heart surgeon Russell M. Nelson as its new president and the successor of their deceased leader Thomas S. Monson.

The Mormon Church announced Nelson's appointment during a worldwide address broadcast from Salt Lake City on Jan. 16. The 93-year-old surgeon also delivered a speech that urged all members of the LDS Church to remain loyal to their faith or return if they had veered away from it, The Associated Press relayed.

"If you have stepped off the path, may I advise you with all the hope in my heart to please come back," said Nelson in his address. "Whatever your concerns, whatever your challenges, there's a place for you in this, the Lord's church."

In the wake of Monson's death at the age of 90 on Jan. 2, the Mormon Church's Quorum of the Twelve Apostles leadership body met to choose a new president. Nelson is currently the 17th president of the religious organization and is now regarded by its members as a "prophet, seer and revelator."

Based on his 30 years of service as a church leader, Nelson is expected to implement a few changes to deal with the slowing down of their growth rate and other challenges. The population has reportedly not grown much despite their mission efforts and moves to increase the number of its missionaries.

Meanwhile, the Universal Society of Hinduism has welcomed Nelson's appointment as the new president of the Mormon Church. The organization is also hoping that the new leadership will continue to promote religious liberty and maintain interfaith relations, The Salt Lake Tribune reported.

Sen. Orrin Hatch spoke of Nelson as a "dear friend" and a positive force in the world. He marveled at the timing of the announcement of the new appointment, which happened to be on Religious Freedom Day, saying the new Mormon president has been instrumental in promoting religious liberty worldwide.
State security forces in the central state of Nasarawa in Nigeria have arrested a female university student for leaving Islam for Christianity and also apprehended the person who introduced her to the faith.

Nabila Umar Sanda, a 19-year-old student at Bingham University in Karu, struck a friendship with a 33-year old Christian named Simput Dafup. The latter invited her to meet church leader Jeremiah Datim after she expressed an interest in Christianity, but the move later led to her arrest by state security forces, the World Watch Monitor detailed.

Facing the media in Jos, Plateau state, Datim relayed how he had contacted the local Islamic organization when Sanda decided to convert to Christianity. He explained that there were protocols being followed by the Christian Association of Nigeria and the Jama'atu Nasril lslam when it comes to the sensitive issue of religious conversion.

"I want to state, for the avoidance of doubt, that the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria guarantees the right to anyone to propagate his faith and the right to also practise any religion of one's choice," Datim told the press. "Miss Nabila told me she is 19 years old and therefore free to choose a religion for herself."

However, the Department of State Security Services arrived at Datim's house on Jan. 8 after he met with the Islamic leader. The detectives allegedly assaulted his family and arrested Sanda and Dafup. He later discovered that Sanda's father had contacted authorities and alleged that they had brainwashed her into converting.

As of this reporting, the whereabouts of the arrested Christians are still unknown. Dafup's mother has asked journalists for help in tracing her son's location, and Datim called for some assurance that the arrested student was safe. He also asked for the authorities stop the intimidation of their families and others involved in Sanda's conversion.

In a separate report published earlier this month, WWM told the story of how a Christian woman and her daughter in Kano state were being pressured into converting to Islam after the family patriarch did. Amina Isa, 40, said her husband had embraced the Muslim faith to secure a government job, and now Muslim officials have filed false kidnapping charges against her and her daughter to force them to follow suit.

CAN has reportedly hired an attorney for Isa and accompanied her to court several times. The organization is praying that she will be able to obtain justice through the court.
A senior official of the Russian Orthodox Church wants Russia to switch back to the traditional Julian calendar and said ditching it for the Gregorian calendar in February 1918 had been a bad idea.

Speaking to Spas TV in a televised interview on Jan. 16, the Russian Orthodox Church's first deputy chairman for its public relations department, Aleksandr Shchipkov, said it was wrong for the Bolsheviks to adopt the Gregorian calendar a century ago. He said doing away with the Julian calendar had aimed to break the tradition of the Russian people at the time, Radio Free Europe a Radio Liberty relayed.

"[Their] goal was to break tradition, psychologically break the Russian people, to paralyze their will," Shchipkov explained. "The only structure that preserved the old style is the church, which is truly the preserver of tradition. A calendar is not just numbers on paper; it is a part of the people's world. We are in our Orthodox paradigm and we must stay in it."

Last year, Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers suggested bringing back the Julian calendar, which is 13 days behind the Gregorian calendar. However, the proposal did not push through.

In June last year, Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke to American film director Oliver Stone in an interview about his views against same-sex marriage. He said he believes it is his duty to "uphold traditional values and family values" in his country, The Daily Mail reported.

The Russian president explained this was because birth rate was one of his country's concerns and same-sex marriage will not produce children. However, he clarified that no one should be persecuted in the name of that belief.

Putin assured people that homosexuals in Russia will not face the death penalty, unlike in other countries. He said there are many people who publicly express their "non-traditional sexual orientation" and yet face no restriction or harassment.
A senate bill submitted to the education committee could require schools in West Virginia to offer elective Bible classes to give children the chance to learn about biblical content needed to understand contemporary society.

Republican State Sen. Mike Azinger (R-Wood) and Sen. Sue Cline (R-Wyoming) recently proposed Senate Bill 252, which requires schools in West Virginia to offer elective classes on Hebrew scriptures and the Bible. The proposed bill aims to help students understand contemporary society and culture through the study of biblical content, WDTV reported.

SB 252 also calls for schools to follow religious neutrality laws and said the teachers of these classes should be certified. If it is passed, students will be allowed to decide if they want to attend the Bible class or not.

For Rodney Wilson and his wife Cheri, SB 252 is a good idea because it helps provide kids the foundation that they cannot get at home. Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church pastor Dr. Mark A. Staples agreed and said the Bible has a lot of important historical content that students ought to learn.

"It could be so helpful for students, not so much for promoting a particular type of religion but I think there's a lot of historical as well as Biblical pieces that can be very important for students to understand," said Pastor Staples. "Let's look at the Bible in the historical content and the richness that it provides. Also the stories, they're very vivid and very powerful."

However, the American Civil Liberties of West Virginia said courses such as the elective Bible class come with a lot of social pressure. The organization added that other religions should also be allowed to offer elective classes if SB 252 is passed.

Meanwhile, in Kentucky, the American Civil Liberties Union in the area has complained about Bible Literacy courses being offered in some of the state's public schools. The organization said many of these courses did not follow the requirement of using secular, nondevotional, and objective materials in the classroom, Lex 18.com reported.

ACLU-KY executive director Michael Alridge said their organization believes the Bible Literacy courses do not belong in public schools. They have already relayed their concerns to the Kentucky Department of Education and are seeking the implementation of academic standards that fall within constitutional limits.
In 2020, we were the church on our heels. A global pandemic shut down much of our world. But the church has been on the move since it was birthed; it will continue to be on the move until God makes all things new.
Many evangelicals wont let partisan divides keep them from rallying for immigration reform, particularly the urgent push for congressional action to allow Dreamerswho entered the US as kidsto remain in America.

Several pastors and members of Trumps evangelical advisory board met Thursday with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, who they cheered for her defense of young immigrants fighting for legal status.

A prominent Democrat in Congress, Pelosi also happens to rank among evangelicals most-disliked politicians; more than half (55%) of self-identified evangelicals had an unfavorable view of her in a recent Politico/Morning Consult poll.

Yet Trump adviser and National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference (NHCLC) president Samuel Rodriguez (also a CT board member) told Pelosi today that America is a better place because of your prophetic leadership on immigration.

Two more evangelical advisersMaryland pastor Harry Jackson and Southern Baptist minister Jay Strackas well as two other NHCLC leaders also participated in the meeting in Washington with Pelosi, fellow religious leaders, and Dreamers themselves.

Were joined together in the spirit of bipartisanship, compelled by our faith, to protect our Dreamers, the minority leader said in a press conference streamed on Facebook Live.

Currently, nearly 70 percent of evangelicals believe Dreamers should be allowed to stay in the country, with 49 percent supporting a path to citizenship and 20 percent believing they should become legal residents but not citizens, Politico/Morning Consult found. (Overall, 75 percent of registered voters want the Dreamers to stay.)

For weeks, there have been talks of immigration reform from Congress and the White House. But as plans for bipartisan immigration overhaul have stalled, advocates have become desperate for a fix for Dreamers, once protected by deportation from the program known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). Since the Trump administration rescinded DACA, an estimated 800,000 young adults could lose their status and risk deportation as early as March 5.

Johnnie Moore, a fellow adviser to Trump and an evangelical consultant, helped organize the gathering and holds out hope that Congress will bring legislative protection for Dreamers. He tweeted:

Most Christian leaders I know, all Democrats & nearly every Republican, as well as @POTUS himself, believe this is the just thing to do. It is the job of Congress to make laws & not according to their opinions but the opinions of their constituents. Our system demands compromise. We encourage & pray for a #DACADeal.

Last fall, dozens of evangelical leaders came to the Dreamers defense.

We believe this is a special category of immigrants who are not legally culpable, who in most cases have no home other than the United States, and who are a blessing to their communities and to their churches, read a letter signed by 51 leaders, including several Southern Baptist pastors and denominational leaders as well as evangelicals like Leith Anderson, president of the National Association of Evangelicals, Scott Arbeiter, president of World Relief, and D. A. Carson, president of The Gospel Coalition.

Many evangelicals who support immigration reform, including leaders involved with the Evangelical Immigration Table, are particularly concerned about family and life issues, praying for a policy that keeps parents and children together, prioritizes safety, and upholds human dignity.

NHCLC vice president Tony Suarez, who also met with Pelosi, described the organizations advocacy for immigration reform as part of its efforts protecting lives from womb to tomb.

Back in October, 29 percent of evangelical voters considered a Dreamers bill a top priority for Congress and 28 percent considered it an important but lower priority, according to a Morning Consult/Politico poll.

By early January, those figures shot up to 41 percent considering immigration reform a top priority and 31 percent considering it an important but lower priority. Only 6 percent of evangelicals believe an immigration reform bill should not be done.
In a 12-minute YouTube video, international evangelist Luis Palau revealed yesterday that he has been diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer.

After Palau, 83, and his wife Patricia had a super busy fall  traveling around the world sharing the Good News like they always do, explained his son Kevin Palau, the evangelist returned from a long trip to the United Kingdom in December with kind of a chest cold  that wouldnt go away.

We finally got Dad to go into the doctor, said Kevin, president and CEO of the Luis Palau Association. And to our surprise, the early report we got, just before Christmas, was that there was some cancer in one of Dads lungs.

A few days ago, the family learned that the cancer is in stage 4the most advanced stage, which for lung cancer has (in general) a five-year survival rate of less than 10 percent.

Thats the reality we are dealing with now, said Kevin. [Were] praying about what that means.  Mostly we are asking for peoples prayers.

It was a shock, said Luis. I havent been in a hospital one night, except when I broke a bone back in 1984 after Mission to London.

The first thing you do, in my case, is cry. I think, oh wow, I could be gone in a few months, said the senior Palau. But he doesnt feel panic or horror.

Many people are praying that the Lord would do a miracle, he said. It would literally take a miracle. Medically speaking  stage 4 is big time.

On the ministrys website, Palau wrote in a health update:

As we seek the best medical advice and counsel, were also trusting the Lord and praying for complete healing. I would ask you to join us in that prayer. Well be sure to keep you updated.



In many ways, I feel the Lord has much more in store for me. Yet whatever tomorrow holdsIm completely at peace. Both Patricia and I are. As we look back, we praise the Lord. Fifty-seven years of marriage. How many places weve been. How many people weve reached with the Gospel.



I hold strong to verses like Isaiah 41:10: So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

One reason Palau said he feels peace is because 10 years ago his ministry appointed son Kevin as its leader and annointed another son Andrew Palau as an evangelist. Along with a strong board of directors, his eponymous ministry is ready for its founder to pass it on.

If the Lord wants to take me home in the next few months, or two years, or whatever it is, Im ready, said Palau. I know it sounds crazy, its not like, Ooh, I cant wait to go to heaven. Yes its true. I actually [am].

He explained that he has preached about heaven often, because his own father died when he was young. Now, its reality for me.

Palau shared that earlier this week, the Lord seemed to say to me, Hey, I thought you read the Bible, and you knew that there comes a time when it is time to go. He then recited biblical examples of the apostles Paul (2 Tim. 4) and Peter (2 Pet. 1) acknowledging that their deaths were coming soon with peace.

Then Palau became teary, recalling verses from Revelation that his servants shall see his face (Rev. 22:34), and from Isaiah that your eyes will behold the King in his beauty (Isa. 33:17).

Ive preached about heaven a lot, and  you cry a lot, he said, thinking about his sons, the ministry, his friends, and his wife.

His son Andrew then noted that his father can rest knowing that his sons and the ministry will persevere in their calling. We dont know how many days are left, and every one is like gold to us, Dad, he said.  You are proving day by day the power of faith.

The diagnosis comes as a movie on Palaus story began filming in Argentina.

CT interviewed Palau on his long friendship with Pope Francis, and profiled how the evangelist and a gay mayor were partnering to transform Portland. CT Pastors also interviewed the senior Palau.

CT interviewed Andrew Palau on how he overcame apathy to join his father in evangelism, and excerpted his book. CT Pastors interviewed all three Palaus on the delicate dance of helping churches to change their cities.

Here is the YouTube announcement:
Judicial Watch: New Documents Reveal More Instances of Classified Information on Hillary Clinton's Unsecure, Non-'State.gov' System

Emails Reveal Clinton Had Extensive Knowledge of the Operation and Security Issues with Her Non-'State.gov' Email System



Contact: Jill Farrell, Judicial Watch, 202-646-5172



WASHINGTON, Jan. 19, 2018 /Christian Newswire/ -- Judicial Watch today released 78 pages of new documents from the U.S. Department of State containing emails of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sent and received over her unsecure, non-"state.gov" email system. Three of the email exchanges include classified information. The emails also reveal that Clinton had detailed knowledge about the security issues with in her non-State Department email system.



On March 8, 2011, Hillary Clinton sent classified information regarding Bahrain to Justin Cooper, who reportedly had no security clearance, with instructions to show it to Bill Clinton. Cooper was the Bill Clinton aide, who asked State Department IT specialist Bryan Pagliano to build a server for Mrs. Clinton in early 2009 as she started her new job as Secretary of State.



On August 24, 2010, Clinton emailed Cooper additional classified information to print, including the secretary's call sheet for Indian Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee.



In a February 13, 2010, email exchange, Hillary Clinton passed along classified information to Cooper, which originally was sent to Cheryl Mills (Clinton's then-chief of staff) by U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Carlos Pascual. The classified information included a note from Mexican Foreign Secretary Patricia Espinosa to Hillary Clinton. In the email to Cooper, Clinton asks him to "look for Espinosa's note and respond."



The documents are part of the accelerated schedule of production ordered by U.S. District Court Judge James E. Boasberg, which requires the State Department to complete processing by September 28, 2018 the remaining documents of the 72,000 pages recovered by the FBI in its investigation into Hillary Clinton's illicit email server. These new classified and other emails appear to be among those that Clinton had attempted to delete or had otherwise failed to disclose.



Judge Boasberg's November 30, 2017, order came in a Judicial Watch Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit filed on May 6, 2015, (Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of State (No. 1:15-cv-00687)) seeking:

All emails sent or received by former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in her official capacity as Secretary of State, as well as all emails by other State Department employees to Secretary Clinton regarding her non-"state.gov" email address.

The newly released documents also reveal Hillary Clinton's knowledge of system vulnerabilities; Cooper giving computer security advice; and foreign policy advice from Sidney Blumenthal, who was rejected by the Obama administration for a position at the State Department:

The emails reveal that Hillary Clinton was warned about "overseas" and other security issues concerning her emails and her personal BlackBerrys. An email from Cooper to Clinton on June 6, 2011 states:

MORE: www.judicialwatch.org/press-room/press-releases/judicial-watch-new-documents-reveal-instances-classified-information-hillary-clintons-unsecure-non-state-gov-system/
home World Eritrean Christian suffers mental trauma after being imprisoned for 13 years for his faith

An Eritrean Christian is now suffering from mental trauma after enduring 13 years in prison, but despite his ordeal, he repeatedly refused to renounce his faith.

According to World Watch Monitor, Shiden, who became Christian in his late teens, was exposed to torture of different kinds, including months of solitary confinement in a very small cell.

His decision to become a Christian was considered dangerous because Eritrea's society is deeply suspicious and antagonistic towards evangelical Christians. Those who do not belong to the three mainline churches or Sunni Islam are often jailed, and Shiden had heard stories of the terrible suffering of Christians in prison, but he decided to take the risk anyway.

After joining military service at age 22, Shiden was arrested along with around 40 other Christians while worshipping in secret.

They were reportedly taken to a military prison in the southern desert city of Assab, where they endured intense heat during the day and extremely cold weather at night.

During his incarceration, he was made to suffer harsh conditions and guards often taunted him, asking, "Why don't you leave this religion of yours?"

Shiden said that he would respond to the guards, saying, "I won't leave the faith because I believe it and I live by what I believe. I served this country faithfully and honestly during my military service. When you sent me to work in the field, I did that without complaining. But my belief is my personal belief, and you have to respect that. But if you don't, then I am willing to pay for it."

In one occasion, prison officials presented him with two sheets of paper, asking him to choose whether he believes Jesus or not. He chose the sheet that indicated his belief in Christ, assuring his interrogators, "I will not leave this religion. So if you are going to keep me in the jail, that's OK. It's all the same to me."

Shiden was later moved to the general prison in Barentu, where he remained for the next 10 years. During that time, he was often put in solitary confinement for six months at a time in a small cell where he was not able to stretch his arms or even stand up straight.

After his release, he was sent back to national service, where he remained under close watch. When guards discovered sections of his Bible in his possession, he was sent again to solitary confinement for a period of three months.

Shiden, now 35, was eventually released, but he had difficulties returning to normal life due to the mental trauma that he suffered. He had been brought to tears when he told his brother John about some of the things that had happened to him in prison.

"I was so proud of him for not denying his faith through all of those years. But I could not believe the terrible suffering he had been put through," his brother said.

John noted that Shiden's situation was not an isolated case and that there are many other Christians like him who have been imprisoned in Eritrea for different lengths of time.

The situation of Christians in Eritrea has become so severe that Open Doors USA ranked the nation at No. 6 in the 2018 World Watch List of countries that were deemed to be the worst in the world when it comes to the persecution of believers.
Take a seat  Designer chairs for modern homes

Over the years, LA-based antiques dealer JF Chen has assembled an exceptional collection of mid-century modern chairs by some of the worlds most famous designers. Here, a selection of highlights, offered at Christies

1

Dan Johnson, Gazelle lounge chair, circa 1958 Dan Johnson, a trained architect, travelled from Los Angeles to Rome in the mid-1950s and fell in love with the Eternal Citys rich history and iconography.

Dan Johnson (1918-1979), a Gazelle lounge chair, circa 1958. 28 in (71.2 cm) high. Sold for $11,875 on 13 February 2018 at Christies in New York

Johnson's elegant, playful Gazelle lounge chair was undoubtedly inspired by the many carved facades and intricately-laid mosaics he saw in the Italian capital.

2

A pair of African beadwork-covered armchairs, Nigeria, Yoruba-style, late 20th century The Yoruba people of West Africa are famous for their intricate bead embroidery, particularly the making of crowns. The pieces they create are reserved for men of exceptional skill; completed works are only offered to those with whom the gods are believed to communicate, such as kings or priests.

A pair of African beadwork-covered armchairs, Nigeria, Yoruba-style, late 20th century. 40 in (102 cm) high. This lot was offered in the JF Chen Collection Online, 7-14 February 2018

This pair of beadwork armchairs draws from traditional Yoruba techniques, with single strands threaded one at a time and intricately placed to create the larger design.

3

Charles and Ray Eames, ES 106 chaise longue, designed 1968 In his 2011 book Collecting Eames, Joel Chen catalogued his extensive inventory of works by Charles and Ray Eames, the husband-and-wife design team.

Charles (1907-1978) and Ray Eames (1912-1989), an ES106 chaise longue, designed 1968. 28 in (72.4 cm) high, 75 in (190.5 cm) wide, 17 in (45.7 cm) deep. Sold for $3,750 on 13 February 2018 at Christies in New York

This ES 106 design in particular is also known as the Billy Wilder chaise, after the Oscar-winning director, who was a friend of the couple.

4

Werther Toffoloni and Piero Palarge, Hoop chair, designed 1972

The Hoop chair, a collaboration between Italian designer Werther Toffoloni and Piero Palarge, reflects Toffolonis personal philosophy: the need to balance a pleasing aesthetic with a functional design.

5

Hans Wegner, Mama Bear chair, designed 1954 This Mama Bear chair (and the companion Papa Bear chair) alludes charmingly to the 19th-century fairy tale, Goldilocks and the Three Bears.

The chairs are characteristic of Hans Wegners design principle of aligning form and function, as evidenced here in the deep seat, slightly angled back and sculptural frame.

6

Hans Olsen, pair of Bikini lounge chairs, designed 1961 Danish designer Hans Olsen opened his studio in 1953, during a boom in Danish furniture production.

If he is less famous today than some of his contemporaries, several of his designs  such as the Bikini chairs  have become iconic due to his use of lightweight, malleable laminated wood.

7

Poul Volther, Corona lounge chair, designed 1964 With reference to outer space a corona  Latin for crown  is defined as the atmosphere that surrounds the sun, the moon and stars.

Poul Volther (1923-2001), a Corona lounge chair, designed 1964. 35 in (90.2 cm) high, 34 in (87.6 cm) wide, 25 in (64.8 cm) deep. This lot was offered in the JF Chen Collection Online, 7-14 February 2018

Like many 1960s-era designs, Volthers Corona chair reflects the contemporary fascination with space exploration.

8

Jacques-Henri Varichon, Zig-Zag chair, designed 1969 With its use of tension wire, the Varichon Zig-Zag chair is a marvel of furniture design  and quite ahead of its time.

Jacques-Henri Varichon (b. 1945), a Zig-Zag chair, designed 1969. 28 in (73 cm) high. This lot was offered in the JF Chen Collection on 13 February 2018 at Christies in New York

Models were made with aluminium tubes and a webbing of wires that supported either a canvas or leather seat. Perhaps surprisingly, the chair is sturdy and quite comfortable.

9

Hans Wegner, folding chair, Model JH512, designed 1949 Wegner's designs reflected his incredible talent, and made him one of the most renowned Scandinavian designers of the 20th century.

That talent is certainly apparent in his JH512 chair, whose sleek look cleverly incorporates folding elements.

10

Ward Bennett, a pair of lounge chairs, circa 1965 American designer Ward Bennett focused on the ever-important ergonomics of design.

Bennett was championed for his use of industrial materials such as aluminium, and his creations were never lavish or over-the-top.

11

Preben Fabricius and Jorgen Kastholm, Grasshopper lounge chair, designed 1968 The Grasshopper lounge chair designed by Preben Fabricius and Jorgen Kastholm is clearly influenced by Eero Saarinens 1950 model of the same name.

Preben Fabricus (1931-1984) and Jrgen Kastholm (1931-2007), a Grasshopper chaise longue, designed 1968. 32 in (82 cm) high, 28 in (72.4 cm) wide, 58 in (147.3 cm) deep. Estimate: This lot was offered in the JF Chen Collection on 13 February 2018 at Christies in New York

But the 1968 design updates Saarinens chair with the use of chrome-plated steel, and its playful, slender profile is more evocative of the eponymous insect.

12

Preben Fabricius and Jorgen Kastholm, FK 82 lounge chair, designed 1968 Fabricius and Kastholm studied together at Copenhagens School of Interior Design. In their design practice the pair used materials such as steel and leather rather than the ubiquitous wood found in much contemporary Danish design.

With its light silhouette and sleek lines, the FK 82 perfectly illustrates the advantage of using steel in furniture design.

13

Leather and ebonised folding Campaign chair, second half 20th century, possibly Maison Jansen This folding chair is typical of the furniture produced by renowned Paris-based interior design firm Maison Jansen. From its inception in 1880 and for more than a century afterwards, the firm was synonymous with international glamour and luxury.

A leather and ebonised folding Campaign chair, second half 20th century, possibly Maison Jansen. 36 in (91.4 cm) high. This lot was offered in the JF Chen Collection on 13 February 2018 at Christies in New York
WASHINGTON - Marriott International is apologizing to the Chinese government - and changing its practices - after coming under fire for listing Hong Kong, Taiwan, Tibet and Macau as stand-alone countries on an email questionnaire it sent to members of its rewards program.

The apology comes after the Chinese government, which maintains that those locations are part of China, shut down Marriott's Chinese website and app as punishment.

Marriott, the world's largest hotelier which has been aggressively expanding in China in recent years, says it took down the survey "immediately" and is doing a review of all of its materials, including its websites, according to a company spokeswoman. The Bethesda, Md.-based company is also taking disciplinary action against an employee who used a corporate Twitter account to "like" a post supporting Tibetan independence from China.

"Marriott International respects and supports the sovereignty and territorial integrity of China," chief executive Arne Sorenson wrote in a statement on the company's website.

"We don't support anyone who subverts the sovereignty and territorial integrity of China and we do not intend in any way to encourage or incite any such people or groups," he added. "We recognize the severity of the situation and sincerely apologize."

Marriott is among a growing number of companies that has been publicly targeted by the Chinese government for listing Taiwan and Hong Kong as separate countries. Delta Air Lines and Zara in recent weeks have also amended their websites - and issued public apologies - under pressure from China.

"It was an inadvertent error with no business or political intention, and we apologize for the mistake," a spokeswoman for Delta said in an email. "As one of our most important markets, we are fully committed to China and our Chinese customers."

A number of major companies, including Apple and Audi, have acquiesced to China's censorship laws and other demands in recent years, experts said. Apple last year removed messaging and VPN apps, which would allow users to bypass government-imposed firewalls, from its Chinese app store. Audi, meanwhile, apologized for using in a presentation a map of China that did not include Taiwan and parts of Tibet.

Hong Kong and Macau are officially part of China, although they have their own governments and political systems. (Traveling between Hong Kong, Macau and China requires a passport.) Tibet is ruled by China, although some Tibetans argue that it is an independent country that is illegally occupied.

Taiwan, meanwhile, also has its own democracy and maintains that it is an independent nation. China, however, claims it as a province.
Today legendary country star Dolly Parton turns 72 years old. Shes known for her distinctive voice, build, and that blonde hedge of hair that seems to climb closer to God as the years go by.

Born in 1946, Parton began her musical career picking on a guitar in her family's bare bones home in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee.

RELATED: Dolly Parton reveals the hilarious reason she never had kids

She began performing songs in front of audiences at just 10 years old. She turned 18 and moved to Nashville for good.

"Probably the best birthday I ever had was when I turned 18, because I had been traveling back and forth to Nashville all those years before, and I knew my Daddy would send a posse after me if I left before I was 18," she says on her website.

The rest is country music history, likely blaring out of a dive bar jukebox or a classic country radio station somewhere. You've woken up to "9 to 5" and probably broken up to "I Will Always Love You" at some point.

RELATED: The story behind Janis Joplin's landmark hit 'Me and Bobby McGee'

By her count she says she's written thousands of songs.

Earlier this week the she earned accolades from the Emmys, the Guinness World Records camp, and the Recording Industry Association of America.

The Guinness folks recognized her for having the "Most Decades with a Top 20 hit on Billboard's Hot Country Songs Chart" and "Most Hits on Billboard's Hot Country Songs Chart by a Female Artist".

The Emmys (namely the The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences) honored her for her 2016 telethon, Smoky Mountains Rise, which raised money for Tennesseans impacted by wildfires.

Gary Fountain/Gary Fountain/For the Chronicle

The RIAA awarded her with four plaques this week, including gold records for "Jolene" and "I Will Always Love You". Additionally her song "9 to 5" earned a platinum award for over 1 million streams and downloads.

RELATED: The most anticipated concerts in Houston for 2018

Since Whitney Houston's recording of the Parton-penned "I Will Always Love You" just racked up 3 million streams and downloads, she got another plaque for that.

Shes also Miley Cyrus godmother. By the way Miley does a great version of "Jolene" in her own right.

Fun fact: Parton once entered a Dolly look-alike contest and lost. Imagine that.

Craig Hlavaty is a reporter for Chron.com and HoustonChronicle.com. He's an intolerable native Texan with too much ink in his skin and too much brisket stuck in his teeth.
The major fashion events of 2018 kicked off with Paris Fashion Week Men's, where designers put their weirdest foot forward.

On top of having models wear fishnets on their heads and odd fuzzy/puffy jeans, the "hottest" trend for 2018 is none other than thigh-high UGG boots.

Just take a minute to let that sink in...

NO FEAR: Sheer wedding jumpsuit is the latest wedding trend for brave brides

The boots were designed by the French brand Y/Project's creative director Glenn Martens, and basically, swallow a person's entire leg.

"Putting on Uggs is like putting your foot in a warm pot of butter, and I thought why not elevate that and immerse your full legs," Martens said in a press release. "So we decided to design an UGG boot that climbs up to the crotch and covers the whole leg."

Um, what?

We don't know about you but a normal UGG already weighs a ton, can you imagine lugging a slouchy, sweaty, baggy thigh-high version of the shoe?

The monstrosity costs anywhere from $270 to $1,380 and will be available for purchase for both men and women in fall 2018.

Take a look through the gallery above to see other bizarre fashions seen on runways.

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 Washington timber thief caught stealing prized bigleaf maple from Olympic National Park will spend weeks in federal detention if prosecutors have their way.

Mike Welches, 63, and two companions were caught cutting a bigleaf maple trees on federal lands near the Elwha River. In doing so, prosecutors say the men destroyed irreplaceable timber in an area just beginning to recover from a century of misuse.

A longtime Olympic Peninsula resident, Welches spent most of his life in the timber industry but recently started under-the-table jobs as other work became hard to come by.

In a letter to the court, Welches said he cut cedar shake  shingles of cedar used to side and roof homes around the Pacific Northwest  for 20 years before starting a landscaping business in Sequim. The Great Recession killed that business, forcing Welches to return to cutting shake and firewood when he could find work.

We ended up cutting the tree because we needed money, said Welches, who has pleaded guilty to the timber theft and is scheduled to be sentenced Friday . I feel terrible about cutting the tree, especially when I found out it was in the Olympic National Park.

The Elwha River, which stretches into Olympic National Park, was blocked in the early 1910s by a pair of hydroelectric dams. The dams destroyed salmon runs on the Elwha and disrupted the sediment flow on the river.

MORE FROM SEATTLEPI: Olympic National Park in photos

A decades-long effort to remove the dams culminated in March 2012, when the Elwha was able to flow freely for the first time since 1910. It was the largest dam removal project in U.S. history, and carried with it the promise that a struggling ecosystem could be revived.

In November 2013, a resident living near the now-reduced Lake Aldwell  formerly a reservoir above an Elwha dam  reported hearing chainsaws in the night and headlamps in the woods. A National Park Service ranger inspecting the area found a recently felled bigleaf maple.

The timber poachers returned the following day and were arrested carrying axes and muffled chainsaws, prosecutors say. One man was carrying a receipt from a Quilcene wood buyer; investigators later retrieved the stolen wood from the broker.

Mature bigleaf maple is particularly valuable as tonewood for use in guitars and other stringed instruments. The wood is prized in part because of its flame or quilted fibers, which provides a shimmering effect when cut to form the body of an instrument. The timber found in the single 32-inch-diameter tree Welches admitted to stealing was valued at $8,766.

ALSO FROM SEATTLEPI: Crooked 'music wood' dealer: 'I am an honorable man'

Writing the court, Assistant U.S. Attorney Andre M. Penalver said timber thefts from public lands have reached near epidemic proportions.

Our national parks and other federal lands are vast treasures with few law enforcement officers, Penalver said in court papers.

Penalver noted that Welches was previously convicted of stealing timber from state lands.

Prosecutors have asked U.S. District Judge Robert Bryan to sentence Welches to two months in federal detention. Welches attorney contends such a sentence is unnecessary.

Assistant Federal Public Defender Miriam Schwartz said Welches has been struggling financially in the past decade.

He has had to resort to under-the-table work and food stamps to survive, Schwartz said in court papers. At the time of this crime, in 2013, he still had three minor kids at home and money was very tight which, unfortunately, led to this incident.

Schwartz argued that probation is sufficient punishment for the Forks High School graduate.

Having pleaded guilty to depredation of government property, Welches is scheduled to be sentenced Friday at U.S. District Court in Tacoma. One of his codefendants, Matthew Hutto, previously pleaded guilty to the same offense and is scheduled to be sentenced in February. A third codefendant, Richard Welches, remains at large.

SeattlePI senior editor Levi Pulkkinen can be reached at 206-448-8348 or levipulkkinen@seattlepi.com. Follow Levi on Twitter at @levipulk. Find more from Levi here on his author page.
Liberty police detectives are seeking the public's help with information on an armed robbery at JJ's Chevron on the corner of FM 563 and Hwy. 90 last Friday night, Jan. 8.

Police say the two subjects, both dressed in black, wearing masks and gloves, came into the store with the intent to commit a crime.
A life sentence was handed down to Angela Ruth Mallone, 46, Thursday after pleading guilty to possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver and two other offenses in neighboring counties.

Mallone was a passenger in a vehicle that was stopped on Highway 105 in Conroe June 23, 2017. During the investigation, officers recovered more than 420 grams of methamphetamine after a narcotics K-9 made a positive alert to the side of the car where Mallone was seated. During the stop, officers also found approximately $18,000 in cash.

"This is a large amount of methamphetamine," Montgomery County Assistant District Attorney Rob Freyer said. "She was arrested for the large amount of methamphetamine that was found and the she disappeared only to resurface in a neighboring county with 220 grams of methamphetamine and approximately $6,500 in cash on her. This would make for a lot of addicts."

HOUSTON: Woman charged in stabbing of boyfriend

After jumping bond and failing to appear in court, a warrant was issued for her arrest and she was eventually arrested on Aug. 17, 2017 by the Silsbee Police Department where she was detained and brought back to Montgomery County face the first degree felony offense of possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver.

Prior to her most recent arrest, Mallone was sent to prison for selling or transporting drugs in Texas in 1998, 2000, 2004, 2012, and in Louisiana in 2000. In exchange for this plea agreement, federal and local authorities in neighboring jurisdictions agreed to not pursue other drug charges for acts she previously committed in 2016 and 2017.

Freyer credits the work of the Texas Department of Public Safety, the Montgomery County Sheriff's Department, Tyler County Sheriff's Department and Silsbee Police Department as to why the outcome of the case was successful.

"It's no secret what methamphetamine does; it affects everyone," Freyer said. "It affects everyone from schools to business, residents and the community as a whole. We will not tolerate this in Montgomery County. The life sentence for Mallone reflects what a jury would have found if the case had gone to a jury instead. The solid police work completed by all f the departments should be commended.

"This collaboration led to the removal of one of the most active drug dealers in southeast Texas," Freyer said. "It once again shows that those who choose to sell or transport any kind of drugs in and through Montgomery County, will reap the consequences and held accountable if they are caught doing so."
A man got pinned by his own vehicle against a wall near a Houston restaurant late Thursday night, but police still don't know how.

Around 9 p.m., a man left Sam's Boat, a seafood restaurant on Richmond, and headed to his pickup truck, Houston police said. Somehow, as he was just outside of the truck, it began moving; he did not have a passenger. The man fell behind it, and the truck smashed into him, pinning him against a wall.
A man charged in a fatal shooting outside a Third Ward convenience store parking last month had provoked the victim into an argument that turned deadly, authorities said.

Elijah Williams, 21, is charged in the death of 25-year-old Christian Crear, who went to the IM Food Mart convenience store to purchase snacks with his brother and friend on the evening of Dec. 6.

Williams, who was charged on Jan. 12, remains at large.

In a lengthy criminal complaint, police offered witness accounts describing how two men -- one now believed to be Williams -- provoked Crear, who was unarmed, into a fatal argument as he tried to leave the store.

According to the criminal complaint, just after Crear went inside the convenience store in the 2600 block of Wheeler, just east of the South Freeway, two men in hoodies followed him inside. They lifted their hoods over their heads just before entering, then loitered near the checkout counter, where Crear and a friend he ran into inside were standing in line to purchase food and a lottery ticket.

That friend, who didn't want to be identified by police for fear of retaliation, described to investigators how Crear's demeanor immediately changed after the men came inside. Crear whispered to his friend that these guys had jumped him before -- they had busted his car windows before, Crear's father later told police -- and Crear feared something was about to go down.

Crear asked his friend, did he have a gun on him?

The friend said yes, but didn't want to get involved. Noticing that Crear seemed afraid, he offered to walk with Crear back out to the car.

Crear left his lottery ticket on the counter.

The men, who had left the store moments earlier, were waiting for Crear near his car, where his brother and another friend named Dillon were waiting for him.

Dillon would tell police that he could hear the men arguing, and one of the hooded men asking Crear, what are you gonna do about it?

"Do you want to catch a round?" Crear reportedly asked the men, Dillon recalled.

At that point, Dillon got out of the car, fearing a physical fight was about to break out and he may need to step in.

Instead, the man in a blue hoodie -- allegedly Williams -- pulled out a gun and shot Crear.

Crear started running. So did the gunmen.

Crear ran a short distance until he collapsed, his friend just behind him. Kneeling down at Crear's side, Dillon saw the bullet wound.

Crear died at Ben Taub Hospital less than an hour later.

Houston police say they later tracked down Williams after the first friend who tried to calm Crear inside the convenience store learned Williams had applied for a job at the Family Dollar Store.

The friend called Crear's father to tell him. Crear's father called the police, who then interviewed the store manager and positively identified Williams.

Witnesses at the convenience store picked him out of a photo lineup, police say.

The second man is identified in the complaint but has not yet been charged with anything.
The City of Pearland lifted its boil-water notice late Thursday night after providing state regulators proof that the water was safe to drink.

Pearland residents west of State Highway 288 had been asked to boil their water since 7:45 p.m. Wednesday after two of Pearland's water treatment facilities malfunctioned, causing water pressure to drop below state and federal regulations -- and spurring a required boil notice so testing could be done.

"We don't have any reason to believe that our water was not safe," city spokesperson Sparkle Anderson said. "This was a precautionary issuance of a boil water notice."

The freezing temperatures were not believed to have caused the initial malfunction, Anderson said.

Pearland lifted the boil-water notice at 11 p.m. Thursday after providing laboratory results to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality showing that the water was not contaminated.

READ ALSO: Galveston, Pearland wrestle with water woes after icy weather

"The City of Pearland's water system has taken the necessary corrective actions to restore the pressure and quality of the water distributed by this public water system used for drinking water or human consumption purposes," Pearland officials said in a news release.

Anderson said Thursday that any time water pressure drops below a certain level, contamination is possible.

Pearland public works officials didn't discover something was wrong at its Kirby water-treatment facility until 6 p.m. Wednesday -- but Anderson said the root of the problem was actually at its treatment facility on FM 521. Equipment malfunctioned there sometime late afternoon, but an alarm had failed to notify public works, she said.

READ ALSO: Boil water notice issued for parts of Chambers, Jefferson counties

The Kirby facility was left to compensate far longer than it should have, ultimately breaking down around 6.

While officials did not believe the weather caused the initial control malfunction, Anderson said it was a related factor. City officials saw a "huge increase in volume of usage in that area," Anderson said, perhaps because more people were at home.

The high demand exacerbated the problem.
Students attending classes in the Conroe Independent School District next school year will again have an early start date in August.

The Conroe ISD Board of Trustees on Wednesday, Jan. 17, approved the 2018-19 school calendar for the district, which includes 177 instructional days for students, 187 working days for teachers and will allow for 75,600 minutes of instruction.

Students enrolled in school are scheduled to begin classes on Wednesday, Aug. 15, while the last day of school is scheduled for May 30, 2019.

Conroe ISD Board of Trustees President Melanie Bush had previously said many people had expressed appreciation for the earlier start date.

Highlights of the calendar include a break for Thanksgiving that begins on Nov. 19 and continues through Nov. 23 and an 18-day winter break that begins Dec. 20 and runs to Jan. 7, 2019.

Spring Break is scheduled for March 11-15, the same spring break time period as regional colleges such as Lone Star College, Sam Houston State University, Texas A&M and the University of Houston.

The calendar does not include inclement weather days or holidays for students, because, according district officials, the instructional minutes to cover for potential loss of days were included in the calendar.

During the board meeting, which had to be rescheduled to Wednesday due to freezing temperatures that caused roads to ice, Dr. Curtis Null, deputy superintendent of schools, said that of the two draft calendars presented to the public, roughly 60 percent of the responses were in favor of draft No. 2 over draft No 1. In addition, school principals were unanimously in favor of draft No. 2 over draft No. 1, Null said.

The district received almost 3,000 comments regarding the two draft calendars, he said.
The Conroe Independent School District Board of Trustees approved an improvement plan for an elementary campus that has received a low state accountability rating two years in a row.

At the Jan. 10 Conroe ISD board of trustees meeting, Dr. Debbie Phillips, assistant superintendent of elementary schools, presented a "turnaround plan" to get the Sam Houston Elementary School campus back on track.

For two years in a row, the school has received an "improvement required" accountability rating from the Texas Education Agency. Campuses identified as "improvement required" are required by the state to develop a turnaround plan.

The goal of Sam Houston Elementary School's turnaround plan is to have the campus receive a "met standard" rating-the highest rating a school can receive-within two years of implementation, Phillips told the board, adding that the plan would go into effect at the start of the 2018-19 school year.

The plan includes adopting guided reading and "instructional rounds," where teachers will go between classrooms and learn from each other with the purpose of growing instructional practices, Phillips explained.

The rating released by the Texas Education Agency in August shows the elementary school had failed to meet the target score for three out of four of the performance indices, including student achievement based on STAAR results, student progress and closing performance gaps.

CISD Trustee Datren Williams said he noticed the plan was more internally focused and asked whether the campus was looking at efforts toward community involvement.

Sam Houston Elementary Principal Viviana Harris, who until last year had been the principal at Anderson Elementary, said teachers and administrators had been reaching out to the children's families.

'We've gone to houses and if they need anything, how can we help them to support their students?" she said. "It's not only about the turnaround plan but it is about the whole community. We notice that a lot of times our parents don't know how to read or write and are afraid to come to school."

In 2017, Sam Houston Elementary School, which is in Conroe, had 795 students. About 90.1 percent of students were identified as economically disadvantaged, 54 percent as English language learners and 7.2 percent as special education students, according to data from the TEA.

About 53 percent of all students on campus were rated as "approaches grade level or above" on the 2017 STAAR Reading Assessment, 55 percent reached the same level on 2017 math assessment and 41 percent of students had met that level on the 2017 writing assessment.

The state averages for those categories were 72 percent, 79 percent and 67 percent, respectively, while district averages were 82 percent, 88 percent and 75 percent, respectively, according to data from the TEA.

DISTRICT DECIDES AGAINST MAKE-UP DAYS

Students got two unexpected snow days this year after the district closed its doors on Jan. 16 and Jan. 17 due to freezing weather, ice and precipitation that hit the region dropping temperatures below freezing several days in a row. However, district officials said students will not have to make up any of those days because instructional minutes were built into the school calendar.
City-wide fiber internet installation in Shenandoah could start by next month.

During the Wednesday, Jan. 10, Shenandoah City Council meeting, Hal Brumfield, a representative from residential internet service provider Tachus LLC, answered questions regarding the $1.5 million internet deal between the city and the internet provider.

Brumfield said if the contract-negotiated by the city's internet committee-is approved by the next council meeting scheduled for Jan. 24, Tachus crews could be "digging in the dirt" within a week or two of that date.

Prior to possibly authorizing the contract, the city's internet committee continues negotiations on a preliminary master service agreement between the two entities. Members of the City Council discussed some of the possible issues in the contract with Brumfield during the meeting.

In the preliminary master service agreement, Tachus LLC would to pay the total cost of connecting residents' homes to the service if the homeowner wants to sign up, Brumfield said. The $1.5 million will be used to cover construct costs to get the entire city on the grid, according to the contract.

That wouldn't include the $85 cap for the internet service to the residence, Brumfield added. The contract as its written notes it would not cover government fees and taxes.

Council Member Byron Bevers said that after reviewing the contract and noticing that the city could have the service for free in public areas, such as City Hall and city parks, he was in favor of passing on further savings to homeowners who elected to connect to the fiber network.

Council Member Mike McLeod countered, saying residents would be paying for the customer service they received from Tachus.

City Attorney Bill Ferebee said other contractual language, such as the indemnity clause, would be updated to limit the city's liability.

Fiber optic internet is a connection type that uses glass to send data using light signals, Brumfield told The Villager, describing it as like the speed of light.

Brumfield also compared fiber internet with that of wireless connections and to what Shenandoah currently uses.

"Think of it as if you have your own dedicated lane where you can go as fast as you want, 1,000 miles per hour if you wanted to," he said "With copper and wireless, you are sharing the lane with a bunch of people through rush hour and traffic."

While the company touts the high-speed internet would be at gigabit speeds, actual speeds would be around 500 megabits per second, McLeod said.

"That's still 10 times faster than anyone can get in Shenandoah," he said. "There is a bit of a thing called network overhead and so it's kind of like, if you say I'm going to mail a package that weighs a certain amount, well that amount includes all of your packaging and your Styrofoam, your box and your tape and all of that."

The 500-megabit speed is their guaranteed minimum, McLeod added, noting his support for the city-wide fiber installation.

Electronic limitations curb fiber internet speed, Brumfield said, explaining that technology hasn't been developed that would allow for actual speeds as fast as light.

"As soon as someone invents technology that can go faster than fiber, then you have invented a time machine," he said, jokingly.

But not everyone believes that fiber internet is the way to go.

Citing a news report from a national media outlet, Council Member Ray Raymaker said he was opposed to the internet company installing fiber throughout the city because he believed it was becoming obsolete.

"$1.5 million is a lot of taxpayer dollars," Raymaker said. "Google is getting out of the fiber market. They have learned what every other ISP has learned: that traditional broadband is not a great way to make money. Home broadband adoption has plateaued in the U.S. as Americans are turning to wireless solutions."

Raymaker said that when the fiber technology is installed in Shenandoah, "we would have wasted $1.5 million of taxpayer money and I don't think we should be picking winners or losers."

Brumfield said problems still exist with wireless internet service, such as dense trees that tend to slow down internet speeds up to 200 megabits.

"I have a feeling that I will be right and I have a fear you're driving off a cliff with $1.5 million dollars in the trunk," Raymaker said.

If the contract is approved, construction crews would dig 2 by 3 feet holes throughout the city, in front of homes using "the smallest backhoe you can possibly buy," Brumfield said.

"It's less disruptive and we'd like to do it with as little impact as possible," Brumfield said, adding that homeowners will not have to let crews into their yards or homes.

If the project moves forward, the company plans to complete all construction in the city of Shenandoah within 18 months.

The Shenandoah City Council is expected to vote on the topic at the Jan. 24 meeting.
Steve Gonzales/Houston Chronicle

A Houston Chronicle investigation into allegations of rape at Kingwood Pines psychiatric hospital in Houston found concerns about patient safety had been raised for years with state and federal regulators.

A new lawsuit in Harris County claims two teens were sexually assaulted at Kingwood Pines, which is owned by the for-profit chain, Universal Health Services Inc.
RATON, N.M. (AP)  Five friends, including a Zimbabwean opposition leader, traveling to a ranch in New Mexico died when their helicopter crashed in a remote area.

Raton police released 911 recordings Friday from the crash two days earlier in remote northern New Mexico.

The recording indicates Zimbabwe opposition leader Roy Bennett was injured but still alive as authorities tried to determine the location of the fiery New Mexico helicopter crash that ultimately killed him, his wife, Heather, and three others.

Copter crash victim: 'I'm watching my family burn'

Andra Cobb, the 911 caller and the crash's sole survivor, was frantic as she spoke to a dispatcher, saying that she was watching her "family burn."

She also said her partner, Charles Burnett III, was alive but suffering from a head wound.

Her father, Paul Cobb, was the co-pilot. Bennett owned the ranch where the group was headed for vacation. Both were killed Wednesday.

Authorities say pilot Jamie Coleman Dodd also called 911, but later died.

Here's more about the prominent people on board:

CHARLES RYLAND BURNETT III, 61

Born in England, Burnett was an investor and philanthropist with links to a wide range of businesses and a love of entertaining friends extravagantly.

Burnett was based in Houston and listed as an officer in dozens of companies registered with the Texas secretary of state's office. The Guardian newspaper reported in 2009 that he drove a steam-powered car at an average speed of 139.8 miles per hour (225 kilometers per hour), setting a world record.

He purchased the Emery Gap Ranch, a sprawling, mountainous property on the Colorado-New Mexico border, in February 2017, said Sam Middleton, a real estate broker in Lubbock, Texas, who worked with Burnett on the purchase. That's where the group was headed Wednesday.

Middleton on Thursday recalled being invited to Burnett's 60th birthday party at another ranch he had helped the wealthy businessman purchase. A dance floor and lights powered by a generator were set up on a pasture, with guests brought in by bus and a film crew hired to document the party.

"He had a lot of fun, and he had a lot of people around him all the time," Middleton said.

He was in a long-term relationship with Andra Cobb, the only survivor of the crash and daughter of Paul Cobb, who was the co-pilot of the helicopter. Burnett was friends with the elder Cobb and the others aboard.

___

PAUL COBB, 67

He was shot down while flying a helicopter in the Vietnam War, according to his wife, Martha. He went on to serve as a police officer for three decades in the Houston suburb of Pasadena, Texas, rising to police chief until his retirement in 2004.

Cobb flew a historic Vietnam-era helicopter during an event to celebrate the Fourth of July in 2016, according to Houston television station KTRK. Martyn Hill, Burnett's personal attorney, described Cobb as an experienced, cautious pilot who had "survived many battles."

"He was a great person as well," Hill said.

Martha Cobb said her daughter told her after the crash that she passed at least one body on the ground as she tried to escape, before the helicopter burst into flames.

"She's just very distraught," Cobb said in a telephone interview, her voice breaking. "I'm just glad my daughter is OK, but I hate that my husband of 41 years is gone."

___

JAMIE COLEMAN DODD, 57

He was a decorated search and rescue pilot who plucked people to safety in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina and during one flood season, rented a helicopter on his day off to help rescue dogs stranded on rooftops.

"He was a natural pilot. He was so good at it. When he was in search and rescue, he saved countless lives," said Jacqueline Dodd, his wife of 25 years, describing him as an adrenaline junky.

Her husband, who went by J.C., received the national "Jeep Hero" award in 2006 for his search and rescue efforts. He donated the award, a new Jeep Commander, to a nonprofit organization that helps the homeless, according to the website of the New Mexico Military Institute, where he went in the mid- to late 1970s.

"He was the kind of guy that you just wanted to be your friend," Jacqueline Dodd said. "He was above reproach. He was just such a good person."

Since September, he had worked as Burnett's private pilot at the Emery Gap Ranch, she said. She and her husband filed separation papers in December after he moved to Trinidad, Colorado, the previous September.

"He took that job against all my wishes," said Jacqueline Dodd, who lives in Applegate, California, in the foothills northeast of Sacramento.

Her husband enlisted in the Marine Corps Reserves in 1979. Dodd transferred to the Army's Warrant Officer Flight School in 1983 and was later assigned to Howard Air Force Base in Panama, flying medical evacuation missions throughout Central and South America, according to New Mexico Military Institute website.

Dodd moved back and joined the California Highway Patrol in 1990, where he was a search and rescue helicopter pilot. He was inducted into the institute's Hall of Fame in October 2010.

___

ROY AND HEATHER BENNETT

Roy Bennett, 60, was a founding member of Zimbabwe's main opposition party, Morgan Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change, who angered former President Robert Mugabe by winning a parliamentary seat in a rural constituency despite being white.

Bennett, who spoke fluent Shona, was earthy and engaging and won a devoted following of black Zimbabweans for passionately advocating political change. He was known as "Pachedu," meaning "one of us" in Shona and was often called the sharpest thorn in Mugabe's side.

At one point, his successful coffee farm in eastern Zimbabwe was seized by war veterans. One of Bennett's farmworkers was killed by the invaders and wife Heather miscarried after the assault.

In 2004, Bennett was jailed for a year for assaulting a Cabinet minister who had said Bennett's "forefathers were thieves and murderers" during a debate. He emerged thin and told of prisoners' mistreatment.

Bennett fled Zimbabwe after receiving death threats but came back in 2009 after being nominated for the deputy agriculture minister in a coalition government with Mugabe's ZANU-PF party. The strongman accepted other opposition leaders into his Cabinet, but he refused to swear in Bennett.

Bennett later returned to South Africa but remained a vocal critic of Mugabe's rule.
MEXICO CITY (AP)  A border mayor's paramilitary security team and Mexican marines were behind the disappearance and murder of four people, including three American siblings, the government's National Human Rights Commission charged Thursday.

Investigators determined that city officials in Matamoros, marines, and state and federal police lied in their statements in an effort to cover up the 2014 killings, a report released by the commission said.

RELATED: At least 33 bodies found in clandestine graves in Mexico

Erica, Alex and Jose Angel Alvarado Rivera of Progreso, Texas, disappeared on Oct. 13 of that year while visiting their father in Control, a small town in Mexico near Matamoros, which is across the border from Brownsville, Texas. An acquaintance, Mexican citizen Jose Guadalupe Castaneda Benitez, was also taken. Their bodies were found all shot in the head more than two weeks later.

The commission said the four were last seen alive was in the custody of marines and the Hercules unit, which provided security for then-Matamoros Mayor Leticia Salazar.

The report said the nine members of Hercules team were technically Tamaulipas state police officers, but they appeared to answer only to the mayor and her lieutenants. The city equipped and paid part of their salaries, even gave them special uniforms and a logo otherwise unrelated to the state police, it said.

Witnesses told investigators the three Americans and their Mexican friend were at a taco stand beneath a highway overpass around midday when marines and the Hercules team approached them. At one point a city motorcade also stopped, the witnesses said. The mayor had attended an event earlier in Control.

READ ALSO: Mexican cartel leader who allegedly flaunted lifestyle on social media pleads guilty in US court

All four were loaded into vehicles and taken away, the witnesses said.

"Of the arrests made by public servants of the Navy and Hercules Group on Oct. 13, 2014, no record exists, nor were they presented to any authority," the commission said. "There is not even an investigation involving (the victims), much less arrest orders or a complaint against them."

Human rights investigators said they had found some men in prison who reported also being arrested by marines the same day the four people disappeared. Several said they were taken to an empty lot where they were beaten and interrogated, the report said.

The prisoners told the investigators that at the lot they heard three people talking with American accents who sometimes whispered in English among themselves. A couple said they recognized the fourth victim as someone they knew from their neighborhood, the report said.

The commission said the inmates also testified that the mayor arrived at some point and ordered the marines and Hercules team to turn those detained over to prosecutors. The other prisoners were, but not the three Americans and their friend, the report said.

A lawyer for the siblings' father did not immediately return calls for comment.

Salazar's term ended in 2016 and her whereabouts could not immediately be determined.

The commission said the federal Attorney General's Office still lists the case as "active" and it called on the local and state governments, the navy and federal police to cooperate in the investigation. The federal police force was involved because some of its officers witnessed illegal arrests and did not intervene, the commission said.

The commission also called for military prosecutors to open a case against the marines involved, who it said had not been investigated.

Mexico's navy said it had accepted the recommendations and was taking the steps included in the report.
A San Antonio police officer was allegedly caught shoplifting on Thursday at the Ingram Park Mall, according to a release from the department.

The suspected officer, Stephanie Solis, now faces a misdemeanor charge of theft between $100 and $750. She was booked into the Bexar County Jail and has since bonded out.
RIVERSIDE, Calif. - A California couple tortured a dozen of their children for years, starving them to the point that their growth was stunted, chaining them to their beds for months at a time and forbidding them from showering more than once a year or using the toilet, a prosecutor said Thursday.

"The victimization appeared to intensify over time," Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin said in announcing charges. "What started out as neglect became severe, pervasive, prolonged child abuse."

David Turpin, 56, and Louise Turpin, 49, were charged with torture, child abuse, dependent adult abuse and false imprisonment. David Turpin was also charged with performing a lewd act on a child under age 14.

The litany of abuses was enough to invoke a house of horrors that apparently went unnoticed for years in California and Texas until Sunday, when a 17-year-old girl managed to escape and call 911.

The girl and her siblings had plotted the escape for two years, Hestrin said. Another girl who escaped out a window with the teen turned back out of fear.

When deputies arrived at the house Sunday in Perris, about 60 miles southeast of Los Angeles, they were shocked by what they found. The children's malnutrition was so severe that it was consistent with muscle wasting and had led to cognitive impairment and nerve damage, Hestrin said. The oldest child, a 29-year-old woman, weighed 82 pounds.

Some of the 13 children had been isolated so long they did not know what a police officer was.

The victims range in age from 2 to 29. The torture and false imprisonment charges do not include the 2-year-old. The charges date to 2010, when the couple moved to Riverside County from outside Fort Worth, where the abuse began, Hestrin said.

The parents have been jailed on $9 million bail each. They pleaded not guilty Thursday at their first court appearance. If convicted of all charges, they could be sentenced to life in prison.

David Turpin's father, James, the grandfather to the children, said from his home in Princeton, W.Va., that he didn't believe the reports about the abuse.

"I'm going to talk with the children, find out the real story on this as soon as I can get a call through to them," James Turpin said.

The abuse began with the children being tied to beds with ropes and then hog-tied, Hestrin said. When one child was able to wriggle free, the couple began restraining them with chains and padlocks, Hestrin said.

On Sunday, three children had been shackled to beds, though the parents freed two of them when officers knocked on the door, Hestrin said. Deputies found a 22-year-old still chained to a bed.

Evidence of human waste on the floor indicated the children were prevented from using the toilet. Sheriff's deputies said the stench in the house was overwhelming.
RALEIGH, N.C. - The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday delayed a lower-court order that would have forced North Carolina Republican lawmakers to redraw the state's congressional districts by next week.

The justices announced the stay after legal briefs were filed for and against the GOP legislators' request for a delay. Their lawyers successfully argued that a three-judge panel's ruling last week declaring the state congressional map an illegal partisan gerrymander should be on hold while similar cases involving Wisconsin legislative districts and one Maryland congressional district before the Supreme Court are considered. The court has never declared that the process of redistricting can be too partisan.
WASHINGTON With House passage of a stop-gap funding measure to avert a Friday government shutdown, the Senate girded for a showdown over protections for "Dreamers," immigrants brought into the country illegally as children.

Democrats, rejecting a deal that doesn't include protections for Dreamers, claimed Thursday that they have the support needed to block the measure, which would keep the government running until Feb. 16.

Texas U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, the Republican Whip, appealed to Democrats to drop their opposition, citing provisions to fund the military and a popular children's health insurance program, known as CHIP.

"Hopefully cooler heads will prevail and Senate Democrats won't vote to shut down the government," Cornyn said. "Blocking funding for our military and opposing children's health insurance in a stunt to appease the far left of their party would be unconscionable."

Though Republicans sought to put the onus on Democrats to keep the lights on in Washington, the fate of the funding bill is in doubt in part because of various objections from a handful of GOP senators, cutting into the Republicans' 51-49 majority.

The Senate voted to start debate on the funding measure later Thursday night, a move that Democrats said they were supporting to keep negotiations open.

The House vote was 230 to 197 for a one-month continuing resolution. In the end, only 11 conservative Republicans voted against the resolution, none from Texas. Among those voting with the GOP majority was San Antonio Republican Will Hurd, a top Democratic target in a heavily Latino border district in West Texas.

Six Democrats also voted for the temporary funding measure, including Laredo U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar.

It is the fourth such temporary spending measure the House has passed since September.
AUSTIN  The Texas Education Agency will respond to a federal investigation by hiring more special education staff and providing special education services to students who were illegally denied resources in the past.

The 13-page plan comes after the U.S. Department of Education found TEA illegally led school districts across the state to delay or deny special education services to students because of an arbitrary enrollment cap. Problems with special education were brought to light by a series of investigative reports in the Houston Chronicle.

For more than a decade, TEA judged a school district's performance partly by the percentage of students receiving special education services. But the benchmark, set at 8.5 percent, prompted school districts to limit access to special education resources, the Department of Education's Office of Special Education Programs said in a letter to Texas education officials last week.

The department instructed TEA to craft a corrective action plan, detailing how it would comply with four corrective action steps intended to better monitor school districts and offer more resources to students.

The federal government did not set a deadline for the plan, but Gov. Greg Abbott instructed TEA to act quickly, imposing a one-week deadline. It's not clear what penalties the state could face from the federal government if it does not comply.

"This corrective action plan provides the state of Texas the chance to make meaningful, lasting change in how we educate and support children with special needs," said Education Commissioner Mike Morath.

"We are approaching this planning process with the seriousness that it requires and hope to solicit the kind of collective feedback, support and collaboration that our students deserve as we work to earn back the trust parents place in us for their children. My top priority has and continues to be to improve outcomes for all students in Texas," Morath added.

TEA officials said the corrective steps outlined in their plan will require additional public input before it is submitted to the U.S. Department of Education.

The state and federal response comes more than a year after the Houston Chronicle investigation found tens of thousands of students with disabilities were denied special education services because of the cap.

TEA officials have repeatedly said the benchmark was not a cap but rather an "indicator" of performance.

But the federal report confirmed that districts viewed the enrollment target as a cap.

"While TEA did not specifically direct (districts) to limit the percentage of students identified as children with disabilities, the performance indicator certainly affected district policies and procedures relating to the identification of children with disabilities," Kimberly Richey, the department's acting assistant secretary for special education and rehabilitative services, said last week.

TEA eliminated the policy two months after the Chronicle's investigation. In May, Abbott signed a law prohibiting the use of a performance indicator based solely on the number of students receiving special education services. Nationally, about 13 percent of students receive special education.

The federal probe began in late 2016, after the Chronicle spoke to dozens of teachers, educators and disability rights groups who said schools had repeatedly denied services to students with dyslexia, autism and other disabilities. Federal education officials reviewed documents and data and met with parents and school officials from 12 school districts including Houston, Laredo, Austin and Leander.

The department found the 8.5 percent indicator "contributed to a statewide pattern of practices that demonstrate that TEA did not ensure that all (districts) in the State properly identified, located and evaluated all children with disabilities who were in need of special education and related services."

In addition to capping special education, Texas schools also violated other federal regulations, including the use of alternative programs.

Several school districts in Texas have employed "Response to Intervention," an approach that involves addressing learning barriers in a mainstream classroom rather than through special education programs. While the Department of Education allows RTI, schools cannot require teachers to try it before referring a student for special ed.

Schools were doing just that, according to the federal education department, which found a "general understanding" among educators that students were required to complete RTI before being offered special education services.



As a result, the education department ordered the TEA to implement several corrective action measures.

The state must show that it is monitoring the way districts evaluate students suspected of having a disability to ensure schools are providing students a "free appropriate public education," a tenet of federal special education laws.

Schools must provide special education evaluations to students who were previously denied services. For students who already receive special ed, educators may need to determine if those students need more academic support. The state must also submit a plan, including a timeline, for how it will train educators on RTI, the state's dyslexia program and other special education laws.

Alejandra Matos covers politics, education and immigration policy. Follow her on Twitter. Send tips to alejandra.matos@chron.com.
Traditional mens dancer Kelvin Redsky, with the Biwaaseaa program, dances to the drumming and song of the North Thunder and Abiinigii drum groups during the Circle of Life Pow Wow at Confederation College on Thursday.
Is President Donald Trump a winner, thanks to his excellent health and perfect score on a cognitive test? Or is he a loser, owing to an unofficial diagnosis of heart disease and jabs about his ample girth? While the partisans weigh in (perhaps we can all at least agree with the president that red and pink Starbursts are best?), we turn our attention to this weeks bipartisan list of Winners & Losers.

WINNERS

Christopher Columbus  His future was a shaky for a while, but Christopher Columbus is here to stay. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasios monuments commission has decided to keep the statue of the Genoan explorer at Columbus Circle, despite criticisms that the city shouldnt honor a brutal colonizer who exploited native populations. The city did make a small concession, with the commission deciding to add historical markers to continue public discourse, but Columbus is still riding high and lives to spark protests another day.

Ed Cox  High off his mention in the Oscar-favorite The Post (marrying Richard Nixons daughter has its benefits), the state GOP chairman got some more good news: They beat the Dems! In 2017 fundraising, at least. Sure, the Republicans got clobbered in the November races. And sure, they cant find a halfway decent challenger for Gov. Andrew Cuomo. But at least the GOP can shovel some more pennies to sacrificial lamb Brian Kolb, who has raised .05 percent of the governors money.

Andrew Cuomo  The governor just exceeded the $30 million mark in campaign fundraising (thanks real estate LLCs!). Hes in the national headlines as a likely presidential candidate in 2020, and one who is facing an easy path to re-election in his current office. His favorability numbers are on the rise, according to a Siena poll. And to top it off, he rolled out a spending plan this week to balance the state budget, putting himself forward once again as the man who can get things done in Albany.

Sonia Ossorio  Harvey Weinstein donates generously to womens rights advocates! Well, sort of. Gov. Andrew Cuomo somewhat begrudgingly kept his word, offloading six figures of tainted cash from the nations new archetype of (alleged) serial sexual harasser. Cuomo donated the $111,000 in contributions he received from the disgraced Hollywood executive to Ossorios Womens Justice Now that will go to helping women and girls in New York through activism and advocacy.

Al Sharpton  Years ago, Al Sharpton was something of a political pariah, but the reverend has reinvented himself a respected social justice leader. All the Democratic bigwigs in the city and state showed up for Sharptons National Action Network Martin Luther King Jr. Day event on Monday, including U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, who gave a rousing speech. Sharpton joked that since he started the run, Jesse, run campaign for Jesse Jackson to run for president, his support for Gillibrand could lead to her running as well. If she does get in the mix in 2020, we know who will take credit.

LOSERS

Marcia Bystryn  Marcia, Marcia, Marcia  too bad no one gave her all the attention on The Plastic Bag Task Force. How many times can her buddies bag out on a statewide solution? A year after Cuomo blocked New York Citys plastic bag fee  what opponents called a bag tax  Marcia Bystryn, president of the New York League of Conservation Voters, was left to kick up dust by dissenting from the panels final report, which failed to reach a consensus this week. Bystryn was so close, but will she ever have it in the bag?

Shirley Collado  The #MeToo movement is gaining momentum, and one of the latest high-profile New York figures to face scrutiny for sexual abuse allegations is Collado, the president of Ithaca College. The schools student newspaper reported this week that in 2001, Collado was accused of sexually abusing a female patient while working as a psychologist  and that even though she denies it, she pleaded no contest to misdemeanor sexual abuse at the time. Of course, the story  which was widelypicked up  has several sides to it.

Bill de Blasio  Bigger than Cuomo in stature, the New York City mayor will always be smaller than the governor in power. This week alone, Cuomo screwed de Blasio out of design-build authorization, put him on the hook for MTA funding, and tipped off reporters that a NYCHA funding delay was the mayors fault. Unable to even assert his power over a former Nazi collaborator, Hizzoner also went low by insulting a reporter.

Thomas Raffaele  This Queens Supreme Court judge claims a police officer karate chopped him in the throat  and thats not even why hes a loser this week! Raffaele made it onto the list because his complaint was thrown out not once, but twice, first in criminal court and now again in civil court. The reason? He continually ignored court orders to move the suit forward, so a judge tossed the case. Raffaele, who, to reiterate, is a judge himself, delayed his own case for months, leaving the cop in the clear to karate chop someone else.

Sheldon Silver  Almost exactly two years after Silver was arrested on corruption charges, New York continues to witness his downfall. When the former Assembly speaker had his charges vacated last year because the jury instructions in his trial were wrong based on a 2016 Supreme Court case, federal prosecutors swore they'd retry him. Silver requested that the SCOTUS take up his case, but they decided not to review it, paving the way for a retrial. He has avoided jail time so far, but with the Supreme Courts dismissal, his luck may run out.
AKRON, Ohio -- An Akron man was sentenced to 15 years in prison for shooting his ex-girlfriend when he went to her home to pick up some belongings after their breakup.

Summit County Common Pleas Court Judge Tammy O'Brien handed down the sentence Thursday.

Vester Morrison pleaded guilty Dec. 6 to attempted murder and having a weapon under disability in the July 8 shooting of 48-year-old Kasonia Toney, according to a news release from the Summit County Prosecutor's Office.

Morrison went to his ex-girlfriend's home to pick up some of his belongings. She waited in her car when Morrison fired several shots that struck her in the neck and chest, prosecutors say.

Detectives identified him as a suspect and discovered he was staying at a house on Kelly Avenue near Markle Street. Officers went to the home the next day and Morrison refused to come outside, police said.

A SWAT team was called and a negotiator convinced Morrison to surrender after a two-hour standoff.

"Mr. Morrison has a long history of violence and will spend a significant amount of time behind bars," Summit County Prosecutor Sherri Bevan Walsh said in the news release. "In this case, he shot Kasonia twice and left her for dead. Kasonia survived and showed a tremendous amount of strength in facing her attacker."

Morrison's previous convictions include attempted murder, aggravated robbery, domestic battery, domestic violence, aggravated robbery, theft and forgery.

If you'd like to comment on this story, visit Thursday's crime and courts comments section.
AKRON, Ohio -- An Akron Public Schools board member was found unconscious as a result of a suspected fentanyl overdose in his SUV Thursday afternoon, police say.

John Otterman faces a drug possession charge after Akron police also recovered marijuana from his SUV.

Officers received a call on a report about 4 p.m. of someone "down" and found Otterman in the front driver's seat of a Ford Escape on East Cuyahoga Falls Avenue near North Howard Street.

Paramedics gave Otterman four doses of the opioid recovery drug Narcan and took him to Akron City Hospital.

Investigators found a folded piece of paper in the center console of the SUV that field-tested positive for fentanyl, the report says. They also found marijuana.

He was given an immunity form for possessing fentanyl, the report says. The state of Ohio recently passed what is called the Good Samaritan law. The law grants immunity to callers and to a person overdosing on heroin, opioid or other drugs from arrest, charging, prosecution and penalization.

The law requires someone who overdosed to get a referral for treatment within 30 days of getting medical assistance in order to get the immunity.

Police did not return a call seeking comment on if this immunity form is protocol when it comes to every overdose call.

Otterman got in trouble in June last year after police received a call of a reckless driver, a police report says. Police found Otterman in his SUV slurring his speech and had glazed over eyes.

They found an unmarked prescription bottle filled with Xanax. Police asked if he took any to which he replied no. He told police he had a prescription but did not have it in his car, the report says.

He pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct and was sentenced to one year of probation, court records say.

"We are all concerned for Mr. Otterman and his family," Akron Public Schools Superintendent David James said. "Our thoughts are with them as they go through this challenging time."

School board members did not return a call seeking comment.

Otterman was sworn in January 2016 and was serving his first term with the school board, according to the school district's website.

If you'd like to comment on this story, visit Friday's crime and courts comments section.
AKRON, Ohio -- Akron Art Museum, Akron Zoo, Hale Farm & Village and Summit County Historical Society are among the 22 recipients of the Akron/Summit Convention & Visitors Bureau's Partnerships In Motion: 2018 Destination Development Grant.

The Convention & Visitors Bureau awarded $49,805 to local organizations, businesses and events that aim to increase and enhance tourism in Summit County.

"With a record-setting number of submissions, determining this year's recipients required an especially close review of each for adherence to the program criteria," Gregg Mervis, president and CEO of the Convention & Visitors Bureau, said in a news release.

To qualify for a grant, applicants must have a project or event in development that will help increase tourism market share and grow the local tourism industry.

Activities eligible for a grant included tourism marketing, property and building improvements and event or exhibit sponsorship.

The grant program's goals are to increase overnight stays in Summit County, raise the visibility and positive image of local attractions, increase expenditures by area visitors and provide programs and activities that help attract additional tourists.

The complete list of 2018 Destination Development Grant recipients is below.

Akron Art Museum

Akron Marathon Race Series

Akron Zoo

ArtsNow

Bridgestone Invitational

Burning River Adventures

Conservancy for the Cuyahoga Valley National Park

Cuyahoga Valley National Park

Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad

Destination Hudson

Downtown Akron Partnership

Hale Farm & Village

International Soap Box Derby

Ohio & Erie Canalway Coalition

Ohio Shakespeare Festival

Portage Lakes Disc Golf Association

Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens

Summit County Historical Society of Akron, Ohio

Summit Metro Parks Foundation

Tuesday Musical Association

Weathervane Community Playhouse

Zeber-Martell Gallery & Clay Studio

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AKRON, Ohio -- Planned Parenthood is ramping up its presence in the Greater Akron area. The organization recently held an organizing meeting in Akron seeking volunteers, and hired a new Akron field manager.

Traci Person will oversee operations in the Greater Akron area, working out of Planned Parenthood's Akron Health Center at 444 W. Exchange St.

"We want a bigger presence," said State Field Director Lauren Blauvelt-Copelin. "We're encouraging community members and constituents to become volunteers."

Federal legislators had attempted to defund the national organization by blocking Planned Parenthood from the Medicaid program under a repeal of the Affordable Care Act. That effort failed. About 40 percent of the organization's Ohio patients pay with Medicaid, Blauvelt-Copelin said. State-wide, the organization treated about 84,000 patients in 2017.

With both the state legislature and the governor's house under control of the Republican party, Planned Parenthood and abortion-rights groups have come under fire in Ohio. Gov. John Kasich has signed into law 20 pieces of legislation placing restrictions on abortion and related services since he took office in 2011.

"This is a really important year coming and we hope to engage with as many volunteers as possible," she said, referring to the mid-term elections this November.

Planned Parenthood health centers provide birth control; HIV testing and counseling; men's health services; pregnancy testing and services; sexually-transmitted infection testing, treatment, and vaccines; and abortion services.

Available volunteer opportunities include:

health center advocacy -- involves talking to patients in health centers, requires training and a background check

community ambassador - focuses on community events, such as health and job fairs, and festivals, training includes public speaking

rapid response - includes phone bank activities to connect voters and constituents with state and federal legislators; and door-to-door canvassing to build awareness about issues

Planned Parenthood generation action - focuses on organizing student groups on college campuses, and in the community

Planned Parenthood will host its next Akron Organizing Meeting on Feb.22 from 6-8 p.m. at the Akron-Summit County Public Library at 60 S High St. in downtown Akron. Or sign up here to become involved with Planned Parenthood.

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Fraud, Baldwin Drive: Police are looking for two unidentified males suspected of repeatedly pranking a Baldwin family over the last month.

In mid-December, the family received a box from Amazon Prime containing two 8-inch-tall plastic flamingos. The package included a letter that said, "Thank you" from the "Wise Guyz." The family didn't order the flamingos, so they were tossed out.

On Jan. 10, the family found a box containing a pair of strap-on silicone breasts on their doorstep. No one in the family ordered the item.

On Jan. 11, another unexpected package arrived. The family left the package unopened on the porch.

Later that day, neighbors said they saw two white males, about 18 years old, walking through the neighborhood. One male was wearing a gray hoodie with lime-green drawstrings, and the other was wearing a blue hoodie. Neighbors believed the males lived in the area.

One neighbor saw the male with the gray hoodie grab a box from the Baldwin family's porch at about noon Jan. 11. She ran after the male, but he escaped with the box. He ran west on Baldwin, then south on Woodmere Drive. The neighbor called police, who searched the area but didn't find either male.

Marijuana possession, Beech Street: A Winchester, Virginia, man, 20, was arrested at about 1:30 a.m. Jan. 11 after police caught him with marijuana in a Chevrolet Malibu.

Police noticed the car, parked in a municipal lot, because it didn't have a license plate. As police pulled into the lot, the car's engine started and its lights turned on. The car exited the lot onto Bridge Street, then drove north on Seminary Street. Police stopped the car on Beech.

The driver said he was a student at Baldwin Wallace University. He clutched a Taco Bell bag in his lap. Police smelled marijuana in the man's car, but he denied having marijuana. When asked about the Malibu's lack of license plates, the man handed police an expired North Dakota plate. He explained that he had recently purchased the car from his grandmother in North Dakota and had intended to register the vehicle in Virginia.

The man finally admitted to having marijuana in the Taco Bell bag.

Operating a vehicle under the influence, Nancy Drive: A Berea woman, 52, was arrested at about 3 a.m. Jan. 11 after police saw the Chevrolet Cruze she was driving run a red light on Ohio 237 southbound at Sheldon Road.

The Cruze weaved after turning onto North Rocky River Drive. The car drifted left of center, and almost hit another vehicle, while turning right onto Nancy, which is where police stopped the car.

Officers noticed two open bottles of Fireball Cinnamon Whiskey in the woman's car. She denied that she had been drinking but failed field sobriety tests.

Operating a vehicle under the influence, Lindberg Boulevard: A Columbia Station woman, 69, was arrested at about 10 p.m. Jan. 11 after police saw her Toyota Camry weaving on West Bagley Road.

The woman was driving 39 mph in a 25-mph zone. She drove left-of-center after turning onto Lindberg. The woman admitted drinking "a few beers" and failed field sobriety tests.

To comment on this story, visit the crime and courts comments page.
CLEVELAND, Ohio - The 2010 vote might end up being the election that keeps on giving for Ohio Republicans for 20 years.

This is because a proposal introduced in the Ohio Senate to change how the next congressional map is determined for 2022-2032 keeps control in the hands of a Statehouse majority that is especially strong because of the gerrymandered map created after the GOP's big wins in 2010.

The lone Democrat and lone no vote on the new map approved by the 2011 apportionment board came from House Minority leader Armond Budish, who argued at the time that it basically "quarantines" Democrats in a third of the districts statewide.

The election results since then bear that out, a new cleveland.com analysis found.

Read cleveland.com series Out of Line: Impact 2017 and Beyond, in search of a way to eliminate gerrymandering in Ohio.

Majority agrees; old system was wrecked

The process of drawing Statehouse maps in 2011 - following the 2010 election - was deemed to be so bad that Ohio voters have since amended Ohio's Constitution with a reform backed by both Republicans and Democrats.

But that reform, taking effect in 2021, did not address congressional redistricting.

That's what a new proposal introduced this week by Republican Sen. Matt Huffman of Lima would do.

His plan to change congressional redistricting needs support from 60 percent of the House and 60 percent of the Senate - but not the governor - to make it to the May ballot, where voters would get a chance to decide. The Republicans have more than 60 percent in each chamber.

Huffman's plan would add some restraints to how cities and villages could be split in drawing new congressional districts. And for maps to be approved for 10 years, at least some support for the minority party would be needed.

The state legislature would have the first shot at drawing new maps, and could approve them with a 60 percent overall vote, including at least a 30 percent vote from among the minority party.

This would be a change from the current process, which requires simple majorities by the House and Senate and approval form the governor.

Potential fallout

But here's why that approval process is not as inclusive as it might sound, given the nature of the legislature put in place by the last gerrymandering.

An alternative

Separate from Huffman's plan introduced in the Ohio Senate, the Ohio League of Women Voters, Common Cause Ohio and other groups since last year have been circulating petitions with their own reform proposal. They have close to 200,000 of the required 305,591 signatures.

Their plan would prioritize drawing maps that make geographic sense, balance the districts politically and establish more say in the process for the political party in the minority.

But, under the referendum process, the proposal in the petition cannot go before voters until November.

If the Ohio House and Ohio Senate act by Feb . 7, the legislature could place its proposed change on the May ballot.

It is unclear what would happen to the petition effort if voters first approve a proposal by the legislature.

Rich Exner, data analysis editor for cleveland.com, writes about numbers on a variety of topics. Follow on Twitter @RichExner.

Previously
ROCKY RIVER, Ohio -- If living near Lake Erie is high on your house hunting wish list, the brick colonial at 19428 Beach Cliff Blvd. has plenty going for it.

The home, built in 1924, has five bedrooms and five bathrooms (three full) in more than 3,300 square feet. It's listed at $1.1 million.

"If you are looking for a fabulous, turnkey home in Beachcliff, this is it," RE/MAX Crossroads agent Pat Patterson says in her listing.

Renovated throughout, the home's architectural details have been preserved in keeping with the character and charm of an older home. The updated kitchen, with its granite counters, white maple floors, high-end appliances and custom cabinets, is a highlight.

Another is the spacious master suite, featuring a tray ceiling, fireplace and en suite with hardwood floors, huge double vanity, standup shower and clawfoot tub.

The outdoor space is another selling point. The covered pergola patio is equipped with a kitchen and fire pit, making it the ideal spot to entertain or just relax and enjoy the lake breeze.

The attached garage has space for three cars.

For water lovers, though, the best thing about the home is the location. The Cleveland Yachting Club is within walking distance and residents have access to a private beach nearby.

Address: 19428 Beach Cliff Blvd

City: Rocky River

Price: $1,100,000

Square footage: 3,326 square feet

Year built: 1924

No. bedrooms: 5

No. bathrooms: 5 (3 full)

Lot size: 0.34 acres

School District: Rocky River City Schools

Other notable attributes: Finished lower level with full kitchen; HOA fee.

Real estate agent and contact information: Patricia Patterson, RE/MAX Crossroads, p: (440) 925-1023

e: ppatterson@remax.net
RUSSELL TOWNSHIP, Ohio -- Two firefighters were injured battling a blaze at a barn Thursday night, reports said.

Firefighters were called to the fire on Music Street, where flames could be seen roaring through the roof, WJW Channel 8 reported.

The firefighters were injured after a partial collapse, WJW reported.

One firefighter suffered injuries to his face. The other firefighter sustained injuries to his back and neck area, WKYC Channel 3 reported.

The barn was complete loss. The fire was kept away from a nearby house, reports said.

If you'd like to comment on this story, visit Thursday's crime and courts comments section.
AKRON, Ohio -- Seven people were displaced Thursday night after a fire on the third floor of a home, officials said.

Firefighters were called just after 9 p.m. for a fire on the 800 block of Johnston Street, Akron Fire Department said in a news release.

Flames could be seen coming through the third floor of the home. Firefighters were able to get the blaze under control within 10 minutes. The first and second floor of the home was OK, authorities said.

Three adults and four children lived in the house. Red Cross was called to assist them.

No injuries were reported.

If you'd like to comment on this story, visit Thursday's crime and courts comments section.
TOLEDO, Ohio - The sponsor of the ECOT online charter school voted Thursday evening to close the school despite parents and teachers begging to keep the school open for the rest of the year.

All three members of the governing board of the sponsor, the Educational Service Center of Lake Erie West, said they regretted their vote but had no choice because the school does not have the money to survive.

The vote, which shutters a school so politically-connected it was once thought untouchable, came just two hours after the Ohio Department of Education rejected an offer from the school that would keep it open through the end of the school year.

Its 12,000 students must now seek new schools.

"If we don't have the resources, we can't continue," said ESC Superintendent Sandra Frisch. "So it does...it breaks your heart, but it is a situation where it is not fair to kids and families to lead them into believing that they will be educated until the end of the year."

The controversial Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow (ECOT) will be broke in March, the school says. Its savings are being depleted because the state is making it pay back $80 million in overpayments -- payments the school disputes -- for the last two school years.

The ESC told the school last week that it would pull support and force it to close unless the school has a solution for its financial issues.

Though the school said Wednesday that it had made a "final offer" to the state to reduce its payments to stay open the rest of the year, Ohio Department of Education officials rejected that offer in a 4:30 p.m. email to the school.

Neither ECOT or the state would provide a copy of the offer.

The offer "does not address ECOT's ability to maintain a standard for its educational services during its continued period of operations and is inconsistent with statements that ECOT has made elsewhere regarding its ability to continue operating," wrote Diane Lease, the department's lawyer.

"While we have carefully considered this settlement offer, the Department is not in a position to accept the offer at this time," she added.

With the school's future in the balance, about 40 people came to the ESC's governing board meeting, many of them ECOT teachers or parents asking for the school to stay open.

Christopher Meister, ECOT's deputy superintendent, told the ESC board that state deductions for the disputed overpayments are about $4 million a month. If the state would agree to cut them to $1.9 million a month, he said, the school could stay open the rest of the school year.

Meister said ECOT could even sell its headquarters on High Street in Columbus, valued at $6.8 million, to stay alive through April, but it would not get it through the year.

Teacher Andrea Bond, crying as she spoke, told the board that she chooses to work at ECOT, even though she could make more elsewhere, so that she can help the students. She asked the board to delay closing the school so that employees and students can finish the year.

Others said teachers and students deserved "fair warning" that the school year they started could be cut short.

Teacher Laura McNamara told the board that some students are bullied and need the online school.

"My heart is breaking for our students," McNamara said. "I'm going to be fine...but our children don't always have choices, and this was a choice that they had, to come to ECOT."

Parents also told stories of how their troubled students are able to manage, only through an online school.

Parent Lisa Burford, of Toledo, said her deaf daughter had struggles in the Toledo schools and did not always have an interpreter there. She said that through ECOT, her daughter's school experience is much better and she is scheduled to graduate early in May.

But closing the school, changing classes and having to transfer credits would put that in jeopardy.

"If this is really about our children, I hope that you consider our children," Burford said. "A lot of these students don't have any other choices."

Parent Kara Kendall drove to Toledo from Miamisburg near Dayton to plead for the school on behalf of two of her children. She said her daughter enrolled in ECOT because of behavioral and academic and the school "turned her around."

One of her sons, she said, was born prematurely and has had multiple eye and other problems. She said she was homeschooling him until enrolling him in ECOT.

"ECOT saved us this year," she said. "He really got a leap forward."

Now, she said," he's in a panic about what will happen to him" because he would likely be bullied at the local elementary school.

Though several public school districts across the state say they would welcome any ECOT students, others say a mid-year closure will create problems for many students and families.

Chad Aldis of the Fordham Institute, a pro-charter group that has also had criticisms of ECOT the last few years, told The Plain Dealer earlier Thursday that he doesn't want to let ECOT avoid paying the money back, but questioned the wisdom of closing the school mid-year. He's especially hesitant because many of ECOT's students are at-risk students who may not pick another school.

"I'm concerned about how many of the 12,000 students will just drop out," he said. "A closure in June gives families a lot more options."

Michael Dansack, vice president of the ESC's board, said he was "hoping against hope" that ECOT and the state could recah a settlement, but without one he had no choice but to close the school.

"Listening to the parents and the teachers, I wish I had the authority to do everything you guys are talking about," Dansack said. "But every one of us in the room doesn't have the pwer to do what we're talking about. Those folks are in Columbus."

As he cast his vote to close ECOT, board member Joe Rutherford told crying parents," Don't give up the education of our kids."

But that only made teachers and parents angrier.

"What are our options?" one shouted. "You just gave up."

State Superintendent Paolo DeMaria said parents can look here for answers to questions about closure of a charter school.

"We are beginning the implementation of a plan to support students and families in identifying new educational opportunities to meet their needs," he said in a written statement. "Districts and schools have already taken actions to streamline and accelerate their enrollment processes. We know the entire education community will come together with care and compassion in the best interest of these students."
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A man was sentenced Thursday to 25 years in prison after admitting to strangling his ex-wife in 2016, then stuffing her body into a duffel bag and burying her remains as their 3-year-old son watched.

Fahad Saeed, 28, showed little remorse before Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court Judge Pamela Barker imposed the sentence.

"Things happen," Saeed said through an Arabic interpreter.

Cuyahoga County prosecutors and Saeed's lawyers struck a deal on Thursday that would see him plead guilty to involuntary manslaughter, kidnapping and burglary charges, and serve the maximum time in prison on each charge for a total of 25 years.

Prosecutors agreed not pursue an aggravated murder charge that would put Saeed behind bars for life.

The court hearing offered details into Al-Dhannoon's October 2016 disappearance from her apartment on Lakewood's Gold Coast, and the months-long search that ended when investigators found her body in May 2017.

Prosecutors noted for the first time that Saeed took the couple's toddler son with him to bury the mother's remains in a patch of thick woods near the apartment where Saeed once lived, across the street from the Memphis Kiddie Park.

The toddler told FBI agents in a November 2016 interview that "daddy put mommy in the pickies near the horses," an apparent reference to the park's carousel, Assistant Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Blaise Thomas said.

Five months would pass before a tipster from the county jail came forward with a detailed map that Saeed drew while serving a sentence on charges dating back to before Al-Dhannoon's disappearance.

Saeed, an Iraqi national in the U.S. on a green-card visa, will be subject to deportation once he is released from prison.

Al-Dhannoon and Saeed married in 2011. She filed for the protection order in November 2015 after he became increasingly violent, according to court records.

Investigators say Saeed broke into Al-Dhannoon's apartment in August 2016 and took cellphone video as he commented about the state of the house, Al-Dhannoon's weight and her mothering capabilities.

Two months later, Saeed again went to the home, where he attacked Al-Dhannoon.

Surveillance cameras caught him and a friend, Ammar Sami, buying shovels from a Walmart the night of Al-Dhannoon's disappearance. The next day, he took his son to a Home Depot and bought a small hand digging tool, prosecutor said.

Investigators focused on Saeed early and learned that he had been to Al-Dhannoon's Gold Coast apartment building in the days before she disappeared.

Saeed was arrested, charged and eventually sentenced to six months in Cuyahoga County Jail for violating a restraining order that Al-Dhannoon took out against him.

Saeed denied killing his ex-wife in five separate interviews with investigators after his arrest.

Another inmate in the Cuyahoga County jail who spoke Arabic came forward to investigators in May, and claimed that Saeed was concerned that a rainstorm might wash away the earth around Al-Dhannoon's body. Saeed had asked the inmate to help him find someone to check on the body for him, and sketched a map to the burial site, prosecutors said.

Map drawn by Fahad Saeed to the burial site of Roaa Al-Dhannoon

Saeed told the man that he marked the burial site with a broken piece of concrete.

Investigators, armed with the map, searched the area on May 15, and found the piece of concrete. In the ground below, they pulled Al-Dhannoon's body, which had been folded and stuffed into a duffel bag that was 30 inches long and 16 inches wide, prosecutors said.

The next morning, investigators again interviewed Saeed, but did not tell him they had discovered the body, Thomas said. Saeed confessed to killing Al-Dhannoon in the interview. It was after the confession that an investigator told Saeed that they had already found the body.

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WASHINGTON - The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday night approved on a temporary government funding bill that would avert a government shutdown on Saturday while reauthorizing the Children's Health Insurance Program for six years and suspending an Affordable Care Act tax on medical devices that several Ohio manufacturers oppose.

The measure to fund the government through Feb. 16, which was approved in a 230 to 197 vote, now goes before the U.S. Senate, where it faces an uncertain fate. If Congress and President Donald Trump don't approve spending legislation by midnight on Friday, the government will shut down for lack of funds.

In addition to funding the government for a month, the measure provides six years worth of money to a popular health insurance program that covers 9 million children across the country and more than 200,000 in Ohio. Funds for the CHIP program ran out in September, and several states warned participants they might lose coverage without action from Congress.

The bill also suspends a 2.3 percent medical device sales tax for two years that manufacturers said would cost jobs and stifle scientific innovation. The tax was supposed to raise $29 billion over a decade to cover some of the costs of providing Obamacare medical insurance. After being temporarily lifted for 2016 and 2017, it was stated for restoration this year.

The bill passed largely along party lines, with all Ohio Democrats voting against the bill and backing from all the state's Republicans. Eleven Republicans - most of whom were members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus - voted against it - and six Democrats voted for it.

After the vote, Bainbridge Township GOP Rep. Dave Joyce released a statement on Twitter that said he's "proud to have voted ... to keep the government open, fund healthcare for our children through 2023, pay our service men and women, and provide relief for taxes wrongfully imposed through the ACA. I urge my Senate colleagues to do the same."

A statement from Niles-area Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan said that "instead of working with Democrats to create a bipartisan budget agreement that will keep the government running, protect DREAMers, provide funding for the opioid epidemic and community health centers, Republicans are choosing to play politics at the expense of those who need Congress to act."

Ohio Freedom Caucus members Jim Jordan and Warren Davidson backed the bill after initially saying they'd vote against it. A Freedom Caucus spokesman said they did so after Republican leaders promised the House will vote on a separate defense bill that "fully funds our troops" and will "work on and ultimately vote on a conservative immigration bill to send to the Senate."

The majority of the @freedomcaucus has taken a vote to support the CR effort this evening  House Freedom Caucus (@freedomcaucus) January 18, 2018

Whether or not they opposed the spending bill, each side maintained it would be the other one's fault if a shutdown occurs. House Speaker Paul Ryan accused Democrats who oppose the bill of wanting to shut down the government and deny funding for the military and children's health insurance. House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi said Republicans would take the blame for any shutdown, as they control the presidency and both houses of Congress.

"The fact is, they have so much leverage," Pelosi told reporters. "And that's what our impatience is. You have the leverage. Get this done. Use your leverage to get this done, and not to just dilly-dally and blame it on somebody else because you can't make a decision."

.@HouseGOP moves closer and closer to its government shutdown and further failing the American people. We must have leadership that can move beyond one self-inflicted crisis to the next. https://t.co/do9D44qRLG  Marcy Kaptur (@RepMarcyKaptur) January 17, 2018

Toledo Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur - who voted against the bill - criticized Republicans for excluding Democrats from bill negotiations and for failing to pass a long term budget instead a series of temporary fixes whose expiration risks shutdowns.

"Our Republican friends appear to hope the government will function with no road map," Kaptur said on the House of Representatives floor. " Are they asleep behind the wheel of the car? They are sure careening and they may even hit a brick wall."

Because the Senate requires 60 votes to pass spending bills, Republicans who control it need support from all their own members for approval, as well as nine Democrats. That may not happen because Republicans including South Carolina's Lindsey Graham and South Dakota's Mike Rounds have opposed the bill, and backing from Democrats is questionable.

Senate foes of the bill dislike that it funds the government for such a short time and fails to include protections for immigrants who were in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

Ohio Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown is waiting to see what comes before the Senate before taking a stand on the bill, his office said. In a Wednesday phone call with reporters, Brown said he liked the CHIP extension in the House bill and hoped it would include DACA and pension reforms.

"I have no interest in shutting the government down," said Brown. "Shutting the government down has always been sort of a Tea Party thing to do. I'm hopeful that we don't do that and that the adults come in the room and we solve this the way that we should."

Ohio Republican Sen. Rob Portman spoke in favor of its passage on the Senate floor.

House of Representatives needs to pass Government Funding Bill tonight. So important for our country - our Military needs it!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 18, 2018

"Constituents of mine are hearing today that there is a looming government shutdown--that by Friday midnight, if Congress hasn't passed a spending bill, that it's possible the government could shut down," said Portman. "That would be a big mistake. Government shutdowns do not make sense."

If the U.S. Senate passes the bill, aides to President Donald Trump indicated he'll sign it, despite a Friday morning Twitter statement from Trump that some interpreted as opposition. A White House spokesman said Trump backs the continuing resolution, although he'd prefer that other legislation like CHIP not be attached to the spending bill.

"We believe that the bill will pass and the President will have an opportunity to sign it," White House spokesman Raj Shah told reporters.

House GOP have put forth this plan to keep gov't doors open:

->fund the gov through Feb 16

->extend funding for CHIP for 6 yrs

->provide relief for the Medical Device, Health Insurance, & Cadillac taxes wrongfully imposed by the ACA

->continues to pay our military to keep us safe  Dave Joyce (@RepDaveJoyce) January 17, 2018

cleveland.com Washington Bureau Chief Stephen Koff contributed to this report.
KENT, Ohio - Kent State University has denied a request to allow white supremacist Richard Spencer to speak on campus on May 4, the 48th anniversary of the day in 1970 when the Ohio National Guard fired into a crowd of demonstrators, killing four people and wounding nine.

"Kent State University has responded to a request from associates of Richard Spencer to speak on campus May 4 that we are unable to accommodate his request," the university said in a news release. "The weeks of April 30 - May 12 are always an exceptionally busy time on our campus, with numerous activities marking the end of our academic year.

"Kent State values respectful dialogue from all points of view, including ideology that is controversial or offensive. Consistent with our core values, we encourage open dialogue, freedom of expression and respectful discourse in an inclusive environment."

The denial could lead to a lawsuit, which has occurred at other campuses that have turned down requests made by Cameron Padgett, a Georgia State University student, for Spencer to appear on a campus.

Padgett has sued universities, including Ohio State University and Michigan State University, for refusing to let Spencer speak.

Padgett sent an email to Kent on Wednesday, seeking to rent the Multicultural Center or any other space that seats 200 on May 4 so he, Spencer and others could speak.

White supremacist Richard Spencer wants to speak on May 4 at Kent State.

"The event must occur on Friday, May 4, for my purposes, because I plan to invite a number of guest speakers - including Richard Spencer of the National Policy Institute and Michael Peinovich of The Right Stuff," Padgett's email to the university said, according to a copy of the email published by the student website kentwired.com.

An agreement for Spencer to speak at Michigan State was reached on Thursday, freep.com reported.

Spencer will speak for two hours on March 5, the university and Spencer's lawyers have agreed. That is the first day of MSU's spring break.

Spencer helped coin the term "alt-right" to describe a movement characterized by racist, anti-Semitic and white nationalist views.

Spencer's requests to appear on campuses have led to concerns about how to provide security while not violating First Amendment rights. At a "Unite the Right" rally last August at the University of Virginia, torch-wielding followers of Spencer marched the grounds chanting Nazi refrains.

The next day, a woman died in Charlottesville after a white nationalist drove into a crowd of counterprotesters.

There were protestors and a few scuffles when Spencer spoke at the University of Florida in October. The university spent about $500,000 on security.

Spencer is scheduled to speak at the University of Cincinnati on one of three possible dates in March 2018 - all during UC's spring break, cincinnati.com reported.
CHARDON, Ohio -- The U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary subcommittee unanimously approved U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan's "private bill" to ask federal immigration officials to release Youngstown businessman Amer Othman Adi from jail and grant him a stay of deportation.

At 5:30 p.m. Thursday, the subcommittee approved Ryan's bill to ask the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for a six month stay of deportation to further review Adi's situation.

He is expected to be released from Geauga County Jail tonight or Friday.

Ryan said Homeland Security and ICE will now conduct a full investigation into the case that led to his 2007 deportation order.

The crux of the case will be to determine if his brief 1979 marriage to an American woman, which resulted in him getting a green card to stay in the country, was legitimate.

Adi's lawyer, David Leopold, said the determination was made by one "low level immigration functionary" after Adi's first wife gave an affidavit stating the marriage was a sham. However, she later recanted and said the marriage was genuine and admitted that she was unfaithful to Adi.

"All he ever asked for was his day in court," Ryan said. "Now he will get it."

Adi and his family own the Downtown Circle Convenience store which opened 10 years ago and are credited with sparking a business renaissance in the blighted downtown.

Recently, Adi and his family have faced turbulent times.

After being permitted to stay in the country despite a 2007 order of deportation, ICE suddenly ordered Adi to leave the country late last year.

He and Fidaa, his American wife of 30 years, and their four daughters were resigned to the fate. The couple sold their suburban Youngstown house, turned their successful Youngstown businesses over to relatives to operate, and Adi and his wife bought one-way tickets to Jordan scheduled to leave Jan. 7. But just days before they were to leave, Adi received a call from ICE telling him the deportation was put on hold.

He was told to report to ICE on Tuesday, where he, Ryan, and his attorney expected a quick meeting. Instead, he was jailed and told he would soon be deported.

His wife begged officials to let him go, saying they would leave the country on their own that day. She said she didn't want him to go through the indignity of jail and a forced deportation.

Ryan was shocked Tuesday as he comforted Adi through a glass partition, and his sobbing wife. He said he would urge the committee to act on his private bill.

Thursday night he was relieved and "cautiously optimistic."

"Amer deserves to have his case heard in court, and he deserves to stay in the United States - his home," Ryan said in a telephone conference. "In light of this development I call on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to immediately release Amer from custody to rejoin his family in Youngstown."

Adi has lived in Youngstown in the early 1980s, where he started several businesses, including two gas stations. The problem with his first marriage came to light around that time when he and his current wife moved to Brazil for three years. When they returned to the United States, his green card was taken from him because he had been out of the country for too long.

Fidaa Adi tried to sponsor her husband for a new "green card," but was denied because immigration officials said his first marriage was "a sham."

Ryan has long supported Adi in his efforts to stay in the country. In 2013, he successfully authored a "private bill" that gave him time, but the core problem was not resolved. When he tried to do it once more last year, he was told that ICE was no longer honoring such bills.

Ryan said Thursday night that the house subcommittee worked through the issue and found a way to ask Homeland Security and ICE to consider the request.

"Now, they will review Adi's case and give him his day in court, which is all he ever asked for," said Ryan. "I feel a little bit of relief, it was a heartbreaking couple of days watching it go down. I wish he could be released tonight, I can't stand the idea of him sitting in jail with criminals."

Ryan noted that the case is evidence of the need for bipartisan support of immigration reform.

"We are a nation of laws and there should be a better system to handle these cases," he said. "Look what happened in this case when the man was supported by a high-powered lawyer and a congressman. What chance does a poor person have?"

Ryan said the government should "immediately eject" violent criminals in the country illegally. He called for immigration reform that would allow the (undocumented) people who are here and not committing crimes and "raising families and paying taxes" a way to stay.

"Let them pay a fine, let them learn the language and be allowed to stay," he said. In the past, ICE would go after violent criminals, there was less of a chance they would bother undocumented people who worked and had families. But the Trump administration made them all the same. They put people like Adi on a par with violent criminals and arrests them all. It makes no sense."

ICE spokesman Kaalid Walls has said that ICE continues to focus its enforcement resources on individuals who pose a threat to national security, public safety and border security. However, ICE Acting Director Thomas Homan has made it clear that ICE does not exempt classes or categories of removable aliens from potential enforcement.
HARRISBURG, Pennsylvania -- A gunman opened fire Thursday on law-enforcement officials serving an arrest warrant, killing a U.S. marshal and wounding two other police officers.

Deputy Marshal Christopher David Hill, 45, was shot and killed by a man as officers arrested a woman inside a home at about 6:45 a.m., according to the Morning Call.

"Christopher Hill died a hero today," U.S. Attorney Dave Freed said, the Morning Call reports. "We will honor his memory by standing with his family and his brothers and sisters in law enforcement."

Hill was married and the father of two children.

The gunman, Kevin Sturgis, 31, of Philadelphia, was killed when officers returned fire, the Associated Press reports.

The York Daily Record reports Kyle Pitts, a York police officer, also was wounded. A Harrisburg police officer who was wearing body armor and was hit was not injured, reports say.

According to the AP, seven officers arrived at the home of Shayla Lynette Towles Pierce, 30, to arrest her on a charge of making a terroristic threat. The Morning Call reports Pierce is accused of pointing a gun at another woman during a parking dispute in November.

Officers were handcuffing Pierce, who was not resisting, on the first floor of the home when Sturgis emerged on the second floor and began firing, pennlive.com reports. Hill died at a hospital after being shot in the chest.

"Our hearts are broken," U.S. attorney general Jeff Sessions said, according to the Daily Record. "Every day, deputy U.S. marshals make the people of this country safer by catching fugitives on the run, protecting our courthouses, our judges, and witnesses at trial. They achieve these critical accomplishments at often heroic risk."

Officers killed Sturgis when he again began firing at police while running out the front door, reports say.

The AP reports children were in the home at the time of the shooting but were not injured.

Pierce is being held in jail on a $200,000 bond.

Hill was an Army veteran and had been a U.S. marshal for 11 years, reports say.

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COLUMBUS - U.S. Rep. Jim Renacci announced Friday the Ohio Republican congressional delegation has endorsed him in his U.S. Senate campaign.

The 10 sitting Republicans include Rep. Jim Jordan of the House Freedom Caucus.

"Jim Renacci is a commonsense, conservative leader who has dedicated his life to building businesses and creating jobs in our state, while raising a family and fighting for Ohio's values," the signed endorsement states. "We could not be more proud to endorse him in his candidacy for the United States Senate."

Renacci can add the delegation's backing to the White House pledge that President Donald Trump will also help him try to defeat Democratic U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown.

The endorsement may solidify Renacci's standing among Republican voters in the May primary, when he faces Cleveland businessman Mike Gibbons.

Renacci entered the race Jan. 11, dropping his bid to become governor when Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel left the Senate race, citing an unspecified health issue with his wife.

Chris Schrimpf, Gibbons' spokesman, said it was no surprise that Washington insiders endorsed their own. Gibbons is trying to position himself as the outsider.

"Congressman Renacci is a career politician who supports earmarks and opposes term limits," Schrimpf said in an email. "That tells conservatives everything they need to know about him."

In addition to Jordan, House members who signed the letter are: U.S. Reps. Steve Chabot, Brad Wenstrup, Robert Latta. Bill Johnson, Bob Gibbs, Warren Davidson, Michael Turner, David Joyce and Steve Stivers. Renacci is the remaining member of the GOP delegation. U.S. Rep. Pat Tiberi recently stepped down, and that seat is now vacant.
AKRON, Ohio - Two days after making his gubernatorial run official, former U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich, a Democrat, chose Akron City Councilwoman Tara Samples as his running mate.

Kucinich introduced Samples at the Burning Bush Church in downtown Akron. Echoing Kucinich's gubernatorial announcement from earlier this week, Samples said it was time for the people to "take back" Columbus.

"As our candidate for governor - and soon to be governor - Congressman Kucinich said on Wednesday, this is a moment when the people must take back their government," Samples said.

Samples, like Kucinich, has connections with the progressive wing of the party. She supported Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders in his 2016 bid for the Democratic presidential nomination and is friends with former state Sen. Nina Turner, a fellow Sanders supporter who leads Sanders' political organization Our Revolution.

Samples said joining Kucinich's campaign was "the honor of my life" and that he had "one of the most progressive platforms out there."

Kucinich said he was instantly enthralled with Samples as a possible running mate.

"This ticket is a ticket of unity," Kucinich said. "This ticket is a ticket of inclusiveness. This ticket is a ticket of social justice. It is a ticket of economic justice. It is a winning ticket for Democrats and the state of Ohio."

Samples, a mother of five, said she faced adversity to get where she is in politics, but always knew she wanted to be in government. She had two children while in high school and was married with four children by the time she was 23. Nevertheless, Samples attended and graduated from the University of Akron before working as a paralegal and bailiff.

Samples was first elected in 2013, winning re-election in 2017.

She was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention for President Barack Obama in 2012 - where she first met Kucinich - and for Sanders in 2016.

Samples is one of only two black candidates on a gubernatorial ticket in a year that has seen black voters - especially black women - commanding the direction of special elections. Black women were particularly credited with pushing Democratic Alabama Sen. Doug Jones to an upset victory in December.

"As we learned from what happened in Alabama, black women are the key to this," Samples said. "I truly believe they want to see someone who shares their belief system, but also looks like them."

Kucinich is one of five Democrats aiming to succeed term-limited Republican Gov. John Kasich.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- J.D. Vance, a venture capitalist and Ohio native best known as the author of a successful memoir, once again has decided not to run for the U.S. Senate.

Vance on Friday morning announced on Twitter that after the latest round of encouragement -- including reported interest from Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell -- he had decided it wasn't the right time to seek elected office.

Vance previously decided in August not to run for the Senate seat, citing family commitments. He has small children, and his wife is a clerk for U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts in Washington, D.C. But he re-evaluated his decision after Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel shocked Republicans earlier this month by dropping out out of the Senate race, leaving the GOP scrambling to find a replacement candidate to challenge Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown.

Thanks to everyone who encouraged me to run, but its just not a good time. A bit more color below. pic.twitter.com/5c1YYkPFcB  J.D. Vance (@JDVance1) January 19, 2018

While Vance and an adviser characterized the decision as personal and business-related, some Ohio Republicans believe the political climate contributed to Vance's decision. Brown is seen as a strong candidate, and the party in power historically performs poorly in off-year elections.

Although President Donald Trump hasn't weighed in on the Ohio U.S. Senate race publicly, Trump's operation recently signaled its support for U.S. Rep. Jim Renacci, who decided last week to drop his run for governor and to run for Senate instead. Renacci had painstakingly emphasized his public support for Trump dating back to before the 2016 Republican National Convention, a time when many other Ohio Republicans were publicly supporting Gov. John Kasich's presidential run.

Also running in the Republican Senate primary is Mike Gibbons, a Cleveland investment banker and first-time candidate.

Vance, meanwhile, has made comments critical of Trump, including saying in an interview with cleveland.com last year that he voted for Evan McMullin in 2016, a conservative, Independent presidential candidate who ran an anti-Trump protest campaign.

Vance became famous when his memoir, "Hillbilly Elegy," which described his escape from poverty in Middletown Ohio, became a 2016 best-seller. He is a Yale Law school graduate and a U.S. Marine Corps veteran. He now is running a venture capital fund that looks to seed start-up businesses outside of tech hotbeds. He also recently started a nonprofit that seeks to help fight Ohio's opioid epidemic and other poverty-related issues.
Senate Joint Resolution 5, the proposal from state Senate Republicans for a new approach to congressional redistricting in Ohio, makes a mockery of the word "reform." Unless it gets a bipartisan rewrite, SJR 5 belongs in a Statehouse wastebasket.

The proposal would be a finalist were there an Academy Award for cynicism.

First, with a chance that a Democrat might be elected governor this fall, it proposes to leave Ohio's governor, whoever she or he is, on the sidelines, eliminating a potential check on out-of-control gerrymanders that favor one party.

And as state Sen. Vernon Sykes, a black Akron Democrat, observed, SJR 5 also would give Republicans a lever to try to split Democrats based on race by allowing - at least as the state legislature currently is constituted - a redistricting plan to pass with only the votes of Democrats of color. "It divides the minority party along racial lines -- it's distasteful," Sykes said on cleveland.com.

Third, SJR 5 would make it easier for the GOP to dilute Democratic voting strength. That's because the proposal would permit populous (i.e., typically Democratic) Ohio counties to be more readily split among congressional districts than less populous counties, thus dividing Democrats and making it easier for Republicans to win.

The fourth piece of cynicism: GOP lawmakers are moving at breakneck speed because they want to get their redistricting proposal on the May primary ballot to try to keep a competing citizen-initiated idea from prevailing. Should voters approve the GOP "reform" in May, that might put the kibosh on the far more credible Fair Districts = Fair Elections citizen redistricting reform that's likely headed for November's ballot.

Currently, the General Assembly redraws congressional districts after each federal census. This redistricting plan, or remap, is written as a bill, which must pass Ohio's House and Senate before it reaches the governor.

In 2011, Republican Gov. John Kasich signed today's rigged districts into law. But late in 2015, Kasich had a seeming change of heart: "I support redistricting reform dramatically," he told The Columbus Dispatch. "We carve these safe districts, and then when you're in a safe district you have to watch your extremes, and you keep moving to the extremes."

In a makeshift way, the Ohio General Assembly was fairly reasonable when it redrew Ohio's congressional districts after the 1980 and 1990 censuses; a Democratic Ohio House and Republican state Senate balanced each other. That changed with one-party rule of both chambers. After 2010's census, the GOP-crafted 2011 redistricting drew 16 Ohio congressional districts that elected 12 Republicans to the U.S. House, but just four Democrats - in a state that twice backed Democrat Barack Obama for president.

Given the GOP's advantages, the inevitable question is why Republicans would want to (appear to) "reform" a mechanism that's worked so well - for them. The easy answer is that they want it to continue working for them by trying to pre-empt alternatives.

Voters in the state have shown they want reform. In 2015, with more than 71 percent voting "yes," Ohioans created a bipartisan Redistricting Commission to redraw General Assembly districts. The Fair Districts = Fair Elections initiative also would assign congressional redistricting to the Redistricting Commission. That's smart. State Senate Republicans' bid via SJR 5 to solidify gerrymandering in the guise of reform is not smart and should be abandoned. Voters deserve real reforms, not cynical shell games.

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PARMA, Ohio -- A Parma woman shot a man and then herself in the garage of a home in what police described as a "suicide pact."

Family members declined to speak about what drove them to make such a pact. Police seized their cellphones and other records to try to piece together the puzzle.

Police officers were called about 10 a.m. Sunday to the home on Alden Drive near West 32nd Street to investigate a report that two people were found dead. The officers discovered Alex Hetrick, 28, and Renee Mur, 27, both dead from gunshot wounds to the head in a car in a garage.

The Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner's Office ruled Ketrick's death a homicide, while Mur's was ruled a suicide.

Hetrick's brother reported to police he found their frozen bodies, and Mur had a gun in her hand, according to police dispatch logs. He found a note inside of the home indicating a "suicide pact" between them, police said.

Investigators believe they died sometime between Friday and Saturday, but are still trying to narrow down the time.

The family member told police he last heard from Hetrick and Mur a few days before, according to police dispatch logs.

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CLEVELAND, Ohio - Cleveland Hopkins International Airport drew more travelers in 2017 than it did in the last two years that United Airlines operated its hub here.

The airport reported Friday that 9.14 million passengers traveled through Cleveland Hopkins in 2017, an increase of 8.5 percent over 2016.

It's the highest number since 2011, three years before United pulled the plug on its hub in early 2014.

Airport Director Robert Kennedy attributed the growth to new airlines, lower fares and a greater emphasis on customer service at the airport.

Kennedy, who this month is marking his one-year anniversary at Hopkins, said the airport's turnaround has been remarkable. "If I had been here in 2014, and you would have told me that in three years we would surpass our traffic from the hub days, I wouldn't have taken that bet," he said.

Among the reasons for the growth:

* New airlines, including Las Vegas-based Allegiant Air, which started flying from CLE last February to 11 destinations.

* New routes from existing carriers, including Southwest, Spirit and Frontier, which have added flights to Milwaukee, New Orleans and Austin in 2017, among other destinations.

* Route additions and capacity increases from long-time Hopkins carriers American, Delta and Southwest.

Said Kennedy: "United was the only carrier who reduced seats in the market last year."

Lower fares contributed to the growth, as well. Fares at Cleveland Hopkins have dropped 30 percent in the years since United's pullback, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Kennedy predicted more growth to come. Among the newcomers in 2018: Both Wow Air and IcelandAir start new flights to Reykjavik, Iceland, in May.

Kennedy said passenger forecasts predict an estimated 9.5 million passengers in 2018 and 10 million in 2019.

Those numbers, however, are still lower than Hopkins' peak traffic years, two decades ago, when the airport saw 13 million passengers a year.

Many of those travelers, however, were connecting through Cleveland. Today, according to the airport, 96 percent of Hopkins passengers are starting or ending their trips in Cleveland.

Said Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson, in a statement: "The growth in passengers flying to and from Cleveland Hopkins International Airport is a testament to the airport's focus on growing air service and the quality of the traveling public's experience. It is also evidence of our region's increasing reputation as a key destination for regional, national and international travel."

Other nearby airports experienced significant growth, as well, including Pittsburgh International Airport, which drew 8.99 million passengers in 2017, up 8.2 percent over 2016 and the busiest year at the airport since 2007.

Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, meanwhile, served 7.8 million passengers in 2017, up 16 percent over 2016.

Cleveland Hopkins passenger traffic



2017: 9.14 million

2016: 8.42 million

2015: 8.10 million

2014: 7.61 million

2013: 9.07 million

2012: 9.01 million

2011: 9.18 million

2010: 9.49 million

2009: 9.72 million

2008: 11.11 million

2007: 11.46 million

2006: 11.32 million

2005: 11.46 million

2004: 11.26 million

2003: 10.56 million

2002: 10.80 million

2001: 11.86 million

2000: 13.29 million

Source: Cleveland Hopkins, U.S. Department of Transportation
January 18, 2018

 A NASA astronaut who was slated to become the first African American to serve as a member of the crew aboard the International Space Station has been removed from her upcoming mission.



Jeanette Epps, who had been scheduled to launch to the space station in June for a five-month expedition has been replaced on the flight by another NASA astronaut, Serena Aunon-Chancellor, who was serving as Epps' backup.



NASA announced the crew change on Thursday (Jan. 18), stating that Epps will assume duties in the Astronaut Office at Johnson Space Center in Houston, and "be considered for assignment to future missions."



The reason for Epps' removal was not given. Brandi Dean, a NASA spokesperson, said that a number of factors were considered.



"These decisions are personnel matters for which NASA doesn't provide information," Dean told collectSPACE.







Jeanette Epps' July 2017 NASA portrait as a flight engineer on the Expedition 56 and Expedition 57 space station crews. (NASA)

Epps, 47, was chosen by NASA to train as an astronaut in 2009. In January 2017, the space agency announced that Epps would become the first African American station crew member, launching with two other crewmates on Russia's Soyuz MS-09 spacecraft. Once on the space station, Epps would serve as a flight engineer on both the Expedition 56 and Expedition 57 crews.



Six African-American astronauts  Robert Curbeam, Alvin Drew, Joan Higginbotham, Leland Melvin, Robert Satcher and Stephanie Wilson  previously visited the station on space shuttle missions to assemble and supply the orbiting laboratory, but Epps would have been the first to serve on the space station's resident crew.



The news of Epps' flight assignment quickly spread online, appearing on numerous websites and in news publications worldwide. Woman's Day featured Epps on the cover of its 80th birthday issue in September 2017.



"Next year, astronaut Jeanette Epps will add her name to an exclusive list of women who have traveled to space," Woman's Day reported at the time. "After almost a decade of training in robotics and the Russian language  so that she can communicate with the cosmonauts on her mission  she will become the first African American woman to live and work long-term at the International Space Station."



Prior to her space station assignment, Epps served on a panel focused on improving crew efficiency on the outpost. She also worked as a support crew member for two station expeditions and as a spacecraft communicator, or capcom, in mission control.



Most recently, Epps was assigned as backup to Norishige Kanai, an astronaut with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), who lifted off to the space station on Dec. 17, where he is currently an Expedition 54 flight engineer.



"We together went through all trainings and examinations and all of the requirements. I am pretty sure your time will come pretty, pretty soon," said Kanai, addressing Epps at his pre-launch press conference.







Jeanette Epps, seen with her former crewmates Sergey Prokopyev (at center) and Alexander Gerst in December 2017 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. (Andrey Shelepin/GCTC via NASA)

Epps had been assigned to launch on Soyuz MS-09 with cosmonaut Sergey Prokopyev of Roscosmos and German astronaut Alexander Gerst of the European Space Agency (ESA). While on the space station, Epps would have also served with her fellow NASA astronauts Drew Feustel and Nick Hague, as well as three other Russian cosmonauts, Oleg Artemyev, Aleksei Ovchinin and Nikolai Tikhonov.



Prior to Epps being removed, Aunon-Chancellor had been assigned to the Soyuz MS-11 crew, slated to launch to the space station in November. NASA astronaut Anne McClain will now fill the seat vacated by Aunon-Chancellor.



Epps earned her bachelor's in physics in 1992 at LeMoyne College in her hometown of Syracuse, New York, prior to completing both her master's in science and a doctorate in aerospace engineering from the University of Maryland in 1994 and 2000, respectively.



She then joined the Ford Motor Company, working in their scientific research lab as a technical specialist on reducing vehicle vibrations and collision countermeasures. Her work resulted in her being granted two patents.



In 2002, she joined the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), where she worked as a technical intelligence officer before NASA chose her with its 20th astronaut class, achieving a lifelong dream.







The International Space Station's Expedition 56 and Expedition 57 crew patches will be updated to remove Jeanette Epps' name and replace it with Serena Aunon-Chancellor's. (NASA via cS)

"I did think about being an astronaut, but I never thought that they would take me," Epps said in December, replying to a young woman at a press conference who asked if she dreamed of being an astronaut as a child. "So I decided to become an engineer. Through that route I made it into the astronaut corps."



"I did a lot of studying  I went through graduate school, undergrad and graduate school  11 years," Epps added. "I did a lot of work in school and then I worked for a motor company and then I worked for the government. I've been with NASA for about eight years or so. It is a long road."
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My use for my home PC is split between a couple different buy credits swtor things. I do play PC games when I have the time, but I also use my PC for Autocad and 3D building plan design, along with using Microsoft Office for work I bring home. I also use this PC for making HD home videos I pull off my camcorder.

Gordon Allen, 88, of Oreland, returns a volley to Richard Sidon, 86, of Gwynedd, during the Montgomery County Senior Games at Kinetix. The 17 year old Oreland youth, whose name was withheld by police, was charged Friday with the theft of a $700 stereo radio from a car parked at the Fort Washington commuter rail station in Whitemarsh Township on Aug. Schneider Sr., 77, a retired industrial engineer, died of cancer Tuesday at his home in Oreland.

The spending plan, which will be presented to the board of finance March 15, is 2.93 percent higher than this year's budget. The school board approved it unanimously Tuesday. The proposed budget would add 9.3 teaching positions, restore introductory French classes to the high school and pay for computer equipment.

The north end of the trail begins at Maine's Mount Katahdin. The southern end is at Georgia's Springer Mountain. The whole trail takes about six months to walk, but few people do that.. Ashley C. "Joe" Pimm, an Enfield resident since 1987, died Friday at Johnson Memorial Hospital. He was 81.

Norwich Police Officer Shoots Man Who Drives Toward Him Outside Backus HospitalNORWICH A local police officer shot the driver of a car after the car's mirror hit him in a parking lot outside the William W. Backus Hospital Tuesday morning, the state police said. Officials said the officer fired in self defense..

O'Neill, 63, known mostly for his role as disciplinary czar, announced his resignation at the league's Board of Governors meeting in St. Petersburg Beach, Fla. O'Neill will serve until Sept. The RCMP currently has 11 Occupational Health and Safety Services (OHSS) offices across Canada available to our members to support their health, safety and fitness for duty. Each of these offices are represented by a multidisciplinary team of health care experts. The number of professional health care resources within these teams ranges from 26 to 4, depending on member population..

"Just staying on top of intel (concerning the car's handling) has helped a lot. I'm constantly making phone calls, asking questions and going over theories. Watches the car during practices and the race and compares what he's seeing with what I'm feeling, then we bounce ideas off of each other.

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Market research future published a raw research report on Global Ring Main Unit Market that contains the information from 2017 to 2023. Global ring main unit market is expected to grow with the CAGR of approximately 8.4% from 2017 to 2023

Market Highlights

Ring main unit (RMU) is used in a secondary distribution system. It is basically used for uninterrupted supply of power. It is used for medium voltage distribution in compact substations, small buildings, residential housing complex etc. Rising investment in smart grid projects and commissioning of restructuring and expansion projects are driving the demand of ring main unit market.

The report has been analyzed based on types, installation, applications, and regions. On the basis of applications, the global ring main unit market is segmented into distribution utilities, industrial and commercial. Distribution utilities dominate the application segment of the global ring main unit market. To meet the growing power demand, investments in the power sector are increasing, which ultimately drives the demand of ring main unit market. Moreover the use of ring main unit for integrated distributed generation with the central grid, is driving the distribution utilities market.

On the basis of installation, global ring main unit market is segmented as indoor and outdoor, out of which, outdoor dominates the installation segment of global ring main unit market mainly due to increasing its usage in underground installations, power grids, and mining.

The Global Ring Main Unit Market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 8.4% from 2017 to 2023, to reach the market size of USD 2.65 billion by 2023.

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Key Players

The key players of global ring main unit market are

ABB Ltd. (Switzerland),

Schneider Electric SE (France),

Eaton Corporation, PLC (Ireland),

Siemens AG (Germany),

General Electric Company (U.S.),

Lucy Electric Limited (U.K.),

L&T (India),

Yokogawa Electric Corporation (Japan),

SwitchGear Company (Belgium)

EPE Switchgear (M) Sdn. Bhd. (Malaysia).

Gas insulated ring main unit dominates the type segment

On the basis of types, global ring main unit market is segmented into oil insulated, gas insulated, air insulated and solid dielectric. Out of them, gas insulated ring main unit dominates the type segment of global ring main unit market. Ring main unit is increasingly finding its applications in underground installations, power grids, mining and others. Additionally, it requires less space as well as it has better functionality compared to other ring main units. Whereas, oil insulated ring main units are ideal for rural and industrial settings.

Market Research Analysis

On the basis of regions, the global ring main unit market is segmented as North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and RoW. Asia-Pacific region dominates the ring main unit market. The demand of ring main unit market in Asia-Pacific region is driven by rapid growth in industrialization, urbanization, and construction & infrastructure activities as well as it is driven by the growing renewable sector in the region.

Europe and North America is also expected to contribute significantly to the global ring main unit market. Upgradation of existing power infrastructure network is driving the demand of ring main unit in these regions.

List of Tables

Table 1 Global Ring Main Unit Market, By Type

Table 2 Global Ring Main Unit Market, By Installation

Table 3 Global Ring Main Unit Market, By Application

Table 4 Global Ring Main Unit Market, By Regions

Table 5 North America Ring Main Unit Market, By Country

Table 6 North America Ring Main Unit Market, By Type

Table 7 North America Ring Main Unit Market, By Installation

Table 8 North America Ring Main Unit Market, By Application

Table 9 U.S. Ring Main Unit Market, By Type

Table 10 U.S. Ring Main Unit Market, By Installation

Continue

Browse Full Report Details @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/ring-main-unit-market-2802

List of Figures

Figure 1 Research Installation

Figure 2 Global Ring Main Unit Market: By Type (%)

Figure 3 Global Ring Main Unit Market: By Installation (%)

Figure 4 Global Ring Main Unit Market: By Application (%)

Figure 5 Global Ring Main Unit Market: By Region

Figure 6 North America Ring Main Unit Market, By Type (%)

Figure 7 North America Ring Main Unit Market, By Installation (%)

Figure 8 North America Ring Main Unit Market, By Application (%)

Figure 9 Europe Ring Main Unit Market, By Type (%)

Figure 10 Europe Ring Main Unit Market, By Installation (%)

Continue.

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The industry is certainly not short on ideas when it comes to combating the signs of aging. Antiwrinkle, moisturizing, firming and tightening ingredients abound. To this end, hyaluronic acid (HA) has been used in many topical and injectable products for its ability to moisturize skin, fill wrinkles and retain skin's elasticity.

However, according to Johnson & Johnson (J&J) inventors, HA has a limited lifetime in the skin. This is due to innate hyaluronidase enzymes, which decompose the HA and thereby diminish the impact of HA-containing cosmetic compositions. Moreover, the topical penetration of exogenous HA into the skin has proven difficult, and while injectables are effective, they are only temporary.

Another skin treatment comes from the Pichia genus of yeasts, which are rich in mannans. Pichia anomala, in particular, is known for its anti-aging skin benefits. Better yet, in combination with chicory root, Pichia anomala has been found to enhance skin's natural production of HA; a new J&J patent explains.

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Pichia anomala yeast and chicory root compositions

European Patent EP3181142

Publication date: Jan. 17, 2018

Assignee: Johnson & Johnson Consumer, Inc.

This invention describes the use of topical extracts of Pichia anomala and chicory root to synergistically enhance the skin's production of HA from within. Specifically disclosed is a topical composition including chicory root extract containing up to 20% glucosamine, and >2% w/w Pichia anomala extract.

This combination was found to provide significant and unexpected benefits for skin, including improving, reducing, inhibiting and/or delaying the appearance of at least one sign of aging. The combination may also enhance skin barrier protection and moisturization.
BRIDGEPORT  More than a dozen cops descended Thursday night on an East Side market that was the backdrop of a recent fatal shooting.

We dont want this kind of activity going on in this neighborhood, Police Chief Armando Perez said after officers shuttered The Snack Shop on Newfield Avenue.

Jawuan Green, 21, was shot to death outside The Snack Shop on Tuesday, shortly after midnight. A clerk at the store said Green was gunned down after buying a cigar there and stepping outside. The homicide was Bridgeports first of the new year.

On Thursday night, members of the Police Departments Detective Bureau, Narcotics Division and Gang Task Force raided the business following an undercover drug purchase there, police said.

Inside the market, police said, they found more than 200 bottles of liquor that the store owner did not have a permit to sell and a dozen cartons of cigarettes that did not have tax stamps. Police said they also found stripper poles set up in the rear of the store.

Police said Christopher Carter, of Wheeler Avenue, was charged with possession of narcotics with intent to sell and possession of narcotics within 1,500 feet of a school after they found him hiding several packets of crack cocaine down the front of his pants.

A store employee, Sanle McKinney, was charged with possession of marijuana after police said she turned over several packets of the drug.

Police said they also found numerous health, safety and building code violations that would have to be corrected before the store could reopen.
WASHINGTON  Connecticuts Democratic senators voted on a procedural motion that in effect set the stage for the government shutdown that began Saturday.

The vote in the Senate at 10:30 p.m. Friday had been called by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., in a desperate attempt to avert a shutdown by affirming a House measure passed Thursday night. It would have kept the government open through Feb. 16, the fourth such extension since the fiscal year began on Oct. 1 last year.

The Senate vote effectively killed the monthlong extension. Lawmakers of both parties continued to mill about the Senate floor after the vote, suggesting a possible last-minute deal was in the works.

All day, Connecticut and the rest of the nation braced for what would be the first government shutdown since 2013  one that lasted 16 days.

Negotiations continued behind closed doors, but most of what the public was seeing and hearing amounted to little more than blame-game attack and avoidance.

The House-passed measure had contained few concessions to Democratic priorities, including continued legal status for the 700,000 or more youthful immigrants (more than 8,000 in Connecticut) who lost it last year when President Donald Trump ended then-President Barack Obamas Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA.

In the Senate on Friday night, most Democrats  including Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy  opposed approval of the House extension, and four Republican senators also voted no. Five Democrats, most from red states won by Trump in the 2016 election, voted yes with most of the Republicans.

The continuing resolution President Trump is trying to force down our throats is terrible for Connecticut  it guts funding for community health centers, inadequately funds our states military contractors, and may lead to the deportation of thousands of immigrant kids, Murphy said in a statement. Instead of punting and passing a fourth continuing resolution, President Trump and Republicans could choose to sit down and write a real budget with Democrats this weekend, but they are refusing. Thats really sad.

McConnell ultimately ended up voting with Democrats, which enables him to call the motion back to the Senate floor at any time.

The government shutdown was 100 percent avoidable; now it is imminent, McConnell said after the 50-49 vote.

Theres only one reason we ended up here: The shoehorning of immigration into this debate.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer pointed his finger at Trump.

All of today we have endeavored to reach an agreement with President Trump and Republicans, Schumer said.

He said he had reluctantly put funding for a border wall on the table in exchange for protection for youthful Dreamer immigrants.

What happened to the President Trump who asked us to come up with a deal and said hed take the heat for it? He backed off.

Earlier, Trump called Schumer to the White House for a negotiating session that included White House Chief of Staff John Kelly.

We had a long and detailed meeting, Schumer told reporters upon his return to the U.S. Capitol. We discussed all of the major outstanding issues, we made some progress, but we still have a good number of disagreements. The discussions will continue.

Trump tweeted his encounter with Schumer was an excellent preliminary meeting.

He added: Making progress  four week extension would be best!

The president cancelled a planned trip Friday to his Mar a Lago resort in Florida to be on hand for last-minute negotiations.

As the blame game ricocheted back and forth, an ABC News/Washington Post poll showed 48 percent would judge Republicans guilty if a shutdown occurred, while 28 percent would accuse Democrats and 18 percent believe both sides equally responsible.

But a CNN poll showed 56 percent saying avoidance of a shutdown is more important than continuing the DACA program, while just 34 percent picking DACA over a shutdown.

Hours before the vote Murphy took aim at the prospect of another temporary fix. He retweeted the Pentagons top spokeswoman, who said the succession of such spending measures was wasteful and destructive for the military.

This is extraordinary, Murphy tweeted. What a first class mess Republicans have created.

Republicans and conservatives were going all out to pin the possible shutdown on Democrats. As a counter to the Democratic-favored hashtag #TrumpShutdown, they rolled out the hashtag #SchumerShutdown.

Senate Democrats own the Schumer Shutdown, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement just after midnight. Tonight, they put politics above our national security, military families, vulnerable children, and our countrys ability to serve all Americans. We will not negotiate the status of unlawful immigrants while Democrats hold our lawful citizens hostage over their reckless demands. This is the behavior of obstructionist losers, not legislators. When Democrats start paying our armed forces and first responders we will reopen negotiations on immigration reform. During this politically manufactured Schumer Shutdown, the president and his administration will fight for and protect the American people.

White House budget director Mick Mulvaney pushed back against Democrats like Blumenthal who have argued that as the ones in control of Congress and the White House, Republicans would own the shutdown.

He also insisted that there was no need to include a DACA fix as a condition for keeping the government open.

DACA doesnt expire until March 5, Mulvaney said. This is purely an attempt by the Senate Democrats  to try and get a shutdown that they think this president gets blamed for.

Advocates for DACA Dreamers, young immigrants brought illegally to this country as children, say the legal status of at least 15,000 immigrants has already expired. But a federal judge in California put a hold on deportation proceedings against them, pending the outcome of a lawsuit challenged Trumps DACA revocation. The Trump administration has appealed the judges stay to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Anyone who says that we have more time for this insane congressional gridlock is lying, said Lucas Codognolla of Bridgeport, himself a Dreamer from Brazil who heads Connecticut Students for a Dream. Every day I meet DACA recipients, students, young parents, workers who support their families, who have already lost their DACA. They cant wait until March 5.
Andrew Harrer-Pool/Getty Images / Getty Images

WASHINGTON  A scheduled appearance Friday by White House communications director and Greenwich native Hope Hicks before the House Intelligence Committee was canceled, according to sources familiar with the matter.

The committee is one of three Congressional bodies probing links between the Trump campaign and Russia. As a close confidante of President Donald Trump during the 2016 campaign and the presidents first year in office, Hicks, 29, may be able to shed light on key issues and events, sources said.
In anticipation of increased ridership on Metro-North Railroad trains on Saturday to New York City, the rail service will run four extra trains.

The usual Saturday schedule will be in effect. But in addition to that, the rail service will provide two extra morning trains on the Hudson Line and the New Haven Line. Metro-North will also operate additional service in the afternoon on an as-needed basis.
WESTPORT  The dispute between residents and Aquarion Water Co. over two water tanks on North Avenue set for construction this spring is still far from resolution, residents say.

Following a large public meeting last month, local and state officials, residents, and representatives of Aquarion vowed to form a smaller working group to hammer out a solution to the dispute.

In a meeting closed to the press, the working group, composed of about a dozen people, gathered Jan. 11 and, according to members of the advocacy group Smart Water Westport, agreed on very little.

We are very frustrated, Robert Harrington, of Old Orchard Road, a working group member and Smart Water Westport advocate, said. This was not a working group. It was a two-hour presentation by Aquarion.

Aside from concerns about the amount of time Aquarion representatives spent describing their plans for the tanks, residents in the working group said their primary complaint was Aquarion refusal to agree to pay for an independent water study to verify the calculations underlying the tanks size.

North Avenue resident and Smart Water Westport working group member Kuku Fleming said her group wants Aquarion to hire an independent consultant to study whether two 40-foot tanks holding a collective 4.3 million gallons of water is truly necessary to meet Westports water needs. One 70-year old tank which sits at Aquarion property on North Avenue  12-feet high with a capacity of 1.5 million gallons of water, is much smaller than the proposed two tanks.

Fleming said Aquarion representatives at the meeting flat-out rejected the residents request for an independent water study.

What do you have to hide? What are you afraid of that a consultant would find? They could not wrap themselves around that, which was troubling, Fleming said of the Aquarion representatives thoughts on the water study.

First Selectman Jim Marpe attended the meeting on behalf of the town and had a more positive view of Aquarions presentation, but echoed Flemings call for an independent water study. They talked a lot about the background information and their decisions that related to putting in the new tanks and their rationale for it. We continue to push for an independent peer review of their data and expect to have a subsequent meeting with them in the next couple of weeks and will continue to push for that, Marpe said.

State Rep. Jonathan Steinberg, D-136, also attended the meeting and said he favors a third-party review to take the whole thing apart from scratch, but understands why Aquarion is resistant to the idea of an independent study, which he said would be expensive and an affront to the work of Aquarion engineers who they (Aquarion) said did a good job on the first water study.

Another critical aspect left unresolved by the working group meeting was a commitment by Aquarion to investigate alternative options to the size, location and kind of tanks Aquarion plans to build.

What we were trying to do was explore the alternatives. Does this one neighborhood have to bear the brunt of the entire towns water needs, said Valerie Seiling Jacobs, who attended the meeting as a representative of the political party Save Westport Now.

Jacobs said she and other residents asked Aquarion for a written narrative of the pros and cons of the plan, which according to Jacobs, Aquarion refused to provide.

Peter Fazekas, Aquarions director of public relations, did not attend, but spoke in response to the residents complaints about the meeting and Aquarions refusal to conduct an independent water study.

Regarding the independent evaluation, we do not believe an independent evaluator is necessary at this time, but we will continue the discussion, Fazekas said, adding, Overall, we felt it was a valuable and productive discussion. We listened to their concerns and answered their questions.

The working group plans to meet again in the next several weeks at a yet unannounced date to further discuss the tanks.

svaughan@hearstmediact.com; @SophieCVaughan1
As a general rule, the prime minister of Ireland, who is known as the Taoiseach, rarely captures the British publics imagination.

Recent incumbents, such as Brian Cowen and Enda Kenny, could have walked down a typical UK high street without anybody giving them a second glance.

But Leo Varadkar seems determined to change all that.

After barely half a year in office, the 39-year-old has made more of an impression on British opinion than his two predecessors put together.

Ireland's Taoiseach Leo Varadkar arrives to deliver a speech during a debate on the Future of Europe at the European Parliament in Strasbourg

Unfortunately, he has done it for all the wrong reasons. Having already indulged in posturing over the Irish border  threatening to veto a Brexit deal over it  Mr Varadkar has clearly decided to cast himself as Britains chief critic and the EUs best friend.

Nothing else can explain the arrogance of his speech this week at Strasbourg.

Addressing MEPs, he listed a host of supposed losers from Brexit  Britains young, farmers and businesses.

But he was also very conscious, he said, of British veterans, very brave people who fought on the beaches of France, not just for Britain but also for European democracy and European values. People like that are always in my mind.

Where on earth do you start with this?

Well, you might start with the effrontery of a young politician lecturing neighbours about how to conduct their affairs.

Then theres the excruciating mawkishness of the claim that Britains veterans are always on his mind.

The simple truth is that whatever the Irish PM may think, the men who fought on the beaches of France were fighting for Britain

And theres the obvious point that people who remember World War II are more likely to have voted for Brexit than anybody else.

When I read Mr Varadkars words, though, what really incensed me was the sheer historical illiteracy of his version of a war, in which  in case he has forgotten  Ireland refused to join the Allied cause, and in which his predecessor, Eamon de Valera, disgraced himself and his country by personally offering condolences to the Nazi ambassador on the death of Adolf Hitler.

The simple truth is that whatever the Irish PM may think, the men who fought on the beaches of France were fighting for Britain. They were not fighting for European values, because none of them would have had the faintest idea what that meant.

I say this, by the way, not as a hardened Brexiteer, but as somebody who voted Remain. Even so, I am very weary of listening to Euro-enthusiasts who pretend that World War II was a great crusade for European federalism.

During the referendum campaign, the pro-EU camp released a video in which one veteran claimed: We sacrificed many, many men in both world wars and this was to establish a peaceful and prosperous union. The EU, he added, reflects the values my generation fought for in Europe during World War II.

But this is simply not true.

No British servicemen fought to defend European values or to set up a prosperous union.

Britain's WWII troops were not fighting for European values, because none of them would have had the faintest idea what that meant

When Neville Chamberlain took Britain to war, or when Winston Churchill became Prime Minister and rallied the nation after Dunkirk, there was no talk of European union.

Indeed, when our allies collapsed beneath the Nazi war machine in the spring of 1940, many people were actually relieved, because they thought Britain was better off on its own.

Now we know where we are. No bloody allies! a Thames boatman shouted to a group of MPs. George VI agreed. He wrote to his mother: I feel happier now we have no allies to be polite to and pamper.

The only wartime leader who did talk of a European Union was a Herr Hitler of Berlin, with his dreams of a New Order from the Atlantic to the Urals.

It was not the Allies who had plans for a European single currency and a central bank. It was the Germans.

In the words of Nazi minister Arthur Seyss-Inquart, later executed at Nuremberg for crimes against humanity, the new Europe of solidarity and co-operation among all its people will find rapidly increasing prosperity once national economic boundaries are removed.

Yes, Churchill did speak of creating a United States of Europe after the war. But he never explicitly said Britain should join

I dont mean to imply the EU is a Nazi project. Obviously it isnt. But it is high time that EU enthusiasts, not just abroad but at home, stopped lying about our history.

To take an especially egregious example, EU fans sometimes pretend Winston Churchill wanted Britain to join a United States of Europe. Again, this is just not true.

Yes, Churchill did speak of creating a United States of Europe after the war. But he never explicitly said Britain should join. Indeed, as Prime Minister in the early Fifties, he kept Britain out of the emerging Common Market.

We have our own dream and our own task, he explained. We are with Europe, but not of it. We are linked but not combined. We are interested and associated but not absorbed.

His wartime deputy, Labour leader Clement Attlee, was even more fervently opposed to European integration.

Like Churchill, Attlee had fought in World War I. But his experiences convinced him that Britain should stay well out of the European project.

So when Britain applied to join the Common Market, Attlee said he was gravely disturbed that we would go cap in hand to the people whom we thought we beat in war.

The Common Market. The so-called Common Market of six nations, he told Labour MPs just before his death in 1967. Know them all well. Very recently this country spent a great deal of blood and treasure rescuing four of em from attacks by the other two.

As for the young men who fought in the war, they fought to defeat Nazism and to save their native land, not to defend a political project that had not even been invented.

Indeed, among them were some of the most passionate opponents of the EU, such as Enoch Powell, who served in North Africa and India, or Tony Benn, who joined the RAF.

Michel Barnier, the European chief negotiator for Brexit, and Ireland's Prime Minister Leo Varadkar shake hands

Powell always thought European integration would mean the end of Britain as a free, independent and self-governing nation. Benn was initially tempted, but came to believe it was not democratic I think they are building an empire and want us to be part of that empire, and I dont want that.

Perhaps all this will be news to the Irish prime minister. But perhaps he doesnt care, as his real audience is in Brussels and Berlin, where his words will have gone down very well.

The British Euro-enthusiasts who parrot his fake history, however, should know better. If they knew just a little about real history, they might show more humility and understanding about why they lost the referendum in the first place.

As it happens, the moment the Irish PM referred to  spring 1940  led to the London Evening Standard publishing a legendary cartoon by the great David Low. It shows a British soldier, looking out over the Channel, shaking his fist at German planes. The caption reads: Very Well, Alone.

It was that spirit that fired our young men to save their country from Hitler. It was not some anachronistic, high-minded enthusiasm for Jean-Claude Juncker and all his works; it was patriotism, pure and simple.

The European elite and their intellectual admirers have never understood that. They sneer at it; they pretend it doesnt exist; they rewrite their history books to downplay and deny it. But they have never succeeded in erasing it.

And that, of course, is one of the chief reasons they lost.
At just 12 weeks old, newborn girl Erika Vidaic was on the brink of death when she was suffering from a rare liver disease.

The Sydney baby was diagnosed with biliary atresia - a life-threatening condition which causes the small ducts in the liver to become blocked or disintegrate.

As her condition deteriorated, the distraught parents endured an agonising wait as their infant daughter was put on the waiting list for a liver transplant.

Here, her mother Rosa Vidaic, 39, spoke out about their terrifying ordeal and how her daughter was miraculously saved after receiving a transplant from a stranger.

Mother Rosa Vidaic has spoken out about the terrifying ordeal after her daughter Erika, now aged five, was left fighting for life when she was suffering from a rare liver disease

Erika received a liver transplant (left) and despite the excruciating ordeal, the newborn girl was always full of smiles (right)

Following her shock diagnosis, her parents fell into a state of confusion because their daughter was perfectly healthy at birth.

'We were shocked and heart broken,' her mother Rosa Vidaic told Daily Mail Australia.

'We felt angry and confused as to why this was happening, we never expected that this could happen to us. We were scared and in a state of despair.'

Just three months after her birth, her parents started noticing some signs that there was something different about their daughter.

'We noticed that things weren't right. Her stools were pasty and she started to look jaundice,' the mother-of-two said.

'Our GP ran a few blood tests in the hope of finding answers. When I received the call from the GP he said the results were not good.'

The family rushed their daughter to the Children's Hospital at Randwick where further testings were conducted.

'In the lead up to the results I was already starting to feel nervous,' Ms Vidaic said.

'As many parents do I was searching online for answers. What I found was confronting and worrying.

'The results came through, leaving both my husband and I shattered and in disbelief.'

Erika was saved after recieving a liver transplant following a successful 12-hour surgery

Now at five years old, her mother said the young schoolgirl is full of confidence and energy

The family were told Erika would need a Kasai procedure, which bypasses the damaged ducts to stop liver damage.

'If this was unsuccessful, a liver transplant would be next,' she said.

'The Kasai as expected was unsuccessful so we were told to prepare for a transplant in the upcoming weeks or months.'

We were very much concerned that Erika would slip away from us. She was going downhill quickly, deteriorating day by day

As the infant was put on the waiting list for an organ, her mother said she was ready to donate part of her own liver if a donor was not found in time.

'It was nerve-wrecking but knowing I could help out if all else failed was somewhat reassuring,' she said.

'We were very much concerned that Erika would slip away from us. She was going downhill quickly, deteriorating day by day.

'The pressure of her distended tummy was impacting her breathing. Strangely enough throughout it all, Erika still managed to give us plenty of smiles.

'It was heart-warming and incredible, she showed such strength and determination.'

The little girl with her distended stomach shortly before her liver transplant in November 2012

Little Erika has since made a remarkable recovery - but she still goes in for her routine checkups and takes medication to 'ensure her body does not reject her beautiful new liver'

The mother - who also has a then-two-year-old son named Oliver - said the family were faced with many challenges when Erika fell ill.

'Not being able to pick Erika up and cuddle her was difficult,' she said.

Not being able to cradle your baby is excruciating

'She had tubes and wires everywhere, she would have been experiencing pain and discomfort but we couldn't do much.

'We tried to keep her entertained and talked to her and stroked her and gave her plenty of kisses, but not being able to cradle your baby is excruciating.

'We also missed our little boy who no doubt was feeling confused as to why we weren't around often.

'My husband and I took turns in hospital, going home to get some much needed rest and to spend time with our son.

'Family helped out as much as possible and without our support network we would have crumbled. They kept our spirits high and most of all looked after Oliver.'

Ms Vidaic said she knew her daughter's second chance at life had come at an incalculable emotional cost for the donor's grieving family

Erika underwent a Kasai procedure, which bypasses the damaged ducts to stop liver damage but the surgery was unsuccessful (pictured after the Kasai procedure in September 2012)

And just five-and-a-half weeks later, Erika received a liver transplant following a successful 12-hour surgery.

'The surgery was long but all went well,' Ms Vidaic said.

'The doctors, nurses and surgeons were absolutely amazing - miracle workers. They were always so supportive and caring.

'In ICU we couldn't believe the immediate change in Erika's skin, she was no longer jaundice but a beautiful pinkie peach colour.

When Erika finally opened her eyes, the whites of her eyes were no longer yellow but clear white. We were bursting with joy

'And when Erika finally opened her eyes, the whites of her eyes were no longer yellow but clear white. We were bursting with joy.'

The baby was moved back to the hospital ward for a further five weeks to recover.

'These first few days and weeks were crucial,' Ms Vidaic said.

'Frequent observation checks, blood tests and monitoring. Erika also did regular occupational therapy sessions during this time to ensure her motor skills and movement were in check.

'We got out the day before Christmas, however we still kept low key, not being able to bring her to family celebrations, it was still early days and we had to continue keeping her protected and isolated.'

The girl has been going to her routine checkups and blood tests at the hospital liver clinic

More than five years on, Erika has made a remarkable recovery - but she still goes in for her routine checkups and takes medication to 'ensure her body does not reject her beautiful new liver'.

By sharing their story, the mother said she wanted other families to draw hope from their experiences

'Erika is bursting with life, she's full of energy,' her mother said.

'She is confident, outgoing and happy. She loves singing and dancing and is very much the social butterfly. She enjoys school and loves to play teacher at home surrounded by her toys.

'She really is like any other kid, and most people are shocked and surprised when I tell them about her story.

'Erika will proudly show off her large scar across her stomach and has told us how lucky she is to have it as none of her friends have a scar like hers.

'We have told her that everyone is different and that's what makes us special. Hopefully she continues to grow up with this confidence.'

Despite their happy ending, Ms Vidaic said she knew her daughter's second chance at life had come at an incalculable emotional cost for the donor's grieving family.

'We are forever grateful to our generous donor and their family. To give life to another is the ultimate gift one can receive,' she said.

'It would have been an extremely difficult situation for the donor family, saying goodbye to their loved one and then making that decision to donate their organs.

'My heart was breaking over the bittersweet situation we were in as you knew that in order for Erika to survive, someone else was saying goodbye to their dearest.

'We will never forget what they did for us and they are always in our hearts and our minds.'

Little Erika playing in the backyard with her now seven-year-old brother Oliver

DID YOU KNOW? Organ and tissue donation saves lives  one donor can save and transform the lives of up to 10 people and improve the lives of many more. Around 1,400 people are on Australian transplant waiting lists at any one time, and a further 12,000 people are on dialysis. Few people die in such a way that they can be organ donors  only about one to two per cent of people who die in hospital are eligible to donate their organs. However, many more people have the potential to become tissue donors. Advertisement

The mother started writing letters to the donor's family - but admitted her first was the most difficult to pen.

'Even though we will never meet, we feel connected to them. We are very lucky to be able to exchange letters a few times a year,' she said.

'The first letter was incredibly tough. I wanted to be respectful and thankful at the same time. I wanted to express my happiness and excitement but then had to be mindful that they were grieving for their loved one.'

And much to their surprise, they received a response letter from the grieving family.

'We cried and cried and cried. We were so moved to hear back from them, we weren't expecting it at all,' Ms Vidaic said.

Anonymous letters sent between organ donors' families and their recipients are strictly moderated through transplant units for privacy purposes by law.

'Letting them know how thankful we are and updating them on how things are going for our daughter is the least we can do,' she said.

'We hope that our letters remind them that their selfless act has brought joy to another family and has given our daughter life. Their loved one continues to live on through her.'

After receiving a life-saving liver transplant the five-year-old's life has changed for the better

How do I become an organ donor? In Australia, you can no longer register your donation decision via your driver's licence. The Australian Organ Donor Register is the only national register to record your decision to become and organ and tissue donor. Families play a crucial role in the donation process because they are asked to confirm the donation decision of their loved one. Nine in 10 families agree to donation proceeding when their loved one is a registered donor. Children cannot be registered by their parents, but that does not prevent them from being donors as the family can approve donation. If you are under 18, or have children, a discussion about donation ensures the family are prepared if they need to make the decision. To sign up, please visit the website here. Advertisement

Despite her young age, Ms Vidaic said her daughter knows about her past.

'We have explained it to her as best as possible from an early age. She has seen photos of herself, some quite confronting for a young kid,' she said.

'Erika has been told of how a special person gave her their liver when they left this word.

'She knows that she has to look after her body, take her medication, wash her hands, maintain good hygiene, stay away from those who are unwell, and eat the right foods to ensure she remains healthy.'

By sharing their story, the mother said she wanted other families to draw hope from their experiences - and to encourage Australians to become an organ donor.

'Surely if one is willing to receive a donated organ, you should be willing to be a donor yourself,' she said.

'You never know what's going to happen in life, to yourself or your family member.'
There is nothing more Australian than pavlova and lamingtons but what about a doughnut?

Although the circular baked goods are traditionally an American treat, patisseries are putting an Australian touch on the popular sweet.

To commemorate Australia Day, bakeries are selling limited edition Australian flavours that play homage to Aussie dishes we know and love.

To commemorate Australia Day bakeries are selling limited edition Australian flavoured dougnuts

Avocado and doughnuts may not be something many people think go together but that's just what Perth bakery Top Dup Doughnuts has done with their Smashed Avo 'Nut.

A good, healthy dollop of avocado is nestled in the centre of a brioche doughnut with a miniature slice of toast perched on top and a sprinkle of sundried tomatoes and parsley.

The cafe told Perth Now that they were looking for iconic Australian flavours.

'The cool thing about the avo on toast, unlike the vanilla slice or pavlova, is it's iconic but it is very contemporary as well  it has become a symbol of Australian cafe culture and our relaxed, fresh, tasty Australian food,' co-owner, David Bignell told the website.

Avocado and doughnuts may not be something many people think go together but that's just what Perth bakery Top Dup Doughnuts has done

This isn't the cafe's first Australian-themed doughnut as they also sell the Tim Nut and the Donut-Trifle Jar Nut.

For the Tim Nut they have wrapped the white and original flavours of a Tim Tam biscuit that Australians know and love inside brioche dough, glazed it with chocolate and rolled it in crushed Tim Tams.

Trifles are a classic Australian dessert and of course the bakery has given them their own signature twist as well.

Top Dup Doughnuts have even strayed from the conventional doughnut as they have layered brioche donuts, port wine jelly, custard, vanilla bean chantilly cream, raspberry jam, biscuit crumble and roasted strawberries in a trifle jar.

For the Tim Nut they have wrapped the white and original flavours of the biscuit that Australians know and love inside brioche dough

Trifles are a classic Australian dessert and of course the bakery has given them their own signature twist

Of course it wouldn't be Australia Day without a good old pavlova and that's where Kym Hall from Lena Lu Bomboloni has you covered.

The bakery has used passionfruit curd and mixed it with a cream base for the filling and added a dollop on top.

They also made meringue kisses which are accompanied by a strawberry and passionfruit drizzle.

'This refreshing Australian summer dessert starts our Aussie inspired lead up to Australia Day,' their Instagram caption read.

Of course it wouldn't be Australia day without a good old pavlova and that's where Kym Hall from Lena Lu Bomboloni has you covered

They also made meringue kisses which are accompanied by a strawberry and passionfruit drizzle

They didn't stop there. Many will remember honey joys from their childhood, the cornflakes and honey cluster that sent tongues wagging.

These sweet little morsels are crispy, sticky and delicious and have now been turned into a doughnut with Lena Lu Bomboloni's Honeycrackle Bomb.

The doughnut is filled with honey cream and topped with honeycrackle topping.

They will soon release a lamington crumble, with a fourth surprise flavour on the way.

Honey joys are the sticky and delicious treats from people's childhood and have now been turned into a doughnut with Lena Lu Bomboloni's Honeycrackle Bomb

The popular doughnut store located all around the country, Doughnut Time, will also be getting in on the fun but they are yet to announce what they will be serving up.

Last year they went with the classic lamington and sold a chocolate doughnut covered in shaved coconut.

They added their own twist with marshmallows and a generous fruity red drizzle.

They are already being inundated with requests for Australian classics such as fairy bread, something with lemon curd or an iced vovo-inspired doughnut.
A woman who once tipped the scales at almost 130 kilograms has shed close to half her body weight, using gastric banding surgery, paid for by her superannuation.

As more and more Australians struggle with obesity, the surgical procedure is becoming an ever popular option to help those get their health back on track.

In an interview with A Current Affair, Joanna Metzikis revealed that she made a decision to have the surgery because she struggled with weight issues since she was a teen. This lead to her suffering from high blood pressure and lower back problems as an adult.

Joanna Metzikis (pictured) revealed show gastric banding surgery, funded by her superannuation, helped her lose 55 kilograms

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The surgery, which comes with a $25,000 price tag, was funded through her superannuation, and she said though it's reduced her retirement savings by half, she has no regrets.

'I made a decision I didn't want to wait. And that was the quickest and best way for me,' she told the program.

It's a move that's becoming increasingly common. Last year more than 15,000 Australians drew down more than $200 million in superannuation to fund medical procedures.

A new lease of life: Since having the surgery, Ms Metzikis said she now a lot healthier and loves exercising

Ms Metzikis (pictured) and her new partner are committed to healthy living

Following the surgery, Ms Metzikis revealed she had dropped almost half her body weight and has slimmed down from 130 kilograms to a healthier 73 kilograms.

As a young woman in her 30s, she said so much had changed in the two years since undergoing the procedure.

'I'm a lot healthier, I love exercising. I met my partner we started a life together and just mental health as well a lot better.'

The weight loss surgery involves reducing the size of the stomach with a band or by removing a portion of the stomach.

Commenting on the rise of the trend, bariatric surgeon Dr Arun Dhir said he had seen a five-fold increase in patients using their super to fund their gastro surgery.

Dr Arun Dhir believes using superannuation to fund gastro surgeries is a viable option

He said those with retirement savings available to cover the cost of the procedure may want to consider this option.

'I say that there is no use of superannuation to a dead person.'

However, the practice of using super funds to pay for surgery is raising questions.

Financial Services Minister Kelly O'Dwyer is calling for public and industry feedback on the circumstances on which people should be allowed to access their superannuation earlier than the 60-year-old entitlement age.

Ms Metzikis stands by her decision to dip into her superannuation to fund her life-changing surgery

Ms Metzikis said she stands by her decision to use her superannuation to fund her life-changing surgery.

'I just thought that I want to live to be able to use that money and I might not if I don't do it now,' she concluded.
When Susie Campbell's youngest child heads off to school in a couple of weeks, it's likely there will be a few tears shed.

But as the Sydney mother is quick to point out, they're unlikely to be her four-year-old son Patrick's when starts his first year of primary at the end of this month.

Speaking to FEMAIL, Mrs Campbell said though the milestone is a big one, it's one the family have been preparing for a while now.

'It's going to be a big change but I'm excited for him. And he's really excited too.'

Patrick Campbell (pictured) aged four, couldn't be more excited about his first day of primary school

Patrick's mum, Susie Campbell (pictured) said the family have put in a fair bit of time in order to get their son ready school

'He's already been to orientation at his new school and hasn't taken his uniform off since we bought it since before Christmas. He wears it everywhere.

'He wants to be the "big boy". He's very proud to be starting school and tells everybody where he's going.'

Mrs Campbell revealed she has put in a fair bit of time getting Patrick ready for school - not just helping him with the basics such as buying a new uniform or supplies, but also emotionally.

'We've talked about it an awful lot. We've been talking more about interacting with friends how friendships are formed.

'Things like how he needs to be respectful of others, how he needs to play.

The family have been using special flash cards to ensure all is well then the first day rolls around

She described her son as having a very 'strong-willed character' who likes things a certain way, so developing some sharing and co-operation skills, and working with a professional to manage a sensory issue, have also been part of Patrick's prep.

There's also been plenty of focus on ensuring Patrick feels ready with other changes to his routine when the first day of 'big school' rolls around.

She explained how she's been using a game - a type of flash card system called School's Coming - that's helped with getting her youngest ready.

Some of the more important cards are pinned up around the house so Patrick has a constant reminder of what he needs to know ahead of time

Parenting expert Sharon Witt stressed the importance of making sure kids are really well organised ahead of the day

While the family have already been through the first day of school with their older son Thomas - he's set to start Year 3 - Mrs Campbell said the process, for her or her husband, never gets any easier.

'My husband is distraught about it,' before admitting he'd 'welled up' on their eldest son's first day.

'I will definitely be emotional but I won't do it in front of him because it's important he knows mummy is happy for him and it's all okay,' she continued.

'If I am crying, he'll think there's something wrong.'

Big brother Thomas (pictured left) mum Susie (second left), dad Johnny (pictured right) and of course Patrick (pictured centre) are all eagerly awaiting the big day

Parenting expert, Sharon Witt, notes parents are likely to find the experience of sending their child to school for the first time one that's emotionally fraught.

'It's a charged time, not only for the children themselves but for parents who have been the primary caregivers for the bulk of that time,' she said.

'Releasing your child into someone else's care for seven hours a day can be quite nerve-wracking.'

Expert Sharon Witt (pictured) said make preparing for school a really enjoyable time

The expert advised parents feeling tense about this new situation, to think about how they could emphasise the positive aspects of their child's next step.

'Talk about your own positive primary school experiences. Like friends you made and your special memories,' the author said.

'Make preparing for school an enjoyable time,' she also suggested.

'Little things things like purchasing their stationery or a personal item like a drink bottle or lunchbox can all contribute to a sense of occasion for a child.'

Sharon also stressed the importance of making sure kids are really well organised ahead of the day.

'If you've bought a uniform before the holidays make sure your child tries this on again before their first day, in case they've had a recent growth spurt,' she said.

For children who might appear overwhelmed when they first start, Sharon said to make every effort to keep the lines of communication.

'Asking questions like "What was the best thing about school today?" or "What was your favourite thing about today?" starts off those conversations in a positive way.'

Big brother Thomas (pictured left) is a couple of years ahead of Patrick (pictured left) at school

Mrs Campbell knows this change will be a big one in her hers and Patrick lives, but she maintains it's one the family are ready for.

'Yes, of course, it's upsetting and emotional for you but they've been looking forward to it for so long.

Her advice to first-time parents is to really make the effort to keep the focus on the kids, and similarly to Sharon, make it the most positive experience possible.

'You don't want them to sense there's anything to be really apprehensive or nervous about because then they will worry.

'Be as encouraging and positive as you can,' she concluded. 'And always maintain your enthusiasm.'
A teenager girl's heartbreaking text messages about being bullied for wearing a dress has gone viral, leaving many to question how some people can be so cruel.

A high school student named Bailey texted her mom to ask her to bring her a T-shirt and jeans to wear after she realized people were mocking her for wearing a dress.

Her mom was a bit confused at first, and after she asked what her daughter was wearing, Bailey explained: 'A dress and people are making fun of me and taking pictures of me and I wanna change.'

Heartbreaking: A high school student named Bailey texted her mom to ask her to bring her a T-shirt and jeans after she realized people were mocking her for wearing a dress

Bully: Someone named Dylan took a Snapchat photo of her legs and called her 'Thicc'

Bailey's mom didn't skip a beat when she asked if she needed shoes too, and she promised she would be there in seven minutes.

Just five minutes later, she had arrived at Bailey's school.

A screengrab of their text messages, a selfie of Bailey in her dress, and a Snapchat photo someone had taken of her legs were soon being shared on Facebook and Twitter to raise awareness for bullying.

The Snapchat photo was taken by someone named Dylan who called Bailey 'Thicc.'

Support system: Bailey asked her mom to bring her jeans and a T-shirt to change into, and she came right away

Retweet: It's unclear if Bailey was the first to share the photos, but they have since been posted by people all over the world to raise awareness for bullying

Outfit of the day: The teen often snaps selfies in the bathroom to show off her outfits

It's unclear if Bailey was the first to share the photos, but they have since been posted by people all over the world.

Twitter user @IssaInfluencer posted the pictures, writing: 'While We Are Doing FillUpFNB Let's Also Put An End To Bullying Retweet For Awareness.'

Many people commented that the teen's message to her mom made them sad, with one woman calling it 'pure body shaming.'

'This isn't right. My heart is broken. Why are people such morons!?' another person tweeted.

Hard to handle: Many people commented that the teen's message to her mom made them sad

Horrified: One person asked why 'people are such morons,' while another said it was 'pure body shaming'

Hero: Others praised Bailey's mom for the way she responded to her daughter

Others praised Bailey's mom for the way she responded to her daughter.

'As a mom I just loved how her mom responded,' one person wrote. 'The world is filled all kind of humans.

'And the kind that do this ... really need to be dealt with. Her text broke my heart.'

In an ironic twist, despite her story being shared to awareness about bullying, Bailey has herself been accused of using racial and homophobic slurs by other social media users.

Some have even gone as far as to say that she doesn't deserve their support.

Going viral: Screengrabs of Bailey's text messages with her mom have been shared on Twitter and Facebook, attracting the attention of thousands

Controversy: Despite her story being shared to awareness about bullying, Bailey has herself has been accused of being racist because of some of her previous tweets

Disagreement: Some people insisted Bailey didn't deserve their support if she was being a bully herself

Many Twitter users shared a screengrab of one of Bailey's past tweet polls asking: 'If I say "I hate black people", am I racist?'

Though, someone pointed out that she had posted similar poll about white people, others shared grabs of her previous tweets that show her using slurs such as 'n***a' and f*g.

'Bullying is trash but so is this girl. "If I say I hate black people then am I racist?" Yep, that's the kinda crap your victim tweets,' a woman named Imani wrote.

'She's getting picked on coz she picks on people. I'm all for defending people from bullies but we can't defend bullies.'
Somewhere deep within my own mighty superstructure, I suspect it is never going to happen

That Margaret Thatcher statue in Parliament Square? Somewhere deep within my own mighty superstructure, I suspect it is never going to happen.

Five-legged pigs will fly over a blue moon on the twelfth of never before the former Conservative Prime Minister is so honoured, raised high on a plinth, given the pride of place she so richly deserves, right in the heart of Westminster.

I can even imagine Jeremy Corbyn getting there first, cast in recycled matter from the EdStone, his Catweazle frame depicted doing something man-of-the-people, such as tossing out a spray of birdseed for the many pigeons, not the few.

Sadiq Khan has the vain air of a London mayor who has already bagged his plot, booked the sculptor and the microbag of easy-melt bronze beads.

But Maggie, Maggie, Maggie? Out, out, out.

Five years after her death and nearly 30 after she resigned as Prime Minister, Baroness Thatcher remains what polite society calls a divisive figure. But we all know what that really means  everyone on the Left still loathes her and the passage of time has not cooled their spittle-flecked hatred.

Indeed, with the rise of Left-wing fanaticism, in the guise of Momentum and red-in-tooth-and-claw Corbynism, one could argue that the bile barometer has never been higher  with the concomitant prospects of our former leader being publicly celebrated sinking ever lower.

The idea for a statue was proposed soon after Mrs Thatchers death in 2013, when an appeal raised 300,000  but since then, there has been nothing but excuses, prevarication and a lack of appetite.

A first planning application for erection in Parliament Square was submitted last May, but six months ago, that proposal and design was thrown out over fears of vandalism from activists.

The police even stepped in to suggest redesigns that included a higher, smoother plinth to prevent the pampered sons of millionaire rock stars or skunk-addled anarchists in Guy Fawkes masks climbing aboard to do their worst.

No room for the first female and longest-serving British Prime Minister of the 20th century?

Now officials say there are too many other monuments in the square and there is no room for her, anyway.

No room for the first female and longest-serving British Prime Minister of the 20th century? Some might think she is more deserving of a place there, in that grassy square at the heart of our democracy, than long-term residents Abraham Lincoln or Nelson Mandela.

Even her daughter, Carol Thatcher, hasnt helped. Her objection to the new statues lack of handbag has been seized upon as family disapproval by those determined to keep Maggie out.

Look. I dont much like the ten-foot bronze (pictured) myself. It depicts Mrs T with a great crest of Lenny the Lion hair and swamped in the gender-neutral pomp of her garter robes.

Sculptor Douglas Jennings has certainly captured a glassy likeness, but I wanted something to celebrate the fact that here was a woman  a woman!  who had succeeded so spectacularly in a mans world. Not a woman draped in the cloak of an ancient patriarchal order. Maybe Carol was right about the handbag.

I can even imagine Jeremy Corbyn getting there first, cast in recycled matter from the EdStone, his Catweazle frame depicted doing something man-of-the-people, such as tossing out a spray of birdseed for the many pigeons, not the few

As this tortuous process blunders on, surely there has been too much focus placed on those who would object to the Thatcher statue, rather than the millions who would welcome it?

Despite current modish concerns, in time, history will suggest that Mrs Thatcher was one of the greatest PMs Britain has ever known. Pragmatic, tough and not afraid of being disliked, she made unpopular decisions for the sake of the country and interests of the nation, not merely to ensure her party stayed in power.

She did this without dither or compromise and came to understand that women have to be three times as good as men to attain a quarter of the same esteem. How one longs for that certitude and strength of character these days.

I wasnt always a fan. As a young Lefty, I had my issues with Mrs T  one of my friends even egged her and we were thrilled. Now the red smoke has cleared from my eyes and I can see the enormity of what she achieved and how many of us have benefited from her vision.

Yet, instead of Mrs Thatcher being the first woman in Parliament Square, it is to be suffragist Millicent Fawcett, following a campaign by feminist activists.

Fawcetts statue, made by Gillian Wearing, will hold a placard containing a quote from a speech she gave following Emily Davisons death during the 1913 Epsom Derby. It reads Courage calls to courage everywhere. Courage? I have always believed Davisons act of stepping out in front of a pack of thundering racehorses was reckless, dangerous and selfish.

She put innocent horses and their riders in peril  the amazing thing is that the only person she killed was herself. And to make what point? Im still not sure.

Davisons act wasnt courageous or heroic, it was utterly stupid. Courage was taking on the unions in a hidebound society in the Eighties, courage was daring to champion economic and individual liberty at a time when it was unfashionable, courage was dragging this country from long-term decline and reintroducing it to prosperity.

But for the moment, it is to be Millie and not Maggie who will be the queen of Parliament Square. Gah!

Every time I bowl past there on the bus or in a taxi and am reminded of the idiocy of a trampled martyr celebrated as a feminist triumph, while the real heroine is hidden from public gaze because of concerns about the unrest her presence might evoke, it is going to make me furious.

I want chef Angela on my desert island

Chef Angela Hartnett (pictured) was Kirsty Youngs guest on Desert Island Discs this week  and what an inspiration

Chef Angela Hartnett was Kirsty Youngs guest on Desert Island Discs this week  and what an inspiration.

At the beginning of her career, Angela was the only woman working in Gordon Ramsays kitchen. Can you imagine? The pace was gruelling: 14 hours a day, six days a week. Nobody thought Ange would last two weeks.

She went on to become a top chef without feuding, fighting or resorting to the flamboyant machismo and histrionics so common among egocentric male celebrity chefs.

At the end of the day, its only a plate of carrots, is how she puts it. Now 49, she is marrying boyfriend Neil this year and is honest about not being able to have a family.

I never said I am not having children, and then when I wanted to, it was too late, she said. She was in her mid-40s when she had IVF. But it just didnt work. If I had realised it earlier on, it probably would have happened, but I was working, working, working.

Modest, funny, sensible, kind, Angela accepts that, sometimes, you cant have it all, but counts her blessings anyway. And her zabaglione, which she makes with a splash of whisky, is divine. Heroine!
Chocolate lovers will get their first taste of ruby.

KitKat has launched the world's first millennial pink Chocolatory Sublime Ruby just in time to sweeten Valentine's Day.

Nestle said the chocolate offers 'a new taste experience, a kind of berry flavour made from the all-natural Ruby cocoa bean with a characteristic pink hue'.

KitKat has launched the world's first millennial pink Chocolatory Sublime Ruby just in time to sweeten Valentine's Day

Created by the world's leading manufacturer of high-quality chocolate and cocoa products, Swiss chocolatier Barry Callebaut spent 10 years developing the flavour.

Japanese pastry chef Yasumasa Takagi was behind the work of Sublime Ruby.

'I am extremely honoured to be a part of this landmark moment in the history of chocolate, with which I have worked intimately for over thirty years,' Takagi said.

'I have created an especially simple KitKat that allows you to enjoy the characteristic fruity fragrance and subtle acidity of ruby cacao to the fullest.'

Nestle said the chocolate offers 'a new taste experience, a kind of berry flavour made from the all-natural Ruby cocoa bean with a characteristic pink hue'

There have been more than 300 limited-edition seasonal and regional flavors of KitKats produced across Japan since 2000

For $4.50 a pack, the chocolates will be sold stores across Japan and South Korea.

There have been more than 300 limited-edition seasonal and regional flavors of KitKats produced across Japan since 2000.

But for those who don't live in Japan, the ruby chocolates are also available online in nine other countries, including the US, UK, Germany, France and Switzerland.

And for KitKat lovers in Australia, Nestle said the ruby bars are rolling out Down Under in the coming months.
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The Monaco royals were out in force last night to launch the 2018 Monte Carlo International Circus Festival.

Performers put on a show-stopping display for their VIP guests at the annual event with jugglers, trapeze artists, elephants and zebra taking to the ring.

Princess Stephanie and her brother Albert II, the children of the late Grace Kelly, were joined by Stephanie's children Pauline and Louis Ducruet for the official opening ceremony on Thursday evening.

The much-anticipated annual circus has become something of an institution in the principality and has been running since 1974, with this year's event due to run from January 18 until January 28.

The 42nd event is being held at the Chapiteau de l'Espace Fontvieille (Chapiteau of Monaco), an open-air amusement park by the sea, with tickets costing up to $190 (137).

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Roll up, roll up! Monaco's royals L-R Pauline Ducruet, her mother Princess Stephanie, Prince Albert II, Louis Ducruet and his partner Marie are given a royal welcome as they launch the 42th Monte-Carlo International Circus Festival in Monaco

Show-stopping display: The Monegasque royals were dazzled by a series of world-class acts including Jozsef and Merrylu Richter on horseback (left) and gymnasts performing a gravity-defying display (right)

World-famous double-act Equestrian Pas de Deux, featuring acrobats Jozsef and Merrylu Richter, are joined by a charging elephant as they perform during the opening ceremony on Thursday night

In keeping with the evening's carnivalesque theme, the women of the House of Grimaldi pulled out all the stops with a series of colourful ensembles, with 23-year-old Pauline donning a metallic silver trouser suit.

This year also marks 250 years since equestrian Philip Astley 'invented' modern circus as we know it with a performance near London's Westminster Bridge involving jugglers, dogs, monkeys and music before taking the spectacle to France for the court of Louis XVI.

And to celebrate the milestone anniversary, Princess Stephanie invited world-famous double-act Equestrian Pas de Deux, featuring Jozsef Richter Junior and his wife Merrylu, to the ring.

The family also unveiled a commemorative plaque dedicated to Philip Astley.

Merrylu Richter performs with elephants and zebra as part of double-act Equestrian Pas de Deux. This year's circus is staged at an open-air amusement park by the sea, with tickets costing up to $190 (137)

Bringing the glamour: In keeping with the evening's carnivalesque theme, the women of the House of Grimaldi pulled out all the stops with a series of colourful ensembles, with 23-year-old Pauline (pictured) donning a metallic silver trouser suit

Applause: Members of the House of Grimaldi looked suitably impressed as they gave the performers an enthusiastic round of applause from the royal box. The 42nd event is being held at the Chapiteau de l'Espace Fontvieille (Chapiteau of Monaco)

A right royal welcome: At one point the circus ringmaster approached the royal box to give a formal welcome to his VIP guests. Princess Stephanie (centre) opted for a more pared-back look than her daughter in a white fringed boucle blazer

Age-defying: Princess Stephanie, Countess of Polignac, looked far younger than her 52 years in her chic monochrome ensemble. She is the youngest child of Rainier III, Prince of Monaco, and American actress princess Grace of Monaco

Putting on the ritz: L-R Louis Ducruet, Prince Albert II, Princess Stephanie, Countess of Polignac and her daughter Pauline Ducruet unveil a plaque commemoration Philip Astley, who created the modern circus in 1768, 250 years ago this year

The circus's Organising Committee this year welcomed Hungarian high-wire performers Simet Trio to show off their incredible 'astronauts' balancing act on a gigantic moving arc this year - dubbed a 'gravity-defying aerial act' by the board.

According to tradition, an international jury under the presidency of Princess Stephanie will honour the best acts of the Festival with the famous Golden, Silver and Bronze Clowns awards on the circus's closing night.

Stephanie, who is President of the extraordinary show, helps to oversee the Circus Festival and is involved in everything from choosing the acts to the choreography.

Her father Prince Ranier was the brains behind the first festival, which now as then, specialises in traditional circus acts from clowns to acrobats.

Members of the Shanghai Acrobatic Troupe put on an eye-popping performance during the opening ceremony, attended by a host of royals as well as world-class performers on the 250th anniversary edition of the show-stopping circus festival

Special guests: The circus's Organising Committee invited Hungarian high-wire performers Simet Trio to show off their incredible 'astronauts' balancing act (pictured) on a gigantic moving arc - dubbed a 'gravity-defying aerial act' by the board

Animal magic: Acrobats Jozsef and Merrylu Richter perform with elephants and a giraffe. According to tradition, an international jury Stephanie will honour the best acts of the Festival with awards on the circus's closing night

Stephanie, who is is tenth in line to the throne, is an enthusiastic supporter of the glittering event and first attended when she was just nine and has been a dedicated attendee ever since.

The royal, whose official title is the Countess of Polignac, famously eloped with an elephant trainer in 2001, along with her three children, before returning to Monaco.

But the relationship came to an abrupt end and, two years later, she married a circus acrobat - a relationship which also ultimately ended in divorce.

Controversy surrounded Camille's birth in 1998 as Stephanie neglected to name a father on her birth certificate.

As such, Camille is not included in the line to the Monegasque throne, unlike her brother Louis Robert and her sister Pauline Grace.
A parenting expert voiced her support for moves to discourage best friendships at primary schools - because it's too 'territorial'.

Speaking on Good Morning Britain on Friday, Liz Fraser said she backed schools where pupils are taught to refrain from having a single 'best friend' - which is the ethos at Prince George's school, Thomas's Battersea - because it makes children 'possessive' of one another.

The mother-of-four, who said she didn't have a best friend herself while growing up, said she believes it's a good idea to have 'broad' friendship groups.

But viewers watching at home branded the notion of preventing children from having one best friend 'ridiculous'.

Parenting expert Liz Fraser supports a ban on children having best friends in primary schools because it makes them 'territorial'

Fraser said while she didn't think a best friend ban could be completely enforced in schools, she supported the idea because it 'separates' children.

She explained: 'It immediately [separates] this friend out as being different from all other friends, which immediately sets you into a mini group.

'Some children don't have a best friend, I didn't have a best friend, if I did have a best friend I think it's because no one wanted to be friends with us.'

Fraser called on primary school teachers to encourage children to have a large group of friends, rather than one 'best' one.

Viewers were shocked by her comments, with many saying the mother-of-four supported the ban because she didn't have a childhood best friend

She said the concept of best friendships was more relevant to female pupils, and makes little girls 'possessive' of their best friends.

She continued: 'Boys don't have best friends, they have mates whereas girls have a best friend. It's very territorial, it's quite possessive, and for me there's an element of it's actually not to do with this friendship, it's more about telling everybody else this is my best friend.

'I think it's a good idea to try and keep things a bit more broad.'

The debate arose because of recent news that some American schools have banned best friends because it can make children without one feel lonely.

She argued that it is often little girl who have best friends and it teaches them to be 'possessive'

Viewers were shocked by the argument, with many accusing Fraser of not understanding why children need best friends as she didn't have one herself growing up.

One tweeted: 'The only thing that got me out of bed & to school was to see my best friend! Let children be children.'

'We've turned into a right nation of p******,' another posted.

A third agreed: 'They don't always have a concept of a ''best'' friend at this age. Stupid discussion.'

Psychologist Dr Mark Rackley said having a best friend at a young age teaches children how to build relationships

Fraser was countered in the debate by psychologist Dr Mark Rackley, who said having a best friend is important because it teaches them important life skills about forming relationships.

He also said having one particularly close friend is important to children who don't have any siblings.

Dr Rackley explained: 'Where best friends really come into their own is with children who have no siblings so that best friend can be a substitute brother or sister.

'The best friend is the only supportive relationship that child might have so pulling that away might actually damage the child more than letting the child have a best friend.'
Ahead of their May wedding, Prince Harry and Ms Meghan Markle have been wowing crowds on a royal tour of far from exciting places: Nottingham, Brixton, Cardiff. Lucky them.

There is no question that Meghan is good news for the British royal family - she will follow a long, almost flawless, line of spouses who act as a much needed counterweight to their royal partners: Elizabeth (the Queen Mother), Philip, Sophie, Camilla, Catherine.

But she would be better news if she could master a few royal fashion rules. Its not too difficult and there have been one too many black coats, for me. Perhaps she will learn once she marries?

Meghan was seen wearing a pair of black jeans during her engagement in Cardiff on Thursday, though William says that denim shouldn't be seen on duty

Here is my critique of the future Princess Harrys clothing choices.

Cardiff

The big eye popper from yesterdays trip to Cardiff was the black jeans. I am not sure I am prepared to accept royalty in denim when they are on duty - even if the jeans are of Welsh origin.

Granted, her fiance and future brother-in-law have done this before but jeans are not really lady like and for future royal engagements I would stress to all younger members of the royal family that it may be more respectful towards the crowds and organisations they are meeting to avoid them and dress up - even if just a little bit.

Again, we saw Meghan opt for black as the colour of her coat, which as well as being a little sombre for such a happy occasion means that she will not stand out as much in the throng.

William says that he would like to have seen the bride-to-be embrace more colour during her visit to Wales

Usually, The Queen will wear a brighter colour when on walkabouts in order for those who far away to still see her.

I would have liked to have seen Meghan paid tribute in some, small way to the colours of Wales, which others have done before her, but her conscious choice to break away from tradition is showing maturity and she is carving out a personality of her own, however much that may irk traditionalists like me.

Brixton

Much was made of the 45 Marks and Spencer jumper Meghan wore when visiting south London.

During her visit to Brixton, Meghan, again, opted for a very neutral colour palette of black and sand

The etiquette expert adds that he wasn't necessarily impressed by Meghan's choice of a 45 Marks and Spencer jumper

As the royal couple were visiting perceived less affluent areas of the city it was presumably done to avoid a public display of wealth - but let us not forget the rest of her outfit cost 1,573.

I want royalty to look like royalty. There is no point pretending that they arent who they are. I find it patronising when royalty and politicians pretend to be like the proletariat, but I assume Meghan is treading a fine line as she currently holds almost royal status.

A day out in Nottingham

Just a few days after the announcement of the engagement, the new royal couple ventured to Nottingham.

I was pleased to see that Meghan chose to have a decent, daytime bag with a strap, even though some press misguidedly said it broke royal protocol. It did not.

Royal women don't traditionally wear black but it was Meghan's colour of choice for her first engagement with Harry in Nottingham

William was impressed with Meghan's choice to have a decent, daytime bag with a strap

The nice big coat was suitable for a winery trip to the black country, but Meghan neednt have taken the areas nickname so seriously and actually worn black.

Royal women dont traditionally wear black - unless in mourning or during remembrance - although some would argue that rule is dated. Black does, however, look svelte, streamlined and elegant, which is probably why the future royal wife chose the coat.

Christmas at Sandringham

This is the most formal we have seen Meghan so far, which is apt seeing as it was in the presence of her new, extended family as well as being Christmas Day.

William says that opting for a brown colour palette was a wise choice for Meghan during her first Christmas at Sandringham

Her shoes, hat and gloves were brown - good choices for the country setting - and the coat was a more muted, earthy camel colour, again suitable for a bucolic gathering.

There wasnt much wrong from a protocol point of view with her Christmas wardrobe (although the handbag looked jolly unpractical and too clunky for my liking) but all her hard work was undone when the future Duchess of Sussex (if the book-keepers are right) stuck her tongue out at a passer-by.

Royalty do not have protruding tongues.

The engagement photoshoot

It is not appropriate to go bare legged in November according to William, as Meghan did following the announcement of her engagement

White after Labor day, no tights and a coat that was too short. Meghans first official outing as a fiance may have been a media success but with a properly fitting coat and hosiery it would have been more successful.

You may be able to get away with no tights in November in California but this is Britain, and the cooler months certainly need extra layers.

William (pictured) is however, impressed with the couple's ability to compliment one another's outfits

Thankfully they were only outside for barely five minutes so there would have been little need to thaw out in front of a Nottingham Cottage fire once back inside.

Lets not forget Ms Markles slight over the shoulder wave, too (first seen in November). Meghan needs to master the more subtle, gentle Windsor wave in order to fully embrace courtly behaviour

The good news

Its not all doom and gloom from me for Meghan.

Prince Harry and Meghan have managed to do what so many (non royal) couples fail to do when they step out in public - they do actually look like a pair and their dress compliments the others.

Today we have hoards of the great British public who go for dinner or arrive at parties looking like they are going to separate events - often with the girls making too much effort and the boys making too little.

Prince Harry and Meghans more relaxed wardrobes are perfectly suited to each other - hopefully, like the couple themselves.
They're perhaps one of the most divisive fashion items of all time, with some adoring their sheepskin cosiness and others deploring their ugliness.

Now the classic Ugg boot has undergone a high-fashion makeover in partnership with the French brand Y/Project, unveiled at the men's show at Paris Fashion Week yesterday.

But stylistas were left horrified by the Ugg's rebirth as a slouchy thigh high boot, likening them to the coat of a Shar Pei dog and saggy, wrinkled elephant skin.

One said it was the 'end of civilisation', while another said we should all 'forget Uggs ever happened'.

Others pointed out that if tall, slim models can't pull them off there's no hope for the average person.

New and... improved? Ugg, which is based in Goleta, California, partnered with the French brand Y/Project for a new collection reinventing its classic boot

Big debut: The collaboration was revealed today in the French capital when models walked the runway during the Y/Project men's show at Paris Fashion Week

Y Project designer Glenn Martens kept the trademark elements of the iconic, love-it-or-hate-it brand based in Goleta, California, including sheepskin and the shoes' famous chestnut color.

For the rest of the shoes, though, he completely departed from the classic bootie's shape, and instead created several extravagant models.

One of them consists in a multi-layered shoe with three rinds of fur going up the model's leg.

Another is a thigh-high, droopy boot with a flat sole, engulfing the model's lower body.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, Martens also created a pair of open-toe slip-ons lined with fur, with Ugg and Y/Project's names on top.

Martens explained that he wanted to 'trigger' people with his designs, by giving the classic Ugg boot an 'unexpected' makeover.

'The Ugg Classic boot is one of the most recognizable shoes in history. It's timeless and challenging design made it a worldwide statement.

One commentator likened the boots to saggy elephant skin

'Y/Project is about challenges. Since launch we've been twisting the grounded codes, we challenged the acceptable and triggered people by putting focus on the unexpected,' he said.

'By reworking the Classic boot with a typical Y/Project twist such as the triple overlaps and the extra-long legs we want to celebrate the Ugg brand's unique history.'

The capsule collection was presented by both male and female models, reflecting Martens' focus on creating pieces that can be worn regardless of gender.

Arresting: Designer Glenn Martens completely departed from the classic bootie's shape, and instead created several extravagant models such as this three-tiered shoe

Eye-catching: The collection also includes a thigh-high, droopy boot with a flat sole, engulfing the model's lower body

Mission accomplished: Martens explained that he wanted to 'trigger' people with his designs, by giving the classic Ugg boot an 'unexpected' makeover

DNA: The designer kept the trademark elements of the iconic, love-it-or-hate-it boot, including sheepskin and the shoes' famous chestnut color

'You'll see the exact same piece on a man as on a woman, just styled differently,' he added.

Ugg, meanwhile, was delighted with the way Martens reinvented its classic shoe.

'It has been a real pleasure working with Glenn and the team,' Andrea O'Donnell, the president of fashion and lifestyle at Ugg's parent company Deckers, said.

Something for everyone! At the opposite end of the spectrum, Martens also created a pair of open-toe slip-ons lined with fur, with Ugg and Y/Project's names on top

Rustic chic? The eye-catching Ugg boots were styled along with plaid shorts and bulky coats

Satisfied: Ugg, meanwhile, was pleased by the way Martens reinvented its classic shoe

Please clap: Martens (pictured) stepped out for a round of applause at the end of the show during which he presented his new designs

'He designs conceptual and thought-provoking collections and footwear, we knew he would do something unexpected with our Ugg classic boot.

'Re-interpreting our DNA in new and exciting wayswe love the results!'

Ugg's new releases come just a month after it debuted a heeled version of its classic sheepskin boot.

Christened the Kasen, the shoe comes in two different versions: a low boot, which is priced at $150, and a tall one, which retails for $250.

Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, an ambassador for Ugg, was spotted wearing the new shoes ahead of their release, styling them with jeans and a beige coat, however not everyone appeared convinced that adding heels to Ugg boots, which are favored by many for their comfort, was a good idea.

'Who is out there putting heels on UGGs?! MAKE THEM STOP. Immediately,' one Twitter user wrote after photos of the new Kasen boots emerged.
No matter how successful we get, parents can always be relied upon to keep our feet on the ground.

As proven by author Celeste Ng, who shared her mother's brilliantly underwhelmed response to news her daughter had hit the prestigious New York Times bestseller list on Twitter.

The US writer had sent her mother a screenshot of the list, with her book Little Fires Everywhere in the number 4 spot.

Instead of effusive congratulations, her mother's response read: 'Great, going to brunch downstairs in a little while. Love you.'

The writer shared the response on Twitter, thanking her mother for keeping her 'ego in check'.

Celeste Ng was excited to discover that her book Little Fires Everywhere is now a New York Times Bestseller

The amused writer shared the response on Twitter, thanking her mother in the post for keeping her 'ego in check'.

Her book Little Fires Everywhere had come fourth on the hardback fiction section of the prestigious list.

She took a screengrab and texted her mother the news, saying: 'Morning mom! I thought you might like to see this week's NYT bestseller list.'

Her unfazed mother's reply was succinct, to say the least.

She replied: 'Great, going to brunch downstairs in a little while. Love you.'

She was excited to tell her mother the news, but got a rather underwhelmed response to her message

Her mother appeared to be more excited to go to brunch than she was about her daughter's achievement

Far from being hurt, Celeste appeared to find the response hilarious and shared it with her 43,000 Twitter followers.

She posted: 'No one like a mom to keep your ego in check.'

The hilarious exchange has since gone viral, with nearly 45,000 people liking and retweeting the post on Twitter.

It also inspired others to begin sharing their own stories of their parents' less than enthused responses to their children's triumphs.

The post went viral on Twitter, with Celeste's followers sharing the hilarious responses they'd received from their own parents

@MorganrScarboro posted: 'My mom once asked me for addresses for graduation announcements. I said ''ok but later, I'm having an existential crisis right now.'' She replied with ''Sorry. I still need the addresses.'''

@JennyYangTV tweeted: 'Almost as real as when I texted my mom 'I love you mommy' and she wrote back 'OK.'

@Freshwaterlover wrote: 'First time I told my mom I got published she said, ''Ya know, your sister is such a good writer that if she wanted, I'm sure she could be the next Michael Crichton.' (My sis is an MD in private practice with no desire to publish!) Irish mom's version of ''supportive''!'
It's long been magnet for the rich and famous in the winter months, and Gstaad welcomed a royal visitor this week in the shape of Lady Amelia Windsor.

The Duke of Kent's granddaughter attended a VIP fashion dinner at the exclusive Swiss resort.

The 22-year-old Edinburgh University student turned fashion muse, who was dubbed the world's 'most beautiful royal' by society bible Tatler, joined designer Sara Battaglia and French actress Aymeline Valade at the bash thrown by Moncler and Mytheresa.com.

Guests enjoyed glasses of hot gluhwein to keep them warm as they took in the snowy scenery at the picturesque resort, before sitting down to dinner.

Lady Amelia Windsor, 22, attended an event tucked away in the Swiss mountains of Gstaad

Wearing a fitted black quilted shell coat, with her hood pulled up over her hair, she sipped warm glasses of warm Austrian wine

Lady Amelia wore a quilted black coat with a hood to keep warm in the snow, which she slipped off once inside to reveal a feather trimmed black shell top and hot pink trousers.

Her sleeveless black top was trimmed with feathered around the waist.

She added a pair of hot pink trousers to the ensemble and accessorised with a thick gold chain with delicate charms hanging.

She was joined by likes of actress Aymeline Valade, blogger Doina Ciobanu and designer Sara Battaglia.

Her honey blonde hair was sleek and un-styled, hanging loose around her shoulders and she kept her make up minimal with a soft brown eye shadow and a nude lip.

Lady Amelia has been making increasingly frequent appearances at fashion parties since being tapped by Dolce & Gabbana to appear in a campaign.

She made a show-stopping appearance at the British Fashion Awards last month, wearing a sheer lace gown.

The granddaughter of the Queen's cousin attended many high profile catwalk shows in 2017, and has also walked the runway numerous times herself.

The young royal was joined by the likes of atress Aymeline Valade, blogger Doina Ciobanu and designer Sara Battaglia

Amelia opts for a feathered blouse with a pair of hot pink trousers as she spends the evening at a fashion event with Michael Kliger, President of Mytheresa.com and Ludivine Pont from Moncler

Since that appearance on the BFA red carpet, industry experts have tipped her as having the potential to earn herself 1 million through brand collaborations over 2018.

Branding expert Chris Ogle, of Flow Digital, told Femail: 'Realistically, should she choose to monetise her value through brand endorsements, she would be able to earn around 1m per year without too much difficulty.'

As well as modelling for Dolce & Gabbana, Amelia is now represented by the same modelling agency as original supermodel, Kate Moss.

Musician Mimi Xu (pictured left) and model Aymeline Valade (pictured right) strike poses in the snow

Giddy up! The guests enjoyed the snow as they were pulled along by horses in the traditional way

Doina Ciobanu stood in front of the horses for a perfect photo opportunity

The guests were taken for a sleigh ride in the mountains of Gstaad. Musician Mimi Xu (pictured left) and model Aymeline Valade (pictured right) playfully pose against the snowy backdrop

Pictured from left to right: Aymeline Valade, Tamu McPherson and Mimi Xu

Pictured left to right on their horse-drawn sleigh: Tiffany Hsu, Mimi Xu, Aymeline Valade, Hannah Herzspung, Zachary Handley

Ludivine Pont, Tiffany Hsu, Tamu McPherson (pictured from left to right) enjoy a hot chocolate in the snow

Designer Sara Battaglia looked sensational in a boldly printed ski suit against the picturesque back drop

Pictured left to right: Hannah Herzsprung, Nina Suess, Tamu McPherson, Tiffany Hsu stand outside a wooden chalet

Fashion event fit for royalty! Nina Suess (pictured left) and blogger Doina Ciobanu (right) pose for the camera inside the barn

Sara Battaglia, Mimi Xu cosy up whilst having a drink inside the luxury setting

German fashion blogger Nina Suess and actress Hannah Herzsprung enjoy a drink together

Tamu McPherson wore a pair of striped tracksuit bottoms paired with a clutch bag

Aymeline Valade dons an over-sized trench coat that she teamed with a bobble hat

Say cheese! Some of the guests smile for the camera before they had their dinner
Huma Abedin was all bundled up in a colorful faux fur coat to take her son to school on Friday morning, but she wasn't wearing her wedding ring following reports she and her disgraced husband Anthony Weiner withdrew their divorce proceedings.

The 41-year-old drove her five-year-old son Jordan to school in a red SUV and parked the vehicle on a New York City street before getting out and walking him the rest of the way.

Abedin, a longtime Hillary Clinton aide, looked chic in a $695 Alice + Olivia coat, which she wore over an all-black ensemble.

Vibrant look: Huma Abedin, 41, wore a colorful $695 Alice + Olivia faux fur coat  but no wedding ring  as she took her son to school on Friday morning

Out and about: The school run marks the first time Abedin was pictured since she and her estranged husband Anthony Weiner withdrew their divorce proceedings

New York minute: The 41-year-old drove her five-year-old son Jordan to school in a red SUV and parked the vehicle before getting out and walking him the rest of the way

She donned dark, oversize sunglasses, a gold necklace, and knee-high, wedge boots featuring silver studs for the school run.

It is not the first time that Huma has sported the vibrant colored faux fur; in December she stepped out in the same designer jacket when she stepped out for a solo evening on the town in New York City.

She also has a multi-colored $1,000 mink vest from the same brand, which she wore while dropping her son off at school back in November.

On this occasion, Abedin also wore a red lanyard with an ID card around her neck, which looked a bit out of place with her stylish ensemble.

The doting mom was seen carrying Jordan's backpack while escorting her son to school, keeping a firm hold of his hand as they crossed the street together.

After she dropped Jordan off, Abedin walked to her SUV with her arms crossed, keeping her hands hidden from the winter chill.

The school-run appears to be the first time Abedin was pictured since she and her estranged husband called off their divorce proceedings.

Helping hand: The doting mom held on to her son's backpack as she helped him get out of the backseat of her SUV

Shielding her eyes: Abedin wore dark, oversize sunglasses for the school run on Friday morning

Chic: Abedin donned an all-black ensemble underneath her colorful red, black, and blue coat

Safety first: The mom held her son's hand as they crossed a New York City street together

A lawyer for Abedini submitted paperwork in New York Supreme Court last Wednesday just a few hours before a scheduled 2:15 p.m. hearing in the case with Judge Michael Katz.

That filing was signed by both Abedin and her husband, who is serving out his 21-month sentence in a Massachusetts prison.

Page Six was the first to report the story.

'In order to ensure the proceedings have a minimal impact on their child, the parties have decided to attempt to reach a settlement swiftly and privately,' Abedin's lawyer said in a statement on Wednesday.

Abedin submitted her divorce papers on the same day Weiner appeared in court to enter his guilty plea back in May.

This sudden change of heart came just two days after DailyMail.com reported that Abedin had downloaded classified emails on to Weiner's computer.

Fashion fan: Huma wore the same colorful coat on a solo outing in December (right) and also has a $1,000 mink vest from the same brand which she was seen wearing in November (left)

Stylish: Abedin topped off her outfit with knee-high, wedge boots featuring silver studs

Next stop: After she dropped Jordan off, Abedin walked to her SUV with her arms crossed

Keeping warm: The longtime Hillary Clinton aide kept her hands hidden from the winter chill

Weiner is behind bars after entering a guilty plea to a single charge of transferring obscene material to a minor last year.

Those charges arose after DailyMail.com revealed in September of 2016 that Weiner had been sexting a 15-year-old high school student from North Carolina for months.

In the wake of that revelation he had his laptop seized, emails found on the device led to a second FBI probe into Clinton's email server, which she later claimed cost her the election.

The high school student Weiner corresponded with said the online relationship began in January of 2015 while she was a sophomore and lasted for several months.

At one point during a Skype chat Weiner asked her to undress and touch herself according to the girl.

In another message, Weiner told the teen: 'I would bust that tight p***y so hard and so often that you would leak and limp for a week.'

On-again, off-again: Huma called off her divorce to Weiner last Wednesday (couple above in court this past September)

For the kid: 'In order to ensure the proceedings have a minimal impact on their child, the parties have decided to attempt to reach a settlement privately,' said her lawyer (Weiner and Abedin above with son Jordan)

Weiner did not deny exchanging 'flirtatious' messages with the girl.

'I have repeatedly demonstrated terrible judgement about the people I have communicated with online and the things I have sent,' he told the DailyMail.com in a statement.

'I am filled with regret and heartbroken for those I have hurt.

'While I have provided the Daily Mail with information showing that I have likely been the subject of a hoax, I have no one to blame but me for putting myself in this position. I am sorry.'

Abedin married Weiner in July 2010 in a ceremony that was officiated by Bill Clinton and covered in the pages of Vogue, getting pregnant with the couple's first child just a few months later.

The couple was not even a year into their marriage when news broke that Weiner had been sexting women online after he tweeted out a photo of his erect penis that he had meant to privately send a woman on the social media site.

All falls down: The two separated for good, however, in August of 2016 when news of another sexting scandal broke (Abedin after learning of Weiner's sext scandal in August 2016 above)

Down and out: Weiner announced he would run for NYC mayor in late May of 2013, but just two months later allegations emerged that he had continued to sext in the years after he resigned from Congress (above speaking with the press in July 2013)

Weiner resigned from Congress soon after, and in December Abedin gave birth to their son Jordan.

In 2013, Weiner decided to run for mayor of New York City and also agreed to be filmed for a documentary about his return to politics.

Weiner announced he would run in late May, but just two months later allegations emerged that he had continued to sext in the years after he resigned from Congress, using the name 'Carlos Danger.'

Among the women who had been corresponding with the politician was a then-22-year-old Sydney Leathers, who said that she had been sharing messages and explicit photos with Weiner as recently as April of that year.

She gave constant interviews, spoke with the press and even showed up to Weiner's election night party.

This was all captured by the filmmakers, as were the moments early in Weiner's campaign where his wife was the one who had to make calls and solicit donations for her husband while he assured her he was a reformed man.

The two separated for good, however, in August of 2016 when news of another sexting scandal broke, with Abedin spending the next few months focusing on the campaign while Weiner eventually went off to rehab.
The judge presiding over Larry Nassar's sentencing hearing is being lauded on social media for how she she is handling the proceedings.

Judge Rosemarie Aquilina has opened up the hearing to an unlimited number of victim impact statements, allowing those who have charged Nassar with sexually abusing them the chance to speak on the record. More than 50 have spoken so far.

Many who have been following the case at home have been impressed by Judge Aquilina for showing patience and compassion to the victims, as well as having a no-nonsense attitude toward Nassar  and they've voiced their approval on Twitter.

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Props: Judge Rosemarie Aquilina is earning high praise on social media

Guilty: She is presiding over the sentencing hearing of former Team USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar, who pleaded guilty to sexual misconduct

Fans: Many on Twitter have called the judge 'amazing' for her kind words and patience

'I am impressed with your genuine kindness to each and every survivor in your court this week,' wrote one

Lauded: 'Judge Aquilina is incredible for letting this happen and supporting all these women,' wrote one

Open: The judge has opened up the floor to any woman who would like to give a victim impact statement

High stakes: Nassar has been accused by 140 girls and women of sexual abuse

Will be heard: So far, 120 have reached out and expressed an interest in giving a statement

In November, Nassar pleaded guilty to criminal sexual conduct. On Tuesday, his sentencing hearing began, with Judge Aquilina presiding.

One after one, gymnast have stood up to deliver victim impact statements. More than 140 women and girls have accused Nassar of abusing them, and initially the Michigan Attorney General's Office (which prosecuted Nassar) said it expected 88 to deliver statements.

When the hearing began, Judge Aquilina said she expected the statements to last until Friday  but has since noted that 120 women have asked to read statements, and the hearing would be extended through Tuesday.

And many men and women on social media are thrilled to see her giving each alleged victim a voice.

'The women who have spoken out against Larry Nassar are brave, beautiful heroes. And Judge Aquilina is a damn queen,' tweeted one New York woman, echoing the sentiments of many others who have posted.

'Judge Aquilina is incredible for letting this happen and supporting all of these women,' tweeted another.

Where to begin: On Thursday, Judge Aquilina spent ten minutes responding to asix-page, single-spaced complaint Nassar filed

All for it: Twitter users loved her no-nonsense response

Not so: The judge chided him for accusing her of turning the hearing into a media circus

The nerve: He complained that listing to victim statements was detrimental to his mental health

Seriously? Many people were shocked that he would try to garner sympathy

No way: They were happy the judge did not let him get off without a lecture

Thumbs up: Several wanted to give her awards for being 'bada**' and 'awesome'

A third wrote: 'I love that Judge Aquilina has been so supportive to all the survivors who have been brave enough to speak their truth in the presence of Nassar and the world. I can only imagine how much her kind and empowering words mean to all those courageous women!'

Several have called her 'awesome,' 'amazing,' and a 'hero' for giving each one a chance to speak and turning the spotlight on this issue.

'The Judge handling the Larry Nassar trial and victim impact statements is utterly amazing. Would love to give her a hug one day for her kind words to the survivors,' wrote one.

Nassar himself, of course, was not quite as approving of the decision to allow so many impact statements.

On Thursday, the disgraced doctor submitted a letter to the court in which he wrote that Judge Rosemarie Aquilina was conducting a 'four-day media circus' for her own gain, and claimed that 'listening to impact statements is detrimental to his mental health.'

Decade: Judge Rosemarie Aquilina of the 30th Circuit Court for Ingham County was elected in 2008

Yes! Many on social media are glad all of the women are getting a chance to speak

You go, girl! Some used GIFs to express their appreciation

Approval: 'Love this judge!' wrote several fans

Misdirected missive: Nassar accused Judge Aquilina of using his sentencing for her own gain in a letter written earlier this week (above)

'She wants me to sit in the witness box next to her for all four days so the media cameras will be directed toward her,' Nassar wrote in his six-page, single-spaced complaint.

Judge Aquilina took the time to address the letter, telling Nassar that his words were 'delusional' and chiding: 'I didn't orchestrate this, you did.'

'You may find it harsh that you are here listening. But nothing is as harsh than what your victims endured for thousands of hours at your hands,' she said. 'Spending four or five days listening to them is significantly minor considering the hours of pleasure youve had at their expense and ruining their lives.'

Her new Twitter fans were especially impressed by her shut-down of Nassar.

'Can judges win awards for being awesome. I'd like to nominate this judge if so,' wrote one.

'These young women earned the right to address the court regarding the impact of his abuse. Bravo to this judge for reminding Mr. Nassar of that,' wrote another.

Dumb: Larry Nassar (above on Thursday with his lawyer) said in a letter submitted to Judge Aquilina on Thursday that 'listening to impact statements is detrimental to his mental health'

Surprise: On Friday, Olympian Aly Raisman delivered a victim impact statement

Speaking up: Fellow Olympian Jordyn Wieber also spoke, and a statement was delivered on Mckayla Maroney's behalf

'I am so grateful the judge on this case will not take any cr*p from Nassar. If we're going to have a web of stupid award we also need to have a Bada** Woman award for Judge Aqullina,' said a third.

Yet another chimed in: 'Judge Aquilina was spot-on and detailed in her response to convicted Nassar. Love this judge!!'

Judge Aquilina's full retort is still earning her fans a day later as more read the transcript and watch videos.

'This isn't worth the paper it's written on, there's no truth in there, it's delusional,' she began, pointing out that Nassar signed off on this when he accepted a plea deal.

'I didn't orchestrate this, you did,' she reminded Nassar.

She also referred to his words as 'mumbo jumbo' during her ten-minute response to Nassar's mental health concerns, before pointing out that he got off easier than the women in that courtroom.

Nassar then got even more bad news when Judge Aquilina reminded him that 125 women were offered the chance to speak and said she would extend the hearing for as long as it took for each of those victims to deliver their impact statements.

No smiles: 'I remember your obnoxious laugh,' said Jamie Dantzscher, who also gave a statement. 'I dont see you laughing now'

Let me clear my throat: Lindsey Lemke (above) took the podium to address some of Nassar's enablers, delivering an impassioned indictment of the doctor's friends and employers

Judge Aquilina also found some time for humor while addressing Nassar's complaint, with the serial predator sitting silently in the witness stand as she spoke.

'Now this is entertaining to me,' she said at one point, before reading from Nassar's letter. '"Aquilina said if I pass out she'll have the EMTs revive me and prop me up in the witness box."'

The judge took a beat and paused before looking at Nassar and saying: 'I suspect you have watched too much television. It's delusional. You need to talk about these issues with a therapist and that's not me.'

She then moved on to his next grievance, reading: 'Aquilina is allowing them all to talk. She wants me to sit in the witness box next to her for all four days so the media cameras will be directed at her.'

Judge Aquilina looked at Nassar in disbelief, before responding: 'I don't have a dog in this fight, sir. I didn't want even one victim to lose their voice.'

It was also revealed while Judge Aquilina was going through the letter that court adjourned early on Wednesday, so Nassar could receive treatment from mental health professionals.
Starbucks' coffee was just taken to a whole new level - thanks to the chain's newly-revealed secret menu of alcoholic drinks.

Customers are now able to order off-menu cocktails containing liquors such as vodka, whiskey, and bourbon - however the beverages are only available at one single Starbucks location in Seattle, where all beverages are made upon request by a barista-turned-bartender.

The Starbucks Reserve Roastery in Seattle offers the Espresso Martini which is made with three simple ingredients of espresso, vodka and simple or vanilla syrup and all you have to do is ask a barista at the location to make you one.

Secret: Starbucks has a secret cocktail menu full of alcoholic beverages that no one knows about and they're only available at one location

Cocktails: The secret menu is only available at the Starbucks Reserve Roastery in Seattle where you can order an espresso IPA, a whiskey infused coffee or a bourbon espresso

Kept off the menu since the Roastery has been in place, is a coffee infused martini made of espresso, vodka and syrup, all shaken with ice and then strained into a chilled martini glass with an espresso bean garnish.

If you're not a vodka drinker, that won't be an issue, as the Roastery has a fully stocked bar including whiskey and bourbon which you can swap the vodka out with.

Some people enjoy a glass of bourbon shaken with chilled espresso, while others would prefer a fresh IPA beer that's poured from tap, on-site.

The espresso infused alcoholic drinks are in fact real and a Starbucks spokesperson shared with Delish why they chose to add cocktails to a secret menu.

'Starbucks Reserve Roastery is the only Starbucks location that employs skillfully trained bartenders who craft an assortment of signature beverages and cocktails to accompany the authentic Italian cuisine at Princi.'

Starbucks collaborated with Italian artisan bakery, Princi, and added them into their Seattle location in November 2017 and since then, the Roastery has been serving up the alcoholic drink to go along with the delicious menu items that are baked on-site.

Aside from guests being able to order secret alcoholic drinks from a Starbucks barista, Princi also has their own separate menu of delicious foods from focaccia sandwiches, soups, and salads for lunch to sweet pastries and muffins for dessert.

Beer: One of the drinks available is the Espresso Cloud IPA which is espresso, orange pieces, and sweet vanilla shaken over ice to create a foam which is then poured on top of the IPA

Bar: At the Roastery, there is a secret bar with different types of alcohol that customers can order from to go along with the food from their new Italian bakery, Princi

To go along with Italian baker Rocco Princi's food menu, Princi also offers a wide variety of beer, wine and specialty cocktails on their own, if you're not interested in the Starbucks beverages.

If you're more of a beer drinker than liquor, that won't be an issue because there's fresh IPA beer available at the Starbucks and their secret drink is called the Espresso Cloud IPA.

The IPA was created by Starbucks barista, Justin Burns-Beach when he started to work at the Starbucks Reserve Roastery and Tasting Room in 2015 and wanted to create an innovative coffee recipe.

Justin created the Espresso Cloud which is simply made by shaking espresso over ice with orange pieces and a pinch of sweet vanilla, creating a foam.

Once the foam is formed, it's simply layered on top of a freshly poured glass of IPA beer and then served with a shot of cold espresso on the side.

Inside the 15,000-square-foot Reserve Roastery are two coffee bars, two roasting facility rooms, a library, a store, a lounge, and a full Italian restaurant.

The Roastery has so much to offer, but the secret alcoholic beverages are quite the crowd-pleaser.

It is one of the largest Starbucks stores in the world, located just a few blocks away from the original 1912 Pike Store in Seattle.
Katharine Gallagher, 27, died on December 5, 2017, in her Tustin, California, home.

The Boston University graduate started experiencing flu-like symptoms on Thursday night and went to the doctor on Sunday where was sent home with antibiotics.

Two days later her boyfriend came home to find her dead on the bathroom floor after she appeared to be getting better that morning .

She had caught severe acute bronchial pneumonia.

Jonah Smith, 17, died December 29, 2017, when his heart stopped beating in the backseat of his sister's car.

His family said he showed no flu-like symptoms except he had complained of a backache, but continued to go to work at a fast-food restaurant and see friends.

After his death, doctors confirmed that the teen from Arizona had the flu and pneumonia and believe he may have suffered from an underlying medical condition, though he was never known to have one.

Kyler Baughmen, 21, became sick on December 23, 2017, with a mild cough and runny nose.

The body builder celebrated Christmas and went back to work December 26, but the following day was rushed to the hospital.

He died on December 28 from kidney failure due to septic shock caused by the flu.

Jeremy Westerman, 27, fell ill with the swine flu around Christmas.

The fitness trainer had symptoms of nausea and lethargy but did not seek treatment.

His parents say he became violently ill on January 2 and went to bed with a high fever and died in his sleep.

He was one of at least 20 to die of the virus in the Dallas-Fort Worth area this flu season.

Katie Oxley Thomas, 40, of San Jose, California, died of the flu just 48 hours of falling ill.

The mother-of-three and marathon runner's condition declined so quickly that she was moved to intensive care, placed on life support and died all in the span of 15 hours on January 4, 2018.

Her family said she had received her flu shot before getting sick.

Jenny Ching, 51, went to the hospital in Massachusetts with flu-like symptoms.

After being diagnosed with the flu she developed an infection and pneumonia.

The mother-of-two died on January 6, 2018, just a week after being diagnosed.

Jonah Rieben, four, died on January 6, 2018, just hours after first showing symptoms, making him the first child to die from the flu in Ohio this season.

The boy who loved to play with his 16 adoptive siblings was born with Noonan syndrome, a genetic disorder that causes heart defects and developmental delays. Doctors are still investigating if his condition contributed to his death.

Jonah's older brother, who also suffers from a disorder, is in the hospital with a severe case of the flu.

Nico Mallozzi, 10, of New Canaan in Connecticut, had been sick and bed-bound all weekend during the hockey tournament in Buffalo, New York, forcing him to miss every game.

Eventually, he was hospitalized and diagnosed with Influenza B, which had developed into pneumonia and caused sepsis.

He died on Sunday January 14, 2018, in a Buffalo hospital.

Zainab Momin, a third-grader of Montgomery, Alabama, died on Tuesday January 16, 2018.

She died in hospital the day her school was closed due to snowy weather.

More details are pending about her specific case and symptoms.

She is the first child to die of the flu in Alabama this season.

Amanda Franks, 38, was killed by the flu on January 17 after being diagnosed just three days prior.

The mother-of-four from New Hampshire was prescribed Tamiflu but did not take it because 'the doctor said the side effects were a lot of times worse than the flu'.

Septic shock set in and she died in the ambulance on her way to the hospital.

Emily Grace Muth, six, was killed by the flu on Friday January 19, 2018.

She first fell ill on that Tuesday and went to urgent care where she received Tamiflu.

By Friday her breathing was labored and her mother called the ambulance but they said to keep her hydrated and she would be okay within a week.

Hours later she stopped breathing and died.

Tandy Harmon, a 36-year-old mother-of-two in Oregon died on Friday, January 19, 2018. She went to the hospital with flu symptoms on Wednesday, but was told to go home to rest and hydrate. Hours later, Harmon was back in the emergency room, where she quickly declined and had to be placed on life support by that evening. Harmon had developed MRSA and pneumonia and died two days later.



Lily Kershaw, 5, died of the flu on January 22 in Nebraska.

She was the first child to die of flu-related causes in the state so far this season, although there have been 21 adult fatalities so far.

More details are pending about her specific case and symptoms.

Dylan Winnik, 12, died of the flu on Tuesday January 23, 2018.

He fell ill two days earlier and his parents thought he had the common cold because his symptoms were mild.

The seventh-grader died two days later.

Dylan is the first flu death in Palm Beach County, Florida, this season.

Timothy Schell, 51, died of the flu on January 31, just days after taking a flight from his home state of Michigan to Colorado.

He suddenly developed symptoms after landing in Colorado where he and his wife, Dana, intended to spend their vacation skiing.

Schell - nicknamed 'Smiley' - was young at heart and always laughing, his obituary said.

Savanna Jessie, seven, was killed by the flu on Thursday February 1, 2018.

The first-grader was found unresponsive in her Columbus, Indiana, home the morning after.

She was taken to the hospital where she received treatment but was sent home and put to bed.

She tested positive for influenza B, strep throat and scarlet fever at the time of her death.

Angie Barwise, a 58-year-old who beat the flu once this season, was killed by another strain of the virus on February 3, 2018.

The grandmother from Fort Worth, Texas, was diagnosed with influenza Type A three days after Christmas and recovered after being prescribed Tamiflu.

She fell ill again weeks later and was diagnosed with influenza Type B, which led to pneumonia and sepsis, killing her.

Jenna Libinsky, 24, died on February 7 in a Las Vegas hospital after coming down with the flu in late January.

She had gone to the doctor five times in eight days after January 25, but wasn't feeling better despite treatment.

After her death, her father Neil said that the family just thought it was a bad chest cold.

Heather Holland, 38 died from the flu on February 11 in Weatherford, Texas.

The mother-of-two hesitated to buy the Tamiflu prescribed by her doctor because, as she told her husband, it 'cost too much'.

Within four days of her diagnosis, Heather's body had gone into septic shock, a condition that ultimately killed her.

Aaron Masterson, 12, was declared brain dead and taken off of life support on February 11.

Aaron, a middle-schooler from Huntsville, Alabama, suffered from cystic fibrosis, a genetic disorder that damages the lungs and restricts the ability to breathe.

His pre-existing condition weakened his immune system, making his flu diagnosis far more severe and caused him to suffer brain damage.

Aaron was one of more than 63 children to be killed by the flu this season.





Nevaeh Hernandez, six, died from the flu on February 12, in spite of getting vaccinated against the illness.

The first hospital Nevaeh went to reportedly failed to diagnose the virus and sent her home with a 104 degree fever.

After her condition continued to worsen, her mother took her to another hospital where she slipped into a coma.

Her father, who is in armed services and was stationed in Germany, flew home after hearing she was in a coma but she had died by the time he arrived.
Florida could brand pornography a public health risk after a resolution was given overwhelming approval from the state House of Representatives committee on Thursday.

Spearheaded by Republican Representative Ross Spano, the resolution claimed that research has found links between pornography and 'mental and physical illnesses,' among a host of other societal and individual ills.

The resolution passed by 18 to one in the House, where the sole dissenter, Democrat Dr Cary Pigman, was also the only medical doctor on the committee.

Bill sponsor Spano initially wanted to have have pornography dubbed a state public health crisis - a status held by the opioid epidemic - in Florida, but the resolution passed by deeming adult material a 'risk' instead.

An attendee at the annual Exxxotica porn convention in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where porn may soon be considered a public health risk, admires life-like sex dolls

The resolution states that pornography is a public health risk from which Florida needs to 'protect the citizens of [the] state' through 'education, prevention, research and policy change.'

Spano - who is running for attorney general as well - and the resolution's other 17 supporters see pornography as a growing risk in an age of ever-advancing technology and access to media.

Through ubiquitous screens, 'children are exposed to pornography at an alarming rate' which is contributing to their 'hypersexualization.'

Spano's concern over porn stemmed in part from his worry over his own son, local news station WFSU reported.

'I asked my child, "Well when did you first?" He said, "I was probably ten." And I said, "Well how did you..?" And he said, "An older kid showed me. An older kid in the neighborhood,"' Spano told the station.

In the resolution, he cites research finding that 27 percent of young adults 'report that they first viewed pornography before the onset of puberty.'

The resolution says that porn has ties to a wide-ranging slew of adverse health effects, including low self-esteem, eating disorders, normalizing violence and abuse of women and children, marital problems and that it is 'potentially biologically addictive, resulting in the user consuming increasingly more shocking material to satisfy the addiction.'

In fact, psychologists and psychiatrists have considered adding porn to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), but it was once again excluded from the book's fifth edition.

In a recent interview, New York psychologist Dr Ari Tuckman told Daily Mail Online that 'porn can be easy to blame as the cause, but it's really part of the problem' when it comes to relationships.

Research has shown that watching pornography earlier tends to be linked to having sex younger, and small studies suggest that exposure at a young age may affect men's attitudes toward women.

Adult film actress Lisa Ann, who stars in the pornographic film Nailin' Pailin, performed at a pre-Republican Convention party at a Florida gentlemen's club in 2012

But Pornhub's recently released statistics revealed that more and more women are watching pornography, which Dr Tuckman says indicates a move toward greater sexual empowerment and freedom for women.

The porn industry has been a boon to the Florida economy, and Florida has historically been a boon to the porn industry.

The Exxxotica Porn Convention descends upon Fort Lauderdale every year, and Orlando and Miami both ranked in the top-ten cities for porn consumption in 2012.

On the other hand, the state also has a bad track record of child pornography cases.

...pornography is potentially biologically addictive, resulting in the user consuming increasingly more shocking material to satisfy the addiction Florida House of Representatives resolution recognizing the public health risk of pornography

Ultimately, most experts say that research on porn is inconclusive at best, and often suffers from poor methodology.

But whether porn falls into the 'good' or 'bad' category, Dr Pigman asserted that, either way, it doesn't fall into the 'biggest' category.

'I keep thinking about the other things that are public health hazards which involve a far larger number of people,' he told WFSU.

'I am a practicing physician. We have problems with hypertension, with obesity, with diabetes, with Zika,' Dr Pigman said.

He also noted that other sexual health issues, like the transmission of HIV and STDs have been on the rise.

While transmission of HIV is down in most of the country, HIV has seen an eight percent uptick in the last three years in Florida, and a new case of Zika was reported as recently as November.

Of porn, Dr Pigman said: 'I'm not sure that we need to spend legislative time enunciating a particular complaint when we have others that are far more pressing.'
A young woman suddenly developed a bizarre rash which now covers her whole body, leaving her bruised, scarred and often bed-bound.

Alia Scott, who initially mistook the symptoms for hayfever, is carpeted in hives so severe they scar and bruise and she has been unable to have hot showers over the last year.

The 21-year-old, from Waikato, New Zealand, first woke covered in a the eruption of painful and itchy bumps in March last year.

One of her neighbours had just mown their grass, so the hayfever sufferer assumed she had experienced a flare-up.

Alia Scott thought she was having a flare-up of hayfever which she suffers from

The New Zealander is covered in painful hives so severe they scar and bruise

The rash initially disappeared when she took antihistamines, but returned with a vengeance.

Ms Scott said: 'I've been left bruised and scarred by my hives.

'I haven't had a hot shower since last year, because it's such a constant battle to keep my body temperature down.

'People see a skin condition like this and assume it's a simple, itchy, allergic reaction  but it's so much more than that.

'I can only wash in freezing water. My skin feels permanently sunburnt.'

She was diagnosed with chronic idiopathic urticaria (CIU)  a condition where hives appear daily, sometimes for months or years, with no known cause.

She is unable to have hot showers and says her skin feels permanently sunburnt

The 21-year-old was diagnosed with the uncomfortable condition chronic idiopathic urticaria (CIU) which has no known cause

WHAT IS CHRONIC IDIOPATHIC URTICARIA? Chronic idiopathic urticaria (CIU) or hives are a skin reaction that causes red or white itchy welts. The welts vary in size and appear and fade repeatedly as the reaction runs its course. Chronic hives are a condition in which the welts last more than six weeks or recur over months or years. Chronic hives usually aren't life-threatening. But the condition can be very uncomfortable and interfere with sleep and daily activities. For many people, antihistamines and anti-itch medications provide relief  but others like Miss Scott find it difficult to control the symptoms. Often, the cause of chronic hives is not clear. In some cases, chronic hives are a sign of an underlying health problem, such as thyroid disease or lupus. Source: Mayo Clinic Advertisement

Pus-oozing infections

Within days of her first outbreak  still under the misapprehension that it was hayfever  her lips and eyelids began to swell, and she struggled to breathe.

Rushing to a doctor, she was prescribed antihistamines, which initially worked.

Then, in September 2017, the rash returned worse than ever.

'It just wouldn't go away. It was everywhere  from my scalp to my toes. It sprang up so quickly I could literally see it happening before my eyes,' she said.

Since then, Miss Scott has tried various different anti-allergy drugs  but nothing seems to stave off the hives for long.

Now, as she waits for a referral to see a dermatologist and immunologist, it is worse than ever sometimes leaving her physically bruised.

'It's so itchy that I used to scratch it in my sleep, which would then make it bleed. Once, it even got infected and the rash began to weep pus,' she said.

'I've had to cut my nails really short, to make sure that doesn't happen again. I used to love manicures and nail art, but I can't do that anymore.'

Miss Scott is covered by the unsightly, agonising rash from scalp to toe

Temperature trigger

Despite being classed as 'idiopathic,' meaning the cause is spontaneous or unknown, Miss Scott finds hot temperatures a huge trigger.

As a result, she has to wear loose fitting clothing and makes sure she does not stay in the sun for long.

'Anything over 26 or 27 degrees, and I have to dunk myself in a cold bath,' she said.

'Last year, I was looking forward to summer so much, but when it finally came, I spent most of it bedbound.

'My condition also causes huge swelling in my feet, which gets so bad I can't walk ,so any tight shoes, like heels, are also out.'

At its most severest, her skin can get infected and the rash began to weep pus

Miss Scott admitted that CIU has not only left her physically scarred, but mentally, too.

She continued: 'When it's at its worst, I don't leave the house. It spreads all over my face and makes me very self-conscious.

'It's incredibly isolating. I used to be a really social person, but I'm just so sick of how constant this is.

'The worry of it all has affected my sleep hugely, so I often feel fatigued.

'I fret that it'll never go away and I'll be like this for life, or that I'll find something that does work, but isn't covered by the government, so I won't be able to afford it.'

Currently on a double dosage of antihistamines while she waits for more tests, Miss Scott hopes that by sharing her story she will help others understand what it is like to live with a chronic condition.

She added: 'People struggle to believe that this kind of thing can come on out of the blue and it's not due to something I've done.
A mother who battled aggressive cancer is back at the hospital where she beat the disease  working as a nurse in training.

Ashley Moore, 30, was so inspired by the staff treating her that she decided to ditch her career as a first-grade teacher and retrain as a medic.

She was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in November 2016, just six months after the birth of her son Hudson.

Doctors found fast-growing tumors  one of which was an 8cm by 11cm mass  wrapped around her aorta. They also detected cancer spots on her lungs.

The mother-of-two is now in remission after she underwent grueling chemotherapy to combat the disease at Medical City Plano in Texas.

Mrs Moore, of Celina, Texas, says she was helped through the stressful time by an incredible team of doctors and nurses, who showed her 'amazing compassion'  and now she wants to support other patients going through a tough time.

Ashley Moore, from Texas, gave up first-grade teacher job to retrain as a medic

She says the staff's 'amazing compassion' has motivated her to help other patients

The 30-year-old was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma six months after birth of her son  she is pictured here in her new uniform

She said: 'What was supposed to be the worst time of my life actually ended up being the best because I was so inspired by the support I received by the nurses.

'It's hard to put into words. I just fell in love with them all and I was so inspired by the dedication they have and by the amazing compassion and time they had for me, even when they weren't on duty.

'It was enlightening, and I just knew that God had put me through this experience for a reason.'

She is pictured before her illness with her husband Danny, 35 and their children Hudson, now 2, and Harper, 5

Mrs Moore is in remission after having grueling chemotherapy to combat the disease

'I knew that I could get through anything'

Mrs Moore, who is mother to Hudson, two, and Harper, five, is now studying nursing in Collins College and hopes to graduate in Summer 2019.

She has already taken up a part-time position in Medical City Plano, working as a unit clerk in the orthopedic trauma.

She said: 'I'm working as clerk but it would be my dream to work as a nurse here.

'I went through the most intense experience of my life here and it would be a privilege to work with the nurses who have become such close friends.

The mother-of-two says her dream is to work as a nurse here at the orthopedic trauma where she is working as a clerk part-time while she is undergoing nurse training

She said: 'I'm in remission now and it's all because of the work of my wonderful colleagues'

'I have thought about going into oncology and I think it would be really helpful to my patients, to be able to see someone who has gone completely full circle, and come out the other side.'

Although she said leaving her job at Scott Elementary School in Frisco has been a difficult financial decision for she and her husband Danny Moore, a 35-year-old accountant, Mrs Moore said it was a path she had to follow.

'I'm in remission now and it's all because of the work of my wonderful colleagues and my amazing doctors,' she said.

'My son was only six-months-old when I was diagnosed with cancer and it was such a scary time.

'But everyone in Plano made me feel at peace and upbeat and I knew that I could get through anything.'
High street chain Starbucks has been blasted for selling a hot chocolate for children that contains nearly three teaspoons of added sugar.

The 236ml drink, topped with whipped cream, contains 11.4g of added sugar - more than half the recommended daily intake for four to six year olds (19g).

The hot beverage also could be detrimental for seven to 10 year olds, who are meant to have no more than 24g of added sugar each day under Government guidelines.

It comes just days after Starbucks, which has around 350 stores in the UK, promised to slash the use of sugar and change the face of eating out.

The 236ml drink, topped with whipped cream, contains 11.4g of added sugar - more than half the recommended daily intake for four to six year olds (19g)

The hot beverage also could be detrimental for seven to 10 year olds, who are meant to have no more than 24g of added sugar each day, under Government guidelines

The Seattle-founded firm was one of dozens to pledge to cut sugar in their food and drink by 20 per cent in the next two years.

The move is designed to meet targets set by watchdogs at Public Health England (PHE) as part of the Childhood Obesity Plan.

The new revelation, made by The Sun, suggests more needs to be done to combat sugar-laden products, especially those aimed at children.

Nutritional information on the firm's website doesn't show any information for the 'Kids' hot chocolate.

However, when visiting the UK version of the firm's website, it is listed as a possible option underneath the 'Classic Hot Chocolate' range.

It is the same size as a 'Short' and also contains semi-skimmed milk and two pumps of Mocha sauce. It is 215 calories.

HOW MUCH SUGAR CAN WE HAVE? The Government recommends that free sugars  sugars added to food or drinks, and sugars found naturally in honey, syrups, and unsweetened fruit and vegetable juices, smoothies and purees  shouldn't make up more than 5 per cent of the energy (calories) you get from food and drink each day. This means: Adults should have no more than 30g of free sugars a day, (roughly equivalent to seven sugar cubes).

Children aged 7 to 10 should have no more than 24g of free sugars a day (six sugar cubes).

Children aged 4 to 6 should have no more than 19g of free sugars a day (five sugar cubes).

There is no guideline limit for children under the age of 4, but it's recommended they avoid sugar-sweetened drinks and food with sugar added to it Source: NHS Advertisement

Campaigners have blasted the firm for targeting children with the sugar-laden treat, which is popular on a cold winter's day.

A spokesman for the British Dental Association said: 'Tooth decay is the number one reason for hospital admissions among young children.

'We urgently require industry to play its role in weaning Britain off its addiction to sugar.'

A Starbucks spokesman said: 'We offer ways to reduce sugar, including no whipped cream.'

They added: 'We do not market this drink for children in the UK.

'Any Starbucks drink can be made with a cooler milk temperature, which parents can request.

'Our menu contains variety for everyone and choosing sugar-free syrups, no whipped cream, or less drizzle and syrup can reduce added sugar.

'In 2015 we announced a five year plan to reduce added sugar in indulgent beverages by at 25 per cent and we have already made significant progress.'

Official statistics released last year showed that children eat the equivalent of 20 chocolate chip cookies' worth of sugar every day.

The vast majority of the sugar children eat is hidden in common foods such as cereals and soft drinks, making it hard for parents to control what they consume.

The Public Health England figures showed the average 11 to 18-year-old consumes 73.2 grams of sugar a day - roughly 18 teaspoons.

These worrying figures prompted new guidance, released earlier this month, that said children should be allowed just two low-calories snack a day.

The Government agency's guidance came as it warned that the average child eats almost 400 biscuits each year - which could make them fat.
A woman coughed so hard she broke a rib, a new case report reveals after doctors feared she had flu.

The 66-year-old, whose name is unknown, sought medical assistance when she struggled to shake off a dry cough that had plagued her for two weeks.

She complained of pain in her right side and had a bruise running the distance from between her rib cage and hip.

CT scans revealed this was because she had a displaced fracture of her ninth rib, meaning the rib had broken and the two ends separated.

The 66-year-old, whose name is unknown, coughed so hard she broke her rib (pictured is the bruise she suffered following her coughing fit)

The break had also caused a hernia in her chest wall, according to report published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

The woman, from Massachusetts, was initially diagnosed with a viral respiratory infection with medics believing she had flu.

But her symptoms failed to improve and she returned to her doctor.

Swabs showed she tested positive for whooping cough - despite having been vaccinated against the killer bug eight years before.

WHAT IS WHOOPING COUGH? Whooping cough is rarely serious in adults but it can be particularly dangerous for young children. It is so called because of the whooping sound youngsters make when catching their breath between coughs. Whooping cough, also called pertussis, is a highly contagious bacterial infection of the lungs and airways. It causes repeated coughing bouts that can last for two to three months or more, and can make babies and young children in particular very ill. Whooping cough is spread in the droplets of the coughs or sneezes of someone with the infection. Advertisement

Whooping cough, also called pertussis, is a highly contagious bacterial infection of the lungs and airways.

The first symptoms of whooping cough are similar to those of a cold, such as a runny nose, red and watery eyes, a sore throat, and a slightly raised temperature.

While it can be an unpleasant illness for anyone, whooping cough in infants can be extremely serious  it is fatal for one in every 500 babies who develops it.

The woman was treated with antibiotics and made a full recovery after undergoing surgery.

The new case report comes just days after doctors told the story of a British man who ruptured his throat when he tried to stop himself from sneezing.

The 34-year-old, who was not named, was rushed to A&E in excruciating pain after he held his nose and closed his mouth to try and stifle a sneeze.

He was kept in hospital for a week and had to be fed through a tube, doctors at the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust wrote in the BMJ Case Reports.
Health insurer Aetna will pay $17,000 to HIV patients whose status was exposed by mailing envelopes with a large, clear window that showed confidential information.

The company agreed on Thursday to pay at least $500 to each person whose privacy was breached by the blunder in eight states and Washington, D.C.

The settlement, which has to be approved by a court, comes four months after letters were sent to customers currently taking medications for HIV treatment as well as for Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP), a regimen that helps prevent a person from acquiring HIV.

Without opening the letter, it was possible to see details of HIV prescriptions and details for purchasing more.

The Legal Action Center and the AIDS Law Project of Pennsylvania said some patients' relatives and neighbors learned of their HIV status as a result.

Without opening the letter, it was possible to see details of HIV prescriptions and details for purchasing more. This is a redacted photo of one patient's letter from Aetna

Patients were in Arizona, California, Georgia, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C.

Aetna says that 'this type of mistake is unacceptable' and that the company is reviewing processes to ensure it never happens again.

'Through our outreach efforts, immediate relief program and this settlement, we have worked to address the potential impact on members following this unfortunate incident,' the company said in a statement.

'In addition, we are implementing measures designed to ensure something like this does not happen again as part of our commitment to best practices in protecting sensitive health information.'

The Hartford, Connecticut-based Aetna started notifying customers of the breach in letters sent in August.

Despite their attempts at apology, legal groups filed a class action suit, and described the 'shock' among patients.

Sally Friedman, Legal Director of the Legal Action Center in New York City, told Daily Mail Online: 'Aetna's privacy violation devastated people whose neighbors and family learned their intimate health information. They also were shocked that their health insurer would utterly disregard their privacy rights.'

Ronda B. Goldfein, Executive Director of the AIDS Law Project of Pennsylvania, said the Aetna letters casual disclosure of a person's HIV status or use of HIV medication is far more than a technical violation of the law.

'It creates a tangible risk of violence, discrimination and other trauma,' she said.

The attorneys said additional legal action is under consideration.

Truvada is the trade name for the most commonly-used type of PrEP ('pre-exposure prophylaxis') drug.

This drug in particular is fixed-dose combination of two anti-retroviral drugs, tenofovir and FTC, in one pill.

They work together to interfere with an enzyme which HIV uses to infect new cells, slowing down the virus's attack or preventing it altogether.

The drug is designed for people that have not yet been exposed to the virus to protect themselves against it.

Alternatively, people who have been exposed can take PEP (post-exposure prophylaxis), a month-long course of drugs started within 72 hours of exposure.
The common cold and flu share multiple symptoms that can make it nearly impossible to identify which one you're suffering from until it is too late.

Sneezing, coughing and congestion can be either illness, but having a fever and body aches come on fast and strong are tell-tale signs that you have the flu.

While one can cause a few days of discomfort, the other can lead to potentially fatal complications that have so far killed 85 adults and more than 30 children across the US this flu-season.

Speaking to Daily Mail Online, two internists broke down each viruses' unique symptoms and when to know it's time for medical help because 'if you miss it, it can kill you.'

Fever, chills and body aches are red flags that you have the flu and not just the common cold, according to medical professionals

Shared symptoms of both the flu and a cold are sneezing, congestion, a cough and sore throat.

'Oftentimes in their earliest stages it can be difficult to differentiate between these conditions,' said Dr Brian Secemsky, an internist at One Medical in San Francisco.

Symptoms unique to the flu include a high-grade fever, chills, body aches and nausea.

Cold symptoms usually stay in the nose, throat, ears and chest area.

Florida-based internist Dr Gail Van Diepen said that a fever is typically the biggest red flag that you have the flu.

The quick onset of symptoms can also help distinguish between the two.

Most people experience cold-like symptoms for a few days before reaching the peak of the illness.

Influenza comes on hard and fast.

'It can be as instantaneous as one minute you're fine and the next minute you have a headache and you begin to have cold sweats,' according to Dr Van Diepen.

THE MYTHS AND FACTS ABOUT THE FLU SHOT It is a myth that the flu shot can give you the flu. 'There isn't any live virus in the influenza vaccine so it's impossible to get the flu from the vaccine,' said Dr Tosh from the Mayo Clinic. 'There was a live vaccine that's not available any more, but it was impossible to get the flu from that too,' he added. CDC officials insist it is not too late to get the flu shot, despite evidence that this year's vaccine is only 30 percent effective against H3N2. The H3N2 strain of the virus has so far killed 85 adults and 20 children in the US. Health officials say that the vaccine could be even more valuable now since it is more effective against strains which are only just emerging - including the H1N1 strain and various B viruses. CDC figures show the majority of Americans do not get the flu shot and more and more parents are refusing to vaccinate their children. Advertisement

Dr Secemsky urges people to see a doctor if you begin to experience dizziness, shortness of breath or chest pain as it is a sign that flu symptoms may have developed into pneumonia or infection.

'Mothers should take babies to see a doctor within 24 hours if they have a high fever,' said Dr Van Diepen.

She warned that elderly people and those with pre-existing medical conditions, such as diabetes and lung disease, should especially seek medical help because they are more prone to serious infection.

Smokers are also more susceptible to developing pneumonia from the flu so it is vital for them to seek medical help at the onset of symptoms.

'Vomiting can lead to dehydration so that would also raise concern to see a doctor with a day,' she said.

While hospitals across the US are overcrowded and understaffed, Dr Van Diepen said you should still get on line.

'Don't wait too long to see a doctor and if your doctor can't see you go to a walk in clinic,' she said. 'Be proactive and don't assume it's just a cold and lay around for a few days because you could end up with pneumonia.'

The common cold and the flu are both upper respiratory infections that are highly contagious and transmitted by coming into close contact with an infected person.

They can be passed through sneezes, coughs and touching surfaces that carry the bacteria.

'While the majority of patients who get flu symptoms do quite well taking care of themselves at home, one should consider seeing a primary care clinician if he/she is of advanced age and has serious chronic health conditions,' Dr Secemsky said.

Over-the-counter medications can help ease the symptoms of both a cold and the flu and antiviral drugs are most effective if taken within 48 hours of the onset of symptoms.

New stats released on Friday show the rate of hospitalizations is soaring, not dipping, as the CDC had hoped

The CDC urges everyone to get their flu shot to best protect themselves from the virus and say it is not too late.

'Getting the flu shot can help prevent the flu and reduce the intensity of the illness if one comes down with it - highly recommended to anyone without a contraindication to receive it!' said Dr Secemsky.

Though health officials strongly encourage getting vaccinated, more parents are refusing to immunize their children.

While vaccination rates are up 12 percent since 2013, vaccine refusals are also up to more than four percent, according to the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association.

The flu shot is 30 percent effective against preventing the most common strain of the virus, H3N2, that is dubbed the 'Aussie flu' and responsible for the devastating 2014 flu season.

However, the shot is more effective in preventing B strains and the H1N1 virus that are just beginning to emerge.

'Supporting one's immune system with good rest and adequate hydration may help reduce the severity of symptoms,' said Dr Secemsky.

'Washing hands often, wearing masks, and staying home from work during periods of fever can help reduce the transmission of the virus,' he added.
On 27 February 2017 we published an article which stated that the Students' Guild at the University of Exeter had launched a probe into allegations of anti-Semitism over a tweet posted in January 2015 by its vice president for postgraduate students Malaka Shwaikh. We are happy to clarify that there was no foundation to these allegations. Ms Shwaikh has pointed out to us that the tweet, which read: If terrorism means protecting and defending my land, I am so proud to be called terrorist. What an honour for the Palestinians!, was one of a series of tweets in which she states that she was quoting responses made to her in a conversation with a student. She wishes to make clear that she emphatically denounces terrorism of all kinds. Following external pressure, the investigation launched into Ms Shwaikh cleared her of all allegations, and concluded that she has not brought the charity into disrepute. She has also never been investigated for anti-Semitism. The article has been removed, and we apologise to Ms Shwaikh for any distress that our publication caused her.

To report an inaccuracy, please email corrections@mailonline.co.uk.

To make a formal complaint under IPSO rules please go to www.mailonline.co.uk/readerseditor where you will find an easy-to-use complaints form.

You can also write to Readers Editor, MailOnline, Northcliffe House, 2 Derry Street, London, W8 5TT or contact IPSO directly at ipso.co.uk
Households in Guildford in Surrey have the greatest likelihood of being burgled of any area in the country, new research has revealed.

For every 1,000 home insurance quotes recorded that declared a burglary, 52.31 had the postcode GU3.

The town topped the list of the 20 burglary hotspot postcodes, and was followed by the postcode CB5, covering Cambridge and Fen Ditton, and Birmingham (B15).

Data from MoneySuperMarket, based on more than two million contents insurance quotes run over the past two years, where consumers are required to list burglaries in the past five years

The claims data, from comparison website MoneySupermarket, reveals the top and bottom 20 postcodes across the UK.

The data is based on more than two million quotes run over the past two years, where consumers are required to list claims for theft of contents over the past five years.

Guildford didn't appear anywhere in the top 20 hotspot list from the comparison website last year. It has replaced Redbridge, with the postcode IG4, which was at the top spot in 2017 which has now fallen outside of the list.

Cambridge has risen from twelfth place in 2017 to second in the latest data.

Major cities including Birmingham (B15), Manchester (M21), Leeds (LS5) and Liverpool (L16) all feature in the top 10 list but there are only a few London postcodes featured.

This is a marked change from last year where London dominated 16 of the top 20 spots.

TOP 20 BURGLARY HOTSPOTS BY POSTCODE Rank Postal district Area Contents theft rate (per 1,000 quotes) 1 GU3 Guildford, Compton, Normandy, Woking, Pirbright, Worplesdon, Puttenham, Fairlands, Wood Street Village, Wanborough, Artington, Artington 52.31 2 CB5 Cambridge, Fen Ditton 51.43 3 B15 Birmingham 51.16 4 M21 Manchester 50.37 5 LS5 Leeds 50.15 6 L16 Liverpool 49.49 7 LS8 Oakwood, Leeds 47.31 8 TW11 Teddington, Hampton, Hampton Wick 46.12 9 CB4 Cambridge, Histon and Impington, Milton 45.83 10 SW14 Richmond 45.17 11 CM4 Ingatestone, Margaretting, West Hanningfield, Fryerning, Margaretting Tye 43.73 12 BD14 Clayton, West Yorkshire, Queensbury, Thornton, West Yorkshire 43.21 13 EH5 Edinburgh 42.11 14 SK8 Cheadle, Stockport, Heald Green 41.59 15 EN4 Barnet 41.55 16 DA3 Longfield, Hartley, Meopham, New Ash Green 41.38 17 IG7 Chigwell 41.15 18 IG8 Woodford 41.10 19 S11 Sheffield, Ringinglow 40.98 20 TW12 Hampton, Twickenham, Feltham, Teddington, Hampton Hill 40.82 Source: MoneySuperMarket, 17/01/18

The list features a number of wealthy suburbs, where burglars may expect to be able to steal items of high value and have a lower risk of being caught by neighbours or passersby as homes are more spread out.

In fact the only London areas to feature are the postcodes SW14, which covers Richmond in South West London in the 10th spot, Barnet (EN4) in 15th place, Woodford (IG8) in 18th place and Twickenham and Hampton (TW12) in 20th place.

At the other end of the scale, Bideford in North Devon (EX39) is the area where homes are least likely to be burgled.

Homes in Guildford are the most likely to be burgled in the UK, new data has revealed

Of every 1,000 quotes made through the website, just 0.78 per cent were homes in the area which had reported a burglary.

It was followed by the post code SR7 which includes Murton, Seaham, Dalton-le-Dale and Cold Hesledon in in County Durham with a rate of 1.09.

The website's data showed that the value of claims in the winter months is on average 37 per cent higher than those in the summer, perhaps because of the value of Christmas presents in homes over the winter.

The value of specific items which need to be itemised on a contents insurance policy such as laptops, watches and bicycles, has also risen and is now an average of 4,400, a 10 per cent yearly increase.

The value of itemised, expensive households items such as laptops has risen 10 per cent

To find out how your postcode fares, the comparison website has an interactive burglary claims tool which shows the rate of burglaries for all UK postcodes.

Kevin Pratt, consumer affairs expert at MoneySupermarket, said: 'This year's claims analysis suggests burglaries fall into two main categories: crimes committed in wealthy suburbs, where thieves expect rich pickings and a degree of seclusion, and busy urban areas, where strangers attract little attention and burglars hope to make speedy getaways.

'We should bear in mind that many criminals are opportunists - if they see a soft target, they will pounce. That makes it crucial for everyone, regardless of where they live, to be vigilant and to take the necessary steps to keep burglars at bay.

BOTTOM 20 BURGLARY HOTSPOTS BY POSTCODE Rank Postal district Area Contents theft rate (per 1,000 quotes) 1 EX39 Bideford, Hartland 0.78 2 SR7 Murton, Seaham, Dalton-le-Dale, Cold Hesledon 1.09 3 EX16 Tiverton, Sampford Peverell, Witheridge, Bickleigh 1.10 4 DL16 Spennymoor, Byers Green, Kirk Merrington, Middlestone, Page Bank, Westerton, County Durham, Whitworth, North Close 1.16 5 SY23 Aberystwyth, Llanbadarn Fawr, Penparcau 1.18 6 CF31 Bridgend, Court Colman, Pen-y-fai, Bridgend 1.22 7 TQ13 Chagford 1.26 8 CA13 Cockermouth, Cumbria 1.27 9 NE31 Hebburn 1.30 10 EX15 Cullompton, Willand 1.35 11 BT37 Whiteabbey 1.36 12 CF35 Bridgend 1.38 13 PL19 Tavistock, Bradstone, Mary Tavy, Brentor 1.39 14 AB43 Fraserburgh, Pennan 1.39 15 LL55 Caernarfon, Llanberies, Beddgelert 1.40 16 KY4 Cowdenbeath, Kelty 1.41 17 CA15 Maryport, Allonby, Flimby, Dearham 1.50 18 TQ4 Paignton, Stoke Gabriel 1.50 19 NN18 Corby, Geddington, Great Oakley, Northamptonshire 1.60 20 NR20 Dereham, Bawdeswell, Swanton Morley, North Elmham, Mattishall, Whissonsett, Beetley, Guestwick, Welborne 1.63 Source: MoneySuperMarket, 17/01/18

'Ask anyone who's ever been burgled about the experience and they will tell you about the devastating impact it can have. It's not just the financial loss.

'People often lose items of great sentimental value, which no amount of money can effectively replace. And then there's the feeling of violation, which sometimes prompts victims to move home.

'For these reasons households should do what they can to boost security and prevent burglary happening. Insurance companies will lower their premiums for people who have robust locks on doors and windows, fit and maintain burglar alarms, use a safe for valuables and join a neighbourhood watch. Shopping around every renewal will also help keep insurance premiums as low as possible.'
UK house-holders can slash their domestic energy bills by up to 66 per cent by turning their homes into mini-power stations, claims Japanese car giant Nissan.

Excess energy collected via solar panels on sunny days and stored in a fridge-sized home-battery during off-peak times could be sold back to the national grid at peak times when demand for it is at its highest.

The system would also make it cheaper for green householders to charge up their electric cars, the manufacturer said.

Green living: Nissan has developed a system where homeowners can power their cars from rooftop solar panels and also use the car's battery to help power domestic appliances

The firm unveiled its move into the wider energy market during the international launch of is new second-generation all-electric battery-powered Leaf car in Tenerife.

The Japanese car giant is also pioneering a system that use the energy stored in an electric car's battery  while it is parked up unused at home  to help power homes and domestic appliances, or be sold back to the grid when the vehicle is not in use.

It is also using reconditioned electric car batteries to store power for villages in Africa.

Nissan said of its new operation called Nissan Energy Solar: 'It aims to make renewable energy usage at home simpler and more affordable for UK residents  up to 66 per cent savings in their energy bills.

Excess energy collected via solar panels on sunny days and stored in a fridge-sized home-battery during off-peak times could be sold back to the national grid at peak times

The system, which uses technology adapted from electric cars, would also make it cheaper for green householders to charge up their electric cars

'It has been designed to allow UK homeowners to reduce their energy bills and get more independence from the grid, allowing them to live more sustainably.'

The system includes a home energy management system that will allow users to control how and when they want to use their energy.

Nissan said: 'This reduces energy costs and carbon footprint for homeowners significantly, by automating energy flows, purposefully utilizing solar production peaks and storage capacities.'

The firm said Nissan Energy Solar will combine 'world-class residential solar panels' with an energy storage system to boost the energy efficiency of UK homes.

A Nissan spokesman explained: 'Traditionally, solar energy has been used to power home appliances during the day.

'But now with Nissan Energy Solar, householders can collect and store the excess energy from their solar panels and use it during the night and on cloudy days  even to charge their Nissan Leaf.'

The system includes a home energy management system that will allow users to control how and when they want to use their energy in real time

The Nissan Energy Solar system starts from 3,881 which includes the supply and installation of a six-panel solar system. The Leaf is priced from 21,990 to 27,490.

To emphasise its green credentials, the international launch of the new Leaf was held at the pioneering Institute of Technology and Renewable Energies (ITER) facility on the Spanish island Tenerife in the Canary Islands whose facilities and environmentally-friendly village is powered by energy from solar panels and giant windmills.

Francisco Carranza, managing director of Nissan Europe's energy arm said: 'Solar panels have become the world's fastest growing source of new energy and we're thrilled to launch Nissan Energy Solar in the UK.

'More than 880,000 UK homes already have solar panels installed and they are seeing the benefits every day, from decreasing electricity bills to increasing property values.'
As a technology and finance reporter, a lot of people ask me about cryptocurrencies.

Since the start of the year, I have spent most of my time trying to explain blockchain, and bitcoin specifically. I have tended to tell people to steer clear, but that has hidden an awkward fact: I don't really understand cryptocurrencies myself.

Is it a bubble? Probably. Is it the future of finance? Maybe. Is it worth investing? I couldn't tell you and, now that I have invested some of my own money, I still can't.

High stakes: Joe spent his 600 savings on three cryptocurrencies

I put off investing for a very long time, but like many people, the drip feed of national news articles through November and December eventually convinced me to take the plunge.

Something about the topic being written about in mainstream newspapers and not niche online magazines made it seem acceptable.

Investing became easier, too. Companies like Revolut allow you to buy cryptocurrencies from their app, which you can link to your bank account. There is no more remembering private keys, doing backflips or delving into the dark web. Just a few taps of a phone screen, and congratulations, you have bought into the weirdest financial trend of the decade.

So what did I do?

I split 600 pounds across the three cryptocurrencies that Revolut offers: bitcoin, ethereum and litecoin. Revolut take a 1.5 per cent fee for the service and there are associated costs with buying the currencies themselves. It made paying 7.50 to to buy shares with Barclays seem very cheap indeed.

Why did I split across three currencies? No rhyme, no reason, but splitting felt instinctively like the best thing.

It reminds me of the way that venture capitalists invest in tech start-ups. Instead of investing in ten companies and hoping each of them grow by a modest amount, they invest in high-risk, high-growth companies. Because it makes better returns to have nine failures and a Facebook than ten weak performers.

The issue with my investing strategy is I have no idea what normal is. I still don't. I know what a 'good' share return is or what a decent tracker fund pays each year. Nobody really knows what good in cryptocurrencies looks like.

It hardly feels like investing, because there is so little strategy. Just stick it all on red.

So when will I sell? I wanted to double my money. But all three immediately dropped in value. I decided to hang on, while the crazy fluctuations of the market destroyed my adrenaline supplies.

Eventually I became more sanguine, checking once a day, and then once a week. Then, on the first Monday back after the holidays I realised I was bumping along the bottom of my overdraft.

Bitcoin before breakfast: Joe decided to sacrifice his ethereum instead

I almost sold my bitcoin for breakfast, but it had lost 25 per cent of its value. Instead I sold the ethereum, which had made a modest profit during the period.

So where am I now? Well, 200 pounds of bitcoin is now worth 183. My 200 of litecoin is worth 153.86. And I sold my ethereum for 237. If I hadn't have had that breakfast, it would now be worth 262.

What have I learnt? I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing, and let's be honest  nobody else does either. A fraction of a fraction of a per cent of investors probably understand crypto.

Good view: Investors knew what a tulip was, it is less obvious when it comes to cryptocurrencies

The conundrum is this: are bitcoin and the other cryptocurrencies going to present a genuine paradigm shift in international banking, or is it just turbocharged tulip banking?

At least with the tulip bubble in Amsterdam during the 1600s when the price of tulip bulbs rocketed, the average person could understand what a tulip looked like.

'I have never seen a tulip.'

'It's like a daffodil but the flower points upwards.'

'Oh OK, why is it worth thousands of pounds?'

Tulips were obviously a bubble.

But with cryptocurrencies the technological babble is important, because it makes people think they are buying something futuristic and valuable. When we might all just be buying hopes and dreams.

For me though the fundamentals of investing stay the same. Always try and invest in what you know. Because if you do get burnt, at least you know why.
Eurosceptic: Hedge fund boss Paul Marshall

Carrot-topped hedge fund boss Paul Marshalls strongly Eurosceptic views are vehemently at odds with his EU-supporting business partner, Ian Wace, but the pair seem to rub along just fine as colleagues.

They were certainly in full agreement about Carillions prospects.

Marshall Wace made over 20million shorting the busted outsourcing firms stock last year.

Wise move by Theresa May to treat her eager-to-please French counterpart Emmanuel Macron to a snack at Michael Parkinsons Maidenhead boozer, the Royal Oak, ahead of their visit to Sandhurst yesterday.

Lunch inside the officers mess might not have cut la moutarde. Sandhursts catering is provided by Carillion.

Barclays employees worry their nest eggs are at risk after the bank decided to shift responsibility for its pension scheme to its so-called casino arm.

Some would feel more comfortable knowing that the banks chief executive Jes Staleys retirement plans were tied to the scheme.

But Jes, 61, takes a 400,000 cash payment on top of his 1.2million salary in lieu of pension. What happens to the fund is really neither here nor there to him.

Former Bank of England economist-turned-Labour MP Rachel Reeves, 38, is supplementing her backbench duties by penning a book on the history of female MPs.

Why not? Sensible, well-mannered and economically literate, she can rule herself out of a front-bench career while Jeremy Corbyns goons are running the asylum.

Does the arrest of the Goldman Sachs president David Solomons assistant Nicolas De-Meyer, whom he accuses of stealing 1million worth of his wine, sound familiar?

Joyti De-Laurey, a secretary at the investment banks London office was jailed for seven years in 2004 for pilfering 4.2million from employees.

She siphoned off 3.4million alone from the none-the-wiser managing director Scott Mead. Theft is rarely excusable, but might Goldman be paying its people too much?
The trouble with former Chancellor George Osbornes march of the makers is that so many of Britains big engineers are not up to scratch.

We are not alone in this, as illustrated by the plans of newish GE boss John L Flannery to split open Americas premier industrial conglomerate.

Whatever the dispute about the value of the fake premium in the 7.4billion Melrose offer for GKN it has galvanised the Redditch-based engineer into action.

After a muddled search for a chief executive, GKN appointed Anne Stevens, who always wanted to run her own show.

Whatever the dispute about the value of the 'fake' premium in the 7.4bn Melrose offer for GKN it has galvanised the Redditch-based engineering firm into action

It also rejects the idea that it devised a hasty break-up on the spur of the moment. It claims it has been working on the separation of its aerospace work from its driveline car division, which supplies many of the worlds leading motoring marques, for some time.

Melrose identifies poor profit margins as a problem. Chris Miller of Melrose suggests better outcomes could be achieved with an efficiency drive.

As Warren East has found at premier engineering brand Rolls-Royce, performance has been dogged by excessive bureaucracy. East has been working to winnow out surplus managers and duplicated production.

The Rolls chief is now seeking to narrow what the aero engine maker does, with the possible sale of its commercial marine operation. Some 2,000 jobs already have been lost in naval manufacturing over the last three years.

Doubtless there is room for GKN, which boasts 259 years of history, to undertake a similar exercise and deliver benefits.

Melrose thinks that if it shifts management functions from the centre to divisions it can make the company work better for investors. With the right kind of willpower GKN could make the changes itself.

Melrose has the right ideas but if it means chucking out heritage and UK command and control. That would be a mistake.

Too often hostile takeovers of UK companies (Cadbury is the best example) are fought on price and won by hedge funds rather than longer-term investors who ought to know the value of culture.

It would be a pity if GKN is simply setting up a straw man defence only to allow it to be blown away if Melrose were to increase the cash in the offer.

Cooking the books

Among the big concerns for the Silicon Valley giants is that an irascible Donald Trump might become a Teddy Roosevelt style trust-buster by turning his fire on digital royalty.

Tim Cook of Apple is playing him like a violin. In addition to handing bonuses to all staff, Apple is to repatriate billions of dollars in profits held overseas to the US.

Apples commitment is to create 20,000 new American jobs and open a second US campus to accommodate everyone.

As when Jeff Bezos of Amazon promised a second HQ, the Apple pledge is provoking a scramble among US cities for jobs, local tax income and prestige.

Cook is promising to lift capital expenditure by 21.6billion. Apple spent 7.8billion in 2017 and intends to invest 11.5billion this year.

That will still leave it headroom to increase dividends and do share buybacks. Apple will continue to make the flagship iPhone overseas.

But it will seek to step up component production at home, which is just what Trump wanted.

The second Apple campus will be more modest than Cupertino. It will largely be a technical support centre for Apples growing collection of developers and creators who market through the App Store.

With an estimated 144billion of profits parked overseas, Cook has plenty of scope to invest wherever he wants.

But he has found a way of making an under-fire White House a little happier.

RBS unmasked

Royal Bank of Scotland has been so brutalised by scandal that it is hard to be shocked any longer.

But use of Parliamentary privilege by LibDem leader Vince Cable has changed that.

The outing of Nathan Bostock, former head of the Global Restructuring Group and now chief executive of Santander UK, as allegedly responsible for a strategy causing endless suffering to small and medium sized enterprises is stunning.

It demonstrates the short-sightedness of RBS and regulator the Financial Conduct Authority in failing to publish and be damned. The truth will out.
Budget cuts within the NHS have crippled Deltex Medical in recent years, leading the blood-flow-monitoring technology firm to try and seek its fortune elsewhere.

One territory where it has shifted its focus towards is the US and this week it secured a 'major' new hospital across the pond as a customer  news which sent the shares soaring.

The hospital  supposedly among the top ten in the States  will now use Deltexs oesophageal Doppler monitoring probes after a successful trial period just before Christmas.

American win: One territory where Deltex Medical has shifted its focus is the US and this week it secured a 'major' new hospital across the pond as a customer  news which sent the shares soaring

Importantly, the hospital is part of a six-centre healthcare system, all of which will be introduced to the ODM this year.

The stock jumped 42.3 per cent this week to 1.57p.

That was a welcome surge for investors who had to endure a poor set of full-year results and subsequent share price plunge earlier this month.

KEFI Minerals also shone after it upgraded the value of its Tulu Kapi gold project in Ethiopia.

The junior, though, has ended its relationship with infrastructure group Oryx, which had previously agreed to provide $135million of project finance to build and operate the gold mine.

KEFI said the structure for the development of Tulu Kapi would remain the same even with Oryxs exit with the other existing consortium members still in place.

At a gold price of $1,300 per ounce, Tulu Kapis net present value has risen to $109m pre-construction from $92m and to $175m ($151m) post-construction.

KEFI expects to hold a 55 per cent stake in the project once the dilution from funding deals etc has been taken into account, which means its interest is worth around $96m, or around 69m.

With a market capitalisation of just over 10m, you can see why traders were ploughing into it this week, sending the stock 26.9 per cent higher to 3.42p.

Break up: KEFI Minerals has ended its relationship with infrastructure group Oryx, which had previously agreed to provide $135m of project finance to build and operate the gold mine

Fellow junior miner Greatland Gold was left battered and bruised after industry giant Newmont Mining decided to walk away from the formers flagship Ernest Giles project in Western Australia.

The two had signed an agreement last summer which granted Newmont access to the tenements and exploration database of the project for six months.

But it confirmed on Monday that it wouldnt be going any further with the project because of other 'current corporate priorities', leading to a swift sell-off.

Shares lost 26.3 per cent to 0.69p.

Overall it was a steady week for the small caps, with the AIM All Share adding 0.4 per cent, or 4.2 points, to 1,069.2.

That was significantly better than what the blue chips which were hampered by the pounds resurgence.

Share drop: HaiKe Chemical Group saw almost a third eroded from its market value after said it was mulling the possibility of cancelling its AIM listing

The FTSE 100 closed the week down 0.8 per cent, or 58.3 points, to 7,721.2.

HaiKe Chemical Group was one of those holding the junior market back.

The Chinese specialty chemical business saw almost a third eroded from its market value after said it was mulling the possibility of cancelling its AIM listing.

Full-year profits more than halved to 0.73m in the 12 months ended December 31 (2016: 1.91m), despite revenues rising to 96m from 82.2m a year earlier.

HaiKe blamed a 'critically difficult market' for the dive in profitability, as well as a reduction in output due to plant shutdowns for upgrade purposes.

'In light of the poor performance, the company said it is exploring all of its future options, including the possibility of delisting from the junior market and continuing as a private company,' it told investors.

The shares fell 27.8 per cent to 20p.

Northern exposure: Galantas Gold  another gold explorer  which headed 50.7 per cent higher to 6.6p after an encouraging update from its project in Omagh, Northern Ireland

Balancing that out was the sharp rise for Galantas Gold  another gold explorer  which headed 50.7 per cent higher to 6.6p after an encouraging update from its project in Omagh, Northern Ireland.

The Northern Ireland Environment Agency has been monitoring operations at the site and yesterday it published a report stating that there was no evidence that the development activities were having a detrimental effect on the chemical quality of the groundwater around the site or of the Kerr Burn.

On top of that, Galantas also received some 'very positive' exploration results for some of its Republic of Ireland licences.

A couple of old drill cores were found in a barn at one of the sites which contained intersections of high-grade copper, silver, lead, antimony and zinc and the company said it was figuring out how best to take the licences forward and maximise their value.
Santa's helper: Royal Mail delivered record numbers of parcels for Christmas

The online shopping boom helped Royal Mail deliver record numbers of parcels for Christmas.

Parcel volumes were up 6 per cent for the nine months to December 24, the biggest rise since it was privatised in 2013.

It was fuelled by people shopping on Amazon, one of Royal Mail's biggest customers.

Moya Greene, chief executive, said she was also close to resolving an industrial dispute which has dogged it for months.

The company is locked in a row over pensions, pay and working conditions with the Communication Workers Union, which threatened strikes before a truce last month.

Greene said: 'We have had a good performance thanks to the hard work and dedication of our people.

'They pulled out all the stops to deliver a great Christmas for the UK.'

Royal Mail said volumes at Parcelforce Worldwide, its international arm, were up 2 per cent thanks to new contracts.

Letter volumes fell by 5 per cent, less than expected, with group revenues up 2 per cent.

Shares fell by 0.9 per cent, or 4p, to 463.2p.
Bullets maker Chemring is being investigated for potential bribery, corruption and money-laundering involving middlemen representing a UK subsidiary.

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) probe centres on two contracts awarded to Chemring Technology Solutions (CTSL).

One contract dates from before the CTSL business was bought by Chemring, and the second dates from 2011. The probe started after CTSL flagged up the problems.

Fareham-based Chemring, which has revenue of nearly 550million, makes products for military use, police and governments.

Loaded: Chemring's goods include flares, decoys, bomb detectors, grenades, shells, tear gas and bullets, and it employs about 2,500 people around the world

Its goods include flares, decoys, bomb detectors, grenades, shells, tear gas and bullets, and it employs about 2,500 people around the world.

Industrial giants are increasingly under fire for corruption by middlemen. Last year Rolls-Royce paid a record 671million to settle bribery allegations. European plane maker Airbus is being probed by the SFO over its use of agents in jet deals.

The probe into Chemring appears to be on a smaller scale. Bosses said neither of the two contracts under investigation are considered material in the context of the group.

They added: It is too early to predict the outcome of the investigation. The group continues to co-operate fully with the investigation, and will provide a further update as and when appropriate.

The SFO said: We have opened a criminal investigation into bribery, corruption and money-laundering arising from the conduct of business by Chemring Group and CTSL including any officers, employees, agents and persons associated with them. We can make no further comment as the investigation is live.

CTSL reported 17.1million revenue in 2016, analysts said. It was created when Chemring bought BDL Systems, based in Dorset, which made radio frequency initiators and detonators, in 2006.

Chemrings tear gas canisters were reportedly used by Egyptian forces battling pro-democracy protesters in 2011, although it said it had not directly supplied CS gas to Egypt since 1998, and its gas grenades were also reportedly used against pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong in 2014.

The probe emerged as Chemring posted a 15 per cent rise in revenue to 547.5million for the year ending October 31 and a 10 per cent rise in profits to 81million.

It said most markets had improved, apart from the UK which accounts for only about 5 per cent of revenue.

The firms value rose tenfold between 2003 and 2011. But it slumped after orders dried up when the Iraq war ended.

In 2016 it went to shareholders for 80.8million in a new rights issue. It is now recovering and is hiking its dividend to 3p, compared to 1.3p last year.
IRAQ DEAL Oil major BP has signed a contract with Iraq to more than double production at its Kirkuk oil fields. BP will boost output capacity to 750,000 barrels per day.

ONLINE BOOST A boom in online shopping has fuelled bumper sales at logistics firm Eddie Stobart. Ecommerce sales more than doubled to 103million over the year and group revenues grew 12 per cent to 618million.

PRECIOUS HAUL East Africa-focused gold producer Shanta Gold produced 21,288 ounces of gold during the three months ending December 31, an increase of 17 per cent on the previous quarter.

SOLAR SWOOP Oil major Shell has agreed to buy power from British Solar Renewabless power plant in Bradenstoke, Wiltshire  Britains second-largest  to supply UK customers.

It has 269,000 panels and generates around 65 gigawatt hours of solar energy per year.

PROFIT GROWTH The underwriting and wealth management divisions of Morgan Stanley helped to deliver profits above expectations in the final three months of 2017 to reach 1.2billion.

RIVAL BOUGHT Asset manager Franklin Templeton has bought rival Edinburgh Partners for 200million.

Franklin looks after 542billion of savers money, while Scottish firm Edinburgh had 7.2billion of investments.

ROBO LAUNCH Financial planner Symphony is launching a robo-advice business for less wealthy clients.

It will automatically pick investments based on how much risk savers want to take on, without human involvement.

TAXI BACKING US search giant Google has backed one of Ubers taxi app rivals in China, by investing in Go-Jek.

EU DEMAND European Union bosses have insisted the order that Apple must pay 11.5billion in tax to Ireland will be unaffected by the firms plans to haul its 250billion cash pile back to the US.

The transfer comes after tax reforms introduced under US President Donald Trump. The EU said Apple gained an illegal advantage in Ireland over several years.

STANDING FIRM Services provider Franchise Brands expects its full-year performance to be ahead of expectations despite taking a knock from the collapse of Carillion.
Child benefit: Information is given in 'Bounty Packs' handed to new mothers, but people aren't focused on government leaflets in the days after the arrival of a baby (Stock image)

New parents who don't sign up for child benefit are losing valuable credits towards their state pension, an issue that This is Money is campaigning on.

Many people, predominantly women, fail to register for child benefit if they don't qualify for the payments, without realising this will damage their state pension rights when they reach retirement age.

The problem has been compounded by the child benefit high earners charge that means those in households with one person earning more than 50,000 a year must start paying back the money and once they reach 60,000 they must pay it all back.

Many have simply opted not to take child benefit because of this but that means that they are not building up valuable state pension credits.

Read our ask an expert question below, where This is Money columnist Steve Webb explains the issue and follow our campaign at the links below:

This is Money's child benefit and state pension campaign

> Laura Shannon: Child benefit is the bureaucratic deep-end for busy parents

> The parents facing a smaller state pension over failure to fill in a child benefit form

> Help! I put my husband's name first on child benefit form and lost some state pension

> Couple battle taxman's nightmare child benefit rules and win state pension credits

> Mums like me are losing frightening sums in state pension

> Government child benefit information about state pension isn't up to scratch, says Nicky Morgan MP

> Steve Webb launches petition to win back vital state pension credits for mums

My wife lost state pension due to child benefit

I recently raised with my local MP how the changes in child benefit in 2013 have impacted my wifes pension contributions and how she will now need to work a further three years as a result of the poor communication of these changes.

Essentially my point is that we did not receive any communication that we would need to apply for child benefit to protect National Insurance contributions even though we would not be entitled to any benefit due to my salary.

Unfortunately HM Treasury relied on communicating to new mothers through Bounty Packs and HMRC communicated to existing child benefit claimants and writing to just two million of the five million-plus higher rate tax payers.

I appreciate the difficulty of the task in communicating to those that could be affected. However, there should be more flexibility than the existing three months back dating especially considering the number of mothers that have been affected.

We only found out about this requirement by reading a news article at the beginning of this year that was raising the issue.

Steve Webb: Find out how to ask the former Pensions Minister a question about your retirement savings in the box below

The response from my local MP has been disappointing and he has simply forwarded the responses he has received from HMRC and HM Treasury.

Before giving up on this I wanted to ask your advice and whether there is someone I could be contacting to escalate this further, or will it be a waste of my time to do any more with this?

SCROLL DOWN TO FIND OUT HOW TO ASK YOUR PENSION QUESTION

Steve Webb replies: Your wife is unfortunately one of a growing number of women who are missing out on valuable state pension protection because of changes to child benefit in 2013.

As you rightly say, current rules only allow you to backdate a claim for child benefit for three months, so the years that your wife has missed out are now lost unless the government can be persuaded to change the rules.

The issue is the high income child benefit tax charge which was introduced in January 2013.

From this point, if the person claiming the child benefit or their partner was earning 50,000 per year or more, a tax charge was incurred.

For each 100 someone earned above the 50,000 threshold, they incurred a tax charge of one per cent of their child benefit.

How many parents are losing state pension credits? Some 50,000 parents could lose up to 20,000 of state pension over their retirement because they didn't sign up for child benefit, according to figures flagged up by Steve Webb last March. The number of people affected then had doubled from two years earlier, as fewer now register for child benefit following a shake-up which excluded higher earners from these payouts in 2013. But getting your name in the child benefit system is still vital for claiming credits towards your eventual state pension, currently worth 159.55 a week. Details about signing up are here. This is Money

This meant that someone on 51,000 faced a tax charge of 10 per cent of their child benefit, someone on 52,000 faced a charge of 20 per cent and anyone on 60,000 or more incurred a charge of 100 per cent of their child benefit.

Some people earning 60,000 or more took the view that there was no point claiming child benefit with the one hand only to incur an exactly equal tax bill on the other, so they decided to stop claiming child benefit.

The problem with this is that claiming child benefit brings another advantage, namely protection for your state pension. People claiming child benefit for a child under 12 currently get valuable credits towards their National Insurance record.

The risk is that if you opt out of child benefit because of the tax charge, you might also lose the National Insurance credits and end up with a smaller pension.

Where families were already in the child benefit system when the change was implemented they were generally protected from the effect of this change. Even if they said they no longer wanted to receive the child benefit payment, the government effectively knew about them and awarded national insurance credits in any case.

But for families whose first child was born after January 2013, they were never in the system in the first place. This meant that unless they made a claim to child benefit, they wouldnt build up credits either.

Because people might be put off from claiming child benefit if they were going to incur a tax bill, the government allowed people to tick a box on the claim form to say that all they wanted was the national insurance credits, but not the child benefit.

As you rightly say, the government did alert new parents to this issue through literature in the 'Bounty Packs' given to new mothers and the information is on government websites.

What is the Parliamentary Ombudsman? The independent body is the final stop for complaints that have not been resolved by UK government departments, the NHS or other public organisations. It says: 'We look into complaints where someone believes there has been injustice or hardship because an organisation has not acted properly or has given a poor service and not put things right. 'We look into complaints fairly and our service is free for everyone.' The website is here. This is Money

But new mothers are understandably not always going to be focused on government leaflets in the days after the arrival of a baby, so this system was hardly a fail safe way of alerting parents to the consequences of not making a claim.

The one consolation I can offer is that because a full state pension is payable on the basis of 35 qualifying years, your wife may find that even without these two or three years on her record she will still reach the 35 year threshold in the normal course of her working life, though obviously we cannot be sure at this stage.

My view is that it is quite wrong for the government to maintain the three month deadline for backdating of child benefit in these circumstances.

The system is quite complicated enough without penalising those who failed to read a leaflet or visit a government website. It is time the Government looked again at relaxing these rules, especially since the cost to the Exchequer of doing so would in most cases not be felt for many decades.

I have pressed for this change in the past and will continue to do so.

You have already complained to your MP, but you still have the option to take your case to the Parliamentary Ombudsman.

What does HMRC say?

'HMRC has always urged families to claim child benefit to help protect their state Pension,' said a spokesman for the taxman.

'Parents are advised to do this using the child benefit claim form included in the Bounty Pack provided to new parents, through the HMRC helpline, online at GOV.UK or through partners such as Citizens Advice.

'The child benefit claim form and guidance notes have been updated to stress further the importance of making a claim.'
Big businesses that continually fail to pay their suppliers on time have been named and shamed by the government for the first time.

Grainer & Worrall Engineering tops the list of large UK companies who settled invoices late in the latter half of 2017.

The engineering firm was guilty of missing payment deadlines 96 per cent of the time over a six-month period between 4 June and 30 November 2017.

UK SMEs are currently owed 26billion in overdue payments, according to Bacs

Parts Alliance Group came in a close second, with a late payment figure of 95 per cent, ahead of Grainer & Worrall's sister machining company in third with a 93 per cent record over a similar period - give or take a couple of days.

Deloitte is arguably the most recognisable name on the list. The accounting firm's Deloitte MCS Limited and Deloitte LLP subsidiaries failed to pay invoices within agreed terms on 80 per cent and 59 per cent of instances and ranked 17th and 43rd on the list respectively.

On average, the 307 large businesses that filed payment reports to the government met invoice payments late 71 per cent of the time.

At the other end of the spectrum, Las Iguanas, Bella Italia and Cafe Rouge are among the more recognisable brands that didn't miss any invoice deadlines.

The 10 large UK companies hat failed to pay suppliers on time Company % Invoices not paid within agreed terms GRAINGER & WORRALL ENGINEERING LIMITED 96 PARTS ALLIANCE GROUP LIMITED 95 GRAINGER & WORRALL MACHINING LIMITED 93 CLIPPER LOGISTICS PLC 92 ASHTEAD PLANT HIRE COMPANY LIMITED 92 W & J LINNEY LIMITED 92 TNT EXPRESS ICS LIMITED 91 BOUGHEY DISTRIBUTION LIMITED 90 MEDTRONIC LIMITED 89 SIMMONS & SIMMONS LLP 89 Source: Gov.uk 11 January 2018

Under new rules introduced in April 2017, all large UK companies are required to publish specific information regarding their payment policies, practices and performance - including the average time taken to pay supplier invoices - twice yearly.

Failure to comply with the rules is a criminal offence and can result in a hefty fine.

The reporting requirement applies to large companies and large limited liability partnership regardless of whether they are private, public or quoted, that meet two or more of the size thresholds in the past two preceding financial years: annual turnover of 36millon; balance sheet total of 18millon; and/or 250 employees.

However, the reporting requirement does not apply to partnerships (provided they are not limited liability partnership (LLP), nor to companies which are incorporated under another countrys laws.

The information for the reporting requirement are prepared on an individual company or individual LLP basis, not at a group level.

No business is required to report in its first financial year.

Las Iguanas, Bella Italia and Cafe Rouge are among the more recognisable brands not to have missed an invoice deadline

The report is available online for anyone to have a look at (note, there's a bit of spreadsheet formatting to be done to view the figures) and updates as soon as each business comes forward with its information.

It is aimed at helping suppliers to make more informed decisions about who they do business with.

The measure, launched by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, also seeks to alleviate the administrative and financial burdens faced by thousands of small and medium sized business due to late payments.

The nation's modest sized enterprises are currently owed 26billion in overdue payments, according to research by payments processing company Bacs.

Meanwhile, the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) calculates that over 30 per cent of payments to small businesses are late and the average value of each payment is 6,142. The trade body also predicts that 50,000 UK business shut up shop every year because of the issue.

The 12 companies that paid their invoices on time every time SEBDEN STEEL SERVICE CENTRES LIMITED SMITH & WILLIAMSON INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT LLP T & E FERRIS LIMITED GARDINER & THEOBALD FAIRWAY LIMITED MACFARLANES SERVICES LIMITED HERBERT SMITH FREEHILLS LLP SLATER MENSWEAR MS INTERNATIONAL PLC LAS IGUANAS LIMITED BELLA ITALIA RESTAURANTS LIMITED CAFE ROUGE RESTAURANTS LIMITED MATTIOLI WOODS PLC Source: Gov.uk 11 January 2018

Late payments remains a thorny issue for SMEs and UK big businesses aren't the only ones that fall foul of this.

Research, based on a study of 80,904 invoices UK SME invoice by business finance company MarketInvoice, found that 73 per cent of invoices sent by British businesses to EU firms were paid late - up from 40.4% in 2016.

Across the Atlantic, the number of invoices paid late by firms in the US increased from 40.4 per cent in 2016 to 71 per cent in 2017.

Back in Britain, the government appointed a small business commissioner, Paul Uppal, dedicated to drive a culture change in payment practices to ensure small businesses are treated fairly.

Mike Cherry, FSB national chairman, said that both the creation of the small business commissioner as well as the duty to report go some way in helping SME suppliers back has called on the government to do more to tackle the issue.

He said all FTSE 350 companies should be forced to sign-up to a 'strengthened' code with a new 'three strikes and youre out' rule that would specifically target repeat offenders.

'This would encourage more large businesses to actively review their treatment of suppliers and start fostering the cultural change that is needed,' he added.

'The small business community is growing increasingly frustrated by the poor payment culture and supply chain bullying that is rife in the UK.

'This is not just a commercial problem that needs to be resolved, it is also an ethical one where small firms are being put at risk, or even out of business, by bigger firms taking advantage.'

Only five of the large firms mentioned in this article for failing to pay their suppliers more often than not responded to a comment request from This is Money.

A spokesman for Grainger & Worrall, said: 'As a family-owned business, we work closely with all our suppliers when it comes to payment dates. We place huge value on our supplier relationships, understanding that they have businesses to run and cash flows to manage too  and enjoy numerous long-standing partnerships with them. In fact, out of our top 20 suppliers, we have worked with most for 20 years or more.

'We welcome and support the Governments initiative to drive transparency on payment terms, and we were one of the first companies to register to provide data. Currently there are less than 320 companies in the UK who have registered, so early days in the reporting process, and wed like to see more supporting the initiative.'

A Deloitte spokesman said: 'The government data shows that were paying suppliers on average within 25 days, which is within our standard terms of 30 days.'

A spokesman for TNT Express ICS said: 'Our suppliers are very important to us, and we remain committed to our relationships with them.

'The report at number seven in this list relates specifically to the global IT subsidiary; TNT Express ICS Limited and not to TNT UK Limited as a whole, which is the UK parcel delivery business.'

A spokesman for Medtronic said 'The data in the payment practice report showing a high percentage of invoices paid outside of agreed upon terms is due to the way that payment is defined. The methodology states that funds must be cleared in the suppliers account within terms, which is different from our standard process of initiating payment once an invoice has reached its payment terms.

'Due to this disparity we will be amending our payment process by initiating payments at least three days earlier to ensure that our suppliers receive payments within terms. It is important to note that, as stated in the payment practice report, Medtronic paid invoices during this period, on average, 25 days from receipt of an invoice.'

A spokesman for law firm Simmons & Simmons said the company does not hold supplier terms on their system and did not have a reason to do so prior to the new reporting requirements.

'This in effect gives a default payment term of 0 days,' the spokesman added.

'While this may look like we may be behind on payments, we do pay to the terms of our suppliers; so for suppliers whose terms are immediate we include them in our weekly payment run.

'Our average time to pay is 26 days, which we are pleased with, and with the development of these reporting requirements we are likely to see a positive change in the numbers.'
The man who became known as the 'Houston Tourniquet Killer' after murdering four people claimed to feel the moment of execution as he was put to death in Texas on Thursday.

Anthony Allen Shore, 55, who confessed to killing four girls and one woman, became the first man to be executed in the United States in the new year.

Shore claimed the drug used during his execution 'burned', and exclaimed ' Oooh-ee! I can feel that,' before he died.

Anthony Allen Shore was put to death in Texas on Thursday for the 1992 killing of 21-year-old Maria del Carmen Estrada, whose body was dumped in the drive-thru of a Houston Dairy Queen; Shore is seen here in a file photo provided by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice

Shore, 55, was put to death Thursday for the the 1992 killing of 21-year-old Maria del Carmen Estrada, whose body was dumped in the drive-thru of a Houston Dairy Queen.

In his final statement, Shore apologized and his voice cracked with emotion, New York Daily News reports.

In 2003, after being arrested for del Carmen Estrada's murder, Shore also confessed to the killing of three others, a 9-year-old and two teenagers.

Shore's other victims were Laurie Tremblay, 15, found beside a trash bin outside a Houston restaurant in 1986; Diana Rebollar, 9, abducted while walking to a neighborhood grocery store in 1994; and Dana Sanchez, 16, who disappeared in 1995 while hitchhiking to her boyfriend's home in Houston.

Sanchez's body was found after a caller to a Houston TV station provided directions on where to find it. Police believe Shore was the caller.

All four of his victims were Hispanic and at least three had been raped. Jurors also heard from three women who testified he raped them.

Shore was put to death for the 1992 killing of 21-year-old Maria del Carmen Estrada, whose body was dumped in the drive-thru of a Houston Dairy Queen

Shore confessed to the murder of Diana Rebollar, 9, who was abducted while walking to a neighborhood grocery store in 1994

'No amount of words or apology could ever undo what I've done,' Shore said while strapped to a gurney in the death chamber on Thursday.

'I wish I could undo the past, but it is what it is.'

As the lethal dose of pentobarbital began, Shore said the drug burned.

'Oooh-ee! I can feel that,' he said before slipping into unconsciousness.

He was pronounced dead 13 minutes later at 6.28 pm Central.

'Anthony Allen Shore's reign of terror is officially over,' Andy Kahan, the city of Houston crime victims' advocate, said, speaking for the families of Shore's victims.

'There's a reason we have the death penalty in the state of Texas and Anthony Shore is on the top of the list. This has been a long, arduous journey that has taken over 20 years for victims' families.'

Shore confessed to the murder of Dana Sanchez, 16, who disappeared in 1995 while hitchhiking to her boyfriend's home in Houston

Shore confessed to the murder of Laurie Tremblay, 15, who was found beside a trash bin outside a Houston restaurant in 1986

Shore's lawyers argued in appeals he suffered brain damage early in life that went undiscovered by his trial attorneys and affected Shore's decision to disregard their advice when he told his trial judge he wanted the death penalty.

A federal appeals court last year turned down his appeal, the US Supreme Court refused to review his case and the six-member Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles unanimously rejected a clemency petition.

Shore's attorneys said his appeals were exhausted. They filed no last-minute attempts to try to halt his execution.

In 1998, Shore received eight years' probation and became a registered sex offender for sexually assaulting his two daughters, ABC News reported.

He escaped prison time but had to submit a DNA sample.

Shore was called the 'Tourniquet Killer' because he used a homemade tourniquet to torture and strangle his victims

Shore is seen here in the 339th District Criminal Court at the Harris County Criminal Justice Center on October 18, 2004, the first day of his trial for the 1992 murder by strangulation of Maria del Carmen Estrada

Five years later, in 2003, Shore was arrested for the 1992 slaying of Maria del Carmen Estrada after a tiny particle recovered from under her fingernail was matched to his DNA.

'I didn't set out to kill her,' he told police in a taped interview from 2003, played at his 2004 trial.

'That was not my intent. But it got out of hand.'

Estrada was walking to work around 6.30 am on April 16, 1992, when he she accepted a ride from Shore.

The former tow truck driver, phone company repairman and part-time musician blamed his actions on 'voices in my head that I was going to have her, regardless, to possess her in some way.'

Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg, who as an assistant prosecutor worked the then-unsolved Estrada case, said crime scene photos showed Estrada was tortured and had suffered as a stick was used to tighten a cord around her neck.

Shore was called the 'tourniquet killer' because of his use of homemade tourniquets in his murders.

'I know this case, I know his work and the death penalty is appropriate,' Ogg said.

'A jury in this case gave Shore death. [...] I think he's reached the end of the road and now it's up to government to complete the job.'

Shore's execution originally was set for October but was delayed several months for an investigation after another Texas death row inmate concocted a scheme to get Shore to take responsibility for his crimes.

His final statement was as follows:

'I like to take a moment to say I'm sorry. No amount of words could ever undo what I've done. To the family of my victims, I wish I could undo the past. It is what it is. God bless all of you. I will die with a clear conscious. I made my peace. There is no others. I will like to wish a happy birthday to Barbara Carrol. Today is her birthday. I would like to specifically thank those that have helped me, you know who you are. God bless everybody, until we meet again. I'm ready, warden.'

In 2017, 23 convicted killers were put to death in the US.

Seven of those executions took place in Texas, which is more than in any other state.

Three more inmates are scheduled to die in Texas in the coming weeks.
China is reportedly testing a sophisticated facial recognition system that could closely monitor targeted people in a Muslim-dominant province.

The network is installed at residents' homes and workplaces in the Xinjiang Autonomous Region in western China, reported Bloomberg.

Xinjiang is home to about 10 million Uighur people, who follow Islam and look distinctively different from China's majority Han people.

China is using advanced facial-detection technology to monitor Xinjiang, which has been considered a hotbed for religious separatism by the Communist Party of China (file photo)

Xinjiang is the west-most and largest province of China populated by Muslims. In the file photo above, Muslims pray at a mosque in Hotan City in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region

The province, the largest in China and roughly twice the size of Turkey, has been considered a hotbed for religious separatism by the Chinese Communist Party.

Xinjiang: Quick facts Xinjiang Autonomous Region is the largest and westmost province of China. Occupying 1,665,000 square kilometres, it's more than twice as big as Turkey. Inhabited by Muslim-believing Uighur people, the area has been considered a hotbed for religious separatism by the Chinese Communist Party. The Uighur language is closer to Turkish than Mandarin, the official language of China. A flight from Shanghai on the Chinese eastern coast to Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang, takes around five hours. Advertisement

In 2009, a riot brought by the Uighurs on the Hans - and later the Hans turning on the Uighurs - left at least 197 people killed and 1,700 injured.

Violent attacks involving Uighur people also occurred in 2013 and 2014.

The new face-reading AI technology would alert the authorities if any suspects leave more than 300 meters (984 feet) beyond the designated 'safe areas', said the Bloomberg report quoting an anonymous insider.

It is said to be developed by the China Electronics Technology Group, a state-run company producing industrial and military equipment for Beijing.

The system is allegedly being tested in southern Xinjiang where the proportion of Muslim population is much higher than that of northern Xinjiang.

Apparently, it is part of a greater effort from the Beijing-based company to develop software which could collate data on ordinary citizens to predict terrorist acts before they occur.

Beijing has put Xinjiang under tight watch after a deadly riot in 2009. The authority reportedly spent 3.4 billion in 2016 on police forces and surveillance equipment in the region (file photo)

In 2009, a riot in Urumqi (pictured) left at least 197 people killed and 1,700 injured. The riot started when Uighurs started attacking Hans and later the Hans turning on Uighurs

The using of the facial recognition system in Xinjiang dates back to mid-2015 when the authority first used the technology in transportation terminals.

However, the difference of the new system seems to be how it collects data in a personalised manner.

Why is Beijing scared? In 2009, a riot brought by the Uighurs on the Hans - and later the Hans turning on the Uighurs - left at least 197 people killed and 1,700 injured. Violent attacks involving Uighur people also occurred in 2013 and 2014. Apparently, the security measures in Xinjiang are so tight that Beijing spent 30 billion yuan (3.4 billion) in 2016 on police forces and surveillance equipment in the region, according to Cloudwalk. In addition, for every 100,000 people the police in Xinjiang want to monitor, they use the same amount of surveillance equipment that would be sufficient for millions of people in other regions of China, reported Wall Street Journal. Advertisement

It is almost like 'a certain electronic 'fence' capable of recognising faces, said Maya Wang, a senior researcher at Human Rights Watch.

Ms Wang said in the past the authority had used facial-recognition equipment at bus and train stations in Xinjiang in order to verify the identification of travellers.

Last August, Cloudwalk, a government-backed high-tech firm, displayed a series of facial-reading equipment at the Xinjiang Police Anti-terror Technology and Equipment Exposition.

The advanced tools included a facial recognition system called 'Fire Eye' and turnstiles capable of identifying people by scanning their faces.

Cloudwalk claimed on its website that the tools were designed to fight against terrorism and maintain social stability.

'If you're asking how extensive facial recognition tech is used in Xinjiang in general - I'd say, very extensive,' said Maya Wang.

'Authorities have setup many, many checkpoints through cities, along roads, at entries to small towns and counties.

'Facial recognition is used in many of these checkpoints; police's handheld devices use facial recognition.'

In China, there is no enforceable protections for privacy rights against state surveillance, according to Ms Wang.

Xinjiang, situated in central Asia, is the homeland for Uighur people who follow Islam

In the recent years, Beijing has imposed a series of bans on the Islamic population in Xinjiang, including preventing men from saving beards or women from wearing veils

William Nee, the China researcher at Amnesty International, said Amnesty International is concerned about what is happening in Xinjiang right now.

Mr Nee recognised that the Chinese government faces security concerns in the region and has the duty to protect its citizens from harm.

'But there is amble evidence that government is using new technologies, like widespread CCTV cameras combined with facial recognition technology, to create a perfect police state,' said Mr Nee.

He added: 'Under international law, people have the right to liberty of movement within their own country.

'If it is true that the government receives alerts through facial recognition technology when people leave their home villages, then this would be a huge violation of human rights.

'It would mean, essentially, that people are living under a form of glorified house arrest.'

The World Uyghur Congress called the region 'a testing ground' for facial recognition software
In a bold package that could make or break his premiership, Boris Johnson laid out that national insurance rates will rise by 1.25 percentage points from April. A typical higher earner will be paying more than 700 extra. Finally revealing his vision for social care in England, he said reform can no longer be 'ducked' and the elderly should not lose their life savings and homes due to the 'bolt from the blue' of dementia. But the respected IFS think-tank said the changes added to a 'huge year for tax rises' with the burden at its highest sustained level for peacetime. There was also grumbling from the Tory benches, with MPs asking Mr Johnson if he still believed in 'low taxes' and warning that the NHS will simply suck up the extra money without making genuine improvements. Just 5.3billion of the 36billion of revenue raised in the next three years is expected to go to social care, with the rest earmarked for a huge 'catch up programme' to stabilise the NHS after the pandemic. Social care chiefs welcomed the moves, but warned they will not be enough to tackle the problems being driven by the aging population and staffing shortages.
Congress is teetering on the edge of a government shutdown after the House of Representatives passed a stopgap funding bill and Senate Democrats are intent on blocking it with just hours to go.

Senate Republicans are finding it practically impossible to wrangle 60 votes, the number needed to end debate. With just a slim 51-49 majority, they need the unlikely help of Democrats to move forward.

Donald Trump foreshadowed failure in a Friday morning tweet and hinted at the political bickering to come as Washington squabbled over who would be to blame for a midnight failure.

'Government Funding Bill past [sic] last night in the House of Representatives,' the president wrote on Twitter.

'Now Democrats are needed if it is to pass in the Senate  but they want illegal immigration and weak borders. Shutdown coming? We need more Republican victories in 2018!'

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President Donald Trump suggested Friday morning that a government shutdown might be coming by day's end, and prepared to blame Democrats in the Senate who are threatening to block the latest stopgap funding bill

Trump visited the Pentagon on Thursday amid a looming budget shutdown that he said would be 'devastating' for the military; he's decided to stay in Washington until a Continuing Resolution is passed in the Senate, instead of jetting to Palm Beach on Friday afternoon

With the federal government set to run out of money Friday at midnight  the eve of the first anniversary of Trump's inauguration  the bill cleared the House on a 230-197 vote.

But prospects appeared gloomy in the Senate, where Democrats eager for leverage on budget and immigration deals were intent on shooting it down.

Senate Republican leaders will likely call vote after vote on Friday, forcing Democrats and reluctant members of their own party to stand and be counted over and over again until a funding measure passes.

But the Democrats, who are insisting that a permanent version of the 'DACA' immigration program be passed as a condition of keeping the government open, haven't yet blinked.

Trump was scheduled to depart the White House on Friday afternoon for his Mar-a-Lago resort club in Palm Beach, Florida. But the optics of leaving town while the government runs off the rails were too much for his advisers.

A White House official told reporters in the morning that the president 'will not be going to Florida until the CR passes,' referring to the 'Continuing Resolution' needed to keep the money flowing.

Twenty-six Democratic senators are up for re-election in November, including 10 in Republican-leaning states that Trump won in 2016. That has given Republicans the political will to stand their ground and force the issue.

'It really is regrettable that the Democrats are willing to shut down the government,' presidential counselor Kellyanne Conway said Friday morning on the Fox News Channel.

'It really is regrettable that the Democrats are willing to shut down the government,' presidential counselor Kellyanne Conway said Friday morning on the Fox News Channel

Former Trump campaign adviser Michael Caputo said on CNN that Republicans 'should man up, stand up for what they believe in and force the Democrats to reject the continuing resolution and force a government shutdown.'

But the funding measure passed by the House on Thursday night also has at least four Republican opponents in the Senate, raising the possibility that lawmakers in the upper chamber of Congress might pass a temporary measure that funds the government for just four or five days while party leaders twist their arms.

'The House just did the right thing  for our men and women in uniform AND for the millions of children who rely on CHIP,' tweeted House Speaker Paul Ryan following the vote, referring to a popular children's health insurance program.

Ryan urged Senate Democrats to 'do the right thing by the American people.'

Trump on Thursday added to the chaos gripping Washington, weighing in on the intense Republican maneuvering aimed at avoiding a politically embarrassing funding debacle.

After a burst of tweets he second-guessed top Republican lawmakers and slapped down his own chief of staff, who had been leading a White House push on Capitol Hill for a budget compromise.

Arriving at the Pentagon for a visit, Trump told reporters the government 'could very well' shut down Friday.

In the event of a shutdown, federal employees for agencies considered non-essential are ordered to stay home until a budget deal is struck, at which point they are paid retroactively. The most recent shutdowns -- in 1995, 1996 and 2013 -- saw some 800,000 workers furloughed per day.

Before the vote was passed Trump tweeted that it was 'so important for our country - our Military needs it!'

Key government bodies such as the White House, Congress, State Department and Pentagon would remain operational, but would likely furlough some staff. The military would still report for duty, but troops - including those in combat - would potentially not be paid.

The finger-pointing had already begun, with each side blaming the other for a failure to reach a budget compromise after three previous funding extensions.

'A government shutdown will be devastating to our military... something the Dems care very little about!' Trump tweeted in the morning.

And yet in another tweet, Trump criticized the Republican short-term funding measure, opposing a sweetener intended to make it hard for Democrats to vote against it.

The sweetener is a six-year extension of CHIP, a program Democrats have worked hard to protect.

At the Pentagon, Trump turned his visit into an opportunity to rail against Democrats holding a longer-term bill that would do away with government-mandated budget caps, freeing up the military to spend all of the money it was authorized to spend by Congress last year

Not only does the position put him in conflict with his own White House, but it also threatens to derail his party's efforts to pass a stop-gap bill once again

But Trump insisted: 'CHIP should be part of a long term solution, not a 30 Day, or short term, extension!'

Republican Senator John Cornyn quickly corrected Trump in a counter-tweet: 'The current house Continuing Resolution package has a six-year extension of CHIP, not a 30 day extension.'

Nancy Pelosi, the top Democrat in the House, dismissed the Republicans move on CHIP as 'like giving you a bowl of doggie doo, put a cherry on top sundae. This is nothing.'

'This CHIP should have been done in September,' she told reporters.

Up against a similar deadline last month, lawmakers had passed a short-term resolution to keep the federal government funded until January 20.

Many Democrats are already opposed to another short-term fix, leaving Republicans to rely on their own divided caucus to advance the measure.

If it fails, Democrats will gain greater leverage to insist on a funding compromise that includes protection from deportation for the so-called 'Dreamers,' the estimated 700,000 immigrants brought to the United States illegally as children.

Negotiations on a bipartisan compromise that includes a fix on DACA collapsed in acrimony at a White House meeting last week.

Trump's reported reference to African nations and Haiti as 'shithole countries' ignited a still-smoldering political firestorm.

Trump claimed in his remarks before a meeting with military leaders that was supposedly part of a nuclear posture review that Democrats are acting out because they are trying to blunt the success of his tax deal

White House chief of staff John Kelly met Wednesday with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus to make the case that Trump had 'evolved' on his signature campaign promise to build a wall the length of the US border.

Funding for border security, but not a full-blown wall, was part of the bipartisan budget compromise presented at last week's contentious White House talks.

Participants at the meeting with Kelly quoted the retired general and former head of the Department of Homeland Security as saying Trump was not 'fully informed' when he made the wall promise.

But Trump hit back on Twitter Thursday: 'The Wall is the Wall, it has never changed or evolved from the first day I conceived of it,' he wrote.

'If there is no Wall, there is no Deal!' Trump said in another tweet that described Mexico as 'now rated the most dangerous country in the world.'

Mexico once again said it would not pay for the wall, despite Trump's repeated insistence that it will.

The mixed messages from the White House prompted a rebuke Wednesday from frustrated Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

'I'm looking for something that President Trump supports, and he's not yet indicated what measure he's willing to sign,' McConnell told reporters.

'As soon as we figure out what he is for, then I would be convinced that we were not just spinning our wheels.'
Two men want Google to stop linking their names to internet information referring to past criminal convictions in a landmark British case on the 'right to be forgotten'.

The anonymous men, described as businessmen, argue their convictions are decades old and 'legally spent.'

One was convicted of conspiracy to account falsely, and the other was convicted of conspiracy to intercept communications, but they have served their sentences, Judge Matthew Nicklin said at a pre-trial hearing Thursday.

Two men who want Google to stop linking their names to internet information referring to past crimes have launched landmark legal action (PA/Yui Mok)

'This is the first time that the English court is going to decide the issue of the right to be forgotten,' Nicklin said.

Both have taken legal action against Google bosses, arguing that they have a 'right to be forgotten'. The tech giant is already embroiled in a case with the EU's top court over the principle.

The European Court of Justice ruled in May 2014 that people could request links relating to them be removed from search engine results if they were outdated or irrelevant.

The ruling is only valid in the 28-nation bloc, but Google has clashed with privacy regulators over attempts to apply it beyond the EU.

A judge is due to consider rival arguments at trials later this year.

Nicklin oversaw a preliminary hearing at the High Court in London on Thursday.

He said the cases were the first of their kind to be aired in England. The judge made an order barring the men from being identified in media reports.

He said issues surrounding reporting would be analysed at a hearing in the next few weeks.

The first case, where the businessman is challenging Google to remove information linking to him, is known as NT1, and will start of February 27.

The second, NT2, will start March 13.

Nicklin said the plaintiffs were not celebrities or politicians and have been 'rehabilitated' since their convictions.
Wealthy businessman and action lover Charles Burnett III (pictured) was killed in a helicopter accident on Wednesday

A group of prominent friends, including a Texas-based investor and a key Zimbabwean opposition leader, was heading to a ranch in the U.S. state of New Mexico when their helicopter crashed and burned in a remote area, killing five people aboard.

Friends and family members confirmed Thursday that wealthy businessman Charles Burnett III along with opposition leader Roy Bennett and his wife, Heather, had traveled to New Mexico to spend their vacation at Burnett's ranch.

Burnett's friends, pilot Jamie Coleman Dodd of Colorado and co-pilot Paul Cobb of Texas, were ferrying the group aboard a Huey UH-1 when it went down after dark Wednesday. All five died, according to New Mexico State Police.

A citizen of the United States, Canada and England, Burnett was an investor and businessman based out of Houston. He also headed the Notsew Orm Sands Foundation, funding a wide variety of causes, including medical research and education.

Known for his love of everything fast, he achieved a variety of world records using catamarans and mono-hulls powered by diesel and petrol. He made the Guinness Book of World Records in 1999 for an offshore water speed record of 137mph.

Burnett's friends, pilot Jamie Coleman Dodd (pictured) of Colorado and co-pilot Paul Cobb of Texas, were also killed while ferrying the group over New Mexico

He later set another Guinness record by successfully breaking the land speed record for a steam powered vehicle  which has stood for 100 years  achieving a speed of 151mph in August 2009.

The entrepreneurial Texan and CCS manager also set up Vulture Ventures, a U.K.-based offshore boat racing team, which soon became known as the world's most successful team in the sport.

The only survivor was Andra Cobb, the co-pilot's daughter who was in a long-term relationship with Burnett. She was able to escape before the helicopter burst into flames.

Her voice breaking, Martha Cobb told The Associated Press that her 39-year-old daughter was hospitalized with broken bones.

'She's just very distraught,' the mother said in a telephone interview. 'I'm just glad my daughter is OK, but I hate that my husband of 41 years is gone.'

Martha Cobb and her husband had befriended the Bennetts while traveling on cruises.

Senior Zimbabwean MDC opposition official Roy Bennett, left, and his wife Heather, relax at a friends home in Mutare about 200 km east of Harare, Zimbabwe Oct. 16, 2009

Dodd, a long-time helicopter pilot and aviation manager at Boyert Shooting Center, had been flying five passengers UH-1 Huey from Raton to a ranch in New Mexico, for his employer on Wednesday, according to Army buddy William Conlon.

The former Marine corporal was flying over the mountains, about 15 miles east of the small city of Raton, near the Colorado state line, at around 6pm when something went wrong. '

Roy Bennett, 60, treasurer-general of the Morgan Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change opposition party, won a devoted following of black Zimbabweans for passionately advocating political change.

Bennett, a white man who spoke fluent Shona and drew the wrath of former President Robert Mugabe (pictured) , survived a traumatic year in jail and death threats over his work

Bennett, a white man who spoke fluent Shona and drew the wrath of former President Robert Mugabe, survived a traumatic year in jail and death threats over his work. He was known as 'Pachedu,' meaning 'one of us' in Shona and was often called the sharpest thorn in Mugabe's side.

Obert Gutu, spokesman for the MDC-T party, described Bennett's death as a 'huge and tragic loss.'

Burnett, born in England, inherited part of a family fortune and had been friends for some time with the two pilots, said his personal lawyer, Martyn Hill.

A 911 call from Andra Cobb alerted authorities to the crash, whose cause is under investigation. There was no indication of bad weather that night.

Officials launched a search but said the response was slow because of the rugged terrain and lack of access. Engulfed in flames, the wreckage of the helicopter registered to an aviation company linked to Burnett was spotted on a ranch.

The group was heading to the Emery Gap Ranch, a mountainous property on the Colorado-New Mexico border. Burnett bought it in February 2017, said Sam Middleton, a real estate broker in Lubbock, Texas, who helped with the purchase.




A millionaire businessman who recently raced the Sydney to Hobart and a billionaire construction magnate are among three Australians languishing in a Serbian jail over alleged links to a $500million drug bust.

Rohan Arnold - dubbed the 'king of steel' for his roaring success in the industry - was arrested at gunpoint inside the Metropol Palace Hotel, in Belgrade, on Wednesday.

The 44-year-old was drinking with Tristan Waters, 34, David Campbell, 48, and Diab George, 40, a Lebanese man, in the hotel lobby when they were arrested in dramatic circumstances.

Waters, a former Canberra nightclub bouncer turned billionaire construction owner, has been labelled as the cartel leader and a 'big narco boss' by the Serbian media.

All four are suspected of having ties to an international drug syndicate - dubbed the 'Waters' cartel' - which allegedly attempted to smuggle 1.28 tonnes worth of cocaine into Sydney from China last year.

Rohan Arnold, a construction magnate who recently raced the Sydney to Hobart, is one of three Australians languishing in a Serbian jail over alleged links to a $500million drug bust

The 44-year-old was one of three Australians and a Lebanese man arrested on Wednesday

Arnold was arrested at gunpoint as he enjoyed drinks with his alleged associates at Belgrade's Metropol Palace Hotel on Wednesday

Waters was reportedly manager of a security firm based in the ACT before moving on to build his own construction firm called Triswat.

But the businessman, who is now based in Dubai, was also reportedly connected to multiple companies linked to the ATO tax fraud syndicate run by Adam Cranston, the son of then ATO deputy commissioner Michael Cranston.

Waters was a director of CREI Camperdown set up by Dev Menon, the Sydney lawyer who allegedly provided tax advice to the ATO syndicate, Fairfax reports.

Mr Arnold is a director of South East Livestock Exchange and also his own company 'Arnold Co' - a major player in the NSW construction industry.

The father-of-four was born and educated in Canberra where he graduated with a commerce degree in 1995, according to his business website.

Just days ago, he wrote on his personal blog that the global steel industry was thriving and that he was optimistic about the future.

'Global demand for mass steel looks likely to increase in 2018, with emerging economies including Latin America and the Middle East experiencing strong urban development,' he wrote.

Arnold is a director of South East Livestock Exchange and also his own company 'Arnold Co' - a major player in the NSW construction industry

The four men were dramatically arrested in the lobby (pictured) of the lavish hotel in Belgrade

This picture shows the table and lounge the men had been sitting on before they were arrested, as well as a bag police say contained various forms of currency

Arnold (pictured) has had a 20-year career in the steel manufacturing industry

Arnold's 20-year career in the steel industry and subsequent affluence has gifted him opportunities like competing in the Sydney to Hobart for a third time in 2017.

But just three weeks after successfully completing the prestigious yacht race, he finds himself at the centre of the second largest cocaine seizure in Australian history.

Mr Arnold first came to the attention of Australian Federal Police after they captured a 1.28 tonne cocaine haul - with a street value of close to $500million - hidden on a shipment of pre-fabricated steel which travelled from China to Sydney last April.

Following his dramatic arrest in Belgrade, the AFP on Wednesday raided Mr Arnold's home where he lives with his family on the NSW-ACT border.

One of his business premises in Goulburn was also searched - as were properties in Jeir and Canberra.

The bag was filled with cash including about $600,000 Euros and $10,000 Australian dollars, police said

The AFP on Wednesday raided Mr Arnold's home where he lives with his family on the NSW-ACT border

Video showed Mr Arnold sitting inside the lobby of the Belgrade hotel with three other men, completely unaware they were about to be raided by police.

The footage, released by Serbian authorities, showed officers throw the men to the ground during what police allege was a 'money handover'.

Officers said they found a bag filled with various forms of currency, including approximately $600,000 Euros and $10,000 Australian dollars.

One of Arnold's colleagues told Daily Mail Australia he was shocked to learn of his arrest in Serbia, saying he assumed Arnold had travelled to China.

'I spoke to him the other day and he said he was going overseas for a week but he'd be back before Sunday [for the opening of a new stock yard],' Brendan Abbey said.

'I was under the impression he was off to China. He went there often because he has interests in steel there.

Police are pictured storming into the Belgrade hotel moments before the dramatic arrests

A Serbian police officer is seen opening a bag which they said contained various forms of currency

One of the four men is taken into custody after being arrested over alleged links to a one tonne cocaine bust

'We're just in shock, utter shock. It's got nothing to do with us though.'

In a statement released on Thursday, the South East Livestock Exchange (SELX) said its business was not involved in any way with the police operation.

'SELX Pty Ltd owns livestock selling centres at Yass (SELX) and Mortlake (WVLX),' the statement read.

'The Directors of SELX Pty Ltd have become aware through the media that Rohan Arnold a Director of SELX Pty Ltd has been arrested by Serbian authorities in Belgrade.

'The operation and management of SELX and WVLX are not affected by this development. Livestock sales will continue as scheduled.'

Mr Arnold first came to the attention of Australian Federal Police after they captured a 1.28 tonne cocaine haul

A block of cocaine is pictured after it was seized in what was the second largest haul of the drug in Australian history

Arnold's lawyer said he expects his client (pictured) to be back in Australia within six weeks if he is not charged

The Arnold Co. website says it 'removes the unknown risks associated procurement with primarily construction related products from China'.

Mr Arnold's defence lawyer told The Sydney Morning Herald he was in the process of organising to see him in Serbia.

'That will be co-ordinated through [the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade],' Ben Aulich said on Thursday.

'If everything is co-ordinated smoothly and he is not facing charges in Serbia, then we expect him back in the country within four to six weeks.'

The AFP released a statement hours after the Serbian bust, alleging they had linked three of the arrested men to a major drug haul in April. It is unclear which of the four men arrested in Serbia the AFP was referring to.

'Operation Amorgos commenced in April 2017, with the interception of a container of pre-fabricated steel arriving into Sydney from a source country via China,' the statement read.

'AFP investigators commenced a tenacious nine-month investigation to pursue those allegedly responsible for this importation.

'No arrests have been made in Australia at this time, though investigations remain ongoing.'

Video showed Mr Arnold sitting inside the lobby of the Belgrade hotel with three other men before police pounced
Pictured: Jay Desai, 39, was left horrified by offensive children's book

A primary school has banned an anti-bullying book after a horrified mother complained about the word 'P***' being used in a chapter on racist abuse.

Jay Desai, 39, said she was shocked when her nine-year-old daughter was told by teachers to read 'Deadly Letter' by Mary Hoffman.

The book, published in 1990, tells the fictional story of a girl called Prity who had just arrived in England from India.

During a three-page passage in the book, the word 'P***' was used to describe Prity's abuse at the hands of school bullies.

Greswold Primary School in Solihull, West Midlands has now removed the book from the library after Mrs Desai lodged a complaint with headteacher Karen Scott.

Mrs Desai, of Solihull, said: 'I don't know how it was published in the first place let alone distributed to schools.

'It makes comments about white people - all again very disgusting especially when the book is aimed at six and seven-year-olds.

'The school have been excellent in the way they dealt with the issue.

'They listened to my opinion and took on board my concerns.

'In certain situations, if being someone was being bullied, the book could be great as it shows how a child feels when they are being bullied.

During a three-page passage in the book, the word 'P***' was used to describe Prity's abuse at the hands of school bullies

Mrs Desai tweeted the author about her concerns but Mrs Hoffman defended her choice of language

She added: 'But I don't think that particular word should be used in a book, especially one aimed at children.'

Mrs Desai tweeted the author about her concerns but Mrs Hoffman defended her choice of language.

In a statement, she said: 'I am very sorry if anyone was upset or offended by my book, which was the opposite of my intention.

'I wrote the story partly to highlight casual racism which begins even in primary schools.

'My husband is half-Indian, I have three mixed-race children, now adults, and have been fighting racism all my adult writing life.'

Greswold Primary School in Solihull, West Midlands has now removed the book from the library after Mrs Desai lodged a complaint with headteacher Karen Scott

Parents whose children attend the school, which caters for 332 pupils aged 5-11 and rated 'Good' by Ofsted last year, were split on the decision to ban the book.

Publishers Barrington Stoke defended the book, saying the context of the word 'P***' being used was appropriate.

A spokesperson said: 'As publishers, we have every confidence in Mary's ability to tackle the difficult subject of playground racism and bullying truthfully and with sensitivity.

'The use of this offensive term is challenged in different ways - and there is absolutely no sense in which the word is seen as acceptable.

'Our belief is that this story shows a proper, nuanced understanding of the issues involved in a way that we hope is appropriate for young readers.'
The boss of a technology company is offering his staff two days off if they work on Australia Day to boycott the January 26 public holiday.

Ben Beath, the founder of Melbourne digital agency Loud & Clear, opposes having a national day which commemorates the 1788 arrival of the British First Fleet in Sydney.

He is offering his 80 Melbourne-based staff an extra day off to protest against the public holiday, which the Greens and some indigenous activists regard as 'Invasion Day'.

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Company managing director Ben Beath, pictured second right with fellow managers, is offering his staff two days off if they work on Australia Day

The vast majority of digital agency Loud & Clear's 80 staff worked on Australia Day in 2017 with a similar number planning to in 2018 (pictured is 'Invasion Day' protest in Brisbane)

Mr Beath said his staff approached him last year about working on January 26 as part of a campaign to 'change the date'.

'The more I dived into the discussion around changing the date, I realised that if people were so passionate about this that they want to come into work on a public holiday, I felt like Loud&Clear should make an effort to support this,' he told Daily Mail Australia on Friday.

'And giving an extra day off - two days off in total -just seemed like the right thing to do.'

'It's not virtue signalling. It's about spreading an idea and asking other people to consider it.'

The company managing director said staff were not being forced to work on Australia Day

The company managing director said staff were not forced into working on Australia Day.

'We're an independent agency, and I want people to make their own minds up about this,' he said.

'For the 20 per cent of our team who want to take January 26 off - that's perfectly fine.'

Mr Beath said 80 per cent of his staff took up the offer in 2017, after he wrote a LinkedIn article arguing his industry had a responsibility to effect change.

Mr Beath said Australia Day needed to be changed from January 26 to a 'more inclusive date'

'It should not fall to indigenous Australians to have this conversation, to repair the lazy cruelty forced on them,' he said.

'We are calling on our agency colleagues across Australia to join us and make a stand.'

Former Labor leader Mark Latham and indigenous Alice Springs town councillor Jacinta Price are fronting a 'Save the Date' television campaign to keep Australia Day on January 26.

Ms Price, the daughter of a former Northern Territory government minister, said changing the date would do nothing to address issues of domestic violence and alcohol abuse in Aboriginal communities.

Mr Beath acknowledged fixing social problems among indigenous people was more complicated than changing Australia Day to a 'more inclusive date'.
Fraternities at the University of California, Los Angeles are banned indefinitely from serving alcohol at in-house parties and events days after a former president was arrested on sexual assault allegations.

The UCLA Interfraternity Council announced the booze-free rule on Wednesday citing safety concerns.

'Safety will always be the main priority when evaluating the IFC community and we are working towards enacting measures to promote security and prioritize safety,' a statement from the council read.

UCLA fraternities are banned from serving alcohol at in-house events, it was announced on Wednesday

The decision came just days after 21-year-old Benjamin Orr, a student and the former president of Theta Delta Chi fraternity was arrested on suspicion of sexual assault

Kevin Dougherty, director of fraternity & sorority life and associate dean of students, said the ban was a step in the right direction, according to the Daily Bruin. The decision comes just days after Benjamin Orr was arrested on suspicion of sexual assault.

Campus police were called to a home in the North Village on Sunday for an alleged sexual assault that happened at a party the night before. Orr, a fourth-year student at the university, was arrested on charges of assault with intent to commit rape and oral copulation, according to KTLA.

Kevin Dougherty (pictured), director of fraternity & sorority life and associate dean of students, said the ban was a step in the right direction

Authorities have not said whether the alleged sexual assault happened on campus. Orr was transferred to the Los Angeles County jail before being released on $100,000 bail

He was transferred to the Los Angeles County jail before being released on $100,000 bail.

The 21-year-old served as president of the Theta Delta Chi fraternity last year. He is scheduled to appear in court on February 5.

Authorities have not said whether the alleged incident happened at one of the fraternity's on-campus houses.

'The IFC's decision to place an indefinite ban on in-house events with alcohol is a step in the right direction to strengthen the safety within the community,' UCLA spokesman Ricardo Vazquez said in an email statement to the Los Angeles Times. '[W]hile UCLA does not confirm or discuss student conduct cases, student safety is of paramount concern to the university.'
The ashes of the gunman who carried out the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history have been turned over to his brother to be kept in a safe deposit box.

Clark County Coroner John Fudenberg said in a statement that Stephen Paddock's ashes were given Thursday to brother Eric Paddock.

Stephen Paddock, 64, shot himself before police reached him in his room on the 32nd floor of a casino-hotel where he opened fire into an outdoor concert on October 1, killing 58 people and injuring hundreds.

Eric Paddock holds a photo of himself, at left, and his brother, Las Vegas shooter Stephen Paddock, at right, outside his home in Orlando, Florida

Eric Paddock, speaks to members of the media outside his home at the time of the shootings

Eric Paddock told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that he plans to put the ashes in a safe deposit box at a bank instead of at his home in Orlando, Florida.

'I'm putting the ashes in a safe deposit box in a bank in order to make sure that there's no hoopla around Steve's remains. I don't want someone to do something stupid.'

He revealed that over the past month he has experienced difficulty in getting the coroner to deliver the remains to him.

'The coroner seems to think that there has to be some chain of custody because of the criminal investigation,' Paddock said.

'But his remains have nothing to do with the investigation.'

Fudenberg sent Paddocks brain tissue to Stanford University School of Medicine for a neuropathological examination to look for possible disorders that might explain his erratic behavior.

Paddock opened fire from the Mandalay Bay hotel in Las Vegas, killing 58 and injuring hundreds more

Police form a perimeter around the road leading to the Mandalay Hotel shortly after Paddock opened fire on concertgoers

Concertgoers run for their lives on the night of the horrific shooting during the Route 91 Harvest country music festival

It emerged this week that police are investigating charges against others in connection with the shooting,

Attorney Nicholas Crosby, a lawyer for Las Vegas police, did not identify new evidence or suspects but said charges might be possible depending on the results of an ongoing investigation.

He made his comments in court as he argued to keep police search-warrant records sealed.

'Without naming names, there are potential charges against others as a result of the ongoing investigation?' Clark County District Court Judge Elissa Cadish asked Crosby to which he replied: 'Yes. There are charges being investigated.'

Officer Laura Meltzer, a Las Vegas police spokeswoman, said the department is 'investigating possible criminal charges related to items discovered during the service of search warrants.'

She did not name a suspect and said she could not specify the type of charges or what was found without compromising the investigation.




A north Queensland Indigenous leader has compared his ancestors' plight to the Holocaust while calling for the date of Australia Day to be changed.

Palm Island Shire Council Mayor Alf Lacey said a new date on 'common ground' should be found because Indigenous communities in Queensland's north refused to celebrate on January 26.

'Would the Jews celebrate the Holocaust?' Mr Lacey said on Friday, according to the Townsville Bulletin.

North Queensland Indigenous leader Alf Lacey (pictured) compared his ancestors' plight to the Holocaust while calling for the date of Australia Day to be changed

The Palm Island Shire Council Mayor said a new date on 'common ground' should be found because Indigenous communities in Queensland's north refused to celebrate on January 26. Pictured: Australia Day protests in Melbourne in 2017

'Would the Jews celebrate the Holocaust?' Mr Lacey (pictured) said on Friday

He added: 'Most indigenous communities I know of dont have the sausage sizzle and go to the beach which is commonly done elsewhere.'

Mr Lacey said Australia needed to be 'mature enough' by finding a new date to help right the wrongs of the past.

But he urged people to leave race out of the equation when debating the date of Australia Day - which is often dubbed 'Invasion Day' by its opponents.

'Were trying to find common ground in terms of us as Australians. It should be about all of us coming together,' Mr Lacey said.

Mr Lacey urged people to leave race out of the equation when debating the date of Australia Day - which is often dubbed 'Invasion Day' by its opponents. Pictured: Members of right wing group True Blue Crew

He said Australia need to be 'mature enough' by finding a new date to help right the wrongs of the past. Pictured: 'Invasion Day' march in Sydney in 2016

His comments come after a national poll revealed most Australians would support a date change.

A Research Now survey asked 1417 people their thoughts on the country's day of celebration, as a national debate to 'change the date' once again intensifies.

The poll found nearly all Australians - 84 per cent - believe the country needs a national day of celebration.

However, 56 per cent said they don't mind when the day falls.

January 26 marks the anniversary of the First Fleet's arrival at Port Jackson, New South Wales, in 1788.
By the time it ended at seven oclock last night, Theresa Mays Sandhurst summit with French president Emmanuel Macron was more than an hour behind schedule.

During the closing Press conference, the reason became obvious. President Macron is the most frightful windbag. Quel moulin a paroles!

Presumably he talked at similar length during the summits various ministerial meetings and over the lunch Mrs May gave him at Sir Michael Parkinsons Royal Oak pub at Littlefield Park, Berkshire.

Its a wonder the carved duck breast with roasted onion tartlet didnt curl up on the plate while Monsieur Macronandonandon was jabbering away. Mrs May is not much of a drinker but I bet she was starting to fantasise about a second bottle of the 2013 Domaine Grand Romane.

By the time it ended at seven oclock last night, Theresa Mays Sandhurst summit with French president Emmanuel Macron was more than an hour behind schedule

During the closing Press conference, the reason became obvious. President Macron is the most frightful windbag. Quel moulin a paroles!

It was wet and windy at the Royal Military Academy by the time the president and Prime Minister stood at an open-sided bandstand and inspected bearskinned troops from the Coldstream Guards. Mrs May looked frozen, bending into the breeze like a figure from a Lowry painting. A rainbow appeared. A good augury?

Hes not tall, Macron  an eighth of an inch shorter than his hostess, perhaps. Napoleon. Sarkozy. Macron.

Not exactly second-row-of-the-scrum material, any of them. But he is clever at hogging the limelight and when it came to the group photograph with French ministers and with some of our home team such as Boris, Amber Rudd and Philip Hammond, M Macron stepped forward half a pace to make himself more prominent.

Crafty. You need to watch a man like that. The Press conference opened with prepared opening statement from both heads of government. Mrs Mays was the length, roughly, of a modern pop record.

M Macrons lasted as long as some opening movements at the Albert Hall. Foreign Secretary Boris was sitting in the front row of the Sandhurst hall where the event was being held. He was not wearing an earpiece to connect him to the simultaneous translation. Perhaps Boriss French is fluent enough for him to understand without a translator or perhaps he chose not to listen in case he did a Swayne and fell asleep.

While Mrs May was speaking, Frances finest kept gazing across at her, round-eyed. Longingly? That would be putting it too strongly. Anyway, at 61 shes too young for him. But when they were talking about the Bayeux Tapestry he did say we must somehow make a new tapestry together.

What a chat-up line. He is a fidgety sort of performer, not quite as itchy as Sarkozy but still full of gesticulations and facial movements. He kept webbing his hands and holding them up to the camera. All this helped to compensate for his stultifying verbosity.

The longer he talked, the more you could sense Mrs May forcing herself to look fascinated, wobbling her head and pushing her chin forward. Had Sir Desmond Swayne been in the room, he would have fallen out of his seat by this point.

While Mrs May was speaking, Frances finest kept gazing across at her, round-eyed. Longingly? That would be putting it too strongly

Questions arrived: Brexit, migrant problems at Calais, that tapestry and a doom-laden attempt by a chap from the Financial Times to speak French (more Linguaphone lessons needed, George).

On Brexit, M Macron possibly let slip a small hint that we could be looking at a Canada-style trade deal with the EU after we have regained our freedom. He smiled coyly when asked if he was trying to win Britain back into the EU but he did say he respected our democratic decision to leave. On migrants in northern France, the situation is still problematic, as I said at length in Calais.

The most believable part of that sentence was the at length. Mind you, if Brexit is going to be the economic disaster for us that the EU keeps predicting, its surprising they think any migrants are going to want to come our way.

Meanwhile, everything rude we London journos have ever said about Mrs May being a bore, we take back. Compared to Macronandonandon, shes electric soup.
Migrants at Calais will be fast-tracked into Britain under new plans agreed by Theresa May as she bowed to further pressure from the French.

Adult migrants seeking to come to the UK via Calais will have their applications processed within one month, rather than have to wait for six months.

Children will see their waiting time slashed from six months to just 25 days, it was announced yesterday.

French President Emmanuel Macron outlined the deal at a joint press conference with Mrs May after an Anglo-Franco summit at Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.

French President Emmanuel Macron outlined the deal at a joint press conference with Mrs May after an Anglo-Franco summit at Royal Military Academy Sandhurst

Migrants in Calais line up during a food distribution from aid associations on January 12. Mr Macron said the issue of migrants at Calais was a common challenge

Migrants gather near the barbed wire fence of a truck parking lot near the N216 highway in Calais that leads to the ferry terminal

Mr Macron said they had agreed upon a Sandhurst Treaty, shaking-up the process for dealing with asylum seekers and migrants camped at Channel ports.

He said this was the first joint treaty to be signed on such issues in fifteen years.

Mr Macron said the UK and France are making a new tapestry together, as he confirmed plans to loan the Bayeux Tapestry to the UK.

Mr Macron said the issue of migrants at Calais was a common challenge.

It had already emerged that the UK would pump another 44.5million into beefing up border security at Channel ports, with cash funding extra fencing, CCTV and detection technology.

The plan was met with fury by politicians who said enough had already been paid to the French to tackle the problem in their country.

Mrs May was forced to defend it yesterday, saying: This is in our national interests, it is also in the interests of France to ensure that we have as secure a border as possible at Calais and other ports.

She stressed that the deal with the French would enhance the security of our border and would in turn reduce the number of migrants coming to the UK.

A Downing Street source insisted the plans would reduce the pull factor and by speeding up the process, cases would be thrown out quicker.

This would mean there would be less migrants waiting in Calais to see if they can come to the UK and less of a problem at the border.

Mr Macron said the current situation in Calais was not satisfactory.

The treaties signed today, for me, provide for the framework in which we shall be able in the coming months to bring about a concrete answer so that we no longer have migrants living in Calais, as we were seeing in the spring of 2016, said the President.

A refugee watches a shelter burn during the start of the expulsion of a part of the Jungle migrant camp in Calais on February 29, 2016

He said the new treaty would allow him to fulfil his 2016 vow that after Brexit migrants will no longer be in Calais.

He said: We can either manage the border together or it will be a disastrous situation. It is not a gift for France. It is some joint management.

The French president, making his first visit to Britain since entering the Elysee Palace, was greeted at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, with a guard of honour from the Coldstream Guards.

The leaders do not want to see a return of the notorious Jungle Camp, which attracted thousands of migrants from across parts of Africa and Asia.

France also wants Britain to take in more migrants from Calais, especially unaccompanied children.

Mrs May pointedly declined to give a number of migrants that Britain would take when asked at a joint press conference.

Instead she stressed the need to clamp down on people smugglers and take other measures to stop migrants from getting to Calais.

Mr Macron said the treaty would mean smarter and more efficient management of the border and a more efficient, humane processing system for migrants.
A snake has slithered its way into bed to snuggle up with a North Queensland couple before the husband caught it in a pillowcase.

Adele Mallard, from Rangewood west of Townsville, was asleep on Tuesday morning when she rolled over onto the reptilian intruder.

When she bumped into the serpent it tried to bite her in the hamstring area, she said, waking her up immediately.

A snake has slithered its way into bed with a North Queensland couple before the husband caught it in a pillowcase

'I was like "hon, there's something in the bed, it just bit me" as I slid across to the other side,' she told The Townsville Bulletin.

'My hubby caught him with a pillowcase.'

Ms Mallard asked local snake catchers for help identifying the reptile, and David Barwell obliged.

'It's a harmless spotted python,' he said.

Ms Mallard suspects the snake crawled into her bed for warmth, and thinks it may have come in through the air conditioner.

She said the snake has been rehomed, and although the couple struggled to get back to sleep afterwards due to the adrenaline rush, she is glad it was not a spider.

Adele Mallard, from Rangewood west of Townsville, was asleep on Tuesday morning when she rolled over onto the reptilian intruder (pictured)

'My biggest fear is spiders actually, so I guess I tell myself it could be worse, it could have been a spider,' she said.

Hot summer weather has been bringing snakes out into the open all over Australia, as they become more active in the heat.

The spotted python is native to northern Australia and New Guinea, and is a popular pet which grows up to a metre and a half in length.
They are the backbone of the Women's Institute, ready to make jam for the nation with a chorus of Jerusalem.

But there's something brewing  and it's not just the teapot  in the villages and rural towns where veteran members faithfully show up each week.

The WI, which recently celebrated its centenary, is facing a revolt from a band of women who accuse it of elitism and 'extravagance' with their money.

They complain that the cost of subscriptions is rising and the National Federation, the WI's ruling body, takes more than half the cash.

It boasts elegant headquarters in London, and a glossy magazine that many say they don't even bother to read.

The WI (members pictured in August 1943), which recently celebrated its centenary, is facing a revolt from a band of UK women who accuse it of elitism and 'extravagance' with their money

They complain that the cost of subscriptions is rising and the National Federation, the WI's ruling body, takes more than half the cash. It boasts elegant headquarters in London (pictured), and a glossy magazine that many say they don't even bother to read

Many members have quit the WI in protest, and some branches have been forced to close as numbers dwindle.

Others are looking at ways to get around the subscription system so they can retain enough money to survive.

Elizabeth Blakemore, 68, the treasurer of Chilbolton WI in Hampshire, said her group's members had dropped from around 60 three years ago to just 29.

'The National Federation is using us as a conduit to collect funds for its extravagant uses,' she said. 'How sad it is out of touch with grassroots members.

'A number of people are saying they don't want to be members but will donate the money if they can keep coming every month.'

She added: 'Last year we had to hand over 54 per cent of subscriptions. It was 35 per cent the year before. I paid 585 to them, which left just over 400 to get speakers and hire the hall.'

Hazel Turner, who was president of Stoke Hammond WI in Buckinghamshire until it closed before Christmas, said: 'People are devastated. A lot of them are very lonely, many are widows.

'They came once a month to have a cup of tea and a piece of cake and speak to other people. There's nothing to replace it.'

But there was worse to come. A WI adviser arrived on December 12 to collect all the branch's mementos. 'They took our scrapbooks,' Mrs Turner said.

Hazel Turner (pictured), who was president of Stoke Hammond WI in Buckinghamshire until it closed before Christmas, said: 'People are devastated. A lot of them are very lonely, many are widows.'

'They took our banner, the tablecloth that members had sewn and account books going back 70 years.

'The cups and saucers we bought in 1985, with gold leaf and WI on the side, went too.'

Furious at the apparent penny pinching, she suggested the WI should sell its HQ in the exclusive area of Fulham in London and move to Denman College, the organisation's residential college in Oxfordshire. 'They said it wasn't feasible,' she said.

Many more complained that the WI's London HQ was a 'white elephant'. One member said: 'Their excuse is that they need to maintain a presence in London.

'This is nonsense in this digital age, especially for an organisation set up for women in rural areas.'

Shirley Clarke, president of Anderida WI in East Sussex, said membership had dropped 20 per cent to 42 over the past decade.

She also called for the sale of the prestigious London HQ and branded the WI Life magazine a 'flash' publication for 'the metropolitan elite'.

WI annual subscriptions are rising by 2 to 41 this year  which campaigners say is too much for pensioners.

Treasurers say that having to pay 54 per cent of subs to the National Federation favours branches in towns and cities, which have more members.

The WI said membership rose to 222,000 last year, compared to 208,000 in 2010. But members pointed to figures which show there were fewer branches last year  6,400 compared to 7,000 in 2010.

Elizabeth Blakemore (pictured), 68, the treasurer of Chilbolton WI in Hampshire, said her group's members had dropped from around 60 three years ago to just 29

The Women's Institute's income in 2016 was 7.2 million, up from 6.8 million the previous year.

Some 2.4 million came from subs, an increase of 200,000 on the year before.

Outgoings included 1.3 million on the magazine, which one branch chief said was binned without being read by 'half our members'.

The London headquarters was purchased in 1990. The Land Registry does not hold details of the purchase price but nearby flats sell in excess of 1 million.

In a statement, the WI claimed its annual subscription was 'excellent value for money'.

It added: 'This includes 11 meetings a year, eight copies of WI Life, access to many events and activities and the opportunity to be part of a national voice.'
The mother of one of the teenagers involved in a sickening one-punch attack has defended her son.

Video of the group of boys attacking a man on William Street in Perth emerged on Tuesday, and local business owners claimed they are a gang who terrorise the area.

Michelle said her son is remorseful, but she stands by her parenting and is proud of him for standing up for a mate who the teens say racially abused one of them.

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The mother (pictured) of one of the teenagers involved in a sickening one-punch attack has defended her son

Video of the group of boys attacking a man (pictured) on William Street in Perth emerged on Tuesday. Local business owners claim they are a gang who terrorise the area

'Talk s***, you get hit,' she said when questioned about her Year 8 son's behavior, and stuck by her statement when asked, Perth Now reported.

'I've always taught my son not to take c*** from anybody. What did he [the victim] think was going to happen?'

'If he's [the victim] going to say racial things like that, someone will retaliate.'

After the clip went viral on social media the teenager who filmed the incident lashed out at people abusing the group online.

'Talk s***, you get hit,' she said when questioned about her son's behavior, and stuck by her statement (pictured is the man falling to the ground)

'None off yous know the full story that guy was being racist but no one of yous care about that he deserved it saying we will go nowhere in life,' he wrote.

Michelle agreed: 'My son is remorseful ... but people are forgetting a grown adult yelling and shaping up to kids is disgusting'.

Business owners in the Perth CBD claimed the boys are part of a gang who run riot through the area at night, trashing restaurants and starting fights.

The widely-shared video clip shows a man eating a burger and holding a drink surrounded by the group of youths.

They exchange words until a punch from one of the teenagers sends the man to the ground, his head smashing onto the pavement.

No one has been arrested or charged over the incident as the victim has not reported it, but police are making enquiries.
A Melbourne mother had the fright of her life on Tuesday, when her 9-year-old son got on a train at busy Flinders Street Station without her.

Lexie Rowntree, who shared her experience on Facebook, said she and son Jett were 'terrified' and in tears as the doors closed with each other on the other side.

Luckily, three helpful teenage boys were on board and immediately jumped into action, helping Jett get in contact with his mother and making sure they were reunited as quickly as possible.

'Three young guys, Eddie, Cal and Baxter, were on the train Jett was on, saw what happened, went straight up to him and comforted him and offered their phone for him to call me,' she wrote.

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Melbourne mother Lexie Rowntree (second from left) and her son Jett (far left) were separated at a busy train station this week when the train doors closed with only Jett inside

'Then they spoke to me saying we will look after him. We will get off with him at Southern Cross station and wait for you.'

When the foursome made it to Southern Cross, the next station, the teenagers called Ms Rowntree again to let her know they had arrived safely.

In just seven minutes, the terrifying ordeal was over, but Ms Rowntree said the mother and son were both still recovering from the thought of how bad the incident could have been.

'It was the longest and most terrifying seven minutes of my life,' she wrote.

'I keep seeing [Jett's] face as the train pulled away.'

The nine-year-old was quickly taken in by a group of helpful teenagers, who helped him become reunited with his mother in a matter of minutes

Jett, who appeared on the Today Show with his saviours, has also shown his immense thanks to the boys.

Ms Rowntree told friends her son had already called Eddie to say thank you a second time.

Eddie has also reached out to the family, commenting on Ms Rowntree's Facebook post to say he and his young friends were happy to have been able to help the scared nine-year-old in his time of need.

When Ms Rowntree responded, thanking him for his kind actions and words, it was clear the family had made a friend for life.

'Anytime, you can call me if you need anything else Ill always be around,' Eddie wrote back.
Bombshell claims about the events leading to William Tyrrell's disappearance have been uncovered by the missing boy's grandmother.

Natalie Collins said William and one of his siblings were removed from childcare early as a 'surprise' on the morning of September 12, 2014 - the day he was abducted.

'They were taken out of preschool early for a surprise visit,' she told news.com.au.

William was taken to a home in Kendall on the NSW Mid North Coast from where he would later vanish, sparking one of the biggest manhunts in Australian history.

Bombshell revelations about the events leading to William Tyrrell's disappearance have been uncovered by the missing boy's grandmother, Natalie Collins (pictured right)

Ms Collins (pictured) said William and another sibling were removed from childcare as a 'surprise' on the morning of September 12, 2014 - the day he was abducted

The then three-year-old was last seen wearing his Spiderman costume - an outfit which later became a symbol of his disappearance.

On Friday, Ms Collins revealed she 'hated' the costume because William had been 'bought better outfits' by her son Brendan Collins, who is William's biological father.

She went on to reveal Brendan and William shared a close bond, despite the child being removed from the father's care.

She said: 'The last time they saw him, William yelled ''daddy, daddy, daddy'' and jumped out of the pram like a kangaroo. William loved his dad. There was a real bond.'

William vanished from a home in Kendall on the NSW Mid North Coast, sparking one of the biggest manhunts in Australian history

Ms Collins said her son Brendan Collins (pictured) and William, his biological son, shared a close bond

Brendan, who Ms Collins said had developed a chronic drug addiction following William's disappearance, was the subject of an arrest warrant on Tuesday after he failed to show up to court on theft charges.

But it can be revealed a different court had remanded him in custody for separate theft charges on the exact same day. Collins was using a different last name.

He pleaded guilty to larceny of less than $2,000 and possessing stolen goods and will soon be sentenced.

Collins had been living with his grandmother Moira in Sydney's south-west.

'Look at all the bikes around, I think some are stolen,' she said.

Brendan Collins is pictured left. He had only recently been released from jail on drugs charges last year when he was revealed to be the missing toddler's biological father. William's biological mother Karlie (left and right) was also named for the first time last year as the toddler's parents

She said police recently visited the family home recently to see Brendan.

The police investigation into William's disappearance has ruled out the involvement of his biological parents, Brendan and Karlie Tyrrell.

His foster parents have asked not to be named to protect the identity of William's siblings.

There is a $1 million reward for information leading to William's discovery.

Despite one of Australia's biggest ever manhunts (pictured) William has never been found and a $1 million reward for information leading to his discovery remains in place
Bill and Melinda Gates are notoriously private about their personal life, but that hasn't stopped their 21-year-old daughter from sharing sneak-peeks into her lavish life on social media.

Jennifer Gates, an accomplished equestrian, has shared snaps from all over the world during what has been a very special year for her.

She turned 21 in April, finished out 2017 with her boyfriend of one year in Kuwait, and traveled the world for equestrian competitions, and that's just the beginning.

Jennifer Gates, the accomplished equestrian, has shared snaps from all over the world over what has been a very special year for the young lady

Jennifer, who is ranked 19th in show jumping by The United States Equestrian Federation, is seen in one image posing on a boat in crystal clear, blue waters.

Travel is nothing new to the glamour life of the Gates' oldest daughter, as she competed all over the world in equestrian sports.

Ms Gates was born in Medina, Washington and is currently in her final year of a biology degree at Stanford University.

When she is not studying or on horseback, she also makes time to travel with her boyfriend of just over one year, Nayel Nassar.

Mr Nassar, 26, is Egyptian but born and raised in Kuwait, who - like Jennifer - studied at Stanford University.

Jennifer sweetly kissed boyfriend Nayel Nassar on the cheek in the photo, as the two stood in front of a stunning background of white sand, blue water and puffy, white clouds, while celebrating their one year anniversary

In another photo, the couple were posted up in a pool, snuggling and showing affection as Jennifer wore a black bikini as she hugged Nayel from behind, wrapping her arms around him

Jennifer bears a striking resemblance to her mother, Melinda Gates; Jennifer is seen here at the Global Champions Tour of Monaco 2017 on June 23, 2017 in Monte-Carlo, Monaco

However Mr Nassar has since graduated from his studies in management and economics and is also a celebrated show jumper.

'Nobody rly knows whether our official ~dating anniversary~ is today or yesterday but thats ok... happy to be yours every day,' Jennifer wrote in an Instagram post featuring her beau on Monday.

She sweetly kissed him on the check in the photo, as the two stood in front of a stunning background of white sand, blue water and puffy, white clouds.

In another photo, the couple were posted up in a pool, also snuggling and showing affection.

Not one to rest for too long, Jennifer was also seen over the past year in Monaco.

She was there attending the Global Champions Tour of Monaco 2017 on June 23 in Monte-Carlo.

In a uniform of white pants and a long-sleeved red polo shirt, she had her hair pulled back and tied to the side, ready to take care of business.

Jennifer Gates, and parents Bill and Melinda Gates attend the Goalkeepers 2017, at Jazz at Lincoln Center on September 20, 2017 in New York City

Jennifer and Nayel ended 2017 by visiting Kuwait, which is where Nayel grew up

Jennifer bears a striking resemblance to her mother, Melinda Gates, as does her younger sister, Phoebe Adele Gates, who is 15 years old.

The family often travels together, but Jennifer is the one who shares their luxe experiences with the world.

Jennifer and Nayel ended 2017 by visiting Kuwait, which is where Nayel grew up.

'A magical three days in Kuwait with my favorite person,' Jennifer wrote on Instagram on December 19. 'Happy holidays everyone!'

The two posed together in Kuwait City, embracing in a field, with the city landscape off in the distance.

She spent three months in Australia over the Summer of 2016, and while there, someone snapped a picture of her climbing up a ladder on a boat

In a photo shared from Hawaii in June, she dons a pretty, pink lei while seated under palm trees

Reunion: The biology student can be seen laughing as she hugs one of her friends

Like mother, like daughter: The student and accomplished sportswoman poses with her mother while on holiday

Similar interests: She is seen kissing a horse being held by her equestrian partner

Jennifer also took to Instagram to reminisce about a three-month trip to Australia she did in 2016.

'Facebook tells me this was a year ago,' Jennifer wrote with a photo on September 24.

'Blows my mind because I don't want to be so far away from those transformative 3 months. Miss it more than ever and so grateful for the memories and friends made in Australia.'

The Gates' oldest daughter is also quite the jet-setter within the United States.

In a photo shared from Hawaii in June, she dons a pretty, pink lei while seated under palm trees.

British views: The 21-year-old posted this photo of herself and her mother on the London Eye during a visit to the British capital

Jennifer shared an image ringing in the new year with boyfriend Nayel, and a pup wrapped in its own celebratory boa

In November, Jennifer showed off the prizes she and her horses won in Las Vegas, with the help of Luisa Macias

Animal lover: Ms Gates posted this image of herself with a pregnant mare

Jennifer is seen here competing during day 2 of the Gucci Paris Masters 2014 at Parc des Expositions on December 5, 2014 in Villepinte, France

Bill Gates, Melinda Gates and Jennifer Gates attend Global Champions Tour of Monaco 2017 on June 23, 2017 in Monte-Carlo, Monaco

In November, Jennifer showed off the prizes she and her horses won in Las Vegas, with the help of Luisa Macias.

'Thx ponies!!!' she wrote on Instagram.

'3rd & 9th in the welcome stake tonight here in Vegas and thank you Luis for all your help and support!!'

Getting some more travel in overseas, Jennifer shared another snap with her love, this time in Amsterdam in June.

Seated snugly in the letter 'D' of the famous letters spelling out the name of the city, the two looked incredibly in love.

Not longer after, the 21-year-old stopped for a photo op with her father in Austria.

'Father daughter day in Vienna,' Jennifer wrote on September 2 on Instagram. She tagged the photo at NhM Naturhistorisches Museum Wien.

Equestrian Jennifer Gates performs at the Longines Los Angeles Masters Charity Pro-AM at Los Angeles Convention Center on September 27, 2014 in Los Angeles

Carlota Casiraghi (right) and Jennifer Gates attend Global Champions Tour of Monaco 2017 on June 23, 2017 in Monte-Carlo, Monaco

Getting some travel in overseas, Jennifer shared another snap in Amsterdam with her love

'Father daughter day in Vienna,' Jennifer wrote on September 2 on Instagram

Being the doting big sister she is, Jennifer also shared a holiday snap of her little sister, Phoebe Adele Gates

Jennifer Gates is shown here at the Gucci Paris master Day 2 on December 5, 2014 in Villepinte, France

'Lutzy finished 4th in the Futurity class today,' Jennifer wrote with a post featuring the beautiful animal, sporting a white ribbon for the prize

Jennifer Gates of USA, daughter of Bill and Melinda Gates, competes during day 1 of the Gucci Paris Masters 2014 at Parc des Expositions on December 4, 2014 in Villepinte, France

Being the doting big sister she is, Jennifer also shared a holiday snap of her little sister, Phoebe.

The 15-year-old wore pink pajamas and lounged back in a photo shared from the state of Washington.

It was around the Christmas time, judging by Jennifer's caption of 'Merry Christmas,' and the decorated tree, also featured in the snap.

The show jumper is always sure to give credit where credit is due, applauding her horse, Lutzy, for a fine finish in Southern California on October 19.

'Lutzy finished 4th in the Futurity class today,' Jennifer wrote with a post featuring the beautiful animal, sporting a white ribbon for the prize.

That contest took place at the Del Mar Horsepark Equestrian Barns.
A man has claimed he'd rather kill himself than eat the vegan dinner served to a patient at a Melbourne hospital every day.

The man posted an image of the meal to Facebook on Thursday night, complaining about the quality of food served to a woman who was 30 weeks pregnant.

'Personally I would throw myself off the roof if I had to eat this every day,' he said in the post.

A man has claimed he'd rather kill himself than eat the vegan dinner (pictured) served to a patient at a Melbourne hospital every day

The image shows the patient was served a main course of plain white rice, a handful of fries and a side-serving of peas, corn and carrot.

A mixed lettuce salad with grated carrot and cherry tomatoes accompanied the meal on a separate plate.

The vegan spread also came with a small tub of what appeared to be finely chopped peaches and pears to cleanse the palate.

The man posted an image of the meal to Facebook on Thursday night, complaining about the quality of food served to a woman who was 30 weeks pregnant

And a cup of tea with two biscuits was offered as a treat to round off the meal.

'Can't complain when it's all free I suppose,' the man wrote, before comparing Australia's hospital system to United States'.

The vegan meal included various flavours and ingredients from separate food groups.

Despite an arguably unappealing appearance, the meal included carbohydrates in the form of rice and potato, five different types of vegetables across two plates and fruit.
Ex Uber CEO Travis Kalanick (shown in Beverly Hills at the 2017 Vanity Fair Oscar Party) 'squirmed on the floor' and heavily compensated the Uber driver he berated during last year's scandals

Former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick begged fellow executives for forgiveness and paid a hefty apology fee to the driver he verbally abused in last year's viral video - months before he was forced to step down.

The 41-year-old businessman reportedly 'squirmed on the floor' while in a meeting with company executives in San Francisco, California amid a series of scandals that erupted about a year ago, according to Bloomberg.

In the dash cam video released in February 2017, Kalanick was shown in the back of an Uber car preparing to exit as driver Fawzi Kamel expressed his concerns over reduced fares - which he said resulted in employees becoming bankrupt.

During the discussion that turned heated, Kalanick cursed at Kamel and blamed him for the problem before he departed the car with two other individuals.

'You know what? Some people don't like to take responsibility for their own sh*t. They blame everything in their life on somebody else,' Kalanick shouted at Kamel.

Following heavy backlash he received for the viral video, the now ex-CEO met with Kamel to apologize just two days after.

In the February 2017 video, the driver, Fawzi Kamel, complained that he bought cars specifically to drive for Uber, but after the company undercut fares, it made it harder for him to make a living

Hours after a video came out, Kalanick and a few other executives broached the idea of apologizing and buying the driver's cars to compensate

'You know what? Some people don't like to take responsibility for their own sh*t. They blame everything in their life on somebody else,' Kalanick told Kamel in the video

Kalanick since apologized, and admitted publicly 'he needed to grow up'

'Travis met with Mr. Kamel following their interaction in Mr. Kamel's car, where he apologized for his behavior and the two had a constructive discussion,' a spokesperson for Kalanick confirmed of the matter.

'Travis appreciated the conversation and thought it led to greater understanding for each person's perspective. The meeting ended on a positive note, and Travis appreciated Mr. Kamel's openness and forgiveness.'

According to the Bloomberg report, Kalanick even went so far as to pay Kamel $200,000 - along with an offer to buy his two cars and give him stock within the company.

Despite his leave, Kalanick will remain a towering presence because of his 'huge' stake in Uber

Kalanick continued to meddle despite the fact that he stepped down in June amid numerous other scandals - including harassment and bullying within the company, according to Recode.

Kalanick was urged to step down by five of the company's biggest investors who demanded his resignation according to The New York Times, who obtained a copy of the letter those individuals sent to him.

The former Uber CEO is pictured out in Tribeca on July 31, 2017 in New York, New York after his departure

Weeks before Uber announced Expedia boss Dara Khosrowshahi as the new CEO in August, Kamel attempted to make a comeback.

The outlet reported that Kalanick told people that he was 'Steve Jobs-ing it', a reference to the Apple founder who was fired and then returned to the company.

Sources said at the time that the businessman tried to stay involved in daily operating decisions and had a difficult time letting go of the company.

Top executives hoped they could can look to the board for help, the outlet said.

However, the board itself is disorganized and members don't trust one another, according to Recode.

Kalanick's alleged meddling was not completely surprising - although he stepped down, a report released in late June revealed the founder of the ride-hailing service would still be an integral part of the company moving forward.

He will also remain a towering presence because of his 'huge' stake in Uber, which is valued at several billion.

In the aftermath of that shocking revolt by the company's primary shareholders, it was revealed that while Kalanick was out as CEO he would remain a member of Uber's board.

'I love Uber more than anything in the world,' Kalanick said in a statement at the time.

'At this difficult moment in my personal life, I have accepted the investors request to step aside so that Uber can go back to building rather than be distracted with another fight.'

Kalanick's style largely defined Uber's approach and helped it become a transportation colossus valued at nearly $70billion, the largest private firm backed by venture capitalists in the world.

But that brashness has also been blamed for a string of scandals this year, from the unearthing of a culture of sexism and bullying at Uber to a Department of Justice federal investigation and a high-stakes lawsuit filed by Alphabet Inc's autonomous car division, Waymo, that threatens Uber's self-driving car ambitions.
Chelsea Manning has officially filed to run for the U.S. Senate in the 2018 Maryland Democratic primary, challenging senior senator Ben Cardin.

The state elections board website says Manning filed Thursday in Montgomery County. Manning also tweeted a photo Thursday evening saying she is officially on the ballot.

She announced her intention to run earlier this month and released her first campaign video on January 14.

Scroll down for video

Chelsea Manning has officially filed to run for the U.S. Senate in the 2018 Maryland Democratic primary. She tweeted a picture saying she is on the ballot

'We don't need more, or better leaders,' Manning says in the promotional video.

'We need someone willing to fight. We need to stop asking them to give us our rights. They won't support us, they won't compromise.'

The 30-year-old transgender woman, known as Bradley Manning when she was convicted in 2013 of leaking more than 700,000 classified documents, was released from military prison in May after a 35-year sentence was commuted.

Then-U.S. President Barack Obama commuted her sentence to time served plus 120 days in the final days of his administration.

This frame from video released by the Chelsea Manning Senate campaign on January 14 shows Chelsea Manning in a campaign video. Manning on Sunday confirmed via Twitter that she is a candidate for U.S. Senate. (Chelsea Manning For US Senate via AP)

U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin told The Associated Press on Tuesday that he looks forward to a 'strong campaign' against Manning or any other contenders. Cardin won his seat in an open race in 2006.

Cardin is the highest-ranking party member on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Manning is one of five Democrats who plan to run in the race.

The Oklahoma native had planned to move to Maryland, where she has an aunt after her release from prison.

She has been registered to vote at the apartment in North Bethesda since mid-August, according to the Maryland State Board of Elections.

Manning will run against two-term incumbent Democrat Ben Cardin

Her recent move would not affect a Senate bid. To run for that office, a person must be at least 30 years old, a U.S. citizen for nine years and an inhabitant of the state at election time, according to the Maryland State Board of Elections. A felony conviction does not appear to preclude a run.

She has made only a few appearances since her release. In September, Harvard University reversed a decision to name her a visiting fellow after CIA director Mike Pompeo scrapped a planned appearance over the designation, calling Manning an 'American traitor.'

And Manning tweeted two weeks later that she'd been denied entry into Canada because of her U.S. criminal record.
Igor Judge pledged his 'unequivocal and wholehearted support' for the industry, and said action must be taken to safeguard the future of the Press

A Former Lord Chief Justice described Press independence as 'a constitutional necessity' yesterday as he warned about the erosion of court reporting.

Igor Judge, head of the judiciary from 2008 to 2013, said liberty of the Press was a 'birthright of every citizen' but warned newspapers will not survive on 'charity and goodwill'.

Expressing his 'unequivocal and wholehearted support' for the industry, he said action must be taken to safeguard the future of the Press.

Lord Judge spoke at a seminar hosted by the Society of Editors into the state of court reporting, which has declined nationally by around 40 per cent in recent years. He said: 'In a country governed by the rule of law the independence of the Press is a constitutional necessity.'

The peer added: 'The liberty of the Press is the birthright of a Briton, and is justly esteemed the firmest bulwark of the liberties of this country'  so said John Wilkes in 1762, and the statement still carries an echoing resonance 

'The liberty of the Press is the birthright of every citizen, that is, the community as a whole  I am not sure this principle is sufficiently understood. The better it is understood the more every citizen would be dedicated to upholding it.'

Lord Judge spoke out as MPs are due to vote in the next couple of months on tighter media controls, which the Prime Minister has warned will undermine a free Press.

He said: 'If we do not buy our newspapers, we cannot expect them to survive on goodwill or charity  it looks as though something of a crunch is coming.

'The print media is no longer prosperous  that is to the detriment of the community they serve.'

Former culture secretary John Whittingdale suggested social media giants should subsidise court reporting as they already use content from local newspapers.

The Tory MP said Google and Facebook 'are the biggest providers of news yet they don't employ a single reporter  what they do is take content which is produced by journalists working across the media  so in my view it is very much in the interests of Google and Facebook to support local journalism.'
The parents of a stillborn daughter have discovered a heartwarming note left at her grave on the anniversary of her tragic death.

Indianna Gillgoly was stillborn and buried on January 6, 2016 at Caloundra Cemetery on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland by her devastated parents Nicole and Chris.

The couple often visit their daughter's grave to leave flowers, and when they visited after the Christmas holidays they found a surprising note.

'I often come to say hello, I don't know you but I am so sorry for your loss, love, Bec,' the note read on the outside of an envelope, accompanied by a bunch of flowers.

Indianna Gillgoly was stillborn and buried by her devastated parents Nicole and Chris

Inside the envelope was a card reading: 'Merry Christmas tiny angel, love Bec (a stranger)'.

Nicole Gillgoly told the Sunshine Coast Daily reading the note brought her to tears.

'I just think nobody can love your child as much as you do. Nobody can understand how we feel,' she said.

'But to think that somebody, a stranger, had taken the time to write a note, lay flowers and acknowledge our daughter, that was really special to us.'

Nicole's immediate family were the only ones to see little Indianna before she was buried.

'A stranger showed us she cared and I think she needs to be acknowledged.'

They found the note left at Caloundra Cemetery on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland

Mrs Gillgoly said she hoped to meet 'Bec' and buy her a cup of coffee.

'Bec seems so kind and thoughtful, such a sincere person... and if she wanted to, I would love to meet with her, talk with her.

'She seems to have her own story to tell, and if she wanted to tell me I would be there for her.'
High street restaurant chain Leon is to ditch plastic cutlery, it declared yesterday.

Throwaway knives, forks and spoons which end up choking the environment will be phased out within months at its 50-plus outlets.

The announcement is a victory for the Daily Mails campaign to end the scourge of plastics polluting the planet and will pile pressure on rivals to follow suit.

Coffee house Le Pain Quotidien has already switched to biodegradable alternatives but the trailblazers shame the majority of high street chains which still hand out plastic disposables.

High street restaurant chain Leon is to ditch plastic cutlery, it declared yesterday (file photo)

Millions of pieces of plastic cutlery a year are thought to be given away with salads and coffees in shops.

A tide of disposable plastic ends up in the oceans where it threatens 700 marine species, washes up on beaches and gets broken down into microscopic particles that enter the food chain after fish eat them.

Yesterday big-name stores refused to admit how much cutlery they dish out to customers, stonewalling questions from the Daily Mail about throwaway items. Only they know exactly how much disposable cutlery they use  and they are keeping it secret.

Popular outlets EAT, Itsu, Wasabi, Greggs, Starbucks, Caffe Nero, Costa Coffee, Boots, McDonalds and Five Guys all declined to answer how much plastic cutlery passes through their stores.

Supermarkets selling ready-to-eat food including Marks & Spencer, Tesco, Waitrose, Sainsburys and Asda, also declined to answer.

Sandwich chain Pret admitted: We dont have a figure available to share with you, but we know its a big number. But the chain said it was trialling biodegradable cutlery and had a long-term plan to help the environment.

Throwaway knives, forks and spoons which end up choking the environment will be phased out within months at its 50-plus outlets, co-founders Henry Dimbleby and John Vincent said

Healthy fast food chain Leon said: We are proud to announce we are switching from plastic straws to paper alternatives. We will also be moving from plastic cutlery to compostable and biodegradable alternatives.

As soon as we have reached the last straw (and knife, fork and spoon), well be welcoming these better straws and cutlery. Also yesterday food and juice bar Crussh pledged to remove plastic cutlery from its outlets by the end of 2018, and plastic straws by Easter.

A spokesman said: We are beginning a trial of compostable cutlery imminently, and will have removed plastic cutlery from our business by the end of the year.

Le Pain Quotidien said all its cutlery was already made from biodegradable potato starch. Upmarket grocer Whole Foods Market said its cutlery was vegware  made from renewable or recycled materials that can all be recycled along with food waste.

MPs urge supermarkets to follow Iceland's lead Two hundred MPs have written to the largest supermarkets to demand they follow the lead of Iceland, which is removing plastic packaging from all its own-label products by 2023. MPs led by Labours Catherine West asked Tesco, Sainsburys, Asda, Morrisons, Aldi, Lidl, Waitrose, M&S and Budgens if they would follow suit. They said Icelands move is an important step in preventing further damage to our environment. Advertisement

Julian Kirby, from Friends of the Earth, said: Several companies have announced welcome steps to get rid of plastic straws, cutlery and packaging, but without government action their good work will be undermined by those that refuse to act.

Instead of stonewalling, high street eateries should be transparent about their contribution to the plastic pollution crisis. The problem will be harder to fix if we dont know how much of this toxic rubbish is being released into our environment, and where from.

Dr Chris Tuckett, the Marine Conservation Societys director of programmes, added: Were not surprised that some high street chains are reticent to admit to the amount of plastic cutlery they hand out since the numbers would undoubtedly be shockingly high.

Since 2008, our beach clean volunteers have found high numbers of plastic cutlery, fast food trays and straws on UK beaches.

Tisha Brown, oceans campaigner for Greenpeace, said: A lot of retailers have been taken by surprise by the strength of public concern over throwaway plastic, and are still approaching plastic waste as a trivial detail they can sweep into the oceans.

But some businesses are beginning to understand that the public concern isnt going away until the plastic does.

We know that major changes need some planning, and that ambitious plans take time to implement, but we would urge the slower-moving companies to start taking this issue seriously now, before their caution starts to look like stubbornness.

The thing every company can do straight away is be transparent about the extent of their plastic use. As always, the first step is admitting you have a problem.
Alison Saunders (pictured), head of the Crown Prosecution Service, insisted the justice system was working properly, despite a string of rape trials collapsing

Britain's top prosecutor has come under fire for claiming there are no innocent people in jail as a result of failures to disclose crucial evidence.

Alison Saunders, head of the Crown Prosecution Service, insisted the justice system was working properly, despite a string of rape trials collapsing.

But critics condemned her as complacent after problems with police and prosecutors handing over texts and photos to defence lawyers.

Yesterday Mrs Saunders, the Director of Public Prosecutions, met senior police officers, senior judges and barristers to discuss concerns that vital material was not being disclosed.

Asked on Radio 4s Today if it was possible innocent people were in prison because of disclosure failures, she replied: I dont think so.

Because what these cases show is that when we take a case through to trial there are various safeguards in place, not least of which the defence indicating what their defence is going to be.

Disclosure is a vital matter which we take very seriously, but it is clear that there are systemic issues across the entire criminal justice system. The problem we have found recently is around the ever-increasing use of social media, all the digital material we obtain.

Last month the trial of 22-year-old criminology student Liam Allan, who was charged with six counts of rape, was halted by a judge after it emerged his accuser had sent hundreds of messages to friends which would have cleared him immediately.

Father-of-two Isaac Itiary, 25, who was charged with 11 crimes including the rape of an underage girl, walked free after phone messages supporting his claim that the girl posed as a 19-year-old were finally disclosed while he was in the dock.

Meanwhile, the rape trial of Samson Makele, 28, collapsed on Monday after his defence team unearthed key images from his mobile phone, missed by police and the CPS, which showed him and his alleged victim apparently cuddling in bed.

Last month the trial of 22-year-old criminology student Liam Allan (pictured), who was charged with six counts of rape, was halted by a judge after it emerged his accuser had sent hundreds of messages to friends which would have cleared him immediately

But yesterday Mrs Saunders suggested photos and social media accounts did not need to be fully checked in rape cases, even though such evidence was crucial in clearing Mr Allan and other defendants.

She said police were obliged to pursue all reasonable lines of inquiry but added: That doesnt mean going into every single avenue of your life.

Tory MP and former minister Anna Soubry wrote on Twitter: Appalled at the ill-informed comments of DPP Alison Saunders. Have been longstanding problems with disclosure.

Those duties extend to investigation of all allegations not just a few serious offences. I fear Alison Saunders is part of the problem.

Nick Rhodes QC, a criminal barrister and part-time judge, added: Alison Saunders here displays the precise complacent attitude that lies at the root of the failures in the approach to disclosure shown by her department and the police.

Scotland Yard has launched an urgent review of around 30 sex cases due to go to trial.
Two hundred towns and villages could be cut off from cash machines if banks get their way on ATM charges, experts warn.

Consumer group Which? said at least 200 isolated areas already suffering from a lack of cash machines will be hit hard if more are shut down.

Big banks are demanding a cut to the fees they pay when one of their customers withdraws money from a machine owned by an independent operator.

It is feared that swathes of ATMs will become unprofitable and close if the banks win the battle over fees.

Two hundred towns and villages could be cut off from cash machines if banks get their way on ATM charges, experts warn

This could completely cut off rural neighbourhoods which have already lost all their bank branches when high street lenders abandoned them.

Which? found that 123 postcode districts with 111,000 residents do not have an ATM at all. Another 116 districts have just one machine  and in 37 of these, the provider charges a fee.

The most populous area without anywhere to get cash was the PE32 postcode in Norfolk  covering villages near Kings Lynn including Narborough and Gayton  with 15,300 occupants. Gareth Shaw of Which? said: Reducing the free-to-use ATM network would hit consumers who rely on access to cash machines hard.

These proposals could place a strain on communities across the UK that are already struggling to access the cash they need following mass bank closures.

The financial regulator must intervene to avoid this situation getting worse.

Mike Cherry, chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses, said: This new research shows that the UKs cash machine network is already failing small businesses  particularly in rural areas and tourist hotspots where cash flow is absolutely vital to local growth.

If funding for cashpoint providers is cut, things could rapidly go from bad to worse. As is so often the case, it will be rural small businesses that are hit hardest by inadequate investment.
A hayfever vaccine could be available to patients in three years, after being shown to fight off the condition during pollen season.

A synthetic version of grass pollen has been created by scientists, which cuts wheezing, itchy eyes and medication use by 25 per cent.

Researchers say they believe just three injections a year could leave people with hayfever entirely symptom-free.

At least a quarter of people in Britain, or up to 18 million, suffer from hayfever, which causes misery between the months of April and June.

A hayfever vaccine could be available to patients in three years, after being shown to fight off the condition during pollen season (file photo)

The latest research, led by the Medical University of Vienna, shows the newly created vaccine cut symptoms by a quarter in two years.

A further unpublished study is claimed to have slashed symptoms by up to 60 per cent in some people after a year. A larger study of adults and children is planned for next year, and Dr Rudolf Valenta, who led the vaccine development, said the drug could be available in chemists as early as 2021.

Dr Valenta, head of immunopathology at the Medical University of Vienna, said: My expectation is that the vaccine will lead to an almost complete relief of symptoms after two or three years after injections.

People will be able to defend themselves from grass pollen using their own immune system, without having to take expensive anti-inflammatory drugs which may weaken their immune system and make them tired during the day.

They may still have hayfever but they will feel no different to someone who is hayfever-free.

The study, published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, is for hayfever triggered by grass pollen.

A synthetic version of grass pollen has been created by scientists, which cuts wheezing, itchy eyes and medication use by 25 per cent (file photo)

But the research team hope their treatment could also be used in people allergic to cats, dust mites and ragweed pollen.

The vaccine is made from strings of proteins created in the laboratory to mimic those found in pollen, but without the ability to bind to antibodies which triggers an allergic reaction.

Either the drug or a placebo were given to 180 people who rated their symptoms of wheeziness, itchy eyes and hayfever-induced asthma in an electronic diary over two pollen seasons, which typically run from April to June.

They also recorded how much medication they were forced to take to battle hayfever, from which a total score was drawn up by scientists.

The score was 25 per cent lower in people given the vaccine, which indicated their symptoms were more under control.

A further unpublished study of 120 people is claimed to have shown a 60 per cent reduction in some people.

What is hayfever? Hayfever is an overreaction of the body to pollen from plants, typically when it comes into contact with the mouth, nose, eyes and throat. Worse in asthma sufferers, it leads to sneezing and coughing, a runny or blocked nose and itchy, red and watery eyes. The vaccine works by allowing the body to learn that pollen is safe and does not need to react. People in the study were given three jabs before the pollen season and a refresher in the autumn, followed by three the next year. Advertisement

Verena Niederberger-Leppin, lead author of the study from the Medical University of Viennas department of ear, nose and throat diseases, said: The more severely the allergy sufferer is affected by grass pollen, the greater the beneficial effect following vaccination.

Hayfever is an overreaction of the body to pollen from plants, typically when it comes into contact with the mouth, nose, eyes and throat. Worse in asthma sufferers, it leads to sneezing and coughing, a runny or blocked nose and itchy, red and watery eyes.

The vaccine works by allowing the body to learn that pollen is safe and does not need to react. People in the study were given three jabs before the pollen season and a refresher in the autumn, followed by three the next year.

Amena Warner, head of clinical services at Allergy UK, said: Traditional immunotherapy has been used for many years, although it comes with a high level of risk, such as anaphylaxis. That is because it uses natural allergen extracts such as grass or tree pollens.

So this is an exciting development if subsequent trials show success because recombinant technology, such as this, uses synthetic allergens and therefore potentially reduces the risk of severe side effects.

Severe hay fever has been shown to significantly reduce the quality of life of those who suffer, affecting work, school and exam results. So, new and proven treatments will always be good news.
A man suspected of poisoning an elderly bachelor was one of the main beneficiaries of his will, it emerged last night.

Ben Field, 27, was given the right to live in 69-year-old Peter Farquhars 300,000 home in a Buckinghamshire village for as long as he wished.

He was also handed cash, jewellery and a valuable book collection as well as being given responsibility for tending his friends grave.

Details of the contents of the will emerged days after Mr Field and a second man were arrested on suspicion of murdering the pensioner and his 83-year-old neighbour, Ann Moore-Martin.

It emerged last night that the second suspect, Martyn Smith - a 31-year-old part-time magician - had been living with a 100-year-old woman for several months after he and Mr Farquhar were introduced by Mr Field.

Author: Peter Farquhar with one of his novels

Suspects: Church warden Ben Field, 27 (left), from Towcester, Northamptonshire, and magician Martyn Smith, 31 (right) from Redruth, Cornwall, were arrested on suspicion of two counts of murder, two counts of conspiracy to murder, two counts of suspicion of fraud by false representation, conspiracy to defraud and one count of burglary

A third man, aged 22, from Milton Keynes, was arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud, conspiring to commit fraud by false representation and fraud by false representation.

The pensioners lived only three doors from each other on a street in Maids Moreton, Buckinghamshire.

The centenarian told The Daily Telegraph that she had met Mr Smith and Mr Field through her friendship with Mr Farquhar.

Ben Field, 27 (pictured), was given the right to live in 69-year-old Peter Farquhars 300,000 home in a Buckinghamshire village for as long as he wished

The pensioners lived only three doors from each other on a street in Maids Moreton, Buckinghamshire

She said that Mr Field suggested that Mr Smith move in with her to help him concentrate for upcoming exams.

Mr Field  a charismatic church preacher who describes himself as a lecturer in Companies House records  was appointed as one of three executors of Mr Farquhars will controlling his 500,000 estate weeks before his sudden death.

He was also made literary executor and given powers over the retired English teachers collection of unpublished manuscripts.

Cambridge-educated Mr Farquhar spent three decades teaching at 12,000-a-year Manchester Grammar School before moving to Stowe public school in Buckinghamshire and settling in the village of Maids Moreton.

He also lectured in English literature at the University of Buckingham and published several novels including A Bitter Heart.

He also lectured in English literature at the University of Buckingham and published several novels including A Bitter Heart.

The will sets out how Mr Field  the son of a Baptist minister  should be allowed to remain in the three-bedroom detached property in Maids Moreton after Mr Farquhars death.

The only condition was that he maintained it in good condition, paid the bills and ensured the contents were adequately insured.

However, it appears that Mr Field, who spoke at Mr Farquhars funeral, gave up his lodgings within a year before paying cash for a 97,500 flat in Towcester, Northamptonshire.

As a result, Mr Farquhars two young nephews appear to have benefited from the bulk of the sale of their uncles property.

A new and unconnected family now occupy the house, which public records show they bought for 290,000 in December 2016.

The will, signed at a local solicitors firm on September 11, 2015, gives a fascinating insight into Mr Farquhars lifestyle.

Among its provisions, Mr Farquhar directed that Mr Field and others should share his extensive literary library, preferably over a meal paid for by my estate.

He added: Any remaining books can be offered to Stowe school library or Buckingham University library.

How writer handed out his estate The will also sets out how Mr Farquhar kept an extensive journal throughout his life which he gave to his brother and nephews. Pictured: Mr Farquhar signing one of his books Ben Field was to have the right to live at Peter Farquhars 300,000 home for as long as he wished. A piano, oak desks and glass bookcases were to be left in the home for Mr Field to enjoy. A silver wine bottle holder, a gold signet ring and a vintage edition of the complete works of Charles Dickens, worth up to 700, were also left to him. Antique furniture, including a William Morris dining table, a Chesterfield settee and Hepplewhite chairs, should be passed to relatives. Mr Field was given control of a 1,000 fund to tend Mr Farquhars grave, including ensuring the lettering remains legible and flowers are laid. Several original paintings, including one of Florence by a former colleague at Buckinghamshire public school Stowe, were to be retained by his family. Advertisement

The will also sets out how Mr Farquhar kept an extensive journal throughout his life which he gave to his brother and nephews.

The retired scholar insisted it should not be broken up and that Mr Field should be appointed literary agent should it be considered for publication.

Mr Field was also bequeathed a silver wine bottle holder, gold signet ring and a vintage edition of the complete works of Charles Dickens, worth up to 700.

Detectives from Thames Valley Police continued to question Mr Field and Mr Smith last night on suspicion of conspiracy to murder, fraud and burglary after being given another 36 hours to do so.

They are at the centre of an investigation into the deaths of Mr Farquhar and Miss Moore-Martin.

It has shocked the village, where both residents were described as pillars of the community.

It is understood police were first alerted by friends at her church who suspected she was being groomed to change her will

Mr Farquhar, a devout Christian, died unexpectedly on October 26, 2015, from acute alcohol intoxication, while Miss Moore-Martin, a retired headmistress, who lived three doors down from Mr Farquhar, died in May last year.

Police launched a fraud inquiry as she became seriously ill. They have been unable to determine what led to her death.

It is understood police were first alerted by friends at her church who suspected she was being groomed to change her will.

Mr Field and Mr Smith lived with Mr Farquhar, and his neighbour, rent-free after meeting him at the University of Buckingham, where both were students.

Solicitor Paula Myers, a partner at Irwin Mitchell, confirmed that Mr Farquhars will gave Mr Field a life interest in his property.

But she said anyone convicted of killing an individual cannot benefit because it will be forfeited by the courts.

The expert on wills and probate added: In that case, the gift will then pass to the other beneficiaries named in the will.

Miss Moore-Martin, a devout Roman Catholic, made a new will just three months before her unexplained death.

In it, she appointed her sister-in-law as executor of her 380,000 estate and asked for her body to be buried with her mother in Buckingham Cemetery.

Both Mr Field and Mr Smith have been released on bail.
Every adult should be given a weekly cash handout to curb public unrest over the threat to jobs posed by automation, according to a Right-wing think-tank.

The Adam Smith Institute backs the idea of a universal basic income  in which everyone gets a fixed payment from the State regardless of salary or employment.

It said the scheme would help secure public support for future technological upheaval when robots are predicted to take over many manual tasks.

The idea has previously been identified with politicians on the Left, including Labour's Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell, and has been piloted in countries such as Canada and Finland.

The idea has previously been identified with politicians on the Left, including Labour's Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell (pictured)

It is now being championed by Right-of-centre groups, which could help the idea take off. In a report published ahead of next week's World Economic Forum in Davos, the institute called on governments to conduct experiments on basic income.

They say the rise of automation and artificial intelligence could lead to massive improvements in the standard of living. But there could also be a 'populist backlash' from those left jobless.

A basic income could 'deliver popular consent for globalisation and technological change', said the think-tank.

The alternative was the sort of 'Luddite regulation' and protectionist tariffs proposed by Donald Trump and Jeremy Corbyn.

Sam Dumitriu, of the Adam Smith Institute, said: 'New developments in machine learning, from driverless cars to AI [artificial intelligence] medical diagnostics, will change the way we live, work, and play for the better.

But they also risk disrupting traditional professions and career paths, from lorry drivers to lawyers.

The alternative was the sort of 'Luddite regulation' and protectionist tariffs proposed by Donald Trump and Jeremy Corbyn (pictured yesterday)

'To avoid a populist backlash, we need to design policies for those left behind by creative destruction. Cash transfers are our best bet at ensuring the benefits from coming technological change are felt by everyone.'

The report said basic income would ensure that 'capitalism and efficient redistribution can be vindicated in equal measure'.

Bank of England governor Mark Carney has warned that 15million Britons  almost half the workforce  could lose their jobs to robots.
Oliver Mears, 19, spent more than two years on bail before his case was thrown out after the CPS reviewed the evidence

The case against an Oxford student accused of rape has been dropped days before he was due to stand trial.

Oliver Mears, 19, spent more than two years on bail before the case was abandoned.

Yesterday the Crown Prosecution Service asked the judge to record a not guilty verdict after a review of evidence by a 'new set of eyes'.

Mr Mears's lawyers are believed to have complained that evidence that would prove the chemistry student's innocence had not yet been disclosed.

The student, who took time out from St Hugh's College because of stress, was accused of raping and indecently assaulting a woman in July 2015  weeks after his 17th birthday.

Mr Mears, from Horley, Surrey, appeared at Guildford crown court in August last year where he enter pleas of not guilty.

His trial was scheduled to start on Monday, but the CPS reportedly contacted his lawyers on Wednesday to say they would not be putting forward any evidence.

The prosecutors are believed to have appeared before Judge Jonathan Black yesterday morning to explain why Mr Mears was to be found not guilty, The Times reported.

It comes as Britain's top prosecutor claimed no innocent people are in jail as a result of failures to disclose crucial evidence. Alison Saunders, head of the Crown Prosecution Service, insisted the justice system was working properly, despite a string of rape trials collapsing.

But critics condemned her as 'complacent' after it emerged that police and prosecutors have failed to hand over texts and photos to defence lawyers in trials. The CPS has denied any failings.

Yesterday Mrs Saunders, the Director of Public Prosecutions, met senior police officers, senior judges and barristers to discuss concerns that vital material was not being presented.

The student, who took time out from St Hugh's College (pictured) because of stress, was accused of raping and indecently assaulting a woman in July 2015

Asked on Radio 4's Today programme if it was possible innocent people were in prison because of disclosure failures, she replied: 'I don't think so.

'Because what these cases show is that when we take a case through to trial there are various safeguards in place, not least of which is the defence indicating what their defence is going to be.

'Disclosure is a vital matter which we take very seriously, but it is clear that there are systemic issues across the entire criminal justice system. The problem we have found recently is around the ever-increasing use of social media, all the digital material we obtain.'

Mr Mears (pictured), from Horley, Surrey, appeared at Guildford crown court in August last year where he enter pleas of not guilty

Last month the trial of 22-year-old criminology student Liam Allan, who was charged with six counts of rape, was halted after it emerged his accuser had sent hundreds of messages to friends that would have cleared him immediately.

And the rape trial of Samson Makele, 28, collapsed on Monday after his defence team unearthed key images from his mobile phone, missed by police and the CPS, which showed him and his alleged victim apparently cuddling in bed.

But yesterday Mrs Saunders suggested photos and social media accounts did not need to be fully checked in rape cases, even though such evidence was crucial in clearing Mr Allan and other defendants.

She said police were obliged to pursue 'all reasonable lines of inquiry' but added: 'That doesn't mean going into every single avenue of your life.'

Tory MP Anna Soubry wrote on Twitter: 'Appalled at the ill-informed comments of DPP Alison Saunders. Have been longstanding problems with disclosure.'

Criminal barrister Nick Rhodes QC, accused Mrs Saunders of complacency.

A CPS spokesman said prosecutors were not satisfied there was a realistic prospect of conviction. A police spokesman said the investigation ended 'for a number of reasons'.
Damaged local roads are becoming more dangerous after a slump in council spending, experts have warned.

Analysis shows that one in six local roads  which account for about 60 per cent of the UKs total road network  may need repairs

From 2011 to last year, spending on minor roads fell by 23 per cent, or 560million to 1.87billion.

From 2011 to 2017 spending on minor roads fell by 23 per cent with no improvement in unclassified roads since 2011/12

The Department for Transports Road Conditions in England report found the state of local authority-managed highways and other major roads has improved slowly over the last five years.

However, 17 per cent of minor unclassified roads  or one in six  should have been considered for maintenance for problems such as potholes or crumbling surfaces in that time.

There has been no improvement in unclassified roads since 2011/12, and the situation has actually worsened since 2010, when 15 per cent should have been assessed for repairs. By contrast, annual local council spending on major roads such as motorways and A roads has risen by a fifth from 2011, to 1.43billion in 2016/17.

The figures have dismayed motoring campaigners.

Edmund King, the AAs president, said: While spending on maintaining and improving the road surface on motorways and A-roads has increased, spending on local roads has decreased again.

Most journeys start and end on local roads, so while there is an argument to keep the fastest roads in good condition, we should not be neglecting local streets. Cost-cutting on UK roads has already contributed to 11 people losing their lives with the switching off of street lights. Potholes have contributed towards at least three cyclists losing their lives. A systemic downgrading of inspection and repair standards for potholes introduces a new level of potential lethality.

The report also found that drivers are in danger of skidding on more than a quarter (27 per cent) of local authority roads, because of crumbling surfaces.

Councils have responded by complaining that they do not receive enough money from the Government for repairs

The risk of skidding is worst in London, where 48 per cent of roads need further investigation.

Councils have complained they do not receive enough money from the Government for repairs.

They fear the UK faces a tipping point for tackling potholes, with analysis by the Local Government Association showing the bill for repairing roads in England and Wales could reach 14billion within two years.

This is several times more than councils entire annual spending on highways and transport, which was 4.4billion in England in 2016. The Asphalt Industry Alliance says the amount needed to repair roads rose from 9.8billion in 2012 to 11.8billion last year.

Martin Tett, of the Local Government Association, said: The latest figures from the Department for Transport show the chronic need for more investment in local roads.

Councils are doing what they can against a backlog of repairs on our local roads which currently stands at over 12billion and is estimated to take 14 years to fix.

The Department for Transport has committed 6billion for English councils to improve local roads over the current Parliament, in addition to a 50million-a-year fund for tackling potholes.

A spokesman said the statistics show that our investment is making a difference for key roads.

Furthermore, almost 3,500 council-maintained bridges are not strong enough to take the heaviest lorries.

Alarming figures provided by 204 of the 207 local highway authorities in England, Scotland and Wales show the number of substandard bridges, which face a greater risk of collapsing, is rising.

In Wigan 100 out of 158 bridges were substandard, meaning they do not meet modern building standards.

In total, 3,441 bridges are not able to cope with the weight of the heaviest vehicles, such as lorries weighing up to 44 tons.

It could cost 934million, or about 271,000 per bridge, to fix them all.

Steve Gooding of the RAC Foundation, which carried out the analysis, said: We are not saying 3,500 bridges are about to collapse, but these figures show just how many are not up to traffic demands.

Many substandard bridges already have weight restrictions, while others are monitored by local councils.
Inmates are being held in the worst conditions ever seen in a British jail, a damning report reveals today.

Inspectors were appalled by the squalid living standards at the prison, which was rife with rats, cockroaches, dirt, drugs and violence.

Some convicts were forced to live in damp cells that should be condemned, with exposed electrical wiring, broken windows and filthy, leaking lavatories.

In one of the most scathing reports ever, HM Inspectorate of Prisons criticised the abject failure to make HMP Liverpool safe.

Inmates are being held in the worst conditions ever seen in a British jail, a damning report reveals today (above, HMP Liverpool)

Inspectors were appalled by the squalid living standards at the prison, which was rife with rats, cockroaches, dirt, drugs and violence

Meanwhile, Chief Inspector of Prisons Peter Clarke used new powers to demand ministers step in to improve a fundamentally unsafe jail.

He issued an urgent notification for the first time, requiring the Justice Secretary to make an action plan to tackle serious failures at Victorian-era HMP Nottingham.

The category-B jail, which has a capacity of 1,060, has been rated poor for safety  the lowest level  three times in four years.

Mr Clarke said failure to act would cost lives, blaming the problems on a failure of leadership.

The reports laid bare the crisis engulfing jails as self-harm, violence and assaults on guards have all climbed to record levels.

Inspectors said they were shocked over the state of HMP Liverpool, a category-B facility holding 1,115 men at the time of their visit last September.

Some convicts were forced to live in damp cells that should be condemned, with exposed electrical wiring, broken windows and filthy, leaking lavatories

In one of the most scathing reports ever, HM Inspectorate of Prisons criticised the abject failure to make HMP Liverpool safe

Meanwhile, Chief Inspector of Prisons Peter Clarke used new powers to demand ministers step in to improve a fundamentally unsafe jail

The report said the jail had a significant infestation of cockroaches and vermin, with one area so dirty only professionals could clean it. Communal areas were condemned as decrepit.

Violence had soared  there were 44 attacks on staff and 103 on prisoners in the six months to last July, compared with 14 and 59 at the last inspection in 2015.

Mr Clarke said: The inspection team was highly experienced and could not recall having seen worse living conditions than those at HMP Liverpool. Many cells were not fit to be used and should have been decommissioned.

I saw piles of rubbish that had clearly been there for a long time, and in which inspectors reported seeing rats on a regular basis.

Nearly two-thirds of inmates claimed drugs were easy to get hold of and staff had recovered 32 drones carrying illicit contraband in six months  more than one a week. Four prisoners had killed themselves since the previous inspection and two more suspected suicides occurred shortly after the latest visit.

The category-B jail, which has a capacity of 1,060, has been rated poor for safety  the lowest level  three times in four years

Inspectors said they were shocked over the state of HMP Liverpool, a category-B facility holding 1,115 men at the time of their visit last September

Half of inmates were locked up during the working day, many for more than 22 hours, and there were more than 2,000 maintenance jobs yet to be completed.

The cell of one man, who was vulnerable with mental health issues, had no furniture other than a bed. Mr Clarke said: It should not have needed my personal intervention for this man to be moved from such appalling conditions.

HMP Liverpool governor Peter Francis was removed within days of the inspection. The watchdog said HMP Nottingham had dramatically declined since 2010.

In the last two years, levels of self-harm rose very significantly and eight prisoners were believed to have killed themselves. One in three inmates tested positive for drugs and levels of assaults against staff  around 100 in six months  were twice that of similar jails.

Mr Clarke said the prison was in a dangerous state with irrefutable evidence previous findings had been ignored.

On HMP Liverpool, HM Prison and Probation Service chief executive Michael Spurr said immediate action had been taken to rectify the unacceptable situation.

On HMP Nottingham, Justice Secretary David Gauke said it was clear prison staff needed support to deliver a safer establishment.
An obese 12-year-old girl has been taken from her mother after doctors found her BMI is at a 'dangerously high level'.

The child, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was taken into foster care when medical and social staff started to fear for her safety.

Her mother could lose custody of her after the local council took out legal action against her.

Details of the case have emerged in a ruling by Judge Clifford Bellamy, who discussed preliminary issues at a private family court hearing.

The child, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was taken into foster care when medical and social staff started to fear for her safety. A Leicester-based judge has ruled she be put into foster care during family legal proceedings

Judge Bellamy, who is based in Leicester, said no-one involved in the case could be identified, and the exact weight of the youngster remains unknown.

He explained that a doctor had examined the girl a few months ago and concluded her body mass index was at a 'dangerously high level'.

She has been taken into care, while decisions about her long-term future are in the hands of social services.

The judge said medical experts will give evidence on the state of her health at a later hearing.

Alarming figures show a third of children are overweight or obese when they leave primary school.

Public Health England has urged parents to use free NHS resources and the traffic light label system on food packaging to cut down on fat, salt and sugar.
An elderly dementia patient has had 'the best day' of her life after a surprise visit from a New York City policeman.

Berenice Benson, 85, burst into tears after decorated cop Howard Shank walked through the door of her Canberra nursing home on Thursday.

The heart-touching moment was a dream come true for Ms Benson, who has never been to the Big Apple.

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Decorated New York City policeman Howard Shank (right) gave Berenice Benson (left), 85, the best day of her life on Thursday when he surprised her, dressed in uniform, at her Canberra nursing home

'I never got to go, it's my dream, I'd love to meet a real New York policeman,' she regularly told staff at Uniting Mirinjani aged care, Sydney Morning Herald reported.

'Just the idea of strolling through the streets of New York and asking a policeman for directions to the nearest coffee shop.'

Part of Ms Benson's fantasy came to life when New York Police Department Detective Shank walked into the room, dressed in uniform.

He strode over to a gasping Ms Benson, grabbed her by the hand, and planted a kiss on her cheek.

'It's very nice to meet you ... how are you today?' he asked Ms Benson in his distinct and iconic New York accent.

'I'm very well thank you, I can't believe this,' she replied through tears.

The nursing home's coordinator of leisure and wellness Jo Sumner said the meeting was more than two years in the making.

She asked a close friend - who works for the Australian Federal Police - to contact the New York office to see if an officer would be interested.

The heart-touching moment was a dream come true for Ms Benson, who has never been to the Big Apple

Detective Shank happened to be in Sydney and agreed to drive to Canberra during the week for the moment, the publication reported.

'I lost my father to Alzheimer's, so being here, [it's] a bit emotional but I've seen a lot and done a lot and this is one of the better moments in my career,' the officer of 33-years said.

He gifted Ms Benson with a NYPD scarf and said he would take her out for a steak dinner if she eventually made it to New York.

The pair also enjoyed a ride together in the elevator - which was decorated with images of the New York City skyline.
Prosecutors say an Illinois man has pleaded guilty in the 1985 death of a teenage girl who left her suburban Chicago home to go to the store and never returned.

DuPage County State's Attorney Robert Berlin says 64-year-old Michael Jones of Champaign entered the plea Thursday in the death of 15-year-old Kristina Wesselman.

She had been sexually assaulted and stabbed multiple times while walking back from a local store where she had bought candy for her mother.

Michael Jones (left) 64, from Champaign, Illinois, has pleaded guilty to the 1985 rape and murder of schoolgirl and athlete Kristina Wesselman, (right) who died aged 15

Wesselman had left the family home to go buy candy from a nearby store

She was walking home on a well trodden path when she was snatched in broad daylight

Her body was found more than 30 years ago in a field between her Glen Ellyn home and the store.

Jones was charged in 2015 after being linked to the case through a DNA sample provided after he pleaded guilty to aggravated domestic battery in Champaign County.

He has been held in the DuPage County jail without bond since September 2015.

The teenager was found to have been sexually assaulted and stabbed multiple times while walking back from a local store where she had bought candy for her mother

Up until that point DuPage County investigators had run down hundreds of leads across the country, canvassed the neighborhood and questioned suspects but had never been able to track down the murderer.

Officers had also submitted a DNA specimen from semen found on the victim's body to the national database in 2000, but had failed to find any matches.

That was until Jones was forced to submit a DNA specimen after being sentenced to one year's probation for a domestic violence conviction.

When initially questioned, the 64-year-old denied all knowledge of the crime, any connection with the victim, and ever having visited Glen Ellyn, saying: 'As God as my witness, I've never seen her before.'

According to reports at the time, Wesselman had been at home with mother Sandy before deciding to go to a nearby store.

Sandy told her daughter to 'be careful princess', adding 'I love you' before watching her leave.

Officers said Wesselman was dragged off the path, raped, then repeatedly stabbed before her body was dumped in four foot high weeds and found the next morning

Wesselman had gone to this store near her home, pictured in 1985, to buy some candy

Michael Jones, pictured in the 1980s, was arrested in 2015 after his DNA matched evidence

Jones, pictured here in the 80s, already had a lengthy criminal record, which included domestic violence and a six year jail term for raping and kidnapping a 27-year-old woman

Witnesses say they saw Wesselman in the shop where she bought candy for herself and her mother, before starting the walk home.

The path took her through tall weeds, but was well trodden and often used by children to get into town or to the local McDonald's.

Wesselman was reported missing later that evening when she failed to return home, and in the early hours of the morning her body was found in four foot weeds by the side of the path.

Officers said she had likely been grabbed off the path in broad daylight before being raped, then repeatedly stabbed.

Various suspects, including an unemployed laborer who lived near the field, were taken in for questioning, but nothing ever came of it.

Police said they received an anonymous tip-off in September 2015 that led them to Jones. After searching his house, he was arrested him on Friday and charged over Wesselman's death

The police search focused on a pearl ring that Wesselman had been wearing when she left the house that was missing when her body was found.

Cops believed the killer had likely taken it as a twisted memento, and may have even given it to another woman afterwards.

In 2011, on the anniversary of the killing, cops reissued pictures of the ring, asking anyone who might have seen it to come forward.

Sheriff John Zaruba, from the DuPage Police Department, said at the time: 'Since the date of the tragic murder, the case has remained open and active.

'Over the last 30 years the Sheriff's Cold Case Unit has worked hundreds of leads that have sent them across the nation and thousands of man hours have been spent to catch the killer in this horrendous crime.'

The breakthrough came on September 10, 2015 when detectives were notified that there had been a DNA match with evidence found at the scene of the crime.

Jones already had a lengthy criminal record, which included domestic violence and a six year jail term for raping and kidnapping a 27-year-old woman.
This undated file photo provided by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice shows death row inmate Thomas Whitaker

The heartsick father of a Texas man who slaughtered his younger brother and mother in hopes to obtain a hefty inheritance payout is pleading state officials to halt the execution of his son.

Dad Kent Whitaker is the sole survivor of the 2003 deadly incident that took the lives of his college-aged son, Kevin, and wife, Tricia inside their Sugar Land home fifteen years ago.

Kent's eldest son, Thomas, now 38, sits on death row after his conviction, and is set to be executed on February 22 for the ambush attack he put one of his buddies up to complete.

In a shocking clemency letter first seen on the American-Statesman, Kent, 69, revealed he cannot bear to see the life of another loved one be taken from him.

'I have seen too much killing already... I don't want to see him executed right there in front of my eyes,' the lone father said, who is left with the horrific memory of his family who fell dead in front of his eyes.

'I know Tricia and Kevin would not want him to be executed. I can't imagine seeing the last living part of my family executed by the state, especially since all the victims didn't want that to happen in the first place,' he said, solemnly.

Thomas set up the ambush that killed his mom and brother (right). His father survived the shooting and, after learning to forgive his son, is asking state officials for mercy

Thomas is scheduled to be executed for the crime on Feb. 22, but his father is making a last-ditch plea to spare his son's life

In the online clemency plea on behalf of Kent, the board to Governor Greg Abbott detail his request for the lesser penalty of a lifelong sentence.

'This case in unique. Kent Whitaker was almost murdered during the same ambush that took the life of Kent's wife, Patricia, and son, Kevin.

'There is only one person on Earth who is intimate with the murderous attack, the lives and deaths of the other victims, and the life of Thomas Whitaker - Mr. Whitaker's father, Kent,' the powerful, 19 page letter first reads.

Only hours after this happy family photo was taken, the man on the left, Thomas Whitaker, had his brother Kevin (pictured on the right) murdered by one of his friends

Kent is pictured with his new wife above. The last sounds of his ex-wife and killer's mom, Tricia, were a series of weak, wet coughs as blood filled her lungs

'He speaks to clemency with a moral force and detail of experience that no district attorney or judge or anyone can possess.'

Kent suggests that his son (pictured) has turned his life around while in prison since the horrific murder nearly two decades ago

In the letter, Kent makes a point to suggest that his son - who he often visited in prison - has turned his life around since the decades-old horrific murder.

The plea includes backup letters written by fellow inmates to Thomas - who said he greatly cares about the well-being of others.

Inmate Keith Milam said Thomas has a 'special affinity of helping guys with mental illness,' the clemency letter states.

His father believes Thomas also has a mental illness that was never formally diagnosed.

Faryion Wardrip added that Thomas is even one of the most liked inmates - who worked hard to better not only himself, but others around him.

'Thomas provides care packages to newly arrived inmates  a toothbrush, razor, coffee packets, chips  because commissary privileges take a while to set up,' Kent said, according to the Statesman.

'He encouraged at least two inmates to get their high school GED certificates,' he added.

Dad Kent, who published the book 'Murder by Family', credits his Christian faith for the forgiveness of his son

Thomas, who has a bachelor's degree and is currently working toward a master's, works to promote the importance of education.

The merciful father, who published his own book 'Murder by Family', credits his Christian faith for helping him to forgive his son, and is now asking the court to consider the same.

'Kent looked to God... He found the answer early in his tragedy, as he can explain to each member of this Board,' the letter goes on to say.

'While laying in his hospital bed, Kent considered whether he should slip into bitterness and despair. His faith rescued him from that fate.'


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Greeted by sailors and flag-waving residents, a US Navy destroyer damaged in a June collision that killed seven sailors arrived Friday for two years of repairs at a Mississippi shipyard.

The transport vessel Transshelf sailed up the Pascagoula River on Friday morning carrying the USS Fitzgerald.

The June 17 collision with a Philippine-flagged container ship off Japan caved in parts of the Fitzgerald above and below the waterline.

Water gushed into berthing compartments, killing the sailors.

Its hull was punctured twice more in November as it was loaded aboard the Transshelf.

Greeted by sailors and flag-waving residents, a US Navy destroyer damaged in a June collision that killed seven sailors arrived Friday for two years of repairs at a Mississippi shipyard

The transport vessel Transshelf sailed up the Pascagoula River on Friday morning carrying the USS Fitzgerald

The June 17 collision with a Philippine-flagged container ship off Japan caved in parts of the Fitzgerald above and below the waterline

Its hull was punctured twice more in November as it was loaded aboard the Transshelf

The Navy said Friday that it will take several days for the Transshelf to unload the Fitzgerald, which will be repaired by the 11,600 employees of Ingalls Shipbuilding

Cmdr. Garrett Miller (center), the new captain of the USS Fitzgerald, watches with his men as the transport vessel Transshelf carries the damaged destroyer

Once it is placed in a repair berth, the remainder of the repairs, overhaul and modernization will take place

Ingalls was chosen by the Navy to repair the ship in August and awarded an initial $63million contract in December to rip out damaged areas

The Navy said Friday that it will take several days for the Transshelf to unload the Fitzgerald, which will be repaired by the 11,600 employees of Ingalls Shipbuilding, a unit of Virginia-based Huntington Ingalls Industries.

'She's actually here and we're starting the long process of rebuilding her and getting her back to the fleet,' said Cmdr. Garrett Miller, the ship's commanding officer.

The Fitzgerald's 58-member crew, including some who were aboard during the collision, will be based in Pascagoula for the next two years, overseeing the ship's repair and modernization.

Ingalls was chosen by the Navy to repair the ship in August and awarded an initial $63million contract in December to rip out damaged areas.

The USS Fitzgerald suffered two more punctures to its hull in November as it was being loaded onto the heavy lift vessel Transshelf (the Fitzgerald pictured on the Transshelf on November 27 in Yokosuka, Japan)

The Fitzgerald was taken back to Yokosuka after the incident so that it could undergo more temporary repairs

The destroyer was significantly damaged in a fatal collision with a merchant vessel off the coast of Japan last summer. Above, the USS Fitzgerald in port at Yokosuka, Japan on July 11, about a month after the incident

Seven sailors died and three others were injured when the Fitzgerald was struck by a merchant vessel off the coast of Japan on June 17 (above the damage seen on June 18)

Secretary of the Navy Richard Spencer said in September that it could cost $600million combined to repair the Fitzgerald and the USS John S. McCain, another destroyer that was damaged in August. The total cost of repairing the Fitzgerald could be between $250million and $500million

The John S. McCain and an oil tanker collided near Singapore in August, killing 10 US sailors.

It cost $250million for 16 months of repairs for the USS Cole, a destroyer damaged by a bombing in Yemen in 2000.

Repairs at Ingalls to the USS Stark, a frigate hit by Iraqi missiles in 1987, cost $90million over 10 months.

The Navy says shipbuilders will have to repair or rebuild components including the ship's electronic warfare system, radar, switchboard, gas turbine generate and air conditioning system.

The Navy says that it will use the opportunity to update the Fitzgerald, which had previously been scheduled for 2019.

That will involve more work to the hull, mechanical and electrical systems, weapons and computers of the ship, which was built in 1995.

A combination photo of the dead sailors identified by the U.S. Navy in the collision incident between U.S. Navy destroyer USS Fitzgerald and Philippine-flagged merchant vessel south of Tokyo Bay on June 17, 2017. Top row (L-R) Fire Controlman 2nd Class Carlos Victor Ganzon Sibayan, 23, from Chula Vista, CA; Gunner's Mate Seaman Dakota Kyle Rigsby, 19, from Palmyra, VA; Sonar Technician 3rd Class Ngoc T Truong Huynh, 25, from Oakville, CT; and Yeoman 3rd Class Shingo Alexander Douglass, 25, from San Diego, CA. Bottom row (L-R) Fire Controlman 1st Class Gary Leo Rehm Jr., from Elyria, OH; Personnel Specialist 1st Class Xavier Alec Martin, 24, from Halethorpe, MD; and Gunner's Mate 2nd Class Noe Hernandez, 26, from Weslaco, TX

The collision between the Fitzgerald and the Philippine vessel happened early in the morning on June 17

The collision happened off the coast of Japan's Izu Penninsula, as seen in the map above

Seen above is the minimal damage sustained by the ACX Crystal in the collision with the Fitzgerald

Work is expected to last into mid-2019, followed by months more of testing and trials.

The Navy announced Tuesday that it's seeking negligent homicide charges against four officers of the Fitzgerald at the time of the collision, including the then-commanding officer, Cmdr. Bryce Benson.

That decision followed a series of investigations and reviews into the collisions involving the Fitzgerald and the John S. McCain.

Those reviews concluded that the incidents resulted from poor judgment, bad decision-making and widespread training and leadership failures by the commanders and crew who didn't quickly recognize and respond to unfolding emergencies.

The Navy also seeks charges against the commanding officer of the John S. McCain.
A Sydney party girl who promised to go straight after becoming notorious for keeping meth in her bra is behind bars on drug and theft charges.

Amanda Arbib, who narrowly escaped prison last year, was arrested early on Friday morning and charged with four counts of larceny.

While in custody the 27-year-old former private schoolgirl who had vowed to beat her addiction to ice complained of feeling unwell and was taken to hospital.

Arbib was already due to appear on Monday in Burwood Local Court where she has pleaded guilty to possessing a prohibited drug and possessing identification to commit an indictable offence.

Former private schoolgirl Amanda Arbib has been arrested on drug and theft charges

Party girl Amanda Arbib was warned last year she had to stay out of trouble or go to jail

Amanda Arbib, 27, pictured outside Sydney's Downing Centre Local Court in June last year

In June last year Arbib said she had quit drugs and hoped her story would inspire others addicted to ice.

Arbib, from Bellevue Hill, in Sydney's eastern suburbs, avoided jail for a string of offences despite a a magistrate finding her crimes reprehensible.

She was subjected to an 18-month intensive corrections order for crimes including stealing credit cards she stashed in her Gucci handbag.

Arbib had admitted to police that while addicted to ice she kept 'a bag of meth' in her bra.

Downing Centre Local Court magistrate Greg Grogin told Arbib her past conduct had been 'reprehensible', 'unjustifiable' and 'inexcusable' but she seemed to have rehabilitated.

'You are now on a knife's edge and you are in charge of that knife,' Mr Grogin said.

'If you fail to comply with every single aspect of the intensive corrections order these sentences can crystalise and you can go in to jail.

Sydney party girl Amanda Arbib, pictured, once told police she kept a bag of meth in her bra

Last year a magistrate warned Amanda Arbib she had to stay out of trouble or would go to jail

Amanda Arbib (pictured) was arrested on Friday morning and is facing court again next week

'Jail is not a place for anybody to be, especially a young lady like you.'

Told she had been spared prison, Arbib said: 'Thank you so much.'

In a note penned for Daily Mail Australia, Arbib offered advice to other drug addicts: 'If I can kick the habit you can to.'

'I'd just like to say it's fantastic to be almost 7 months clean from ice, and that I'd like to give courage to those still suffering that if I can kick the habit you can to,' she wrote.

'I'd also like to thank my mother who has shown me unconditional love and support & say I know my father may he R.I.P. that he would be proud of me today.'

Arbib had pleaded guilty to offences including dishonestly obtaining financial advantage by deception, possessing a prohibited drug, possessing identification to commit an indictable offence and another of having goods in custody.

A letter Amanda Arbib wrote for Daily Mail Australia offering help to other drug addicts

Amanda Arbib is due to appear in Burwood Local Court over three charges next Monday

At an earlier hearing Mr Grogin told Arbib, who attended the exclusive $30,000-a-year Jewish school Moriah College, she could 'no longer hold her head high in society' as a result of her criminal record.

'Her behaviour while committing these offences was one of complete disregard to other people, the offences were done with complete disregard to their possessions,' Mr Grogin had said.

'She must understand if she is not suitable for intensive correction then the court is bound by a term of imprisonment.'

An intensive corrections order is an alternative to imprisonment under which an offender is supervised in the community by Corrective Services NSW.

On Friday, Arbib was refused bail at Waverley Local Court over the latest larceny charges. She will appear in the same court on January 23.
The publisher of the Los Angeles Times is under investigation after two sexual harassment lawsuits accuse him of rating female colleagues by their 'hotness' and aggressively kissing a woman in front of his co-workers.

Court documents reveal that Ross Levinsohn has been a defendant in two different lawsuits and former colleagues of his have questioned his behavior in the workplace, NPR reported after uncovering court documents, financial filings and interviewing 26 of Levinsohn's former colleagues.

Among the complaints against the publisher, are allegations that he rated women he worked with based on their appearance, kissed a female colleague while he was married and created a 'frat house' work environment.

Ross Levinsohn, the publisher of the Los Angeles Times, is accused of sexual misconduct and creating 'frat house' work environments over the last two decades of his career

Levinsohn was hired by the Times in late August. He is now under investigation by the paper's parent company Tronc

An NPR report claims Levinsohn has been a defendant in two different sexual harassment lawsuits and former colleagues of his have questioned his behavior in the workplace

In one lawsuit filed in 2001 by a former employee of the search engine Alta Vista, a female worker accused Levinsohn and other top executives of creating a hostile work environment.

A former executive for the company also testified that Levinsohn was 'creating a frat house environment' and his 'behavior was inappropriate'. The executive said she had warned other top bosses about Levinsohn's behavior.

During a sworn testimony, Levinsohn reportedly admitted to rating his female colleagues on their 'hotness' and speculating whether one woman had a side job as a stripper.

In 2006, a video producer sued Rupert Murdoch's News Corp claiming she was sexually harassed and subjected to gender discrimination. At the time, Levinsohn was a senior vice president at the company.

The woman said in her suit that when she asked Levinsohn for a promotion he pointed to a female reporter who was a former pinup model and said she had 'learned how to work her way up to the top'.

The veteran media exec was also accused of aggressively kissing a female colleague while married in front of everyone, including his co-workers, at a music industry dinner.

During a sworn testimony, Levinsohn reportedly admitted to rating his female colleagues on their 'hotness' and speculating whether one woman had a side job as a stripper. The publisher and CEO was also accused of aggressively kissing a woman while he was married in front of employees at a music industry dinner

The LA Times' parent company Tronc said in a statement that it expects all employees 'to act in a way that supports a culture of diversity and inclusion'

Levinsohn called the allegations 'lies' during a call with NPR.

Tronc, the Times' parent company, told the outlet that they were investigating him but have yet to suspend the publisher.

'This week, we became aware of allegations that Ross Levinsohn acted inappropriately. We are immediately launching an investigation so that we have a better understanding of what's occurred,' the statement read. 'At Tronc, we expect all employees to act in a way that supports a culture of diversity and inclusion. We will take appropriate action to address any behavior that falls short of these expectations.'

Levinsohn was hired at the Los Angeles Times in August.
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Two healthy dogs were recovered from the California House of Horrors this week as the couple accused of torturing their 13 children for years inside pleaded not guilty to 75 charges.

David, 57, and Louise Turpin, 49, denied the charges not long after they were announced by the Riverside County District Attorney on Thursday afternoon. They are set to appear in court again on February 23.

The pair were brought into court via a tunnel from the nearby Robert Presley Detention Center where they have been held since being transferred from Perris on Monday morning.

Early Sunday, authorities found their toddler to adult-aged children malnourished and shackled inside the filthy home alongside two happy and healthy one-year-old Maltese puppies.

Perris city spokesman Joe Vargo said in a statement Wednesday that the dogs, one black and one white, were in 'good' health condition - despite the fact that the couple's abused children were noticeably starved and taunted with pies they weren't allowed to eat.

As the children are currently in recovery at two California hospitals, the dogs have been placed up for adoption.

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These two happy and well-fed one-year-old Maltese puppies were found inside the California House of Horrors, where David and Louise Turpin's children were shackled and starved. They were put up for adoption in Vargo

Louise and David Turpin appear in court in Riverside, California, on Thursday where they pleaded not guilty to 38 counts of child abuse. Louise is shown above speaking with her lawyer, Riverside defense attorney Jeff Moore. David was represented by a public defender

Louise Turpin, 49, in court in Riverside on Thursday. The mother-of-thirteen burst into a smile as she spoke with her attorney Jeff Moore

David Turpin, 57, is pictured receiving advice from his public defender on Thursday during a brief court appearance

David and Louise Turpin made their 13 children stay up all night and the family slept all day to avoid raising suspicion that they were being abused, it was claimed on Thursday. The parents pleaded not guilty to all 75 counts against them on Thursday afternoon

The California city are holding a raffle to adopt the dogs Friday.

Interested residents are advised to contact the city of Perris between Friday and Jan. 26, officials said, noting that the dogs will be spayed and immunized prior to being placed in a new home.

Dressed in black outfits from their civilian wardrobes, the Turpins were handcuffed for the 20-minute appearance, while David also wore ankle restraints.

The Turpins, who are being held separately, spoke only to answer 'yes' when asked by Judge Michael Donner if they understood proceedings.

Louise Turpin faces 37 charges while her husband faces 38. They are both charged with the 12 counts of torture, 12 counts of false imprisonment, 7 charges of abusing a dependent adult and six counts of child abuse.

David is also charged with one count of a lewd act against a child under the age of 14. The alleged victim was one of his daughters.

Their bail was set at $13million each - $1million for every child they are accused of torturing.

The couple are being represented separately: David by David Macher of the Public Defender's Office and Louise by Jeff Moore of local law firm Blumenthal Law Office's.

Speaking to DailyMail.com, Moore said his client seemed 'OK' but said he had not had time to speak with her.

He said: 'I don't know [what she is like] - I haven't had a chance to talk to her yet. She seems ok.

Moore added: 'Just like in any other case, we will look at the evidence and proceed accordingly.'

Outside court, Macher refused to answer questions about his client's wellbeing and his response to the charges, saying he could not comment.

Louise Turpin faces 37 counts including torture, abuse, and neglect. She spoke only to answer 'yes' to the judge's questions on Thursday

Mother-of-thirteen Louise Turpin looks ahead, past her lawyer Jeff Moore, on Thursday. Her shackles could not be seen but her husband's cut into his belly

The 49-year-old spoke with her lawyer briefly during the appearance. Their conversation could not be heard

He did say he would do 'all that is necessary' to defend the case but refused to say whether he would order a mental evaluation.

Macher added: 'Our clients are presumed to be not guilty. We are going to provide a vigorous defense. The case will be tried in court, not in the media.'

The couple are next due in court in February, with Judge Donner requesting a hearing for the 23rd at 1.30pm.

Speaking to DailyMail.com outside court, Jeff Zimel, the Riverside County Public Defender, said the couple would remain in separate cells at the Robert Presley Detention Center unless the Sheriff decides otherwise.

Describing the arraignment as a 'standard, uniform hearing', Zimel said the case would be a difficult one to defend because of the horrific nature of the Turpins' alleged crimes.

He said: 'I imagine, sure it will be. But as a lawyer taking the emotion out of it and analyzing it in terms of what would the law say, there's steps: what happened? Is it a crime? What does the law say?

'So this is one of those cases where you have to attack it in that sort of non emotional way.'

Zimel also said his office had yet to see all the evidence against the Turpins beyond a 10-page report and said their trial could last a year or more.

'We don't know what all the evidence is yet - we've got maybe 10 pages of reports', he said. 'But the prosecutor told us today there's much more.

'It could take a while just to do even the initial review but it's not uncommon for these cases to go on for a year or more.'

David Turpin listens to his lawyers in court in Riverside, California, before entering not guilty pleas to all 38 counts he faces

David Turpin was emotionless throughout the appearance. He wore a tight purple shirt and black jacket

The couple glance at one another in court on Thursday as their lawyers listened to a judge. Both were remanded in custody

Louise Turpin and her husband are being held in separate cells inside the Robert Presley Detention Center

There were no signs of solidarity between the pair during Thursday's afternoon's hearing

The lawyers: Louise's lawyer Jeff Moore (left) told DailyMail.com he had not yet spent a lot of time with his client and was still getting to know her. Outside court, David's public defender (right) David Macher said he would try to approach the case 'in a non emotional way'

Hours earlier, harrowing new details of how they tortured their 13 children were described at a press conference by DA Michael Hestrin.

He told how they kept the children up all night and slept during the day in a suspected attempt to avoid any outsiders witnessing the abuse.

They were regularly beaten and occasionally strangled, Hestrin alleged.

The only activity the children - who said they were chained up for months at a time - were allowed was to write journals.

Hundreds were recovered from the home and they are likely to be used as evidence against the parents.

Before Sunday's dramatic rescue, the children had been plotting an escape for two years, he said.

When the 17-year-old escaped on Sunday, she at first had another sibling with her but that daughter got frightened and turned back.

None of the children have ever seen a dentist and none have seen a doctor for four years, Hestrin said.

District Attorney Michael Hestrin said all of the children are in hospital and are 'relieved'.

Among the most shocking claims of abuse were;

The children were made to stay awake all night and sleep all day, often going to bed at between 4am and 5am

Their only permitted activity was to keep journals - hundreds of which were recovered and will likely be used as evidence

David Turpin is accused of a lewd act against one child - one of his daughters, under the age of 14

The children had been planning to escape for two years before Sunday, when they were rescued

The 17-year-old daughter who raised the alarm left the house with another sibling but that child became frightened and turned back

The parents began using chains and padlocks to tie the children to their beds after one escaped with rope. They would sometimes be chained up for months

One of the older boys was allowed out of the home to attend college classes but Louise accompanied him there, waited for him until it finished then accompanied him home

The couple's youngest child, a two-year-old, was the only one they did not starve

The 29-year-old woman who was rescued weighed just 82 lbs

The children were tied up or beaten if they washed their hands 'above the wrist' because the parents said it amounted to them 'playing in the water'

The Turpins kept toys that were still in their boxes at the house but never gave any to the children

Jeff Zimel (pictured left), the Riverside County Public Defender, said the couple would remain in separate cells at the Robert Presley Detention Center unless the Sheriff decides otherwise. Riverside County District Attorney Michael Hestrin (pictured right) announced the charges earlier in the day

Some of the children did not know what a police officer was when they were rescued and many are mentally impaired as a result of what prosecutors called 'severe, prolonged and pervasive abuse'.

While the children starved, the parents bought food including pumpkin and apple pie and kept it out on worktops for them to look at and desire, Hestrin said.

According to Hestrin, the abuse began in 2010 and has intensified ever since.

WHAT ARE THE CHARGES AGAINST THE HOUSE OF HORRORS PARENTS On Thursday, January 18, Louise and David Turpin were both formally charged with; 12 counts torture 12 counts of false imprisonment 7 counts of abuse of a dependant adult 6 counts of child abuse or neglect David Turpin faces one charge of a lewd act on a child under 14 by force of fear which prosecutors say was a crime against one of his daughters. If convicted, they face a minimum of 94 years imprisonment each. Bail was set at $13million, $1million for each child they are accused of abusing. Advertisement

One of the children, a boy, was allowed out of the home to attend college classes but Louise accompanied him.

When they lived in Texas, the children at one stage lived alone and were held hostage in a property which their parents allegedly visited only to occasionally drop off food.

The only child who was safe from their torture was their two-year-old, according to prosecutors.

She showed no signs of malnutrition. Hestrin said that the abuse began in 2010.

At the time, the parents would tie the children up as punishment with rope, he said.

One child recalled being 'hogtied'.

When they managed to escape, they moved on to using chains and padlocked.

Prosecutors did not elaborate on the physical condition of each child other than to say that they were severely malnourished and some have suffered mental impairment.

When police took them into protective custody, the 29-year-old woman who was found inside weighed just 82lbs.

A 12-year-old inside the home is the average weight of a seven-year-old.

It was also claimed that the couple had three children tied up when police first knocked on the door.

As they waited to be allowed in, Louise and David untied two of the children from furniture.

When they entered the home, the only child who remained shackled was a 22-year-old, according to the responding deputies.

David Turpin's father, James, the grandfather to the children, said from his home in Princeton, West Virginia, that he did not believe the reports about the abuse.

He said: 'I'm going to talk with the children, find out the real story on this as soon as I can get a call through to them.'

David and Louise Turpin now have a total of 75 charges including torture, imprisonment, neglect, abuse and lewd acts against them. They were arrested on Sunday

Children had been plotting escape for two years before they were rescued

By the time they were found on Sunday, the children, including the 17-year-old who crawled through a window to call 911, had been planning an escape for two years.

Details of their plot, or what prompted them to suddenly make a break for it, were not revealed on Thursday.

Hestrin did however reveal that the 17-year-old girl who fled was not alone - she had another sibling with her at first but that child became frightened and turned back after crawling through the window.

'The 17-year-old victim that escaped had been working on a plan with her siblings to escape this abuse for more than two years.

'She escaped through a window and took one of her siblings with her. That sibling became frightened and turned back,' he said.

Hestrin said he did not know precisely what triggered the escape but that something prompted it.

'Probably there was a trigger, at this time we don't know what that was.'

Police found the siblings inside their family home (above) after the 17-year-old girl managed to escape through a window and call 911 with a cell phone she had found in the house. On Thursday, balloon displays, flowers and teddy bears were left at the house for the children

'Forced to stare at pumpkin pies, toys and punished for washing their hands'

Depraved: Disney-obsessed David and Louise Turpin bought food for themselves and put it out on counters for their starving children to see it but never gave them any

Hestrin described how the abuse allegedly intensified over the last eight years, explaining how the Turpins went from tying the children up with ropes to using padlocks and chains to keep them in one place.

'The victims report that as a punishment, starting many years ago, they began to be tied up first with ropes, one victim at one point was tied up and hogtied and then what that victim was able to escape the ropes, the defendants began using chains and padlocks to chain the victims to their beds,' he said.

They were beaten and strangled for reason as trivial as washing their hands 'above the wrist', he alleged.

'One of the reasons for these punishments of being chained up were that, and by the way, the punishments included frequent beatings and even strangulation.

One of the reasons were the children were found to wash their hands above the wrist ares they were accused of playing in the water.'

They were all fed on a particular schedule and, as a punishment, were made to look at foods their parents left out purposefully to torment them, it was claimed.

'The parents would apparently buy food for themselves and not allow the children to eat it. '

'Apple pies, pumpkin pies, and leave it on the counter to let the children look at it but not eat it,' he said.

Nerve damage, severe malnourishment and mental impairment: The 'relieved' children's injuries and how many did not know what a police officer was

All 13 of the children are in hospital and are being treated by teams of specialists.

Hestrin would not give specifics of each child's physical or mental condition but he said all, except from the two-year-old, had been severely malnourished.

'All of the victims have now been examined by doctors and medical specialists. All were and are severely malnourished, specifically caloric malnutrition associated with muscle wastage.

'One of the children at age 12 is the weight of an average seven-year-old.

'Things 1 to 13': The family are seen in Dr Seuss-style shirts, and all in blue jeans, in a family photo taken in April 2016

'The 29-year-old female victim weighs just 82lbs. Several have cognitive impairment and neuropathy which is the result of extreme and prolonged physical abuse.

'None have seen a doctor in more than 4 years, none have ever seen a dentist.

'We are not charging torture on the two-year-old. The two-year-old, we don't know why, but was getting enough to eat,' he said.

When doctors asked the children if they had ever taken medication or pills, none knew what medication was.

The abuse and severe neglect intensified over time District Attorney Michael Hestrin

They had limited exposure to the outside world and many did not know what a police officer was, he said.

'The children are relieved. They are in good hands and are being cared for,' he said.

'They were supposedly homeschooled but they lack a basic knowledge of life. Many didn't know what a police officer was.' It remains to be seen who will look after them once they are released from hospital.

The hospital caring for the children has launched an online fund for strangers to donate to. It can be found here.

'Our phones started ringing almost immediately with calls from private individuals and organizations wanting to know how they can help,' said Erin Phillips, executive director of RUHS Foundation said in a statement on Thursday.

'We recognize financial gifts will not eliminate their trauma, but these additional resources will be extremely important in helping these victims address their long term educational and physical needs,' she said.

What police found at the house: A 22-year-old chained up, 'hundreds of journals' and toys still in their boxes

On Sunday, police went to the house after the escaped daughter called 911.

Before they gained entry, they believe Louise and David untied two children who had been chained to their beds.

They did not have time to untie a third, a 22-year-old who police found shackled to a piece of furniture.

'The evidence is that three victims were chained up at the time the police first knocked on the door on the home in Perris.

'The defendants were able to get two unchained before the officers gained entry to the home.

The family was kept inside this home in Perris. Inside, the parents were stockpiling unopened toys and diapers

'An 11-year-old and a 14-year-old were unchained [while the officers were] at door while the 22-year-old remained chained when police entered.

Officers previously said that the children were all covered in feces and urine. What was not known, and what was revealed on Thursday, was that hundreds of journals kept by the children over several years were also discovered.

'The only thing they were allowed to do is to write journals. We now have recovered them, hundreds of them, and are combing through them.

'I think they will be very significant. Those journals are part of the strong evidence of what occurred in that house,' Hestrin said.

Toys that were still in their boxes were also discovered, but none of the children owned any themselves.

Abuse 'began in Texas where they parents lived apart from the children and 'dropped off' food'

The people who bought the Fort Worth home after the Turpins left it initially thought scratch marks on doors were caused by animals, but now believe it could be something more sinister following the arrest of the parents

In his press conference on Thursday, Hestrin appealed to Texan officials and residents to assist with the investigation by coming forward with any information they may have on the family.

The alleged abuse began when they were living in Texas, he said, in 2010.

In two homes in the Lone Star state, the Turpins are said to have abused their children.

Photographs of those houses which showed scratch marks on the walls and dirt caked carpets emerged on Wednesday.

In Fort Worth, the couple kept the children in one property and they themselves lived in another, he said.

'It began in Fort Worth, with the parents living apart from most of the children and dropping off food from time to time,' he said.

David Turpin accused of a lewd act against one of his daughters

Among the charges filed is one count of a lewd act against a child under the age of 14 by force or fear.

David Turpin is accused of a lewd act against one of the children

Hestrin would not give the age of the victim.

It was the only sexual abuse charge filed but the district attorney suggested more could come as inquiries continue.

'David Turpin touched one of the victims in a lewd way by using force.

'Right now, we are charging one count of a lewd act.

'This is an ongoing investigation. If our investigation uncovers more crime, we will charge more offenses.'

Hestrin said the entire case amounted to 'human depravity' which had 'haunted' him.

'As a prosecutor, there are cases that stick with you, haunt you, and sometimes in this business we are faced with looking at human depravity and that's what we're looking at here.

'We're looking at kids being chained to their beds,' he said.

Son was allowed to attend college classes under mom's supervision

One of the couple's older sons was allowed out of the home to attend college classes but his mother accompanied him there, waited for him during the lessons, and then took him home, it was claimed.

'I don't know about a full college experience. What we know so far is that Louise Turpin would accompany him, wait outside the classroom when he was finished with class, then she would take him home,' Hestrin said.

The others were 'homeschooled' but there is no evidence any were ever educated.


Dutch holidaymakers who cancelled their Airbnb booking within 24 hours of arriving at a Sydney home they booked for a month have left a host family owing $20,000.

Melanie Boujonnier, who had her Bondi home listed for $590 a night, said Airbnb cancelled the booking over 'two cockroaches' without giving her an opportunity to fix the issue.

The mother-of-two argued cockroaches were unavoidable given her home's location and the time of year, and accused her guests of leaving food out or doors and windows open.

According to the company's booking policy, it should allow hosts a 24-hour window to resolve a guest complaint before a reservation can be canceled.

Melanie Boujonnier (centre) booked a holiday with her two children, Rafael, 1, and Louis, 3, and her husband, Manuel (right), while Airbnb guests occupied their Bondi home for five weeks

Dutch guests complained about cockroach infestation within 24 hours of being in the home, subsequently prompting Airbnb to cancel their booking on behalf of the hosts

Ms Boujonnier argued cockroaches were unavoidable given her home's location and the time of year

Ms Boujonnier took to Facebook on Thursday for advice, specifying her three-bedroom home was listed with a 'strict cancellation policy' which stated they didn't offer refunds for cancellations.

'Airbnb cancelled on our behalf without consulting us prior; even though we have five star reviews from all other guests!,' Ms Boujonnier wrote.

'Since then, apparently, we've been owing Airbnb 29 nights, so almost $20,000.'

'Usually, Airbnb gives the hosts 24 hours to fix the issue. In our case, Airbnb cancelled our 31 nights strict cancellation policy reservation without pre-approval from us or even trying to find a solution  which seems extremely wrong.'

She said guests must have left food out or doors and windows open because she had never had a cockroach issue in the home before

According to the company's booking policy, it should allow hosts a 24-hour window to resolve a guest complaint before a reservation can be canceled

The hosts specifically stated their 'strict cancellation policy' which said they didn't offer refunds for cancellations

The mother added how Airbnb had opted not to share the guest's negative review on the home's listing page.

'Airbnb did not publish the bad review left by the guest. So Airbnb doesn't agree with the review, but agrees with the guest to cancel the booking!.'

The review, shared exclusively with Daily Mail Australia, said: 'There were cockroaches in the kitchen and in the bathroom. It was not fun, and it was dirty to see the cockroaches crawling over the fruit basket and over the coffee table and the couch.'

Ms Boujonnier defended the cleanliness of her home, saying cockroaches weren't normally an issue because they were mindful of what attracted them.

'We rarely see cockroaches in our place, they must have left the doors open and food exposed. And this is out of our control!,' she told Daily Mail Australia.

The mother added how Airbnb had opted not to share the guest's negative review on the home's listing page, despite the reasons being good enough to cause cancellation

'There were cockroaches in the kitchen and in the bathroom,' the guest review stated

The dutch guests said 'it was dirty to see the cockroaches crawling over the fruit basket and over the coffee table and the couch'

She said the booking was cancelled despite the family offering to have a pest controller come to spray the home.

'Airbnb contacted us with the complaint, we offered a solution as we were not happy to refund the guests as we believe the issue was out of our control. Then, they cancelled it without telling us.'

Ms Boujonnier said she received a text message from her Dutch guest telling her the home was so unclean it was unsafe for children to stay there.

The guest, known only as Blanche, wrote: 'We went to bed and just went downstairs to get some water, but then I saw a lot of cockroaches.

'Like 10 or 15 everywhere. In the toaster, on the counter top, on the floor, the coffee table, the couch!

'Sorry but we can't enjoy Christmas with our parents in this kitchen. For us unacceptable, so many.'

Ms Boujonnier defended the cleanliness of her home, saying cockroaches weren't normally an issue because they were mindful of what attracted them

A private text message to the host stated the guests felt the home was unsafe for children

'Sorry but we cant enjoy Christmas with our parents in this kitchen. For us unacceptable, so many,' the guest, Blanche, said to Ms Boujonnier

A skeptical Ms Boujonnier said it was 'truly impossible' the details described by her guest could have been true.

'I believe she lied and has exaggerated the situation!' she said.

With their home booked for a total of five weeks, the family decided on an Asian holiday - partially funded by money from their Airbnb guest.

Ms Boujonnier said had they not have been expecting the extra income, they wouldn't have gone for so long.

'We scheduled this holidays in Asia based on the money that we were supposed to receive from Airbnb,' she said.

'Now we owe Airbnb almost 20K from this booking and still have to pay for our holidays. Without this booking, we would have left for just two weeks.'

A skeptical Ms Boujonnier said it was 'truly impossible' the details described by her guest could have been true

Several social media users shared similar horror stories from their experiences as Airbnb hosts, with cockroaches a common issue among other Sydneysiders.

When contacted by Daily Mail Australia, Airbnb said it was investigating Ms Boujonnier's case and assessing the extent of the cockroach issue.

'In the rare event that a guest has a negative experience, Airbnb's global Customer Service and Trust and Safety teams are on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week, in 11 different languages to help make things right with rebooking assistance, as well as refunds, reimbursements, and insurance programs,' a spokesperson said.

'Our original handling of this case did not meet the high standards we hold ourselves too. We work hard to make sure every hosts has a great experience and want to make it right when things don't go as expected.'

The company will need to examine whether the home's hygiene was to up to Airbnb standards and if the booking should have been cancelled without the host having a chance to fix the issue.
A dissatisfied RSL customer demanded a replacement sandwich because the one they had was cut slightly off-centre.

The customer returned their asymmetric lunch to staff at the Corowa RSL, on the New South Wales-Victoria border, on Wednesday.

Staff treated it as a 'legitimate complaint' and followed the golden hospitality rule: The customer is always right.

A customer returned their lunch to staff at the Corowa RSL, on the New South Wales-Victoria border, on Wednesday due to a slight presentation 'error'

Kitchen staff at Corowa RSL (pictured) replaced the roll and kept the old one to conduct their own investigation

Kitchen staff replaced the roll and kept the old one to conduct their own investigation.

Their measurements found one half of the roll was six centimetres long, while the other was a full centimetre less.

Seeing the funny side in the complaint, Corowa RSL posted a picture of the unevenly cut roll to Facebook.

'Close but not close enough - the girls were 5mm off a direct centre cut yesterday,' the post said.

'This was brought back as a legitimate complaint and the roll was replaced.

'For those who have worked in hospitality you will understand the randomness - if you can't have a laugh life will be pretty dull!'

Measurements found one half of the customer's roll (pictured) was six centimetres long, while the other was a full centimetre less

Corowa RSL chief executive Peter Norris also took to social media, admitting it was a 'strange' complaint.

'While it was quickly dismissed as funny, further investigation revealed the customer was in fact correct and we were a full cm off the perfect cut! Only in Clubs,' he wrote.

The post caused a stir among social media users, many of which were shocked at the customer's fussiness.

'What the hell is wrong with people to be that picky over something they are going to smash up with their mouths anyway?' one person wrote.

Another wrote: 'After working in tourism for over 30 years I learnt one thing - There are people who complain because they are not able to go out, and there are others who go out to complain.'
The foster brother of slain schoolgirl Tiahleigh Palmer has been released from prison on parole.

Trent Thorburn was released from prison in Brisbane on Friday morning after spending 16 months behind bars, Nine News reported.

He was sentenced to four years jail in September on incest and perjury charges.

Trent Thorburn was released from prison in Brisbane on Friday morning after spending 16 months behind bars

Tiahleigh's body was found on the banks of the Pimpama River six days after she went missing

Thorburn pleaded guilty to having sex with the 12-year-old and lying to the crime and corruption commission.

His father Rick Thorburn has been indicted for the murder of his foster daughter.

Tiahleigh's body was found on the banks of the Pimpama River six days after she went missing while in the care of Thorburn and his family.

Josh Thorburn and Julene Thorburn were also jailed after pleading guilty to perjury charges.

Tiahleigh's mother Cyndi Palmer was critical of the sentences given to the family members

Tiahleigh's mother Cyndi Palmer was critical of the sentences given to the family members.

On Friday she took to Facebook to express her disapproval with Trent's release.

'I have confirmation, Trent Thorburn was released from prison this morning on parole after serving the rest of his s**tty, sentence,' she said.

She also used the hashtag #nojusticehere.
Michael Douglas is the latest Hollywood actor accused of sexual harassment after a former colleague said he masturbated in front of her, used crude language on an almost constant basis and bragged about cheating on his wife.

Susan Braudy, a journalist and author, said in an interview with the Hollywood Reporter that her time working for Douglas' Stonebridge Productions company in the late 1980s was uncomfortable and hostile because the actor used 'near-constant profane and sexually charged dialogue'.

One incident, she told the publication, left her distraught.

During a one-on-one script meeting at Douglas' New York apartment to discuss a character similar to ET, Braudy said the actor slid off the chair he was sitting in onto the floor, unzipped his pants and began masturbating.

Michael Douglas (left) is accused of masturbating in front of his former employee Susan Braudy (left)

Braudy said during a 1989 meeting at Douglas' apartment to discuss a script, the actor unzipped his pants and began touching himself. She said she bolted out of the room in tears

'Michael unzipped his chinos and I registered something amiss,' she said.

'Still complimenting my additions to our ET imitation, his voice lowered at least half an octave.

'I peered at him and saw he's inserted both hands into his unzipped pants. I realized to my horror that he was rubbing his private parts.

'Within seconds his voice cracked and it appeared to me he'd had an orgasm.'

Braudy said she bolted from the apartment in tears.

'I said nothing. I was surprised I wasn't falling to pieces even though I was humiliated. I realized he thought he could do anything he wanted because he was so much more powerful than I was,' she recalled.

'Michael ran barefoot after me to the elevator, zipping his fly and buckling his belt. "Hey, thank you, you're good. You helped me, thank you, thank you."'

Miss Braudy said her working relationship with the Wall Street star went downhill after the alleged incident.

'When he sweetly asked me to sign a confidentiality agreement, I knew Michael was preparing to fire me,' she said, describing how, with her lawyer's guidance, she left the company without signing an agreement.

The author also accused her former employer of making demeaning comments about her looks.

Braudy said Douglas commented on her appearance so much that she started showing up to work dressed in black.

'I began wearing long, loose layers of black,' she said. 'He asked a producer: "Why does Susan dress like a pregnant nun?"

'Another time I laughed loudly and he shouted to a group of agents: "Oh yeah, she's a screamer! I bet she screams in the sack."'

Douglas (left) was also accused by his former colleague of having 'graphic discussions' about his affairs, including one with actress Kathleen Turner (right). Douglas and Turner are pictured above on the set of 'The Jewel Of The Nile' in 1985

Braudy (pictured left with author Joe Weintraub at the New York premiere of "Just 45 Minutes From Broadway in October 2012) worked for Douglas in the 1980s at his Stonebridge Productions company

Douglas said in a statement that he did use 'colorful language' but denied touching himself in front of his employee

Braudy said she asked the actor to stop with the inappropriate comments, but he just laughed 'until he got pink splotches on his cheeks'.

Douglas also had no problem bragging about his extramarital affairs, Braudy said, including one alleged fling with his 'Romancing the Stone' co-star Kathleen Turner.

Appearing on US television, she also said of the two-time Oscar winner: 'He thought he was the king of the world and that he could humiliate me without any repercussions.'

Douglas, 73, has repeatedly denied the allegations, telling Deadline in a January 9 statement that he used 'colorful language' but never touched himself in front of Braudy.

'That rung is something I've only heard about the last year. It's not an expression that related to the '80s. So I thought it stunk,' he said.

'And I tried to figure out, why the hell would somebody do this? The part that hurt the worst is having to share something like this to your wife and your children.

'My kids are really upset, has to go to school worrying this is going to be in some article about me, being a sexual harasser. They're scared and very uncomfortable.'

He added: 'Its extremely painful. I pride myself on my reputation in this business.

'I dont have skeletons in my closet, or anyone else whos coming out or saying this.

'Im bewildered why, after 32 years, this is coming out now.

Douglas also denied Braudy's story to the Hollywood Reporter saying he never behaved 'inappropriately towards her'.

Catherine Zeta-Jones, Douglas' wife, has also spoken out, saying she supports her husband.

'My reaction was that as two people who have been in this business  him longer than me  was that we support "Me Too" and the movement more than anybody, anybody  me as a woman, him as a man,' she told People magazine.

She added: 'There was no other way than to be preemptive in a story that had to be watched.

'He did a statement. I think it's very clear the way that he stands. I cannot elaborate on something that's so very personal to him.'
A tow truck driver is lucky to be alive after running into a busy Michigan freeway to avoid getting hit by an out of control car.

The near miss on a slick, icy morning in Detroit, was caught on dashcam of a police car on the M-39 ramp to I-96.

The tow truck driver was dealing with an accident while a state trooper in the dashcam vehicle was doing paperwork.

In the footage, the out-of-control sedan is seen traveling too fast for the conditions and speeding towards the tow truck.

The trooper can be heard yelling as she watches the car heading straight for the tow truck.

A trooper had been calling for another car to block the ramp while the tow truck operator worked

The out of control car hit a patch of ice and careened straight toward the tow truck, and the operator

The tow operator sees the car coming and with just a second to spare runs straight into the freeway to get out of the way.

Michigan State Police Lt Mike Shaw told the Detroit Free Press, 'as you can tell from the video the tow truck driver actually ran into the lanes of travel and he was pretty lucky that another car wasn't traveling in the right lane or else he would've been hit'.

Luckily the tow truck driver, the state trooper and the two drivers involved in the accident all walked away unharmed.

You can see the driver of the car trying to turn to not hit the tow truck

Shaw said the driver 'was cited for violation of basic speed law, driving too fast for road conditions and violation of Michigan's emergency vehicle move-over law'.

The Michigan State Police tweeted the video with a stern warning to drivers, 'we talk about slowing down in bad weather and giving us a lane.

'The trooper saw it coming and was trying to get another car to block the ramp. They never made it. Please give us a lane.'

The terrified driver has nowhere to go but onto the 2 lane freeway as the sedan flips upside down where he'd just been standing.
Bruce McArthur, a 66-year-old Toronto landscaper, was charged with first-degree murder in the presumed deaths of Selim Esen and Andrew Kinsman

Months after dismissing fears about a potential serial killer prowling Toronto's gay village, police said they arrested a man Thursday who they believe is responsible for the presumed deaths of at least two men who disappeared from the neighborhood.

Bruce McArthur, a 66-year-old Toronto landscaper, was charged with first-degree murder in the presumed deaths of Selim Esen and Andrew Kinsman, both reported missing from the Church and Wellesley streets area at separate times last year, police said.

'We believe he is responsible for the deaths of Mr. Esen and Mr. Kinsman, and we believe he is responsible for the deaths of other men who have yet to be identified,' Toronto Det. Sgt. Hank Idsinga said.

'In other words, we believe there are other victims,' he added.

Idsinga would not say who the other victims might be, but said police are aware of other men reported missing from the area.

Members of the LGBTQ community were voicing concerns and pushing for answers last year in light of the disappearances of Esen (L) and Kinsman (R)

Both Esen and Kinsman were reported missing from the Church and Wellesley streets (pictured) area at separate times last year

A separate investigation, for instance, has been looking into the disappearance of three men from the same area between 2010 and 2012.

Members of the LGBTQ community were voicing concerns and pushing for answers last year in light of the disappearances of Esen and Kinsman, which were deemed suspicious.

Investigators working on the cases issued public reassurances, saying they had no reason to believe that the two men were dead or that their absence had anything to do with a serial killer or predators targeting men through a dating app.

Toronto Police Chief Mark Saunders (pictured) defended his force's approach when asked about the case on Thursday

Then in December, police warned people to be careful using dating apps.

Police Chief Mark Saunders defended the Toronto force's approach when asked about the shift Thursday.

'In policing, what we do is we follow the evidence, and what I said at the time, that I said, was accurate at that time,' he said.

Officers investigated McArthur for months but could not make a 'definitive link' to the disappearances until Wednesday, Idsinga said.

The men's bodies have not been found, but police said they were searching five properties  four in Toronto, one in Madoc, Ontario  connected to McArthur, a self-employed landscaper.

Idsinga said police have a 'pretty good idea' of how the men died but declined to elaborate.

McArthur had sexual relationships with both men and all three were on dating apps, the sergeant said.

'He did have a relationship with Mr. Kinsman for some time,' Idsinga said. 'We don't know what his exact relationship with Mr. Esen was leading up to the (alleged) murder, whether he had just met him that day or whether he had known him for some time. We just don't know that yet.'
After a 24-hour wait, passengers are preparing to reboard their flight to Kuala Lumpur after a terrifying emergency landing in Alice Springs on Thursday.

Customers began to check in ahead of their replacement flight just after 3.30pm on Friday afternoon after waiting almost a day in the Northern Territory.

The Malaysian Airways flight lost engine power and started 'violently shaking' ahead of yesterday's unscheduled landing at 6pm.

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Passengers on board the 'terrifying' flight MH122 yesterday have started to re-board the flight

After spending a day in Alice Springs, passengers bound for Kuala Lumpur line up for the flight

Flight MH122 from Sydney to Kuala Lumpur was close to the West Australian coastline when it was forced to divert to Alice Springs at around 6pm on January 18.

Terrified travellers said they feared for their lives after crew members told them to brace for impact only four hours into the flight.

'It was quite scary. We were sitting right on the wing in the aisle and we could hear the motor stop,' one passenger said. 'The engine completely stopped on the left-hand side.

Customers were terrified as the Malaysia Airlines plane made an emergency landing (pictured)

The MH122 was only four hours into its flight when it was diverted to Alice Springs (pictured)

'It was a real gravelly noise and then the aeroplane just started shaking. The staff seemed to be rushing around for a while.'

Passenger Maryna Delport Evetts said engine problems had been blamed for the diversion.

'So just when you think this would never happen to you or it just happens in the movies, on our flight back home, four hours into the journey we had engine failure,' Ms Evetts wrote Facebook.

'We turned back and we are now sitting at the Airport in Alice Springs. Not too sure when we will be leaving but hey ho, we are on terra firma.

'Not a good feeling 10,000 feet up in the air.'

Chris Kanani, the husband of a passenger aboard, told the ABC his wife described the experience as 'hell'.

'The scariest part was that once the engine started to make a loud disturbing noise, the flight attendants all seemed nervous and clueless,' one passenger wrote later on social media

After a 'massive vibration' shook the plane, the crew warned passengers to 'brace for impact'

'She said she was on the loo when she started hearing loud banging noises from the right-hand side of the plane and that's when all it started,' Mr Kanani said.

'It was like hell this flight and they were told to be ready for an emergency landing.'

Another passenger told the ABC there was 'very violent shaking' during the flight and passengers had braced for a rough landing.

After a 'massive vibration' shook the plane, the crew told passengers to 'brace for impact', Donna Edwards told 9 News.

Another scared passenger thought she was 'going to die' when she felt the 'massive vibrations'

Malaysia Airlines said after the incident that 'safety at all times' was their 'number one priority'

'One of the crew stopped near us and one guy said ''are we crashing or are we landing'',' Ms Edwards said. 'The crew member said ''I don't know''. We were just bracing for the worst. I thought I was going to die.'

The flight, which left Sydney Airport at 1.06pm, landed in Alice Springs at 5.48pm (local time). It was scheduled to arrive in Kuala Lumpur at 6.30pm the same day.

Malaysia Airlines released a statement saying 'safety at all times' was their 'number one priority'.

'Safety was not at any time compromised and the commanding captain decided to divert the flight for technical assistance,' the statement read.

The airline said it would provide more information on the technical issue when it was available.
A therapy alpaca who brought comfort to hundreds of sick and elderly people was killed, along with four others, by a pack of wild dogs on Wednesday night.

The beloved 14-month-old alpaca died at the Traralgon West property he was staying at in an incident that has left his owner 'devastated' and angry.

Known for this work with Lifeline Gippsland, Harold the alpaca brought smiles to the faces of thousands of locals around the Valley.

A lifeline therapy alpaca (pictured) who brought comfort to hundreds of sick was killed

The beloved 14-month-old alpaca was one of five killed on Wednesday night

'They died from horrific injuries, they were torn apart and would have bled to death...it would have been horrible,' owner Louise Lazarus told The Latrobe Valley Express.

'These little alpacas have touched so many people in this Valley when the Valley needed a lift the most.'

The alpacas were staying at Lill Cunningham's five-acre property off the Princes Highway at Traralgon West Nursery to get some 'respite'.

Her neighbour found the slaughtered pack - one still alive, in the front paddock of her rural block.

The group of alpacas were slaughtered by wild dogs while staying at Traralgon West

She said police had to put the fifth one down which had been found still alive because the vet was too far away.

'If only I put them just outside the house, they would've been OK but there wasn't enough grass so we put them in the paddock instead last week.'

While the attack has left both women and the broader community 'heartbroken', the search is on to find a sixth alpaca, believed to have fled the property following the attack.

If any members of the public see Spot, they are urged to contact Latrobe City Council on 1300 367 700.
African envoys heard about how important their continent is to the United States during a private meeting on Thursday, but did not receive an apology for President Donald Trump's vulgar 's***hole' comment.

US Ambassador Nikki Haley met with the 54-nation African Group at the United Nations to discuss a number of topics including the war on terrorism and combating HIV.

United Nations U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley told African envoys their continent is 'very important' to the US, but failed to apologize for President Donald Trump's 's***hole countries' comment. Haley is pictured here during a U.N. Security Council meeting on January 18, 2018 at U.N. headquarters

Equatorial Guinea's UN ambassador Anatolio Ndong Mba (pictured) says they are still hoping for an apology from Trump

Haley also told the group that 'Africa is very important for the United States', Equatorial Guinea's UN ambassador Anatolio Ndong Mba said.

Haley, however, failed to apologize for remarks Trump made during an immigration meeting at the White House last week.

She told the African Group that she was not at the DACA meeting and wasn't sure what the president said. Haley did, however, say that she regretted the situation and insisted Trump 'always has been talking very high of Africa'.

'We appreciate the fact that she came, and she talked about all the cooperation between the United States and Africa, and that Africa is very important for the United States,' Ndong Mba said.

Equatorial Guinea's UN ambassador said they 'do hope' for an apology and that Haley was given a 'specific recommendation' but he refused to disclose what it was.

Other diplomats at the closed meeting said Haley was asked to have Trump send a message to African leaders at their summit in Ethiopia on January 28 and 29.

Trump referred to Haiti and African nations as 's***hole countries' while dismissing a bipartisan immigration deal. He denied using that language in a tweet on January 12, writing that he used 'tough' language but not that word

Last week, Trump reportedly referred to Haiti and African nations as 's***hole countries' while dismissing a bipartisan immigration deal.

He denied using that language in a tweet on January 12, writing that he used 'tough' language during the DACA meeting but not that word.

The African Group issued a statement last Friday condemning Trump's 'outrageous, racist and xenophobic remarks' and demanding a retraction and apology.
A billionaire construction magnate is among three Australians who will reportedly be extradited from Serbia after being jailed over alleged links to a $500million drug bust.

Rohan Arnold - dubbed the 'king of steel' for his roaring success in the industry - may be coming back to Australia in custody after he was arrested at gunpoint inside the Metropol Palace Hotel, in Belgrade, on Wednesday.

The 44-year-old was drinking with Tristan Waters, 34, David Campbell, 48, and Diab George, 40, a Lebanese man, in the hotel lobby when they were arrested in dramatic circumstances.

The three Australia men could spend up to six weeks behind bars in Padinjak Prison, 30 kilometres from Belgrade, while extradition negotiations between Serbia and Australia take place, News Corp reported.

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Rohan Arnold (pictured), a construction magnate, may be extradited from a Serbian jail after being arrested over alleged links to a $500million drug bust

The 44-year-old was one of three Australians and a Lebanese man arrested on Wednesday

Arnold was arrested at gunpoint as he enjoyed drinks with his alleged associates at Belgrade's Metropol Palace Hotel on Wednesday

Waters, a former Canberra nightclub bouncer turned billionaire construction owner, has been labelled by the Serbian media as the alleged cartel leader.

All four are suspected of having ties to an international drug syndicate which allegedly attempted to smuggle 1.28 tonnes worth of cocaine into Sydney from China last year.

There are reports the Russian Mafia used Serbian gangs to get into the Australian drug market, according to 9 News.

Waters was reportedly manager of a security firm based in the ACT before moving on to build his own construction firm called Triswat.

But the businessman, who is now based in Dubai, was also reportedly connected to multiple companies linked to the ATO tax fraud syndicate run by Adam Cranston, the son of then ATO deputy commissioner Michael Cranston.

Mr Arnold is a director of South East Livestock Exchange and also his own company 'Arnold Co' - a major player in the NSW construction industry.

The father-of-four was born and educated in Canberra where he graduated with a commerce degree in 1995, according to his business website.

Just days ago, he wrote on his personal blog that the global steel industry was thriving and that he was optimistic about the future.

'Global demand for mass steel looks likely to increase in 2018, with emerging economies including Latin America and the Middle East experiencing strong urban development,' he wrote.

Arnold is a director of South East Livestock Exchange and also his own company 'Arnold Co' - a major player in the NSW construction industry

The four men were dramatically arrested in the lobby (pictured) of the lavish hotel in Belgrade

This picture shows the table and lounge the men had been sitting on before they were arrested, as well as a bag police say contained various forms of currency

Arnold (pictured) has had a 20-year career in the steel manufacturing industry

Arnold's 20-year career in the steel industry and subsequent affluence has gifted him opportunities like competing in the Sydney to Hobart for a third time in 2017.

But just three weeks after successfully completing the prestigious yacht race, he finds himself at the centre of the second largest cocaine seizure in Australian history.

Mr Arnold first came to the attention of Australian Federal Police after they captured a 1.28 tonne cocaine haul - with a street value of close to $500million - hidden on a shipment of pre-fabricated steel which travelled from China to Sydney last April.

Following his dramatic arrest in Belgrade, the AFP on Wednesday raided Mr Arnold's home where he lives with his family on the NSW-ACT border.

One of his business premises in Goulburn was also searched - as were properties in Jeir and Canberra.

The bag was filled with cash including about $600,000 Euros and $10,000 Australian dollars, police said

The AFP on Wednesday raided Mr Arnold's home where he lives with his family on the NSW-ACT border

Video showed Mr Arnold sitting inside the lobby of the Belgrade hotel with three other men, completely unaware they were about to be raided by police.

The footage, released by Serbian authorities, showed officers throw the men to the ground during what police allege was a 'money handover'.

Officers said they found a bag filled with various forms of currency, including approximately $600,000 Euros and $10,000 Australian dollars.

One of Arnold's colleagues told Daily Mail Australia he was shocked to learn of his arrest in Serbia, saying he assumed Arnold had travelled to China.

'I spoke to him the other day and he said he was going overseas for a week but he'd be back before Sunday [for the opening of a new stock yard],' Brendan Abbey said.

'I was under the impression he was off to China. He went there often because he has interests in steel there.

Police are pictured storming into the Belgrade hotel moments before the dramatic arrests

A Serbian police officer is seen opening a bag which they said contained various forms of currency

One of the four men is taken into custody after being arrested over alleged links to a one tonne cocaine bust

'We're just in shock, utter shock. It's got nothing to do with us though.'

In a statement released on Thursday, the South East Livestock Exchange (SELX) said its business was not involved in any way with the police operation.

'SELX Pty Ltd owns livestock selling centres at Yass (SELX) and Mortlake (WVLX),' the statement read.

'The Directors of SELX Pty Ltd have become aware through the media that Rohan Arnold a Director of SELX Pty Ltd has been arrested by Serbian authorities in Belgrade.

'The operation and management of SELX and WVLX are not affected by this development. Livestock sales will continue as scheduled.'

Mr Arnold first came to the attention of Australian Federal Police after they captured a 1.28 tonne cocaine haul

A block of cocaine is pictured after it was seized in what was the second largest haul of the drug in Australian history

Arnold's lawyer said he expects his client (pictured) to be back in Australia within six weeks if he is not charged

The Arnold Co. website says it 'removes the unknown risks associated procurement with primarily construction related products from China'.

Mr Arnold's defence lawyer told The Sydney Morning Herald he was in the process of organising to see him in Serbia.

'That will be co-ordinated through [the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade],' Ben Aulich said on Thursday.

'If everything is co-ordinated smoothly and he is not facing charges in Serbia, then we expect him back in the country within four to six weeks.'

The AFP released a statement hours after the Serbian bust, alleging they had linked three of the arrested men to a major drug haul in April. It is unclear which of the four men arrested in Serbia the AFP was referring to.

'Operation Amorgos commenced in April 2017, with the interception of a container of pre-fabricated steel arriving into Sydney from a source country via China,' the statement read.

'AFP investigators commenced a tenacious nine-month investigation to pursue those allegedly responsible for this importation.

'No arrests have been made in Australia at this time, though investigations remain ongoing.'

Video showed Mr Arnold sitting inside the lobby of the Belgrade hotel with three other men before police pounced
Two children and a teacher are in a 'grave condition' after their skulls were cracked open in a school bloodbath by an axe-wielding student 'with Nazi sympathies'.

Classmates Alexandra Bortsova and Maya Bazhenova, both 13, are fighting for their lives after they received appalling head injuries during the attack on a village high school in the Buryatia republic of southern Siberia.

Teacher Irina Ramenskaya, 41, is also being treated for an open head wound after being struck by the axe.

In all, five pupils and two teachers suffered grievous injuries when a masked teen with accomplices firebombed a classroom before axing victims fleeing the carnage.

An attempted murder probe has been launched, with the Russian media naming the suspect as computer game fanatic Anton Bichivin, 16, who friends say has 'Nazi sympathies'.

The gutted classroom after a firebomb was thrown into it as part of a horrendous attack

The alleged ringleader, named by Russian media as Anton Bichivin is arrested by police officers

The axe used to hack at pupils as they fled the burning classroom after a Molotov cocktail was hurled into it

Anton Bichivin, right, pictured with an unidentified child in a photograph of him taken when he was younger

Armed police officers block an area around a school in Sosnovy Bor on the outskirts of Ulan-Ude, the regional capital of Buryatia, a region near the Russia-Mongolia border, Russia

His stepfather is a major in the Russian paratroopers.

Alexandra was reported to be in a coma and her relatives made a plea for blood to save her.

A classmate called Liza said: 'We were in a literature lesson.

'Suddenly some boy came in and threw a burning substance against the wall. It caught fire.

'We ran out of the classroom, and the attackers started to chop up one of the girls, Maya Bazhenova.'

One of Maya's fingers was severed by the axe-wielding student.

Another finger was badly crushed and she suffered a shoulder injury when she was struck.

Teacher Irina told journalists: 'I got a blow into my head, but I didn't even feel the impact. There was smoke. I started to take out the children.

'But when I went out by myself, I saw that a this figure just chopping the kids with an axe. I began to bring them back into the classroom, but everything was burning.

'I was already bleeding. That is how it was. In my eyes I saw Anton with an axe.'

Anton Kulikov, 13, was wounded in the neck and spine while his female classmate Konstantsia Yatsunenko, 13, received a blow to her shoulder blade.

Alexandra Bortsova (left and right) is fighting for her life in hospital after having her skull cracked with an axe during the attack

Teacher Irina Ramenskaya was also hit in the head with an axe, but was able to give an account of the attack to journalists

Konstantsia Yatsunenko, 13 (left), was badly wounded during the attack, while Anton Kulikov (right image, on the left) was hit in the spine with the axe

Vladislav Danilov, 12, was also badly wounded in the school outrage.

Another teacher is suffering from severe psychological trauma after the attack.

The teenage ringleader of the attack then smashed windows in the room, stabbed himself in the chest and jumped from a second floor window.

He was detained by armed military police after falling on the snow below.

One pupil, called Kristina, said of the suspect and his friends: 'They did not take drugs. They were into Naziism.'

The boy's stepbrother said: 'He is fond of computer games - GTA, Call of Duty, and Painkiller.

'When something goes not according to his wish he becomes nervous, shouts, freaks out.'

Another witness said she saw a boy 'hit with an axe on the back of his neck.

'A girl was axed in the neck and then another student had one or two fingers severed'.

Irina Zbritskaya, 44, another teacher at the school, is suffering from psychological trauma

Bichivin was said to be a fan of violent video games and had images such as this one on his social media profiles

Another image taken from Bichivin's social media of violent video game The Witcher, which sees the protagonist routinely behead monsters he hunts

She saw teacher Irina Zbritskaya give a wounded pupil her fur coat in the aftermath of the carnage as victims fled outside into the minus 24C cold.

Moments later she collapsed.

It is the second devastating attack on a school in Russia this week.

On Monday two masked students went on a rampage in a school in Perm, seriously wounding a teacher and nine students aged ten and 11 with a knife.

Today's attack was at Sosnovy Bor village near regional capital Ulan Ude in the Republic of Buryatia, a Buddhist region in southern Siberia.

A mother was quoted saying: 'The school was not cordoned off when I took my children away - not even policemen, although the FSB had been informed.

'The wounded girl lay without the supervision of class tutors.

'The school director was walking around - he did not call anywhere, did nothing.

'I called the duty prosecutor and it only moved after my call.

'We comforted the wounded girl when she was lying on the floor.

'None of the school administration was there. Children were with the wounded.'

Five hundred children and staff were evacuated from the school.

Regional chief Alexey Tsydenov cut short an official trip to neighbouring Mongolia and was returning to Buryatia.

Other officials were sent to the school to take charge of the incident.

'A criminal investigation has been opened into a school student on suspicion of  attempting the murder of two or more minors,' said a source in Russia's Investigative Committee, which probes serious crime.

The wrecked classroom in Siberia where children were sat for a Russian literature class

A number of armed police officers stand guard outside the school where the teenagers went on a rampage

A military base is near the school.

A previous picture shows Bichivin outside school wearing a gas mask.

Blood is shown in the snow from the horrific axe attack.

The weapon also was shown by a local TV station lying in the snow.

Law enforcement agencies were today checking whether there was any connection between school attacks this week in Perm and Buryatia.

It was also revealed that another attack was averted in Moscow when a school security guard found a student in connection with a collection of weapons.

The guard ignored a demand from the school director to hush up the incident and called police.

In his arsenal the 16 year old boy had knives, bullets for a hunter's riffle, ballbearings, a rope, a pack of screw-drivers, and a petrol can.

Armed police officers in camouflage stand outside the school after the attack in Siberia

Blood is seen spattered on a wall and in the snow outside the school where up to four attackers went on a rampage

The classroom into which the Molotov cocktail was thrown which caused pupils to flee into the path of the attackers

One pupil said: 'We were sitting in a lesson when suddenly a fire alarm went off.

'One of the boys jokingly ran out, the rest just laughed at it.'

They were told by a teacher to keep studying.

'Then the alarm went off again.

'And then a boy, or maybe several, ran inside a class and threw a Molotov cocktail.

'Curtains and the whole class caught fire immediately, and he started striking everyone he could reach with an axe.

'He cut a finger of one student, cut a cheek of another one right to the bone, a third one had been hit at his back, a teacher was wounded.'

A local government spokesman said later: 'There were three attackers.

'They put on masks and threw a bottle with burning liquid into the Russian language and literature classroom where there was a 7th grade lesson.

'There was a fire and when teacher and pupils ran away from the room, the offenders met them at the entrance (with the axe) and caused the injuries.'

Minister of health in Buryatia, Dabinima Sambuev, said: 'Five were injured - four children and a woman, 44.

'Three children are in a grave condition, two - of medium gravity.

'The military hospital provided first aid.'

Sambuev added: 'The attacker is also injured.

'He attempted to commit suicide.

'He has chest and stomach injuries.'
The state opposed Palmer's request for bail due to the seriousness of the crime

She was found guilty of causing grievous bodily harm by having unprotected sex

The Perth transgender sex worker was allegedly diagnosed with disease in 2014

Clayton Palmer, who goes by Sienna Fox, is accused of infecting man with HIV

A transgender sex worker accused of causing grievous bodily harm by having unprotected sex with a man and passing on HIV has been found guilty.

Clayton James Palmer, who identifies as a woman and is now known as CJ, wept in the WA District Court on Friday when the jury found her guilty of causing grievous bodily harm.

The judge acknowledged that the transgender sex worker will face an 'onerous' time in a male prison after refusing her bail, pending sentence for infecting a Perth man with HIV through unprotected sex.

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Clayton James Palmer, who identifies as Sienna Fox (pictured), is not criminally negligent for passing HIV to a man because she never knew she had the disease, her lawyer told Perth court

Nurse Joanna Morgan visited Palmer's (above) home and to tell she had tested positive for HIV

Palmer visited the WA Substance Users Association in August 2014 to get tested for sexually transmitted infections and was later informed by nurse Joanne Morgan that there was a positive indication of HIV.

Prosecutor Ben Stanwix said Palmer, 40, never returned any follow-up phone calls or messages and refused to face reality, continuing to advertise her sexual services online.

Defence counsel Simon Freitag had argued Palmer was not criminally negligent because she never knew she had the virus.

Palmer met the victim, who cannot be named, two months after the meeting with Ms Morgan and continued to see him until August 2015, telling him she was regularly tested for sexually transmitted diseases.

In September 2015, the victim saw a doctor and was told she had HIV.

Police tracked down Palmer, who had moved to NSW, via online advertisements for her services under the name Sienna Fox.

On Friday Mr Stanwix said the state opposed bail due to the seriousness of the crime and nature of the harm done.

'It did involve a breathtaking disregard for the life and health of another human being over an extended period of time,' he said.

Palmer faced WA District Court accused of passing on HIV to a client through unprotected sex

Judge Christopher Stevenson said being in a male prison would be especially onerous for her but he agreed the offence was too serious to grant bail.

Mr Freitag said when Palmer spent nine months in a male prison in 2016 following her extradition to WA, she was placed in the Special Handling Unit at Casuarina Prison in a cell alone and was sometimes searched by male guards.

Judge Stevenson made some provisional findings and comments ahead of sentencing, noting that Palmer's ads had stated she was 'discrete, private and very clean'.

He said Palmer had breached her duty of care to the victim, who now suffered prejudice from some people. Palmer will be sentenced on February 16.
Pope Francis has accused victims of Chile's most notorious paedophile of slander.

He made the astonishing claim at the end of a visit meant to help heal the wounds of a sex abuse scandal that has cost the Catholic Church its credibility in the country.

On Thursday the Pope said that until he sees proof that Bishop Juan Barros was complicit in covering up sex crimes of the Reverend Fernando Karadima, accusations against Barros are 'all calumny.'

Pope Francis has provoked outrage in Chile after accusing victims of the country's most notorious paedophile of slander during a visit meant to help heal the wounds of the scandal

His remarks provoked outrage and shock among victims and their representatives, who noted that Karadima was sentenced by the Vatican to a lifetime of 'penance and prayer' for his crimes in 2011.

A Chilean judge also found the victims to be credible, saying that while she had to drop criminal charges against Karadima because too much time had passed, proof of his crimes wasn't lacking.

'As if I could have taken a selfie or a photo while Karadima abused me and others and Juan Barros stood by watching it all,' tweeted Barros' most vocal accuser, Juan Carlos Cruz.

'These people are truly crazy, and the pontiff talks about atonement to the victims.

'Nothing has changed, and his plea for forgiveness is empty.'

The Karadima scandal dominated the Pope's visit to Chile and is likely to play a role in his three-day trip to Peru that began late on Thursday.

Karadima's victims reported to church authorities as early as 2002 that he would kiss and fondle them in the swank Santiago parish he ran.

They claimed Barros had witnessed the abuse but did nothing about it.

But officials refused to believe them and Barros denied the allegations.

It was only when the victims went public with their accusations in 2010 that the Vatican launched an investigation that led to Karadima being removed from ministry.

The emeritus archbishop of Santiago then apologised for refusing to believe the victims from the beginning.

Wounds of the scandal were reopened by the Pope in 2015 when he named Barros, a protege of Karadima, as bishop of the southern diocese of Osorno.

Victims of Karadima (pictured in court in 2015) reported to church authorities as early as 2002 that he would kiss and fondle them in the swank Santiago parish he ran

His appointment outraged Chileans, badly divided the Osorno diocese and further undermined the church's already shaky credibility in the country.

The Pope had aimed to help heal wounds this week by meeting with abuse victims and begging forgiveness for the crimes of church pastors.

But he struck a defiant tone when asked about Barros by a Chilean journalist.

'The day they bring me proof against Bishop Barros, I'll speak,' he said.

'There is not one shred of proof against him. It's all calumny. Is that clear?'

He had previously defended the appointment of Barros in Osorno, calling the controversy 'stupid' and the result of a campaign mounted by leftists.

But the Vatican was so worried about the fallout from the Karadima affair that in 2014 it was prepared to ask Barros and two other Karadima-trained bishops to resign and go on a year-long sabbatical.

According to a letter dated January 31, 2015 from the Pope to the executive committee of the Chilean bishops' conference, the plan fell apart and Barros was sent to Osorno.

Juan Carlos Claret, spokesman for a group of Osorno lay Catholics who have mounted a three-year campaign against Barros, questioned why Francis was now accusing the victims of slandering Barros when the Vatican was so convinced of their claims that it planned to remove him in 2014.

'Isn't the pastoral problem that we're living (in Osorno) enough to get rid of him?' Claret asked.

The reference was to the fact that - guilty or not - Barros has been unable to do his job because so many Osorno Catholics and priests don't recognize him as their bishop.

They staged an unprecedented protest during his 2015 installation ceremony and have protested his presence ever since.

Wounds of the scandal were reopened by the Pope in 2015 when he named Juan Barros (pictured), a protege of Karadima, as bishop of the southern diocese of Osorno

Anne Barrett Doyle, of the online database BishopAccountability.org, said it was 'sad and wrong' for the Pope to discredit the victims since 'the burden of proof here rests with the church, not the victims - and especially not with victims whose veracity has already been affirmed.'

'He has just turned back the clock to the darkest days of this crisis,' she said in a statement.

'Who knows how many victims now will decide to stay hidden, for fear they will not be believed?'

For years Catholic officials have accused victims of slandering and attacking the church with their claims.

But until Francis' words on Thursday, many in the church and Vatican had come to reluctantly acknowledge that victims usually told the truth and that the church for decades had wrongly sought to protect its own.

German Silva, a political scientist at Santiago's Universidad Mayor, said the Pope's comments were a 'tremendous error' that will reverberate in Chile and beyond.

Patricio Navia, political science professor at Diego Portales University in Santiago, said Francis had gone much further than Chilean bishops in acknowledging the sexual abuse scandal, which many Chileans appreciated.

'Then right before leaving, Francis turns around and says "By the way, I don't think Barros is guilty. Show me some proof",' said Navia, adding that the comment will probably erase any good will the pope had won over the issue.

Navia said the Karadima scandal had radically changed how Chileans view the church.

'In the typical Chilean family, parents (now) think twice before sending their kids to Catholic school because you never know what is going to happen,' he said.
A stillborn baby emerged from its mother 10 days after she had died, plunging the family into fresh grief.

The woman, named as 33-year-old Nomveliso Nomasonto Mdoyi, complained of sudden breathlessness at home in the village of Mthayisi in South Africa's southern Eastern Cape province.

Mum-of-five Nomveliso died shortly afterwards and her body was given to a firm of funeral directors ahead of her burial.

Nomveliso Nomasonto Mdoyi, 33, died after complaining of breathlessness in the village of Mthayisi in South Africa's southern Eastern Cape province and died shortly afterwards

But on the day before the funeral, 10 days after she had passed away, staff noticed that a dead baby had appeared between the legs of her lifeless body.

Relaxation of muscles after death or even a build-up of bacteria could cause an unborn baby to be expelled, according to local media quoting medical experts.

Boss of the funeral directors for Lindokuhle Funeral Fundile Makalana said: 'When we took the body from the mortuary tray to her coffin we discovered that there was a newly born baby between her legs.

But on the day before the funeral, 10 days after she had passed away, staff noticed that a dead baby had appeared between the legs of her lifeless body

'The baby was dead. We were so shocked and frightened that we did not even have time to look at the sex of the baby.

What is coffin birth? The phenomenon is medically known as post mortem foetal extrusion. During decomposition of the body, tissues become depleted of oxygen and gases such as carbon dioxide and methane are released. At the same time, organ tissues are weakened by exoenzymes which are secreted by bacteria. Diffusion of excessive gases into weakened tissues causes the torso and limbs to become bloated two to five days after death. The pressure forces body fluids from natural orifices and amniotic membranes in a pregnant woman become stretched and separated. Gas in the abdomen may cause the uterus to prolapse and the foetus to be expelled through the vaginal canal. No baby has ever been recorded as surviving following a coffin birth. Advertisement

'I have been in the business for more than 20 years and I have never heard of a dead woman giving birth.'

The shocking incident left her mother Mandzala Mdoyi, 76, even more grief-stricken.

She said: 'We appeal to educated people, people who know better, to please cool us down and explain to us how it is possible for a dead woman to give birth.

'I am now over 70 years old and never heard of such a thing. Why is that happening to my child?

'First, I was devastated by the untimely death of my daughter and now I got the shock of my life to learn that she had given birth while she had been dead for 10 days. What is that? God please come and intervene?'

The family reportedly ignored some suggestions of witchcraft and held a funeral and cremation as planned, with the baby in the coffin with its mother.

It is not clear whether the baby's life could have been saved had doctors provided different treatment when the mother fell ill.
The Nepalese chef who killed a British backpacker in a murder suicide reportedly suffered from mental health issues even before emigrating to Australia.

Brazil Gurung killed Amelia Blake, 22, who was found with a number of head injuries, in a small apartment on King Street, Newtown a week ago, before ending his life.

The Nepalese chef (left) who killed a British backpacker (right) in a murder suicide is believed to have suffered from mental health issues

Brazil Gurung killed Amelia Blake, 22, who was found with a number of head injuries, in a flat

The two bodies were found by the landlord on King Street, Newtown a week ago (pictured)

A source told News Corp that Gurung's behaviour deteriorated before being sent to Nepal Rehabilitation Centre about six years ago.

'He had serious behavioural and mental problems while he was in Nepal,' the source said.

When 33-year-old Gurung moved to Australia following an arranged marriage and to study, but when his studies were discontinued and loan repayments mounted, he came under increasing pressure and began borrowing money from friends.

'He ended up working in the restaurant to survive,' the source said.

'But the monthly loan payments back in Nepal were piling up on both family and on his account. So he was under tremendous pressure to meet the cash flow in Australia and back in Nepal.'

The arranged marriage was short lived, lasting only a few months after the 33-year-old arrived in the country.

The source said he 'always had insecurity and inferiority complex related issues'

Ms Blake split up with her boyfriend in the UK to go travelling to Australia eight months ago, her neighbour revealed to Mail Online.

The 33-year-old (pictured) from Kathmandu came to Australia in a bid to escape his demons and start a fresh life

Gurung (pictured) was under financial pressure when he moved to Australia for an arranged marriage, forcing him to borrow money from friends

Gurung and Ms Blake (right) met at popular eaterie Fogo Brazilia Churrasco where she was working as waitress to help pay for her travels and he had a job as a chef

The 33-year-old reportedly became infatuated with Ms Blake (left), apparently stalked her and demanded money from her

Gurung and Ms Blake met at popular eaterie Fogo Brazilia Churrasco where she was working as waitress to help pay for her travels and he had a job as a chef.

The 33-year-old reportedly became infatuated with her, apparently stalked her and demanded money from her while work friends described him as a 'weirdo'.

Scott Haggarty, who lived next door to their Newtown apartment, said the couple 'looked happy' when he saw them arrive on Wednesday afternoon at the flat, which they had lived in for about three months.

Neighbour Scott Haggarty said the couple 'looked happy' when he saw them arrive at the flat, which they had lived in for three months, Wednesday afternoon (pictured Ms Blake right)

A crime scene will remain in place (pictured) until post-mortem results are back

'They kept to themselves. They just looked like a regular couple, I never heard an argument or anything,' he told The Daily Telegraph.

'They looked like a couple who worked in the bars and were on holidays here.'

The two bodies were found by the landlord who visited the flat to collect his mail.

Detectives are investigating the deaths through Strike Force Tenisonwood and a crime scene will remain in place until post-mortem results are back.
An SAS hero who was the first to climb inside during the Iranian Embassy siege was placed in a hostel with addicts and offenders - all while the terrorist jailed for his role in the siege enjoys a 'playboy' lifestyle funded by benefits.

Last month Bob Curry, who served for 16 years in the Special Air Service and had a 17-year military career, was given a 'shoe box' room by the council in a hostel.

The 64-year-old claims there was a 10pm curfew but the worst part of the hostel experience was the fact that the toilets downstairs were kept locked, meaning he had to ask a warden for permission to use it.

Mr Curry told The Sun: 'The hostel experience was my lowest ebb.

'I had served my country all my working life and never thought it would come to this in a place with more security cameras than a prison.'

He is now living in a B&B paid for by his old regiment, but was previously forced to live on the streets after Herefordshire Council failed to find him housing.

Mr Curry added: 'I went to make a cuppa with a kettle in the room and realised it contained urine. Someone had used it as a potty and hurled wee out of the window. It was disgusting.

'I lay on the camp bed and thought about all the missions I had done in the regiment. I'm 65 next month, a pensioner, and I was having to ask a bloke permission to use the toilet.

'I may as well have been in a ditch like the regiment days. I just felt humiliated. I stood it for two nights then had to leave.'

Meanwhile Fowzi Nejad, 61, the only terrorist to survive the siege in 1980, cannot be sent back to Iran because of human rights laws so instead lives in Peckham, south London.

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Fowzi Nejad, 61, the only terrorist to survive the siege in 1980, cannot be sent back to Iran because of human rights laws so instead lives in Peckham, south London (shown in 2008)

SAS hero Bob Curry is pictured in his SAS days, during which he saw action in the Falklands War and Northern Ireland

Mr Curry, 64, was forced to ask for help from the SAS after Herefordshire Council failed to provide any accommodation

The 61-year-old has a plush flat with its own balcony, and as of May was living rent-free.

The chain-smoker became eligible for parole three years ago after serving 28 years in jail and his application was approved in October 2008.

Other heroes from the siege such as Warrant Officer Ian 'Chalky' White are struggling to stay afloat, with Mr White selling his hard-earned medals for cash.

Their issues are in stark contrast to Nejad. A friend of his previously told The Sun: 'He lives off benefits and is on disability because he has a bad back.

'He also loves a night out in the West End and he has an eye for the ladies. He will say, "I went out, had a drink and got some p****". Its a proper playboy lifestyle.'

Nejad and five other gunmen forced their way into the embassy in West London in April 1980, demanding independence for part of southern Iran and taking 26 hostages.

They killed a hostage after six days, which led then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher to order the SAS to storm the building. A second hostage was killed in the attack.

Nejad tried to hide among the hostages, but was caught and sentenced to life in jail for conspiracy to murder, false imprisonment, possession of a firearm and two charges of manslaughter.

He was rumbled by heroes including Ian White, who sold his old medals last year to pay off his mortgage and finally retire.

Mr White, who served in the military for 25 years, said Britain should do more to help ex-servicemen.

Speaking in November, the ex-commando said: 'This is not a cry of poverty, it is my decision. I am end-gaming. I am trying to make a better life to finish with rather than be spluttering about.

Warrant Officer Ian 'Chalky' White (left) and Warrant Officer John Thompson (right), both veterans of the 1980 siege, have sold their medals since ending their military careers

Mr White, who served in the military for 25 years, said Britain should do more to help ex-servicemen

Ian White had to sell of his old medals (shown) last year to pay off his mortgage and retire

'It would be nice to think that I didn't have to do it. I know there are a lot of guys (ex-servicemen) who are up against it and maybe they could get more help.

'In America their veterans get money off this, that and the other but here there is a great amount of "let's diss the forces". Those people should stand up and take the bullets rather than stand behind them and diss them.'

Mr Curry, who helped to save 19 hostages during the embassy seige, has now warned that homelessness could happen 'to any veteran'.

After his time in the hostel he lived on a camp bed in his 26-year-old daughter's home, but now the Legion and SAS charities have given him a place in a B&B for 28 days.

He told The Sun: 'It was as if the society I had fought for all my life had turned its back on me.

'I've been in tough spots through my career but with my health now I wouldnt have survived long on the streets  SAS training or not.

'I was sat in the council offices explaining my life to someone who looked at me as though I was nothing. I hated it but I had no choice.'

Mr Curry had also been offered a room in a sheltered old peoples home, but this is unsuitable because of how old the other residents are in comparison to Mr Curry who is in his 60s.

Herefordshire council have warned that it could be months before they find Mr Curry a home.

The former sergeant, who has had two heart attacks and is registered disabled and a diabetic, saw action during the Falklands War and also served in Northern Ireland.

He became penniless after the breakdown of his marriage and the loss of his home following the collapse of his business in July.

Fowzi Nejad arrives at court in a prison van (pictured left). Nejad tried to hide among the hostages, but was caught and sentenced to life in jail

Mr Curry stormed the Iranian Embassy during the iconic 1980 raid but is now living in a B&B because the council cannot find him a home

Fellow veteran Trevor Coult, a recipient of the Military Cross, revealed the soldier's plight in a tweet today, provoking the anger or many other social media users

Warrant Officer John Thompson also sold of his medals, back in 2012, after finding out how valuable they were after going on the ITV antiques programme Real Deal.

Mr Thompson was one of a SAS team flown into London by helicopter who then stormed the building by abseiling from the roof in a successful rescue bid that killed five of the terrorists.

Thompson and one of his three colleagues from A squadron were sent to the front of building where they fired gas canisters into the embassy - and were pictured doing so.

Former police man Trevor Lock, who was among the hostages taken during the siege, called for action to be taken to help Mr Curry.

The 78-year-old told the MailOnline: 'It's such a sad situation. Nobody deserves to be homeless, especially those who have been in the military, but that is just my opinion.

'Different people deal with situations in different ways. I don't know his circumstances but some people struggle to deal with civvy life and adapting to it all.

'I feel very sorry for him and wish him well. He was the best of the best and now he is in this position. It needs sorting as far as I'm concerned.'

According to Mr Coult (pictured), the regiment is currently paying for the veteran to stay in a local B&B for several months.

Former sergeant Trevor Coult, who was awarded the Military Cross in 2006 for his bravery in a machine-gun ambush involving suicide bombers and gunmen in Baghdad, was made aware of his plight.

Mr Coult, who has spoken to the homeless veteran, told the Mail: This hero abseiled in and went through one of the windows with a charge and cleared rooms.

He eliminated targets in the Iranian embassy.

It is a disgrace this veteran is not being looked after. If we cant sort out these veterans in Hereford, where they lived, then what hope is there for other heroes?

It is understood the regiment had been paying for the B&B for around a month.

In 2015 the SAS veteran put his medals up for sale for 25,000 so they could be enjoyed by collectors.

He was one of the first to break into the besieged London building in May 1980 after 26 people were held hostage by six armed Iranian dissidents.

The special forces soldier, aged 27 at the time, was watched by millions of TV news viewers as he smashed open a window with a sledgehammer, allowing his colleagues to sensationally storm the building.

The Iranian embassy siege: The day the SAS emerged from the shadows The siege began when a group of six gunmen stormed into the Iranian embassy in South Kensington, London, on April 30, 1980. They took mostly embassy staff hostage but among them was BBC sound recordist Sim Harris who was at the embassy to get a visa. PC Trevor Locke, a member of the diplomatic protection squad and on duty at the building, was also among those held at gunpoint. The terrorists demanded the release of prisoners in Khuzestan Province in southern Iran during a series of tense negotiations with the police who sealed off the embassy and surrounding streets. The gunmen also demanded safe passage out of the Britain. The veteran was among those who took part in the famous SAS raid of the Iranian embassy in 1980 After becoming frustrated with the lack of progress over five days they shot one of the hostages and threw his body out of the embassy. The death was the signal for the SAS - motto Who Dares Wins  to be sent in. The SAS teams, who had arrived secretly in London from their Hereford base, were given permission by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher to carry out a rescue mission given the code name Operation Nimrod. On the evening of May 5 TV news cut into normal programming to broadcast the beginning of the end of the siege as the SAS soldiers all clad in black abseiled down the front of the building. Millions watched in awe as they tossed stun grenades into the building to begin their assault. BBC cameraman Sim Harris was captured scurrying to safety, jumping over a balcony, while smoke billowed from the building after a curtain caught fire. What was unseen by cameras were the other teams  including Horsfall and Firmin - sweeping through the building in a race to free the hostages before they were shot. The raid lasted just 17 minutes and all but one of the six gunmen were shot and killed. A second hostage was shot dead by the gunmen and two others seriously wounded. The televised raid was the first time the British public had ever seen the Special Forces soldiers in action and elevated them to superstar status. Fawsi Najad, the surviving gunman, was jailed for life and freed in 2008 after serving 27 years. He was granted leave to remain in the UK. Advertisement

The 17-minute mission, which became a seminal moment in SAS history, was ordered by home secretary William Whitelaw on the sixth day of the siege after the terrorists shot dead a member of staff before dumping his body outside the embassy.

As millions of Britons watched the drama unfold, Curry ran towards the building, despite the risk that a failed explosive which was due to blow open a way into the embassy could still go off.

He then kicked the charge out of the way, smashed the window and was the first to climb inside.

His heroic actions allowed a crack squad of four SAS soldiers to enter the rear of the building in South Kensington and clear the ground floor and the cellar.

Five gunmen were killed and one was arrested. Although one hostage died, 19 were freed.

Afterwards, one SAS hero was awarded the George Medal and four others were given the Queens Gallantry Medal but Curry was not one of them.

He did however earn campaign medals for his service in Northern Ireland and the Falklands War.

It is understood he was made homeless after he split from his wife last year and contacted the council asking for accommodation.

The televised raid was the first time the British public had ever seen the Special Forces soldiers in action and elevated them to superstar status

He asked five times, it was claimed, but they offered him two homes which were allegedly unsuitable.

Curry was born in Cambridgeshire in 1953 and enlisted in the Royal Anglian Regiment as a 15 year-old junior soldier in 1968.

After serving in Northern Ireland, he passed the tough selection course for the SAS in 1979, training as an assault team member specialising in storming buildings held by terrorists.

After the Iranian Embassy siege he served with the SAS in the Falklands War and Northern Ireland.

Discharged in 1985, he spent three years working for the Al Fayed family, including one year as the personal bodyguard of Dodi Al Fayed, later killed alongside Diana, Princess of Wales in a Paris car crash.

A spokesman for Herefordshire Council confirmed an agreement was yet to be reached on a home for the veteran, but said two offers had been made.

A statement read: Herefordshire Council can confirm that it is actively working with this individual to secure accommodation within the county.

Unfortunately, to date the individual has not provided all the documentation needed to legally register for housing.

However, regardless of this, the councils housing team has found and offered two different forms of accommodation, in areas which were agreeable to the individual, but which have subsequently been turned down.

We are continuing to work with the individual to help them secure appropriate housing.
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An orphaned monkey whose mother was killed by a pack of feral dogs has been given a stuffed toy to act as its new parent - and he absolutely loves it.

The one-week-old male dusky langur was left to fend for himself after being injured in the attack until he was picked up be animal rescuers.

Staff at the Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand (WFFT) were alerted to the infant monkey's plight by rescuers and travelled to Chumphon Province.

He is now on the mend after workers gave him a teddy bear mum.

The orphaned monkey opens his right eye slightly as he lies on his new teddy bear mum as he recovers from his injuries sustained at the hands of feral dogs

An animal rescue worker from the Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand (WFFT) mixes medication as the monkey climbs aboard his new stuffed toy

The young monkey has its right hand on the stuffed toy's decorative scarf (left) as he climbs all over his 'new mother' (left)

The monkey rests on the soft toy which animal rescuers gave it as a new parents after the monkey's mother was killed by feral dogs

A WFFT spokesman said: "The WFFT Rescue Team headed out for the long drive south to help this poor infant. Upon arrival they were shocked to find a very small langur who had sustained numerous bite wounds during the attack.

'We estimate the he is around a week old, as his umbilical cord is still attached.

'After giving him a quick feed of a special milk formula, he was rushed back to the WFFT Wildlife Hospital.'

The International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species lists the dusky langur as 'Near Threatened'.

Hunting for food and the pet trade are major threats, as is habitat loss and degradation, due to expansion of agricultural practices and urbanization throughout its range.

Considering the extensive habitat loss that has taken place within the range of the species, there is reason to believe that this species is in decline.

The one-week-old male dusky langur was left to fend for himself after being injured in the attack until he was picked up be animal rescuers. Staff at the Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand (WFFT) were alerted to the infant monkey's plight by rescuers and travelled to Chumphon Province. He is now on the mend after workers gave him a teddy bear mum

After giving him a quick feed of a special milk formula (pictured), the baby monkey was rushed back to the WFFT Wildlife Hospital

A member of staff at the WFFT takes a cotton bud laced with medication to treat the baby monkey's nose and eyes

The monkey sleeps with its head rested on the soft toy. The International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species lists the dusky langur as 'Near Threatened'

The WFFT spokesman continued: 'This species plays a major role in the ecology of the forest, providing ecosystem services in their forest habitats.

'They act as seed dispersers of the plants and fruits they eat, enhancing forest regeneration and connectivity.

'They also have an impact on the food chain as they serve as prey for various other species of animals such as leopards.

'Attacks on wild animals by feral dogs and cats are very common here in Thailand, they often kill or injure native wild animals, this can have long term detrimental affect on Thailand's wild animals.

'The feral dog population alone is estimated at just below one million.'
A five-year-old boy whose life was saved after his selfless mother donated two of her organs will finally be starting school this September.

Sarah Lamont, from Ballymena, Northern Ireland, says her son Joe is the healthiest he's ever been since recovering from a partial liver donation in January last year and a kidney transplant in August, and has even been swimming for the first time ever.

Joe suffers from a rare inherited condition called autosomal recessive polycystic kidney disease which meant he had his kidneys removed when he was just weeks old.

He was left reliant on dialysis which he needed three times a week.

Sarah Lamont, from Ballymena, Northern Ireland, donated two of her organs to her then four-year-old son Joe (Pictured: the pair at Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children after surgery)

Since his mother gave him part of her liver and a kidney last year, Joe is the healthiest he's ever been and is now due to start school in September, aged 6

What is autosomal recessive polycystic kidney disease? The disease is a rare inherited childhood disease where development of the kidneys and liver is abnormal. Around 1 in 20,000 babies are born with the condition which can cause problems including high blood pressure, loss of kidney function, underdeveloped lungs, and problems with blood flow in the liver which can lead to serious internal bleeding. Of these, around one in three babies with the condition will die from severe breathing problems in the first four weeks after being born. The disease causes cysts and bulges within the tubes inside the kidneys making them enlarged. Similar problems affect the liver and after time both can become scarred and they may deteriorate. More than half of all children who survive the early stages will eventually experience kidney failure in their teenage years. Source: NHS Choices

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Ms Lamont, 37, said: 'No matter what way you look at it, he's still in hospital for four hours a day, on a machine, in a cot, so he's missing a huge part of his life.'

While getting ready for the first surgery Ms Lamont told the Belfast Telegraph she just wanted to give him the chance to do 'what wee boys do,' and attend a normal school.

Doctors agreed to the risky procedure of putting the mother-of-three under the knife so soon after the liver transplant as Joe might have waited years for a donor kidney.

Ms Lamont said: 'We waited for the call to come and it never did.

'Then I thought, "If I can give a lobe of my liver, and Joe can receive a kidney, why can I not give both?"

'I'm so glad that I can help my little boy. It's an amazing feeling.'

Ms Lamont said that before the first transplant Joe was so poorly with sepsis that doctors put an end of life plan in place for him.

She said: 'That is an awful thing to deal with. We nearly lost him.'

Before his first birthday, Joe was diagnosed with two aggressive organ diseases  polycystic kidney disorder and congenital hypatic fibrosis, a form of liver disease.

Joe suffers from the rare condition autosomal recessive polycystic kidney disease which meant he had his kidneys removed when he was just weeks old (Pictured: Joe as a newborn with a swollen stomach from his kidney problems)

Before donating her organs the mother-of-three said she just wanted to give him the chance to do 'what wee boys do', and attend a normal school - and now he can

Sarah said: 'His kidneys were massively enlarged, taking up his whole abdomen, crushing his lungs and all his other organs. I was told that my baby wouldn't survive.

'People see you with a bump and automatically go, "When are you due?" I remember trying to go back to work for about a week after [I was told he wouldn't survive] and I just couldn't.'

Sarah's second incredible gift to her son means Joe might for the first time live a life free of almost daily hospital visits and procedures, and will be able to start school aged six in September after being held back a year.

For the transplant, Joe was taken into Birmingham Children's Hospital, and Sarah admitted to Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham.

The 37-year-old said: 'No matter what way you look at it, he's still in hospital for four hours a day, on a machine, in a cot, so he's missing a huge part of his life'

Joe had been reliant on dialysis to survive which he had three times a week. While he will still be on medication for the rest of his life, Joe won't need daily hospital visits

During the coordinated operation between the two hospitals, surgeons removed the kidney from Sarah as a courier waited to collect and transport the organ four miles via ambulance to surgeons ready to transplant it into Joe.

After Joe spent several months recovering, Sarah said: 'He will be on medication for the rest of his life, but he no longer has lines in, and his quality of life has improved 100 percent. He's hyper!

'I'm just so glad I was a match, because I think something would've happened if not. He could have died.

'But now we're even hoping to go on holiday, which would be amazing for Joe and his big brother and sister.

'Joe is doing amazingly. He's grown a lot and has so much energy now. You wouldn't recognise him.'

Ms Lamont said: 'I'm just so glad I was a match, because I think something would've happened if not. He could have died' (Pictured: Ms Lamont's scar after the donation)

For the transplant, Joe was taken into Birmingham Children's Hospital, and Sarah admitted to Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham
This family are saying farewell to the maid who has worked in their household for 33 years as she flys back to her native Indonesia.

The maid, Houriya, retired after decades of service to a family in Saudi Arabia and the group who have gathered at the airport to wave her off are finding it hard to say goodbye.

During the emotional send off Houriya can't hold back the tears as each member of the family kisses her forehead as a sign of respect.

A member of the family, Abdullah Al-Arfaj, said: 'Houriya first came to my maternal grandfather's house in 1985 and has been in our family for 33 years.

'During those years, she'd travel to Indonesia to visit her own family, but she always came back.

'She helped raise my maternal uncles, my generation, and now our children  that's three different generations.

'She has become indispensable to us, and we view her respectfully, kiss the top of her head, just as we do to elders in the family.

'Now that she's been gone only a number of days  she took away the serenity that comes with having an elder in the family.

Members of a Saudi family gathered to say goodbye to their loyal maid, Houriya, who had served the family for 33 years

'My grandmother passed back in 2012, my grandfather in '93, and the gap Houriya leaves is something we all feel in the family.

Al-Arfaj added that the family had been taken aback by the reaction to the video which has attracted 79,000 likes, 18,000 comments and been shared more than 62,500 times on Facebook.

He said: 'This is a person we cherish whom we had to let go, not due to any illness or fatigue, but out of respect to her growing old and tired, to give her rest and to be merciful as would anyone in our situation.'

Houriya is unable to hold back tears as she is kissed on the forehead by members of the family - which is a sign of respect to their elders

The family are waiting to hear from Houriya when she has settled down in Indonisa and plan to visit her in her hometown in the summer.

The video of the family gathering around her wheelchair was witnessed by Saudi journalist Khalid Al-Zaidan who posted the clip online.

Al-Zaidan said: 'The beautiful thing about this video is the depth of emotions the family shows toward her, a woman who helped bring up their children.

'A few moments capturing her farewell. Loyalty and kindness are the main pillars of faith.'
A left-wing student president has been threatened with the sack for 'fraternising with extremists' after she posed in a photograph with Jacob Rees-Mogg.

Frida Gustafsson, 22, from the University of Sussex, was pictured with the top Tory on a trip to the Houses of Parliament in London, where she spoke at an inquiry into free speech at universities.

The Swedish-born student was accused of 'fraternising with extremists' because of Mr Rees-Mogg's opposition to abortion and gay rights.

Frida Gustafsson, 22, from the University of Sussex, was pictured with the top Tory on a trip to the Houses of Parliament in London, where she spoke at an inquiry into free speech at universities

Arthur James Hutchinson, 19, has launched a 'vote of no confidence' petition to get her sacked from her 17,500-a-year role

Arthur James Hutchinson, 19, has launched a 'vote of no confidence' petition to get her sacked from her 17,500-a-year role.

He told The Sun: 'As a transgender man, I've read countless things that Jacob Rees-Moggstands for, that he said, and not only do I disagree with them, but I know they could severely impact individuals like myself.'

He wrote on the petition: 'Fraternising with extremists who hold anti-choice, racist and homophobic ideologies is not something that Sussex should endorse.'

Although a staunch left-winger, Ms Gustafsson said she was excited to meet the MP and posted a snap on Facebook.

She said: 'I'm happy to meet with, discuss and hear from people with views different from my own.'

Mr Rees-Mogg said: 'The people who have set this petition against her are intolerant and bigoted.'

He wrote on the petition: 'Fraternising with extremists who hold anti-choice, racist and homophobic ideologies is not something that Sussex should endorse.'

Arthur James Hutchinson, 19, has launched a 'vote of no confidence' petition
Theresa May should create up to 200 new peers to force the Brexit Bill through the House of Lords, Jacob Rees-Mogg has said.

He said the Prime Minister should use her powers of patronage if 'the House won't play by the constitutional rule book' and tries to block the landmark legislation.

The Bill has cleared the Commons and will had to the Lords later this month where many ardent Remainers have vowed to bombard it with a slew of amendments to force the PM to reshape her Brexit plans.

As ministers prepare for the next phase of parliamentary warfare to steer the Bill through, Mr Rees-Mogg urged the PM to appoint more peers to ease the journey.

Tory MP Jacob Rees-Mogg (pictured at Tory party conference last October) said the Prime Minister should use her powers of patronage if 'the House won't play by the constitutional rule book' and tries to block the landmark legislation

The Tory MP for North East Somerset said: 'She should keep up her sleeve the ability to appoint enough peers to get business through.

'If the House won't play by the constitutional rule book, then the PM has to use the extra measures available to her it could be a couple of hundred.

'There is no point in going off half-cock.'

Speaking to The Telegraph's Choppers podcast, he added: 'They are not there to challenge the democratic will.'

His intervention comes days after he was elected the new leader of a powerful backbench group of Tory Brexiteers called the European Research Group.

But his remarks will spark controversy as the unelected House of Lords is already the world' second largest parliamentary Chamber with around 800 members - second only to China's national congress.

The Brexit Bill is heading to the House of Lords (pictured) where peers have threatened to bombard it with a series of amendments in a bid to force Theresa May to reshape her Brexit plans

And the Government has recently faced fresh calls for it to be reformed and radically reduced in size.

A blueprint for reform, published last last year, called for around 200 peers to be axed in order to bring its ballooning numbers under control.

The Brexit Bill cleared the Commons with just one defeat, the Tories do not have a majority in the House of Lords.

And many peers - including Labour bigwigs Lord Adonis and Lord Mandelson - want the Bill amended to try to force Britain to stay in the single market and customs union.

This would derail plans to regain control of Britain's borders as the EU has said that Britain cannot stay in the single market without keeping free movement to people.
Teenagers who attacked officers at a house party on the Gold Coast have been slammed by police who say it's fortunate nobody was seriously injured.

The incident occurred early on Tuesday morning when a group of uninvited people crashed a house party at Upper Coomera.

Inspector Scott MacQueen said the group became belligerent when they were told to move on, and surrounded the two officers.

Police slammed the behaviour of teens who attacked officers at a house party

A 29-year-old female constable was allegedly punched in the face and grabbed around the neck while her 25-year-old male colleague was punched and kicked.

A third male officer was also assaulted when he arrived to provide back-up support.

Insp MacQueen said it was lucky the three received only minor injuries.

'It's fortunate that the injuries weren't of a more serious nature, however It's totally unacceptable that our officers go to work to do their job and be targeted by this sort of behaviour,' he said.

The mother (pictured) of the young girl who hosted the party returned the property to find out what had happened

Three 18-year-old women and a 17-year-old male have been charged with various offences including serious assault of police.

Insp MacQueen said more charges could still be laid.

The 17-year-old will appear in the Southport Magistrates Court on Tuesday, while the women will appear on February 5.
Viewers in New Jersey were sent into a panic Thursday, when their televisions began showing an emergency alert system which turned out to be a false alarm.

Customers of the cable company Optimum in the Morris County area had all television broadcasts interrupted by a blue-screen 'emergency' announcement.

Authorities were forced to take to social media to deny any emergency, and the cable company has since apologized, saying it was a 'routine alert system test'.

No need to stress: Local authorities posted this message after customers of the cable company Optimum had TV broadcasts interrupted by an 'emergency' announcement

The alert gave 'Morris' as the location of an emergency, but offered no further details.

The simple blue-screen message was broadcast to what has been described as 'background elevator music', and appeared on several different channels around midday.

Following a number of calls from the public, Morris County authorities took to Twitter to calm the public.

A post on the county's official account stated: 'THERE IS NO EMERGENCY OCCURRING IN MORRIS COUNTY: Please disregard an emergency message being broadcast by Optimum.'

The cable company itself later explained that an emergency alert system test had gone wrong, blaming human error.

Panic: Residents took to Twitter to after the emergency message was broadcast

'We apologize for the confusion caused when we were conducting a routine emergency alert system test in the Morris County, New Jersey area,' Altice USA/Optimum spokesperson Lindsey Angioletti told DailyRecord.com

'Our technical teams are conducting an investigation to ensure this doesn't happen again.'

Optimum customers took to Twitter to question the meaning of the blue-screen emergency alert and look for answers.

'Should I be worried that a blue screen that says Emergency Alert System for Morris County NJ is on every channel for last 10 min saying nothing but playing really bad elevator music,' one person wrote.

The emergency alert was broadcast just five days after a false ballistic missile alert was transmitted to mobile phones in Hawaii.

The Hawaii Emergency Management Agency (HEMA) issued an alert at around 8am on Saturday, which read: 'Emergency Alert: BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND TO HAWAII. SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER. THIS IS NOT A DRILL.'

The agency then failed to cancel the alert for 38 minutes, sparking widespread panic among the 1.4million people who live on the island.
An 83-year-old woman has died after she was struck by a truck last night near Harrods.

The victim died at the scene of the incident which involved a white and blue DAF lorry on the Brompton Road, Knightsbridge.

Police closed the road between the Victoria and Albert museum and Harrods for several hours while they examined the scene.

The woman died at the scene of the accident on Brompton Road in Knightsbridge last night

The white and blue Daf lorry remained at the scene following the fatal collision

Police are urging witnesses to the crash to come forward and help their investigation

Detectives have appealed for witnesses who were in the area at 5.55pm yesterday to come forward.

Paramedics battled to save the woman's life but she was declared dead at the scene.

The driver of the lorry remained at the scene following the accident.

The victim has been identified and police have informed her next of kin. A post mortem has been ordered into the cause of the woman's death.

Detectives from the Serious Collision Investigation Unit are examining the incident.

Nobody has been arrested in connection with the collision.

Anyone with information is asked to contact detectives at the SCIU on 0208 543 5157.
The FBI has used age-progression technology to create new photos of the four alleged Pan Am 73 hijackers.

The release of the photos came as the FBI launched a renewed hunt for the attackers behind the 1986 hijacking in Karachi, Pakistan that left 20 people dead.

The deadly hijacking took place on September 5 in 1986 that year when the attackers took control of Frankfurt-bound Pan Am flight 73 for 16 hours during a stopover in the southern port city.

The suspects are believed to belong to Abu Nidal, accused of having carried out attacks in more than 20 countries

The 16 hour siege came to an end when the hijackers opened fire on passengers and crew, causing Pakistani commandos to storm the plane.

The suspects are believed to belong to Abu Nidal, a group that has been accused of having carried out attacks in more than 20 countries under the banner of Palestinian liberation.

The group is listed as a terrorist organisation by the US State Department.

The 16-hour siege came to an end when the hijackers opened fire on passengers and crew, leading to Pakistani commandos storming the plane

According to a statement posted on the FBI website, images of the suspects obtained in the year 2000 were age-progressed by the FBI Laboratory.

'We're hoping that with the age-progression photos next to the original photos maybe that will jar some memories or maybe someone has seen these guys walking around,' the statement said, quoting a case officer.

The US State Department is also offering a $5 million reward for information leading to their arrest, through its Rewards for Justice Programme.

All four men pictured are on the FBI's Most Wanted Terrorists List with a fifth jailed in Washington for 160 years in May 2004

The men pictured are Wadoud Muhammad Hafiz al-Turki, Jamal Saeed Abdul Rahim, Muhammad Abdullah Khalil Hussain ar-Rahayyal, and Muhammad Ahmed al-Munawar.

They are all on the FBI's Most Wanted Terrorists List.

At a trial held in Pakistan 1988, the four men plus a fifth hijacker, Zaid Hassan Abd Latif Safarini, admitted to having carried out the attack and were given death sentences that were later commuted to life imprisonment.

Safarini was released from prison in Pakistan in 2001 but was quickly arrested by the FBI. In May 2004, a US federal judge in Washington sentenced him to 160 years.

The four other hijackers were released by Pakistan after completing their jail terms in 2008.

In 2010, some news reports claimed that Rahim was killed in a US drone strike in North Waziristan.
Police have ended a 'suspicious package' lockdown at London's King's Cross station after deeming that there was no threat.

Witnesses said that cordons were placed around the popular station this morning with dogs scouring the area for traces of explosives.

The incident was sparked by what appeared to be a small black cooking pot, according to pictures posted from the scene.

Pictures from the scene revealed the incident was sparked by what appeared to be a cooking pot

A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said: 'Police were dealing with a suspicious package in Pentonville Road/Caledonian Road, King's Cross.

'The package has been deemed non-suspicious and cordons are now being removed.

'Thanks to the public for their co-operation - traffic is expected for a time while road closures are lifted.'

A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said: 'The package has been deemed non-suspicious and cordons are now being removed'

Local residents had been warned to stay away from windows as police officers moved towards the package.

One told MailOnline: 'It seems it was caused by a cooking pot. They were also heavily inspecting a silver box that had been there for days.'
Jeanette Bailey (pictured), 53, from Manchester was a highly regarded and caring theatre sister looking after young mothers at a maternity unit

A nurse, who dedicated 35 years to the NHS, died following hospital treatment after she was left in agony by doctors who said they had to treat 40 other patients before they could tend to her, an inquest heard.

Jeanette Bailey, 53, from Manchester was a highly regarded and caring theatre sister looking after young mothers at a maternity unit - yet medical professionals failed to monitor her care when she was receiving life-saving treatment.

Despite her complaining of heart problems she was deemed unfit to undergo surgery then when she was readmitted to hospital she was subsequently given an accidental overdose of blood-thinning medication.

She developed a painful condition which affected the muscles in her upper right arm and she died five weeks later.

A change of care would not have prevented Mrs Bailey's death but her family condemned medics at Manchester Royal Infirmary after a coroner said she had been subjected to unnecessary 'pain and suffering'.

Bosses have now reviewed the way they monitor the administration of the anticoagulant drug, Daltaparin.

The hearing was told Mrs Bailey who worked at nearby St Mary's Hospital in Manchester had been previously diagnosed with leukaemia but was denied a bone marrrow transplant on the NHS and had to get the operation done privately in London due to 'insufficient finds'. She had to find her own donor.

Her daughter Gemma Lawlor said outside the Manchester inquest: 'I am not satisfied with the hospital's apologies because they made her suffer for the last six months of her life. She gave her life to the NHS and to helping people who will ill but there was a lack of care and monitoring when she became ill.

'Everyone loved my mum and so many people I know who had their babies at St Mary's said how great she had been with them. But she would never tell us if she'd looked after one of my friends because she took her job seriously and cared so much about patient confidentiality.

'She dedicated her entire working life to the NHS and caring for other people and had a passion for nursing. She was a special person - a humble, genuine woman who appreciated life and lived hers to the full.

'Even when she was very ill and couldn't walk with leukaemia, she still wanted to go into St Mary's and be a nurse. She fought until her very last breath.

'I'm just happy that the doctors have made changes in procedure following mum's death and she would be happy with those changes. It does not bring her back but at least it has been recognised. My mother would be have been happy with the fact that she made the changes and knowing that she may be saving someone else.'

Mrs Bailey, from Dukinfield, a mother of three who had two grandchildren, had joined the nursing profession aged 18 after she helped care for late mother.

Mrs Bailey, from Dukinfield, a mother of three who had two grandchildren had joined the nursing profession aged 18 after she helped care for late mother. Pictured with children (left to right) Gemma, Daniel and Kristina

Miss Lawlor told the hearing: 'She trained to work as a nurse at North Manchester Hospital for 15 years before going to work as a theatre assistant at St Mary's Hospital in Manchester.

'When she turned 28 she was diagnosed with leukemia and underwent a transplant. She was denied one by the NHS due to insufficient funds and had to seek out her own doctor and he did the transplant privately and she went into remission.

'She was given the all clear at 31 years of age and for a number of years had no significant health problems. But as she got older she was told she had problems and mild angina. That then became severe but she was told she not fit enough to undergo an operation. One our concerns is why couldn't she have undergone the surgery earlier.

'The condition worsened and she became short of breath and had chest pain and whilst she was in hospital she developed sepsis. She was kept in hospital and underwent kidney dialysis until she was released. Another one of our concerns is that we believed she was still septic when she was sent home.'

Nurse Jeanette Bailey who dedicated 35 years to the NHS

Mrs Bailey was readmitted to Manchester Royal Infirmary on January 3 last year for further dialysis and she was diagnosed as still suffering from sepsis.

She was then given Daltaparin for six days before any checks were made and tests showed the levels were higher than the recommended dose.

Miss Lawlor added: 'She wasn't given any antibiotics straight away. They said there were 40 more patients they had to see before my mum. She had difficulty breathing and she was pale and suffered a heart attack but managed to pull through.

'Whilst in intensive care we were informed she had been given too much blood thinning medication and she developed a condition called compartment syndrome in her upper right arm.

'She remained in hospital but deteriorated and passed away on the 18th of February 2017. We are concerned to know whether the compartment syndrome could have contributed to her death.'

Renal Consultant at Manchester Royal Infirmary David Morton said: 'I met Jeanette for the first time on January 9 in the evening and we noted that she had some small bruises on her arm.

'It was unclear how long they had been there for. I asked for an assessment of the Dalteparin blood thinning drug. The level was assessed and came back high. She began to have pain in her arm and swelling and she required a return to intensive care.

'These checks were supposed to have started on the 6th of January continued before and after every three doses administered. I am very sorry that she experienced pain and required an operation she may not have needed. I think it didn't make her any stronger and gave her a lot of discomfort.'

Pharmacist for critical care, Tony Dunne told the hearing: 'An investigation undertaken following Jeanette's death revealed between the degree of use of anticoagulant drugs in different departments and an action plan has been created which seeks to merge those two protocols.

'The investigation showed that if checks were made on the use of the blood thinner when they were supposed to be then Jeanette wouldn't have developed compartment syndrome. The issue was not how much of the drug she was given but the lack of monitoring and we are implementing a tighter monitoring protocol.'

Mrs Bailey (pictured) was readmitted to Manchester Royal Infirmary on January 3 last year for further dialysis and she was diagnosed as still suffering from sepsis

Pathologist at Manchester Royal Infirmary, Dr Samar Al Habba told the hearing: 'Jeanette had a very heavy and large heart caused by long standing hypotension and an Ischemic heart for a very long time'

Leonard Ebah Clinical director of Renal medicine said: 'An investigation report showed that the root cause of Jeanette's compartment syndrome was due to a failure to monitor the doses of blood thinner and care was not up to standard in terms of monitoring and we are piloting a new scheme in the way we monitor anticoagulant drugs as of two weeks ago.

Pathologist at Manchester Royal Infirmary, Dr Samar Al Habba told the hearing: 'Jeanette had a very heavy and large heart caused by long standing hypotension and an Ischemic heart for a very long time.

'The bone marrow transplant used to treat her leukaemia makes patients four times more likely to develop heart disease so she had more risk factors.

'Unfortunately her heart was in a very bad condition and the stress of the surgery meant she wasn't able to recover.'

Recording a narrative conclusion, Coroner for Manchester Jean Harkin said: 'Jeanette Bailey had very severe heart disease for a number of years and died from the heart disease following cardiac surgery.

'It is clear there was a system breakdown in the hospital in relation to monitoring. I accept the renal side of her condition and that the compartment syndrome did not contribute to her death but there was a clear breakdown which caused her pain and suffering.

'That caused distress to her family but that has been admitted and apologies have been made in open court but that does not bring Gemma's mother back. We need to make sure that these matters are monitored in future and I am satisfied by the evidence that I've heard that has been put into place. I am satisfied that there are no regulatory letters required due to the systems put in place.'
This is the shocking moment a petrol station is engulfed by 30-foot flames after hapless thieves use a blow torch to try to steal petrol from a tanker.

Footage shows huge fireballs then thick plumes of black smoke fill the air after the explosion in Hyderbad city, the capital of Telangana state, India.

The fire started when thieves who had punctured holes in a tanker containing nearly 12,000 litres of petrol tried to weld it shut, police said.

But as soon as they brought the welding rod close to the tanker, it caught fire - sending the entire fuel station up in flames.

Eyewitnesses said flames rose 30 feet into the sky from the inferno.

The 30-second video filmed by a bystander shows a thick cloud of black smoke and fire streaming from the petrol station.

Seconds later, the flames erupt in all directions.

This is the shocking moment a petrol station is engulfed by 30-foot flames after hapless thieves use a blow torch to try to steal petrol from a tanker in Hyderbad city, the capital of Telangana state, India

Sirens can be heard in the background as terrified pedestrians run from the inferno in panic.

Two people are in a critical condition and a third was injured following the terrifying incident.

Police said the explosion took place at about 2pm when people suspected of 'being involved in illegal diversion of petrol' were closing the seal of the tanker by welding it after transferring petrol into small drums.

The fire started when thieves who had punctured holes in a tanker containing nearly 12,000 litres of petrol tried to weld it shut, police said

Ch. R.Umamaheswara Sarma, DCP, Malkajgiri said: 'The lorry tanker belongs to a private petroleum company and it was diverted from a nearby refilling plant.

'Under the impact of the explosion, another empty tanker also caught fire and went up in flames as a result of which three fire service personnel suffered injuries.'

The owner of the plot of land, and the driver and cleaner of the lorry fled from the scene.

Passersby were also injured and casualties were rushed to the Gandhi Hospital for treatment.
The teenager accused of the Parsons Green bucket bomb attack that injured 30 denied trying to kill commuters today.

Ahmed Hassan Mohammad Ali, 18, packed explosives, knives and screws into a white bucket in a Lidl bag and left it on a District Line train on September 15, it is claimed.

One woman was left with life-changing burns when the homemade bomb partially exploded inside the carriage and injured 30 people.

Ali had allegedly left the train at Putney Bridge before the improvised explosive device blew up.

Ahmed Hassan Mohammed Ali, 18, is alleged to have packed explosives, knives and screws into a white bucket in a Lidl back and left it on a District line train. He denies the charges

Counter terror officers arrested the Iraqi asylum seeker in Dover the following day and he was charged with attempted murder and using a chemical compound to cause an explosion that was likely to endanger life.

Ali appeared on video link from HMP Belmarsh at the Old Bailey today and told the court he was not guilty to both charges.

Wearing a maroon jumper the teen watched proceedings without an interpreter, although at one stage told the court he could not hear.

His trial has been fixed for March 5 at the Old Bailey and is estimated to last two weeks.

At an earlier hearing, prosecutor Lee Ingham told Westminster Magistrates Court that Hassan intended to kill commuters on the packed train carriage.

Ali was charged in connection with the attack at Parsons Green on September 15 (pictured)

'The allegation is that the defendant built and placed an IED [improvised explosive device] on a train and at or around the Parsons Green train station,' he said.

'It partially exploded and the intent was that there should be a larger explosion with intent to kill and cause serious injury to people and property.'

Judge Charles Haddon-Cave addressed Ali at the end of the hearing saying: 'Your case is set down for trial in March. We're going to have a further hearing for final preparations on February 25.

Ali, of Cavendish Road, Sunbury-on-Thames, Surrey, denies attempted murder and using the explosive substance TATP, triacetate triperoxid, to endanger life or cause serious injury to property.

He was remanded in custody until his next hearing at the Old Bailey on 23 February.
A Melbourne couple have been blessed with four healthy baby boys, after trying to have children for nine years.

Mohammed and Mariam Hussaini, originally from Afghanistan, welcomed their quadruplets at Monash Medical Centre on Wednesday, the first to be born in the new nursery.

The boys were born via cesarean section after mum Mariam went into labor at 30 weeks.

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Mohammed and Mariam Hussaini, from Melbourne, welcomed quadruplet boys at Monash Medical Centre on Wednesday

Two of the boys are identical twins while the other two are fraternal twins

'It's just overwhelming...no idea what to say,' the boy's father told 9 News.

'I'm excited that we have four healthy babies,' Mariam said.

Each tiny tot weighs just over 1 kilogram and are 'breathing really strongly', Monash Medical Centre Dr Charles Barfield said.

'The smallest baby is breathing without any support at all from the ventilator,' Dr Barfield said.

Doctors said the quadruplets will have to stay at the neonatal unit of the hospital for another nine to 10 weeks before they can go home

Two of the boys are identical twins while the other two are fraternal twins.

The boys came almost 10 weeks early but doctors were prepared.

'In the case of quadruplets, sometimes things happen a little bit earlier,' Dr Calum Roberts said.

Doctors said the quadruplets will have to stay at the neonatal unit of the hospital for another nine to 10 weeks before they can go home.
Retired GP Stephen Glascoe has called for an inquiry into her handling of sex cases after he was put through months of hell based on the claims of a 'serial fantasist'

A retired GP who was among five men accused of being part of a paedophile ring by a 'serial fantasist' has called for a national inquiry into the way sex cases are handled.

Retired GP Stephen Glascoe, 67, retired social worker Patrick Graham, 61, and three other men were accused of raping the woman at parties in Cardiff in the late 1980s and early 90s.

But the case crumbled just two weeks before trial after prosecutors said they had concerns about her evidence.

It emerged the woman had recalled being abused during controversial regression therapy. A consultant gynacologist meanwhile told the court she appears to have based her account of an abortion of an episode of Call the Midwife.

The alleged victim, who received 22,000 from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority, claimed she had a forced abortion and was made to torture other children.

Dr Glascoe said that the information provided about how that the alleged procedure was carried out was 'completely impossible'.

During an 18-month investigation, Dr Glascoe said he had spent 100,000 in legal fees in order to fight the 13 charges against him.

The doctor says the woman's claims about her alleged abortion were based on Call the Midwife

Speaking after the case against him was dropped, he said: 'This has had a devastating impact on my life and on my wife and impact our friends and loved ones.

'They have tried to conceal from me how upset it has made them but in the last few days they have been ringing up and explaining how upset they have been that I was facing the prospect of going to prison for the rest of my life for crimes I didn't commit.

'Every single person who knows me and knows about these charges has just said 'we never doubted you'.'

He said he feared he could have been sent to prison for the rest of his life in what he says would have been a 'huge miscarriage of justice'.

Later speaking to The Times, he criticised the Director of Public Prosecutions Alison Saunders over her comments that men cleared of rape were not falsely accused.

He said the 'pendulum has swung too far' in favour of accusers being believed and not those they accused.

The doctor criticised Director of Public Prosecutions Alison Saunders over her claims sex case defendants were not wrong accused

The former GP was arrested after coming back from holiday in July 2016 and is now calling for a national inquiry to be held into how police and prosecutors handle rape cases.

The men were due to stand trial at Cardiff Crown Court on 29 January, but all charges were dropped at Newport Crown Court on Monday.

Judge Thomas Crowther said an internal police investigation would be likely as it was revealed the accuser exchanged 1,000 texts, 530 emais and 118 telephone calls with Detective Constable Beverly Norman.

A South Wales Police spokeswoman said: 'Sexual assault is one of the most traumatic and devastating experiences a person can suffer and every case reported to South Wales Police is fully investigated and victims given the full support of our officers.

'Throughout any investigation, we regularly communicate with the victim in order to offer them support and keep them updated on progress, but also to obtain other essential information for example arranging for statements to be taken.

The men were brought before Cardiff Crown Court only to be cleared before a planned trial

The spokesman added: 'This particular case involved a vulnerable woman who required additional support, not only throughout the investigation but in the lead-up to the court case.

'She lived outside of Wales which meant that officers had to rely on electronic means of communication such as text messages and e-mail.

'While we are disappointed by the outcome at Newport Crown Court, we respect the decision made by the Crown Prosecution Service that new evidence meant there was no longer a realistic prospect of conviction.

'We will, in due course review this investigation and act on any lessons which arise'.

A CPS spokesman said: 'The CPS keeps all cases continually under review in accordance with the Code for Crown Prosecutors. Following further investigation, new evidence was revealed and it was decided that there was no longer a realistic prospect of prosecution.'
Former SS guard Oskar Groening will not be jailed for his time serving at the Auschwitz death camp after he fell and burned his leg.

The so-called 'Bookkeeper of Auschwitz' was due in prison before the end of the month to serve a four-year sentence for being accessory to the murder of 300,000 camp detainees after a last-ditch clemency appeal was rejected on Wednesday.

But it was revealed on Friday that 96-year-old Groening is in hospital recovering from burns to his left leg, and will not be taken to jail until after treatment has finished.

Oskar Groening, 96, a former bookkeeper at the Auschwitz death camp, is being treated for third-degree burns to his leg after getting it trapped behind a radiator

He trapped the limb behind a radiator in a fall at his home a fortnight ago. The damage to his limb is so severe that he must undergo skin grafts.

The accident happened in Groenings home in Schneverdingen as he was opening a floor to ceiling window.

He fell awkwardly as he reached for the operating mechanism, trapping his left leg behind a radiator set a short distance away from the wall next to the window.

Media reports said he suffered a similar accident last summer when the heating system was turned off.

Groening has an alarm he wears around his neck which he triggered after his latest accident but he suffered the third degree burns before emergency help arrived.

If authorities insist on him going to jail when he has recovered sufficiently, Groening may appeal to the justice minister of the state of Lower Saxony for clemency but this will likely be rejected.

Groening had been fighting against his four-year sentence for being an accessory to the murder of 300,000 camp detainees on the grounds that he was too unwell to serve it.

He was first sentenced in July 2015 for his part in running the death camp, where he was involved collating and shipping back to Berlin the possessions of the dead.

Groening never denied being at Auschwitz in Nazi occupied Poland and admitted it was an extermination centre where inmates were not expected to survive.

In 1942, when he was 21, Groening was sent to Auschwitz. He saw the horrors that took place there almost immediately.

'I was standing at the ramp,' he says, 'and my task was to be part of the group supervising the luggage from an incoming transport.

Groening, a former SS guard, was found guilty of being accessory to the murder of 300,000 camp detainees back in 2015

'Sick people were lifted on to lorries. Red Cross lorriesthey always tried to create the impression that people had nothing to fear.

'This process of selection proceeded in a relatively orderly fashion but when it was over it was just like a fairground. There was a load of rubbish, and next to this rubbish were ill people, unable to walk, perhaps a child that had lost its mother, or perhaps during searching the train somebody had hiddenand these people were simply killed with a shot through the head.

'And the kind of way in which these people were treated brought me doubt and outrage. A child was simply pulled on the leg and thrown on a lorry  then when it cried like a sick chicken, they chucked it against the edge of the lorry.

'I couldn't understand that an SS man would take a child and throw its head against the side of a lorry, or kill them by shooting them and then throw them on a lorry like a sack of wheat.'

Groening, who spent a year in Britain after the war as a prisoner, sang with a YMCA choir in the Midlands and Scotland, keeping quiet about what he had done.

Later, when pressed about the murder of children, he said: 'The children are not the enemy at the moment. The enemy is the blood in them. The enemy is their growing up to become a Jew who could be dangerous.'

He was born in 1921 in Lower Saxony, son of a skilled textile worker. Groening's father was a traditional conservative, 'proud of what Germany had achieved.'

His father became an ultra-nationalist after Germany's defeat in WW1 and he went bankrupt in 1929. The young Oskar, like millions of others, became intoxicated by the message of the rising Nazi party and he joined the Hitler Youth in 1933.

'I thought the Nazis were the people who wanted the best for Germany and who did something about it,' he said.

As a member of the Hitler Youth he took part in the burning of books written by 'Jews or others who were degenerate.'

'Within six months of the Nazis coming to power the five million unemployed had vanished from the streets and so everybody had work,' he said.

'Then in 1936 Hitler marched into the Rhineland and simply occupied itnobody tried to stop him.

'We were terribly happy about thismy father opened a bottle of wine.'

He has been fighting his four-year jail term on the basis that he is too frail to serve it, but was told he must go to jail earlier this week (pictured during his trial, left and right)

At 17 he began an apprenticeship as a bank clerk. But news of Germany's swift victories over Poland in 1939 and France the following year made him yearn for glory.

He set his heart on joining the S.S. because it was an 'elite unit and I wanted to be part of the elite.'

But instead of battlefield honours, the accomplished pen-pusher was sent to an office where he processed the wages of his comrades.

It didn't displease him. He later said: 'I'm a desk person. I wanted to work in a job that had both the soldier's life and also the bureaucratic aspect.'

In 1942 jobs like his were given to men disabled at the front. He was told to report to Berlin where high ranking officers told him and some colleagues that they were being sent off for vital and secret work.

The destination: Auschwitz. The work: the destruction of human beings.

'We were reminded that we had sworn an oath with the motto 'My loyalty is my honor,' and that we could prove this loyalty by doing this task which was now given to usthe details of which we would find out later,' he said.

He found out soon after arrival. Although his main job was collating and sending back to Berlin the posessions of those murdered in the gas chambers, he serced on 'ramp duty' - the place where the doomed Jews were sorted after arrival into those who would live to work and those who would be immediately gassed.

He heard a baby crying. 'I saw another SS soldier grab the baby by the legs...' he said. 'He smashed the baby's head against the iron side of a truck until it was silent.'

He added: 'Every night and every day I remember it for the nightmare it was. It was in 1942 that my SS chiefs in Berlin ordered me there.

'The Jews had diamonds and gold worth millions and it was my duty to make sure all of it got to Berlin.

Groening (pictured during his trial) will now need skin grafts and will have to be assessed again before he is sent to prison

'Down the years I have heard the cries of the dead in my dreams and in every waking moment. I will never be free of them.

'It was completely understood by all that the majority were going straight to the gas chamber, although some believed they were only going to be showered before going to work. Many Jews knew they were going to die.

'On one night in January 1943 I saw for the first time how the Jews were actually gassed. It was in a half-built farmyard near to the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp.

'A gas chamber was built there. We were searching the wood nearby for prisoners who had escaped.

'There were more than 100 prisoners and soon there were panic-filled cries as they were herded into the chamber and the door was shut.

'Then a sergeant with a gas mask went to a hole in the wall and from a tin shook Zyklon B gas pellets inside. In that moment the cries of the people inside rose to a crescendo, a choir of madness.

'These cries I have ringing in my ears to this day. This guilt will never leave me. I can only plead for forgiveness and pray for atonement.'

Once, shortly after his return to Germany after being in the UK, he was sitting at the dinner table with his father and his parents-in-law and 'they made a silly remark about Auschwitz,' insinuating he was a murderer.

'I exploded.' says Groening. 'I banged my fist on the table and said, 'This word and this connection are never, ever, to be mentioned again in my presence, otherwise I'll move out!'

'I was quite loud, and this was respected and it was never mentioned again.'

Groening forgot the war, settled down to climb the management ladder at a glass factory, and kept quiet about his past.

It was only the prosecution of death camp guard John Demjanjuk in 2011 that paved the way for him to be charged.

Demjanjuk was found guilty without a single eyewitness left alive to say what his duties at the extermination camp of Sobibor had been: he was found guilty by dint of the fact he was there.

The same rule applied to Groening. He never killed anyone, but Auschwitz functioned because of men like him.
Staff in the office of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg have strongly denied reports that he bought a luxurious passenger super yacht - worth at least $140 million - in Monaco last September.

'The reports related to Mark purchasing a yacht are completely inaccurate as he did not buy a yacht,' a spokesman in his office said.

Turkey's Hurriyet Daily News said that Zuckerberg secretly acquired the giant ship, called Ulysses, from another self-made billionaire, New Zealander Graeme Hart.

Video to follow

Ulysses is reported to be capable of hosting 30 guests in 15 private suites - it has 43 crew members

Changing it up: Last week, Zuckerberg announced that the Facebook news feed would be changing to prioritize posts by friends and family

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

But the ship's records only state that it was purchased late last year by an unknown buyer and there is no independent corroboration of the Hurriyet report.

The vessel can withstand the toughest weather conditions, according to Gizmodo.com, which makes it 'the perfect vessel to wait out an impending apocalypse that only you, the billionaire creator of Facebook, know about'.

'Ulysses comes fully equipped with a helicopter deck, eight dining locations, five lounges, five bars, a gym, a day spa, a sauna, a massage room, a wine tasting room, and a cinema, all inside a hull reportedly designed to withstand 'the arctic circles and the world's hottest regions,' it reported.

The reports related to Mark purchasing a yacht are completely inaccurate as he did not buy a yacht

The yacht has additional storage space filled with an abundance of water toys, including 'Harleys, Superbikes, all terrain vehicles, jets skis and all the traditional toys' - and is 'the perfect getaway vehicle for when the big flood comes'.

But Facebook staff are adamant the reports are not true.

'Mark did not buy it, does not own a yacht and was not involved in the sale,' a spokesman insisted.

Last week it emerged that Zuckerbergs decision to prioritize posts from family and friends over brand-driven content on Facebooks News Feed had cost him a small fortune.

Zuckerberg said that 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.

It was estimated by Bloomberg that the boss of the worlds largest social media network lost $3.3billion off his net worth on Friday.

Facebook shares fell 4.5 percent on Friday after the closing bell on Wall Street.

Zuckerberg began the day worth $77.8billion but ended it worth $74billion, Bloomberg said.

The new figures meant that Spanish retail billionaire Amancio Ortega leapfrogged Zuckerberg to take fourth place on the list of the worlds richest people.

Yet both Zuckerberg and Ortega have a way to go to catch the worlds wealthiest human, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos.
More than 70 cats and dogs have been removed from a large-scale breeding operation at a semi-rural property by the RSPCA.

The animals appeared to be in good condition when they were surrendered after the owners were found to have breached local council by-laws.

Inspectors attended the property in Gingin on Friday and removed 46 dogs and 20 cats with another five animals removed from the property yesterday.

More than 70 animals were removed from a large-scale breeding operation in WA

The cats and dogs were surrendered when owners were found to breach local by-laws

The animals will be assessed by their veterinary team in the coming days

The RSPCA was alerted to the operation after a member of the public spotted several dogs and a deceased dog near the property.

An Inspector assigned to the initial report discovered the breeding operation and notified the local Shire.

The group, including French bulldogs, chihuahuas, Maltese and shih tzu as well as sphynx and munchkin cats would be properly assessed by their veterinary team in the coming days.

On Friday, Inspectors removed 46 dogs and 20 cats from the property

The animals appeared to be in good condition when they were surrendered

The RSPCA was alerted to the operation after a member of the public spotted several dogs and a deceased dog near the property

Dog and cat ownership by-laws prohibit residents in the Shire of Gingin from keeping more than two dogs at a residence without prior council approval.

The owners opted to give the animals up rather than pay huge fines for contravening the laws.

Six animals are being held by the Shire of Gingin which the owners can apply to have returned at a later date.

RSPCA WA is part of a working group consulting with the WA Government to develop laws regulating dog breeding.

An Inspector assigned to the initial report discovered the breeding operation and notified the local Shire
Mr Hartland has pleaded not guilty to the multiple charges filed against him

On Friday, he was committed to stand trial in October and 'cried in court'

The 43-year-old is alleged to have raped four women he met on Tinder

Glenn Antony Dylan Hartland, 43, from Melbourne, is accused of sexual assault

A Melbourne man accused of raping women he met on dating app Tinder has been committed to stand trial for the crimes.

Glenn Antony Dylan Hartland, 43, of Moonee Ponds, is charged with multiple counts of rape and false imprisonment of four women he met online between 2014 and 2016.

On Friday, the 43-year-old cried and 'asked for tissues' as a magistrate from Melbourne Magistrates' Court found him fit to stand trial, the Herald Sun reports.

Glenn Antony Dylan Hartland, 43, from Melbourne, has pleaded not guilty to five counts of rape, three charges of assault, and indecent assault and false imprisonment counts

Mr Hartland has pleaded not guilty to five counts of rape, three charges of assault, and indecent assault and false imprisonment counts.

Mr Hartland, who claimed to be a triathlete, a write and an entrepreneur on social media, was taken into custody in December after allegedly approaching a victim in public.

Police claim Mr Hartland harassed one of his victims, who is a witness in his trial, last month by yelling at her: 'There's no point hiding, you liar'.

Officers allege he also had the woman under surveillance. He was arrested after the incident and charged with four additional offences.

The 43-year-old is alleged to have raped the women after meeting them on dating app Tinder

Mr Hartland claimed to be a triathlete, a write and an entrepreneur on social media

Another of his alleged victims told a friend that Mr Hartland was 'a monster'.

The woman accused him of raping her after they spent the day drinking, not long after she began seeing him, according to the publication.

'I don't think she could comprehend that he could do such a thing,' a friend of the victim told the court.

One of Mr Hartland's alleged victims has described him as 'a shape shifter.'

Another of his alleged victims told a friend that Mr Hartland (pictured) was 'a monster

On Friday, the 43-year-old cried and 'asked for tissues' as a magistrate from Melbourne Magistrates' Court (pictured) found him fit to stand trial

'One minute he's a lawyer, the next he's a pro snowboarder,' the woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said.

She said she was just one of a list of women who allegedly fell victim to Mr Hartland after meeting him on Tinder.

Mr Hartland has vehemently denied all the charges against him and is yet to be convicted of any charge.

He was remanded in police custody to stand trial in October.
John Worboys (pictured) drugged and raped 12 women and raped one, but police believe he could have attacked up to 102 victims

Tory former minister Nick Boles tonight tore into Theresa May's 'pathetic' decision not to order a judicial review into the release of 'vile creature' John Worboys.

He said the Prime Minister should have hired the best lawyer in the country and mounted the legal challenge to show victims the Government is 'appalled and ashamed' at the decision to let him go.

He said the announcement that ministers are ducking the issue and refusing to take up the challenge was the 'final straw' in his long-rumbling anger at Mrs May's lack of leadership.

And he accused the PM of presiding over a 'mealy-mouthed half measures government'.

In an extraordinary attack he told Mail Online the PM must shape up, get the 'courage of her convictions' and take some real decisions.

Mr Boles, who was business minister until July 2016, earlier said on Twitter: 'There is a timidity and lack of ambition about Mrs May's Government which means it constantly disappoints.

'Time to raise your game, Prime Minister. #worboys #HousingCrisis #NHSfunding #etcetc'

Meanwhile, victims of the black cab rapist and London Mayor Sadiq Khan vowed to launch court challenges to block his release after the Justice Secretary refused to do so.

Mr Boles told Mail Online: 'I just felt the last straw was the decision not to judicially review the parole boards decision to release this vile creature Worboys.

I just think its a pathetic display.

I dont care what the advice was about the chances of success of a judicial review, I want my Government to stand up for its conviction and to represent me and my constituents.

Even if we are going to lose the case lets hire the best QC in the country to go into a court and argue on behalf of the government and the British people what we all believe.

And at least that will reassure people that we know that the system is wrong and we are determined to change it, and that we are utterly appalled and ashamed that this decision has been made in the way it has.'

He said today's decision was the 'final straw' which drove him to speak out to publicly criticise Mrs May's leadership.

He said: I just feel that the Government can do better.

'There are lots of ministers who want to do bold and reforming and things, and we need the Prime Minister to allow us to have the courage of our convictions, and for her herself to have the courage of her convictions.'

Tory former minister Nick Boles tore into Theresa May's leadership and her decision not to order a judicial review into the release of the Black cab rapist

In an extraordinary attack Nick Boles (pictured) told Mail Online the PM must shape up, get the 'courage of her convictions' and take some real decisions

At the moment we dont have that and thats what I want to see.

But despite tearing into the PM for failing to take decisions and usher in reform, he insisted he does not want to see her go from No10 - but to get better.

He said: 'I want her to be better, to do better.

Its a plea for what I say  her to allow her minsters to follow their convictions and be decisive and be bold and she herself to have some convictions and to follow them and to be bold and be decisive.

Thats all I ask.

'I would prefer her to be bold and decisive on things I disagree with than the current mealy-mouthed half measures government that we are getting.

No judicial review would mean Worboys is freed within weeks in line with the Parole Board ruling.

Justice Secretary David Gauke was condemned this afternoon for ruling out the Government launching a case because legal advice said it would lose.

Justice Secretary David Gauke (pictured in the Commons today) said he would not seek a judicial review of the decision of the Parole Board to release John Worboys

Mr Gauke insisted he could not justify the Government launching a case with no chance of winning.

Despite the advice, the Justice Secretary told MPs he 'fully supports' the right of someone else to bring a judicial review.

He admitted: 'I know this will disappoint the victims in this case and members of this House given the crimes for which he has been convicted.

'On a personal level, candidly I share those concerns.'

Worboys is due to be released from prison less than 10 years after he was jailed for drugging and sexually assaulting 12 women and raping one.

Police have said they believe he could have attacked up to 102 victims while lawyers believe there were 105.

Mr Khan condemned the decision and said he would launch a judicial review himself. A group of victims is also crowdfunding for their own case.

Mr Khan said: 'I'm seeking a judicial review of the Parole Board's decision to release John Worboys.

Mr Gauke admitted to MPs he shared concerns about the release of Worboys but still would not launch a judicial review on behalf of the government

'It's astonishing and extremely disappointing that the Government is accepting his release without challenge. I won't.'

Lawyer Harriet Wistrich, who represents two of Worboys' victims, said in a statement: 'We note the Secretary of State's decision not to proceed with a judicial review of the Parole Board decision.

'We can confirm that in the absence of any unexpected and compelling response from the Parole Board to our pre action correspondence, we intend to launch judicial review proceedings against the Parole Board next week.'

Mr Gauke explored a case after he was told by law experts, including former ministers, that there were two possible grounds for a court challenge.

Despite his decision not to contest the Parole Board decision, Mr Gauke insisted Worboys 'will not be released' from jail until his licence conditions have been set in consultation with victims.

There have been calls for the conditions to include a ban Worboys from entering London on the grounds he knows where some of his victims live.

Separately, Sadiq Khan said today he would launch a judicial review after the Government's 'disappointing' decision

Mr Gauke also announced he was broadening his review of parole board decisions in light of the case.

He said: 'I have taken a close personal interest in this case since assuming office as Secretary of State for Justice.

'I believe it is important that all the victims have clarity as soon as possible which is why I am before the House today.

'I can reassure the House and the public that Worboys will not be released until his licence conditions have been finalised.'

Labour Shadow Justice minister Imran Hussain warned 'many will be disappointed' by the decision, which 'makes the need for changes in the Parole Board even more pressing.'

And Labour MP Yvette Cooper, who heads the Home Affairs select committee, said: 'This is a deeply disappointing decision by the Government and will be very hard for victims.

'The Parole Board's decision to release this man remains extremely troubling and hard to fathom especially given the real concerns about the horrible crimes involved and the level of risk in future.

'That is why the Parole Board's reasons should still be made public so that the London Mayor and the victims can pursue a judicial review.

'If necessary the Government should look at making the transparency legislation retrospective so we can see how this parole decision happened.'

Earlier this week, a coalition of Worboys' victims set up a crowdfunding page to raise funds to cover the legal fees for their own judicial review.

A coalition of Worboys' victims has set up a crowdfunding page (pictured today with the total at more than 18,000) to raise funds to cover the legal fees for their own judicial review

The campaign has already collected more than 18,000 for the cause in just two days.

If any judicial review declares the Parole Board decision to release Worboys was unlawful, it would lead to a new hearing to review the original decision.

Mr Gauke refused to comment on what the legal advice he received had said in detail, insisting he did not want to prejudice any future case.

Lawyers representing Worboys' victims have already written a letter to the Parole Board calling for it to reconsider his case.

Mr Khan said: 'Londoners' safety is my number one priority  and I am deeply worried and unhappy that the Parole Board plan to release John Worboys onto the streets of our city where many of his victims live and work.

'If the Parole Board are standing by their decision to release John Worboys I want their decision properly scrutinised by the courts. It would simply be unacceptable for this man to be released before then.

'That's why I have written to the Parole Board, demanding that John Worboys must not be released until proper independent judicial scrutiny of the decision has taken place.

Police found a rape kit in the back of Worboys' taxi which including sleeping tablets, condoms and an ashtray he used to crush the drugs (top right)

'The public wants to be reassured the decision by the Parole Board was taken properly, and that his victims and other Londoners will receive the protection they deserve.

'It's in the interests of the victims and the wider public that this information is published, and that those in positions of power and responsibility are doing everything they can to keep the public safe.'

Richard Scorer, a specialist abuse lawyer at Slater and Gordon which previously represented 11 of Worboys' victims in a civil case, said: 'Although our clients are disappointed that the government has chosen not to participate in a judicial review of this decision, the victim judicial review is going forward and we urge everyone to support it and support the crowdfunding efforts.

'It is crucial that the decision to release this manipulative, calculating and dangerous man can be considered by the courts as soon as possible.

'It is also imperative that the failure to prosecute more cases against Worboys is re-examined.'

Worboys owns a 300,000 flat in Poole, Dorset, where he previously starred in amateur porn films with a friend.

The tenants, a man and and his teenage daughter, left Pine Park Mansions after last week discovering that Worboys owned the flat.

The Parole Board, chaired by Nick Hardwick (pictured), has warned against 'political interference' in decisions to release prisoners amid a storm over Worboys release

It was also revealed that he pocketed at least 160,00 from selling property just months after he was jailed.

'It's disgusting that after conning the justice system into letting him walk he is able to cling on to so many of his assets,' a source told The Sunday Mirror.

'People will believe Worboys is going to be released and will live in a hovel.'

His flat is in Poole  just miles away from neighbouring Bournemouth, where he is feared to have targeted at least four women while working as a cabbie.

Worboys is believed to have owned a number of properties across London and had more than 80,000 in two bank accounts when he was jailed.

'That's not the case at all. The reality is he's a wealthy man who will live in the lap of luxury  just miles from his alleged victims. Many of them are terrified at the fact he is set to return.'

Ministers believe the decision to set Worboys free could be unlawful because victims had not been consulted after they were assured he would 'not be coming out for a long time'.

Park Pine Mansions, in Poole, Dorset. The tenants of Worboys' flat - a man and his teenage daughter - left last week after finding out about the property's owner

The 60-year-old was assessed to no longer be a danger to the public by a panel of three people, who approved his released on licence with 14 secret restrictions.

However, his victims - who were attacked between 2002 and 2008 - only found out though the media.

It comes as a letter by Parole Board chief executive Martin Jones conceded that victims and the public would 'find it impossible' to understand the decision to release Worboys without a full explanation.

Fresh questions have been raised about the decision amid reports that he was previously prevented from moving to an open prison. The request was declined in November 2016, according to the Sunday Express.

Worboys is understood to have changed his name to John Radford (pictured), after the legendary Arsenal centre-forward
penkanya/iStock/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission announced Thursday that Bed Bath & Beyond has voluntarily recalled about 175,000 UGG comforters due to the risk of mold exposure.



The recalled Hudson comforters by UGG were sold at the retailer between August 2017 and October 2017, both in-store and online. The recall notice says that mold could be present, posing a risk of respiratory or other infections in individuals with compromised immune systems, damaged lungs or an allergy to mold.



The Hudson comforters by UGG were priced between $70 and $110, and available in twin, full/queen and king bed sizes, according to the notice posted by CPSC. The polyester comforters were sold in garnet, navy, gray and oatmeal.



The recall includes about 175,000 comforters in the U.S. and about an additional 20 in Canada.



Consumers are advised to immediately stop using these comforters and return them to Bed Bath & Beyond for a full refund.



No injuries have been reported.



ABC News has reached out to UGG for comment.

Copyright  2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
A mother-of-six who died suddenly after giving birth to a baby boy has sparked an investigation.

Vicki Butler, 41, mysteriously died two days after Christmas at Ipswich Hospital, Brisbane.

Ms Butler, who homeschooled her children, planned to spend some of her labour at home for her children to experience.

A mother-of-six (pictured) who died suddenly shortly after giving birth to a baby boy has sparked an investigation

Vicki Butler, 41, mysteriously died two days after Christmas at Ipswich Hospital, Brisbane

The qualified teacher's brother, Cameron Butler, wrote on social media his sister's tragic death was caused by 'complications following childbirth'.

Friend Angie Petersen told News Corp the mother-of-six did not plan to homebirth.

'She had not mentioned wanting to homebirth ... she died in hospital, several hours after being admitted in good health,' Ms Petersen said.

A GoFundMe Page created to raise money for funeral costs and her kids described the 41-year-old as a 'devoted, gentle, nurturing mother' who 'loved her children'.

'Vicki impacted so many lives during her life and is already sorely missed by all who knew her,' the page said.

The page has raised more than $11,000 in 21 days since Ms Butler's death on December 27, with a goal of $12,000 almost reached.

The qualified teacher's (pictured) brother, Cameron Butler, wrote on social media his sister's tragic death was caused by 'complications following childbirth'

Hundreds of people shared tributes online, describing Ms Butler, who also went by Vicki Sturgess, as an 'amazing woman' who helped the community.

'Vicki has left an incredible legacy in her beautiful children and the impact she has had on the world through all who knew and loved her,' one person wrote online.

Queensland Police are writing a report for the Coroner.
Adil Sultan thought he was meeting a 14-year-old girl for sex but was caught by vigilantes

A Pakistani paedophile who claimed he didn't realise it was illegal to have sex with 14-year-olds intends to use his conviction for grooming to help him claim asylum in the UK.

Adil Sultan, 39, thought he was chatting to a schoolgirl online, where he encouraged her to send him explicit photos of herself and meet up with him for sex.

But he was actually exchanging messages with the vigilante group Guardians of the North, who intercepted him and handed him over to the police.

He has now been jailed for 17 months after pleading guilty to attempting to meet a child following sexual grooming.

Newcastle Crown Court heard Sultan, who had posed as a 25-year-old and used a fake online name, believed 'it was ok' to have sex with a girl of 14.

He now claims his conviction means he cannot return to his homeland, as anger over a recent child rape case means it is now unsafe for him.

Instead, he plans to apply for asylum in the UK.

Sultan arranged a meeting with what he thought was a 14-year-old girl but was instead confronted by vigilantes who turned him over to the police

Footage shows Sultan being confronted by members of the Guardians group after he travelled from his home in Middlesbrough to Sunderland, thinking he was meeting a girl called Laura.

After he was handed over police and pleaded guilty to a charge, Judge Penny Moreland sentenced him to 17 months behind bars with ten years sex offender registration and sexual harm prevention order.

The judge told him: 'You used a false name. You said you were 25 when in fact you are 39.

'Very quickly Laura told you she was 14. Nonetheless, you went on to discuss having penetrative sexual activity with her.

'The conversation very quickly became sexual and you were asking for indecent images of herself.

'Your barrister tells me you thought it was OK to have sex with 14-year-olds. That is no excuse and offers you no mitigation.'

Mohammed Rafiq, defending, said Sultan had gone on the site to look for adults and he had no intention of deliberately seeking a young person.

Messages which passed between Sultan and the person he thought was a young girl show her making clear her age and he asking her for photos of herself

The court heard the messages the 39-year-old sent 'very quickly became sexual'

Mr Rafiq said: 'He apologises to the court for his actions. He has brought shame upon himself and his family, who have found out about his circumstances because he has been in custody.

'He comes from a conservative country, Pakistan. The mood in that particular country is quite heated at the moment because a young girl, eight-years-old, was abducted and killed.

'He has instructed me that it would be unsafe for him to go back to his country and someone else is instructed to make an application for asylum. That is another matter for another tribunal.'

Mr Rafiq said Sultan has never been in trouble before. The lawyer added: 'He didn't understand. Obviously each country is different.'

Judge Moreland asked Mr Rafiq to clarify that it was the fact that it was not OK to have sex with 14-year-olds that Sultan did not understand.

Mr Rafiq replied: 'He did not understand that.'
A Russian ex-soldier built an Iron Man-style suit of armour to fight off debt collectors before rigging his home with explosives.

Anton Maltsev acquired a vast armoury of explosives, assault rifles and pistols before creating the exoskeleton to fight off officials sent by a bank, a Moscow court heard.

The Chechen and Kosovan war veteran, who faced weapons charges, had an 85,000 debt and was hounded so badly he developed a paranoid disorder.

IOU Man: Anton Maltsev, 40, built this Iron Man-style suit out of aluminium and steel with titanium armour plates to defend himself against debt collectors

Maltsev, a veteran of the Chechen and Kosovan wars, was being hounded over an 85,000 debt when he decided to make the suit and booby trap his home with explosives

But incredibly he was pardoned by a court after judges were told he did not know what he was doing at the time due to his mental state.

The 40-year-old took a real estate loan from Rosbank in 2008 and bought an apartment in the Town of Pushkino, but his debt spiralled because of the financial crisis and decline in the value of the Russian rouble, reports CrimeRussia.

The Pushkinsky District Court heard the debt collectors would threaten the ex-soldier, ambush him near his home and pour glue into his home's key holes.

After Maltsev's wife left him he began building his armoury.

In an interview with a Russian broadcaster shortly after his arrest in 2016, he said: 'One day my patience dried up  the debt collectors moved from words to deeds and broke my mailbox.

'I hid my wife in a rented apartment in Moscow, and began to arm myself, just in case. I still wanted to live.

He added: 'Finding weapons and bulletproof vests is not a problem in the modern world.

'However, the numerical superiority of the bandits dictated another solution, after all, they could come themselves wearing vests and armed with rifles.

He also acquired a huge arsenal of silenced assault rifles, pistols and ammunition in order to fight off bailiffs, who he accused of smashing his mail box and pouring glue in his locks

'I decided that the cheapest way (to protect myself) was to make a protective exoskeleton, together with silenced weapons.

'The suit could take away their advantage. To create it, I used aluminium and titanium, plus a little steel.

'It was most difficult to find titanium plates for the exoskeleton.'

In August 2016 bailiffs were not able to pry his door open and used a sledge-hammer to make a hole in the wall when a pepper-spray trap triggered by a tripwire went off.

Russian military bomb disposal experts were called and discovered Maltsev had turned his apartment into a fortress with reinforced doors and more tripwires.

He also had a semi-automatic rifle, an AK assault rifle and lots of pistols.

The troops even found eight kilos of explosives and grenades for a rifle-mounted grenade launcher.

But the most jaw-dropping discovery was the exoskeleton made from titanium alloy and featuring a helmet, armour and a bullet-proof vest, earning him the nickname 'Russian Iron Man' in national media.

He was arrested soon after.

Maltsev, who is being treated for his condition, pleaded guilty to weapons charges but was pardoned by the Pushkinsky District Court last week.

His lawyer, Denis Shchipakin, argued his client could not be found guilty or innocent since he did not understand what he was doing.

He will soon be reassessed by a medical board. The court ordered that the exo-skeleton must be destroyed.
Brothers and sisters are as close as hands and feet, as the saying goes.

For nine-year-old Zhou Dingshuang from China, she is literally the hands and feet for her disabled brother who has had difficulties using his limbs since birth.

The skinny girl carries her elder sibling to school every day in the rural Yunnan Province - rain or shine, snow or sleet.

Sister love: Zhou Dingshuang, 9, carries her brother Zhou Dingfu, 12, to school every day

Sibling bond: The girl, from China, helps her brother get dressed before setting out to school

Full of care: Dingfu (left) was born disabled and has had difficulties using his hands and legs

The siblings study at the same class in the Central School of Heizhiguo County, southern China

She told a reporter from the local Wenshan Television Station: 'I will never leave him behind. I will be his walking stick forever.'

Dingshuang also carefully looks after 12-year-old Zhou Dingfu, who studies in the same class as her at the Central School of Heizhiguo County.

Every morning, she washes the hands and face for him, helps him get dressed before carrying him on her back to walk to the school, according to the TV report.

Determined: Dingshuang helps Dingfu go to school no matter how bad the weather is

Dedicated: The pair have to cross streets and climb up stairs to reach their classroom

Studying buddies: After they finish school, Dingshuang also helps Dingfu with his homework

The pair have to cross streets and climb up stairs to reach their classroom, but the incredibly determined girl has made sure that she and her brother are never late for any lessons - no matter how bad the weather is.

After they finish school, Dingshuang also helps her brother with his homework before doing housework for her parents.

Dingshuang has already become the backbone of her family at the tender age of nine.

According to the report, Dingshuang and Dingfu's parents are both disabled. As a result, Dingshuang does most of the housework at home, including washing vegetable, feeding pigs, cooking and hand-washing clothes for the family of four.

Dingshuang does most of the housework too, including washing vegetable and feeding pigs

Dingshuang (right) says she also cooks for her brother and her parents, who are also disabled

Dingshuang's story has touched millions of hearts in China and the school has offered help

After Dingfu reached school age, his parents worried that he couldn't walk to school. Dingshuang didn't want to see her brother being left behind, so she volunteered to carry him on her back every day.

Liu Yan, a teacher from their school, told the TV reporter that the school had arranged a dorm room for the brother and sister to live after noticing the difficult situation their family are facing.

Teacher Liu said the school had also reduced or cancelled some of the fees for the pair in order to help the less-fortunate family.

Dingshuang and Dingfu's dorm room is about 500 metres (1,640 feet) from their classroom.

Dingshuang continues to carrying Dingfu to school every day.
Gary Iredale, 52, from Blackpool, is on the run after allegedly dousing his former lover in petrol and setting her alight in Vietnam

The parents of a British businessman on the run after allegedly turning a woman he was infatuated with into a human fireball in Vietnam have urged their son to hand himself in.

Gary Iredale, 52, from Blackpool, doused his former lover in petrol and set her alight in a jealous rage after she ended their relationship and told him she was in love with another man, it is claimed.

Nguyen Hang suffered horrific injuries in the attack at a tailor shop where she worked in Hanoi - and is in a critical condition in hospital with 70 per cent burns to her body.

Police issued a warrant for vending machine boss Iredale's arrest after he fled Vietnam on Monday after the attack.

He is said to have flown to Thailand and is now believed to be hiding in the Philippines.

His 'heartbroken' father Roy called him a 'silly fool', telling the Mail: 'If you do a thing like that, you have to stand by it and take your punishment.

'It is so unlike him. He was the life and soul of the party, he always was. Everybody liked him wherever he went. I think he should hand himself in.'

Gary had returned home to Blackpool, Lancs, before Christmas to visit his father who had been in hospital following a fall.

Roy added: 'Gary seemed besotted by her. He was always praising her and on the phone to her all the time he was here.'

Roy said his son moved to Hanoi, Vietnam, three years ago to teach English. He has Australian citizenship and still owns a house in the country.

He met and married an Australian woman while he was travelling, but they have now divorced and she lives in India.

His mother Nora added: 'I feel sick and cant believe its happening. I never thought he would do something like that. What has he done? I am heartbroken.

Nguyen Hang (pictured), a single mother, suffered horrific injuries in the attack at a tailor shop where she worked in Hanoi - and is in a critical condition with 70 per cent burns in hospital

Brother Martin said: 'He is not a violent person. It is so out of character. It is unreal. I wasnt aware that he knew anyone in the Philippines.'

Ms Hang's brother-in-law Minh Duong Hoang told MailOnline: 'Nguyen is very badly hurt. My wife and her mother are with her in hospital in Hanoi. I am going to see her tomorrow. We are praying that she will survive.'

Ex-pat Alan Nicholls, who was in the shop with his wife, said: 'It was the most shocking thing I've ever seen.

'This guy came into the shop, wearing a face mask, and threw petrol over the woman and the rest of the shop and set her on fire. It's rocked the local community to its core.'

Ben Evans, from Liverpool, lives two floors below Iredale in an apartment block in a quiet suburb in Hanoi, has known him for 18 months.

Mr Evans described him as a 'normal guy' who lived alone and was a partner in a vending machine business.

He said he saw Iredale having an argument with a Vietnamese woman on Sunday morning.

'Both myself and my girlfriend heard Gary shouting at a Vietnamese girl, ushering her out of the building and yelling: 'F*** off, get the f*** out.'

On the day Ms Hang was doused in petrol, Mr Evans said he saw Iredale behaving erratically and shouting in the street.

'We watched him from our balcony, in the street chasing a stray dog, shouting all sorts of obscenities at the dog and arguing with an elderly Vietnamese man.

Mr Evans said his girlfriend saw Iredale on Monday after the alleged attack.

'She said nothing was out of ordinary, a few conversational pleasantries and she drove off to work,' he said.

Mr Evans said that a friend of his had been with Iredale on Sunday night, where he had taken ecstasy and LSD.

'My friend said Gary was upset about his Vietnamese girlfriend not wanting to be with him anymore - and said he had problems with his elderly parents back home in the UK,' Mr Evans said.

'He was never short of partners over the time I knew him, all local Vietnamese women, and seemed a popular guy with his peers,' he said.

'Over the past few months, he's had family troubles at home with aging parents and regularly goes home to see them, usually a few weeks at a time.'

Vo an Khanh, from the Tay Ho police in Hanoi confirmed that a warrant has been issued for Iredale's arrest and that he had fled Vietnam.
This is the shocking moment a mother turtle struggled to nest on a beach filled with rubbish and marine debris.

It took the mother turtle about five hours to get back in the water after nesting. Other baby turtles can be seen battling their way to the water through the rubbish after hatching.

The scene was filmed at the Greta beach on Christmas Island by Taiwanese ecologist, Dr Hung-Chang Liu. It has raised the public awareness of marine debris after being aired on BBC Earth.

Our Blue Planet: Turtles battle with plastic These turtles on Christmas Island have to battle a wall of debris to reach the ocean. #OurBluePlanet Posted by BBC Earth on Thursday, January 11, 2018

The mother turtle was forced to lay eggs on among foam, plastic bottles and even shoes on the sand.

The footage also shows dozens of turtle hatchlings trying to make their way back to the ocean.

However their journey were obstructed by the huge pile of rubbish and they had to crawled over and beneath the debris to get to the water.

A female sea turtle is struggling to lay eggs on Greta beach where it is surrounded by rubbish

A rubbish-filled beach has made her way to the ocean much more difficult

Dr Liu and his crew rescued the baby turtles and released them back to the ocean.

Dr Liu told Apple Daily Taiwan that he was a regular visitor to the Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean because he wanted to research on the famous tiny red crabs and coconut crabs.

He was surprised by the amount of trash and debris that were carried to the beach by ocean currents through the Indian Ocean.

'There were four baby turtles dead and one lying weakly on the sand when I visited the beach last year,' said Dr Liu.

He stressed the problem of marine debris had posed immense danger to the marine animals. He described the shore was full of rubbish.

The amount of rubbish that got washed up to the beach cannot be simply handled by a few people.

He noticed the female turtle swimming to the shore and trying to find a nesting place.

 Slide me  Hatchlings also face the same problem as they have to crawl through trash to get to the ocean

Piles of rubbish from nearby countries were washed ashore to the Greta beach on Christmas Island (file photo) which is situated between Indonesia and Australia

Christmas Island is a remote Australian territory in the Indian Ocean, close to Indonesia

The footage was taken by Dr Liu during a research trip of crabs last December.

The video has caught over 12 million views since it was put up on Facebook by BBC on January 11.

Dr Liu commented that the video was originally filmed to encourage the residents on Christmas Island to help clean the beach. It got picked up by news media later.
A group of migrants look delighted after being freed from a sealed lorry which they stowed away on to cross the English Channel.

Eight suspected illegal immigrants were hauled off the lorry by police in Dover, Kent.

Officers were seen escorting them into the back of a police van on Palmerston Road.

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A group of migrants look delighted after being freed from a sealed lorry which they stowed away on to cross the English Channel

Eight suspected illegal immigrants were hauled off the lorry by police in Dover, Kent

Officers were seen escorting them into the back of a police van on Palmerston Road

The migrants posed for cameras as they were detained - smiling, waving and giving the thumbs up.

They were all men, believed to be aged between 20 and 40, who spoke little to no English.

Five were from Afghanistan, two from Iraq and one was Iranian.

Police officers then spoke to the driver of the lorry, who insisted that his trailer was empty when he collected it in France.

The driver also stated that a code was needed to open the doors.

The suspected illegal immigrants were all taken to Dover Port for checks.

The migrants posed for cameras as they were detained - smiling, waving and giving the thumbs up

The suspected illegal immigrants were all taken to Dover Port for checks

A spokeswoman for Kent Police told MailOnline: 'We were called at 2.43pm on Thursday following the discovery of a number of people in a lorry in Palmerston Road, Whitfield'

Police officers then spoke to the driver of the lorry (wearing a blue cap), who insisted that his trailer was empty when he collected it in France

They were all men, believed to be aged between 20 and 40, who spoke little to no English

A spokeswoman for Kent Police told MailOnline: 'We were called at 2.43pm on Thursday following the discovery of a number of people in a lorry in Palmerston Road, Whitfield.

'Officers attended and the eight people discovered are being handed over to the Home Office immigration enforcement facility in Dover.'

MailOnline has contacted the Home Office for comment.

The group were all aged from about 20 to 40 and were discovered just hours after Theresa May met French President Emmanuel Macron and agreed to help deal with the problem of the hundreds of migrants camping rough around Calais as they try to sneak into Britain.

A passer-by who saw them being put into the police van on Thursday afternoon said: The driver of the lorry had just stopped to pick up another driver a mile from the port of Dover, and noticed someone had altered the combination code for the back door.

He immediately called the police, who turned up and took away the blokes inside, who all gave themselves up.

They spoke little or no English.

Net migration to the UK in the 12 months to last June was 230,000. Britain has followed the EU rule that asylum seekers should claim refuge in the first safe country they come to.

By definition, those already in France should seek permanent residence there, or perhaps at a previous stop such as Italy.

But Mrs May accepted this week that Britain should not only put 45million into increasing security at Channel ports, but should also speed up migration applications from those in Calais.

In the so-called Sandhurst Treaty, named after the leaders met at the military college in Berkshire on Thursday, adults should be processed within four weeks instead of up to six months, as it can take at the moment, and child applicants must be dealt with within 25 days.
An African tourism firm has cashed in on Donald Trump's controversial comments with a new, self-deprecating slogan.

Mr Trump referred to African nations as 's***hole countries' last week during a meeting in Washington, according to several participants, although the US leader denied using that language.

Zambia Tourism has responded by making it part of its advertising campaign - issuing a poster which reads: 'Visit s***hole Zambia, where the only starts and stripes you'll see are in the sky and on a zebra.'

The poster created by Zambia Tourism, which reads: 'Visit s***hole Zambia, where the only starts and stripes you'll see are in the sky and on a zebra.

Mr Trump referred to African nations as 's***hole countries' last week during a meeting in Washington, according to several participants, although the US leader denied using that language.

Zebras graze at The Livingstone Hotel in Zambia as the sun sets. The tourism board wrote a caveat to concerned residents saying: 'The s***hole is a pure play on the latest comments to come from the US. We most certainly do not see our precious country as anything less than spectacular'

In an additional dig at the President, the slogan continues: 'Where beautiful vistas and breathtaking wildlife are our trump card.'

The advert also contains a disclaimer, which points out the post does not represent the opinions of the Zambia Tourism Agency, but some didn't quite spot the irony.

Phil Barnes wrote: 'Lived there for four and a half years in the mid-1970s and loved it until Rhodesian freedom fighters made us leave. But there's no need for the s***hole heading.'

The tourism firm responded quickly to address the concerns, and wrote 'The s***hole is a pure play on the latest comments to come from the US.

'We most certainly do not see our precious country as anything less than spectacular. Thank you for being protective.'

The majority made the connection immediately, and Pavani Ganga said: 'This ad sets a fine example of how to respond with dignity, resilience, and humor to the racist comment of Donald Trump.

'That you are better than him is proved by your response. I, an American, together with my family applaud and thank you.'

Louisiana resident Robert M Watt said: 'Excellent. Zambia is not only a beautiful country, but it's people have a sense of humor and a welcoming attitude.'

And locals echoed the sentiment, with Melissa Mwilu saying: 'Agreed - Zambia is nothing less than spectacular.'

Victoria Falls on the border of Zambia and Zimbabwe. In an additional dig at the President, the slogan continues: 'Where beautiful vistas and breathtaking wildlife are our trump card'

During the immigration talks, Trump took particular issue with the idea that people who'd 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, according to the people briefed on the conversation.

When it came to talk of extending protections for Haitians, Senator Dick Durbin said Trump 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",' Durbin said.

Trump's time at the White House has been shrouded in controversy with his critics claiming his indifference towards foreign nations crosses the border of what can be considered racism.

Sarah Huckabee Sanders defended her boss, saying NBC wouldn't have run The Apprentice for 13 years had Trump been a racist

From his constant references to building a wall between Mexico and the US to 'keep out rapists and drug dealers' to his travel ban on Muslim countries - those who oppose him have had plenty of ammunition.

This week he appeared to put his foot in it once more when he made the crass 's***hole' comments.

But the White House's press secretary has insisted claims her boss is a racist are 'outrageous', citing the fact a national broadcaster ran his show for 13 years.

Sarah Huckabee Sanders said NBC wouldn't have run The Apprentice for so long if Trump was racist.
A jewellery designer who had her 25,000 emerald cut engagement ring stolen by a a self-styled celebrity gangster has pleaded for it's return, calling the theft 'devastating.'

Diamond consultant Tatiana Sieff's mother was tricked into showing Jimmy Tippett, 46, the jewel encrusted ring who then fled with it while she used a bathroom.

'It's devastating having something as precious as that stolen from you - especially the value of it, it's just devastating,' Tatiana, 24, told MailOnline.

A jewellery designer who had her 25,000 emerald cut engagement ring stolen by a a self-styled celebrity gangster has pleaded for it's return, calling the theft 'devastating.'. Tatiana Sieff (left) has urged Jimmy Tippett (right), 46, to return the precious ring

'I keep hoping to find it but it could be anywhere. Someone could be wearing it in good faith, I just wouldn't know where it could be,' the jeweller added.

Tippett, the son of a south London enforcer Jimmy Tippett Snr, convinced Ms Sieff's mother Jo Stoller to accompany him to a casino in Mayfair supposedly to pick up cash for the ring, but then 'unexpectedly ran off with it', police said.

The thief was jailed ten days ago after a judge ignored his pleas to defer his sentence so he can make a film about his life of crime.

Tippett, whose father counted the Kray twins and Mad Frankie Fraser as family friends, was known as the 'governor of Lewisham' from the 60s to the 80s.

He ruled his manor with an iron fist, winning every bare-knuckled fight he got into on the cobbles, it was said.

Tippett Jnr hoped to make a film based on his book 'Born Gangster', about how he 'first got arrested when he was 12 and, by the time he was 16, was visiting Reggie Kray in prison'.

'It's devastating having something as precious as that stolen from you - especially the value of it, it's just devastating,' Tatiana, 24, told MailOnline. The 25,000 piece has an emerald stone with diamond detailing. A court heard Tippett had been freed for an identical crime recently

But instead he was returned to prison to started a 30-month sentence for stealing the diamond ring not long after he was freed from jail for an almost identical offence.

Ms Sieff said: 'I'm happy that justice was served and that he got what he deserved.'

The theft of Ms Sieff's ring came after Tippett was freed from a 27-month sentence he was given in 2013 for a near-identical 'confidence trick' robbery from another jewellery dealer.

In that case, he then distracted a woman and disappeared with the jewellery, in that case worth about 250,000.

During his trial, Thomas Quinton, defending Tippett Jnr, urged a judge to defer his sentence for the latest offence, insisting he was on the verge of making a film.

The theft of Ms Sieff's ring came after Tippett was freed from a 27-month sentence he was given in 2013 for a near-identical 'confidence trick' theft from another jewellery dealer

Mr Quinton told the court: 'Your honour knows that Jimmy Tippett has some small celebrity from the book which has that has been published in relation to his background.

'He identifies very strongly with his father, they share the same name, and his father's background as a boxer. It means that he grew up with a sense of growing up in a gangster's world.

'There is no doubt about the fact that this is a man who is unusual before the court because, when one looks at his record, in his teens and mid-twenties he was definitely embarking on a career as a criminal.

'The world in which he grew up had clearly left its mark on him. But something rather odd happens and that the last offence for dishonesty is 1999 until we have a single offence in 2013.

The court heard he spirited away this diamond platinum ring from the designer's mother in an identical theft to one he carried out around five years earlier

'But then what happens since he appears in that court  well that is where his life has taken a turn because that book which your honour has was published in 2014 and it through the successful sale of that book that he has been able to turn those book rights into film rights.'

Tippett has made great play of his gangster links and even co-authored a book about his past in the south London underworld

Tippett's lawyer asked for a six-month adjournment before sentence so he can prove to the judge that he is serious about his book and film projects.

But Judge Deva Pillay announced: 'That is not going to happen. It is custody today.'

The judge told Tippett: 'You are a practiced and experienced fraudster, who exploits the weaknesses of others for your own selfish rewards.

'Despite the eloquent mitigation advanced on your behalf I'm afraid the time has come for the public to receive a respite from your actions.'

The judge also wanted to ensure Ms Sieff is paid 10,032 compensation by Tippett - the raw cost of the diamonds she used.

Ms Sieff said in a victim impact statement: 'After the theft my mood plummeted, I stopped sleeping and when I did I had terrifying nightmares.

'I was scared of leaving the house and was prescribed anti-depressants - I was admitted to hospital.

'Not only did I lose an expensive ring but I feel that I have lost six months of my life.'

The court heard Tippett identifies with his father, once known as the 'guv'nor of Lewisham'

Speaking after Tippett was jailed, Ms Sieff told MailOnline she is pleased the case is finally over and the thief is going back to prison.

She said: 'It doesn't make sense to commit crime and write books about it and then be surprised when you get arrested and sentenced.

'The judge said he was grateful that someone stood up and allowed him to be locked away and off the streets.'
Oliver Mears, 19, spent more than two years on bail before his case was thrown out after the CPS reviewed the evidence

A judge has criticised police and prosecutors after a diary which supported the case of an Oxford student accused of rape emerged just days before his trial collapsed.

Oliver Mears, 19, spent two years on bail accused of raping and indecently assaulting a woman in July 2015.

But the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) decided to offer no evidence against him on the basis of fresh evidence, including a diary that supported his case, which was passed to the CPS just last week.

Yesterday the Crown Prosecution Service asked the judge to record a not guilty verdict after a review of evidence by a 'new set of eyes'.

Today, prosecutor Sarah Lindop told Guildford Crown Court the case was 'finely balanced' from the start and the new material 'tips the balance' in favour of Mears.

However Judge Jonathan Black has demanded the head of the CPS Rape and Sexual Offences (RASO) unit write to him within 28 days 'with a full explanation of what went wrong' before he decides whether any action is required 'at CPS or police level'.

He hit out at 'unnecessary delays' which meant Mr Mears had the case 'hanging over his head for two years'.

Surrey Police has now issued a statement saying it 'deeply regrets mistakes made' in the investigation.

The student, who took time out from St Hugh's College (pictured) because of stress, was accused of raping and indecently assaulting a woman in July 2015

The chemistry student, who took time out from St Hugh's College because of stress, was accused of the rape weeks after his 17th birthday.

COLLAPSED TRIALS Mr Mears' trial is not the first to collapse in recent weeks. Last month the trial of 22-year-old criminology student Liam Allan, who was charged with six counts of rape, was halted after it emerged his accuser had sent hundreds of messages to friends that would have cleared him immediately. And the rape trial of Samson Makele, 28, collapsed on Monday after his defence team unearthed key images from his mobile phone, missed by police and the CPS, which showed him and his alleged victim apparently cuddling in bed. Advertisement

A file was passed to the CPS in May 2017 - almost two years after the alleged offences - and the decision to charge Mr Mears was made the following month.

Mr Mears, from Horley, Surrey, appeared at Guildford crown court in August last year where he enter pleas of not guilty.

His trial was scheduled to start on Monday, but the CPS reportedly contacted his lawyers on Wednesday to say they would not be putting forward any evidence.

The court heard Mears' lawyers had been asking for the diary since October.

The court heard prosecutors had recently gathered 'third party material' that was 'sensitive to the complainant', as well as evidence from 'digital devices' from Surrey Police were 'two significant areas' that led to the decision to drop the case.

The judge added: 'It seems to me in a case which is as finely balanced as you say it was, there have been unnecessary delays in investigating... leading to what seems to be a completely unnecessary last-minute decision in this case.

'Both Oliver Mears and the complainant have had this matter hanging over their heads for two years in circumstances, had the investigation been carried out properly in the first instance, would not have led to this position.'

Mr Mears (right), from Horley, Surrey, appeared at Guildford crown court in August last year where he enter pleas of not guilty. The rape trial of Samson Makele, 28, (left) also collapsed on Monday after his defence team unearthed key images from his mobile phone, missed by police and the CPS

Last month the trial of 22-year-old criminology student Liam Allan, who was charged with six counts of rape, was halted after it emerged his accuser had sent hundreds of messages to friends that would have cleared him immediately

CONCERNS RAISED OVER CPS HANDLING OF RAPE CASES The judge's scathing comments come as Britain's top prosecutor claimed no innocent people are in jail as a result of failures to disclose crucial evidence. Alison Saunders, head of the Crown Prosecution Service, insisted the justice system was working properly, despite a string of rape trials collapsing. But critics condemned her as 'complacent' after it emerged that police and prosecutors have failed to hand over texts and photos to defence lawyers in trials. The CPS has denied any failings. Yesterday Mrs Saunders, the Director of Public Prosecutions, met senior police officers, senior judges and barristers to discuss concerns that vital material was not being presented. Asked on Radio 4's Today programme if it was possible innocent people were in prison because of disclosure failures, she replied: 'I don't think so. 'Because what these cases show is that when we take a case through to trial there are various safeguards in place, not least of which is the defence indicating what their defence is going to be. 'Disclosure is a vital matter which we take very seriously, but it is clear that there are systemic issues across the entire criminal justice system. The problem we have found recently is around the ever-increasing use of social media, all the digital material we obtain.' Advertisement

It comes after Scotland Yard announced a review of every one of its sex crime investigations, where a suspect has been charged, following the collapse of two rape prosecutions in a week.

Ms Lindop said: 'There were some disclosure matters, but this is not a disclosure case per se.

'There was a diary produced.

'Part of that was disclosed, we asked for the full copy of it.'

The court heard Mears' lawyers had been asking for the diary since October last year.

The prosecutor explained: 'The police have been trying to secure that.

'I have been made aware of it coming into the possession of the Crown last week.

'That contains material that was not of assistance to the prosecution.'

She said the diary was not the only reason for the decision.

She added: 'The situation is we were waiting for third party material, which included matters of a sensitive nature to the complainant in the case.

'We were also awaiting confirmation from the police in terms of the digital devices that were secured.'

Surrey Police have launched an internal review of the force's investigation.

A police spokesman said: 'On January 5 2018, the CPS requested that we provide materials from the victim's digital media.

'We then contacted the victim, obtained the devices and provided the available material to the CPS on January 15.

'Surrey Police deeply regrets mistakes made in the efficacy of investigations and will always seek to implement continual improvement and specific learning points. '

Surrey Police has launched a joint review of the case with the CPS.

Alison Saunders, head of the Crown Prosecution Service, insisted the justice system was working properly, despite a string of rape trials collapsing

A CPS spokesman said: 'We keep all cases under continual review.

'Following a review of this case, prosecutors were not satisfied there was a realistic prospect of conviction as the evidential test set out in the Code for Crown Prosecutors was not met.

'We therefore decided to offer no evidence.'

Tory MP Anna Soubry wrote on Twitter: 'Appalled at the ill-informed comments of DPP Alison Saunders. Have been longstanding problems with disclosure.'

Criminal barrister Nick Rhodes QC, accused Mrs Saunders of complacency.
A bride was raped on her wedding night by an 18-year-old pretending to be her husband.

The suspect, Chhoen Chanseng, climbed into bed with the victim after the groom had fallen asleep in a drunken stupor on a table outside the house in the village of Chhkues in southern Cambodia's Prey Veng province.

With the lights off, the woman, also 18, believed she was having sex with her new husband and they fell asleep next to each other.

When the new wife woke up and realised there was a different man to her husband in her bed, she screamed, and the man was arrested.

The groom's family have now rejected their new daughter-in-law, saying they wanted the marriage annulled.

Chhoen Chanseng (centre), 18, is said to have raped the unnamed bride after sneaking into her room and pretending to be her new husband

The unnamed victim had celebrated her nuptials with her husband and had gone to bed before him.

Alleged rapist Chhoen Chanseng reportedly confessed that he saw this as an opportunity to act on his long-suppressed desires.

The 18-year-old says he went to the couple's room and pretended to be the groom, while the woman's real new husband was asleep.

He had sex with her, a rape by deception, and then fell asleep next to her.

The victim only realised how she had been tricked when she awoke and saw the wrong man in her bed, it is reported.

The suspect, named as Chhoen Chanseng (pictured), is said to have raped the bride

Local media reported that Chanseng's detention warrant shows he has been charged with rape using Article 239 of Cambodia's Criminal Code.

He faces five to 10 years in prison if convicted.

Prey Veng province's deputy police chief Pov Chivy said: 'According to the interrogation report, the suspect admitted that he had loved the bride for a long time, but his family is poor and he did not dare to propose.

'On the victim's wedding day, he kept his eyes on the new couple almost every minute because his house is next to the bride's house.'

Chivy said the bride's family caught Chanseng in her room when she screamed on discovering his real identity.

Police chief of Kanh Chriech district Sao Chantha said the suspect had first claimed to have raped the bride three times but then changed his story to say it was once, to agree with her account.

Chantha confirmed: 'The suspect was caught in the room of the bride, and he was naked.'

He said the suspect said he had planned to rape the bride again but had fallen asleep.

Chief of Chhkues village Leat Chheat said the woman's new in-laws no longer accepted her as their son's wife and wanted the marriage annulled.

He said they were also seeking the return of the 1,000 dowry.
James Brindley (above), a company director's son, was stabbed to death by a teenage boy as he was making up with his girlfriend on the phone following an argument, a court heard

A company director's son was stabbed to death by a teenage boy as he was making up with his girlfriend on the phone following an argument, a court heard.

James Brindley, 26, had just reconciled with his partner Lauren Wong, 24, at the moment a knife was plunged into his heart on June 23 last year.

A court heard the couple had broken up earlier in the day following a 'few silly arguments' but had agreed to get back together before Mr Brindley was murdered.

Part-time model Mr Brindley told Ms Wong on the phone 'I've just been stabbed' before collapsing just yards from his home in Aldridge, Walsall, West Midlands.

Jurors were told the fitness instructor had been walking home after meeting friends when he was attacked on The Croft park at around 11.40pm.

A group of teenagers on their way home from their school prom tried to perform CPR but he died on the high street in front of his parents who had rushed to the scene.

Aaron Kahrod, 21, and a 17-year-old youth, who cannot be named, have gone on trial accused of murder at Birmingham Crown Court.

Part-time model Mr Brindley, 26, had just reconciled with his partner Lauren Wong, 24, at the moment a knife was plunged into his heart on June 23 last year

Yesterday, Ms Wong wept as she told the jury how they had split up earlier in the day but had settled their differences at the moment he was stabbed.

Ms Wong, of Manchester, had been dating Mr Brindley for a year and said they had been 'inseparable' and were in a 'very serious' relationship.

The pair had recently been on holiday to Barcelona and had met each other's families and she had not believed him when he had broken up with her earlier that day.

Calling him later that night, she said the tone of their conversation had initially been 'tense'.

She told the court his voice was raised but he was not shouting before the conversation 'flipped' and they began sorting out their differences.

Mr Brindley told Ms Wong on the phone 'I've just been stabbed' before collapsing just yards from his home in Aldridge, Walsall, West Midlands. (Above, floral tributes at the scene of his death)

She added: 'He was talking normally, there was no shouting. I remember feeling relieved because I didn't want to break up with him.'

They had been talking for nearly 16 minutes when there was a pause and she heard the sound of wind.

Seconds later Mr Brindley told her: 'I have just been stabbed. Two seconds. I am calling an ambulance.'

Ms Wong then sent him a Whatsapp message saying: 'Tell me you're okay. Do you want me to phone your parents?'

A group of teenagers on their way home from their school prom tried to perform CPR on Mr Brindley but he died on the high street in front of his parents (Mark and Beverley, pictured) who had rushed to the scene

Despite 'extraordinary' efforts to save his life with open heart surgery on the pavement, he died shortly afterwards.

The court also heard from three of Mr Brindley's friends, who said he had appeared 'relaxed and in good spirits' when they had met up at The Avion pub.

They said he had drunk only water and had left after half an hour to go home.

Ms Wong, of Manchester, had been dating Mr Brindley for a year and said they had been 'inseparable' and were in a 'very serious' relationship

Giving evidence, passer-by Karl Westwood, 16, said he had seen a group of three men arguing before watching Mr Brindley collapse to the ground.

He added: 'When we were driving past we saw three males standing on the Croft entrance, looking toward the church.

'I had the window down, I could hear shouting, I heard more than one voice say "come on then". I saw him [James Brindley] on the floor, there was a white and gold iPhone laying on the ground beside him.

'One of my friends answered the phone and spoke to this man's girlfriend. We applied pressure to his wound and tried to make him comfortable.'

Prosecutor Jonas Hankin QC said the knife used to pierce Mr Brindley's heart was 'disposed' of by the defendants and has never been found.

The 17-year-old youth admits stabbing Mr Brindley but claimed he did so 'in self-defence' while Kahrod denies 'playing an unlawful part in the incident'.

The pair, both from Aldridge, deny murder and the trial continues.
A prankster has stirred up controversy after putting a lion, snake and crocodile into his sleeping friends beds and filming their horrified reactions.

In one viewed over one million times Russian man Khizri Zapirov, who lives in Moscow, is seen sneaking into a bedroom with a young crocodile in his hands.

He places the reptile in the bed where two men are sleeping and then shouts out loud to wake them up.

Khizri Zapirov, who lives in Moscow, put an almost fully grown lion in his friends' bed in one video (left) and a baby crocodile in the bed in his most popular video which has over a million views

The joker places a huge Burmese python beside a sleeping friend before recording his horrified reaction as he wakes up to see the yellow snake stretched out beside him

When one of the men sees the croc crawling across his bed sheets he leaps out of bed screaming while the prankster and his friends can be heard laughing off camera.

Another shows him doing a similar thing with a huge Burmese python and recording his horrified flatmates reaction as he wakes up to see the yellow snake stretched out beside him.

In his most recent video, the joker dumps an almost fully grown lion onto his pals bed and his friend dives out the bed and hides behind Mr Zapirov in the corner of the room.

Panic! The unsuspecting friend wakes up in a state of shock to see the huge predator in his bed

One scantly dressed housemate cowered beside Mr Zapirov (left) while another man was in complete disbelief at waking up to a snake in his bed

Now animal rights groups have complained to the police and demanded he be punished for animal cruelty.

The man explained he borrowed the animals from a friend who trains them and that he was present during every video to ensure the safety of the animals.

The police have yet to comment.
BBC presenter Naga Munchetty sparked online debate after appearing to crack a joke about 'those frogs' during a discussion about President Macron's visit.

Audiences were split on whether Naga deliberately used the insulting British term for the French, or whether it was an unfortunate slip of the tongue.

The gaffe came after Conservative MP Tom Tugendhat, the chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, ran into difficult while discussing Anglo-French relations.

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BBC presenter Naga Munchetty sparked online debate after appearing to crack a joke about 'those frogs' during a discussion about President Macron's visit. Audiences were split on whether Naga deliberately used the insulting British term for the French, or whether it was an unfortunate slip of the tongue

Losing his voice while commenting on the multi-million pound package offered by prime minister Theresa May towards French boarder security.

Persevering with a croaky voice, Breakfast presenter's Charlie Stayt thanked him for the talk and encouraged him to 'get a glass of water to help your throat'.

While Ms Munchetty added: 'Always annoying when those frogs appear at the most inopportune times.'

The clip soon emerged on social media as users discussed whether the Frog quip was intentional.

One Twitter user said: 'I was amazed that Naga Munchetty cracked an amazing Joke following a discussion on French negotiations ... Total respect to you Naga.'

Another, Rob Penryn, tweeted: 'Loving Naga's response to the MP taking about President Macron's visit, who had a nasty tickle 'always annoying when a frog turns up'. Magic!'

The gaffe came after Conservative MP Tom Tugendhat, the chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, ran into difficult while discussing Anglo-French relations

Losing his voice while commenting on the multi-million pound package offered by prime minister Theresa May towards French boarder security. Ms Munchetty said 'always annoying when those frogs appear at the most inopportune times'

But another user commented: 'Really did Naga Munchetty just make a racist remark talking about frogs in throat after an item on French talks with UK? Not good enough.'

BBC colleagues rebuffed the claims, saying Ms Munchetty did not intend to make the joke.

A BBC spokesperson said: 'Our guest appeared to be struggling with a croaky voice and Naga was simply referring to that.'
Chidinma Anya, 45, pictured outside court, sped along a grass verge on the wrong side of the road for 150 metres before the horror smash, the Old Bailey was told

An epileptic mother who killed her 18-month-old baby when she lost control of her car and crashed into a van while speeding was spared jail today.

Chidinma Anya, 45, sped along a grass verge on the wrong side of the road for 150 metres before the horror smash in November 2015, the Old Bailey was told.

Anya was doing up to 54mph in a 30mph zone in Plumstead, south-east London, when she crashed, killing her 18-month-old baby Eugenie Anigbo and injuring the van driver.

Anya, who had suffered from epilepsy ever since she was shot in the head during a robbery in South Africa, had not told the DVLA about her condition.

She was driving baby Eugenie and her other daughter Grace when she suffered a seizure and drifted into the wrong lane and on to a grass verge, before returning back into her lane.

But moments later at a bend in the road she drifted out again, mounted the kerb back on to a grass verge before ploughing into self-employed electrician Dean Snow who was in a white Vauxhall van.

Eugenie, who had been in an unsecured travel seat in the back of the blue Vauxhall Zafira, suffered devastating injuries to her neck and internal organs.

But judge Rebecca Poulet QC decided to suspend the prison sentence after Anya's husband Bernard Anigbo begged for her not to be sent to prison.

Mr Anigbo said in a written statement: 'She and the family have suffered immeasurably.

'Sending her to prison would almost certainly feel like the accident happening all over again. The children who are grappling with the loss of their sister would simply be devastated at losing their mother.'

Anya, who had driven daily since she passed her test in 2014, did not appreciate that full control of her seizures was impossible despite the medication and had not told the DVLA or insurers about her condition.

The judge accepted it was likely Anya suffered a seizure while driving.

'You had not declared your condition on more than one occasion, nor had you disclosed your condition in your application for insurance,' she said.

'You were taking a substantial risk when you drove, your ability to drive was impaired by your failure to take your prescribed medication regularly.

'I take into account the loss of your own 18 month old daughter, the serious injuries to yourself, your deep remorse and your otherwise good character.

'I believe that there is a realistic prospect of rehabilitation. You will undoubtedly learn from this grave mistake.'

The Old Bailey (pictured) was told that Anya had not told the DVLA or insurers about the condition she has taken medication for since being shot in the head in an armed robbery

Anya broke her hip and leg and now has a metal plate in her leg and sometimes uses a walking stick.

She appeared in the dock in blue jeans and a navy jumper and wept as prosecutor Genevieve Reed described the day of the crash.

Ms Reed said: 'Anya was travelling with her two daughters in the back of the vehicle.

'Eugenie Anigbo and her other daughter Grace was three-years-old at the time of the collision. The second vehicle was a white van and that was driven by Dean Snow.

'A number of eyewitnesses provided a description of Anya's driving, she was driving east along the highway and a car was travelling behind Anya and said her vehicle had moved from the east lane and was in fact driving into oncoming traffic.

'She moved onto the verge and continued on the grass verge for some distance.

'Another eyewitness witnessed Anya's vehicle coming towards her and she sounded her horn and before she was about to collide with Anya's vehicle it moved back into the correct lane.

'Mr Snow was going quite slowly as his van as it was weighed down with tools, he describes Anya's vehicle as appearing from behind vehicles travelling towards him in the same lane.'

Anya had received three points for speeding in May 2015 for travelling at 44mph in a 30mph zone six months before the horror crash, the Old Bailey heard.

She pleaded guilty to a charge of causing death by dangerous driving at an earlier hearing.

Tarquin McCalla, in mitigation, said going to prison would 'almost feel like the accident happening again' and told the court that Anya's seizures had got worse since the crash.

He said: 'She had not suffered a seizure to the extent that she did on that day at all behind the wheel of a car.

'She was taking medication and did not appreciate that full control was impossible.

'She accepts she had a seizure, it was an immense shock.

'To get behind the wheel that day demonstrates poor decision making to say the least, it is an action that will live with her forever.'
Surfers have gathered on the coast of Portugal to ride some of the world's biggest waves in an insane annual event.

Athletes from Australia, Brazil, Germany and France were among those to tackle 80ft walls of water smashing into the sands of Praia do Norte, 80 miles north of Lisbon.

Every January powerful storms in the North Atlantic create the waves which tower over spectators standing safely back on shore in the town of Nazare.

Surfers have gathered at Nazare, in central Portugal, to surf huge waves which crash into the shore at this time every year after being whipped up by Atlantic storms

Videographer Pedro Miranda captured this footage of athletes from around the world riding the huge swells, which he estimated to be up to 80ft tall

This swell originated on a North Atlantic storm and produced some of the biggest and heaviest waves the town has seen in years.

According to local videographer Pedro Miranda this swell generated two of the biggest days he ever witnessed in Nazare.

'Wednesday was probably even bigger but the strong wind conditions and heavy backlight and mist made it almost impossible to capture good footage, though waves were ridden,' he said.

'This morning things have changed, with light off-shore winds the conditions were as good as Nazare gets.'

Nazare became the destination for big wave surfing after Garrett McNamara broke the record for the tallest wave ever ridden here in 2011 which was officially measured at 78ft

McNamara claimed to have caught a 100ft wave at Nazare in 2013, smashing his previous record, but this has never been officially confirmed

'The biggest waves of the day were caught by Australian veteran surfer Ross Clarke-Jones, Sebastian Steudtner from Germany and Frenchman Benjamin Sanchis.

'Maya Gabeira from Brazil may have caught the biggest wave ever surfed by a woman,' the filmer later wrote online.

Nazare has become the world's premier destination for big wave surfing ever since Garrett McNamara broke the official world record for the largest swell ever ridden at the spot in 2011.

That wave was officially measured at 78ft. He claims to have surfed a second 100ft wave in Nazare the following year, but this has not been confirmed.
Chinese companies have been violating UN sanctions against trading with North Korea, according to U.S. officials.

Cargo ships have been photographed docking in North Korean ports to take on coal, which has then been brought to Vietnam and Russia or unloaded onto other ships mid-sea, the Wall Street Journal reports.

All cargo ships, six in total, are all either Chinese-owned or operated, and were tracked by the U.S. using satellite technology.

Caught: One of the six Chinese-owned or operated cargo ships seen docked in a North Korean port in this satellite photo

The ships would reportedly turn off their identifying transmitter devices when entering Korean ports and turn then back on as they left, according to the officials that spoke to the WSJ.

The U.S. reported the ships to the UN Security Council, has imposed a number of sanctions against North Korea in response to its nuclear missiles tests, in December.

As of August last year, North Korea is banned for all exports of coal, iron, lead, and seafood.

In September, this was followed up by a ban on joint ventures, textile exports, natural gas condensate and liquid imports, as well as a complete ban on North Korean nationals working in other countries.

The Chinese government has responded to the new allegations, stating that the country is in full compliance with the UN sanctions, and that the companies that own the ships are being investigated.

Breaking the rules: The U.S. has reported the Chinese shipping companies to the UN Security Council as violating sanctions against North Korea

Who to blame: Earlier this week, President Donald Trump claimed Russia is flaunting the UN sanctions and that China has been supporting the U.S.

The news comes just a few days after President Trump lauded China for supporting the U.S. in its attempts to reign in North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un, and claimed that Russia is the nation betraying the UN.

Trump praised China for its efforts to restrict oil and coal supplies to North Korea but said Beijing could do much more to help constrain Pyongyang.

But he said Russia appears to be filling in the gaps left by the Chinese.

'Russia is not helping us at all with North Korea,' Trump said during an Oval Office interview with Reuters.

'What China is helping us with, Russia is denting. In other words, Russia is making up for some of what China is doing.'

The Kremlin later bit back, with Moscow calling the allegation that it is in breach of UN sanctions on North Korea as 'absolutely groundless'.
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An Indonesian Christian was publicly flogged on Friday for selling alcohol which is deemed a violation of Islamic sharia law.

Jono Simbolon grimaced in pain when a masked religious officer lashed his back with a rattan stick on a makeshift stage outside a mosque in the provincial capital Banda Aceh.

He was said to have 'bowed to' the law known locally as Qanun and was sentenced to 36 lashings as a result, avoiding a potentially lengthy prison sentence.

Simbolon is only the third non-Muslim to suffer a public whipping since Aceh, on Sumatra island, began implementing Islamic law after it was granted special autonomy in 2001 - an attempt by the central government to quell a long-running separatist insurgency.

Jono Simbolon (front), an Indonesian Christian, grimaces in pain as he is flogged in front of a crowd outside a mosque in Banda Aceh, Aceh province, on January 19, 2018

A barefooted Jono Simbolon (centre in white) is led out before being publicly flogged. Locals smile, laugh and take pictures of the Christian

An Islamic enforcer holds the rattan stick against the back of Simbolon, who was whipped 36 times for selling alcohol in the province

About 98 percent of Aceh's five million residents are Muslims subject to the Qanun religious law.

Non-Muslims who have committed an offence that violates both national and religious laws - such as selling bootleg liquor - can choose to be prosecuted under either system.

Chief prosecutor Erwin Desman said as a Christian, Simbolon decided to be prosecuted under the religious law adding that the man may have chosen a flogging to avoid a lengthy criminal prosecution.

Banda Aceh mayor Aminullah Usman spoke at the public lashing, during which children cheered, and said: 'This is our government's commitment to enforcing Islamic law.

'If there is a violation of the law, immediately report it to the sharia police and we will carry out a punishment like today's caning.'

After 10 canings, a doctor had to check on Simbolon's condition before he was passed fit for the flogging to continue.

He was one of 10 people - eight men and two women - caned after Friday prayers for offences including pimping, prostitution and gambling.

One unmarried couple received 20 strokes each for being too physically close to each other - seen as a prelude to banned pre-marital sex.

Three police officers clad in sliver jewellery lead Simbolon out to be lashed. He is only the third non-Muslim to suffer a public whipping since Aceh, on Sumatra island, began implementing Islamic law after it was granted special autonomy in 2001 - an attempt by the central government to quell a long-running separatist insurgency

A sharia executor called an 'algojo' wearing white gloves, a lightly-coloured mask over his hood and sandals over his socks arrives to administer punishment for violating sharia law in Banda Aceh

Aceh is the only province in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim-majority country, which implements Islamic law, or Sharia.

Sharia law in Banda Aceh: Public lashings in Indonesia In the past two years or so, MailOnline has reported on the troubling rising trend of public lashings carried out in Aceh, Indonesia: March 1, 2016: Woman whipped 50 times for spending time alone with a man at the age of 19. March 24, 2016: Young woman carried from the stage on a stretcher after being lashed for sex outside marriage. August 1, 2016: Another woman is lashed for going on a date in Aceh. August 15, 2016: Elderly man caned for breaking Sharia law. September 11, 2016: Man and a woman lashed for having an affair and among the gathered crowd is the mayor of Banda Aceh. October 17, 2016: Muslim woman screams out in pain on stage after being lashed 23 times for standing too close to her boyfriend. October 31, 2016: A woman, 20, caned in public for getting too close to a man she wasn't married to. November 28, 2016: Man and a woman lashed 100 times each for adultery. February 2, 2017: Enforcer lands 26 beatings across the back of a woman for having sex outside of wedlock. February 10, 2017: Woman collapses in pain on stage as she is being caned. February 27, 2017: Man collapses on stage as he is being whipped for having sex outside of marriage. August 25, 2017: Ten Indonesians sentenced to up to 100 lashes of the whip for adultery. September 12, 2017: Woman hospitalised after 100 lashes for being with a man who wasn't her husband. November 17, 2017: Woman is caned for adultery. Advertisement

Last year, two gay men who admitted having sex were flogged in Aceh, with each receiving 100 strokes of the cane, drawing heavy criticism from rights groups.

Gay sex is not illegal in the rest of Indonesia, which mainly follows a criminal code inherited from former colonial ruler the Netherlands.

The province of Banda Aceh began implementing Sharia law after being granted autonomy in 2001  an attempt by the government in Jakarta to quell a long-running separatist insurgency.

Islamic laws have been strengthened since Aceh struck a peace deal with Jakarta in 2005.

People are flogged for a range of offences including gambling, drinking alcohol, gay sex or any sexual relationship outside marriage.

More than 90 per cent of the 255million people who live in Indonesia describe themselves as Muslim, but the vast majority practice a moderate form of the faith.

The brutal and public beatings have become more prevalent this year with a number of reported incidents of those being punished collapsing in pain on stage.

Back in September 2014, Aceh approved an anti-homosexuality law that can punish anyone caught having gay sex with 100 lashes.

After a three-decade-old separatist movement, a peace agreement signed in 2005 granted special autonomy to Aceh, at the northern tip of Sumatra, on condition that it remained part of the sprawling archipelago.

As part of that deal, Aceh won the right to be the only Indonesian province to use Islamic sharia law as its legal code.

Anybody caught engaging in consensual gay sex is punished with 100 lashes, 100 months in jail or a fine of 1,000 grams of gold.

The law also set out punishment for sex crimes, unmarried people engaging in displays of affection, people caught found guilty of adultery and underage sex.

Religious police in Aceh have been known to target Muslim women without head scarves or those wearing tight clothes, and people drinking alcohol or gambling.

Over the past decade, the central government has devolved more power to regional authorities to increase autonomy and speed up development.

Engaging in homosexual acts is not a crime under Indonesia's national criminal code but remains taboo in many conservative parts of the country with the world's largest Muslim population.

The trend appeared to be slowing down after a string of worrying incidents at the turn of the new year, but the new pictures reveal the practice still looms large in Indonesia.

Men and women have collapsed in pain due to the severity of their injuries and people can be caned for something as innocent as standing too close to a partner in public or being seen alone with someone they are not married to.

An Acehnese woman was also lashed as part of the public caning on Friday outside a mosque after prayers had finished

An Acehnese man is escorted by the sharia police before being whipped in front of the public for violating sharia law in Banda Aceh

The man holds his hand over his mouth and nose as the enforcer brings down the rattan stick hard on his back in front of the gathered crowd
Colin Firth has joined the list of growing actors who have refused to work with Woody Allen in light of sexual abuse claims made by his adopted daughter.

Dylan Farrow, who was adopted by the director and actress Mia Farrow, gave a TV interview on Thursday insisting she was telling the truth about being molested by Allen when she was seven years old.

The accusations of sexual assault were first made in 1992, claims Allen has vehemently and repeatedly denied.

After the interview broadcast, Oscar-winning Firth, 57, became the latest actor to publicly rebuke Allen.

Oscar-winning Firth, 57, has become the latest actor to publicly rebuke Woody Allen

Dylan Farrow, who was adopted by the director and actress Mia Farrow, gave a TV interview on Thursday insisting she was telling the truth about being molested by Allen when she was seven years old

In 2014, Farrow, now 32, wrote an open letter in The New York Times in which she describes the alleged behaviour by her adoptive father. Farrow is pictured here (left) with her parents

Firth starred in Allen's 2014 film 'Magic in the Moonlight,' shot before Farrow detailed the alleged abuse for the first time in her own words in an open letter published on a New York Times blog in 2014.

However he has now told the Guardian newspaper: 'I wouldn't work with him again.'

The Me Too and Time's Up movements to expose sexual misconduct in Hollywood have brought the claims to light once again.

In an interview with CBS This Morning with aired Wednesday, Farrow, now 32, pleaded to be believed.

'I am credible and I am telling the truth and I think it's important that people realize that one victim, one accuser, matters. And that they are enough to change things,' she said.

In an interview with CBS This Morning which aired Thursday, Farrow pleaded to be believed

Colin Firth has joined the list of growing actors who have refused to work with Woody Allen in light of sexual abuse claims made by his adopted daughter

Dylan Farrow's (right) claim first surfaced in 1992 in the midst of Allen's split from her mother Mia Farrow (left)

In February 2014, Farrow, now 32, wrote an open letter in The New York Times in which she describes the alleged behaviour by her adoptive father.

Allen, she writes, would 'stick his thumb in my mouth'.

He also allegedly made her climb into bed with him 'when he was in his underwear' and 'would place his head in my naked lap and breathe in and breathe out.'

Her claim first surfaced in the midst of her parents' bitter split, when Allen left the actress Mia Farrow for her adoptive daughter from a previous marriage, Soon-Yi Previn, 21 years old at the time.

Allen - the director of more than 50 movies, a four-times Oscar winner and showered with awards in Europe - has always denied the allegations, which have never been proven. He continues to enjoy a glittering career and remains married to Soon-Yi.

In recent weeks, actresses including Greta Gerwig, Rebecca Hall, Ellen Page and Mira Sorvino, have announced they regret working with Allen.

Oscar-winner Natalie Portman also told Oprah Winfrey in a televised interview with other actresses that she believed Farrow.

Allen has always denied the allegations, which have never been proven. He continues to enjoy a glittering career and remains married to Soon-Yi (pictured)

In recent weeks, a growing number of actresses, including Greta Gerwig (pictured), Rebecca Hall, Ellen Page and Mira Sorvino, have announced they regret working with Allen

The New York judge who presided over the 1994 custody battle between Allen and Mia Farrow ruled that the allegations were inconclusive, but at the same time lambasted the director as 'self-absorbed, untrustworthy and insensitive.'

Hall and the actor Timothee Chalamet, who appear in Allen's upcoming movie 'A Rainy Day in New York,' have announced that they will donate their salaries from the film to charities including the Time's Up movement.

Selena Gomez, who stars in the same movie, has already reportedly donated a fee larger than her salary to charity.

Farrow, who has called out celebrities who have starred in Allen's films, denied to CBS that she was angry with them.

Instead she expressed hope that they could 'maybe hold themselves accountable to how they have perpetuated this culture of silence in their industry.'
Arrested by police three days later at home, where they found more recordings

He installed the cameras in a unisex staff bathroom to record people changing

Mr Ker was working as groundsman at a childcare centre in Perth last year

Rodney Howard Ker, 51, was jailed for nine months for hiding cameras in toilet

A Perth man has been jailed for nine months after he installed a hidden camera in the bathroom of a childcare centre where he worked.

Rodney Howard Ker, 51, was working as a groundsman at the Gowrie Early Childcare Education and Care Centre in Karawara in February last year when he hid the camera.

Mr Ker, who admitted he was a 'peeping Tom' since he was a child, disguised the device in an adapted rat trap and placed it in a locked unisex toilet, ABC reports.

Rodney Howard Ker was working as a groundsman at the Gowrie Early Childcare Education and Care Centre in Karawara (pictured) in February last year when he hid cameras in the toilet

The camera was found later the same day by another staff member, who confronted Mr Ker.

He then took the camera home and detroyed the contents on the memory card.

Police arrested Mr Ker at his home three days later, discovering recordings of three people - two women and a child - getting changed in the bathroom of his own home.

The 51-year-old admitted that between 2014 and 2016 he installed a hidden camera in his own bathroom to record people.

He pleaded guilty to four charges of installing an optical device to record a private activity, and one count of wilfully destroying evidence.

District Court Judge Michael Bowden accepted that Mr Ker knew his motive for the crimes was for 'sexual gratification'.

Police arrested Mr Ker at his home three days later, where they found more recordings of people getting undressed in his bathroom (stock image)

Mr Ker told police he liked that people did not know he was recording them.

Since the offences, the 51-year-old moved to Queensland where he attended Sexaholics Anonymous sessions and he was remorseful for his crimes.

However, due to the serious nature of the offences, Judge Bowden sentenced Mr Ker to nine months' jail to serve as a deterrent for future offenders.

Mr Ker will have to serve half the term before he can be released.

District Court Judge Michael Bowden sentenced the 51-year-old to nine months' jail

Nick Wood, chairman of the childcare centre operator, released a statement regarding the incident.

'The staff member involved in this incident was immediately dismissed from his employment with Gowrie WA and remains banned from going near any of our centres,' Mr Wood said.

'[He] was not directly connected in any way to the care of children, rather his position involved the provision of property services.'
An FDNY first responder, who was immortalized in an iconic 9/11 photograph, has accused an 'all-black' color-guard of anti-white discrimination.

According to The New York Post, Lt Dan McWilliams said was kicked out of the procession being led by the Vulcan Society, a fraternal organization of black firefighters.

McWilliams filed an equal employment opportunity complaint with the department after the president of the Vulcan Society asked him to 'help in a different capacity' at a church service on November 19 instead of holding a flag.

Lt Dan McWilliams filed a compliant accusing an 'all-black' color-guard of anti-white discrimination (Pictured, from left to right, George Johnson, Dan McWilliams and Billy Eisengrein raise a flag at the remains of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001)

McWilliams (second from left) filed an equal employment opportunity complaint with the department after the president of the Vulcan Society asked him to 'help in a different capacity' at a church service on November 19 instead of holding a flag

'I have asked Lt [Mc]Williams to help in a different capacity for the ceremony today,' allegedly read a text from Regina Wilson, president of the Vulcan Society. 'I want to have an all-black color guard.'

McWilliams, 51, was one of two white members of the six-person ceremonial crew that day.

The New York Daily News reported that Wilson said she had yet to be interviewed by FDNY investigators and was not aware of the complaint filed against her.

'I'm unaware of any complaint made against me. I have not been contacted by anyone in the Fire Department,' Wilson, the first woman to head the society, told the News.

McWilliams (third from left) was immortalized in a photograph when and two fellow firefighters took an American flag from a yacht docked at the Hudson River hours after the September 11 attacks and ran it up a Ground Zero flagpole

President of the Vulcan Society (pictured), Regina Wilson, said she had yet to be interviewed by FDNY investigators and was not aware of the complaint filed against her

'But if this does get brought to my attention I would be more than happy to discuss what really occurred with the FDNY,' she added.

Just hours after planes flew into the World Trade Center in the infamous September 11, 2001 terror attack, McWilliams took an American flag from a yacht docked at the Hudson River and, with firefighters George Johnson and Billy Eisengrein, ran it up a flagpole at Ground Zero.

Photographer Thomas Franklin captured the moment and it became one of the of the most well-known images of that day. The Vulcan Society has been pushing for a more diversified FDNY.

In 2014, the department agreed to pay $98million to settle a lawsuit charging discrimination against blacks and Hispanics applying to become firefighters.
A boy at a Massachusetts elementary school has penned a heartwarming note of apology to a police officer after he prank-called 911 with his friends.

The boy, who police say is around 10 years old, allegedly called 911 from a phone in the cafeteria of East Somerville Community School in Somerville, a suburb of Boston, the Boston Globe reports.

Officer Randy Isaacs investigated the scene at the K-8 school after at least three such calls were made on January 10.

A boy who police say is around 10 allegedly prank-called 911 from his school. Days later, he came to police with a handwritten note of apology

He was able to find the students involved in the incident and, per a Facebook post about the incident, spoke 'with the students about the importance of 911 for emergencies'.

Days later, the boy, who has not been identified, and his mother came to the police station to deliver a handwritten note he had written.

Isaacs, a 10-year veteran of the department told The Boston Globe: 'The mom thought it was an appropriate punishment to have him write a letter of apology.'

The letter reads: 'I did something bad. I called 911 for no reason. It was a really bad idea. I don't know why I did it, all I know is that it was a bad idea, and I will never ever do it [unless] it is an [emergency].

Officer Randy Isaacs responded to the scene at East Somerville Community School and spoke with the boy and his friends about 'the importance of 911 for emergencies'

'I am very sorry for what I did. But it was a bad idea but the phone did not have a [dial] tone and did not work for a phone call. But I am still sorry.'

It concludes: 'Thank you for everything you do to keep us safe.'

The police department uploaded his note to Facebook.
An Ohio man accused of strangling his ex-wife and burying her remains in front of the couple's toddler son has been sentenced to 25 years in prison.

Fahad Saeed, 28, pleaded guilty on Thursday to charges including involuntary manslaughter as part of a deal with prosecutors.

In exchange for his admission of guilt, the prosecution agreed to drop an aggravated murder charge carrying a life sentence.

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Plea deal: Fahad Saeed, 28, is pictured in an Ohio courtroom on Thursday entering a guilty plea to the 206 strangulation death of his ex-wife

Saeed (left) was sentenced to 25 years for the killing of 25-year-old Roaa Al-Dhannoon (right), whom he then buried as his three-year-old son watched

When given a chance to speak at his sentencing on Thursday, Saeed said through an Arabic interpreter about his crime, 'Things happen,' reported Cleveland.com

Saeed's ex-wife, 25-year-old Roaa Al-Dhannoon, disappeared in October 2016. Her remains were found in May 2017 in a wooded area across from a Cleveland-area amusement park.

Assistant Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Blaise Thomas said the couple's three-year-old son told investigators that his mother was 'near the horses,' an apparent reference to the park's carousel.

Prosecutors say Saeed drew a map to the woman's body while he was jailed for violating a protective order. He gave the map to another inmate, who handed it over to investigators.

Key clue: Saeed (left) drew a map to his missing ex-wife's body while he was jailed for violating a protective order against her

Resting place: Al-Dhannoon's body was found in the Cleveland suburb of Brooklyn behind an apartment block in May 2017

Al-Dhannoon was last seen alive on October 16, 2016, at her Lakewood, Ohio, apartment.

She was reported missing three days later by concerned family and friends, who told police she had never been away from her son.

In February 2017, Saeed was sentenced to six months in jail for violating a restraining order before his ex-wife disappeared.

Then on May 15, 2017, officers acting on the inmate's tip came across a container filled with human remains near a ravine, in a wooded area across from the Memphis Kiddie Park, reported Fox8.

A medical examiner later confirmed the remains were Al-Dhannoon's. She was identified by her fingerprints.

Following the discovery of the body, investigators interviewed Saeed in jail about Al-Dhannoon's death without telling him she had been found, and the ex-husband finally confessed. He had denied involvement in her death during five previous interviews.

Upon serving out his prison sentence, Saeed, who is an Iraqi national residing in the US on a green card visa, could face deportation.
A Republican member of Congress claimed Thursday that he has evidence ISIS may have had a role in the Las Vegas shooting.

US Rep. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania told Fox News host Tucker Carlson: I smell a rat like a lot of Americans do.

Recently, I have been made aware of what I believe to be credible evidence, credible information regarding potential terrorist infiltration through the southern border regarding this incident, Perry told Carlson.

Terrorists? Carlson asked in response.

.@NRA A-rated Republican Congressman @RepScottPerry from Pennsylvania told Tucker Carlson that ISIS was responsible for the Las Vegas shooting.



What is happening, America?pic.twitter.com/EOOcm9Nr92  Shannon Watts (@shannonrwatts) January 19, 2018

Scott Perry, a Republican member of Congress, claimed Thursday that he has evidence ISIS may have had a role in the Las Vegas shooting

Perry told Fox News host Tucker Carlson (left): I smell a rat like a lot of Americans do

Catherine Lombardo (far left), a lawyer representing the victims of the Las Vegas attack, appeared on Carlsons show. She refuted the congressmans suggestion

Twice before the attack, ISIS warned the United States that they would attack Las Vegas in June and August, and after the attack claimed responsibility four times, Perry said.

Meanwhile, the local law enforcement investigative services are telling us there is no terrorist connection, lone gunman, again, something is not adding up.

Perry, who represents Pennsylvania's 4th District encompassing the area south of the state capital of Harrisburg, did not provide any credible information to support his claim.

Catherine Lombardo, a lawyer representing the victims of the Las Vegas attack, appeared on Carlsons show. She refuted the congressmans suggestion.

Stephen Paddock (pictured) killed 58 people and wounded over 500 when he opened fire on a large crowd in Las Vegas on October 1

Weve seen no evidence of a terrorist attack, she said.

I would ask, with all due respect Congressman, unless you have specific evidence to back that up, it seems a bit irresponsible to make that allegation. If you do have any evidence of that, Im asking you right now.

Perry replied: Im just telling you, I have received what I feel to becredible evidence of a possible terrorist nexus.

Were going to have to wait until that situation develops.

While Perry is correct that ISIS did, in fact, claim responsibility for the Las Vegas massacre, the FBI has stated that there is no connection between international terrorism and the gunman who killed 59 people and injured 527 at an outdoor concert on October 1.

Stephen Paddock, who was killed by law enforcement officials, is responsible for the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history.

Authorities believe he acted alone, though there is still no word as to what the suspected motive was.

Earlier this week, police in Nevada said that more charges could be filed against others in connection with the shooting.

Federal court documents made public Friday showed that as of October 6, the FBI considered Paddock's girlfriend, Marilou Danley, 'the most likely person who aided or abetted Stephen Paddock'.

Danley, who was in the Philippines during the shooting, was questioned by the FBI after returning to the US Lombardo and Aaron Rouse, FBI agent in charge in Las Vegas, said in October that Danley was not a suspect.

Bruce Hoffman, a terrorism expert, told Business Insider last October that organizations like ISIS like to claim responsibility for violent acts that it had nothing to do with.

Sheriff Joe Lombardo and the FBI have said they believe Stephen Paddock acted alone to carry out the October 1 shooting that also injured hundreds before killing himself

Attorney Nicholas Crosby did not identify new evidence or suspects but said charges might be possible depending on the results of an ongoing investigation. Paddock opened fire from the Mandalay Bay hotel in Las Vegas

On June 3 of last year, 36 people were killed in a deadly attack on a casino in Manila.

Though ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said his government had no evidence that the Islamist group was involved.

'There is a long history of terrorists trying to elbow themselves into the limelight and milk some horrible tragedy to claim some credit for themselves,' said Hoffman, who holds the title of Georgetown University's director of security studies.

'For them, it's a quote-unquote "freebie," in the sense that they get attention, and people talk about whether it's them. For terrorist groups, being in the news is one of the validations that they have an impact,' he said.

The far-right has peddled conspiracy theories about supposed terrorism by Muslims as being responsible for the Vegas shooting.

Alex Jones, the conspiracy theorist, said on his show in November: Vegas is as phony as a three dollar bill or as Obama's birth certificate.

In comments reported by Newsweek, Jones said the FBI was covering up a Saudi connection to the shooting.

They've been ordered not talk about it because it's all part of this deal that [President Donald] Trump's got with the Saudis, Jones said.

We'll see if that's really the case, but that was an Islamic terror attack from all the evidence we have.

Jones has also suggested that OJ Simpson played a role in the Vegas shooting, the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting was a government-orchestrated hoax, and that the September 11, 2001 attacks were an inside job.
A California mom murdered her family - including her three dogs - and set the house on fire before shooting herself dead, police say.

Teresa Mae Wilson, 68, of Bella Vista, California, shot dead her husband, Gary Lynn Wilson, 69, son Ellis Leroy Wilson II, 44, and daughter-in-law, Zoe Lynn Wilson, 20, on January 7.

Her other family members told police that there had been 'long-term tension' at the home which may have boiled over into violence, the Detroit Free Press reports.

Teresa Mae Wilson, 68, of Bella Vista, California, shot dead her husband, Gary Lynn Wilson, (pictured together) 69, on January 7

Teresa also murdered her son Ellis Leroy Wilson II, 44, and his wife Zoe Lynn Wilson, 20, (pictured together)

Shasta County sheriff's Sgt. Brian Jackson said: 'Due to the tension, it is believed Teresa may have reacted and committed the acts,' he said in a news release.

Detectives say each of her victims were found with multiple gunshot wounds, and would have likely died before she set fire to their home.

Teresa, who worked at Sears, also shot dead the family's three dogs and their two cats died from smoke inhalation, Jackson said.

Teresa, who worked at Sears, also shot dead the family's three dogs and their two cats died from smoke inhalation

Her other family members told police that there had been 'long-term tension' between Teresa (pictured) and her family which may have boiled over into violence

Fire crews were called out to the blaze at around 5pm on January 7pm, and once the flames were extinguished, investigators found that the fire had been deliberately started in one corner of the house, and an autopsy found evidence of smoke inhalation in Teresa's body meaning she was alive when it started.

She died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.

Police found a .380-caliber semi-automatic gun, which belonged to Teresa, still in her lap when they discovered her body.

Jackson said there was no evidence anyone else was responsible for the deaths or fire.

Teresa's surviving child, Ronnie Krug, has since paid tribute to her family, and even urged others to remember her mother as a 'caring parent' and her 'best friend.'

Detectives say each of her victims (pictured are Zoe and LeRoy Wilson) were found with multiple gunshot wounds, and would have likely died before she set fire to their home

After shooting her husband (pictured ), son and daughter-in-law, Teresa started a blaze at their home

'Missing my family,' Krug wrote on Facebook. 'Loving them and wanting them to be remembered as the kind, caring parents as everyone knew them as.'

'She was my best friend for years. I would always talk to her about everything. She was a great listener. ... I don't know what I would have done without her.'

Krug added that her mother had helped her to raise her children.
It has only been four days since Chris Christie left office, and already the former governor of New Jersey has found himself embroiled in a minor political scandal - Gategate.

Christie was reportedly busted by Port Authority officers when he arrived at Newark International Airport and skipped past the TSA checkpoint in an attempt to enter the facility through a special access area CBS New York reported on Thursday.

That is not the case however according to Christie, who called this report 'pure fiction' and scoffed at the notion that he would try to tiptoe around TSA now that he is a private citizen.

'Absolutely false story about my travel today. NJSP security detail & I were led to one entrance in the airport by PAPD officer. TSA informed PAPD and NJSP that this was the wrong way to enter and directed us to another entrance where I was screened & admitted to the airport,' wrote Christie on Twitter.

'Neither option was the way I entered airport as Governor(wrong in the story) and PAPD officer never denied me entry at either place (also wrong in story). He was a gentleman assisting my security detail. When he got the right info he took me to the right place. Pure fiction.'

There was at least one eyewitness to the incident as well as Christie was travelling with a state trooper when he arrived at the airport.

New Jersey offers departing governors the option of having a state trooper remain with them for their first six months after leaving office.

That trooper has not yet commented however on Gategate at this time.

The scandal hit the morning after Christie got to spend some times with the statesman he reveres the most - Bruce Springsteen.

He was snapped dancing and singing along at The Boss' Broadway show on Wednesday night in New York City before taking off on Thursday to a destination unknown.

The Port Authority spokesperson who first gave the statement about Christie's alleged struggle adjusting to life as a public citizen is standing by their story however, despite the former governor's firm denial.

That is the same group responsible for all operations on the George Washington Bridge, which was the site of another Christie scandal back in 2013 - Bridgegate.

Christie was cleared of any wrongdoing in that case, but former executive director of the Port Authority Bill Baroni got two years behind bars while Christie's right-hand woman Bridget Anne Kelly was handed down an 18-month sentence for their involvement in closing down a lane that allowed residents of Fort Lee to access the bridge.

It was widely reported at the time that the closure was a form of political retribution after Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich did not support Christie's second-term run for governor.

Sokolich is a Democrat and Christie is a Republican.
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The billionaire founder of Netscape has dramatically lowered the asking price on his Palm Beach estate - but the landmarked estate is still way out of reach for most Americans.

Jim Clark, 73, originally put his Florida home - named Il Plametto - up on the market for $137million in August 2016.

After finding no takers, Clark recently decided to change brokers and lower the asking price to $95million. The new listing agent is Lawrence Moens.

'Its one of the most important estates in America,' Moens told Realtor.com.

Jim Clark, the billionaire founder of Netscape, has slashed $42million off the asking price of his Palm Beach, Florida estate

The home - called Il Palmetto - is now being listed for $95million through agent Lawrence Moens

The estate includes a six-bedroom main house, a two-bedroom guesthouse and a two-bedroom boathouse

Features of the home, completed in 1927, include a 20,000-bottle wine cellar, 14-foot-high solid-bronze gates and an infinity pool

Even though he was forced to drop the asking price, Clark will likely make a lot of money if it sells anywhere near the new listed price since he only paid $11million for the property in 1999 when he bought it from the late philanthropist Janet Annenberg Hooker.

At the time, the home, build in 1927, was in disrepair, and it took several years for Clark to update the home and add additions onto it.

Among the features that Clark added to the home are a 20,000-bottle wine cellar carved out of limestone, a Moroccan room, 14-foot-high solid bronze gates and an infinity pool.

The Mediterranean-style estate was designed by architect Maurice Fatio and is considered to be his crowning achievement. The home was granted landmark status in 1980.

The Mediterranean-style estate was designed by architect Maurice Fatio and is considered to be his crowning achievement. The home was granted landmark status in 1980

Clark bought the home in 1999 for $11million from philanthropist Janet Annenberg Hooker

Clark spent the first several years remodeling the home, which was in disrepair when he bought it

In the main house, visitors can expected to find a 50-foot living room, formal dining room (pictured), family room, theater room, game room, eat-in kitchen, gym, spa and a library/den.

While Netscape is now defunct, Clark is still a billionaire with an estimated net worth of $2.1billion

Above, a view of a bar in the palatial home, named Il Palmetto

Among the features that Clark added to the home are a 20,000-bottle wine cellar (pictured) carved out of limestone, a Moroccan room, 14-foot-high solid bronze gates and an infinity pool.

Above, a view of a corridor in the main home of the Palm Beach, Florida estate

The infinity pool is located in the guesthouse which is located right on the Atlantic Ocean

The home has some impressive Italian-style gardens that no doubt flourish in Florida's year-round warm weather

The 5.48-acre estate includes a six-bedroom main house with 68,000-square-feet of living space, with a two-bedroom boathouse at the rear of the property, where the home has 360 feet on the Intercoastal Waterway.

At the front of the property, across a coastal roadway, the home has another 340 feet on the Atlantic Ocean, and a two-bedroom guesthouse that is accessed by a tunnel that goes under the road.

In the main house, visitors can expect to find a 50-foot living room, formal dining room, family room, theater room, game room, eat-in kitchen, gym, spa and a library/den.

Visitors needn't walk up a stair either, since the home as two elevators.

Clark (right) has been married four times. His current wife is former Victoria's Secret model Kristy Hinze (pictured together left at their wedding), the mother of two of his four children.

Clark is a former Stanford professor who made his billions in Silicon Valley start-ups such as the now-defunct web browser Netscape and WebMD.

Clark has been married four times. His current wife is former Victoria's Secret model Kristy Hinze, the mother of two of his four children.

He has an estimated net worth of $2.1billion.
The highly debated Australia Day playlist created by a controversial senator continues to make waves.

Senator Cory Bernardi made the 'Australian Conservatives Hottest 100' playlist after Triple J dumped their annual Australia Day Hottest 100 countdown out of respect for Aboriginals.

Despite the outrage, the senator vows he will not be removing his playlist, which includes tracks by Aboriginal artists.

'The bullies can't stop the music!,' Mr Bernardi wrote on social media.

Since launching his controversial Spotify playlist, Mr Bernardi has received backlash from a number of musicians and fans.

Senator Cory Bernardi (pictured) vows he will not remove his Spotify playlist despite backlash

Tim Rogers' (pictured) is threatening to seek legal action if his hit Berlin Chair is not taken off the South Australian senator's list

The 'Australian Conservatives Hottest 100' playlist was created by Mr Bernardi after Triple J dumped their annual Australia Day Hottest 100 countdown out of respect for Aboriginals

Tim Rogers joins Men at Work, Jimmy Barnes, Powderfinger, The Hilltop Hoods and Icehouse in the list of musicians demanding their songs be removed from the Australian Conservatives Hottest 100.

Rogers' is threatening to seek legal action if his hit Berlin Chair is not taken off the South Australian senator's list.

Claiming the problem was not about adding a song to a playlist, Rogers' lawyer Michael Bradley told Daily Telegraph the 'critical point' was the song being 'used for a political purpose' which breached the moral rights of the artist.

'It is being co-opted for a cause which is the opposite of what he believes in,' Mr Bradley said.

Since launching his controversial Spotify playlist, Mr Bernardi has received backlash from a number of musicians including Jimmy Barnes and Hilltop Hoods

Jimmy Barnes joined Savage Garden and Powderfinger in demanding to be taken off Australian Conservatives music countdown

The party took aim at the 'tax payer funded' station on Wednesday, announcing the release of its own version of an Australia Day playlist but artists included, such as Hilltop Hoods, were not amused

Angry Anderson supported the senator saying the musicians were 'precious' and the reason music is created is to 'give it to people' because it 'belongs to everyone'.

A Spotify spokesperson previously told Daily Mail Australia they actively supported marriage, gender and indigenous equality initiatives, believing in diversity.

'We want to make clear we do not endorse this playlist, nor do we have any official ties to the Australian Conservatives party nor any other political party,' the spokesperson said.

'Why would you listen to anything Cory Bernardi says, especially about music?' Jimmy Barnes (pictured) wrote on Twitter

Savage Garden lead singer Darren Hayes and Powderfinger demanded to be taken off Australian Conservatives music countdown amid threats of legal action

Powderfinger, who still have a Twitter account although they are no longer together, stated they 'do not support' Bernardi's countdown

While the national broadcaster changed the day of its annual Australia Day countdown, Triple J claim they had more votes compared to last year.

The Hottest 100 Countdown will be moved to January 27, instead of the traditional January 26 date, in a move to depoliticise Australia Day.

Triple J votes are on track to match or beat the 2.25 million votes last year according to Sydney Morning Herald.
The father of a toddler who was rescued from a hot, locked car in an affluent Sydney suburb will not be charged.

Police have determined the incident was an 'honest mistake' with psychologists adding it could happen to anyone, and that the term for his error is known as 'forgotten baby syndrome'.

On Friday, the father admitted he thought he had already dropped the child off at school.

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The boy's father will not be charged after police deemed the error 'an honest mistake' (pictured returning home after the ordeal)

The boy, believed to be just two or three years old, was found dehydrated and visibly distressed inside a car (pictured) on Thursday

Clinical psychologist Dr Gary Banks told 7 News the simple mistake was not so uncommon.

'Honest mistakes occur, but so do tragedies.

'The child's obviously fallen asleep and they're on a habit-based procedure and they forgot to drop their child off and actually just forgot.'

The boy, believed to be just two or three years old, was found dehydrated and visibly distressed inside the Kia Carnival parked outside a unit block on the leafy Powell Street in Neutral Bay about 11.15am on Thursday.

Officers broke the window of the car to rescue the toddler who is believed to have been inside the vehicle alone for about three hours, police say.

The father of the boy said he thought he had already dropped the child off at school

The father asked journalists if they could give him a lift to North Shore Hospital, where his son was being treated for dehydration

Police were forced to rescue the toddler from the hot car by smashing a window

The boy's father returned to the apartment complex early on Thursday afternoon.

'It was a rough night,' he told reporters.

'I went to drop off my kid at the school; he fell asleep in the car. I thought I had dropped him off and I went to work.

'It's a disaster, I hope that it doesn't happen to any other parent. It's your worst nightmare.'

Temperatures in the area rose to 25c at 11am, but in-car temperatures can be up to 30 degrees hotter than outside on a typical summer day.

Police seized the man's car and left a note on the door to the family's home saying the car had been impounded as 'you left your child in the car'.

The father asked journalists if they could give him a lift to North Shore Hospital, where his son was being treated for dehydration.

He was taken to North Shore Hospital where he was treated for dehydration

The incident prompted police and paramedics to again warn parents of the potentially deadly consequences of leaving children in cars, especially in summer.

In a statement, NSW Police said the boy has been released from hospital.

'Police have spoken to the parents of the child, and inquiries continue.'

Even on a mild day, the temperature inside a car can reach upwards of 40C, NSW Police said in a statement.

'I recorded the temperature inside a car for some internal research last summer and it reached 78 degrees in just minutes,' NSW Ambulance Chief Inspector Brian Parsell previously said.

The vehicle (pictured) was parked outside a unit block on the leafy Powell Street in Neutral Bay, on Sydney's affluent north shore, about 11.15am, police say

Even on a mild day, the temperature inside a car can reach upwards of 40C, NSW Police said in a statement

'The situation can quickly cause damage to body cells leading to unconsciousness, shock, organ failure and death. Even in milder temperatures, children and babies can get sick very quickly.'

The RACV also says tests show that on a 30C day, the temperature inside a car can rise to 70C in a matter of minutes.

A maximum of 28C was forecast for Sydney on Thursday.
Emmanuel Macron was greeted by the finest of British ambassadors at Sandhurst yesterday  the son of Mr Bean.

The French President smiled for a photograph alongside Theresa May and Rowan Atkinson's solider son Ben, who was part of the guard of honour for the visit.

Ben, 22, is enrolled at the prestigious military school for officer training before joining a regiment in the British army.

He was chosen to be one of the new recruits posing in a line up with the French President and Theresa May at the entrance to the academy.

Macron arrived at Sandhurst for the 35th UK-France summit in his first trip to the UK where discussed border control with PM during his stay.

Emmanuel Macron smiles for the camera yesterday alongside Theresa May and Mr Bean star Rowan Atkinson's soldier son, Ben

Ben, 22, is enrolled at the prestigious military school for officer training before joining a regiment in the British army

Rowan Atkinson (right) plays Mr Bean (left) one of Britain's best-loved comedy characters

Before the ceremonial welcome, the two leaders enjoyed a working lunch at the Royal Oak pub in Paley Street, in Mrs May's Maidenhead constituency.

She is expected to announce tens of millions of pounds towards border force and new technology over in Calais.

Mr Bean is one of the UK's greatest ambassadors and hugely popular in France. It is unknown whether Mr Macron is a fan or if he knew he was meeting the star's son.

Ben will spend 44 weeks at Sandhurst where all army officers are trained.

Ben (pictured) will spend 44 weeks at Sandhurst where all army officers are trained

Prince Harry and Prince William both attended the academy as an officer cadets where they learn to live by the motto 'serve to lead'.

Each year the Queen attends a Sovereign's Parade where she inspects the new recruits before they join their regiments.

Friends and family are also invited to join in the event and it is likely 62-year-old Atkinson, best known for playing 'Mr Bean' and 'Blackadder', will attend.

Ben celebrated being offered a place at Sandhurst by posting a message on social media saying: 'Dunno what this letter is but apparently The Royal Military Academy want me to come and attend them. Sounds like fun.'

Exeter University graduate Ben is from Rowan's marriage to make up artist, Sunetra Sastry, 55. As well as son Ben, they have a 21-year-old daughter, Lily, who is an aspiring singer. The couple split in 2013 and Miss Sastry later filed for divorce citing irreconcilable differences.

Earlier this year it was revealed the comedy star was to become a father for the third time at the age of 62 with his partner, actress Louise Ford, who is 29-years his junior.

The couple have been together for three years and were said to be delighted and excited about the news. Ford is best is best known for playing Kate Middleton in television hit, The Windsors.

Rowan Atkinson pictured with daughter Lily (left) and his former wife Sunetra (right) at the premiere of his film Johnny English in 2011

Macron arrived at Sandhurst for the 35th UK-France summit in his first trip to the UK where discussed border control with PM during his stay

The couple live in a 4.6m home in North London. Atkinson is one of Britains richest comedy stars with a 90m fortune.

He got his big break in the 1980s BBC series Not the Nine Oclock News alongside Griff Rhys Jones and Mel Smith.

He became an international star with the Mr Bean series and cemented his place as one of the funniest men on TV with Blackadder. Film roles include Four Weddings and a Funeral and Johnny English  a parody of the spy James Bond.

Mr Bean was sold to over 200 countries, including France, and repeats of the show are still shown today more than 25 years after they were first made.

It is one of the most successful TV experts from Britain with the disaster prone antics loved by all generations.
Four US service members have been reprimanded for breaking security procedures during Vice President Mike Pence's trip to Panama.

Three Army soldiers and one Air Force airman, all noncommissioned officers, received administrative punishment over the August incident in Panama, according to a report on Thursday in the Washington Post.

The troops were accused of bringing foreign women into a secure area without properly registering them.

Pence had reportedly not yet arrived in Panama at the time of the incident, and the service members involved were sent back to the US before he arrived.

Vice President Mike Pences (left) and Panama's President Juan Carlos Varela are seen on August 17. Four US service members have been reprimanded for bringing foreign women into a secure area in their hotel without registering them during the trip

The Army issued general officer memorandums of reprimand to the three soldiers involved, Army spokeswoman Adrienne M. Combs told the outlet.

The punishment is less severe than a court martial, but can affect their chances of promotion, reenlistment or retirement.

The airman involved also received an administrative punishment, according to an Air Force spokeswoman who declined to offer specifics.

The service members were all assigned to the White House Communications Agency, a military unit that provides communications and countersurveillance for top executive officials when they travel outside of Washington DC.

Pence poses with Panama Vice President Isabel de Saint Malo by the Panama Canal in August

The Army is still investigating a similar incident that took place in November in Vietnam, where specialists were preparing for a visit there from President Donald Trump.

In that case, three noncommissioned Army officers broke curfew in an incident involving foreign women, officials said.

In 2012, 11 Secret Service agents were placed on leave after they were accused of paying prostitutes during a trip to Colombia with President Barack Obama.
A traumatised survivor of the Westminster terror attack says NHS staff told him to 'drink a glass of warm milk' to help him sleep in the aftermath of the massacre.

Travis Frain, 19, from Darwen in Lancashire, suffered a broken leg, broken hand, a torn ligament, whiplash and cuts to his hand and arm when 52-year-old Khalid Masood smashed into him on the pavement along Westminster Bridge, killing four and injuring more than 50 people.

He also revealed that sick internet trolls sent him vile social media messages accusing him of making up the attack.

But Mr Frain, who was among a group of 13 students and a lecturer from the Ormskirk university on a two-day trip to the Houses of Parliament on March 22 last year, also suffered mental scars from his harrowing ordeal.

He said he felt neglected by British authorities in the months following and says the NHS is not meeting the needs of survivors.

Travis Frain (pictured with Princes Charles two days after the attack), 19, from Darwen in Lancashire, suffered a broken leg, broken hand, a torn ligament, whiplash and cuts

Mr Frain was among a group of 13 students and a lecturer from the Ormskirk university on a two-day trip to the Houses of Parliament on March 22 last year

Taken away: Mr Frain suffered fractures to his leg and left arm, as well as a cracked rib, two broken fingers and deep lacerations to his foot as he walked along the pavement

He claims he had to wait 10 weeks for an appointment with mental health professionals - despite specialists and his doctor urging immediate treatment.

When he finally got an appointment, he was told by a specialist a warm glass of milk would help him sleep better.

He told The National: 'I know it sounds like a joke - but you couldn't make it up,' he said.

A spokesperson for the trust that treated Mr Frain, Lancashire Care NHS Foundation, said: 'We are really sorry to hear that Mr Frain has not had a positive experience of our services. We strive to deliver excellent care at all times and regret to hear of instances when this has not been the case.

'It would not be appropriate for us to go into detail about the circumstances of the case. However, the matters raised have been investigated by us and the results fed back to Mr Frain through his MP.

'We would like to reassure you that our number one priority is always to ensure that our patients receive the highest quality of care at the right place, every time.'

The history and politics student also works with a charity, the Survivors Assistance Network, that helps victims of terrorism.

Just after the attack, his mother Angela, said her son escaped with his life after going over the bonnet of the killer's car as the carnage began.

She said she made contact with him shortly after the attack, with her son saying he had no time to react to the vehicle hurtling in his direction.

The history and politics student (left on Good Morning Britain last April) also works with a charity, the Survivors Assistance Network, that helps victims of terrorism

The 45-year-old said at the time: 'Travis said that all he could remember was walking along the bridge and the next thing he knew he was hit.

'But I know he's extremely lucky and it could've been a lot worse.

'He'd literally just left Parliament when the car mounted the curb and hit him. All he can remember is the car hitting him.

The Prince of Wales met the victims privately at King's College Hospital, including Mr Frain.
The ex-girlfriend of a Nepalese chef who killed a British backpacker revealed she sent frantic messages to his relatives days before his body was discovered in Sydney.

The woman, who is not named, text a string of panicked messages to Brazil Gurung's relative last Thursday, the day before the 33-year-old was found dead in his Newtown apartment.

Gurung killed Amelia Blake, 22, who was found with a number of head injuries, in a small apartment on King Street last Friday before also ending his life.

The relative revealed Gurung's ex-girlfriend said the chef had 'people waiting for him', in text messages shown to the Daily Telegraph.

The former girlfriend of Brazil Gurung (pictured) revealed she was 'scared' for the 33-year-old in text messages sent before his body was discovered last Friday

Gurung killed his British backpacker girlfriend, Amelia Blake, 22, (pictured) who was found with a number of head injuries, in a small apartment in Newtown before also ending his life

'He really said...ppl (sic) waiting for him. And he was having lots of calls from no. caller id,' the text reads.

'I don't know what he got into but it scared me.'

The former girlfriend is believed to have lived with Gurung for several months last year before they broke up.

On Thursday at 10.10pm, the day before the bodies of Gurung and Ms Blake were discovered, the ex-girlfriend text the 33-year-old's relative saying she was 'worried about him'.

Gurung's landlord found him and Ms Blake dead in their apartment on Friday - at 5.22pm that day, Gurung's relative asked his former girlfriend whether she had heard from him.

The two bodies were found by the landlord on King Street, Newtown a week ago (pictured)

Brazil Gurung killed Amelia Blake, 22, who was found with a number of head injuries, in a flat

'Did you get in touch with him. I try to contact but no response,' the text read.

The ex-girlfriend replied she hadn't heard from him.

The relative told the publication Gurung's wife, whom he had been separated with for 16 months, 'couldn't believe it'.

'She said he had never hit her and was never violent with her.'

However, a source told News Corp that Gurung's behaviour deteriorated before being sent to Nepal Rehabilitation Centre about six years ago.

'He had serious behavioural and mental problems while he was in Nepal,' the source said.

Gurung had moved to Australia following an arranged marriage and to study, but when his studies were discontinued and loan repayments mounted, he came under increasing pressure and began borrowing money from friends.

Gurung (pictured) was under financial pressure when he moved to Australia for an arranged marriage, forcing him to borrow money from friends

The 33-year-old (pictured) from Kathmandu came to Australia in a bid to escape his demons and start a fresh life

'He ended up working in the restaurant to survive,' the source said.

'But the monthly loan payments back in Nepal were piling up on both family and on his account. So he was under tremendous pressure to meet the cash flow in Australia and back in Nepal.'

The arranged marriage was short lived, lasting only a few months after the 33-year-old arrived in the country.

The source said he 'always had insecurity and inferiority complex related issues'

Ms Blake split up with her boyfriend in the UK to go travelling to Australia eight months ago, her neighbour revealed to Mail Online.

Gurung and Ms Blake (right) met at popular eaterie Fogo Brazilia Churrasco where she was working as waitress to help pay for her travels and he had a job as a chef

The 33-year-old reportedly became infatuated with Ms Blake (left), apparently stalked her and demanded money from her

Gurung and Ms Blake met at popular eaterie Fogo Brazilia Churrasco where she was working as waitress to help pay for her travels and he had a job as a chef.

The 33-year-old reportedly became infatuated with her, apparently stalked her and demanded money from her while work friends described him as a 'weirdo'.

Scott Haggarty, who lived next door to their Newtown apartment, said the couple 'looked happy' when he saw them arrive on Wednesday afternoon at the flat, which they had lived in for about three months.

Neighbour Scott Haggarty said the couple 'looked happy' when he saw them arrive at the flat, which they had lived in for three months, Wednesday afternoon (pictured Ms Blake right)

A crime scene will remain in place (pictured) until post-mortem results are back

'They kept to themselves. They just looked like a regular couple, I never heard an argument or anything,' he told The Daily Telegraph.

'They looked like a couple who worked in the bars and were on holidays here.'

The two bodies were found by the landlord who visited the flat to collect his mail.

Detectives are investigating the deaths through Strike Force Tenisonwood and a crime scene will remain in place until post-mortem results are back.
A 13-year-old boy from Oklahoma has been charged as an adult with first-degree murder in the crossbow shooting of his two younger friends last fall, one of whom died.

Shane Edward Brooks, of Wellston, is accused of firing a single hunting bolt at Austin Almanza, 10, and Ayden Almanza, 8, while playing with the siblings on October 21, 2017.

The older brother died at the scene after being struck in the abdomen. Ayden was taken to a hospital to be treated for an injury to his arm and was later released home.

Shane Edward Brooks (not pictured) has been charged as an adult with first-degree murder in the crossbow shooting of the Almanza brothers last fall. Ten-year-old Austin (seen left) died and eight-year-old Ayden (seen right with glasses) was injured

Rural road: The three boys were playing in a vacant lot along South Pecan Meadows Drive in Lincoln County, Oklahoma, when they allegedly had a falling-out

Sheriff's officials say Brooks shot his younger friends with a single bolt from his brand-new crossbow (stock image)

Brooks was arrested the next day, but his name was initially withheld from the public while he was detained at a juvenile facility.

He was charged with Austin Almanzas murder late last year, and his name was finally revealed this week.

During a preliminary hearing on Thursday, a judge ordered Brooks to undergo a mental health evaluation. He is due back in court on February 1.

According to an affidavit from the district attorneys office, cited by NewsOK, the victims' uncle, Roger Conaway, told investigators that he saw Brooks after the shooting dressed in camouflage and heard the teen say, 'I think I murdered him accidentally.' The boy then ran home in tears.

Conaway also told the authorities that he witnessed Brooks shooting arrows from his new crossbow into the air the day before the deadly incident, and described Shane as being 'careless with the crossbow.'

Brooks stepfather, Merrill Darley, told investigators that the 13-year-old had just been gifted the crossbow the day before the Almanza brothers' shooting.

A broad-head arrow pierced the left side of Austin's (pictured) body, exited the right and stuck Ayden in the arm

Darley added that Brooks 'has a good temperament' but hates his mother and had previously struck her.

Lincoln County Sheriff's deputies responded to South Pecan Meadows Drive at around 5.50pm on Otober 21, to find Austin lying dead and Ayden with the broad-head arrow protruding from his arm.

The arrow pierced the left side of the 10-year's old body, traveled through his torso, exited his right side and lodged in his younger brother's left arm.

After the shooting, Desiree Brooks said her son Shane came to her, claiming that he did not know what happened and alleged that the crossbow was 'loaded wrong.'

He added, according to the affidavit, that he realized the weapon had fired a bolt only after Austin collapsed to the ground with the arrow in his stomach.

Ayden Almanza, the survivor of the shooting, painted a different picture of the events of October 21, telling deputies from his hospital bed that Shane was mad at him and his late brother for trying to leave while the three boys were working on a treehouse together.

Brother Ayden (right) told deputies that Shane was 'mean' and on the day of the shooting, he grew mad at him and Austin for trying to leave

The wounded eight-year-old said that Shane, whom he described as being 'always mean,' grabbed his camouflage-colored crossbow equipped with a scope, hid in tall grass and then shot at them.

Ayden has revealed that the older boy had multiple weapons, including pistols, a shotgun, a rifle and airsoft guns, which Shane had allegedly fired at him a month before the crossbow incident.

Brooks has been out on $130,000 bail since last month. Under the conditions of his release, the 13-year-old must wear a GPS monitor, abide by an 8pm curfew, is prohibited from being around any weapons and cannot leave his house without adult supervision.
The bodies of Heaven Henderson, 21 (left), and Jeremy Danowski, 23 (right), were found dead and locked in an embrace on Thursday

The bodies of an Indiana couple were discovered on Thursday after they were reported missing last month.

Heaven Henderson, 21, and Jeremy Danowski, 23, were found in rural Lapel, confirmed Madison County Sheriff Scott Mellinger.

The bodies were found covered in snow, in an embrace and with a gun nearby as well as two shell casings, police said.

Henderson and Danowski were last seen in Indianapolis on December 17 by Danowski's mother.

Later that day, police found their car parked and locked just one-and-a-half miles away from where their bodies were found.

Henderson and Danowski both grew up in Lapel and had dated since the ninth grade, Rene Ruiz, Henderson's mother, told The Herald Bulletin in December.

For the past two years, they'd lived with Danowski's mother in her Indianapolis apartment.

Ruiz said Henderson had wanted to end the relationship and move into an apartment in Anderson with her father.

Henderson and Danowski (left and right) were last seen in Indianapolis on December 17 by Danowski's mother. They had been living with her in an apartment for the last two years

She added that Danowski made a comment during the Thanksgiving holiday indicating he knew Henderson wanted to breakup.

'If I can't have Heaven, no one can have her,' he allegedly said.

Danowski's father contacted police on December 18 saying his son's phone had last been used near Lapel. Police initially said they found no evidence of foul play when they first searched the car.

Sheriff Mellinger confirmed Danowski bought a handgun from a gun shop in Indianapolis on December 14 and that security footage showed he was with Henderson when the gun was purchased.

'Nothing was amiss in regard to the car being in Lapel,' he said. 'There was nothing - no exigent circumstances to make anyone, even a passerby, think that it was anything but a car parked legally in the park.'

Henderson's mother said that her daughter (left) wanted to end the relationship and move in with her father. Danowski (right) allegedly declared: 'If I can't have Heaven, no one can have her'

A gun and two shell casings were found nearby the site (circled). Police say they are treating the case as a homicide but are not ruling out the possibility of a murder-suicide

Mellinger said it was too early to confirm whether both Henderson and Danowski were shot, who died first and how long the bodies had been there. However, the possibility of a murder-suicide was not ruled out.

'At the very least, we have a homicide,' he said. 'We will attempt to determine if there was any coercion. We will attempt to determine which person died first.

'We will attempt to determine if there was any communication with anyone else that would help us come to what we would think is a final disposition of the case.'
Steve Bannon told a House committee that the 2016 Trump Tower meeting with Russians was 'unpatriotic'  following his apology for explosive comments that the sit-down was 'treasonous.'

Bannon made the comment while testifying before the House Intelligence Committee Tuesday, acknowledging that he stood by the sentiment of his comments reported in the Michael Wolff book 'Fire and Fury.'

'Even if you thought that this was not treasonous, or unpatriotic, or bad sh--, and I happen to think it's all of that, you should have called the FBI immediately,' Bannon was quoted as saying in the book.

During his interview, he said the meeting was 'unpatriotic,' but said the 'treasonous' comment quoted in the book was an exaggerated statement, ABC News reported.

Former White House strategist Steve Bannon told the House Intelligence Committee a 2016 Trump Tower meeting with Russians was 'unpatriotic,' but said his published comment that it was 'treasonous' was exaggerated

A source told the network the comment about patriotism was meant to refer to former Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort, not to Don Jr. or Trump son in law Jared Kushner, who also attended the meeting.

Bannon apologized after the comment was revealed, and became one of the most incendiary quotes in a book filled with back-biting in intrigue.

He said in a statement he was not referring to the president's eldest son, Don Jr., but meant to refer to former Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort, who in Bannon's telling should have known better than to get involved. Bannon joined the Trump campaign after the meeting occurred.

'I regret that my delay in responding to the inaccurate reporting regarding Don Jr has diverted attention from the president's historical accomplishments in the first year of his presidency,' Bannon told Axios in a statement.

Bannon called Trump Jr. 'both a patriot and a good man,' said his comments were 'aimed at Paul Manafort,' who 'should have known [the Russians] are duplicitous, cunning and not our friends.'

Then-White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon listens as President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting on cyber security in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2017

Steve Bannon, chief strategist for U.S. President Donald Trump, center, listens during a county sheriff listening session with Trump, not pictured, in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2017

The meeting was attended by Kremlin linked lawyer Natalia Vesenitskaya as well as other Russians, and occurred after the promise of dirt on Hillary Clinton was conveyed to Don Jr.

Bannon also acknowledged another bombshell quote from the book was speculation. He told Wolff about the meeting: '"The chance that Don Jr did not walk these jumos up to his father's office on the twenty-sixth floor is zero.' The White House has denied Donald Trump met the Russians after the Trump Tower meeting.

Bannon told the committee he was speculating about that.

Steve Bannon, former advisor to President Trump, arrives at a House Intelligence Committee closed door meeting, on January 16, 2018 in Washington, DC

In another revelation about Bannon's closed door testimony, it was reported that he gave up information about conversations with White House staff about the meeting after it became public.

He admitted to talking to former White House chief of staff Reince Priebus, former White House press secretary Sean Spicer, and Mark Corallo, the former spokesman for Trump's legal team who left his post.

Bannon 'slipped up' when he revealed the information, Axios reported, since it was part of his time as chief White House strategist, and exactly the period White House lawyers are maintaining is off limits.
A black Hawaiian Airlines employee has filed a racial harassment and discrimination lawsuit against the carrier, saying that his life was put in danger by colleagues who placed a noose and a lynching rope near his locker.

Timothy Degrate alleges the incident happened in August 2016.

'What that means to me, murder, death, intimidation,' he told Hawaii News Now. 'It was just a hostile environment to work in.'

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Timothy Degrate (left) alleges that the noose and lynching rope were found on his locker (right) in August 2016

Mr Degrate and his supporters say the noose was intended to frighten and offend him

Airline management say they have been unable to verify actions by specific individuals as described by Mr Degrate

Mr Degrate told KITV his ordeal began with a few casual derogatory comments made years ago, and then escalated when co-workers started harassing him.

He says he suffered psychological trauma as a result.

'Whenever there's a lynch rope and a noose toward a black person, immediately we consider that a death threat there's no doubt about it,' said Mr Degrate's attorney, Elizabeth Fujiwara.

When Mr Degrate discovered the noose on the locker next to his, he says he immediately knew it was intended for him.

'I'm the only black person there,' he said.

Initially the offending symbol was on the neighboring locker because his locker was broken and nothing could hang from it.

The employee who uses that locker is now a witness for Mr Degrate, saying in the complaint that he heard co-employees make racially insensitive comments to Mr Degrate and that he also believed the noose was intended to frighten and offend his co-worker.

In a statement, Hawaiian Airlines denied the allegations of workplace violence, but said it had taken steps to bolster staff training.

'We are sorry that Mr. Degrate felt disrespected in any way,' said Ann Botticelli, senior vice president of corporate communications at Hawaiian Airlines said.

'An independent investigation of Mr. Degrate's allegations was unable to verify actions by specific individuals as described by Mr. Degrate and we vigorously deny all allegations of workplace violence.

'Having said that, because Hawaiian Airlines is committed to maintaining a fair and safe work environment we have taken additional efforts to improve workplace interaction at our Kona station, including mandatory staff-wide training on communicating and interacting with respect.'

Mr Degrate has been with Hawaiian Airlines since 2000, and is a lead line service supervisor at the Kona International Airport.

He is seeking damages and attorneys' fees.

Earlier this month Delta Air Lines was accused of anti-Semitism by four current and former flight attendants.

A federal discrimination lawsuit, filed Tuesday in Brooklyn federal court, claims the airline has an 'anti-Jewish, Hebrew, and ethnic Israeli attitude.'




Countering China's rapidly expanding military and an increasingly aggressive Russia are now the U.S. military's top national security priorities, outpacing the threat of terrorism, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Friday.

He said competition with those adversaries has threatened America's military advantage around the world.

Laying out a broad new strategy for the Defense Department, Mattis warned that all aspects of the military's competitive warfighting edge have eroded.

He said building a force that can deter war with established and emerging military powers in Moscow and Beijing, and U.S. enemies such as North Korea and Iran will require increased investment to make the military more lethal, agile and ready to fight.

Defense Secretary James Mattis speaks about the National Defense Review, Friday, Jan. 19, 2018, in Washington. China's expanding military and an increasingly aggressive Russia are among the U.S. military's top national security priorities, the Pentagon said Friday. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

'We will continue to prosecute the campaign against terrorists that we are engaged in today, but great power competition - not terrorism - is now the primary focus of U.S. national security,' Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said in remarks at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.

He said the Islamic State group's 'physical caliphate' in Iraq and Syria had been defeated, but that IS, al-Qaida and other extremists still pose threats across the globe.

Mattis repeated his call for America to work closely with allies and partners - an approach that aligns more closely with previous administrations than President Donald Trump's 'America First' ideas. That mantra was repeated in a national security strategy that Trump's administration released in December.

The U.S. and its allies, Mattis said, are stronger together. He recalled going to his first NATO meeting last year, carrying Trump's demand for nations to increase their defense spending and thinking about how to fit Trump's message into the broader framework of working with partners.

When he got to Brussels, Mattis said he told the alliance: 'Here's the bottom line: Please do not ask me to go back and tell Americans - the American parents - that they need to care more about the safety and security and the freedom of your children than you're willing to care for, than you're willing to sacrifice for. We're all going to have to put our shoulder to the wagon and move it up the hill.'

The Armed Police's Beijing corps take an oath during a ceremony on January 2, 2018 in Beijing, China. Chinese military began annual training activities

Chinese servicemen during a seeing-off ceremony for Russia's and China's warships heading to take part in the second stage of Naval Cooperation 2017, a joint Russian-Chinese military exercise in the Sea of Japan and the Sea of Okhotsk, at the 33rd mooring in Vladivostok

The marines of China navy participate in the annual military training on January 3, 2018 in Zhanjiang, Guangdong Province of China

Defense Secretary James Mattis speaks about the National Defense Review, Friday, Jan. 19, 2018, in Washington. China's expanding military and an increasingly aggressive Russia are among the U.S. military's top national security priorities, the Pentagon said Friday. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Did the message resonate? 'It's going better than expected,' Mattis said Friday.

The most dominant theme in his strategy is for the U.S. to regain its competitive edge with China and Russia, according to an 11-page, unclassified version released by the Pentagon.

That shift reflects persistent U.S. worries about China's military buildup in the South China Sea, its moves to expand its political and economic influence, and what has been described as Beijing's systematic campaign of cyberattacks and data theft from government agencies and private U.S. corporations.

The shift also underscores broad American concerns about Russia, given Moscow's takeover of Ukrainian territory, involvement in Syria's war and alleged meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

Defense Secretary James Mattis speaks about the National Defense Review, Friday, Jan. 19, 2018, in Washington. China's expanding military and an increasingly aggressive Russia are among the U.S. military's top national security priorities, the Pentagon said Friday. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

'We've been doing a lot of things in the last 25 years, and we've been focused on really other problems and this strategy really represents a fundamental shift to say, look, we have to get back, in a sense, to basics of the potential for war,' said Elbridge Colby, the deputy assistant defense secretary for strategy. 'This strategy says the focus will be on prioritizing preparedness for war and particularly major power war.'

Previous defense chiefs long warned about China, and the Obama administration put a greater focus on the Asia-Pacific region, including by adding ships and troops. Colby said the U.S. still seeks areas of cooperation with Russia and China, stressing 'this is not a strategy of confrontation.'

Defense Secretary James Mattis speaks about the National Defense Review, Friday, Jan. 19, 2018, in Washington. China's expanding military and an increasingly aggressive Russia are among the U.S. military's top national security priorities, the Pentagon said Friday. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

The U.S. has pushed China to increase pressure on North Korea to abandon its nuclear ambitions. Washington has maintained talks with Russia to ensure no conflicts or accidents in the sky over Syria, where both nations are bombing IS fighters.

In the strategy's conclusion, Mattis makes clear his goal is to 'pursue change at significant scale' with sustained investment and creative approaches. That plan, however, faces grim budget hurdles.

China's Shijiazhuang destroyer seen ahead of Naval Cooperation 2017, a joint Russian-Chinese military exercise, in the Sea of Japa

Defense Secretary James Mattis speaks about the National Defense Review, Friday, Jan. 19, 2018, in Washington. China's expanding military and an increasingly aggressive Russia are among the U.S. military's top national security priorities, the Pentagon said Friday. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

In his speech, Mattis criticized Congress for budget caps that have done more to erode military readiness than any other enemy since 9/11.

'For too long we have asked our military to stoically carry a 'success at any cost' attitude, as they work tirelessly to accomplish the mission with now inadequate and misaligned resources, simply because the Congress could not maintain regular order,' Mattis said.

Lawmakers have been deadlocked on a spending bill, bringing the federal government to the brink of a shutdown at midnight Friday. They're still constrained by the Budget Control Act of 2011, which put mandatory spending caps in place.

The Pentagon strategy acknowledges the budget limits, and seeks greater spending discipline and management, along with base closings to save money. Congress has repeatedly rejected additional base closings.
Explorers may have finally found the wreckage of an 1838 steamboat that was ferrying notables of the day and exploded off the coast of North Carolina.

The Pulaski was ferrying politicians such as William B Rochester, a politician and the son of the New York city's namesake, and members of the Lamar family, a wealthy Southern dynasty, from Savannah, Georgia to Baltimore, Maryland in the spring of 1838. The former and at least five of the latter died. The ship made a stop - its last landfall - in Charleston, South Carolina.

An account of the ship's tragic end by a Mrs Hugh McLeod reads: 'The passengers were from the elite of [Savannah].

'Sojourners returning to their distant homes, and others from farther South and West, assembled on the deck, presenting a picture of unusual brightness; so many happy faces animated by hope and expectation.

'[The Pulaski] inspired confidence. She appeared so strong, and looked so comfortable.'

While traveling down the Eastern Seaboard one night in June, it exploded at around 11pm. Of the 200 passengers and crew on board, around 100 are believed to have died.

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A diving team of explorers may have found the wreckage of an 1838 steamboat that exploded off the coast of North Carolina in 1838

Valuables found include early American and Spanish coins. The exploration team hopes to find evidence that can definitively confirm the wreckage is in fact the Pulaski

The Pulaski, a steamboat, was ferrying elite Southerners from Savannah, Georgia to Baltimore, Maryland when it exploded. Around 100 of the 200 passengers and crew on board died

A survivor's account in the Wilmington Advertiser tells of 'the wailing of the hopeless beings who were floating around in every direction, upon pieces of the wreck, to seek land'.

McLeod's account, compiled from survivor's recollections, reads: 'The boat parted in two with a tremendous crash, and the bow and stern rose somewhat out of the water, but the latter again continued to sink until the water reached the promenade deck, when it separated into two parts, upset and precipitated all on it into the water.'

The North Carolina Standard deemed the disaster to be 'the most painful catastrophe that has ever occurred on upon the American coast' up to that point.

The shipwreck was blamed on a starboard boiler explosion; accounts from the day blamed the steamboat's engineers.

Survivors then floated in rafts days before finally making landfall and reuniting with family and friends.

The North Carolina Standard deemed the disaster to be 'the most painful catastrophe that has ever occurred on upon the American coast'. Divers are pictured exploring the wreckage

If the ship's bell or numbering on its boilers are found, then whether or not the ship is in fact the Pulaski could be conclusively proven

Now two groups - Blue Water Ventures International and Endurance Exploration - are working to recover coins and other valuables from a wreckage site 40 miles off the coast of North Carolina.

The coins that have been found by the operation's divers are dated to no later than 1836.

They include early United States silver issues and Spanish silver coins from the late 1700s.

'We are looking forward to these next months, as our team continues to recover this shipwreck, bringing pieces of our past back to the present,' Keith Webb, the President of BWVI, said in a press release.

The evidence has not yet confirmed outright that the wreckage is in fact the Pulaski. But the facts that the coinage found on the boat predates 1838 and that analysis of the wreckage corroborates a boiler explosion are seen as promising by the exploration team.

'Finding the Pulaski is a big deal,' Doctor Joseph Schwarzer of the North Carolina Maritime Museums told the Charlotte Observer. 'Saying something was the "Titanic of its time" is an overworked metaphor....But I will say it's one of the more significant disasters in American maritime history.'

Other notable objects found include a men's razor, a candlestick holder and a turkey platter, per the Observer.

Evidence that could confirm the wreckage is in fact the Pulaski include the ship's bell and numbering on its boilers - neither of which have been found.
Officials at a mosque have reportedly cut down 10 pine trees because they were said to resemble Christmas trees.

The religious temple where the firs were banished is in the Indonesian province of Aceh, where citizens are ruled by ultra-strict Islamic Sharia law.

Chairman of the Baitul Makmur Meulaboh Mosque named only as Anwar said as well as looking like a Christmas tree, the trees had become unkempt and obscured the view of the building from the road.

The trees were felled by the chairman of the Baitul Makmur Meulaboh Mosque in Aceh, Indonesia

A spokesman for the West Aceh Regency Council slammed the decision, saying the reasons given made 'no sense'.

He told Cakradunia: 'In that case why dont we hack down all the pine trees in West Aceh?

'How much has been budgeted all this time to maintain those trees only for them to be thrown away just like that?'

With the trees now felled, there is no shade from the 30C sun for street vendors or parked cars.

As well as backlash from the local council, the mosque has been pilloried by the city's Environment Agency, who dismissed claims the trees were not maintained.

Ten trees in total were chopped down because mosque officials decided they looked like a Christmas tree (pictured)

Head of the Meulaboh Environment Agency, Adi Yunanda, said: 'All this time, the trees in Meulaboh have been maintained.

The agency budgeted nearly 400 a year to trim the ten trees and more than 800 in fertiliser.

Adi added that the mosque caretakers unilaterally came up with the decision to cut down the trees  which were public property  but did not mention any possible sanctions for them.

Aceh is the only province in Indonesia given regional autonomy to enforce Islamic sharia law.

The province has been criticized for systemic human rights abuses, including public floggings for alleged adulterers and those suspected of homosexuality.
Nigel Farage has been accused of passing data to Julian Assange in secret meetings revealed in evidence handed to a US congressional inquiry.

The former Ukip leader is said to have passed a USB 'thumb drive' to Mr Assange during one of their sessions at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London.

The claims were made by the co-founder of the investigative firm behind the controversial 'Trump dossier' into the US president's alleged links with Russia before he entered the White House.

Nigel Farage was spotted emerging from the Ecuadorian embassy last year (pictured) after BuzzFeed revealed he had been having secret meetings with Julian Assange He has now been accused of passing data to the activist

Assange has been holed up in the embassy for more than five years after he was accused of rape in Sweden. He insists he is at risk of extradition to the US

According to a transcript of his testimony released by the House Intelligence Committee, Fusion GPS boss Glenn Simpson claimed WikiLeaks was part of a 'somewhat unacknowledged relationship' between the Trump team and the 'Ukip people'.

Mr Farage told Mail Online: 'It is more conspiratorial nonsense'.

The allegations emerged as Mr Simpson was giving evidence about his firm's investigation into Mr Trump's affairs.

The work was carried out initially on behalf of Republicans opposed to his nomination for the presidency and then later for a law firm acting for the Democrats.

In the course of their inquiries the firm employed former MI6 officer Christopher Steele, who produced the dossier claiming that the Russians had gathered compromising material on Mr Trump - claims fiercely denied by the president.

Ex-Ukip leader Nigel Farage (pictured this week in Strasbourg) told MailOnline: 'It is more conspiratorial nonsense'

However, during his appearance before the committee in November, Mr Simpson said his interest in the Trump campaign's links to Ukip and WikiLeaks were separate from Mr Steele's investigations.

He said that Mr Farage became 'someone that we were very interested in' after the EU referendum vote in June 2016.

'I still think it's very interesting,' he said.

'And so I have formed my own opinions... that there was a somewhat unacknowledged relationship between the Trump people and the Ukip people and that the path to WikiLeaks ran through that.

'And I still think that today.'

Mr Simpson said while there had been media reports of one visit Mr Farage made to the Ecuadorian Embassy - where Mr Assange has been living since 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden - he believed there had been further contacts between the two men.

'I've been told and have not confirmed that Nigel Farage had additional trips to the Ecuadoran Embassy than the one that's been in the papers and that he provided data to Julian Assange,' he said.

Asked what kind of data, he replied: 'A thumb drive.'

According to a transcript of his testimony released by the House Intelligence Committee, Fusion GPS boss Glenn Simpson claimed WikiLeaks was part of a 'somewhat unacknowledged relationship' between Donald Trump (pictured in the White House) and the 'Ukip people'

WikiLeaks has been accused by Hillary Clinton of acting as a 'fully owned subsidiary of Russian intelligence' after it published damaging emails, allegedly stolen by Russian operatives, during the 2016 presidential election campaign.

Mr Farage campaigned for Mr Trump in the election and was one of the first visitors to meet him in Trump Tower following his victory.

Mr Trump responded by suggesting that Mr Farage should be appointed UK ambassador to the US - much to the consternation of British diplomats.

Assange has been hiding out since 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden over rape allegations because he fears he would then be extradited to the US to be prosecuted over the Chelsea Manning leaks.

He has broadcast over the web and given speeches from the balcony during his time in the embassy.
President Donald Trump said again that Senate Democrats will be to blame as it looks increasingly likely that the government will shut down on Friday evening.

The feisty-fingered president tweeted that it's 'not looking good for our great Military or Safety & Security on the dangerous Southern Border,' as the likelihood of a shutdown looms over his head.

'Dems want a Shutdown in order to help diminish the great success of the Tax Cuts, and what they are doing for our booming economy,' he added.

But despite his attempt to blame the opposition - recent polls show Republicans and President Trump will bear most of the blame.

A national ABC News/Washington Post poll released Friday found 48 percent of people surveyed say they will blame Trump and the GOP for a shutdown, while only 28 percent will blame Democrats.

And another survey by Quinnipiac had similar results - with 32 percent saying they would blame Republicans, 21 percent blaming Trump, and 34 percent blaming Democrats.

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President Donald Trump said again that Senate Democrats will be to blame as it looks increasingly likely that the government will shut down on Friday evening

The feisty-fingered president tweeted that it's 'not looking good for our great Military or Safety & Security on the dangerous Southern Border,' as the likelihood of a shutdown looms over his head

President Trump's latest tweet comes just hours after he attempted to stave off the shutdown when he met with Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer Friday evening. After the meeting he said he was 'making progress' on a deal to prevent the shutdown

The New Yorkers broke off talks without an agreement. But they said in separate statements that 'progress' had been made on a deal

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham also joined in the discussion late Friday night, saying that he thinks the senate is 'close on a lot of issues'

'In the publics eyes this will be another divisive moment, another moment of unease,' Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac poll said on Friday.

'If you're someone facing a 2018 election, any kind of chaos and unease is going to hurt you. And if you're a Republican, which controls the House, the Senate and the presidency, you may be more vulnerable.'

President Trump's latest tweet comes just hours after he attempted to stave off the shutdown when he met with Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer Friday evening. After the meeting he said he was 'making progress' on a deal to prevent the shutdown.

The New Yorkers broke off talks without an agreement. But they said in separate statements that 'progress' had been made on a deal.

'Excellent preliminary meeting in Oval with @SenSchumer - working on solutions for Security and our great Military together with @SenateMajLdr McConnell and @SpeakerRyan. Making progress - four week extension would be best!' Trump tweeted.

Schumer, in a statement, said 'We had a long and detailed meeting. We discussed all of the major outstanding issues, we made some progress, but we still have a good number of disagreements.'

The Democratic senator said discussions 'will continue' as the federal government hurled toward a shutdown. He broke away from a pack of Capitol Hill reporters without responding to questions.

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham also joined in the discussion late Friday night, saying that he thinks the senate is 'close on a lot of issues.'

'I think we're inside the 10 yard line on immigration,' he told reporters, according to CNN. 'I think we're close on a lot of issues, including defense spending.'

Graham offered a three week continuing resolution. which would keep the government funded until February 16 and give the two parties time to hammer out their differences. It's not clear if that will pass.

Schumer did not stop to talk to reporters at the White House on Friday after his meeting with Trump. He delivered a statement minutes later on Capitol Hill, but did not take questions there, either

The White House tried to brand it the 'Schumer Shutdown' on Friday just before the Democrat was invited to 1600 Penn for his face-face

As day turned to night lawmakers floated the idea of a four- or five-day extension that would authorize government spending through next week on Tuesday or Wednesday.

Just after Trump's tweet pushing for a four-week deal a senior White House official told DailyMail.com that a deal like that would be a 'non-starter.'

Trump is supposed to attend an elite economic conference next week in Davos, Switzerland. A day-long solution would threaten his trip.

Already, the president was prevented from flying to Palm Beach today. He is supposed to be holding a glitzy fundraiser celebrating the anniversary of his inauguration tomorrow.

The talks with Schumer came after one of the president's chief aides said the prospect of a government shutdown was now '50-50' because senators are in a stalemate.

Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney said Friday morning that the White House was directing agencies to begin implementing plans for a lapse in funding.

Without the support of 10 Democrats, a bill staving off a government shutdown that passed yesterday in the House will lay dormant in the U.S. Senate.

A White House spokesman proclaimed Trump 'the negotiator-in-chief' on Friday as the president rolled up his sleeves and went to work on Schumer, a New York Democrat and the Senate minority leader.

'He's the one who wants a deal. He sets the terms,' said White House deputy press secretary Hogan Gidley. 'He's been very clear. He wants to fund this government.'

But even the famed 'Art of the Deal' author was struggling on Friday evening to get the government out of this log jam.

Just three Senate Democrats said they were ready cross party lines at close of business on Friday. And two Republicans were claiming they would counteract them by voting no.

Schumer attempted to pin the blame Friday on Trump for the looming shutdown. He shared a video of the future president saying in a 2011 'Today' show interview that Barack Obama should take the heat if the government skidded to a halt.

Trump's campaign apparatus hit Schumer just as the president signaled a detente. An email blasting the Democrat hit inboxes just as Trump was sitting down with the fellow New Yorker at the White House.

'Ive warned Chuck Schumer not to shut down the American government over ILLEGAL immigrants. Now he needs to hear from the most powerful force in our nation: YOU -- the American voter,' the email bearing Trump's signature warned.

The president told his supporters, 'I need you to join millions just like you who are signing a written statement that I will put in every liberal obstructionists office -- especially those facing tough re-elections in beautiful red states that I won BIG.

'DO NOT SHUT DOWN THE GOVERNMENT, DO NOT HOLD OUR MILITARY HOSTAGE, AND DO NOT DENY HEALTH CARE TO 9 MILLION AMERICAN CHILDREN ALL FOR THE SAKE OF PROTECTING ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS. AMERICANS COME FIRST!'

Trump was meeting on Friday with Schumer at the White House but not Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (left)

DONALD TRUMP, CALL YOUR CAMPAIGN: An email blasting Schumer hit inboxes just as Trump was sitting down with the fellow New Yorker at the White House for negotiations

At an on-camera briefing prior to the Trump-Schumer summit, Mulvaney told White House reporters: 'OMB is preparing for what we're calling the "Schumer shutdown." '

'I just want to let everybody know that we don't want this. We do not want a shutdown,' Mulvaney said. 'But if Mr. Schumer insists on it, he is in a position to force this on the American people.'

Mulvaney said OMB was operating under the assumption that a shutdown would happen, regardless of conversations taking place about a resolution that would keep the government open at least through the weekend.

'I think it's ratcheted up,' Mulvaney told reporters asking about the prospects of a shutdown at the White House on Friday morning. 'The bottom line is we're working to make sure there is no shutdown but if the Senate or the House can't get together to finalize a deal we'll be ready.'

Trump is supposed to be holding a gala at his Palm Beach resort tomorrow evening to celebrate the first anniversary of his inauguration. His departure was postponed by at least a day on Friday as the showdown with Senate Democrats slogged on.

If the government's spending authority were to lapse, federal employees who are considered 'non-essential' will be sent home until a budget deal is signed. They are typically paid retroactively.

Shutdowns in 1995, 1996 and 2013 put roughly 800,000 government workers on furlough.

The White House, Congress, State Department and Pentagon would remain online, although staff who are not critical to the operation would be sent home until further notice.

The prospect of a government shutdown is now '50-50,' Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney said Friday as the Senate sputtered into gear

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Friday that Democrats now 'own' the shutdown as they are the ones keeping a stop-gap resolution from going into effect

Trump has claimed that the military would be cut deepest by a shutdown. However, troops would still report for duty - they just might not be paid on time.

Mulvaney said Friday that the Obama administration 'weaponized' the 2013 shutdown, and that was something this federal government would not do again.

'They could have made the shutdown in 2013 much less impactful, but they chose to make it worse,' he said. 'The only conclusion I can draw is they did so for political purposes. So it will look different this time around.'

Mulvaney admitted during the White House's news conference that national parks would remain open, firefighters would keep working and servicemembers would keep fighting overseas, in spite of Trump's dire claim yesterday that 'the group that loses big' in a shutdown 'would be the military.'

'But don't lose sight of the fact that we're asking the military to work without pay. We're asking firefighters to work without pay. It's still harming the people,' Mulvaney said on Friday. 'All of these people will be working for nothing, which is simply not fair.'

Congress was teetering on the edge of a government shutdown on Friday after the House of Representatives passed a stopgap funding bill on a 230-197 vote but the Senate did not.

The upper chamber went into recess on Thursday evening with Senate Democrats poised to block the legislation.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell let members go home as he admitted that he was unclear what the president - who's technically the leader of the Republican Party - wants to happen.

'I'm looking for something that President Trump supports, and he's not yet indicated what measure he's willing to sign,' McConnell said. 'As soon as we figure out what he is for, then I would be convinced that we were not just spinning our wheels.'

Senate Republicans are finding it practically impossible to wrangle 60 votes, the number needed to end debate. With a slim 51-49 majority, they need the unlikely help of Democrats to move forward.

McConnell said Friday that Democrats now 'own' the shutdown as they are the ones keeping a stop-gap resolution from going into effect.

White House Legislative Affairs Director Marc Short told reporters Friday that Trump had been calling senators, trying to talk them into supporting a resolution to keep the government open. Trump foreshadowed failure in a Friday morning tweet and hinted at the political bickering to come as Washington squabbled over who would be to blame for a midnight failure.

'Government Funding Bill past [sic] last night in the House of Representatives,' the president wrote on Twitter.

'Now Democrats are needed if it is to pass in the Senate  but they want illegal immigration and weak borders. Shutdown coming? We need more Republican victories in 2018!'

President Donald Trump suggested Friday morning that a government shutdown might be coming by day's end, and prepared to blame Democrats in the Senate who are threatening to block the latest stopgap funding bill

Trump visited the Pentagon on Thursday amid a looming budget shutdown that he said would be 'devastating' for the military; he's decided to stay in Washington until a Continuing Resolution is passed in the Senate, instead of jetting to Palm Beach on Friday afternoon

The federal government will run out of money at midnight, on the anniversary of Trump's inauguration, if the Senate does not pass the House bill or some other resolution to keep the lights running.

At least 10 Democrats would have to cross party lines to keep that from happening.

Senate Republican leaders will likely call vote after vote on Friday, forcing Democrats and reluctant members of their own party to stand and be counted over and over again until a funding measure passes.

But the Democrats, who are insisting that a permanent version of the 'DACA' immigration program be passed as a condition of keeping the government open, haven't yet blinked.

Trump was scheduled to depart the White House on Friday afternoon for his Mar-a-Lago resort club in Palm Beach, Florida. But the optics of leaving town while the government runs off the rails were too much for his advisers.

A White House official told reporters in the morning that the president 'will not be going to Florida until the CR passes,' referring to the 'Continuing Resolution' needed to keep the money flowing.

Twenty-six Democratic senators are up for re-election in November, including 10 in Republican-leaning states that Trump won in 2016. That has given Republicans the political will to stand their ground and force the issue.

'It really is regrettable that the Democrats are willing to shut down the government,' presidential counselor Kellyanne Conway said Friday morning on the Fox News Channel.

'It really is regrettable that the Democrats are willing to shut down the government,' presidential counselor Kellyanne Conway said Friday morning on the Fox News Channel

Former Trump campaign adviser Michael Caputo said on CNN that Republicans 'should man up, stand up for what they believe in and force the Democrats to reject the continuing resolution and force a government shutdown.'

But the funding measure passed by the House on Thursday night also has at least four Republican opponents in the Senate, raising the possibility that lawmakers in the upper chamber of Congress might pass a temporary measure that funds the government for just four or five days while party leaders twist their arms.

'The House just did the right thing  for our men and women in uniform AND for the millions of children who rely on CHIP,' tweeted House Speaker Paul Ryan following the vote, referring to a popular children's health insurance program.

Ryan urged Senate Democrats to 'do the right thing by the American people.'

Trump on Thursday contributed to the chaos with a tweet that suggested he no longer supports the House's funding extension.

The president rejected a bargaining chip that House Speaker Paul Ryan had been pushing - a six-year renewal of the Children's Health Insurance Program - and blasted conciliatory language on immigration his chief of staff had used to appease a group of congressional Democrats.

At the Pentagon, Trump told reporters a shut down 'could very well' take place on Friday if Democrats do not come around to his position.

Before the vote was passed Trump tweeted that it was 'so important for our country - our Military needs it!'

Trump set up the Democrats to play fall-guy last week when he tweeted that they did not really want to strike a deal to protect Dreamers.

'The Democrats want to shut down the Government over Amnesty for all and Border Security. The biggest loser will be our rapidly rebuilding Military, at a time we need it more than ever. We need a merit based system of immigration, and we need it now! No more dangerous Lottery,' he said in one of his tweets.

Already, Congress has passed three funding extensions since the beginning of the 2018 fiscal year.

At the Pentagon, Trump turned his visit into an opportunity to rail against Democrats holding a longer-term bill that would do away with government-mandated budget caps, freeing up the military to spend all of the money it was authorized to spend by Congress last year

Not only does the position put him in conflict with his own White House, but it also threatens to derail his party's efforts to pass a stop-gap bill once again

Last month, with Christmas around the corner, Congress passed a short-term resolution to keep the federal government funded until January 20. Now, Republicans are looking to keep the government open until Feb. 16.

Democrats are demanding that legislation protect the 'Dreamers' of which there are an estimated 800,000 in the United States. The White House says the issue should be handled separately, as protections for the illegal immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children do not begin to lapse until March 5.

The president's reported remarks that immigrants from Haiti and other African nations are 's***hole countries' threw a DACA deal into flux.

Trump said he no longer trusts Sen. Dick Durbin, a leading Democrat in the negotiations, after the Illinois lawmaker backed up the remarks that first appeared in the Washington Post.

President Trump appeared ready to revolt on Thursday as he dramatically slapped down his chief of staff's claims that he had 'changed' or 'evolved' on immigration after being educated by staff and took a slap at Ryan's plan to hand the Democrats a win on CHIP.

Trump said in a string of tweets that his beliefs immigration are the same now as they were when he was a candidate.

'The Wall is the Wall, it has never changed or evolved from the first day I conceived of it,'Trump said. 'Parts will be, of necessity, see through and it was never intended to be built in areas where there is natural protection such as mountains, wastelands or tough rivers or water.'

'The Wall will be paid for, directly or indirectly, or through longer term reimbursement, by Mexico, which has a ridiculous $71 billion dollar trade surplus with the U.S.,' he stated.

Finishing the rant, Trump said, 'The $20 billion dollar Wall is "peanuts" compared to what Mexico makes from the U.S.

Trump claimed in his remarks before a meeting with military leaders that was supposedly part of a nuclear posture review that Democrats are acting out because they are trying to blunt the success of his tax deal

At a meeting on Wednesday with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus on Capitol Hill Kelly reportedly said that some of Trump's views were 'uninformed.' He also admitted that Mexico will not be paying for a border structure, the Washington Post reported.

'As we talked about things, where this president is and how much he wants to deal with this DACA issue and take it away,' Kelly told Fox News later, 'I told them there's been an evolutionary process that this president's gone through.'

During his meeting with members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Kelly took credit for being 'the one who tempered' Trump's positions on building a wall, Democratic Rep. Raul Grijalva of Arizona told the New York Times.

Kelly was the DHS secretary until late July, when Trump tapped him to replace Reince Priebus as chief of staff.

On Fox, Kelly said that he told Democrats lawmakers that all politicians take positions in their campaigns that 'may or may not be fully informed,' and Trump has 'changed the way he's looked at a number of things' since becoming president.

'He's very definitely changed his attitudes toward the DACA issue and even the wall once we briefed him,' Kelly, the former Department of Homeland Security head, said of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients.

The retired general told Bret Baier the administration now believes it can build a wall in the areas it needs, roughly 800 additional miles beyond the existing fencing, for $20 billion.

'So he has evolved in the way he's looked at things,' Kelly assessed. 'Campaign to governing are two different things. And this president is very, very flexible in terms of what is within the realm of the possible.'
Ben Bradley has sparked a storm of criticism in recent days after a series of offensive social media posts he sent before entering politics surfaced (file pic)

The new Tory youth Tsar is facing fresh controversy after it emerged he said he wanted police to use water canon to play 'splat the chav' during the London riots.

Ben Bradley has sparked a storm of criticism in recent days after a series of offensive social media posts he sent before entering politics surfaced.

In one blog he said 'unemployed wasters' should get vasectomies to stop them claiming benefits for their children.

In another he said 'police brutality should be encouraged' in the aftermath of the riots which hit London and other cities in August 2011.

And in the latest offensive post to surface, he posted a pictured of water canon with the message: 'The water canons are coming...I'll be in front of the news tonight watching police play 'splat the chav'.

According to Buzzfeed, which unearthed the now deleted tweet, he sent the message on 10 August 2011 - after violent riots had erupted in cities across England.

Mr Bradley was celebrating the decision made that day by David Cameron to give the green light to water canon being used to put down the riots.

The water canon were never actually used as Theresa May, who was Home Secretary at the time, blocked them.

The latest revelation is a further embarrassment for Mr Bradley, who was elected MP for Mansfield in June's snap election - becoming the first non-Labour politician to hold the seat since the 1920s.

He was promoted by Mrs May to be the Tory Party's new vice chair for the youth as part of the party's plans to transform their image and attract young voters who deserted them and flocked to Jeremy Corbyn's Labour at the last election.

Earlier this week it emerged that he wrote a bog post about the riots in which he encourage police brutality.

He wrote: 'We need to come down hard on these morons before somebody gets killed!

Ben Bradley, pictured far right outside No10 last week after he was promoted to be the party's new youth Tsar, has apologised for the language he used

'If we have any sense as a nation we'll stay home tonight and make it easy for the police to find the ones hanging around town centres with their faces covered.

'For once I think police brutality should be encouraged!'

While in another blog he suggested unemployed men should get the s nip to stop them having lots of children who grow up to be dependent on welfare.

In the post he said it is 'horrendous' that there are families who can rake in more from benefits than average household earn 'just because they have 10 kids'.

He added: 'Sorry but how many children you have is a choice; if you can't afford them, stop having them! Vasectomies are free.'

Mr Bradley said: 'I wrote a number of posts when I was in my early 20s and I accept some of the language I used was inappropriate and I apologise for that.

'They were written at a different time of my life  getting married, becoming a father and now being an MP have changed my outlook.'
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These heartbreaking photos capture the moment an 83-year-old man clutches his pet cat while weeping over the charred remains of his home.

Ali Mese, from Ordu Province in the Black Sea region of Turkey, burned his house down after trying to light his wood stove with gasoline.

As everything he loved perished in front of him, he took comfort in cuddling up to his adorable feline friend.

These heartbreaking photos capture the moment an 83-year-old man clutches his pet cat while weeping over the charred remains of his home

Ali Mese, from Ordu Province in the Black Sea region of Turkey, burned his house down after trying to light his wood stove with gasoline

Neighbours alerted firefighters to Ali's home after noticing the flames.

He had been trying to cook on a wood stove but the gasoline he poured on caused it to explode.

Thankfully, Ali and his family - and one of his cats - were saved from the blaze and no one suffered serious injuries, local media reported.

Ali has always been very fond of cats and had a handful living with him at the time of the tragic accident - but only one managed to get out alive

Ali has always been very fond of cats and had a handful living with him at the time of the tragic accident.

But only one managed to get out alive.

The pensioner also lost almost all of his hens in the blaze.

Ali was taken to the hospital to treat his minor burns and emerged a day later with a heavily-bandaged right hand. But he was then reunited with his beloved cat

The inseparable pair looked ecstatic to finally be back together after their horrific ordeal, cuddling up to each other in a blissful embrace

Ali was taken to the hospital to treat his minor burns and emerged a day later with a heavily-bandaged right hand.

But he was then reunited with his beloved cat.

The inseparable pair looked ecstatic to finally be back together after their horrific ordeal.
The parents accused of torturing their 13 children for years in a California house of horrors had an extensive - and surprisingly family-friendly - DVD collection.

Forensic teams are searching the Perris, California, home of David, 57, and Louise Turpin, 49, who are facing charges of torture, false imprisonment, neglect and abuse after their 17-year-old daughter managed to escape and call 911.

Authorities found that their 13 children had been starved, 'tied up with chains and shackled for months', and the 'only thing they were allowed to do' was keep journals, hundreds of which were recovered on Sunday.

Now a forensic team from the local sheriff's office have revealed that the parents, if no-one else, kept themselves entertained with their vast, and perfectly alphabetized, DVD collection.

Pictured is the alphabetized and family friendly DVD collection belonging to the parents accused of torturing their 13 children for years

The collection includes Dumbo, Jaws and box sets of Everybody Loves Raymond and the Golden Girls - DVD collection (pictured)

A forensic team from the local sheriff's office, searching the Perris, California, home of David, 57, and Louise Turpin, 49, are going through the movies

The Disney-obsessed couple, who had Disney-themed statues, car registration plates, and had taken the family to Disneyland on a number of occasions, unsurprisingly had movies such as Dumbo and Cars.

The child-friendly theme continued with the likes of Cats vs Dogs, Casper and Call Me Claus. While the couple clearly enjoyed a laugh with box sets of comedies Everybody Loves Raymond, Dukes of Hazard and Golden Girls. Other films included Election, E.T. and Erin Brockovich.

The collection also featured an Elvis' 68 Comeback DVD. David and Louise appear to be big Elvis fans and have renewed their wedding vows at an Elvis-themed chapel in Las Vegas on multiple occasions.

'Things 1 to 13': The family are seen in Dr Seuss-style shirts, and all in blue jeans, in a family photo taken in April 2016

David and Louise Turpin now have a total of 75 charges including torture, imprisonment, neglect, abuse and lewd acts against them. They were arrested on Sunday

Police found the siblings inside their family home (above) after the 17-year-old girl managed to escape through a window and call 911 with a cell phone she had found in the house. On Thursday, balloon displays, flowers and teddy bears were left at the house for the children

The generally family orientated and light-hearted shows and films are in stark contrast to the horrific conditions police found the Turpins' children living in on Sunday.

Police, who went to the home after interviewing the escaped 17-year-old girl, found three of her brothers and sisters shackled to their beds with chains and padlocks while the others sat nearby in dark, foul-smelling surroundings.

The children, aged 2 to 29, were 'malnourished and very dirty', according to police.

Harrowing details of how they tortured their 13 children were described at a press conference by DA Michael Hestrin.

He told how they kept the children up all night and slept during the day in a suspected attempt to avoid any outsiders witnessing the abuse.

They were regularly beaten and occasionally strangled, Hestrin alleged. The only activity the children - who said they were chained up for months at a time - were allowed was to write journals.

The Disney-obsessed couple, unsurprisingly had movies such as Dumbo and Cars

The find shows that the parents, if no-one else, kept themselves entertained with their vast DVD collection

The couple clearly enjoyed a laugh with box sets of comedies Everybody Loves Raymond, Dukes of Hazard and Golden Girls. Other films included Election, E.T. and Erin Brockovich

Sheriff's forensic teams search The Turpin's house in Perris, California on Wednesday

Hundreds were recovered from the home and they are likely to be used as evidence against the parents.

Before Sunday's dramatic rescue, the children had been plotting an escape for two years, he said.

When the 17-year-old escaped on Sunday, she at first had another sibling with her but that daughter got frightened and turned back.

None of the children have ever seen a dentist and none have seen a doctor for four years, Hestrin said.

District Attorney Michael Hestrin said all of the children are in hospital and are 'relieved'.

The family also had a collection of board games including Monopoly, Logo and Trouble

A forensic officer takes photographs of the Turpins' home in California

Prosecutors details the horrific abuse the children suffered. They were allowed was to write journals - hundreds of which were removed from the home

Among the most shocking claims of abuse were;

The children were made to stay awake all night and sleep all day, often going to bed at between 4am and 5am

Their only permitted activity was to keep journals - hundreds of which were recovered and will likely be used as evidence

David Turpin is accused of a lewd act against one child - one of his daughters, under the age of 14

The children had been planning to escape for two years before Sunday, when they were rescued

The 17-year-old daughter who raised the alarm left the house with another sibling but that child became frightened and turned back

The parents began using chains and padlocks to tie the children to their beds after one escaped with rope. They would sometimes be chained up for months

One of the older boys was allowed out of the home to attend college classes but Louise accompanied him there, waited for him until it finished then accompanied him home

The couple's youngest child, a two-year-old, was the only one they did not starve

The 29-year-old woman who was rescued weighed just 82 lbs

The children were tied up or beaten if they washed their hands 'above the wrist' because the parents said it amounted to them 'playing in the water'

The Turpins kept toys that were still in their boxes at the house but never gave any to the children

Sheriff's forensic teams search The Turpin's house in Perris, California

Teams outside the home where 13 children were raised in horrific conditions

The family was kept inside this home in Perris. Inside, the parents were stockpiling unopened toys and diapers

According to cops, the group said they were starving and had to be given food and drink at Perris Police headquarters before being transferred to two different area hospitals

Some of the children did not know what a police officer was when they were rescued and many are mentally impaired as a result of what prosecutors called 'severe, prolonged and pervasive abuse'.

While the children starved, the parents bought food including pumpkin and apple pie and kept it out on worktops for them to look at and desire, Hestrin said.

According to Hestrin, the abuse began in 2010 and has intensified ever since. At the time, the parents would tie the children up as punishment with rope, he said.

One child recalled being 'hogtied'.

Depraved: Disney-obsessed David and Louise Turpin bought food for themselves and put it out on counters for their starving children to see it but never gave them any

When they managed to escape, they moved on to using chains and padlocked.

One of the children, a boy, was allowed out of the home to attend college classes but Louise accompanied him.

When they lived in Texas, the children at one stage lived alone and were held hostage in a property which their parents allegedly visited only to occasionally drop off food.

Prosecutors said the children were severely malnourished. When police took them into protective custody, the 29-year-old woman who was found inside weighed just 82lbs.

A 12-year-old inside the home is the average weight of a seven-year-old.

The only child who was safe from their torture was their two-year-old, according to prosecutors. She showed no signs of malnutrition.

It was also claimed that the couple had three children tied up when police first knocked on the door. As they waited to be allowed in, Louise and David untied two of the children from furniture.

When they entered the home, the only child who remained shackled was a 22-year-old, according to the responding deputies.

All of the victims are now in the care of medics, with the Riverside Department of Childrens Services saying that they wont take full charge until the police investigation is complete

The Turpins appeared to be a normal family in images posted to social media

The seven adult children are currently at the Corona Regional Medical Center while the six children are being looked after at Riverside University Hospital

The 17-year-old who had crawled through a window to call 911, had been planning an escape for two years.

Hestrin did however reveal that the 17-year-old girl who fled was not alone - she had another sibling with her at first but that child became frightened and turned back after crawling through the window.

'The 17-year-old victim that escaped had been working on a plan with her siblings to escape this abuse for more than two years.

'She escaped through a window and took one of her siblings with her. That sibling became frightened and turned back,' he said.

Hestrin said he did not know precisely what triggered the escape but that something prompted it.

'Probably there was a trigger, at this time we don't know what that was.'

All 13 of the children are in hospital and are being treated by teams of specialists.

'All of the victims have now been examined by doctors and medical specialists. All were and are severely malnourished, specifically caloric malnutrition associated with muscle wastage.

When doctors asked the children if they had ever taken medication or pills, none knew what medication was.

They had limited exposure to the outside world and many did not know what a police officer was, he said.

'The children are relieved. They are in good hands and are being cared for,' he said.

'They were supposedly homeschooled but they lack a basic knowledge of life. Many didn't know what a police officer was.' It remains to be seen who will look after them once they are released from hospital.

The hospital caring for the children has launched an online fund for strangers to donate to. It can be found here.

The shocking allegations made against David and Louise are in stark contrast to the life they publicly portrayed on their joint Facebook page.

Mother-of-thirteen Louise Turpin looks ahead, past her lawyer Jeff Moore, on Thursday. Her shackles could not be seen but her husband's cut into his belly

David Turpin, 57, is pictured receiving advice from his public defender on Thursday during a brief court appearance

Photos posted on Facebook between 2010 and 2012 show that the couple took their children to Disneyland on at least two separate occasions.

David and Louise are pictured smiling with their children in front of the theme park's iconic castle and posing with Disney characters, including Mickey Mouse, Princess Jasmine and Winnie the Pooh's Eeyore.

Just like all of their family photos, the children are pictured wearing matching outfits.

Some of the younger children wore the same Disney-themed outfits on both family trips to the theme park. The trips occurred prior to the birth of their youngest daughter, who is now aged two.

One of the personalized plates on a Volkswagen Beetle reads 'DSLAND'

Meanwhile, two of the four cars parked outside the family's home in Perris when they were arrested also appear to have license plates linked to Disneyland.

One of the plates on a Volkswagen Beetle reads 'DSLAND'.

The other, which is also on Volkswagen, says 'DL4EVER'. There has been speculation that the second plate could also mean David and Louise forever.

In addition to the family's Disneyland trips, the Turpins also took their children to Las Vegas three times in 2011, 2013 and 2015 so they could renew their wedding vows at an Elvis-themed chapel.

Their children were present at the ceremonies. In 2015, the 10 girls wore matching pink dresses with white tights and white shoes, while the three boys were seen in suits with purple ties.

The Turpins, who are being held separately, are held on $13million bail - $1million for every child they are accused of torturing.

Louise Turpin faces 37 charges while her husband faces 38. They are both charged with the 12 counts of torture, 12 counts of false imprisonment, 7 charges of abusing a dependent adult and six counts of child abuse.

David is also charged with one count of a lewd act against a child under the age of 14. The alleged victim was one of his daughters.

The couple are next due in court in February, with Judge Donner requesting a hearing for the 23rd at 1.30pm.

Speaking to DailyMail.com outside court, Jeff Zimel, the Riverside County Public Defender, said the couple would remain in separate cells at the Robert Presley Detention Center unless the Sheriff decides otherwise.
A callous thief took advantage of an elderly woman distracted by prayers in a mosque to steal her handbag containing thousands in cash.

The robber, dressed all in black, is seen on CCTV as he leans over a row of women in white performing devotions at a mosque in the city of Kota Bharu in the north western Malaysia.

But on his first attempt he is foiled by his intended victim covering her possessions as she leans forward in the 'sujud' position to pray.

The thief, dressed in all-black, is seen on CCTV as he leans over a row of women in white performing devotions at a mosque in the city of Kota Bharu in the north western Malaysia

The thief tiptoes away and returns to the devotees to select a different victim.

After the women have kneeled up and then bowed forward again, he snatches a bag and runs for the door.

Although the alarm was quickly raised, he is reported to have successfully fled with the bag, which the victim, 74, says contained 3,655 plus some jewellery.

Imam Muhamad Lokman Zakaria told local media: 'The woman, being elderly and frail, was praying while seated.

After the women have kneeled up and then bowed forward again, he snatches a bag and runs for the door

Although the alarm was quickly raised, he is reported to have successfully fled with the bag, which the victim, 74, says contained 3,655 plus some jewellery

'She had placed her bag under the chair, thinking that it was secure.

'She, however, realised that someone had pulled her bag away. She managed to grab hold of the thief's hand before yelling for help.

'Her plea for help was heard by several men, who paused their prayers to chase the thief but were unsuccessful.'

The same mosque fell prey to thieves in 2017 too, when they took its public address system.

Advising worshippers not to bring valuables to mosque with them, the imam added: 'What I am disappointed with most is that such a thing is happening in our place of worship, whereas other places of worship do not face this problem'

Advising worshippers not to bring valuables to mosque with them, the imam added: 'What I am disappointed with most is that such a thing is happening in our place of worship, whereas other places of worship do not face this problem.'

The elderly victim, who declined to be named, said: 'This is fated, and there's a blessing behind it.

'This episode however has not hampered my resolve to come to the mosque, only next time, I won't be bringing a bag.'
The mother of two children killed in a Maryland mansion fire in 2015 is speaking out for the first time to warn others about the dangers of keeping Christmas trees in the home for too long.

Don and Sandra Pyle and four of their grandchildren were killed in the early hours of January 19, 2015, when a dried-out Christmas tree sparked a fire in their $9million Annapolis, Maryland mansion.

The grandchildren killed in the blaze were two pairs of siblings, each from one 66-year-old Sandra's sons, Clint and Randy Boone. Don Pyle, a 56-year-old tech millionaire, was the kids' step-grandfather.

Sisters Alexis, eight, and Kaitlyn, seven, and siblings Charlotte, eight, and Wesley, six, were staying the night at their grandparents' 16,000-square-foot house after being treated to dinner and a show at Medieval Times.

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Eve Boone's two children, eight-year-old Charlotte and six-year-old Wesley, died in a fire at their grandparents' house in 2015

Boone is speaking out on the third anniversary of the deadly fire to warn others about the dangers of keeping dry Christmas trees in the home

Boone pictured with her children Wesley, left, and Charlotte, right, before their deaths

Charlotte, Wesley, and their two cousins were staying at their grandparents' house after being treated to dinner and a show at Medieval Times

The fire broke out in the early hours of January 19, 2015

Above, a view of the 16,000-square-foot home before the blaze

On the eve of the third anniversary of the fire, the mother of Charlotte and Wesley gave her first interview to NBC 4 Washington.

Eve Boone says that as soon as she and her husband Clint heard about the fire, they rushed to the home, but by then it was already engulfed in flames.

'We were at a neighbor's house waiting for any word,' she said. 'As time went on, it became apparent what had happened.'

Boone remembers her children as 'beautiful, happy and fun'.

She's torn up to this day about their loss, one she says could have been prevented.

The home was located right on the water

The entire home burned down in the blaze

It took firefighters some 10 hours to finally put out the blaze three years ago

The 16,000-square-foot home was worth an estimated $9million

Above, more scenes from the aftermath of the fire that claimed the lives of six

She said she's speaking out to warn others against keeping Christmas trees in their home too long.

Investigators believe it was a dried out Christmas tree that sparked the blaze three years ago.

'This didn't have to happen, and it doesn't have to happen,' she said. 'So, if I can ever stop even one person from going through something like this, it's worth it.'

'=This didn't have to happen, and it doesn't have to happen. So, if I can ever stop even one person from going through something like this, it's worth it. Eve Boone

At times during her interview, Boone wiped away tears, while at other times smiling at the memories of her children.

She says she tries to stay positive, since she knows that's what her kids would want.

'Try to keep in mind: What would they want you to do that day? Would they want to see you cry and be upset? They know that you miss them, but they don't want you to be sad,' she said.

She says she honors her children by doing things they loved or would have loved to do.

Little Charlotte was a budding equestrian, so her mother has taken up horseback riding.

Don and Sandra Pyle, 56 and 66, are pictured above. The grandchildren were Sandra's from two of her sons. Don was their step-grandfather

Charlotte and her brother Wesley are pictured above

Pictured above are the two other grandchildren killed in the fire, siblings Alexis, 8, and Kaitlyn, 7

On her son's birthday, she went skydiving because she knew that's something he would have loved to do.

'This is something that he will laugh at me for doing,' Boone said. 'How could his mom ever jump out of a plane?'

The mother of the two other grandchildren killed in the fire also spoke out on the anniversary of their deaths, in a Facebook post.

Stacey Boone posted on Friday: 'Today marks 3 years since I kissed my sweet girls. I still have days where my mind plays tricks on me and I think they are coming home. I still have days where I'm absolutely crushed with sadness and am brought to my knees. Yet over time the fog has started to lift and am granted moments of clarity. I am forever grateful for the time I had with Lexi and Katie.

'I have always said that I don't want my kids to be remembered for how they died, but for how they lived. Please help honor them today in passing along some lessons they (and Don & Sandy and Charlotte & Wes) lived by.

'First and most importantly...be kind. You never know what's going on in a person's life, so a simple smile or act of kindness could make their day. Be generous...there are always people (and animals) that could use your help. Giving just a little of your time or money could mean a world of difference for them. Lastly, believe in Santa. By this I mean believe in the impossible and live your life as if you are always trying to be "on the Good list." My children were young enough and fortunate enough that they still saw the good in everyone, wanted to save all the animals, and still believed in make believe. Please help me continue their memory today, and everyday,' she wrote.

The mother of Alexis and Kaitlyn wrote about their deaths on Facebook on Friday

Stacey and her husband Randy had a newborn son at the time who was not in the mansion and survived.

It took firefighters 10 hours to extinguish the fire.

Don Pyle grew up in nearby Baltimore County and worked his way to the top table of several billion-dollar tech companies.

In an interview with the Washington Post, he said he started off as a salesman, and moved to progressively more important roles before taking the reins at companies with links to Silicon Valley.

His latest role was as the COO of ScienceLogic, an IT support company based in Reston, Virginia.

He would hold fundraisers for worthy causes at his house. At one in 2008, he told the Baltimore Sun the house had been especially designed to be a combination of a castle, his preference and a beach house, which Sandra wanted.

Boone (pictured with her children above) says she tries to stay positive, since she knows that's what her kids would want

Boone has tried to honor her children's memory by doing things they loved or would love to do - like horseback riding and sky diving

His lavish property stood facing Church Creek, a picturesque inlet not far from the Chesapeake Bay.

Situated on its own portion of exclusive Childs Point Road, the home boasted a courtyard, swimming pool and access to a speedboat jetty.

Real estate listings for the home say it had seven bathrooms and was part of a 7.8-acre estate. The modern, two-story home, which was built in 2005, also had an attic space and a basement.

Photographs of the mansion before it burned down show at least four cars parked outside the elegant stone construction, which had several turrets as part of its architecture.
Magda Palos, the wife of property mogul Brett Palos, has told a court how a burglar broke into their home and told her to hand over her jewellery

Jewellery designed by Rolex, Cartier and Chanel was among a haul worth 2million taken in a burglary at the home of the stepson of billionaire businessman Sir Philip Green, a court has heard.

Robert Lewis, 41, allegedly broke in to the home of Brett Palos and his wife Magda and ordered Mrs Palos to hand over all her valuables while she was wearing only a towel.

Harrow Crown Court heard designer watches and diamond rings were stolen in the burglary which took place at around 7.15am on December 10, 2016, when Mrs Palos was at home with two of the couple's three young children.

Prosecutor Roger Smart told the jury on Friday that jewellery taken in the burglary included a heart-shaped diamond ring, a Chanel Camelia ring, three Cartier bracelets, and a number of Rolex watches.

The watches included a Daytona Rolex watch, a men's diamond Rolex watch and a Rolex Explorer watch, jurors heard.

Lewis is said to have forced a window on the ground floor of the property which sits at the end of a private, gated street in St John's Wood, north west London.

The court previously heard that the defendant almost immediately ran in to the couple's young daughter coming down the stairs, who led him to Mrs Palos' en-suite bathroom where she had just stepped out of the shower.

Mr Palos is son of Sir Philip Green's wife Tina (pictured together) from her first marriage

Lewis, of Paddington, allegedly forced Mrs Palos to identify valuable items of jewellery from drawers during the 10-minute ordeal, and loaded them in to her husband's briefcase.

In total 2,003,653 worth of jewellery and watches were taken.

The victim later picked Lewis out of an identity parade, while a full-match profile of his DNA was found around the damaged window frame, jurors heard.

Lewis denies one count of burglary, one count of aggravated burglary and one count of robbery, claiming mistaken identity.

Mr Smart said on Thursday: 'No one disputes that the offence happened and there's no issue as to whether there was at least a burglary and a robbery. This is, as we sometimes say a 'whodunnit'.

'The prosecution say that Robert Lewis did it, Mr Lewis denies that.'

Mr Palos is the son of Sir Philip's wife Lady Christina Green and her first husband, Robert Palos.

He is a property developer and also sits of the board of Sir Philip's Arcadia Group which owns brands including Topshop, Miss Selfridge and Dorothy Perkins.
A Georgia family were home on Wednesday enjoying a snow day together when an out-of-control SUV came crashing into their house.

The Madgett family said when they heard a deafening crash outside their Stone Mountain house in DeKalb County, they initially thought a tree fell.

When they went outside to see what was going on, they saw that a vehicle with New York license plates had slammed into their garage.

An out-of-control SUV smashed into this garage belonging to the Madgett family in Stone Mountain, Georgia, after sliding on some ice

The collision left a gaping hole in the building and scattered debris in the yard.

Mother-of-two Shawn Madgett told WSB-TV her family are fortunate that no one was injured, thanks to their cars that were parked in the garage.

The vehicles absorbed the impact and stopped the runaway SUV from crashing through the wall into the kitchen, where the parents and their two daughters, who were home from school because of the bad weather, were sitting at the time.

Before destroying the garage, the runaway vehicle slid down this hill along Gateway Boulevard, hitting parked cars, a water main, a light pole and a transformer

'I was really scared,' Shawn's daughter Korie Madgett told the station.

According to DeKalb County police, the driver of the SUV slid on a patch of ice, careened into a power transformer, hit several parked cars, followed by a water main and a light pole.

The out-of-state vehicle continued sliding down the hill on Gateway Boulevard and came to a stop only after smashing into the Madgett family's garage.

Our cars are damaged and our walls are damaged, but at least everybody is safe,' said Mrs Madgett.

The driver of the SUV came away from the crash with a swollen lip and refused medical treatment.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel attends a joint press conference after the exploratory talks between Merkel's Christian Democratic party and the Social Democrats on forming a new German government in Berlin, Germany

She has not faced a credible challenge to her rule as German chancellor for more than 12 years.

Now, members of Angela Merkel's conservatives are starting to look ahead to potential alternatives to lead their party and country.

Merkel's immediate fate depends on the Social Democratic Party (SPD), which votes on Sunday on whether their leaders should pursue coalition negotiations with her Christian Democrats after striking a preliminary deal last week.

A 'no' vote could force fresh elections as well as renewed debate on the issue of succession.

Interviews with more than a dozen party lawmakers indicate that the coalition talks have brought pressure from Merkel's party for new faces to be included in the next cabinet and prompted early conversations on a succession plan.

'We need to talk about how the Union can renew itself,' said Paul Ziemiak, who chairs the youth wing of the Union of Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU) and the Christian Social Union (CSU), which run together in national elections on the same ticket.

Merkel herself decided to seek a fourth term only after long reflection, and said in November 2016 she was seeking to stay on 'if health allows'.

In 1998 she was quoted as saying: 'I don't want to be a half-dead wreck when I leave politics.'

On the other hand, she has not ruled out running for a 5th term.

The departure of Merkel, whose time in office has overlapped with four French presidents and four British prime ministers, risks creating a leadership vacuum in the European Union at a critical and uncertain time.

Merkel herself decided to seek a fourth term only after long reflection, and said in November 2016 she was seeking to stay on 'if health allows'. In 1998 she was quoted as saying: 'I don't want to be a half-dead wreck when I leave politics'

Tony Blair was the first British Prime Minister Angela Merkel worked with. He left office in 2007, two years after Merkel came to power

Both Gordon Brown (left) and David Cameron (right) came and went at 10 Downing Street while Merkel was still German Chancellor

Theresa May (right) is the fourth British Prime Minister Merkel has dealt with, and Emmanuel Macron (left) is the fourth French President

To smooth the transition, many in the CDU favour the idea of a gradual transition which could involve handing the party chairmanship over first.

But others want Merkel to go sooner after becoming frustrated with her handling of the refugee crisis, which hurt the party in September 24's national election.

Lamenting their loss of support to the far right, they complain she lacks the common touch.

One CDU lawmaker, who admired Merkel's mastery of detail but complained she lacks empathy, said that handing over the chancellorship early would strengthen her successor and the party in the next election, due in 2021.

'Tactically, a chancellor has an incumbency advantage.

'That means there could be a change within the legislative period,' the lawmaker said.

The succession debate has been supercharged by the inclusion of a clause in the preliminary coalition deal with the SPD that envisages a review of the next government's progress after two years to assess whether any changes to its mission are needed.

'A good time for Merkel to resign,' one CDU lawmaker, speaking on condition of anonymity, said of the review.

To smooth the transition, many in the CDU favour the idea of a gradual transition which could involve handing the party chairmanship over first. But others want Merkel to go sooner after becoming frustrated with her handling of the refugee crisis, which hurt the party in September 24's national election

The risk of a handover at that point is that the SPD, if it agrees to govern with the conservatives, could pull the plug on the coalition and force fresh elections.

But the situation also could come to a head far sooner.

Sunday's SPD vote is an immediate hurdle. If fresh elections are held, a small minority of lawmakers on the right of the CDU and in the CSU hope she would not run again for chancellor, according to those who spoke to Reuters.

Others reject this idea.

'We are not of the view that if the SPD votes 'no' on Sunday, that this is the fault of the Union or the chancellor,' said Detlef Seif, deputy EU spokesman for Merkel's conservative parliamentary bloc.

Merkel has said she would run again for chancellor in the event of new elections and voters still respect her, if the polls are to be believed.

A Forsa poll published on Thursday showed support for Merkel's CDU/CSU bloc rose to 34 percent, slightly above its election result of 32.9 percent.

Support for the SPD slipped to 18 percent, below the 20.5 percent it achieved in the election.

Many conservatives favour an orderly transition.

'I think a sensible succession arrangement must be found within the Union, but not at the moment given all that the chancellor has achieved, and not in the middle of a legislative period,' said Seif.

Merkel has said she would run again for chancellor in the event of new elections. Voters still respect her, polls show

One way, discussed by some other CDU lawmakers, of achieving an orderly handover would see Merkel relinquish the CDU party chair to a designated successor in 2020 while remaining chancellor, a scenario which would allow the person to raise their profile.

Merkel has in the past said she believes the party chair and chancellorship should be held by the same person.

The CDU botched its last leadership handover.

Late chancellor Helmut Kohl handed over the chairmanship to Wolfgang Schaeuble after his defeat at the 1998 election, only for them both to be compromised by a party funding scandal. Merkel then took over as leader, calling for a new start.

Schaeuble, highly respected by conservatives for imposing fiscal discipline on the euro zone during his time as finance minister, is perhaps the only CDU figure who could lead a putsch to oust Merkel. A trusted, if awkward, ally for Merkel, he is unlikely to do so.

Younger contenders are circling, notably deputy finance minister Jens Spahn.

'Germans love orderly processes, but when it comes to handing over the chancellorship it doesn't happen,' said Carsten Nickel at advisory firm Teneo Intelligence. 'I think there will be a lot of movement in the CDU in the next four years.'
In the Federalist Papers James Madison claimed that, If men were angels, no government would be necessary. But is that true?

James R. Rogers, an associate professor of political science at Texas A&M University, explains why some form of government would be necessary even if man were still in a prelapsarian state of nature:

[E]ven without the Fall, there would be a role for civil government for the duly recognized person who exercises civil authority. Even in an unfallen society, there is need for civil authority to minimize the cost of informational asymmetries and to minimize decision costs. People in a prelapsarian society are not omniscient, which means that even without the Fall, there would be a role for civil authority to coordinate individual interactions to avoid suboptimal outcomes. For example, there is no morally correct answer to the question What side of the road should people drive on? Hence, even in a society populated by people with all the good will toward one another and all the moral virtue in the world, there would be a need to provide a consistent answer to these folks when they pulled out of the driveway. And the question Which side of the road should I drive on? is a properly civil question. Answering this question belongs neither to familial nor ecclesiastical leadership. Nonetheless, the government need not use the sword in a prelapsarian society. The government would only need to be what in game theory is called a focal arbitrator. Civil authority would need only to announce drive on the right side of the road, and unfallen folk would follow the direction.

Read more . . .
House of Horrors dad David Turpin kidnapped his tenth-grade sweetheart from her high school and took her on a wild 1,000-mile cross-country trip in a vain bid to elope.

He persuaded school employees in Princeton, West Virginia, to release 16-year-old Louise Robinette to him without her parents' knowledge more than 30 years ago, two of Louise's siblings have revealed exclusively to DailyMailTV.

And they got all the way to Texas before they were finally caught and returned home.

Louise's younger sister and half-brother, Teresa Robinette and Billy Lambert, gave the full details of the twisted life of the California couple who have shocked America with the alleged years-long torture of their 13 children, who range in age from two to 29.

Authorities have charged the couple with 75 counts including torture, false imprisonment, child abuse and abuse of dependent adults. David Turpin, 57, also faces a charge of lewd acts with a minor. They are each being held on $13 million bail and deny all charges.

But both Billy and Teresa are adamant neither their sister nor her husband should ever see life outside prison walls again.

'I hope they suffer as much, if not more, than those kids suffered,' Teresa said in their extensive, exclusive joint interview.

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High school sweethearts: Louise, maiden name Robinette, eloped with David Turpin after he signed her out of school and drove them to Texas when she was 16. The couple was caught and returned to their hometown to wed. Above they are seen in their wedding photo in Princeton, West Virginia in 1984

Evil: Louise, 49, and David Turpin, 57, were charged with 75 counts including torture, false imprisonment, child abuse and abuse of dependent adults. The couple, pictured during their arraignment yesterday, pleaded not guilty to all charges

Siblings: Teresa Robinette and Billy Lambert (pictured) gave the full details of the twisted life of their older sister Louise Turpin. Lambert, 30, Louise's half-brother, was the last to speak to her before her arrest

'I hope they torture my sister for the rest of her life.

'I have four siblings now instead of five,' she added. 'She is off my family tree, she is dead to me. I couldn't care less about speaking to Louise ever again.'

And Billy Lambert added: 'I think they should get life. That's not just spur-of-the-moment anger, I'm not changing that view.'

Teresa, 36, revealed how the marriage that for decades seemed so perfect, began in 1984. Her mother Phyllis had allowed 16-year-old Louise to date David even though he was eight years her senior.

But Phyllis Robinette was too scared to tell her preacher husband Wayne what was going on.

He only found out when David and Louise went missing and authorities at Princeton Senior High School were forced to admit that they had let David sign her out of school.

'My mom allowed Louise to date David secretly because she loved him and he was from a Christian family and she trusted Louise,' said Teresa.

'But she was doing it behind my dad's back  he wasn't aware that they were dating  and then one day, David went into the high school and they let him sign Louise out of school and they ran away. He had his car and they drove.

'They made it all the way to Texas before the police stopped them.'

Cops made 16-year-old Louise call home, Teresa recalled. 'What was crazy was that after that my mom and dad sort of switched roles.

Her sister tells how Louise's marriage created a rift within the family after she began a new life with her husband and refused to visit her parents and did not allow them to visit her. Pictured: Louise (top right) with her mother Phyllis, (left) her father, sisters Teresa (on fathers lap) and Elizabeth (bottom right)

Her mom, the wife of a preacher, allowed Louise to date David Turpin secretly. Above she is pictured as a 7th-grader (left) and with her sister Elizabeth (right)

Louise as a teenager (second from left) with sister Elizabeth (left), mother Phyllis, sister Teresa and father Wayne

Louise plays with her oldest daughter (center) who is now 29, as her youngest sister Teresa looks on

'My mom, who had let them date, ended up being the one telling the police they had to send her home. She wanted her home right now, but my dad said, "No, she has made her choice, she should go off and live her life."

'He was angry at my mom for letting them date. He was so upset. He told her it was all her fault. He got on the phone and told Louise, "This is the life you want, you're now an adult, I love you and I'll always be your daddy, but now you can take care of yourself. If this is what you want, you go for it."

'So he let her marry him. They came back to Princeton and had a small intimate church wedding, just the two families. Then they went back to Texas to start their lives together.'

Teresa said her father's anger at his wife welled up and within two years her parents had separated. Divorce followed and her father gave up his itinerant evangelical preaching.

'He still went to church, he still lived for God, but he stopped preaching,' she said. He went on to serve 26 years as chief deputy assessor for Mercer County, West Virginia.

Teresa was only three when her sister ran away. But the chaos that ensued is burned in her memory.

'I remember my aunt crying and my grandma and my mom and my dad and my cousin Patricia and some other kids in our family, and we were all just crying,' she said.

Louise's attempted elopement and teenage wedding would not be the last time she broke her father's heart. On his retirement in 2012, he told his local paper of his dream to go visit his daughter in California.

The mother of 13 had told her brother Billy, who was the last to speak to her before her arrest, that she wanted another child. She is pictured left while pregnant with her youngest daughter and right after she gave birth

Police raided the couple's four-bedroom house in Perris, California, and found many of the malnourished children shackled to their beds by chains, living in unimaginable filth

Riverside County District Attorney alleged that the oldest child, a 29-year-old woman weighed just 82 lbs, and the 17-year-old who managed to escape and raise the alarm was initially mistaken for a 10-year-old

Prosecutors said the 17-year-old girl that escaped 'had been working on a plan with her siblings to escape this abuse for more than two years'

He wanted to go by train to replicate a trip his father had made in the 1940s. '[My dad] bragged on that trip the rest of his life,' Robinette told the Princeton Times.

'Getting to do the same thing would be pretty fun.'

But when he told Louise of his plan, she told him not to come, Teresa told DailyMailTV. 'It really hurt him bad.'

Phyllis died in February 2016. Her ex-husband passed just three months later.

'On their deathbeds both asked Louise to come to see them. She wouldn't,' said Teresa.

'She didn't show up to their funerals either. We told my mom she was coming and then we were at the hospital and me and my brother were getting ready to sign papers to take my mom off life support and I called her back and that's when she told me she wasn't going to be able to make it.

'She said that they had prayed about it and she had a bad dream and she didn't feel that she should make the trip.

'Then when my dad died she said they couldn't bring all the kids, and she didn't want to make the trip because it was such short notice. David's parents were at both funerals. Louise wasn't at either one.'

Despite its rocky start, the marriage of David and Louise Turpin seemed perfect for years.

'I just thought she had this richy life,' Teresa said.

'He earned good money. The day he came and picked her up from school, I was told he told her that if she would elope with him and marry him he would give her everything she ever wanted.

'In the family, we always joked that Prince Charming had lived up to his end of the bargain.

Teresa says their family was completely unaware of the abuse and the couple's bankruptcy, until news of their arrest broke on Sunday

The children were found malnourished and shackled in their home in Perris, California (pictured) after one girl escaped and called the police

Sheriff's forensic teams searched the Turpins' house in Perris, California on Friday where they found hundreds of DVDs and board games

Authorities had found the children had been living in squalor and that none of them owned any toys, but discovered many unopened boxes of toys in the home

'She has the big house and she has all the cars and she didn't have to work and she had the expensive clothes and purses and anything she wanted, so we thought she was living the high life.

'I spoke to her about some financial problems I was having just six or seven months ago and she said to me several times that is one thing she could never understand.

'She told me: "I can listen to you vent and I can let you vent but I will never understand it because we never had any money problems."'

What the family back east didn't know was that the couple had lost one house to foreclosure and had declared bankruptcy in 2011. 'We had no idea of any of this until last Sunday,' said Teresa.

That was the day that police raided the couple's four-bedroom house in Perris, California, and found many of the malnourished children shackled to their beds by chains, living in unimaginable filth.

Riverside County District Attorney Michael Hestrin alleged that the oldest child, a 29-year-old woman weighed just 82 lbs, and the 17-year-old who managed to escape and raise the alarm was initially mistaken for a 10-year-old.

Hestrin said the parents chained their offspring to their beds after they discovered one had previously tried to break out of the home on Muir Woods Road that the couple bought for $351,000 in 2014.

He said another child had planned to go with the 17-year-old but turned back because she was frightened of what her parents might do to them.

He said the youngest child, who was born a full decade after all the rest, was the only one that the Turpins did not starve.

And Teresa Robinette said her sister regularly sent her pictures of that little girl, but not the rest of her brood.

'Last time I spoke to her on the phone was at Halloween,' she said. Her sister told how she had gone trick-or-treating with the youngest.

'I asked her why she didn't take all of her kids. She said that they were older and had no interest in it.'

Billy, 30, a self-employed remodeler of mobile homes who lives in Hixson, Tennessee, said he was the last family member to speak to Louise. He had called her on Wednesday January 10, to talk about a possible trip out to California.

'She told me she was getting ready to buy a school bus,' he said.

'Then she told me they wanted another child. I said are you serious? Why would you want another kid, haven't you got enough? But she said: 'Yes I want another child.'
Amazon has been criticised for selling clothing for children and babies that appears to trivialise slavery

Amazon has been criticised for selling clothes for children and babies that appear to trivialise slavery.

The retail giant carry a wide range of products containing the slogan 'Slavery makes sh*t happen' and use photos of young models to show off the designs that many people would find offensive.

The words are accompanied by pictures of what appear to be the Pyramids from ancient Egypt.

The t-shirts and other products bearing the slogan are believed to be made by another online company based in Eastern Europe.

A UK campaign group accused the site of joking about a worldwide problem - and said those who fall victim to it would fail to see the funny side.

A spokesman for Anti Slavery International told MailOnline: 'I understand this is meant to be a joke, but slavery is no joke for the 40 million people who are experiencing it right now, including here in Britain.

'Slavery includes girls trafficked into prostitution or boys forced to work in sweatshops. They may be 'getting sh*t done' but I don't think they would find the t-shirt particularly funny.

'Slavery is real. Trivialising it doesn't help Anti-Slavery's work to end this vile practice.'

Amazon sells a wide range of products containing the slogan 'Slavery makes sh*t happen' and use photos of young models to show off the designs that many people would find offensive

The retailer has been criticised for selling the products, which campaign groups say 'trivialises' slavery

A young boy's t-shirt (pictured) is one of the products on sale by the online retail giant. The T-shirts were first marketed by a US company that specialises in adult humour based clothing

The organisation, which campaigns against forced labour and human trafficking, said Amazon should be more responsible in what it sells to shoppers worldwide, said a spokesman.

'It's disappointing that this product is available on a site like Amazon. Companies should take responsibility for ensuring products they sell are not tainted by slavery in any way.'

This baby's bib is being sold on the website

The T-shirts were first marketed by a US company that specialises in adult humour based clothing. Other items on sale in the 'Slavery makes sh*t happen' range includes children's t-shirts, laptop cases and pillow cases.

Prices range from 3.98 for a mug to 9.99 for a t-shirt.

Earlier this year a man at a Donald Trump rally in Nashville, Tennessee, was pictured wearing one of the t-shirts.

Amazon is the latest retailer to become embroiled in a row over their products. Swedish clothing firm H&M were forced to apologise after being accused of running an advertising campaign that featured a young black boy wearing a hoodie with the slogan 'Coolest Monkey in the Jungle'.

H&M faced a Twitter backlash and several celebrities, including hip hop star The Weeknd, lashed out against the firm.

Stores in South Africa were trashed by angry demonstrators and the firm issued an apology saying they had not intended the advertisement to cause any offence.

Prices on the controversial products go from 3.98 for a mug (pictured) to 9.99 for a t-shirt

An Amazon warehouse where staff collect products that have been ordered on the internet

They have since withdrawn the adverts. The mother of Liam Mango, the eight-year-old boy featured in the adverts, said she was not offended and did not consider them racist.

The most infamous period of slavery in the western world was in the 17th century when tens of thousands were brought to the US. It wasn't until after the American Civil War in 1865 that slavery was abolished.

A spokesman for Amazon said: 'All Marketplace sellers must follow our selling guidelines and those who dont will be subject to action including potential removal of their account. The products in question are no longer available.'
Pope Francis has warned that the Amazon and its population are under threat and that big businesses want to get their hands on their gold.

He made the stark warning in a speech to thousands of tribe members on the edge of the rainforest in Peru during a visit on Friday.

In the powerful communication, he said the Amazon and its peoples bore 'deep wounds' and had 'never been so threatened'.

Pope Francis has warned that the Amazon and its population are under threat and that big businesses want to get their hands on their gold

Pope Francis blesses a baby during a meeting with an indigenous group from the Amazon basin

He made the stark warning in a speech to thousands of tribe members on the edge of the rainforest in Peru during a visit on Friday

He lamented 'the pressure being exerted by great business interests that want to lay hands on its petroleum, gas, lumber, gold and forms of agro-industrial monocultivation'.

Amazonian indigenous leaders in Peru are urging Pope Francis to help them protect the world's largest rainforest from an onslaught of new threats that are dramatically changing the biome.

One of the leaders, Hector Sueyo, told the Pope that native peoples are worried about the Amazon as trees disappear, fish die and rivers become contaminated.

Sueyo said that 'the sky is angry and is crying because we are destroying the planet.'

Indigenous leaders had hoped the Pope would deliver a forceful message encouraging the government to recognise their land rights and clean up rivers contaminated by illegal mining.

Francis has previously spoken about the need to protect the Amazon, which he likens to one of the 'lungs of our planet'.

Pope Francis waves to the crowds as he attends the mass meeting in the Peruvian city of Puerto Maldonado

In a speech to thousands of tribe members on the edge of the rainforest in Peru, he said the Amazon and its peoples bore 'deep wounds'

He also lamented 'the pressure being exerted by great business interests that want to lay hands on its petroleum, gas, lumber, gold and forms of agro-industrial monocultivation'

And thousands of indigenous men, women and children traveled to meet the pontiff from throughout the Amazon basin region of Peru, Brazil and Bolivia

Bare-chested tribesmen, their bodies painted and their heads crowned with colourful feathers, danced and sung for the pope when he arrived in the Peruvian city of Puerto Maldonado

Supporters lined the streets to greet him before his meeting with the indigenous people. Tribesmen gathered in a coliseum to hear him speak

And thousands of indigenous men, women and children travelled to meet the pontiff from throughout the Amazon basin region of Peru, Brazil and Bolivia.

Bare-chested tribesmen, their bodies painted and their heads crowned with colourful feathers, danced and sung for the pope when he arrived in the Peruvian Amazon city of Puerto Maldonado.

Supporters lined the streets to greet him before his meeting with the indigenous people.

Some spectators ran up alongside his motorcade carrying Vatican-coloured yellow and white balloons, while others cheered and waved as he passed.

Members of one of the tribes presented the pope with a bow and arrow in a symbolic gesture aimed at urging him to defend land rights they say they have been stripped of.

'The native Amazonian peoples have probably never been so threatened on their own lands as they are at present,' said the Pope, who appeared visibly moved by the reception.

'Amazonia is being disputed on various fronts.

'The problems strangle her peoples and provoke the migration of the young due to the lack of local alternatives.

'We have to break with the historical paradigm that views Amazonia as an inexhaustible source of supplies for other countries without concern for its inhabitants.'

The Pope's warm welcome in Peru stands in stark contrast to his reception earlier this week in Chile, where he drew smaller crowds and his presence provoked protests.

He accused victims of Chile's most notorious paedophile - Reverend Fernando Karadima - of slander after they claimed Bishop Juan Barros had helped cover up his crimes.

Francis branded the accusations 'all calumny', sparking outrage in the country.

Members of one of the tribes presented the pope with a bow and arrow in a symbolic gesture aimed at urging him to defend land rights they say they have been stripped of. He was also shown a beautiful painting by tribesmen (pictured)

Some spectators ran up alongside his motorcade carrying Vatican-coloured yellow and white balloons, while others cheered and waved as he passed. During his warm welcome, the Pope blessed a child outside the Apostolic Nunciature in Lima (pictured)

Amazonian indigenous leaders in Peru are urging Pope Francis to help them protect the world's largest rainforest from an onslaught of new threats that are dramatically changing the biome
Raymond Thomson, 22, was found dead at his home in Peebles

A bodybuilder who lost his brother, girlfriend and two friends in separate tragedies has been found dead in a suspected drug overdose.

Raymond Thomson's girlfriend Rachel Simpson woke up next to him in bed at his home in Peebles in the Scottish Borders on Friday and found him lifeless.

The 22-year-old's death comes just two months after his ex-girlfriend Meighan Reid, 17, died in a suspected drug-related death.

He also lost his half brother Oliver Eaton, 26, in May 2016 after he crashed his Audi A3 into a tree on A721 near Kirkdean in Peeblesshire.

Mr Thomson suffered brain damage in November 2014 when Hyundai he was a travelling in crashed head-on into Subaru Impreza on Old Dalkeith Road in Edinburgh.

Front seat passenger Kyle Thomson, 22, and father-of-three driver Sean Allan were killed, while Raymond was put in an induced coma.

It later emerged that Sean Allan did not hold a driving licence and the car he was driving did not belong to Sean or his passengers.

Mr Thomson was reportedly awarded thousands of pounds in compensation, but a family member claims he blew it on drugs after getting in with the wrong crowd.

The 22-year-old's death comes just two months after his ex-girlfriend Meighan Reid, 17, (pictured) died in a suspected drug-related death

Raymond Thomson's girlfriend Rachel Simpson woke up next to him in bed at his home and found him lifeless

Raymond (left) also lost his half brother Oliver Eaton, 26, (right) in May 2016 after he crashed his Audi A3 into a tree on A721 near Kirkdean in Peeblesshire

Paramedics pronounced Mr Thomson dead at the scene after failing to resuscitate him.

On Sunday, his girlfriend Rachel paid an emotional tribute to by sharing dozens of images of the couple together.

She wrote: 'So gutted to have woke up to you next to me like this. Breaks my heart. I'll remember all our amazing times we spent together and memories that will never be forgotten.

'Had so much ahead of us and I can't believe you are gone. Still can't believe it. I miss you so much, love u forever.'

Paramedics pronounced Mr Thomson dead at the scene after failing to resuscitate him

Kyle Thomson (left) and Sean Allan (right), who both died in the car crash three years ago

His girlfriend Rachel paid an emotional tribute to by sharing dozens of images of the couple together

Nacisha Jones said: 'Another friend gone. Can not believe it a was only with you the other day. I'm still in shock.

'R.I.P Raymond I'll never forget the times we had growing up absolutely devastated. Sleep tight hun I'll never forget you.'

Johnboy Chapman added: 'Sad times another young life taken too soon.. RIP Raymond Thomson bro.'

Mr Thomson's sepbrother Floyd Eaton, 29, said: 'He had never been the same since. He would do anything and go with anyone.

'He was hanging about with idiots who acted like his best pal. I knew it was coming.'

A Police Scotland spokeswoman said: 'Police in the Scottish Borders were called to a house in Violet Bank, Peebles, around 1.10pm on Friday 12th January following a report of concern for a man.

'The 22-year-old was sadly pronounced dead at the scene and the death is unexplained pending further enquiries, but is not being treated as suspicious.

'A report has been submitted to the Procurator Fiscal.'
A Banksy, which was painted on a derelict container on a beach, and splattered with paint after locals got fed up with tourists trekking to see it, has been salvaged and restored.

Fisherman Luke Hodges, who worked in the container, on a beach in Dungeness, Kent, sold the painting Petrol Head for an estimated 50,000 to Essex art dealer John Brandler.

He organised for the metal and wooden building to be salvaged by specialists Land Logical, who transported it to their warehouse, in Dartford, removed the Banksy and recycled the container.

The image, showing a bird with a petrol pump for a a beak in a protest against pollution, was recovered from a derelict container on Dungeness beach in Kent

Their move came 18 years after Banksy painted his first work on the container, an image of a vulture with a petrol pump as its head. The work, which featured the vulture resting on a branch, was stolen just days later.

Banksy then returned to the scene to paint an updated version of the bird, this time in flight. However, the new image survived barely longer. It is believed to have been defaced by locals fed up with the interest it attracted.

In a message on Twitter, the Lydd Airport Action Group said: 'The new work depicts the same bird with a petrol syphon beak, this time the bird is in full flight. Unfortunately it is no longer possible to view the new artwork as it has now been painted over.'

Mr Brandler, who owns the Brandler Galleries, in Brentwood, told MailOnline that they had acted quickly after EDF Energy, which owned the land, was planning to tidy up the beach and they feared that the container would be crushed.

Plans to clean up the beach would have involved scrapping the container, which would have put the Banksy work, which had been painted over, in danger

The collector also said he he had spent a 'shed-load of money' restoring the picture but it is thought that the work could be worth a very large amount of money

He said: 'Banksy did his first painting as comment on the oil industry killing all the wildlife - oil spills and things like that. It was stolen within 12 days.

'Then a few years later he was back in the area and he did another one on the same container.

'When EDF Energy said a year ago they wanted to tidy up the beach, the fisherman got in touch with me and I ended up buying it. They were going to crush the container.

'I got specialists to move the entire container to Dartford where the Banksy was removed and the remainder of the container was turned into woodchip with the metal sent off for recycling. The painting was sent up to Carlisle where it was resorted by specialists.'
Members of a Dallas family who beat a pregnant 13-year-old and stomped on her stomach until she miscarried have been sentenced to prison. Sharon Jones, 47 (pictured), was sentenced to 12 years

Members of a Dallas family, who beat a pregnant 13-year-old and stomped on her stomach, until she miscarried have been sentenced to prison.

According to The Dallas Morning News, the victim, now 19, was eight months pregnant when she was attacked in 2013.

Sharon Jones, 47, was sentenced to 12 years; her daughter, Cecila McDonald, 28, was sentenced to seven years; and her 29-year-old son, Cedric Jones Jr, was sentenced to five years in prison.

Each pleaded guilty to felony family violence aggravated assault.

Another man, Lonnell McDonald, received 10 years in prison in 2016 after being convicted of aggravated assault in the attack.

The victim's brother, 24-year-old Robert Cayald, faces an aggravated sexual assault charge in the case. He was found incompetent to stand trial last year, and his case is pending.

Cayald is accused of raping his 13-year-old sister in August 2012, which resulted in pregnancy.

Jones's daughter Cecila McDonald, 28 (left), was sentenced to seven years; and Jones's 29-year-old son, Cedric Jones Jr (right), was sentenced to five years in prison. They first forced the teen to take birth control pills and cinnamon tablets to try to abort the baby

The teen and her younger sister had been sent to Dallas after their grandmother died to live with their aunt, Sharon Jones.

However, the victim and two of her siblings moved into Cecila McDonald's apartment, where Lonnell McDonald and Cayald also lived.

The teen testified in court that she told Cecila McDonald and Jones that Cayald had sexually abused Cecila McDonald's three young children.

Cecila McDonald 'became very nervous' and worried that CPS would take away her children if they learned that the teen was pregnant and that Cayald was living with her, according to an affidavit.

They first forced the teen to take birth control pills and cinnamon tablets to try to abort the baby.

When that didn't work, they held down the teen and took turns stomping on her pregnant belly.

When that didn't work, they held down the teen and took turns stomping on her pregnant belly. Lonnell McDonald (left), received 10 years in prison in 2016 after being convicted of aggravated assault in the attack. Robert Cayald, 24 (right), who raped his sister was found incompetent to stand trial last year, and his case is pending

During the attack, Cecila McDonald yelled at the teen, 'B***h, you ain't about to get my kids taken away from me.'

'They held her down. They forced her to lay there while people stomped her,' prosecutor Rachel Burris argued. 'It was savage.'

The baby was stillborn and placed in a five-gallon bucket and the family tried to burn the remains on a grill. When they were unsuccessful, Jones gave her son $25 to dispose of the body. He hid the remains in a bag in an unknown location.

Defense attorneys for the trio argued that the attack was a small mark on an otherwise clean record. They said the defendants had been part of Bible studies and classes in jail and should be granted leniency.

But Burris argued that the defendants merely hid the evil they were capable of.

'Most people would treat strangers better,' Burris said. 'Yet these people did it to someone they promised to love.'
Theresa May has again refused to say she would back Brexit if the referendum was held today - as she declared that she feel 'European'.

The Prime Minister backed Remain when Britain voted to leave the EU in June 2016 but has built her premiership around taking the country out of the Brussels club.

But in an interview she again refused to say if she would switch sides and now back Leave, saying she would 'do what I did last time' and look at the issues.

It comes nearly a year after she triggered Article 50 to start the two-year countdown to Brexit and in the midst of middle of negotiations with the bloc.

Late last year she secured the agreement of Brussels to move on to the second phase of talks having made 'sufficient progress' on the Irish border, Brexit divorce bill ad citizens rights.

Other ministers, including Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt and Treasury Minister Liz Truss have said they would change their vote and back Brexit if the referendum was held today.

The Prime Minister (pictured at the summit wiht Emmanuel Macron in Sandhurst yesterday) backed Remain when Britain voted to leave the EU in June 2016 but has built her premiership around taking the country out of the Brussels club

Both ministers said the Treasury's Project Fear campaign, which warned Britain's economy would immediately tank if we voted Leave, has now been proved wrong.

In an interview on French television, she said: 'If a vote was to come up, I would do what I did last time round which was sit down and look carefully at the issues.

'But there isn't going to be another vote, so this is not an issue. What is going to happen is the UK is going to leave the European Union.'

She also ruled out holding a second referendum on leaving the EU - insisting the outcome of the historic vote will stand.

She told France 2: 'There will be no second referendum on Brexit. We took the decision as a parliament that the British people should have their choice.'

The Prime Minister's refusal to do the same and say she would back Leave could raise questions about how committed she is to delivering Brexit, and how much she really thinks the UK can flourish outside the bloc.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt (pictured outside No10 on Tuesday) and Treasury Minister Liz Truss (pictured outside No10 on Tuesday) have said they would change their vote and back Brexit if the referendum was held today.

It is not the first time she refused to say she would change her vote, she made similar comments in last October.

In the same interview with the French television channel, Mrs May also said she feels European.

Asked by the interviewer 'do you feel European', the PM replied: 'Yes. The United Kingdom is part of Europe and of course we will remain part of Europe.

'We have decided to leave the European Union, that's a decision that the British people took and we will be leaving the European Union but we are not leaving Europe.'

Earlier this week Chris Wilkins, Mrs May's former longterm speechwriter, said Brexit was 'not something that animates her or she would have chosen to be her legacy'.

He told Wales Online: 'She's very determined and clear-sighted in that way but I think it's fair to say [from] her time in office people might not necessarily recognise that.

'It's in many ways her misfortune to have Brexit looming large over everything because, much as she's committed to delivering it, it's not something that animates her or she would have chosen to be her legacy.'

Commenting on Mrs May's remarks, Nigel Farage said: 'Ive said it before and Ill say it again. We need a Prime Minister who believes in Brexit.'
Advertisement

A Grade I listed 18th Century castle which was too expensive for Queen Victoria is to be transformed into a luxury 110-bed hotel and wedding venue.

Built in 1799, the prestigious Norris Castle, in East Cowes, Isle of Wight, will have multi-million pound restoration work done to create 16 stunning function rooms, a spa and hotel guest rooms.

The castle has retained many of its original features over the years, with one of the rooms still having the shower and bath designed for German Emperor Kaiser Wilhelm II, who was a regular visitor.

Norris Castle in East Cowes, Isle of Wight is to be transformed into a luxury 110-bed hotel and wedding venue by property developers Uavend

The prestigious castle, which was built in 1799 by James Wyatt, was considered too expensive by Queen Victoria, pictured is the Norris Castle farm

Other original features still at the castle include an old swimming pool and special entrance for carriages.

Norris Castle was built by architect James Wyatt - who was also responsible for work on Windsor Castle - for retired politician Lord Henry Seymour.

The estate still boasts an amazing 26,000 square feet of living space and 225 acres of landscaped grounds, with a mile of waterfront.

The estate has an amazing 26,000 square feet of living space and 225 acres of landscaped grounds, while also having a mile of waterfront

An old fire escape in the castle which was built for retired politician Lord Henry Seymour and also passed on to his son George before eventually being sold by the family in 1839

The castle has retained many of its original features over the years including an old swimming pool and special entrances for carriages

The castle attracted a number of important guests, including German Emperor Kaiser Wilhelm II who was a regular visitor there and his own room and bathroom (pictured)

In fact, the German Emperor was such a regular visitor to Norris Castle that Kaiser Wilhelm had a shower and bath designed especially for him and they stand to this day (pictured)

After the property passed on to Lord Seymour's son George, newspaper tycoon Robert Bell bought it from him in 1839.

Mr Bell lived in the castle for 41 years before putting it on the market, with Her Royal Highness and her husband Prince Albert then making enquiries.

However, Queen Victoria - who was looking for somewhere to escape hectic royal life - was put off when the tycoon demanded too high a price.

In 1839, the castle was purchased from the Seymour family by newspaper tycoon Robert Bell who would go on to live there for 41 years

The castle then captured the interest of Queen Victoria who was looking for a place that she could go to escape the hectic royal life

Instead of purchasing the castle, Victoria and Albert instead bought the neighbouring Osborne House, knocking it down and rebuilding it in an Italian renaissance style.

When Queen Victoria appointed the Duchess of Bedford, Elizabeth Russell, as her Mistress of Robes, she and Duke of Bedford Francis Russell bought Norris Castle from Mr Bell so they could be close to the Royals.

Victoria first visited the castle in 1831 with her mother, the Duchess of Kent. She later visited again in 1833, staying for a prolonged period of time.

The castle has long been visited by important historical figures with the Prince Regent, later George IV, visiting the estate in 1819.

Queen Victoria later decided that the house was too expensive and, along with husband Albert, bought the neighbouring Osbourne House

The stunning castle, which is now in a state of disrepair as shown by the state of one of the magnificent rooms, was bought by the Duchess of Bedford, Elizabeth Russell who was Queen Victoria's Mistress of Robes

The Duke of Bedford Francis Russell and his wife bought Norris Castle from newspaper tycoon Mr Bell so they could be close to the Royals

Property developers Uavend bought the stunning castle at auction in February 2016 - shelling out 4.5million for the property.



The prestigious castle is now undergoing vast restoration work.

Uavend plan to transform it into a luxury hotel, wedding venue and spa, as well as building 53 new homes.

They also plan to convert the old farm houses into properties.

The circular drawing room of the castle that Victoria first visited in 1831 with her mother, the Duchess of Kent, and later visited again in 1833, staying for a prolonged period of time

The castle has long been visited by important historical figures with the Prince Regent, later George IV, visiting the estate in 1819 who stayed in the once magnificent rooms (pictured)

According to their website, detached houses and farm buildings set within the castles grounds will be converted into 21 houses, 'offering a unique opportunity to enjoy life in this beautiful historic setting'.

Each home will be 'uniquely designed' and owners and guests will also benefit from over a mile of beach frontage.

Some properties will be overlooking the Solent with Seawall Houses perched on the sea wall.

Property developers Uavend bought the stunning castle at an auction in February 2016, spending 4.5million to win the property

The castle has a number of older stone passages and will be undergoing substantial renovation work as Uavend plan to transform it into a luxury hotel, wedding venue and spa, as well as building 53 new homes

Managing director of Uavend Eamon O'Connor said the castle is of significant national importance and had been in danger of being lost before the company bought it.

He said: 'We are absolutely delighted to be involved in the rebuilding of the beautiful Norris Castle Estate.

'We feel that, as well as safeguarding the castle, our plans will rival anything in the south of England.

'In addition, our plans will give local tourism and jobs a real boost; we know there is a well established community and it is important whatever we create fits in well.'

An old fire escape at Norris Castle which, according to the Unavend website, will undergo serious renovation work to convert a number of properties in the grounds

The inside of a farmhouse at Norris Castle which, along with a number of similar buildings, will be converted into detached houses by property developers
Police have arrested three people after a mother and her nine-year-old child were sprayed with a noxious liquid before running off.

The incident happened on Saturday, January 13 at 5.20pm on New Cavendish Street in Fitzrovia.

The victim, who is in her 40s answered the door with her daughter after the assailant pressed the intercom.

A woman in her 40s and her 9-year-old daughter were sprayed with a noxious liquid in an attack at their home in New Cavendish Street in Fizrovia, W1, file photograph

Scotland Yard are appealing for witnesses, especially a man who gave chase to the suspect

Police and the London Ambulance service attended the scene where they found the woman and the girl suffering the effects of 'an irritant' sprayed at them.

Both were rushed of a Central London hospital where they were treated and later discharged.

Police are appealing for a man who gave chase to the female attacker to come forward. He was wearing a distinctive orange jacket.

The witness followed the woman towards the Langham Street area. People at the Yorkshire Grey pub on Langham Street may have witnessed the disturbance.

Anyone with information on the attack is asked to contact the Westminster Community Safety Unit on 0207 321 8033.

Officers have arrested a man in his 50s and a woman in her 70s on suspicion of conspiracy to commit GBH.

A second woman, who is in her 30s, has been arrested on suspicion of GBH with intent.

All three suspects have been released on bail.
Chilling CCTV footage shows Remee Jarrett (pictured), 30, waiting by a corner shop in Nottingham for his target Rakeem Thomas, 21, who he claimed had stabbed him before

A killer who stabbed an innocent man to death in a case of mistaken identity before casually saying 'Soz bro' has been jailed for life.

Chilling CCTV footage shows Remee Jarrett, 30, waiting by a corner shop for his target Rakeem Thomas, 21, who he claimed had stabbed him before.

But as Jarrett waited outside the Premier Express in St Anns, Nottingham, Reuben Morris-Laing, 21, walked into the shop to buy a chocolate bar.

Believing Mr Morris-Laing was Mr Thomas, Jarrett lunged towards him with a knife, plunging it into his stomach.

But after fatally piercing one of the 21-year-old's arteries, kidney and liver, he realised he had made a tragic mistake - and casually said 'Soz bro'.

He then stepped over Mr Morris-Laing as he lay bleeding to death in the doorway before chasing Mr Thomas before stabbing him in the back and the arm.

Mr Morris-Laing, who had a single stab wound to his abdomen, left the shop and collapsed outside, just after 9.25pm on March 22 last year.

Passers-by tried to help the young carpenter but after being rushed to the Queen's Medical Centre in Nottingham, he died a short time later.

Jarrett, of St Ann's, admitted murder, attempted wounding with intent and possession of a knife at Nottingham Crown Court.

Today he was jailed for life and ordered to serve a minimum 22 years and 189 days behind bars.

Mrs Justice Sue Carr said: 'Your attack was committed in public and in very close presence of members of the public.'

She added that he had a very troubling record or previous offending dating back to 2003 when he was 16.

Prosecutor Peter Joyce QC said Jarrett 'bore a grudge' against Mr Thomas who went to hospital with stab wounds in the early hours of March 23.

But as Jarrett waited outside the Premier Express in St Anns, Nottingham, Reuben Morris-Laing (pictured), 21, walked into the shop to buy a chocolate bar. Jarrett stabbed him by mistake

Mr Joyce said: 'Reuben Morris-Laing was an entirely innocent victim who was killed as a result of being mistaken for someone else.

'They were both wearing similar clothing and had arrived in similar cars.'

'Immediately after he had stabbed Reuben Morris-Laing the defendant was heard to say 'soz bro' by the store assistant to Reuben Morris-Laing who collapsed to the ground almost immediately.'

Jarrett escaped the crime scene, but in his hurry left behind his mobile phone.

Police recovered it and discovered Jarrett had been looking up knife-fighting websites in the weeks leading up to the killing.

CCTV footage shows the moments leading up to the killing, which Jarrett (pictured) has been sentenced to life in prison for

After a three-day manhunt and several warrants issued for his arrest, the killer handed himself in and was charged.

In an emotional tribute, Mr Morris-Laing was described by his family as a hard-working family man who would have had a bright future and had been saving money for a deposit on a house.

Speaking after the case, his mother Delene Laing said he had an infectious smile and then he 'made rooms light up' when he walked in.

She said: 'Reuben was a much-loved and well-liked, hard-working young man.

'He had hopes and dreams. He had a future.

'His smile was infectious and he really did light up the room when he walked in.

'THE ENORMITY OF LOSS I JUST CANNOT DESCRIBE: FATHER'S EMOTIONAL TRIBUTE TO HIS SON 'In that evening my son had merely gone to the shop to buy some pop and some chocolate. 'Who would ever have thought he would never return home? 'Reuben had his whole life ahead of him. 'He was passionate and creative. He worked hard. 'He was a skilled young man. He had so much to give. He was loved by so many. 'The enormity of the loss I feel I just cannot describe. 'Jarrett set out that night to at least seriously harm his intended target. My son was not that target. Knowing that is very hard to take. 'The 'if's 'and 'buts' of that night haunt me. 'Jarrett should never be allowed out of prison, life should mean life. 'Society needs to be protected from cold calculating killers like him. 'His actions show he has no regard for the lives of others. 'He left Reuben dying while he carried out his attack on his intended target. 'Jarrett has a long time to reflect on the senseless murder of my son.' Advertisement

'Reuben remains my handsome son, of whom I shall always be incredibly proud..

'Sentence has been passed today but that does not ease our pain.

'Of course for me no sentence can ever be enough.

'I want my son back. No one can give me that.

'There simply are not enough words to describe the enormity of the loss we feel.

'That Reuben who had so much to give and to contribute has had his life taken from him in such a violent manner.

'His death leaves a massive void in our lives and we will never be the same again.

'Jarrett has shown no remorse for his actions. He is nothing but a violent, cold killer.'

His father Shane Morris added: 'In that evening my son had merely gone to the shop to buy some pop and some chocolate.

'Who would ever have thought he would never return home?

'Reuben had his whole life ahead of him.

'He was passionate and creative. He worked hard.

'He was a skilled young man. He had so much to give. He was loved by so many.

'The enormity of the loss I feel I just cannot describe.

'Jarrett set out that night to at least seriously harm his intended target. My son was not that target. Knowing that is very hard to take.

'The 'if's 'and 'buts' of that night haunt me. Jarrett should never be allowed out of prison, life should mean life.

'Society needs to be protected from cold calculating killers like him.

'His actions show he has no regard for the lives of others.

'He left Reuben dying while he carried out his attack on his intended target.

'Jarrett has a long time to reflect on the senseless murder of my son.'
The government of Poland is part of the new surge of populism, openly defying the European Union on numerous policy fronts and rebuffing calls for an ever-closer union. So, why did its prime minister recently raise the possibility of adopting the euro? What is happening, and how should people of faith think about a single European currency? Are there moral issues at stake?

Adoption of the common euro currency should be understood first and foremost as politics, and only then as economics, writes Marcin Chmielowski, vice president of Polands Fundacja Wolnosci I Przedsiebiorczosci (Freedom and Entrepreneurship Foundation), in a new essay for Actons Religion & Liberty Transatlantic website. Nations in Eastern and Central Europe find themselves squeezed between Brussels and the Russian Bear:

The euro is primarily a political project aiming at encouraging the alignment, and integration, of national governments. The Baltic states are a great example of this. Until recently Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia used their own local currencies, which were inherently prone to speculative attacks because they operate in small markets. Russia still cant get over the loss of the Baltic countries, and their membership in the EU and NATO is a thorn in its side. These circumstances demanded they create a strong bond with the West.

As both a political and an economic issue, adopting the euro is intimately tied up with moral questions, he writes:

Surely, we can think of economics as the value-free science postulated by Ludwig von Mises, but in political practice, economic decisions are  and always will be  based on prevailing morality. Monetary policy that allows some states to go into debt and makes other countries pay for it is hardly moral. Sacrificing the economic interests of smaller states in order to save the clubs larger shareholders is morally dubious, as well. The eurozone, whose aim was supposed to be enhancing the process of harmonization of the whole continent, mostly generates controversies and tension between states. Taking the risk of entering the euro area when no member has yet exited could be seen as irresponsible.

You can read his full essay at Actons Religion & Liberty Transatlantic website.

(Photo credit: Public domain.)
A pensioner who killed a 95-year-old great-grandmother in a freak hospital car crash cried in the dock as she was spared jail after the victim's family begged a judge to show mercy.

Jean Downing died after Jean Epsley's Toyota Yaris starting moving when she stood half out of it while trying to reach a ticket machine in a car park.

The 72-year-old had not put the semi-automatic vehicle into neutral or applied the handbrake and instead of braking she mistakenly hit the accelerator.

A court heard the Toyota careered through the exit of the car park, across the road and up a grass bank, hitting railings and the road sign outside Maidstone Hospital in Kent, on May 30 last year.

Jean Downing (pictured) died after Jean Epsley's Toyota Yaris starting moving when she stood half out of it while trying to reach a ticket machine in a car park

A pensioner who killed a 95-year-old great-grandmother in a freak car crash at Maidstone Hospital cried in the dock as she was spared jail after the victim's family begged a judge to show mercy

The sign dislodged and flew through the air, hitting Mrs Downing in her head and neck as she sat in a wheelchair on the verge.

The mother of three suffered multiple injuries and died later that day, Maidstone Crown Court heard.

Mrs Downing, who also had three grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren, had attended a hospital appointment and was waiting for her carer to give her a lift to her home in Staplehurst, Kent.

Epsley herself had taken her 83-year-old husband Brian to hospital that day and they were heading back to their home in nearby Ditton.

The mother of two, who walks with a frame, cried in the dock as a judge told her he would not be sending her to prison for what was a 'tragic, extraordinary and exceptional' case.

He also praised Mrs Downing's family for their 'extraordinary insight, empathy and understanding' in not wishing to see the pensioner jailed.

Jean Downing died after Jean Epsley's Toyota Yaris starting moving when she stood half out of it while trying to reach a ticket machine in a car park. She walked free from Maidstone Crown Court today

Despite her age, the former tool engraver was active, lived alone and did not rely on a wheelchair to get around.

In a moving victim personal statement read to the court, the widow's eldest daughter Ann Downing also spoke of the family's huge loss.

She wrote: 'She was dear to us all. This tragic incident took our mum's life prematurely and has left us devastated due to the manner in which it happened.

'But equally we are pragmatic in relation to the circumstances as to how this collision happened and to Jean Epsley's poor judgment which caused it.

'We understand she will have to deal with this on her conscience for the rest of her life and while her actions must be accounted for we do feel sorry for her.

'We do not wish to see her go to prison.'

Epsley admitted causing death by dangerous driving and was given 14 months' jail suspended for 18 months.

She was also banned for driving for two years, although Judge Julian Smith said he was certain she would never drive again.

Expressing his condolences to Mrs Downing's family and describing their insight as humbling, the judge added: 'They speak of their sympathy for you and robustly, and some may think generously, express their wish not to see you in prison.'

Epsley, who has no previous convictions and had driven for 43 years without any licence endorsements or points, was also ordered to pay 800 in costs.
The record for the fastest ever transatlantic flight by a conventional airliner has been broken by a budget airline.

A Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, operated by Norwegian, flew from New York to London Gatwick in just five hours and 13 minutes.

The flight, carrying 284 passengers, arrived at Gatwick airport in London 53 minutes ahead of schedule.

A Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner operated by Norwegian has broken the record for the fastest transatlantic flight by a conventional airliner

Strong tailwinds over the Atlantic pushed the aircraft to a top speed of 776mph during the 3,500-mile flight.

The subsonic record is believed to have previously been held by a British Airways Boeing 777-200 jet which flew from New York to London in five hours and 16 minutes in 2015.

Norwegian captain Harold van Dam said: 'The 787 Dreamliner is a pleasure to fly and it's a great feeling to know that we have set a new record in this aircraft.

A map of the flight path taken by the Dreamliner when it broke the record for the fastest transatlantic flight by a conventional airliner

'We were actually in the air for just over five hours and if it had not been for forecasted turbulence at lower altitude, we could have flown even faster.'

The tail fin of the aircraft features a portrait of aviation pioneer Amy Johnson, who was the first female pilot to fly solo from Britain to Australia in 1930.

Although the flight time from the Dreamliner is impressive, it's some way off the record for the fastest transatlantic passenger flight.

The quickest transatlantic passenger flight recored was set by Concorde - which flew at more than twice the speed of sound - at two hours and 52 minutes in 1996.
A climber has been bombarded with hate messages after he abandoned his elderly dog - who has now been found dead - on a Scottish mountain when she collapsed during a hike.

Paul Finnegan, of Shotts in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, was walking along the 3,074ft Beinn Sgulaird mountain when his Border Collie, Meg, lost the use of her legs.

The owner made the heartbreaking decision to leave the 12-year-old pet behind after he and his friend struggled to carry her against the horrendous wind and rain.

Paul Finnegan, of Shotts in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, was walking along the 3,074ft Beinn Sgulaird mountain when his Border Collie, Meg (pictured), lost the use of her legs

A relative of Paul's said that 'he had no other option but to leave her' as the weather continued to worsen.

Mountain Rescue experts placed no blame on Paul for deciding to take the beloved pet up the mountain and sympathised with the position he was left in.

Yet plenty of social media users disagreed and have questioned the owner's 'poor judgement'.

Morag McNeill lashed out at Paul on Facebook, writing: 'I am actually raging and sad at the same time. I am naming and shaming this absolute a******.

'Paul Finnegan from Shotts, took his border collie Meg up Beinn Sgulaird at the weekend. She got tired and her legs gave way, she's 12, and he left her up there to die.

The owner (pictured) made the heartbreaking decision to leave the 12-year-old pet behind after he and his friend struggled to carry her against the horrendous wind and rain

Mountain Rescue experts placed no blame on Paul for deciding to take the beloved pet up the mountain and sympathised with the position he was left in

'Anybody who knows him please tell him what a vile person he is. He doesn't deserve the love of a dog.'

Heidi Blasius wrote: 'Poor judgment and not a lick of common sense. Failed this dog.'

Another commented: 'How on earth can anyone walk away from their pet and just leave it? I would move heaven and earth and always find SOME way to rescue my dog if needed, she's more important than me. Animals rely on their owners to look after them, how can you just walk away?'

Karen Mills was equally disgusted: 'Every time I read something on Missing Megs group I get more and more angry towards the owner.

'That poor dog would never of left his side if it was him that was hurt. He should be prosecuted for abandonment and neglect. K*******!'

Yet plenty of social media users disagreed and have questioned the owner's 'poor judgement'.

Morag McNeill lashed out at Paul on Facebook, writing: 'I am actually raging and sad at the same time. 'I am naming and shaming this absolute a******'

Dorothy Dot Marshall commented: 'It was an act of pure cruelty. It is against the law to let any animal suffer, only a coward would do that.'

And Emma Hardy wrote: 'I can't believe the amount of people defending the heartless s***, people are risking their lives to try to find her and he's just going about his usual week.'

Yet relatives hit back at the scathing comments, imploring people to understand how difficult the decision was to make.

Family member Holli McGowan said: 'Paul never left Meg for dead. Paul had no signal and tried his hardest to carry her. Between him and his friend he carried her for as long as possible while falling and fighting against the wind and rain.

'Paul went to get help, so please until you know the full story, stop listening to people's bulls because I am sick to the back teeth of hearing so many nasty comments.'

Meg was left on January 14 but volunteers have now announced that the elderly dog was found dead by her owner.

Posting on Facebook, Mikey Doc McManus said: 'It is with great sadness and a heavy heart, that I share my last update, that Meg is no longer with us.

'The owner and his friend set out on foot to their last know location from that fateful night and I received a simple message from them stating they had found Meg and it wasn't good news.'

A relative of Paul's first posted on Lost Dogs Glasgow on January 15 and said: 'My family member was up Beinn Sgulaird mountain yesterday with his dog. His dog's back legs gave way and he tried everything to get her off safe but it was too dangerous with the weather and it was getting dark, so he had no other option but to leave her.

Meg has been missing since January 14. A relative of Paul's posted on Lost Dogs Glasgow the following day (pictured)

Border collie Meg was abandoned on the 3,074ft Beinn Sgulaird mountain (pictured) amid atrocious weather conditions after she became lame

'He came off the mountain and slept in his car till first light and tried to go up and find her, but can't find her, as it was too dark last night they can't remember where she is.'

Not every response has been negative and dozens of volunteers helped search Beinn Sgulaird.

A crowdfunding page was set up to help fuel those searching and has smashed the original target of 500 by more than double the amount.

Volunteers say the money will be 'put to good use in the spirit of the walkers and dog owners that have selflessly spent their money and sent their well wishes'.

Andy Ravenhill, Oban Mountain Rescue Team Leader, said that the criticism levelled at the dog owner was harsh.

He added: 'It wasn't the right choice or wrong choice. No one can really tell what they would do in that situation until they are in it.

'It would have been a really hard decision to make, and he will just have to live with it either way.'
A letter containing what investigators are calling a 'biohazard' has been sent to a Pennsylvania police barracks, putting three employees in hospital.

State police and federal authorities say two state troopers and a civilian staff member became ill Thursday afternoon immediately after one of the troopers opened the letter at the Carlisle barracks and were taken to a hospital.

The barracks was evacuated for several hours.

The three employees were discharged from the hospital Thursday night and returned to work Friday.

The FBI is examining the letter and the envelope containing it.

Police also said that the US Postal Service is aiding in the investigation to try to determine where the letter came from, according to The Sentinel.

Trooper Brent Miller says the investigation has 'ruled out all serious biohazards' but he can't provide further information on what the letter contained.

The Pennsylvania State Police barracks in South Middleton Township is seen in the above stock image. A letter containing what investigators are calling a 'biohazard' has been sent there and has sickened three employees

He says the letter was addressed to the trooper who opened it.

Earlier reports from news outlets stated that the letter was sent from a prison, but those reports were incorrect, according to authorities.

At around 2.05pm on Thursday, two state troopers and a civilian employee of the Pennsylvania State Police were rushed to the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center facility in Carlisle.

Trooper Brent Miller said that the state police in Carlisle receives large volumes of correspondence.

Miller said they take precautions whenever a package appears suspicious.

However, due to this high volume, not every single letter can be examined beforehand,' Miller said.

'After the incident yesterday, appropriate measures were taken to ensure the safety of our employees and to reopen the station to continue police operations when it was safe to do so.

'Incidents like this are fortunately rare and a thorough investigation is underway.'

The Cumberland County Hazmat team quickly arrived on the scene and the barracks were evacuated.
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Clark County, Nevada Sheriff Joe Lombardo released a preliminary report on the Las Vegas shooting on Friday. Gunman Stephen Paddock, who was killed after the attack, pictured above

Investigators have still not discovered what motivated Stephen Paddock to embark on the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history but determined that he researched SWAT tactics ahead of the massacre and investigated other possible targets, including the famed California beach in Santa Monica, officials said Friday.

They also determined that Paddock acted alone when he opened fire from his high-rise hotel suite, killing 58 people and injuring hundreds, Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo told reporters.

Lombardo made public a preliminary report into the shooting and said he does not expect charges to be filed against Paddock's girlfriend, Marilou Danley, who had been previously called a person of interest in the case. Investigators also found that Paddock had possessed child pornography, Lombardo said.

Paddock's online searches before the shooting included research into SWAT tactics and for other potential public venue targets - and he took photographs of some potential sites, the sheriff said. The searches also included the number of attendees at other concerts in Las Vegas and how many people go to Santa Monica's beach.

During the Friday press conference, Lombardo also revealed that police are investigating a person of interest, who is not Danley. Lombardo reiterated, however, that they believe Paddock was a lone shooter.

Paddock's vantage point from the Mandalay Bay, where he carried out the attack, is seen above. He targeted concertogers at the Route 91 music festival across the street

The report included never-before-seen pictures from inside the gunman's suite, which he used to fire down on innocent concertgoers. The photo above includes a picture of the smaller connecting room that Paddock used as a second shooting vantage point

The above picture shows Paddock's minivan, which investigators initially said he planned to use to escape

Several packages of tannerite, an explosive, were found inside Paddock's car

According to the report, investigators found 20 two-pound containers of exploding targets, 10 one-pound containers of exploding targets, two 20-pound bags of explosive precursors, a loaded magazine for an AR-10 rifle, a loaded magazine for an AR-15 magazine, boxed ammunition, suitcases and towels inside Paddock's 2017 Chrysler Pacifica

Mandalay Bay security were first drawn to Paddock's hotel room when they noticed a stairwell door that had been screwed shut (above). A security officer responded to the floor and heard gunshots

Paddock set up a camera on a room service cart outside of his room so he could know when officers were arriving outside his door (straight ahead and on the right)

Above, a view of the covert camera that Paddock his underneath a plate on the food service cart left outside his room

Paddock also set up a second camera in the peephole of the hotel room door, as a second vantage into the hallway

When officers first arrived at the scene, Paddock tried shooting at them through the door to his suite

Paddock used a computer to livestream the feeds from the cameras so he could watch the hallway from inside his suite

By the time they burst into the suite, Paddock had already shot himself dead. Above, a view of the entrance to the larger suite

Pictured above is a previously released photo of the gunman dead on the floor of his hotel suite after the 10-minute shooting

Investigators also included this graphic showing the layout of Paddock's two connecting rooms. Room 32135 was the larger suite, and room 32134 was the smaller one. He shot out of windows on the northeast side of the larger room and on the east side of the smaller room

The sheriff and the FBI have said they found no link to international terrorism. They said they believe Paddock meticulously prepared and concealed his plan to fire assault-style weapons from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel into a crowd of 22,000 people attending the Route 91 Harvest Festival music below.

Paddock fired more than 1,100 bullets, mostly from two windows in the high-rise hotel, Lombardo has said. That includes about 200 shots fired through Paddock's hotel room door into a hallway where an unarmed hotel security guard was wounded in the leg and a maintenance engineer took cover to avoid being hit.

Several bullets hit aviation fuel storage tanks at nearby McCarran International Airport that did not explode. Authorities reported finding about 4,000 unused bullets in Paddock's two-room suite, including incendiary rounds that Lombardo said were not used.

The Mandalay Bay hotel is seen in the top left of this picture, released in the report on Friday

Investigators recovered 23 guns in Paddock's suite. Some of the rifles are seen above

Twelve of the rifles had been fitted with 'bump stock' devices to make them fire faster, similar to a fully automatic weapon

Paddock fired more than 1,100 bullets, mostly from two windows in the high-rise hotel. Above, some of the bullets on the floor, near the window where he shot from

Paddock smuggled a huge array of tools into his hotel room to prepare for the horrific attack

This is the chilling notes Paddock wrote as he calculated the distance to the concertgoers across the street, so he could use the right weapon to target them

Paddock booked two rooms at the Mandalay Bay that connected through the door above. He shot out of two windows, one in the larger room and one in the small room

Pictured above is Paddock's smaller room, and some of the guns found inside

Several bullets hit aviation fuel storage tanks at nearby McCarran International Airport that did not explode

Above, a bullet hole that truck one of the fuel tanks at McCarren

Another item found in Paddock's room and taken as evidence was a blue snorkel mouthpiece attached to some piping. The report doesn't say what the believe this was for

KEY FINDINGS FROM THE CLARK COUNTY SHERIFF'S INVESTIGATION INTO THE MANDALAY BAY MASSACRE Investigators determined key findings as a result of this investigation: Paddock acted alone. Thousands of hours of digital media were reviewed and after all the interviews conducted, no evidence exists to indicate Paddock conspired with or acted in collusion with anybody else. This includes video surveillance, recovered DNA19 and analysis of cellular phones and computers belonging to Paddock. No suicide note or manifesto was found. Of all the evidence collected from rooms 32-135 and 32-134, there was no note or manifesto stating Paddocks intentions. The only handwritten documentation found in either room was the small note indicating measurements and distances related to the use of rifles. There was no evidence of radicalization or ideology to support any theory that Paddock supported or followed any hate groups or any domestic or foreign terrorist organizations. Despite numerous interviews with Paddocks family, acquaintances and gambling contacts, investigators could not link Paddock to any specific ideology. Paddock committed no crimes leading up to the October 1st mass shooting. All the weapons he purchased to include all the ammunition, were purchased legally. This includes all the purchases Paddock made at gun stores as well as online purchases. Paddock did not commit a crime until he fired the first round into the crowd at the Las Vegas Village. Reference the 1,965 investigated leads, 21,560 hours of video, 251,099 images obtained and 746 legal notices filed or sent, nothing was found to indicate motive on the part of Paddock or that he acted with anyone else. Security Officer Campos was not shot with a BB gun but rather sustained a gunshot wound from one of the rounds fired by Paddock down the hallway of the 100 wing on the 32nd floor. Security Officer Campos did in fact have a pre-planned vacation to Mexico to go visit his father and Security Officer Campos asked law enforcement for permission to make this trip. One aspect of the investigation focused on Paddocks financials. The investigation proved Paddock was self-funded through his gambling and past real estate transactions. He was indebted to no one and in fact paid all his gambling debts off prior to the shooting. The investigation revealed several indicators of intent on the part of Paddock. Those indicators are as follows: Paddock had a reservation for a hotel during the Lollapalooza music festival held at Grant Park in Chicago, Illinois during the month of August. Like Route 91, the Lollapalooza festival was held in an open air venue. Paddock specifically requested a room overlooking the venue when he made the reservation. The reservation was cancelled two days prior to the check-in date. Paddock made lodging reservations during the Life is Beautiful music festival held in Downtown Las Vegas, Nevada. The festival was also an open air music venue attended by thousands of people. Paddock requested units overlooking the venue. Paddock reserved three different units during the period and all faced the venue. Paddock was observed in video surveillance transporting several suitcases from his vehicle to the units he reserved. Paddock was alone for the trip and was never accompanied by anyone for more than a casual conversation. Investigators have been unable to determine if Paddock intended an attack during this festival or if he used it as a means to plan a future attack. Paddock conducted several internet searches while planning his actions. Search terms included open air concert venues, Las Vegas SWAT tactics, weapons and explosives. Paddock also searched for various gun stores. The purchasing of over 55 firearms, which were mostly rifles in various calibers, from October 2016  September 2017. He also bought over 100 firearm related items through various retailers during that period. During a stay in early September 2017, Paddock requested specific rooms that overlooked the Las Vegas Village. According to Danley, Paddock spent time looking at the Las Vegas Village venue from different angles and windows while inside the room. Advertisement

Investigators found 23 guns in the rooms, including 12 rifles that a federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms official said were fitted with 'bump stock' devices that allowed rapid-fire shooting similar to fully automatic operation.

Paddock killed himself with a gunshot to the mouth before police reached him. The 64-year-old retired accountant and multimillionaire real estate investor had earned hotel upgrades as a high-stakes video poker gambler at several Las Vegas casino resorts.

Danley was in the Philippines at the time of the shooting.

Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo discusses the Route 91 Harvest Festival mass shooting during a news conference on Friday

The report says that Paddock's girlfriend, Marilou Danley, will likely not face charges. She had previously been called a person of interest in the case

Lombardo and Aaron Rouse, FBI agent in charge in Las Vegas, had described Danley as a person of interest in the investigation but not a suspect. She was questioned by the FBI when she arrived in Los Angeles from overseas, and was described as cooperating with investigators.

However, a document filed October 6 and unsealed last Friday by a federal judge in Las Vegas said the FBI considered Danley 'the most likely person who aided or abetted Stephen Paddock.'

Questions have been raised about Danley's receipt in the Philippines of a $10,000 wire transfer from Paddock just days before the shooting.

FBI warrant documents also showed that Danley told investigators that they would find her fingerprints on bullets used during the attack because she would sometimes help Paddock load high-volume ammunition magazines, and that Danley deleted her Facebook account in the hours immediately following the shooting.

The Clark County coroner ruled that all 58 people killed in the attack died of gunshot wounds. Paddock's death was ruled a suicide. Media organizations including The Associated Press are seeking autopsy records that have not been made public.
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He looks a cross between Peaky Blinders and blind drunk.

Tired, emotional and using street furniture to prop himself up, this was the Duchess of Cambridge's uncle on a night out.

Gary Goldsmith, dressed like a character from the BBC gangster series Peaky Blinders, staggered around with his friends.

He was recently described by a judge as a 'nasty drunk' but on Thursday night he was in high spirits as he fooled around with his companions.

Exotic uncle: Gary Goldsmith stands next to a security guard and a mystery brunette as he adjusts his jacket revealing his pocket watch underneath

Having a laugh: Goldsmith appears to tease his friend by attempting to mock kick him as they wander down the street

Assistance required: Goldsmith staggers down the street before a friend appears to help him make his way by putting an arm around him

Man down: Goldsmith's friend falls to the floor after the pair linked arms amid a night out on Regent Street in central London

Play-fight over: After the pair fell to the floor, Goldsmith appeared to help up his fiend who remained prone on the ground

Getting to his feet: Goldsmith is helped up and pulls his friend to his feet after their scuffle saw them both on the ground

Making his merry way: Goldsmith staggers along the street looking worse for wear as he is accompanied by a brunette woman

Having a laugh: Goldsmith's friend shook hands with the 52-year-old after they fell to the floor in a fit of giggles

Friends once more: After the pals' play-fight was finished they shook hands to make up after their mini scuffle

With supporting arms around each other, they barrelled along Regent Street in central London before falling over in a fit of giggles.

Mr Goldsmith, the 52-year-old 'black sheep' of the Middleton family - Carole Middleton's younger brother - then found a more reliable support in the form of a pelican crossing post.

He was later spotted apparently emptying his bladder onto the road before heading off to buy a McDonald's.

An onlooker said: 'They were having a good laugh. Some of his friends were dressed as Peaky Blinders too, and they were play-fighting together.'

Last November, Mr Goldsmith was described by Senior District Judge Emma Arbuthnot Goldsmith as engaging in drunken and 'loutish behaviour' when he knocked his wife Julie-Ann, 47, to the ground outside their home as they returned home from a charity auction. He was sentenced to a 12-month community order and rehabilitation sessions.

The couple began arguing in a taxi on their way home from a charity auction at Home House, a private members' club in central London, on October 13 after Julie Ann accused her husband of taking drugs. He responded by calling her a 'whore' and a 'nothing'.

Desperate times: He was later spotted apparently emptying his bladder onto the road before heading off to buy a McDonald's

Goldsmith appeared unsteady on his feet. An onlooker said: 'They were having a good laugh. Some of his friends were dressed as Peaky Blinders too, and they were play-fighting together.'

Getting close: Married father Goldsmith kisses a mystery brunette on the street outside a central London venues

Animated: Goldsmith chats with another brunette companion after walking down the street with his friends

Having a smoke: Goldsmith then had a cigarette with his companion as the pair chatted in the street outside the venue

After getting out of the cab Mrs Goldsmith slapped her husband on the face and he responded by punching her with a 'left hook', taxi driver Daniel Shepherd told police.

The multi-millionaire was fined 5,000 and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of 170 and 85 towards prosecution costs.

The CPS dropped the application for a restraining order on Goldsmith.

Taxi driver Mr Shepherd said Mrs Goldsmith was left 'unconscious and not moving' on the ground following the punch. She remained with her eyes closed for about 15 seconds before waking up and staggering to her feet, the court heard.

Mr Shepherd said he confronted Goldsmith and said: 'Mate, you cannot do that.'

When Goldsmith turned towards him in an aggressive manner, the taxi driver added: 'What are you going to do, start on me now?'

Goldsmith, estimated to be worth 30million after making his fortune from a recruitment business, initially told the police he had pushed his wife hard with his left hand, but denied using a hook.

He issued a heartfelt apology to the court and said he was 'deeply ashamed' for punching his wife.

What's on the menu for uncle Gary? Goldsmith was seen placing his order at the fast food restaurant before setting off

Chowing down: Goldsmith couldn't get his solids in fast enough as he was seen putting so much grub into his mouth that his cheeks puffed out

Down the hatch: Goldsmith made light work of his McDonald's which he washed down with a large carton of fizzy drink

That'll do for tonight: Goldsmith wandered off with his McDonald's in his hand as he headed home after his night out
President Donald Trump is scheduled to join a bevy of world leaders and assorted CEOs and billionaires in Switzerland next week, despite the US Government shutdown.

He'll be the first U.S. president to join the well-heeled gathering since Bill Clinton in 2000, and plans to bring along seven cabinet members to join him.

The White House didn't immediately respond to questions about whether Trump or his cabinet members would still go if the U.S. government isn't open for business.

The shutdown has sent agencies scrambling to make contingency plans, corral workers into their offices without pay, and digest plans from Washington, such as a National Park Policy that will open facilities but not pay for trash removal.

President Donald Trump is scheduled to speak at the World Economic Forum in Davos next week

Several international leaders are striving to make the most out of the event.

French President Emmanuel Macron will be hosting over 100 CEOs of major multinationals at the chateau of Versailles to try to persuade them to invest, the Associated Press reported.

He is hoping to capitalize on dysfunction in other capitals to make the pitch for France.

Dozens of CEOS were expected, from Coca-Cola, Google, Facebook, JP Morgan, and other firms.

Trump met with Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer Friday  who the White House was already blaming for the 'Schumer shutdown'.

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (L) is expected to join Trump in Davos  if the U.S. government stays ope

The federal government shut down at the stroke of midnight Friday - halting all but the most essential operations and marring the one-year anniversary of President Donald Trump's inauguration in a striking display of Washington dysfunction.

Senate republicans fell far short of passing a procedural motion that would have kept the federal government funded, causing the fourth government shutdown in a quarter century.

Five Democrats who represent Trump-country red states crossed the aisle to vote with Republicans, but the GOP lost four of its own, erasing any doubts about the state of partisan bickering in the US Capitol.

French President Emmanuel Macron will tout investment in France to CEOs at Versailles

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be in Davos, along with a delegation that is offering yoga classes on the slopes to promote the nation's traditions, the foreign minister's office to Reuters.

The country has gone through a boom that now has it ranked seventh in the world.

Two yoga teachers from India will be holding daily classes, which could provide a welcome reprieve for fatigued executives.

Leading Saudi Arabia's delegation will be state minister Ibrahim al-Assaf, who was released from detention from a converted Ritz Carlton hotel during a corruption purge.

Assaf is a board member of the Saudi oil company Aramco.

British Prime Minister Theresa May (L) and French President Emmanuel Macron (R) attend a reception at the Victoria and Albert Museum, Central London, Britain, 18 January 2018. Trump and May are scheduled to meet in Davos

Besides giving a Friday speech, Trump will meet with British Prime Minister Theresa May, following the postponement of a trip by President Trump to Great Britain. Trump sent out a tweet last week blasting the new U.S. embassy facility he was expected to open in person.

'President Trump looks forward to having a bilateral meeting with UK Prime Minister May in Davos next week to further strengthen the USUK Special Relationship. Other details on the President's schedule at Davos will be announced next week,' said the White House in a brief statement by press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California and Rep. Mark Meadows of North Carolina both were scheduled to join Trump in Davos.

Ahead of the shutdown, McCarthy's office said he wouldn't go if there was one.

House minority leader Nancy Pelosi blasted the House for its planned week-long recess.

'Every year the Republicans plan the January schedule so that they can go to Davos,' Pelosi said in a statement. 'They want to spend next week hobnobbing with their elitist friends instead of honoring their responsibilities to the American people.'

Trump will be entering something of a lion's den when he visits the elitist enclave of Davos next week, rubbing shoulders with the same 'globalists' that he campaigned against in winning the 2016 election.

Aides said some of Trump's advisers had argued against him attending the World Economic Forum in order to steer clear of the event, which brings together political leaders, CEOs and top bankers.

But in the end, they said, Trump, the first sitting U.S. president to attend the forum since Bill Clinton in 2000, wanted to go to call attention to growth in the U.S. economy and the soaring stock market.

A senior administration official said Trump is expected to take a double-edged message to the forum in Switzerland, where he is to deliver a speech and meet some world leaders.

In his speech, Trump is expected to urge the world to invest in the United States to take advantage of his deregulatory and tax cut policies, stress his 'America First' agenda and call for fairer, more reciprocal trade, the official said.

During his 2016 election campaign, Trump blamed globalization for ravaging American manufacturing jobs as companies sought to reduce labor costs by relocating to Mexico and elsewhere.

'Globalization has made the financial elite who donate to politicians very wealthy. But it has left millions of our workers with nothing but poverty and heartache,' he said on June 28, 2016, in Pennsylvania.

Trump retains the same anti-globalist beliefs but has struggled to rewrite trade deals that he sees as benefiting other countries.

Trump will be speaking two days after German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron in Davos.

Both ardent defenders of multilateralism and liberal democratic values, they are expected to lay out the counter-argument to Trumps 'America First' policies. Merkel and Macron have lobbied Trump hard to keep the United States in the Paris climate accord and Iran nuclear pact, only for him to distance himself from those deals.

There is acute concern in European capitals that 2018 could be the year Trumps bark on trade turns into bite, as he considers punitive measures on steel and threatens to end the 90s-era North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico.

He has backed off withdrawing from a U.S. trade agreement with South Korea and while he has threatened to terminate NAFTA, he has yet to do so.

Trumps tax cuts are a source of concern in Europe, where policymakers are discussing steps to extract more tax dollars out of U.S. multinationals such as Google and Amazon. European governments now fear a 'race to the bottom' on corporate tax rates and a shift to more investment in the United States by some of their big companies.

In a Reuters interview on Thursday, Trump lamented that it is rare that he meets the leader of a foreign country that has a trade deficit with the United States.

Based on official data for the year to November, China exported goods worth $461 billion and the United States ran a trade deficit of $344 billion. Trump said he would be announcing some kind of action against China over trade. He is to discuss the issue during his State of the Union address to the U.S. Congress on Jan. 30.

Asked about the potential for a trade war with China depending on U.S. action over steel, aluminum and solar panels, Trump said he hoped a trade war would not ensue.

'I don't think so, I hope not. But if there is, there is,' he said.
Prosecutors are dropping charges against more than 100 people who protested the inauguration of President Donald Trump last year.

The US Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia announced on Thursday that it would no longer be pressing charges against 129 people to focus on 'core group' of 59.

In the court filing, prosecutors accused the 59 of violence, destruction, and planning of 'black-bloc' tactics during the downtown DC march.

Violent protests that broke out on Inauguration Day resulted in 234 people being arrested with mostly felony charges such as rioting and destruction of property.

Prosecutors said the decision came after six defendants were acquitted in December.

Prosecutors are dropping charges against 129 people who protested the inauguration of President Donald Trump last year to focus on 'core group' of 59 (Pictured, a limousine is set aflame after Inauguration Day 2017)

In the court filing, prosecutors accused the 59 of violence, destruction, and planning of 'black-bloc' tactics during the downtown DC march (Pictured, a flash grenade explodes at the feet of an Anti-Trump protester after protesters set a limousine on fire)

About 234 people were arrested on Inauguration Day but prosecutors said the decision came after six defendants were acquitted in December (Pictured, President Trump takes the oath of office as First Lady Melania Trump holds the Bible)

'The government will be filing motions to dismiss without prejudice the indictment against the other remaining 129 defendants so that it can focus its efforts on this smaller, core group that we believe is most responsible for the destruction and violence that took place on Inauguration Day,' said a statement from the US Attorney's Office.

It is a win for defendants who have been urging the government to drop the charges. Many had claimed prosecutors were dragging the them through the legal process in order to send a message.

At the first trial, although prosecutors conceded there was no evidence to support that the six defendants had committed any violence, they said they were complicit for not removing themselves from the destruction.

But a jury found all being tried not guilty on all counts.

It is a win for defendants who have been urging the government to drop the charges, saying they were being dragged through the legal process to send a message (Pictured, police and demonstrators stand off in Washington, DC, after the inauguration)

At the first trial, prosecutors admitted they had no evidence to support violence but said protesters were complicit for not removing themselves from the destruction (Pictured, a limousine is set aflame with 'We the People' spray painted on the side)

Six officers sustained minor injuries during the protests, and police fought back with pepper spray (pictured) and flash-bang grenades as protesters vandalized businesses and set a limousine on fire before getting the situation under control

'This has been a long road, but we're pleased that the government, albeit belatedly, saw fit to drop this case,' said Sheridan England, an attorney for Adam Simpson, whose charges were dropped Thursday.

According to the court filing, about 20 defendants have had their cases dismissed and another 20 have pleaded to lesser charges, often misdemeanor rioting carrying a fine and community service.

One person, Dane Powell, 32, went to prison. He pleaded guilty to felony rioting and assault on a police officer. He received a four-month prison term.

Six officers sustained minor injuries during the protests, and police fought back with pepper spray and flash-bang grenades as protesters vandalized businesses and set a limousine on fire before getting the situation under control.
NASA has bumped an astronaut slated to be the first African-American resident on a Space Station off an upcoming spaceflight, in a rare move for the space agency so close to launch.

Astronaut Jeanette Epps, 47, was supposed to rocket away in early June, and would have been the first African-American to live on the International Space Station.

Late Thursday, NASA announced it was pulling Epps off the mission but didn't disclose why.

Astronaut Jeanette Epps (in a 2016 spacewalk training session in Houston) was supposed to be the first African-American to live on the International Space Station

Thursday NASA announced it was pulling her off the June mission for undisclosed reasons

Brandi Dean, a NASA spokesperson, said several factors were considered, but could not elaborate further.

'These decisions are personnel matters for which NASA doesn't provide information,' Dean told collectSPACE.com.

NASA announced that Epps will be replaced by her backup, Serena Aunon-Chancellor.

Epps will now assume duties at the Astronaut Office at Johnson Space Center in Houston.

The space agency said she would 'be considered for assignment to future missions.'

Meanwhile, the astronaut is returning to Houston from Russia where she had been training to fly alongside a German and a Russian.

Dean added on Friday the decision to remove Epps from the mission was a NASA decision, not the Russian Space Agency's.

News of Epps historic residency at the International Space Station was widely reported after NASA made the announcement in January of 2017.

'Next year, astronaut Jeanette Epps will add her name to an exclusive list of women who have traveled to space,' Woman's Day reported in it's 80th birthday issue in September.

NASA announced her replacement will be Epps' back-up Serena Aunon-Chancellor (pictured)

Soyuz MS 01 pictured docked at the International Space Station, where Epps was expected to be residing

'After almost a decade of training in robotics and the Russian language  so that she can communicate with the cosmonauts on her mission  she will become the first African American woman to live and work long-term at the International Space Station.'

Epps' journey to becoming an astronaut was epic. In 2002 she joined the CIA and worked as a technical intelligence officer, before NASA chose her with its 20th astronaut class.

'I did think about being an astronaut, but I never thought that they would take me,' Epps said in December, during a press conference, according to Fox News.

'So I decided to become an engineer. Through that route I made it into the astronaut corps.'

'I did a lot of studying  I went through graduate school, undergrad and graduate school  11 years,' Epps added. 'I did a lot of work in school and then I worked for a motor company and then I worked for the government. I've been with NASA for about eight years or so. It is a long road.'

She was chosen in 2009 to join NASA, and over almost a decade she trained in robotics and the Russian language, to be able to communicate with fellow cosmonauts on a mission.

Fellow African American astronauts have visited the station on missions, including Robert Curbeam, Alvin Drew, Joan Higginbotham, Leland Melvin, Robert Satcher and Stephanie Wilson, but none have lived there.

NASA assigned her to the flight a year ago.
Officials say a tugboat exploded on the Tennessee River in Kentucky, killing three people and injuring six others.

Kentucky State Police said the explosion was reported around 9am on Friday and that there was no early indication of foul play in the incident.

Sheriff Kevin Byars told the West Kentucky Star that multiple agencies are on scene at First Marine Dry Dock Boat and Barge Repair, and responders were working to contain the fire on the vessel and rescue people trapped inside.

Three people were pronounced dead at the scene in Calvert City while six others were taken to hospital for treatment with injuries from non-life threatening to life-threatening.

Officials say a tugboat exploded on the Tennessee River in Calvert City, Kentucky, around 9am on Friday, killing three and injuring six others (scene above)

No cause for the explosion has been reported yet, but preliminary reports suggest an exploding boiler on the boat is to blame (scene above)

According to Marshall County Emergency Management Captain Justin Harris, the boat - which has been identified at the William F Straight - exploded while it was docked and being repaired.

No cause for the explosion has been reported yet. Preliminary reports are that an exploding boiler on the boat is suspected.

The US Coast Guard was called to the scene for a water search and KSP says an investigator with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration is expected to arrive later in the day. Fire boats have been called in from local fire departments.

The US Coast Guard was called to the scene for a water search and KSP says an investigator with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration is expected to arrive later in the day (pictured, map view of the explosion site)

Residents were asked to avoid the industrial area of town for the foreseeable future as multiple agencies are responding.

The investigation is expected to go on into the night hours.

Authorities are in the process of notifying the families of the deceased. Police said once this has been done, their information will be released to the public.
Sen. Bob Menendez might spend 2018 asking voters to re-elect him and jurors to acquit him.

Federal prosecutors told a federal judge in New Jersey on Friday that they will seek a retrial of the Democratic senator, whose 11-week corruption trial ended in a hung jury in November.

The filing to the judge seeks a retrial 'at the earliest possible date.' Menendez didn't immediately comment on the development.

New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez will be tried a second time for corruption after the Democrat's first 11-week trial ended in a hung jury on Nov. 16, 2017

Menendez did official favors for longtime friend Salomon Melgen, but his lawyers insist it was because of a long-standing friendship and not because he got campaign donations and free vacations

Menendez and his longtime friend, Florida eye doctor Salomon Melgen, were charged in 2015 with a bribery scheme in which Menendez allegedly traded political favors for gifts and campaign donations.

The New Jersey lawmaker also was charged with making false statements on his Senate financial disclosure forms.

Menendez, a former chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee who has been in the Senate since 2006, is expected to run for re-election, though he hasn't officially announced his candidacy.

Several jurors interviewed after the first trial said as many as 10 of 12 members of the panel were in favor of acquittal.

Melgen flew Menendez and other guests around on a CL-600 Challenger jet like this one, crisscrossing between New Jersey, Washington, Palm Beach and the Dominican Republic

The Justice Department filed this notice in federal court on Friday, saying it wants to re-try Menendez as soon as possible

In December, the defense renewed its pre-trial motions to have U.S. District Judge William Walls dismiss the charges.

Attorneys wrote that 'scrutiny of the evidence remains warranted, especially given the press statements by jurors and alternates about the lack of proof.'

Prosecutors sought to tie gifts and campaign donations from Melgen to meetings and conversations Menendez had with executive branch officials on matters that would have benefited Melgen's business interests.

One such matter was a $9 million Medicare billing dispute involving Melgen's ophthalmology practice.

Menendez (center, with daughter Alicia) is up for re-election later this year, an inopportune time to be facing felony charges

Defense lawyers argued during the trial that the gifts, which included a stay at a luxury Paris hotel and trips on Melgen's private jet to his villa in the Dominican Republic, were an expression of the pair's longtime friendship and weren't bribes.

They also contended Menendez's meetings with officials including former Health and Human Service Secretary Kathleen Sebelius were to advance broader policy objectives.
'Fire starter': Tnuza Jamal Hassan, from Minneapolis, has been charged with arson for allegedly starting four fires at St Catherine's University, where she at one time was a student

A former college student from Minneapolis has been charged with intentionally setting four fires at St. Catherines University in St. Paul to avenge Muslims killed in US bombings in the Middle East.

A criminal complaint alleges 19-year-old Tnuza Jamal Hassan confessed to investigators she started the fires on Wednesday because she had been reading about the US military destroying schools in Iraq or Afghanistan and felt she should do the same thing. Hassan is charged with first-degree arson.

'Hassan said this was the same thing that happened in the "Muslim land" and nobody cares if they get hurt, so why not do this?' the complaint stated.

The complaint, cited by Minneapolis Star Tribune, says Hassan told police her intent was to hurt people and to burn the Catholic university to the ground.

The teenager was also quoted as telling police and arson investigators: You guys are lucky that I dont know how to build a bomb because I would have done that.

On Friday, Hassan appeared in Ramsey County District Court and was charged with a single count of first-degree arson, reported Pioneer Press. She was then remanded back to the county jail.

Officials say a sprinkler system prevented a dormitory fire from spreading to a day care center where 33 children and eight adults were present.

Close call: A sprinkler system prevented one of the four fires at a dormitory from spreading to a day care center where 33 children and eight adults were present

The university said in a press release on Thursday that the fires were 'small and quickly contained, and no one was injured. There was damage to furnishings, but no structural damage to the impacted buildings.'

Police obtained surveillance video from the university, which allowed them to track Hassan to Crandall Hall where she was ultimately taken into custody in a student lounge after a room-to-room search.

According to the college, the 19-year-old was last enrolled at St Catherine's in the fall of 2017.

Hassan reportedly dropped out because her family were planning to travel to Ethiopia.

Officials said between 11.40pm and 2pm, Hassan torched a chair at St Mary's residence hall and burned a few smaller items, including books, toilet paper and sanitary napkins in women's bathrooms on campus.

Following her arrest, Hassan allegedly told police that she had written a letter to her roommates containing 'radical ideas about supporting Muslims and bringing back the caliphate,' the complaint said.

The letter frightened the roommates, who handed it over to campus security.
A construction worker has miraculously survived after being impaled by two steel rods - with one going straight through his liver.

Rajendra Pal, 21, was working on the roof of a building in Mumbai when he slipped and fell onto iron rods below.

One missed his heart by inches with another slicing straight through his liver.

He was rushed to hospital where a three-hour operation was performed to remove the 5ft long rods.

Rajendra Pal, 21, was working on the roof of a building in Mumbai when he slipped and fell onto iron rods below (right)

Rajendra, from West Bengal, had only arrived in Mumbai two days earlier, a relative said.

Ravindra Naidu, supervisor of the construction site said: 'The mishap took place at the Nariman Point, near the Free Press Building.

'A labourer informed me about the incident. The police arrived immediately at the accident spot after we called them. The two rods pierced through his chest and abdomen.

'Still, he was able to talk to us and he wasn't unconscious. He didn't feel the pain.

'Even the doctors were surprised when he was admitted in the hospital. Immediately, the doctors treated him and saved his life. We feared, whether he will be alive?

'But he survived due to his willpower.'

He was rushed to hospital where a three-hour operation was performed to remove the 5ft long rods

Emergency services rushed to the scene at Nariman Point, Mumbai, and sawed the rods off the pillar they were attached to so the patient could be taken to a government hospital.

Dr Jitendra Sankpal, senior surgeon at GT hospital, said: 'The patient was conscious when he was brought to the hospital.

'Two 5ft long iron rods pierced his abdomen and chest.

One missed his heart by inches with another slicing straight through his liver

'However, the man was lucky as the rods did not puncture his lungs or other vital organs.

'When the patient was brought in, his condition was critical.

'On inspection, we discovered there were two 12mm iron rods, each 75cm long had penetrated through his chest and upper abdomen.'

He added: 'It was a very difficult operation. The first rod that came out though his chest barely missed the patient's heart by one inch.

'We started the operation at 10pm and concluded it at 1am.

'The patient's vitals are normal and he is out of danger now.'

Rajendra's cousin, Dhan Parmar said, 'I came to know about this incident around 8:30 pm.

' I met Rajendra and he spoke to me. He wanted to take up a job.

'So, we permitted him to come to Mumbai.

'We are scared as this has happen only in two days. Luckily, my relative has survived.'
Lizzy Mathews, 65, filed suit against Denver Health Medical Center on Saturday

A nurse has sued her former hospital claiming that she was fired for supporting President Donald Trump during the election campaign.

Lizzy Mathews, 65, filed the federal lawsuit against Denver Health Medical Center on Saturday, seeking back pay and punitive damages for emotional pain and suffering.

Mathews believes her firing stems from an incident on September 10, 2016, when she was caring for a patient who was formerly a high-ranking employee at the hospital, the Denver Post reported.

When the patient asked her what she thought about the presidential election, Mathews told him that Trump would win and she was 'praying for him'.

The patient replied to her, 'Oh no, I don't want him to be', the suit claims.

'As a public hospital, Denver Health has a proud history of diversity and inclusiveness and is welcoming to all,' the hospital said in a statement

Three days later, the hospital nursing manager fired Mathews and told her that a patient had complained about a conversation she'd had with him about the election, the suit claims.

The nursing manager also asked Mathews if she'd urged the patient to read the Bible, which the nurse denied, according to the complaint.

The suit also alleges that Mathews was discriminated against ethnically.

Matthews is of Asian and Indian ethnicity, and was born in India in 1952 but has lived in the United States since 1983, according to her lawsuit.

She earned a nursing degree from Hamidia Medical College Hospital in Bhopal, India, in 1977 and went on to study psychiatric nursing at the Front Range Community College in Denver.

Mathews said a patient complained after he asked her what she thought of the presidential election and she said she hoped Trump would win

The hospital responded in a statement to KDVR.

'As a matter of policy, Denver Health does not comment on pending litigation,' the statement said.

'As a public hospital, Denver Health has a proud history of diversity and inclusiveness and is welcoming to all,' the statement continued.

'We have staff members from a variety of backgrounds with a variety of beliefs and work diligently to ensure Denver Health continues to provide an environment in which everyone can feel comfortable delivering or receiving our world-class care.'
A woman pushing a pram was nearly crushed by a huge tree as it fell after being uprooted in strong winds during a storm that killed four.

Shocking CCTV footage, taken in the Netherlands, shows the woman wheeling her pram across an open public space.

As she passes the camera she looks up at a huge tree hanging over her, which has begun to tilt dangerously.

Seconds later it falls, landing less than a foot away from the mother and pram. She pulls herself from the tree's branches but the pram itself remains stuck.

The tree has been completely uprooted by the strong winds. Luckily, the woman appears to have escaped unharmed.

At least four people were killed this week by falling trees as violent gales hit northern Europe and forced Amsterdam's Schiphol airport to close.

Shocking CCTV footage from the Netherlands shows the woman wheeling her pram across an open public space

Second later the huge tree falls, landing less than a foot away from the mother and pram

The Netherlands bore the brunt of the severe winter storms - the second this month - as bitter winds whistled off the North Sea to hit the low-lying country with full force.

Amsterdam's Schiphol airport, one of the continent's busiest travel hubs, was forced to cancel all flights at one point as winds topped 86 miles an hour.

Two Dutch men, both 62, were killed by falling trees while a woman driver in Belgium died when her car was crushed as she travelled through a wood.

A 59-year-old man was also killed at a camping site in the German town of Emmerich, near the Dutch border.
Theresa May and Donald Trump will meet for talks on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos next week, Downing Street has announced.

It was yesterday reported the pair could miss each other as they will only be in Swiss town for a few hours at the same time.

But Downing Street has now said a slot for talks has been arranged.

Theresa May and Donald Trump (pictured together last May) will meet for talks on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos next week

A No 10 spokesman said: 'The Prime Minister will have a bilateral meeting with President Trump in the margins of the World Economic Forum at Davos in Switzerland next week.'

White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders says Trump looks forward to meeting with May 'to further strengthen the US-UK Special Relationship.'

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and French President Emmanuel Macron are on the long list of world and business leaders also at the summit which Trump's predecessor Obama never attended.

Mr Trump is thought likely to use his appearance to promote his America First strategy at an event associated with the rise of globalisation.

The event takes place at the upmarket ski-resort Davos between January 23 and 26, with business leaders, politicians and representatives from non-government organisations among those attending.

Mr Trump will be the first sitting US president to attend the summit in person since Bill Clinton in 2000.

In November Mrs May said the US must do more to tackle far-Right extremists as she refused to back down in a spat with the President.

The Prime Minister hit back at Mr Trump's jibe that she is not tackling terrorism in Britain as an extraordinary spat threatened to blow the Special Relationship apart.

Mrs May risked fuelling the row by repeating her view that the US president was 'wrong' to retweet anti-Muslim videos posted by the far-Right group Britain First.

Despite Mr Trump lashing out at her demanding she focus on 'Islamic terrorism taking place in the UK', Mrs May said she would not be afraid to raise concerns about such interventions.

Mr Trump celebrates his first full year in office on Saturday and is expected to mark the occasion with a gala dinner, while protests are planned in several cities.

In London a demonstration by Stand Up To Racism is due to be held outside the new US Embassy in Nine Elms, south London.

Earlier this month Mr Trump scrapped a February visit to the UK when he was expected to open the building.

The president blamed the cost of the new embassy and its location south of the River Thames, saying it was a 'bad deal'.

His cancellation prompted media speculation that reasons for the snub included that Mr Trump had been offended by perceived slights against him by UK public figures.

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson accused London Mayor Sadiq Khan of endangering the so-called 'special relationship' after he said president had 'got the message' from Londoners and would have been met by 'mass peaceful protests' if he went ahead with the visit.

The president has endured a turbulent relationship with Mrs May since taking office, with the Prime Minister publicly criticising statements he has made on Muslims, terrorism and climate change.

In November the pair fell out spectacularly over his retweeting of anti-Muslim videos posted online by the deputy leader of the far-right Britain First group, Jayda Fransen.

Their meeting this week will be the first time they have seen each other in person since the row.
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Cecilia Laker will always remember with a shudder the aftermath of the operation on her knee at a busy English hospital two years ago.

Recovering from surgery, she was put in a packed six-woman NHS ward, where a seventh bed was squashed into the centre for an extra patient.

On the day she arrived for the operation at the hospital in Ashford, Kent, she was last on the list of five patients for knee surgery.

Cecilia Laker,aged 71, meets two of the nurses Anais Ledoux, 23 (left) and Melanie Martin,35 (right)

Two years ago, the Centre Hospitalier de Calais signed a revolutionary agreement with NHS England. Pictured: Cecilia Laker visits Calais General Hospital which is paid to treat NHS patients

The others were all men, but some of them were told to go home because there were no beds available for them afterwards.

'The men's wards were full. I would have been angry if that had happened to me,' she says. 'As a result I was fast-tracked for my surgery. The nurses suddenly came to me and said, 'We have to get you ready right now'.

It was rather unnerving.' After three days in the crowded ward  when she could just manage to hobble to the bathroom  Cecilia was told it was time to go home because another person was waiting for her bed.

'As each patient left, the nurses immediately wiped down the bed and then put in the next. It was one out and one in,' she recalls.

Despite this dispiriting experience, Cecilia, 71, a retired shipping line cashier from the Kent coastal town of Folkestone, says the NHS operation was a success.

A widow for eight years, she has been able to spend her time visiting friends, travelling abroad and driving to visit beauty spots on the Kent coast.

But her medical problems are not over. She says her knees are damaged because of wear and tear. 'The sponge bit between the bones has worn down. I played squash a lot when I was younger and I blame that.'

Now, her other knee  the right one  has been playing up, and she desperately wants that fixed, too.

Cecilia says: 'I am a little bit cross that I cannot get immediate NHS treatment in England given that I am older, in pain, and have paid in all my life.'

Before the trip to Calais: Mrs Laker at home in Folkestone, Kent before travelling to France for knee replacement surgery

A room with a view: A typical room for NHS patients traveling from the UK to Calais General Hospital for treament

The Calais General Hospital Director Martin Trelcat, 38, meets Cecilia Laker before her operation

For that reason, determined not to go through the same experience again, she has turned herself into a pioneer in a revolution which could take pressure off the beleaguered NHS by dispatching patients for free medical treatment 21 miles across the Channel in France.

When, last autumn, she went to her local GP surgery and said the joint was terribly painful and getting worse, her doctor referred her to the same orthopaedic consultant at William Harvey NHS hospital, in Kent, who had operated on her before. Yet her hopes of a swift cure ran into trouble.

The consultant said his 'hands were tied' because there was a long waiting list for knee replacement surgery. It might be five months before she had the operation  or even longer.

'That would take me into May this year, or even into the summer. The pain was bad and I was having trouble walking even short distances,' she told me this week.

'I was getting desperate. So I asked the consultant the cost and waiting time of doing the operation privately. He said it would be two or three weeks and the price was 10,500.'

This image shows the knee replacement operation that will be given to Mrs Laker in the Calais General Hospital

Cecilia turned this down. 'I didn't want to go private because I have no insurance, and besides I've always paid my taxes. I felt I had a right to use the NHS. But I was very worried about how long I'd have to wait.'

She knew the NHS was facing an escalating crisis because of the flu epidemic, a dire shortage of nurses, and the ever-increasing medical demands of a growing population.

The William Harvey hospital, 12 miles from Folkestone, says the current waiting time for knee replacements is now much longer than when Cecilia first inquired last year. According to its website this week, it stands at 24 weeks for 90 per cent of patients.

It was while Cecilia was trying to work out what to do for the best that she remembered an article in her local Kent newspaper.

It was about a Calais state hospital  35 minutes away by train through the Channel Tunnel from Folkestone  which was advertising for NHS patients.

Two years ago, the Centre Hospitalier de Calais signed a revolutionary agreement with NHS England, the public body that oversees the day-to-day running of the health service, to offer patients free medical treatment.

It was one of only two hospitals in France to do so (the other is in the less-accessible Berck-sur-Mer, 59 miles from Calais) and is actively trying to lure NHS patients.

Under the little-known deal, any patient in England  though not Wales or Scotland  can ask their GP to refer them there.

Meanwhile, in Britain: A patient reportedly having to sleep on the floor at Pinderfields Hospital in Wakefield

The hospital stands in a green, open space a few minutes from the cross-channel train and ferry terminals, and its website has a special section for English patients.

It says 70 clinical staff have been trained to speak English and tells potential patients: 'It is likely that the hospital will contact you by phone to make the first appointment because the system appears to be much faster in France.'

The hospital says that it offers elective, pre-arranged, non-emergency care in general surgery, gynaecology, orthopaedics, urology, pain management and for ear, nose and throat problems.

They are just the sort of operations that have been put on hold in the tens of thousands by the NHS this winter.

A determined Cecilia went back to her GP's surgery in late November and announced she wanted her knee operation in France. Would the doctor refer her to Calais? The answer was yes.

The surgery contacted the Calais hospital, which offered Cecilia three immediate appointments with their orthopaedic consultant. She chose the earliest date, January 3.

'I travelled in the car with my son, David, on the Channel Tunnel train, which leaves from Folkestone. It took less than two hours door to door. When I arrived I thought I'd made a mistake, and that I must be in a private hospital. It was so quiet, so clean, there was lots of space and it wasn't at all busy.'

Cecilia saw the consultant and then had two scans taken of her knee. She says the doctor's English was good enough to be understood, and when there was any problem, a nurse helped out.

She has returned to the Calais hospital since then (again on the train) to get the results and will have her operation next month.

It has all gone like clockwork  and, so far, has cost her only 120 in return train fares.

Her delight does not surprise the Calais hospital's general manager, Martin Trelcat.

In his office, he has a blue poster on the wall, which the hospital has handed out to UK tourists in Calais, calling for NHS patients to sign up.

'Why wait?' it asks provocatively. 'Calais General Hospital offers elective surgery to NHS patients within four weeks.

'All health expenses are covered by the NHS. Stop waiting . . . ask your GP for information.' He is proud of his 'roll up, roll up' approach, which is so different from the overstretched NHS. 'Calais is closer to London than Paris,' he explains emphatically.

'We could take in around two new English patients every day, Monday to Friday. It would mean 400 a year. We can even treat someone within a week of their GP's referral. That is the way it works for French patients, so why not NHS patients? We don't have waiting times here.'

Brexit will not impact on the hospital deal because it is covered by a standalone contract with NHS England

The first NHS patient to go to the hospital was Timothy Brierley, a civil servant from Kent, who had a successful gall bladder removal in spring 2016. Brierley, 54, was facing a ten-month wait for the op in the UK, and lives 15 minutes' drive from the Channel Tunnel train terminal.

Since then, other English patients have received treatment at the hospital. And when last weekend it put out a call on the internet for English patients, the hospital immediately received nearly 20 inquiries from anxious Brits wanting to escape current NHS queues. Every day more come in, says M Trelcat.

Cashing in on our deepening health service winter crisis, the hospital said: 'At a time when planned surgeries are cancelled in all NHS hospitals, we have the capacity to offer fast care to any NHS patients . . . No extended delay is to be expected during winter time'.

At 38, M Trelcat is one of the youngest hospital directors in France. He got his job soon after his hospital was opened in 2012 at a cost of millions of euros to the French government.

Cecilia Laker, 71, at home in Folkestone in the UK

Serving a population of 180,000, it replaced a hospital built in the Seventies. The French said the old one was redundant because, incredible as it sounds to Britons used to packed NHS wards, it had too many two-bed rooms, instead of what the French call 'solo' ones.

The next nearest hospital is in Dunkirk, 29 miles along the north French coast. 'We did not want our local people travelling that far to hospital, so we built a new one,' adds a triumphant M. Trelcat.

All this is fine and dandy. But this magnificent medical establishment, with 590 hospital beds and a further 350 for patient rehabilitation, is responsible for helping to repay the original building costs  and that means finding patients.

(The good news is that Brexit will not impact on the hospital deal because it is covered by a standalone contract with NHS England.)

Wearing a rather snazzy pair of Union Jack socks, the director says in perfect English: 'We want English patients because the NHS will pay us to treat and nurse them, but also because we have spare capacity. We only offer one-bed rooms to all NHS people and we hope that is an attraction.'

The uptake from NHS patients until the current NHS crisis has been disappointing. Just a trickle has arrived, despite the Calais hospital advertising on the internet and giving a number of interviews on British television.

The ebullient M Trelcat says the French option is a cheap one. 'If you come by ferry it is very reasonable, and even the train is not expensive if you book ahead.'

Then he laughs: 'We have no parking fees here either  not like English hospitals!'

Now Cecilia is getting excited about going to France and, finally, being out of pain.

The Mail took her to Calais this week to meet her nurses, 23-year-old Anais, and Melanie, 35, two of the five who will care for her during her week-long stay.

She was shown a large, white, one-bed room with large windows where she will recover, with free meals and medicines courtesy of the NHS, which will refund the French hospital.

Our health service will also meet the fee for her operation, which costs the NHS tariff of 9,251.

She can pay for an internet and TV connection for only 4.40 a day. If there is a catch in all this, I'm not sure what it is.

One of the big stories of the week was that France will loan Britain the Bayeux Tapestry. After visiting Calais this week, I only wish they would lend us a few more of their hospitals, too.
Elizabeth Ann Ramirez, 59, called 911 to tell police she killed her 80-year-old mother who is mentally ill

An Arizona woman has been arrested after she strangled her 80-year-old mother because she wouldn't let her borrow her car.

Police in Chandler, near Phoenix, say Elizabeth Ann Ramirez, 59, called 911 around 1:30 p.m. to report that she 'snapped' and killed her mother, Bertha Gutierrez, who was mentally ill.

When officers got to her home, Ramirez took them directly to her mother's body.

She said that she 'just snapped' after a fight with her mom because she wouldn't lend her the car.

Ramirez also told the 911 dispatcher that she wouldn't perform CPR to try to revive her.

When she was asked by the emergency operator if her mother was dead, Ramirez replied: 'I hope so.'

Ramirez, seen in the bottom right hand corner in custody, said she was upset after being told she could not borrow her mom's car

Court documents seen by FOX10 Phoenix show that Ramirez was arrested for DUI a day before the deadly incident.

She's has now been booked into the Maricopa County Jail on one count of second-degree murder with bond set at $1 million.

Ashley Pinhero, Gutierrez's next door neighbor said that the incident was shocking.

'It's really sad because, you know, somebody who could do that do that to their own mother, considering the circumstances especially,' she said.
It was an extraordinary front page that captured the imagination of the world.

A nurse tenderly holds a baby boy on a plane packed with orphaned children being flown to safety from the chaos of the Vietnam War.

It was 1975 and Operation Mercy Airlift  organised by the Daily Mail  rescued the children from Saigon days before the ravaged city fell to the Vietcong. Makeshift cots were hung from the planes ceiling, and the bewildered boy in the front page picture was one of nearly 100 youngsters heading to a new life in Britain.

He grew up in a loving family in Northern Ireland, adopted by Cyril and Liz McElhinney who raised him as their son and called him Vance.

Today he believes that being plucked by the Mail from a Saigon orphanage as the Vietcong closed in  and there were fears they would show no mercy to war orphans  saved his life. It worked, it saved babies lives. Im grateful for that, he said of the airlift.

Vance McElhinney grew up in Northern Ireland (pictured at 13 right) but has now been reunited with his mother after more than 40 years apart (pictured together left)

When his adoptive mother was diagnosed with motor neurone he decided it was time to try to find out more about his past, and participated in a BBC Northern Ireland project, A Place To Call Home, which saw him (pictured) meet up with nuns from the orphanage in Vietnam

I was undernourished. If I hadnt been on that plane I could have died very quickly.

Vances story is remarkable enough as it is  but it has an astonishing and heartwarming twist.

Although he grew up believing he was an orphan, he has now discovered that the birth mother he thought was dead is actually alive in Vietnam  and they have been reunited after more than 40 years.

At their emotional reunion Le Thi Anh, 64, recognised him immediately as her long-lost son and explained that she had never abandoned him.

Her family left her baby at a childrens home while she was ill in hospital, and in the tumult of war he was mistakenly believed to be an orphan after the nuns who ran the home sent him further south to another one in Saigon as the Vietcong advanced.

US president Gerald Ford had warned that children in orphanages  some fathered by American troops  might be slaughtered by the Vietcong and his words prompted frantic evacuation efforts.

Vance, who left Vietnam with nothing but a crumpled photo marked with his Vietnamese name, was one of 99 babies and children flown out on a Boeing 707 chartered by the Mail just as the Vietcong reached the outskirts of Saigon. Hours later they landed at Heathrow. Some were malnourished, others were suffering from serious illnesses which required urgent medical help.

It was an extraordinary front page that captured the imagination of the world. A nurse tenderly holds a baby boy on a plane packed with orphaned children being flown to safety from the chaos of the Vietnam War (pictured)

Vietnamese orphans boarded a Daily Mail's aircraft at Tan Son Nhut air base (left) but baby Vance (right), who believed he was an orphan, in fact had his mother alive in Vietnam

Inspired by articles in the Mail about their plight, youth worker Mr McElhinney and Liz, a curate, travelled from their home in Northern Ireland to offer to adopt a child.

When they reached the childrens home in Surrey, Vance was the only child left needing a family, and the committed Christian couple took it as a sign from God that he was meant to complete their family.

They raised him alongside their other sons David, now a teacher, and Stephen, a Church of Ireland reverend, and Vance said the entire family welcomed him with love.

He said: Had it not been for the Daily Mail and the McElhinneys my life would have been utterly different. There is no saying what would have happened to me, but I would not have had the opportunities I had. I see myself as an orphan who was given a chance. Im in my 40s now. I was given a chance at life I would not have had.

Retelling the story of his evacuation, he said: My mum was expecting to come and get me after two weeks in the orphanage. She had put me in there because she wasnt very well. We were in the middle of the fighting.

Despite the love of his adoptive family (pictured), Vance admits growing up in Lurgan, County Armagh, as a Vietnamese-born child in an almost exclusively white town was not always easy

Vance - who moved to England in his twenties - was adopted by Cyril and Liz McElhinney

From my understanding she was going to pick me up but the war was that bad. The nuns said to her brothers and sisters it would be safer if this baby went to Saigon. They never consulted my mother  she was in a hospital.

The Mails foreign editor at the time was Brian Freemantle and he played a major part in organising the airlift. Vance said: I went to see him three years ago and I thanked him. He literally saved my life.

Had I survived as a child in Vietnam it would have been a very hard road to travel. I wouldnt have had the opportunities I did. I just think, personally, I wouldnt have survived.

Despite the love of his adoptive family, Vance admits growing up in Lurgan, County Armagh, as a Vietnamese-born child in an almost exclusively white town was not always easy.

He eventually left home and moved to England when he was in his twenties.

But when his adoptive mother was diagnosed with motor neurone disease he moved back to Lurgan to help care for her.

Pictured with his adoptive family, Vance said: The McElhinneys did everything for me. I could not have wanted for a better family

He decided it was time to try to find out more about his past, and participated in a BBC Northern Ireland project, A Place To Call Home, which saw him meet up with nuns from the orphanage in Vietnam and with key figures from the evacuation.

After the programme was aired he had about 30 Facebook messages from people in Vietnam claiming to be relatives.

But one woman, who claimed to be his cousin, stood out. She sent him a photograph of a man who she said was Vances father. Struck by the family resemblance, Vance arranged to travel back to Vietnam and met the woman in a cafe in the coastal town of Quy Nhon, near the orphanage where he was originally left.

He hoped she might have more information about his family, but was stunned when she pointed to a neatly-dressed woman sitting nearby, saying: Shes your mother.

Le Thi Anh wept as she produced pictures of him as a baby and said she had not wanted to give him up, but her family had left him at the childrens home while she was in hospital.

Vance said: My mum got her bag out and showed me photographs of me, my dad, photographs of her in her 20s. The picture of my dad was the spitting image of me.

Le Thi Anh (pictured right) wept as she produced pictures of Vance as a baby (pictured left) and said she had not wanted to give him up

Vance (pictured with his biological mother) plans to return to Vietnam next month and to divide his time between his families there and in Northern Ireland

Mrs Anh told Vance his father was a Vietnamese soldier, a gambler and a drinker who abused her, shot her parents, brother and sister and then abandoned her. She has no idea if he is still alive. He hesitated about having a DNA test because his adoptive mothers health was deteriorating and he wanted to spend precious time with her.

But after Mrs McElhinney died aged 71 in June 2017 he went ahead with a test which came back as an exact match to Mrs Anh.

He plans to return to Vietnam next month and to divide his time between his families there and in Northern Ireland.

Twice-divorced, he works as a sous chef in Lurgan. His adoptive father Cyril, who was awarded the MBE in the 1980s, is now 78. Vance said: The McElhinneys did everything for me. I could not have wanted for a better family.

His brother David, 45, said: Weve always been grateful that Vance was brought out of Vietnam. He was a tiny baby when he came over and he had a lovely, happy childhood.

Vance McElhinney is setting up a charity for disabled orphans in Vietnam, Helping Hand, and the Daily Mail has made a donation for this story.
Erik Thomas Deemer, 33, was arrested on 11 counts of child pornography possession

A Florida man has been arrested on child porn charges while in the process of trying to adopt.

Erik Thomas Deemer, 33, was arrested at his home in Edgewater on Thursday on suspicion of possessing child pornography.

Police say the man accessed images of children between the ages of four and nine. One included an image of a child tied up, it is alleged.

Authorities launched an investigation into Deemer in October after receiving an anonymous tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

Deemer was arrested on 11 counts of child pornography and is being held in county jail where his bond has been set at $165,000.

It is not clear whether or not he is married.

Deemer was arrested at his home in Edgewater, Florida, on Thursday

Deemer excitedly told friends on Google Plus that he and his 'wife' were adopting. No record of her has yet been found

The man tweeted about childrearing and once shared a drawing he had completed of 'child proofing bunk beds'

On social media, he referred occasionally to his 'wife' but no record of her could be found.

He regularly shared illustrations of children and posted Happy Father's Day messages to others.

Among his posts was a drawing of a 'childproof' bunk bed which included a slide.

He conversed with Google+ users who he thought were children, including an 11-year-old boy.

Deemer's posts about adoption date back to 2015 when he talked about receiving a 'home study' visit from adoption agencies.
The 10ft statue of Margaret Thatcher could still be erected opposite the House of Commons, it was designed by Douglas Jennings

A statue of Margaret Thatcher could still be erected opposite the House of Commons after the local councils leader backed the idea despite the opposition of her planning officials.

Nickie Aiken, head of Westminster City Council, said it was right that a monument to the extraordinary former prime minister should be erected in the year marking 100 years since women got the vote.

The Tory councillor added that Baroness Thatcher had shown women that there were no no-go areas in politics.

Her comments came after planning officials at her council recommended the rejection of plans for a 10ft bronze of the former PM in Parliament Square because there are too many monuments in the area.

They also noted that the local authority has a ten-year rule under which public figures should not be commemorated with a statue until a decade after their death.

And some local residents have voiced fears that a statue of Baroness Thatcher could be targeted by hard-Left vandals.

But Mrs Aiken intervened yesterday to say there should be no problem with erecting the monument as long as a new design is submitted with the support of the former PMs family.

The current 300,000 plans  depicting Baroness Thatcher in peers robes and without her famous handbag  have been rejected by her children.

Mrs Aiken said the statue might not have to wait until a decade after her death because the ten-year rule has been broken before.

A statue of Nelson Mandela was erected on Parliament Square in 2007  the former South African president died in 2013.

A Westminster City Council planning committee is to debate the design rejected by the family  for a life size and a half statue  on Tuesday.

The sculpture designed by Douglas Jennings was recommended for refusal by planning officials at Westminster Council

Although this is likely to be turned down, Mrs Aiken said: I am all in favour of having a statue of the first woman prime minister in Britain in Parliament Square, all the more so in the year in which we mark the centenary of women getting the vote.

Whatever your political persuasion, I believe it is entirely fitting that the life of this extraordinary person  who showed women there should be no no-go areas in politics  is marked in the shadow of Parliament.

It needs to be the right statue, and one that enjoys the support of Baroness Thatchers family. That is the discussion which Westminster councils planning committee will have next week. Westminster City Council, which covers the West End and the area around Parliament, is run by the Tories.

Planning documents for councillors show officials suggest rejecting the statue plan because of monument saturation.

They also hinted at the threat of vandalism by hard-Left activists, saying no statues should be erected for ten years after a persons death to allow partisan passions to cool.

Planning documents suggested that permission be refused because of 'monument saturation' but Westminster Council leader Nickie Aiken (pictured) disagreed

The Iron Lady is still a hate figure for the hard-Left almost three decades after she was forced out of Downing Street.

The plans for the statue have already been redesigned at the request of the Metropolitan Police after they raised concerns about possible civil disobedience.

It includes a smooth plinth without ledges or hand-holds  to prevent protesters climbing on it.
Dr Jackie Craissati is due to give a lecture at the University of Londons Goldsmiths campus next week, an event that has been widely publicised and eagerly anticipated.

Dr Craissati is lauded as one of the countrys most eminent forensic psychologists. With three books and more than 40 publications under her belt in a career spanning 30 years, she was awarded the MBE for services to mental health in 2013.

This is not the reason, though, why the Goldsmiths auditorium is likely to be packed; it surely has more to do with the controversial subject matter of Dr Craissatis talk, provocatively entitled: Ten Myths About Sex Offenders.

Dr Jackie Craissati is lauded as one of the countrys most eminent forensic psychologists

We do not have a transcript of what she is planning to say. But, judging by her well-documented views in this field, its not hard to predict what at least one of those so-called myths might be.

It is this: that sex offenders are too often labelled monstrous individuals which, Dr Craissati argues, is overly simplistic.

Sex offenders like John Worboys, for example, the black cab rapist who was convicted of drugging and sexually assaulting 12 women in the back of his taxi, but who police suspect was responsible for many more attacks on scores of young female passengers in London.

Does she not believe that he is a monstrous individual?

Dr Craissati is certain to face such a question from the audience at Goldsmiths  because this week she was named as the author of a report that contributed to his imminent release.

Black cab rapist John Worboys, 60, (pictured in a police mugshot) could still pose a risk to the public, the chairman of the Parole Board has admitted

She is understood to have submitted expert opinion on Worboys to the Parole Board, which heard his successful application to be freed after less than a decade behind bars.

The decision has been roundly condemned by politicians from all parties as well as by Worboys victims, who were not informed his parole had been approved.

Worboys, 60, among Britains most prolific and notorious sexual predators, was given an indeterminate sentence with a minimum term of eight years in 2009.

Nevertheless, he will be back on the streets at the end of the month after the Government announced yesterday that it will not challenge the decision in a judicial review.

Dr Craissati, 57, was not, of course, solely responsible for the recommendation to free Worboys.

The three-strong Parole Board panel heard evidence from nine live witnesses (including fellow psychologists and prison and probation staff) and deny accusations that they were overly influenced by one individuals evidence.

The identity of these witnesses, and their testimonies, is protected by strict Parole Board procedures.

Dr Craissatis alleged role in this process is believed to have been leaked by prison sources opposed to Worboyss release.

The revelation has fuelled the controversy. Dr Craissatis body of work  blaming, for example, the excessive emphasis on punitive controls on sex offenders for increasing an offenders emotional instability  has left her open to accusations that she, and others in the traditionally liberal world of psychology and psychiatry, too often favour leniency for sex offenders, something she denies.

The Worboys case, say critics, epitomises the soft justice culture for such individuals.

The question many would ask members of the Parole Board, however, is this: would they be happy for their wives or daughters to get into a car with Worboys when he leaves jail?

Dr Craissati is an official adviser to the Parole Board and sits on its review committee, which examines cases where former prisoners have committed serious further offences within three years of release.

She has extensive experience of working with high-risk sex offenders and runs a (not-for-profit) company  Psychological Approaches  offering consultancy and training to those working with complex mental health and offending behaviour.

Worboys (pictured being led into Sutton Magistrates Court in 2009) was jailed indefinitely, with the judge setting a minimum term of eight years

Key achievements are listed in her profile on the company website. These include chairing a consortium of four mental health trusts to deliver innovative personality disorder services across London . . . in partnership with the prison and probation service.

Jackie is very experienced and highly rated by other psychologists, said a colleague.

Even so, there is one entry on Dr Craissatis impressive CV that has escaped scrutiny in the wake of the Worboys furore. It is her involvement in the Nicola Edgington scandal.

Edgingtons name may have faded from the publics memory but not the brutal nature of her crimes.

Edgington was detained indefinitely (like Worboys) under the Mental Health Act for stabbing her mother nine times at her home in East Grinstead, West Sussex, in 2005. She was placed at the Bracton Centre in Dartford, Kent, a medium secure unit run by Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust. Edgington was deemed fit for discharge after three years and released in 2009.

In 2011, Edgington, armed with a stolen butchers cleaver, virtually decapitated Sally Hodkin, 58, an innocent grandmother on her way to work in Bexleyheath, in South-East London.

Sally was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. Last year, a damning report into Mrs Hodkins death, commissioned by NHS England, found that staff at the Bracton Centre were too willing to accept Edgingtons version of events and failed to take seriously warnings made by Edgingtons own brother and sister that she was still unwell and potentially dangerous.

Documents sent to the Ministry of Justice did not detail concerns about her behaviour. Mrs Hodkins family accepted an out-of-court settlement from the Oxleas NHS trust. What has any of this to do with Dr Craissati?

Dr Craissati has worked at the Bracton Centre since 1988, according to the minutes of a board meeting of the Oxleas NHS Trust, and was clinical director between 2010 and 2016 before leaving to set up her Psychological Approaches company.

When contacted this week, Dr Craissati stressed she was in no way involved in the assessment of risk of the particular individual (Nicola Edgington), nor was I involved in the decision to release her [in 2009]. She said she was not clinical director at the time.

But she was implicated in the controversy, nonetheless. Dr Craissati was named, we have learned, in a highly critical 2012 report into the murder of Mrs Hodkin  for which Edgington received a life sentence  by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC).

Edgington, having been judged well enough to leave the Bracton Centre, was moved to a house run by a council-funded charity in Greenwich, South-East London, under the supervision of a mental health team. She was being prepared to live unsupported in the community when she attacked Mrs Hodkin.

Police in Greenwich, however, were not notified of this fact as they should have been.

The staff member at Bracton who should have passed on the information was Dr Craissati. She was then head of psychology at the Bracton Centre, according to the minutes of the same board meeting of the Oxleas NHS Trust mentioned earlier.

Dr Craissati was interviewed by investigators from the IPCC. She said she should have notified Greenwich police, but it was possible that she omitted to forward this information.

But the report goes on to say that the evidence also shows that Nicola Edgingtons forensic social worker did email an electronic referral form to Dr Craissati which should have been forwarded to Greenwich police. She has accepted that she believes she omitted to send the form.

Justice Secretary David Gauke (pictured arriving at No10 on January 16) has asked for legal advice on whether the decision to free one of Britain's most notorious sex offenders can be contested in a judicial review

Her apparent failure to do so did not affect her stellar career. As already stated, Dr Craissati was subsequently appointed clinical director of the Bracton Centre and was later made an MBE.

But her link to the Nicola Edgington scandal  in fairness, a string of other professionals involved in Edgingtons treatment received stinging criticism, too will do little to assuage the anger of Worboyss victims.

Dr Craissatis beliefs, shared by many of her peers, will doubtless have already confirmed a growing suspicion among the wider public that the rights of perpetrators increasingly come before the rights of their victims.

Much of Dr Craissatis work has focused on paedophiles. Her book, Child Sex Abusers, A Community Treatment Approach, was written in the late Nineties when she was based at the Bracton Centre.

Dismissing established theories in this field as illogical and inaccurate rhetoric, she writes:

Emotive responses to biased assumptions can only increase the daunting task of assessing and managing the sexual offenders known within our system, and identifying those individuals who do indeed pose an enormous risk to children.

The message that there is no cure is disheartening  and probably untrue. It would seem that  despite under-reporting  a number of convicted sex offenders do not reoffend.

Dr Craissati maintains treatment programmes have even allowed some [abusive] fathers and children to re-establish a warm, close relationship.

She says studies suggest the police should only be worried about 25 to 33 per cent of people who access child pornography.

Jim Gamble, a former head of Ceop, the child exploitation and online protection command of the National Crime Agency, says the figure who pose a risk could be as high as 85 per cent.

Another controversial subject is tackled in an academic paper by Dr Craissati with the title: Should We Worry About Sex Offenders Who Deny Their Offences?

It is a rhetorical question. There is no evidence to link denial to increased sexual recidivism [reoffending], she wrote. Indeed, the converse is true insofar as a number of studies link denial to reduced reoffending, particularly in higher-risk sex offenders.

This is crucial and may help us understand the reasons why Dr Craissati is said to have supported Worboyss application for parole.

Worboys has shown little remorse for his attacks down the years.

In 2010, he reportedly lost his appeal against conviction. Three Appeal Court judges branded him a chancer who wasted court time. In 2013, he also asked the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) to examine his case. Two years later, he withdrew his submission with no explanation.

Parole cannot be refused solely on the basis of a prisoners denial or lack of remorse, but they are important factors when an application is considered.

There have been reports that Worboys found God and converted to Christianity before coming before the Parole Board at Wakefield prison, where he will remain until his release.

His victims have questioned why Worboys was denied a move to an open prison in 2015, but granted parole just over two years later.

They said he had not undergone a test period in a more open environment, usually considered vital for sex offenders before release.

Worboys will be subject to 14 restrictions when he comes out of Wakefield.

Prison sources say he will have to live for at least six months in a bail hostel with a night-time curfew, which will be little consolation to the women he targeted.

His modus operandi was to tell them hed come into money and invite them to join him in a bottle of champagne to celebrate. It was laced with sedatives.

He is a calculating, devious individual and it would take an awful lot to convince me it is safe to have him outside, was the verdict of the former detective chief inspector who led the original investigation into Worboys.

Is there anyone apart, it seems, from Dr Jackie Craissati and her fellow witnesses who gave evidence to the Parole Board, who would disagree with him?

Additional reporting: Mark Branagan
A young man has died following a shooting at an apartment complex in Sydney's west.

Police were called to a unit on Eddy Street in Merrylands where they located the body of a 22-year-old man on Friday night.

A 19-year-old man was then arrested at the scene in relation to the shooting.

Police were called to a unit on Eddy Street (pictured) in Merrylands where they located the body of a 22-year-old man on Friday night

A 19-year-old man was then arrested at the scene in relation to the shooting

A crime scene was established at the address with officers erecting police tape outside home

Officers from the Cumberland Police Area Command along with the assistance of State Crime Command and Homicide Squad attended and established a crime scene which is set to be examined by specialised forensic officers.

The same street has been the scene of multiple other shootings in the past.

In 2011 an innocent family narrowly avoided being sprayed with bullets after gunmen shot at a home that Mouhamed and Sleiman Tajjour, cousins of Kings Cross nightclub identity John Ibrahim, previously lived in.

A report will be prepared for the Coroner.

Officers from the Cumberland Police Area Command along with the assistance of State Crime Command and Homicide Squad attended the scene

In 2011 an innocent family narrowly avoided being sprayed with bullets after gunmen shot at a home that cousins of Kings Cross nightclub identity John Ibrahim previously lived in
President Donald Trump has a big anniversary to celebrate tomorrow evening, assuming a government shutdown doesn't get in the way.

Trump was supposed to mark his first full year in office with a fundraiser at his Mar-a-Lago estate. The crisis on Capitol Hill is threatening to keep him in Washington, for the weekend, though.

Asked by DailyMail.com if Trump is expected to fly to Florida tomorrow, White House Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney said, 'No. I don't. In fact, I think the president's been very clear...He's not leaving until this is finished.'

President Donald Trump has a big anniversary to celebrate tomorrow evening, assuming the government shutdown doesn't get in the way

Trump was supposed to mark his first full year in office with a gala at his Mar-a-Lago estate (he is pictured here in Palm Beach last week)

Donors are paying as much as $250,000 a couple to participate in a roundtable with the president.

Asked by DailyMail.com if Trump is expected to fly to Florida tomorrow, White House Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney said, 'No I don't. In fact, I think the president's been very clear...He's not leaving until this is finished'

For the smaller sum of $100,000, they can attend a dinner and have their photo taken with the president.

Trump also offered average joe's the opportunity to attend the event that's being put on by his campaign and the Republican National Committee.

The entire Trump family will be there, an email from the president's middle son, Eric, that solicited donations for the Trump Make America Great Again Committee said.

A January 13 message, from the Trump Organization executive stated: 'Were excited to have one of President Trumps loyal supporters join us for dinner at the best spot in Florida with my father.

'All you have to do to is contribute $1 here before January 17.'

Official White House guidance had Trump departing Washington late this afternoon for Florida. The White House said earlier Friday that the Capitol Hill meltdown would be delaying his departure until at least Saturday.

Donors are paying as much as $250,000 a couple to participate in a roundtable with the president at Mar-a-Lago

The federal government shut down at the stroke of midnight Friday - halting all but the most essential operations and marring the one-year anniversary of Trump's inauguration in a striking display of Washington dysfunction.

Senate republicans fell far short of passing a procedural motion that would have kept the federal government funded, causing the fourth government shutdown in a quarter century.

Five Democrats who represent Trump-country red states crossed the aisle to vote with Republicans, but the GOP lost four of its own, erasing any doubts about the state of partisan bickering in the US Capitol.

President Trump has spent many a weekend in Palm Beach since he took office a year ago on Jan. 20, 17. According to NBC's Trump tracker, the billionaire has spent precisely 49 of the last 364 days at the Florida property.
Jacie Paulette Cornish, 24, was charged with murder on Monday in Orange County

A woman has been charged with murder under a California law that allows a second DUI resulting in death to be classified as murder.

Jacie Paulette Cornish, 24, was arrested on Monday in Orange County, California on an open warrant stemming from a 2016 crash that killed 40-year-old Jose Barraza-Soto.

Cornish had a prior DUI conviction in August 2015 in Orange County, making the fatal crash eligible for prosecution as murder under the 'Watson Law'.

The California law applies to people who have previously been admonished for driving while intoxicated and later kill someone in a DUI incident.

The fatal crash occurred around 2.15am on October 1, 2016, when Cornish was driving her Hyundai sedan on Alton Parkway, a four-lane road with a median, in Lake Forrest.

Cornish was driving faster than 100mph in a 40mph zone and had a blood alcohol content of .17, more than double the legal limit, police said.

Cornish (right) was driving faster than 100mph in a 40mph zone and had a blood alcohol content of .17, more than double the legal limit, police said

Cornish (left and right) had a prior DUI conviction in August 2015 in Orange County, making the fatal crash in 2016 eligible for prosecution as murder under the 'Watson Law'

Cornish (right) also had traceable marijuana in her blood at the time of the crash, police said

Meanwhile, Barraza was on his way home from work in his Ford pickup truck with his wife riding in the passenger seat.

The collision caused the truck to roll over, killing Barraza and injuring his wife.

Police said the investigators spent a year looking into the case before filing charges under the Watson Law to carefully examine the evidence.

Along with alcohol, traceable amounts of marijuana were present at the time of the blood draw from Cornish, police said.

The district attorney filed the case and issued a warrant for Cornishs arrest on January 12, and she was apprehended in the city of Orange three days later.

Crash victim Jose Barraza-Soto is seen left and right with his wife and son. Barraza was from the state of Chihuahua, Mexico and lived in Santa Ana

Cornish was driving a Hyundai sedan on Alton Parkway when she crashed with Barraza

Cornish attended Saddleback College and worked as a loan agent, records show

Cornish attended Saddleback College and worked as a loan agent, according to her LinkedIn profile and booking records.

Her posts on Facebook indicate that she entered 12-step recovery program following the crash.

'To think I'm getting my 6 month chip in 2 weeks is something I never thought possible,' she wrote on March 17.

Barraza was from the state of Chihuahua, Mexico and lived in Santa Ana with his wife and their son, an online memorial said.

Cornish is facing 15 years to life in prison, if convicted.

She is being held pending bail of $1.015million, and is next scheduled to appear in court on February 16.
Meteorite hunters who flocked to Detroit from across the U.S. after a meteor exploded are finding the fragments.

The 6-foot-wide meteor broke apart Tuesday about 20 miles over Earth, NASA scientists said.

Most of the fragments landed in Hamburg Township. The first fragments were located Thursday by professional hunters Larry Atkins and Robert Ward of Arizona, according to the American Meteor Society.

A piece of stony-iron meteorite sits on a display during a press conference, Friday, Jan. 19, 2018, at the Longway Planetarium in Flint, Mich

Astronomer Todd Slisher unfolds tin-foil to reveal a piece of stony-iron meteorite during a press conference

Longway Planetarium astronomers have located three meteorites, after a meteor broke apart about 20 miles over Earth Tuesday

Atkins owns Cosmic Connection Meteorites, while Ward operates Robert Ward Meteorites.

'It's a really spectacular specimen,' Ward said while holding one of the meteorites.

'Two days ago, this was hundreds of thousands of miles past the moon, and now I'm standing here holding it in my hand... It's been a real good day.'

Ward said he used seismic data, Doppler radar and witness information to narrow down where to search.

Meteorite hunters seek permission from landowners before searching on their property, Ward said.

The Allen Park, Michigan man who caught the rare sight later posted the clip to Instagram

The United States Geological Survey said a 2.0-magnitude earthquake struck the area at the same time as the meteorite.

Hundreds of people reported the extraordinary astronomical event, and some captured some amazing videos.

In one case, a Michigan man from Allen Park caught the rare sight and later posted the clip to Instagram.

'My WiFi camera finally caught something cool #metrodetroitmeteor,' Chris Laine wrote on the social media site.

His clip shows a street view of a quiet, snowy residential neighborhood located just outside of Detroit.

As the camera focuses on cars going by, the night sky increasingly turns a cosmic green.

Footage of a meteor falling from the heavens was captured by a man in Michigan Tuesday evening

The clip shows a street view of a quiet, snowy residential neighborhood located just outside of Detroit

As the camera focuses on cars going by, the night sky increasingly turns a cosmic green

At the top of the screen a small object can be seen plummeting towards earth, remarkably lighting up the surrounding area as if its the early afternoon.

Another clip shows the unidentified flying object slicing across the winter sky as a car's dash cam races down the highway.

Darryl Pitt, a New York City resident and meteorite consultant to Christie's auction house, is offering $20,000 for a recovered fragment weighing at least 1 kilogram.

'I want to motivate more people to look,' Pitt said.

'Meteorites are extraordinarily rare and the world is just coming to terms with how special they are.'

Meanwhile, Pastor Rick Satterfield, 59, with I Am Church in South Rockwood, Michigan, claimed that he predicted the fireball would fall from the sky and drop over the southeast of the sate on New Year's Eve.

'I had a dream that a meteor was coming to the Great Lakes and it was gonna hit Michigan,' Satterfield said in the clip posted on December 31, 2017. 'It would cause Ohio and Canada to feel the impact of it.'

After experts confirmed that a meteorite had indeed fallen on earth, Satterfield took to his churche's Facebook page, writing: 'Today (January 16, 2018), the meteor prophecy from I Am Church Senior Pastor was fulfilled.'

n this late Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2018, image made from dashcam video, a brightly lit object falls from the sky above a highway in the southern Michigan skyline

A similar phenomenon was seen above Russia in 2013 and the fireball can be silent or crackling as it moves through the atmosphere

'It was prophesied that a meteor would hit the Great Lakes, and it would be felt not only in Michigan, but also in Ohio and Canada...all symbolic to what God is bringing to this region! We invite you to be apart of the Jesus Movement at I AM Church this Sunday!' he added.

WHAT IS A METEOROID? A meteoroid is a small chunk of asteroid or comet. When it enters Earth's atmosphere it becomes a meteor, fireball or shooting star. The pieces of rock that hit the ground are meteorites, and are valuable to collectors. The remnants must be analyzed by a lab to be accredited as meteorites. Advertisement

Satterfield told the Detroit Free Press he has heard from hundreds of people since the meteor hit, noting that the event was an auspicious sign for good things to come.

'It's a great day  it's a great time, it's not gloom and doom,' he said. 'It's a jubilee day.'

Other states where people reported seeing a fireball included Illinois, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Missouri.

Mike Narlock, head of astronomy at Cranbrook Institute of Science, told the Detroit Metro Times the flash of light was seen as far away as Chicago.

The Windy City sits 200 miles away from where the meteor is said to have exploded above Michigan.

Mr Narlock said: 'I have heard people saw it as far Chicago, which if that's true that tells me it happened pretty high up in the atmosphere if they're seeing it from that distance.'

Pastor Rick Satterfield (pictured), 59, with I Am Church in South Rockwood, Michigan, said in a video that his premonition came to him this past New Year's Even

He estimated the meteor - believed to be a bolide meteor - exploded between six to 10 miles from the ground.

A bolide, also known as a fireball, is a special type of meteor that explodes in a bright terminal flash.

Fragmentation is often seen as a result of the explosion, which occurs at the end of the fireball's lifespan.

A similar phenomenon was seen above Russia in 2013 and the fireball can be silent or crackling as it moves through the atmosphere.

Mr Narlock said the chances of the meteor making it to earth intact is rare.

America's National Weather Service (NWS) put out a statement on the extraordinary climate conditions saying: 'After reviewing several observational datasets, the NWS can confirm the flash and boom was not thunder or lightning, but instead a likely meteor.

'We continue to monitor feeds from astronomical agencies for official confirmation of a meteor.'
Posing in a bright pink T-shirt with the words 'Choose Life' emblazoned on the front, Natasha Gordon's Facebook page appears to be a celebration of renewed purpose and recovery.

Filled with life-affirming quotations in praise of the 'Power of Positivity', one photograph after another charts her progress back from the brink.

In one, she showcases a fresh hairstyle, in another she models a new faux fur coat. In a third she shows off striking fake eyelashes and in a fourth a blue glitter manicure.

The 44-year-old former model from Peterborough talks of going to college and the transformational effects of exercise on body and soul.

'Life is so short,' says Natasha, left with lasting injuries after a failed suicide attempt.

'Be thankful for every day, don't take loved ones for granted or friends, be kind to yourself and others. Never let a hater get you down.'

Posing (pictured) in a bright pink T-shirt with the words 'Choose Life' emblazoned on the front, Natasha Gordon's Facebook page appears to be a celebration of renewed purpose and recovery

Uplifting words, but how painful for the grieving family of postal worker Matthew Birkinshaw, 31, from Walsall  a young man also with much to live for.

He, too, might be alive today if his path hadn't crossed Natasha Gordon's on a web chatroom attended by deeply pernicious people when he was at his most vulnerable.

In December 2015, Natasha and Matthew strangers until they made contact on the suicide internet forum  entered into a pact to end their lives together. After texting and speaking on the phone, Gordon sent this text: 'I really can't wait until tomorrow  hope you don't change your mind.'

They met in person the following day to discuss methods then drove in his car to Rutland Water Nature Reserve in the East Midlands. At the last minute, however, Gordon backed out of their planned suicide bid, the details of which are too distressing to publish. After sending a goodbye message to her boyfriend  who immediately called the police  she decided she 'couldn't go through with it'.

Gordon, who then left Matthew to die alone in the car, would later tell police she tried to talk him out of it, but he locked the doors, put on the radio and wouldn't listen as she tapped on the window.

She claimed that 'shock' prevented her from telling officers that Matthew was dying just 450 yards away, when they came with her boyfriend to rescue her at a nearby hotel.

It was two hours before she told them of the pact, by which time it was too late. He had died from carbon monoxide poisoning.

In the meantime, Gordon had been back on internet forums discussing suicide with two other men within minutes of abandoning Matthew. She claimed she was looking for a partner to end her life with 'for comfort'. Last month  in what is believed to be the first successful prosecution of its kind in the UK  Gordon wept as she was found guilty of encouraging another person to commit suicide following a week-long trial.

Yesterday she showed no reaction as she was jailed for four years at Leicester Crown Court for the role she played in Matthew's death.

Sentencing her, Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb told Gordon she had 'deceived' Mr Birkinshaw and was 'gripped by self-centredness'.

She said: 'You misled him into believing you were genuine,' and added: 'Your intention at best was equivocal.' Gordon, she said, had advised Matthew on the method of suicide and its deployment.

Matthew's distraught parents paid tribute to their 'thoughtful, sensitive, generous and compassionate' son, who, the court heard, felt 'disconnected' despite having a loving family, a wide circle of friends and a steady girlfriend, none of whom had any idea of the depth of his distress.

Yesterday, his heartbroken mother Margaret, 62, fought back tears as she read out from a victim impact statement: 'He was a man full of fun, laughter, love and intelligence, with everything to live for but with a sensitivity which sometimes made life difficult for him and the misfortune to meet with someone who wanted to do him harm when he most needed kindness and support.'

Natasha Gordon has been jailed for entering into a suicide pact with a stranger before leaving him to die when she walked out at the last minute

Matthew, who as a teenager had at times struggled with his mental health leaving him with an 'inner vulnerability', had been planning to move into a new flat in the New Year.

The evening before his death, he ate with his parents. His last words to his mother were: 'Give me a hug, Mum. I'll be back tomorrow.'

His older brother David, 36, a married father-of-two, told the court: 'My brother was a bright, funny, articulate man . . . he was one of the kindest and friendliest people I knew and to hear that somebody could walk away from him in those moments is extremely hard to take.'

He revealed how one of Matthew's last acts of kindness was to give Gordon the money for a taxi after she backed out of their joint suicide bid.

Detective Constable Michelle Preston of Leicestershire police described Gordon as 'a woman who quickly gained his trust by exploiting his vulnerability. Gordon's blatant disregard for Matthew's welfare that day is what has made this case even more distressing for all involved.'

But Natasha Gordon's family insist that  deplorable though her actions were  she, too, is a victim of these dangerous websites.

The court heard that Gordon entered into a pact with Matthew almost a year after an earlier suicide bid. She told the jury that pain from the ankle she fractured in that attempt and other medical complaints, which forced her to give up work, had driven her 'insane'.

Psychologically fragile, her family fear she will attempt suicide again in prison. Her sister Sonja Gordon, 40, this week told the Mail that Gordon had been unwell 'for many years', but refused help from mental health services.

Instead, she  like so many others  sought out a cyberworld community where harmful dialogue often masquerades as empathy and support.

Sonja said: 'My sister is not a bad person. She's not evil. She just thinks what she's doing is right.

'This is a woman who jumped from a third floor window, yet she was let out of hospital a week later without any help.

'My parents tried to get help for her while she was in hospital, but the hospital said Natasha had to agree to it and she wouldn't.

'They went to their MP in Peterborough asking for help. But the MP needed Natasha to sign forms agreeing for information to be shared about her and she refused. She says there's nothing wrong with her.'

But another man who met Gordon on a suicide chatroom painted a disturbing picture of her.

He told police how she'd 'put pressure on him to end his life' telling him to 'hurry up and decide' and 'made him feel a failure' for not taking his life on a previous occasion. He said she seemed 'a bit too happy' when discussing suicide.

Gordon also phoned a woman she had met online and called her a 'two-faced bitch' for cutting her out of a suicide pact with another man they were both in contact with.

Matthew Birkinshaw (right) died in his car after Gordon (right, in court sketch) walked away. Despite being met by police, she failed to tell them where he was until it was too late

Ged Flynn, chief executive of the suicide prevention charity Papyrus this week welcomed Gordon's conviction. Indeed, he says many parents bereaved in this manner might consider it a 'scandal' that so few people are brought before the courts.

'A vague idea of suicide becomes real when people start talking about it. These chatrooms reduce the stigma and shame.

'Between 200 and 300 parents a year tell us their children have gone on to the internet to seek information on how to die. It's awful.

'If these children then encounter people online who encourage it, the impact is horrific. Even for those who say they are determined to die, there remains a lot of uncertainty.

'We need to send a strong message that using any language online which is tantamount to encouragement, even if not wilfully goading another to death, is not acceptable.'

According to researchers, the internet is often the first port of call for those in distress.

While the web can offer valuable platforms for suicide prevention and emotional help, experts say the widespread and pervasive nature of suicide-related material across the net makes it almost impossible to police.

For some, what begins as an online search for help can cross an invisible line and become dangerous, if not criminal.

Four years ago the Samaritans joined forces with Bristol University to carry out ground-breaking research, funded by the Department of Health, on the role the internet plays for those with suicidal thoughts.

This followed a spate of disturbing cases where suicides appeared to have been heavily influenced by online content.

In 2011 brilliant mathematician Jenny Spain, 23, from South-East London ended her life with a stranger she met on an online mental health forum  Mark Seattle, 37, a nurse from Essex.

Six months earlier two other strangers  Joanne Lee, 34, and Steve Lumb, 35,  were found dead in a car parked on an Essex industrial estate after entering into a suicide pact.

In an interview with the Mail, Jenny's devastated mother Rita said: 'If I knew Jenny had been on internet sites like this, I would have smashed the computer apart to save her.'

Bristol University's Dr Lucy Biddle, of the School of Social and Community Medicine, led the research into suicide and the internet in partnership with the Samaritans, surveying 8,000 people in their 20s and more than 1,500 of all ages who were hospitalised after a suicide attempt.

She believes there is now an urgent need for regulation, policy and best practice around internet use. In a survey of 21-year-olds, of the 248 participants who had made suicide attempts, almost three-quarters reported some kind of suicide-related internet use.

Gordon, 44 said medical issues had caused the end of her careers as a model in her twenties and pole dancer in her thirties

She is now working with clinicians, social media platforms and internet providers to put strategies in place to make it harder for vulnerable people to access harmful material. This involves enhancing the visibility of health material, disabling key words relating to suicide, moderating content more effectively and changing algorithms so that searches throw up sites which can help rather than lead down dark alleys from which there may be no return.

Dr Biddle said: 'People often browse around the internet in a very disorganised way. Even if they've gone on to find help, they can get drawn into the risky, negative behaviour out there.

'They find themselves pulled in a very negative direction. It's only looking back afterwards that they could realise how harmful the dialogue they were having with other people was.

'When people don't have support in the real world, the internet can offer an opportunity to reach out but there can be a really fine line between supportive and harmful dialogue.

'People engaged in that process don't always realise when they have flipped over the line.

'It's hard to ban these things and in banning them, you might take away something very important. So we also need to educate people to become good online citizens and understand that what they post might affect others.

'This content is very diffuse across the web, found on all sorts of popular websites that people go to for everyday things.

'If you focus on specific suicide sites, you're missing the point. It's much broader than that.

'A lot of suicide prevention work involves trying to get vulnerable people to bide their time. Sometimes they are in a very impulsive frame of mind, but if they can let the moment pass they can see things quite differently afterwards. They'll have a more optimistic perspective and opportunity for their life to go on.

'I've spoken to people who have afterwards felt so grateful that they weren't successful.'

What a tragedy that Matthew Birkinshaw could not have been one of them.

Additional reporting: Stephanie Condron

For confidential support in the UK, call the Samaritans on 116123 or visit a local Samaritans branch, see samaritans.org for details.
The scene: On November 28, 1981, the 60-foot yacht Splendour set out for Santa Catalina Island, a rocky island off the coast of California, 22 miles from Los Angeles. Aboard were Robert Wagner, Natalie Wood and the boat's skipper, Dennis Davern. The couple also brought Wood's newest co-star, Christopher Walken, to celebrate their successful completion of filming for 'Brainstorm,' a science fiction thriller.

Wood, Wagner and Walken departed the yacht and rode a dingy to shore, where they had dinner at Harbor Reef Resultant on the island. Waitresses reported that all three Hollywood actors drank heavily - mostly champagne - and were rude and boisterous.

Witnesses say all three were very intoxicated about 10.15pm when they piloted the dingy back to the yacht, which was anchored offshore.

Natalie Wood's body was discovered by authorities at 8am on November 29, one mile away from the boat with a small inflatable boat found beached nearby.

After nine months of investigation, Los Angeles County Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Lakshmanan Sathyavagiswaran changed the cause of her demise from accidental drowning to drowning and other undetermined factors on her death certificate.

In September 2012 audiotapes which had never been heard before, of her younger sister Lana Wood discussing her sisters death, were released by CBS News.

The recordings were collected by author Suzanne Finstad as research for her 2001 book, 'Natasha: The Biography of Natalie Wood.'

In the recordings Lana says that Mr Davern called her while he was in a state of intoxication and claimed that Mr Wagner (nicknamed RJ) hadnt helped his wife after he accidentally pushed her overboard.

Lana says on the tapes: 'He said it appeared to him as though RJ shoved her away and she went overboard. Dennis panicked and RJ said, "Leave her there. Teach her a lesson."

A new coroner's report published in 2013 revealed that Wood sustained bruises to her face and other parts of her body before she went overboard and drowned.

The National Enquirer claimed to have uncovered documentation - an official lifeguard log - which suggests Wagner and Walken had engaged in a sexual act and that Wood may have walked in on them and set off the chain of events which lead to her untimely and still unexplained death.

Wagner maintains he had nothing to do with her death, though said he feels personally responsible for not looking after her.

The tragedy: Natalie Wood's body was discovered by authorities at 8am on November 29, one mile away from the yacht with a small inflatable boat found beached nearby. The coroner determined that she had died of a combination of drowning and hypothermia.

Her blood alcohol level at the time was 0.14 per cent - nearly twice the legal limit for driving. She also had motion sickness medication and painkillers in her system, which likely increased her level of intoxication.

The time of death is estimated at about midnight at on November 29.

'The fact that her stomach contained 500 cc of partially digested food material supports that opinion of that time of death being around midnight, especially given the information that dinner was consumed between 8 and 9pm', according to a report.
Aceh is the only province in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim-majority country, which implements Islamic law, or Sharia.

Last year, two gay men who admitted having sex were flogged in Aceh, with each receiving 100 strokes of the cane, drawing heavy criticism from rights groups.

Gay sex is not illegal in the rest of Indonesia, which mainly follows a criminal code inherited from former colonial ruler the Netherlands.

The province of Banda Aceh began implementing Sharia law after being granted autonomy in 2001  an attempt by the government in Jakarta to quell a long-running separatist insurgency.

Islamic laws have been strengthened since Aceh struck a peace deal with Jakarta in 2005.

People are flogged for a range of offences including gambling, drinking alcohol, gay sex or any sexual relationship outside marriage.

Jono Simbolon (front), an Indonesian Christian, grimaces in pain as he is flogged in front of a crowd outside a mosque in Banda Aceh, Aceh province, on January 19, 2018

More than 90 per cent of the 255million people who live in Indonesia describe themselves as Muslim, but the vast majority practice a moderate form of the faith.

The brutal and public beatings have become more prevalent this year with a number of reported incidents of those being punished collapsing in pain on stage.

Back in September 2014, Aceh approved an anti-homosexuality law that can punish anyone caught having gay sex with 100 lashes.

After a three-decade-old separatist movement, a peace agreement signed in 2005 granted special autonomy to Aceh, at the northern tip of Sumatra, on condition that it remained part of the sprawling archipelago.

As part of that deal, Aceh won the right to be the only Indonesian province to use Islamic sharia law as its legal code.

An Acehnese woman was also lashed as part of the public caning on Friday outside a mosque after prayers had finished

Anybody caught engaging in consensual gay sex is punished with 100 lashes, 100 months in jail or a fine of 1,000 grams of gold.

The law also set out punishment for sex crimes, unmarried people engaging in displays of affection, people caught found guilty of adultery and underage sex.

Religious police in Aceh have been known to target Muslim women without head scarves or those wearing tight clothes, and people drinking alcohol or gambling.

Over the past decade, the central government has devolved more power to regional authorities to increase autonomy and speed up development.

Engaging in homosexual acts is not a crime under Indonesia's national criminal code but remains taboo in many conservative parts of the country with the world's largest Muslim population.

The trend appeared to be slowing down after a string of worrying incidents at the turn of the new year, but the new pictures reveal the practice still looms large in Indonesia.

Men and women have collapsed in pain due to the severity of their injuries and people can be caned for something as innocent as standing too close to a partner in public or being seen alone with someone they are not married to.

An Islamic enforcer holds the rattan stick against the back of Simbolon, who was whipped 36 times for selling alcohol in the province

In the past two years or so, MailOnline has reported on the troubling rising trend of public lashings carried out in Aceh, Indonesia:

March 1, 2016: Woman whipped 50 times for spending time alone with a man at the age of 19.

March 24, 2016: Young woman carried from the stage on a stretcher after being lashed for sex outside marriage.

August 1, 2016: Another woman is lashed for going on a date in Aceh.

August 15, 2016: Elderly man caned for breaking Sharia law.

September 11, 2016: Man and a woman lashed for having an affair and among the gathered crowd is the mayor of Banda Aceh.

October 17, 2016: Muslim woman screams out in pain on stage after being lashed 23 times for standing too close to her boyfriend.

October 31, 2016: A woman, 20, caned in public for getting too close to a man she wasn't married to.

November 28, 2016: Man and a woman lashed 100 times each for adultery.

February 2, 2017: Enforcer lands 26 beatings across the back of a woman for having sex outside of wedlock.

February 10, 2017: Woman collapses in pain on stage as she is being caned.

February 27, 2017: Man collapses on stage as he is being whipped for having sex outside of marriage.

August 25, 2017: Ten Indonesians sentenced to up to 100 lashes of the whip for adultery.

September 12, 2017: Woman hospitalised after 100 lashes for being with a man who wasn't her husband.

November 17, 2017: Woman is caned for adultery.

January, 2018: Indonesian Christian man is publicly flogged 36 times for selling alcohol.

February, 2018: Man and woman, both also Christian, flogged six and seven times respectively for playing a children's entertainment game.
1. DanyangKunshan Grand Bridge

This Chinese bridge is 102.4 miles long - making it the world's longest bridge. It hosts the BeijingShanghai High-Speed Railway. Its construction took four years, employing 10,000 people, and cost more than 6billion.

2. Changhua-Kaohsiung Viaduct

Over 200million passengers have used this Taiwanese rail link since it was opened in 2007. It is 97.8 miles in length and is built across numerous viaducts in a bid to avert earthquake damage.

3. Tianjin Grand Bridge

Another entrant in the top 10 from China, the Tianjin Grand Bridge carries the BeijingShanghai High-Speed Railway. It is 70.6 miles long and was completed in 2010 - before being opened one year later.

4. Cangde Grand Bridge

The Cangde Grand Bridge has been designed to withstand earthquakes and sits on more than 3,000 piers along its 65-mile length.

5. Weinan Weihe Grand Bridge

Not only does this bridge cross the Wei River twice during its 49.5-mile journey, but it also offers scenic views of many other rivers. When it was completed in 2008 it was the longest bridge in the world - but it was quickly surpassed by the previous contenders.

6. Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge

This 34-mile link was in the works for years - but was left mired in controversy following a series of worker deaths and injuries. During construction, there were 10 fatalities on the Hong Kong stretch with as many as 600 hurt. One politician even branded it the 'bridge of blood and tears' - and 21 employees at a contractor were eventually arrested on safety charges.

56. Europe's longest bridge - Portugal's Vasco da Gama

This 7.6-mile bridge spans the Tagus River in Portugal's capital Lisbon. It carries six road lanes, each with a speed limit of 75mph - except one section which is limited 60mph.

119. Britain's longest bridge - Birmingham's Bromford Viaduct

Trailing far behind its Asian cousins, the Bromford Viaduct is a paltry 3.5miles long, carrying the M6 motorway between Castle Bromwich and Gravelly Hill in Birmingham. It is just a quarter of a mile longer than the Second Severn Crossing.
Aly Raisman delivers her statement in court on Friday (above)

Thanks your honor thank you for the opportunity to make this statement here today and thank you for providing the time and flexibility for all the other brave survivors to make their statements. Each survivor deserves to be heard equally.

I didn't think I would be here today I was scared and nervous it wasn't until I started watching the impact statements from the other brave survivors that I realized I too needed to be here.

Larry you do realize now that we, this group of women you so heartlessly abused over such a long period of time are now a force, and you are nothing.

The tables have turned Larry. We are here, we have our voices and we are not going anywhere. And now Larry, it's your turn to listen.

To me there is no map that shows you the pathway to healing. Realizing that you're a survivor of sexual abuse is really hard to put into words. I cannot adequately capture the level of disgust I feel when I think about how this happened.

Larry you abused the power and trust I and so many others placed in you and I am not sure I will ever come to terms with how horribly you manipulated and violated me.

You are the USA Gymnastics national team doctor, the Michigan and the United States Olympic team doctor. You were trusted by so many and took advantage of countless athletes and their families

The effects of your actions are far-reaching. Abuse goes way beyond the moment, often haunting survivors for the rest of their lives, making it difficult to trust and impacting their relationships.

It is all the more devastating when such abuse comes at the hand of such a highly regarded doctor since it leaves survivors questioning the organizations and even the medical profession itself upon which so many rely.

I am here to face you Larry so you can see I've regained my strength. That I'm no longer a victim, I'm a survivor. I am no longer that little girl you met in Australia, where you first began grooming and manipulating.

As for your letter yesterday, you are pathetic to think that anyone would have any sympathy for you. You think this is hard for you? Imagine how all of us feel. Imagine how it feels to be an innocent teenager in a foreign country hearing a knock on the door and it's you. I don't want you to be there but I don't have a choice.

Treatments with you were mandatory. You took advantage of that. You even told on us if we didn't want to be treated by you knowing full well the troubles that would cause for us.

Lying on my stomach with you on my bed insisting that you're inappropriate touch would help to heal my pain.

The reality is that you caused me a great deal of physical, mental and emotional pain. You never healed me. You took advantage of our passions and our dreams. You made me uncomfortable and I thought you were weird. But I felt guilty because you were a doctor so I assumed I was the problem for thinking badly of you. I wouldn't allow myself to believe that the problem is you.

From the time we were little we are taught we are taught to trust doctors you are so sick I can't even comprehend how angry I feel when I think of you. You lied to me and manipulated me to think that when you treated me you are closing your eyes because you had been working hard when you are really touching me, an innocent child, to pleasure yourself.

Imagine feeling like you have no power and no voice. Well you know what Larry, I have both power and voice and I am only beginning to just use them. All these brave women have power and we will use our voices to make sure you get what you deserve. A life of suffering spent replaying the words delivered by this powerful army of survivors.

I am also here to tell you to your face Larry that you have not taken gymnastics away from me. I love this sport and that love is stronger than the evil that resides in you and those who enabled you to hurt many people.

You already know you're going away to a place where you won't be able to hurt anybody ever again, but I am here to tell you that I will not rest until every last trace of your influence on this sport has been destroyed like the cancer it is.

Your abuse started 30 years ago, but that's just the first reported incident we know of. If over these many years just one adult listened and had the courage and character to act this tragedy could have been avoided. I and so many others would have never ever met you Larry. You should have been locked up a long long time ago.

Fact is we have no idea how many people you victimized or what was done or not done that allowed you to keep doing it and to get away with it for so long.

Over those thirty years when survivors came forward, adult after adult - many in positions of authority - protected you, telling each survivor it was okay that you weren't abusing them. In fact many adults had you convince the survivors that they were being dramatic or had been mistaken.

This is like being violated all over again? How do you sleep at night?

You are the decorated by USA Gymnastics and the United States Olympic Committee, both of which put you on advisory boards and committees to come up with policies that will protect athletes from this kind of abuse.

You are the person they had quote take the lead of athlete care. You are the person they say quote provided the foundation for our medical system. I cringe to think that your influence remains in the policies that are supposed to keep athletes safe.

To believe in the future of gymnastics is to believe in change, but how are we to believe in change when these organizations aren't even willing to acknowledge the problem it's easy to put out statements talking about how athlete's care is the highest priority, but they've been saying that for years.

And all the while this nightmare was happening.

False assurances from organizations are dangerous especially when people want so badly to believe them. They make it easier to look away from the problem and enable bad things to continue to happen.

And even now after all that has happened USA Gymnastics has the nerve to say the very same things it is said all along. Can't you see how disrespectful that is can't you see how much that hurts.

A few days ago USA Gymnastics put out a statement attributed to its president and CEO Kerry Perry saying she came to listen to the courageous woman and said quote, their powerful voices leave an indelible imprint on me and will impact my decision as president and CEO every day.

This sounds great miss Perry but at this point talk is cheap. You left midway through the day and no one has heard from you or the board

Kerry, I have never met you and I know you weren't around for most of this but you accepted the position of president and CEO of USA Gymnastics and I assume by now you are very well aware of the weighty responsibilities you've taken on.

Unfortunately, you've taken on an organization that I feel is rotting from the inside, and while this may not be what you thought you were getting into, you will be judged by how you deal with it.

A word of advice: continuing to issue statements of empty promises thinking that will pacify us will no longer work. Yesterday, USA Gymnastics announced that it was terminating its lease at the ranch where so many of us were abused. I am glad that it is no longer a national team training site but USA Gymnastics neglected to mention that they had athletes training there the day they released the statement.

USA Gymnastics where is the honesty? Where is the transparency? Why must the manipulation continue? Neither USA Gymnastics nor the USOC have reached out to express sympathy or even offer support. Not even to ask: 'How did this happen? What do you think we can do to help?'

Why have I and others here probably not heard anything from the leadership at the USOC? Why has the United States Olympic Committee been silent? Why isn't the USOC here right now?

Larry was the Olympic doctor and he molested me at the 2012 London Olympic Games. They say now they applaud those who have spoken out, but it's easier to say that now. When the brave women who started speaking out back then, more than a year after the USOC says they knew about Nassar, they were dismissed.

At the 2016 Olympic Games, the president of the USOC said that the USOC would not conduct an investigation and even defended USA Gymnastics as one of the leaders in developing policies to protect athletes . That's the response a courageous woman gets when she speaks out.

And when others join those athletes and began speaking out with more stories of abuse, were they acknowledged? No. It is like being abused all over again.

I have represented the United States of America in two Olympics and have done so successfully. Both USA Gymnastics and the United States Olympic Committee have been very quick to capitalize and celebrate my success, but did they reach out when I came forward? No. So at this point talk is worthless to me.

We're dealing with real lives in the future of our sport. We need to believe for this sport to go on. We need to demand real change and we need to be willing to fight for it.

It's clear now that if we leave it up to these organizations, history is likely to repeat itself. To know what changes are needed requires us to understand what exactly happened and why it has happened.

This is a painful process but it's the only way to identify all the factors that contributed to this problem, and how they can be avoided in the future. it is the only way to learn from these mistakes and make gymnastics a safer sport.

If ever there was a need to fully understand a problem it is this one right now to accept that problem is limited to just what we know now is irresponsible delusional even each new day seems to bring a new survivor.

We have no idea just how much damage you caused Larry and we have no idea how deep these problems go. Now is the time to acknowledge that the very person who sits here before us now, who perpetrated the worst epidemic of sexual abuse in the history of sports, who is going to be locked up for a long long time, how this monster was also the architect of policies and procedures that are supposed to protect athletes from sexual abuse.

For both USA Gymnastics and the USOC if we are to believe in change we must first understand the problem and everything that contributed to. Now is not the time for false reassurances, we need an independent investigation of exactly what happened, what went wrong and how it can be avoided for the future.

Only then can we know what changes are needed, only then we believe such changes are real.

Your honor, I ask you to give Larry the strongest possible sentence, which his actions deserve. By doing so you will send a message to him and to other abusers that they cannot get away with their horrible crimes. They will be exposed for the evil they are and they will be punished to the maximum extent of the law. Let this sentence strike fear in anyone who thinks it is okay to hurt another person.

Abusers, your time is up. The survivors are here standing tall and we are not going anywhere. And please your honor, stress the need to investigate how this happened so we can hold accountable those who empowered and enabled Larry Nasser. So we can repair and once again believe in this wonderful sport.

My dream is that one day everyone will know what the words mean to signify. But they will be educated and able to protect themselves from predators like Larry so that they will never ever ever have to say the words me too. Thank you.
A newly-discovered asteroid hurtled past our planet at a distance of just 24,168 miles (38 895km) yesterday - just seven hours after it was discovered.

The car-sized 2018 BD asteroid is 8.2 to 18 feet (2.5 to 5.5 metres) wide and passed so close to our planet it was nearly at the altitude at which satellites orbit.

Anything that flies closer than six million miles of our planet is a near earth asteroid and could cause severe damage were it ever to crash into Earth.

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A newly discovered asteroid hurtled past our planet at a distance of just 24,168 miles (38 895km) yesterday - just seven hours after it was discovered (stock image)

The asteroid was discovered at 08:24 UTC (08:24 GMT, 03:24 ET) on 18th January by Catalina Sky Survey and flew by at 15:43 UTC (15:43 GMT, 10:45 ET) that day.

This is the third time an asteroid has flown past our Earth within one lunar distance since the start of this year, writes Watchers.

Its next close approach will be on 20:37 UTC (20:37 GMT, 15:37 ET) on 19th November 2018 - but it won't be coming as close as it was yesterday for another 115 years at least.

The news comes just days after it was revealed asteroid 2019 BC, which is larger than the Burj Khalifa, is due to fly past our planet in less than two weeks.

The 2018 BD asteroid is 8.2 to 18 feet (2.5 to 5.5 metres) wide and passed so close to our planet it was nearly at the altitude at which satellites orbit

THE 2018 BD ASTEROID A newly discovered asteroid hurtled past our planet at a distance of just 24,168 miles (38 895km) yesterday (18th January) - just seven hours after it was discovered. The 2018 BD asteroid is 8.2 to 18 feet (2.5 to 5.5 metres) wide and passed so close to our planet it was nearly at the altitude at which satellites orbit. Anything that flies closer than six million miles of our planet is a near earth asteroid and could cause severe damage were it ever to crash into Earth. The asteroid was discovered at 08:24 UTC on 18th January by Catalina Sky Survey. This is the third time an asteroid has flown past our Earth within one lunar distance since the start of this year, writes Watchers. It's next close approach will be on 20:37 UTC on 19th November 2018 - but it won't be coming as close as it was yesterday for another 115 years at least. Advertisement

The 2002 AJ129 asteroid has been classed a 'potentially hazardous' by Nasa and will fly past at speeds of 67,000mph (107,826kmh).

This makes it nearly 15 times faster than the world's quickest manned aircraft - the hypersonic North American X-15, which travelled at 4,520mph (7,300kmh).

The asteroid is around 0.7 miles (1.1km) wide - making it longer than the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, which stands at 0.5 miles high (0.8km).

It is set to pass by our planet on the 4th February at a distance of around 2,615,128 miles (4,208,641km) away - which is relatively close in space terms.

The asteroid was discovered at 08:24 UTC on 18th January. This is the third time an asteroid has flown past our Earth within one lunar distance since the start of this year

PLANETARY DEFENCE Anything that flies closer than six million miles of our planet is a near earth asteroid and could cause severe damage were it ever to crash into Earth. Deflecting an asteroid that is on an impact course with Earth requires changing the velocity of the object by less than an inch per second years in advance of the predicted impact. Nasa is currently moving forward with a refrigerator-sized spacecraft capable of preventing asteroids from colliding with Earth. A test with a small, nonthreatening asteroid is planned for 2024. This is the first-ever mission to demonstrate an asteroid deflection technique for planetary defence. The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) would use what is known as a kinetic impactor techniquestriking the asteroid to shift its orbit. Advertisement

For reference, the distance between the Earth and the moon is 238,855 miles (384,400 km).

Nasa describes asteroids as 'hazardous' if they come within 4,600,000 miles (7,403,00km) of our planet.

Currently Nasa would not be able to deflect an asteroid if it were heading for Earth but it could mitigate the impact and take measures that would protect lives and property.

This would include evacuating the impact area and moving key infrastructure.

Finding out about the orbit trajectory, size, shape, mass, composition and rotational dynamics would help experts determine the severity of a potential impact.

However, the key to mitigating damage is to find any potential threat as early as possible.

'As of December 24, there are 17,495 known Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) around our planet; 17,389 are asteroids', a Nasa spokesperson told the Express last month.

'This year, we discovered 1,985 new near Earth asteroids. There were 1888 such objects discovered in 2016 and 1,571 in 2015'.

The news comes just days after it was revealed asteroid 2019 BC, which is larger than the Burj Khalifa, is due to fly past our planet in less than two weeks. The asteroid is around 0.7 miles (1.1km) wide - making it longer than the Burj Khalifa in Dubai (pictured)

Nasa is currently moving forward with a refrigerator-sized spacecraft capable of preventing asteroids from colliding with Earth. A test with a small, nonthreatening asteroid is planned for 2024.

This is the first-ever mission to demonstrate an asteroid deflection technique for planetary defence.

The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) would use what is known as a kinetic impactor techniquestriking the asteroid to shift its orbit.

The impact would change the speed of a threatening asteroid by a small fraction of its total velocity, but by doing so well before the predicted impact, this small nudge will add up over time to a big shift of the asteroid's path away from Earth.

In February 2013 a 19-metre meter (62-feet) meteor exploded in the skies above Chelyabinsk in Russia.

The energy - which was equivalent to 500,000 tonnes of TNT - and injured more than 1,000 people.
The survival of coral reefs is at a 'make or break' point, according to the UN chief of environment, Erik Solheim.

Greenhouse gases, pollution and warming oceans are all contributing to the destruction of the beautiful reefs.

The responsibility to save the coral reefs lies with all nations but countries that have their own coral reefs should lead the way, according to the United Nations.

If serious efforts are not made, the coral reefs could be destroyed within a generation.

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Greenhouse gases, pollution and warming oceans are all contributing to the destruction of the beautiful reefs. This Fijian reef has been placed under increased protection by the Fiji prime minister

Erik Solheim, head of the United Nations Environment Programme (Unep), said: 'We expect governments to step up to concrete actions.'

The UN environment chief was speaking at the launch of the third International Year of the Reef in Australia.

He said: 'We have seen a huge amount of bleaching incidents in reefs all over the planet.

'We are at a make or break point where we can take possible steps forward or [oversee] the decline of the reefs.'

Coral reefs account for nearly a quarter of all biodiversity in the oceans whilst only making up one per cent of the oceans area. Only six of 100 coral reefs in a study had no signs of bleaching

Coral reefs account for nearly a quarter of all biodiversity in the oceans whilst only making up one per cent of ocean area.

Mr Solheim was speaking about the need for countries to focus on preserving their natural reefs and urged nations to take action.

The Fiji prime minister, Frank Bainimarama, became the first world leader to heed the advice of the UN.

He spoke at the same meeting and said: 'Today I appeal to every single person on Earth to help us. We must replace the present culture of abuse with a culture of care.'

Coral expel tiny marine algae when sea temperatures rise which causes them to turn white Corals have a symbiotic relationship with a tiny marine algae called 'zooxanthellae' that live inside and nourish them. When sea surface temperatures rise, corals expel the colourful algae. The loss of the algae causes them to bleach and turn white. This bleached states can last for up to six weeks, and while corals can recover if the temperature drops and the algae return, severely bleached corals die, and become covered by algae. In either case, this makes it hard to distinguish between healthy corals and dead corals from satellite images. This bleaching recently killed up to 80 per cent of corals in some areas of the Great Barrier Reef. Bleaching events of this nature are happening worldwide four times more frequently than they used to. An aerial view of Australia's Great Barrier Reef. The corals of the Great Barrier Reef have undergone two successive bleaching events, in 2016 and earlier this year, raising experts' concerns about the capacity for reefs to survive under global-warming Advertisement

Fiji has recently given its Great Sea Reef increased environmental protection and Mr Banimarama said it was shocking that this could be the last generation to see coral reefs in their greatest form.

'Today I appeal to every single person on Earth to help us. We must replace the present culture of abuse with a culture of care,' he said.

Mr Solheim called on countries that have their own coral reefs to lead the way.

He said: 'We expect Australia and the Pacific Islands and the Caribbean to protect their coral reefs  they can do so much.

'I strongly encourage Australia to transform its energy mix from coal to solar and wind and renewables  that is happening, but the faster it happens the better.'

Erik Solheim is the head of the United Nations Environment Programme (Unep) has said that coral reefs need help sooner rather than later as research shows significant bleaching of coral reefs all across the world

A recent study found that the average time between severe 'bleachings' shortened to six years in 2016 from 25-30 years in the early 1980s. The Paris agreement was signed to try and limit global warming - which encourages coral bleaching

PARIS AGREEMENT The Paris Agreement, which was first signed in 2015, it is an international agreement to control climate change. It hopes to hold the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2C (3.6F) 'and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5C (2.7F)'. If the Paris agreement is successful there will still be a Great Barrier Reef, but it will look different. In June, President Trump announced his intention for the US, the second largest producer of greenhouse gases in the world, to withdraw from the agreement. Advertisement

Coral reef bleaching is increasing - in severity and in frequency.

A recent study found that the average time between severe 'bleachings' shortened to six years in 2016 from 25-30 years in the early 1980s.

Bleaching isn't quite killing the delicate corals, but making them extremely sick by breaking down the crucial microscopic algae living inside the coral.

The study looked at 100 coral reefs around the world and found that only six weren't affected by coral bleaching.

The increased water temperatures of the oceans has a significant impact on coral.

In 2015, a global initiative was signed into practice to limit global warming to 2C (3.6F).

In June 2017, President Trump announced his intention for the US, the second largest producer of greenhouse gases in the world, to withdraw from the agreement.

According to Mr Solheim, the time to act is now and any delay could spell catastrophe.

'Beyond the complete moral failure of destroying the enormous beauty and all the different species in the ocean living in the reefs, it would also be an economic disaster,' he said.
Samsung may have discovered a solution to the iPhone X's ugly 'notch' problem.

In a newly discovered patent, Samsung shows off a prototype smartphone that has two holes drilled into the top of the screen, presumably to embed cameras and other sensors.

The phone is almost entirely bezel-free, except for some very thin borders around the edges of the phone.

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Samsung's solution to Apple's iPhone X notch involves drilling several holes at the top of the smartphone's screen. Embedded in the holes are a camera, an optical sensor and a speaker

Apple has faced some criticism from industry watchers and consumers who say the iPhone X's notch interferes with the phone's overall look and feel.

The notch is what houses the iPhone X's facial recognition sensors and front-facing selfie camera.

Some consumers found the notch so annoying that they installed a 'notch remover' app that conceals the feature with a black bar atop the iPhone's front screen.

Samsung's patented design, which was filed in May 2017, envisions a phone where the screen is uninterrupted by any imposing bezels.

A Samsung patent shows a prototype phone where cameras and other sensors are embedded into several tiny holes at the top of the screen. The phone has almost no bezels

In the filing, Samsung notes that smartphone screens have become larger, yet the size is 'restricted' by features like a speaker to receive phone calls, a camera and a home button.

The concept describes an 'electronic apparatus with a hole area' that would be able to include all those elements, plus an 'optical sensor,' presumably referring to facial recognition technology of some kind.

Users would be able to decide whether images take up the full width and length of the display, or to restrict images with a small bezel at the top and bottom of the front screen.

It's not the first time that Samsung has acknowledged Apple's shortcomings.

Samsung in November released an ad that mocked the iPhone X's notch, as well as the iPhone 7, which famously removed the headphone jack and introduced a dongle system instead.

THE IPHONE X'S NOT SO UNIQUE NEW FEATURES Wireless charging - Introduced for the Google Nexus 4 in 2013, the Nokia Lumia 635 in 2014 and the Samsung Galaxy S6 in 2015 and many since Edge to edge 'bezel-less display - Featured on the Samsung Galaxy S8, Essential PH-1, LG G6 as well as a number of lesser known Android model Tap screen to wake - Originally appearing on the LG G2 in 2013, this has become a common feature on Android phones since No physical home button - In 2016, flagship devices from Google, Sony, LG, and Huawei all lacked such a button on their hardware. One of the last holdouts was Samsung, who ditched the feature from this year's S8 Cameras specs: The Google Pixel, Huawei P10, OnePlus 5 and others all can match or beat the iPhone X for sheer pixel power, although lens features do vary. Advertisement

The ad, called 'Growing Up,' also makes fun of how iPhones are notorious for running out of storage space and aren't yet fully waterproof.

If Samsung's design works well enough, it's possible that Apple may introduce it to its own line of flagship smartphones, just like it adopted wireless charging after Samsung had that feature for several years.

The patent doesn't indicate if or when Samsung may introduce a notch-less smartphone.
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A high-end ballgown designer has swapped the catwalk for the runway after creating new uniforms for Alaska Airlines staff.

Seattle-based Luly Yang has been unveiled as the creator of the new outfits, which the US carrier said represented a fresh, modern West Coast look. And stylists MailOnline Travel spoke to hailed the designs as 'sharp' and 'very well cut'.

The new uniforms were showcased at a fashion show inside Alaska's Sea-Tac hangar, where airline employees modelled the 90 garments and accessories to thousands of other employees.

Alaska Airlines flight attendants model their new uniforms that have been created by couture fashion designer Luly Yang

One of the flight attendants models pointing out the exits while wearing the new navy uniforms with a block colour

A male employee stops to pose on the runway. By 2019, all Alaska, Virgin America and Horizon Air staff will wear the uniforms

By 2019, all Alaska, Virgin America and Horizon Air staff will wear the uniforms, although they will be tested by 130 flight attendants, pilots, customer service agents and lounge employees from next week.

Designing the cabin crew uniforms is a departure for Ms Yang, who normally works on red carpet couture gowns, bridal collections and bespoke menswear.

She also has a ready-to-wear label, which includes cashmere knits and leather accessories.

But she says that working on the cabin crew uniforms was one of the most challenging tasks of her career.

Designing the cabin crew uniforms is a departure for Ms Yang, who normally works on red carpet couture gowns. Pictured are two flight attendants walking the runway

The new uniforms are for flight attendants and pilots as well as ground crew and customer service agents in airports

Ms Yang spent two years designing and creating the uniforms and had to consider water-resistant fabrics, shirts that don't untuck from trousers and materials that move with the body.

She said: 'With 45 sizes per style and 13 very distinct work groups, this was the ultimate puzzle to solve.

'My hope is that employees feel that they were heard throughout this process, love the collection and wear their uniforms with pride.'

Alaska Airlines' vice president of marketing added: 'Luly's designs perfectly capture our fresh, West Coast vibe and we're absolutely thrilled with the collection.

A female pilot walks the runway at the Alaska Airlines fashion show, left, while a group of flight attendants strike a pose, right

The pilots take their turn down the runway in their new navy suits and come with dark blue coats and brown leather jackets

'Like our refreshed brand, launched in early 2016, our new uniform collection includes bright pops of color, clean lines and stunning finishes, creating a stylish yet approachable look.'

Hannah Eichler, a senior brand stylist for British fashion retailer Oasis, was pleasantly surprised by the new outfits and said Ms Yang now joins a series of designers who have created cabin crew uniforms.

She told MailOnline Travel: 'Following in the fashion footsteps of Vivienne Westwood for Virgin Atlantic and Christian Dior for Air France, Luly Yang is the latest to join styles elite in designing a uniform for an international airline.

'The American fashion designer has teamed up with Alaskan Airlines to bring their flight attendants uniform into the 21st century.

The new uniforms have both being given the thumbs up by two fashion experts who spoke to MailOnline Travel

The Alaska Airlines staff applaud designer Luly Yang, who walks down the runway to take her bow at the end of the show

'Yang has shaken up Alaskan Airlines stiff suited looks more likely seen in your local bank, and introduced details inspired by the runways.

'Using navy as a softer alternative to black, the uniforms feature fashion forward colour blocking and this seasons romantic frill details  not forgetting the obligatory neck tie, of course!

'And whilst Luly Yang might not be a household name unlike the likes of Pierre Balmain and Christian Lacroix who have also turned their hand to designing high flying outfits, shes certainly made her mark on the fashion industry.

'Yang broke into the industry designing wedding gowns, has shown her couture line in Beijing and recently launched two ready-to-wear collections in 2015. Were expecting big things.'

Fashion blogger Simon Glazin added: 'Thanks to this "50p flight" culture we now live in, airlines don't want to spend a lot of money on uniforms. You only have to look at the budget airlines to see this.

Ms Yang, pictured, say that she spent two years designing and creating the uniforms for the American carrier

'How many times have you thought to yourself that those now famous Tango-orange outfits look like they'll scratch your skin off?

'It's nice to see flight attendants looking chic. It nods back to the days where they used to wear crisp white pussy bow blouses and pillbox hats (maybe just in the movies).

'Luly Yang, although not the first designer to create uniforms for travel companies, has done a good job here. It's interesting to see a couture designer turn her hand to something everyday. The menswear isn't anything groundbreaking, but the womenswear looks very well cut.

'The wrap-style dresses, with their two-tone asymmetric designs, are winners, and are great for all body shapes. And the coats with big, splaying collars are the standouts. Women would pay good money for a cover-up like that.

'The tailoring looks sharp, for both men and women, and the accessories are nice twist: hats, scarves and even handbags to match. All lovely added extras.'
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These are the best luxury hotels of 2018.

Thats according to the Mr and Mrs Smith awards 2018, which has dished out gongs to the properties it thinks have the biggest wow factor.

The overall winner was Villa La Coste in Provence, France, which the judges said was a well-deserved champion thanks to its cutting edge design, arresting architecture and amazing art collection.

OVERALL WINNER: The overall winner of the Mr and Mrs Smith Hotel Awards 2018 was this boutique hotel, Villa La Coste in Provence, France

The judges said Villa La Coste was a well-deserved champion thanks to its cutting edge design, arresting architecture and amazing art collection

James Lohan, co-founder, Mr & Mrs Smith, said Villa La Coste was becoming a firm favouite with the travel website

Villa La Coste won the gong of being overall winner after being voted for by members of the public on the travel website

Villa La Coste is a new addition to the boutique hotel market in France but Mr and Mrs Smith says it is becoming a firm favourite.

The awards hand out accolades to hotels in a range of categories with the winners being decided by a globe-trotting panel of judges including fashion designer Jenny Packham and broadcaster Lauren Laverne.

The winners are dotted around the world  from the Chilean desert to the Japanese mountains and the Icelandic backwaters to Manhattan.

In the best-dressed hotel category, the winner was Le Roch Hotel & Spa in Paris which was praised for being chic yet cosy.

BEST DRESSED HOTEL: Le Roch Hotel & Spa in Paris, France, was named as being the best decorated with judge Jake Rosenberg describing it as 'chic yet cosy'

SEXIEST BEDROOM: The retractable roof and bed next to the ocean saw Soneva Jani in the Maldives named as having the sexiest bedroom

BEST DATE NIGHT BAR: The Roxy Hotel in New York City scooped its award after judges said it was the 'perfect harmony between cool and laid-back' and that you feel 'transported back in time' when the band starts playing

The retractable roof at Soneva Jani in the Maldives won it the sexiest bedroom accolade while the best date-night bar was named as being in the Roxy Hotel in New York.

When it comes to food, Zaborin Niseko won the best gourmet getaway award for its 'pure and well thought out food'.

And the Les Sources de Caudalie hotel in Bordeaux scooped the award for having the most spoiling spa.

The best Smith villa gong went to the Annandale Scrubby Bay property in New Zealand, which won the award for its secluded location.

BEST GOURMET GETAWAY: Zaborin Niseko in Japan, pictured, makes good use of local produce and judges say 'guests are in for a delightful journey in taste

MOST SPOILING SPA: With its holistic approach to treatments, the Les Sources de Caudalie hotel in Bordeaux won the award for best spa

BEST POOL WITH A VIEW: The peaceful pool, which overlooks the mountains, earned the Tierra Atacama Hotel and Spa in Chile the accolade for best pool

Meanwhile the hotel with the best pool with a view was the Tierra Atacama Hotel and Spa in Chile, which looks out on to a mountainous landscape.

If you want to treat your family to a luxury break, try the Taylor River Lodge in Colorado, as it was named as the best for parents with children.

And the coolest creative hub award went to the Public in New York City, which the judges described as a 'honeypot for creative types'.

BEST SMITH VILLA: Annandale Scrubby Bay on Pigeon Bay in New Zealand won its award after judges praised its seclusion and opulence

BEST FOR FAMILIES: The Taylor River Lodge in Colorado won its award after being praised for combining outdoor activities with being 'looked after'

COOLEST CREATIVE HUB: Public in NYC was singled out for 'dispensing with hotel frills to focus on the communal  the co-working lobby space, the city-spying rooftop bar, the multicultural kitchen, the local-loving boutique, the basement nightclub'

The local hotel hero award winner was the Nay Palad Hideaway in the Philippines, which was noted as being careful about its carbon footprint and growing its own produce as well as reducing its use of plastic materials.

And the final award of Above & Beyond went to Chamba Camp Thiksey in the Indian Himalyas, as guests can glamp in the foothills.

James Lohan, co-founder of Mr & Mrs Smith, said: 'As a travel club, we like to do things a little differently.

LOCAL HERO: The Nay Palad Hideaway in the Philippines, pictured, was noted for being careful about its carbon footprint and growing its own produce as well as reducing its use of plastic materials

ABOVE AND BEYOND: The final award went to Chamba Camp Thiksey in the Indian Himalyas, as guests can glamp in the foothills of the mountains

'Our awards are a chance to champion those one-of-a-kind places that have made a real impact on us.

'This year were celebrating 12 of the worlds best stays with incredible stories to tell.

'If youve ever asked us for travel tips, consider this our ultimate must-visit list for 2018 (featuring our villa collection for the first time). We hope it inspires a memorable year of adventures.'
She was spotted on a few outings with Leonardo DiCaprio last year.

But it's safe to say that it won't be wedding bells for Lorena Rae and the Oscar-winner.

The 23-year-old German model was seen in Miami Beach on Tuesday gracefully donning a white wedding gown during a bridal photo shoot.

While the L'Oreal representative was only pretending to get married, she glowed in her elegant dress and channeled excitement as she posed alongside a male model who joined her in the shoot.

Newlyweds: Lorena Rae and a male model smiled as they pretended to be newlyweds during a photo shoot in Miami Beach on Tuesday

The brunette wore three different white gowns for the photo shoot and looked like a dreamy bride.

All of the dresses worn during the shoot were white and made of chiffon and beaded fabric.

While posing with her pretend groom, Rae's gown had a low cut in the chest that reached down to her navel and showed a lot of cleavage.

The second piece hung off the shoulders, and the last gown was strapless.

White dress: Rae was careful not to soil her wedding gown, as she walked with care and lifted the dress to avoid damage

Ready to pose: The LOreal representative might not be engaged, but she was convincing as a bride-to-be

Elegant dress: The bridal model paused for a moment while wearing a wedding dress during the shoot

The Hugo Boss eye-wear model was most recently rumored to be dating Leonardo DiCaprio, 43, but they never officially confirmed this despite being seen in multiple outings together.

In September, the two were spotted hopping into a car in New York City, later re-emerging at 1Oak nightclub, which they left together at 4 a.m.

When the duo was romantically linked, DiCaprio was 42-years-old, 19 years Rae's senior. His rep denied that he and the model were an item, but their friendship seemed to indicate otherwise.

Dating or not? Rae was most recently romantically linked to actor Leonardo DiCaprio, as the two were frequently spotted together in 2017

Speculation about their rumored fling began when Rae posted a photo in 2017 that showed the tall beauty in Cannes the same week that DiCaprio was thought to be there.

The Titanic actor had just split up with Nina Agdal, and he was known for attending the annual amfAR Gala in Cannes every year.

The Fashion Police guest was coy when she wrote: 'very excited I got to attend the @amfar gala in beautiful Cannes tonight.'
Former flames Helen Mirren and Liam Neeson had perhaps the most amicable reunion of all time as they recounted their days as lovebirds during their appearance on The Graham Norton Show.

The interview, which will air on Friday night, saw the Hollywood heavyweights reveal they were head over heels during their four-year romance, with the Taken star even admitting it was love at first sight.

Asked by the cheeky chat show host about their dating days, Helen, 72, was quick to insist their romance, which burned between the years of 1980 and 1985, was a lot more serious than the occasional bit of courting.

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Close knit: Helen Mirren appears on The Graham Norton show this Friday alongside her ex Liam Neeson

She affirmed: 'We didnt date, we lived together for four years  we were a serious item for a while. Lucky me!'

And Liam, 65, was quick to reciprocate Helen's affections as he confessed he was instantly 'smitten' with the actress when they met on the set of 1981 movie Excalibur.

Revealing he took an instant shine, the Schindler's List star explained: 'Before I met her and we worked together I had read somewhere that if she fancied a guy she would imitate his walk behind his back and I turned around one day and she was doing that to me.

Who knew they dated? The pair met on the set of Excalibur and dated from 1980 until 1985

He added: 'I remember being on the set and standing with Ciaran Hinds as Helen walked towards us dressed in her full Morgana Le Fey costume and we both went, "Oh f**k" and I was smitten.'

But perhaps the most flattering comment came when Liam admitted he had to battle off his fair share of competitors to win Helen's heart.

The Irish star divulged: 'I think Ciaran was too but I was very smitten!' prompting a blushing Helen to respond: 'I never knew that. Youve never told me that before  its amazing.'

Ex: 'We loved each other. It was difficult to let go', she previously said of their relationship. The pair are pictured in 1984

Beaming: Helen looked elegant as ever in a chic white dress during her TV appearance

It isn't the first time Helen has opened up about the romance, with The Queen actress - who has been married to director Taylor Hackford for the past two decades - previously lamenting: 'We loved each other. It was difficult to let go.'

Eight years after his relationship with Helen, Liam met his first wife, Natasha Richardson, who tragically passed away following a freak skiing accident in 2009.

The couple welcomed two children, Micheal, 22, and Daniel, 21, during their 15-year marriage.

All smiles: The Academy Award-winner wowed the crowd with her stunning white mid-length gown, adorned with circular embellishments

Helen's appearance on Graham Norton saw the Academy Award-winner wow the crowd in a stunning white mid-length gown, adorned with circular embellishments.

She teamed the dress with suede, grey heels by Sole Bliss, the same style she sported to the Venice Film Festival last year.

As well as her former lover, she was joined on the sofa by 50 Shades Freed actor Jamie Dornan and musician Sigrid.

Passion: Liam Neeson and Helen Mirren starred together in the 1981 film Excalibur where they both fell for each other

The Woman in Gold beauty also chatted about her latest film The Leisure Seeker, which stars Donald Sutherland.

The road-trip flick, based on the novel of the same name, the couple travel from Boston to The Earnest Hemingway Home in Key West in their old RV.

Helen was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy for her role as Ella Spencer in the heartwarming film.

Despite her continuing success in new movie roles, she finally confirmed to DailyBeast recently that she would not be reprising her role as Elizabeth II in a future series of The Crown, despite heavy speculation.

Chic beauty: The classic dress featured a draping neckline that exuded Helen's youthful glow effortlessly. Helen was joined on the sofa by Liam Neeson, 50 Shades Freed actor Jamie Dornan and musician Sigrid

Helen confessed she was 'done' with the royal character, when asked if she would ever appear in the hit Netflix series.

She portrayed the Queen in the Academy Award-winning flick as well as a 2013 theatre production of The Audience - both produced by Peter Morgan, who is also the creator of The Crown.

However, while the character has found Helen huge success over the years, she was quick to confirm she had no plans to reprise the role in the Netflix series.

She simply said of playing the Queen once again: 'No, I'm not. No, no. Done with that.'



Youthful: The Calendar Girls' age-defying complexion was heightened by a pop of peach lip colour and a rosy blush cheek
It's a sad day for Chelsea Handler.

The comic, 42, took to Instagram Thursday to pay tribute to her beloved dog Chunk, who she said 'passed away today,' accompanied by an adorable shot of the furry brown pooch smiling with a bandanna around its neck.

The Chelsea Lately host, who featured the Chow mix on her E! hit Chelsea Lately, said of her late pet: 'He loved being famous and getting recognized, especially without me. So many people loved him, and [I] really appreciate that and so did he.'

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Grieving: Chelsea Handler, 42, took to Instagram to pay tribute to her beloved dog Chunk, who she said 'passed away today'

Handler shared a story about how Chunk was devoted to her.

'My favorite memory of Chunk is when I was paddle boarding on the Hudson River in upstate NY and he was following me on the shoreline by the trees, and finally jumped in and swam a quarter of a mile to get on my paddle board with me,' the New Jersey native said. 'I cried that day at how much he loved me.'

Handler opened up on how emotional she was in the wake of the death of her beloved pet, who she described as the 'softest doggy in the world' and 'a true gentleman.

'Today Im crying because of how much I loved him,' she said. 'My chunky monkey. I love you, baby.'

Gone but not forgotten: Handler shared a touching tale about how the pooch followed her on the shoreline while she was paddle boarding in New York

Holiday helper: The comic shared this adorable shot of Chunk this past Christmas day

Chelsea showed a debt of gratitude to her friends who had kept Chunk in mind the past two-and-a-half years. She said, 'Thank you to everyone who has sent so many goodies, doggy treats, toys, clothes, paintings, stuffed animals, and everything else over the years.'

The TV personality is still recovering from the death of her dog Tammy, nicknamed 'Bear,' as she had the dog put down last summer after amid kidney failure.

She wrote in an August 11 post: 'I lost my bear today. She was struggling and I couldn't bear to have her fight anymore. Anyone who doesn't believe a dog changes your life has never rescued one ... dogs give you something you never knew was missing. I love you, bear.'

Tough time: Handler said she spent the day in tears grieving over her beloved pet
She's the Pitch Perfect star who claims she is related to iconic American animator, Walt Disney.

And Aussie actress Rebel Wilson, 37, has added fuel to the fire with a social media video of herself gallivanting around Disneyland for her mother's birthday.

The photos appeared to show Rebel and her family enjoying the sights of the theme park after it had been closed from the general public for the Pitch Perfect star.

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Could it be true? Rebel Wilson goes to Disneyland with 'just the family' to celebrate her mother's birthday after claiming in defamation court battle she was related to Walt Disney

'Disneyland AFTER DARK!! I love it the most when it's closed and it's just the family x #freethechurros,' she wrote in an Instagram caption.

The mysterious caption comes just months after Rebel won a landmark case in court that saw her awarded $4.5 million in damages.

The hilarious star alleged stories written by Bauer Media in 2015 had prevented her from working on several million-dollar blockbuster films.

Disney mania! During the testimonies, Rebel spoke openly about her 'relation to Walt Disney', a claimed fact she said her grandmother told her at just five years of age

During the testimonies, Rebel spoke openly about her 'relation to Walt Disney', a claimed fact she said her grandmother told her at just five years of age.

Lawyers repeatedly told the 37-year-old there was no basis for the alleged relationship, but Rebel maintained 'her Nanna had a family tree done'.

Going off without a hitch! Rebel was at Disneyland to celebrate her mother's birthday

Completely alone... and dancing! Rebel showed off her moves in front of Cinderella's castle

In addition Rebel's birth name, Melanie Elizabeth Bownds, is also similar to the surname of Walt's wife, Lillian Bounds.

The Disney husband and wife team died a decade before Rebel was born.

The actress is currently promoting her new movie Pitch Perfect 3, which is the second highest grossing musical comedy of all time.
He's currently in Paris promoting his movie musical The Greatest Showman.

And Hugh Jackman seems to be taking advantage of his time in the city of love, heading out for what appeared to be a romantic date on Thursday evening.

The 49-year-old hunk was spotted leaving the Le Royal Monceau Hotel with wife Deborra-Lee Furness, the pair presumably en route to dinner.

Blue crush! Hugh Jackman looked dapper in a blue suit as he stepped out in Paris with wife Deborra-Lee Furness on Thursday night

Look dapper for the date, Hugh sported a dark blue suit as he exited the five-star hotel, located just steps from the famed Champs Elysees.

The Logan actor opted for a black cable-knit sweater beneath the suit's jacket, and completed the outfit with a pair of shiny brown shoes.

Meanwhile, wife Deborra-Lee looked lovely in a chic monochrome ensemble.

Soiree! Hugh and Deborra-Lee looked loved-up as they left their hotel presumably en route to dinner

Date night? The pair made for quite the attractive couple in the French capital

Making sure she appeared just as stylish as the fashionable locals, the Australian beauty wore black pants with a matching top.

She added an eye-catching black and white fur stole and clutched a medium-sized leather handbag.

Clearly well-heeled, the mum-of-two wore her trademark platform lace-up shoes.

Chic! Deb added an eye-catching black and white fur stole and clutched a medium-sized leather handbag

Greeting fans! Hugh stopped to sign autographs and pose for pictures

The down-to-earth couple didn't appear to mind have their evening interrupted by a flock of fans who were waiting outside to greet them.

Ever so considerate, Hugh stopped to sign autographs and pose for pictures.

The Greatest Showman has already been a critical and commercial hit for Hugh, having grossed more than $200 million worldwide.

He was also nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Comedy or Musical.
She proudly unveiled the results of her secret boob lift two months ago.

And Ellie Young kept her cleavage under wraps when she stepped out in Manchester on Thursday night, rocking a simple black jumpsuit.

The former Big Brother star highlighted her waistline in the figure-hugging number thanks to a bow detail belt.

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Low-key: Ellie Young kept her cleavage under wraps when she stepped out in Manchester on Thursday night, rocking a simple black jumpsuit

Ellie completed her look with a simple pair of stilettos and carried a coordinating black clutch bag.

She sipped on a glass of bubbly as she joined a host of guests at the We Love Manchester Emergency fundraiser.

In November, the 24-year-old reality beauty shared an extremely revealing before-and-after snap in which she just about protected her modesty with the addition of superimposed hearts before gushing about the work she had undergone.

Having initially shot to fame on ITV2's Ibiza Weekender she went on to star on BB earlier this year after which she won thousands of fans - some of whom hit the comments section while also garnering a whopping 18,381 likes overnight.

New look: She proudly unveiled the results of her secret boob lift two months ago, revealing she had never been happier with her figure

Cheers: She sipped on a glass of bubbly as she joined a host of guests at the We Love Manchester Emergency fundraiser

Glamorous: The former Big Brother star highlighted her waistline in the figure-hugging number thanks to a bow detail belt

Turning up: Holly Henderson (left) and Beth Morgan (right) also put in glamorous appearances at the event

Ellie found huge fame when she headed into the Borehamwood compound in July, during which she was at the centre of the drama throughout.

Since departing the house she has scooped an array of jobs - most recently playing Fairy Fabulous in pantomime opposite Tina Malone and Eastenders star Ricky Groves in pantomime Sleeping Beauty.

Ahead of her role, she went under the knife last Thursday to undergo the corrective boob lift - after which she delightedly revealed she can now 'see her waist'.

Initially posing with her entire body covered in etchings from the surgeon's marker pen to guide the procedure, she then posed with her bandaged assets on display.

Happy days: Ellie unveiled the results of her secret boob job with this daring post

Eye-popping: The 24-year-old reality beauty shared an extremely revealing before-and-after snap in which she just about protected her modesty with the addition of superimposed hearts before gushing about the work she had undergone

Transformation: Ellie found huge fame when she headed into the Borehamwood compound in July, during which she was at the centre of the drama throughout

She added a caption on the shot reading: 'So here's my before and after surgery photos. I am so so happy with my results I actually can't believe the difference and it's only been 4 days since the op. I wanted to show you my real results.

'I was in pain yesterday with bruising but feeling much better today. I can't thank @bonvoyagebeautycosmeticsurgery enough for giving me back my confidence. Not only has my boobs been lifted but you can now actually see my waist!

'I'm still swollen so I can't wait to see how they'll look in a couple of weeks #bvbbeautiful #bonvoyagebeautycosmeticsurgery'.

With her candid reveal, fans quickly praised her transformed figure as some of her 214,000 followers swarmed the comments section.

Users wrote: 'They look amazing. And it is amazing what it does for your self esteem when you feel more confident in how you look. Love em babes. Hope the pain n swelling goes down soon for u sweety...

Happy days: With her candid reveal, fans quickly praised her transformed figure as some of her 214,000 followers swarmed the comments section

'You look lush ellie x... You look great Ellie... oh!!! They look so much better, I don't blame her having a lift she is only young still!... You already looked amazing. . But the confidence thing. . I get it. . Go you.'

Despite this, other fans insisted she was sending the wrong message to younger fans as they insisted she was perfect the way she was in the original snap.

Contrary fans wrote: 'preach! There was nothing wrong with them in the first place! Natural boobs. Theyll never stay perky if theyre big!... exactly.

'Nothing wrong with them. Sends out such a bad msg... No @ellieyoung1993 no! Sends out such a wrong msg. It's telling young girls that they have something wrong with them and they won't be happy until they get it 'fixed'...

'These reality celebs in one breath are all about empowering women and then advertising this in the next. I fear for our future. Now I'll get hate and ppl will say leave her alone it's up to her. Yeah ur right. That's not the point. There's a bigger picture... Ellie you already were amazing and beautiful.'
She recently revealed she wasn't ruling out a reunion with her ex, Kem Cetinay

And Amber Davies showed him just what he was missing as she sizzled in her latest Instagram snap shortly after revealing yet again she would consider rekindling her romance with her former flame.

The 21-year-old reality star, who won ITV's Love Island star year with Kim, looked absolutely smoking hot as she flaunted her assets in a skimpy patterned bikini mirror snap.

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'Strong not skinny': Amber Davies, 21, looked smoking hot as she flaunted her assets in a skimpy bikini snap, shorty after revealing she wasn't ruling out a reunion with ex, Kem Cetinay

Primped and preened to perfection, with a glamorous coat of make-up and sporting a glossy blowdry, Amber oozed sex appeal as she sneaked in a snap in her dressing room.

'BTS on the latest Strong Not Skinny shoot. healthy lifestyle = happy mind ,' the brunette captioned the snap.

For Amber, it seems as though her ex Kem has been on her mind lately as she told The Sun at the Nordoff Robbins Six Nations Rugby Charity Dinner: 'We don't talk. We're having space at the minute.

'We're very good friends. If I ever needed him, he'd be there in a shot. I know that for fact.

'You never know what will happen': For Amber, it seems as though her ex Kem has been on her mind lately

Amber continued: 'You never know what might happen in the future. I'm not ruling out anything'

'So it's the whole we need space. He works on himself. I work on myself. And you never know what might happen in the future. I'm not ruling out anything,' she continued.

This comes after Amber was probed on whether there was 'unfinished business' between the pair on ITV's Lorraine, to which she replied: 'Yeah... potentially.'

She said: 'I'm not ruling anything out for the future, we need to concentrate on our careers, I need to grow up a lot. I'll always have a special place in my heart for him.'

Claim to fame: Romance blossomed for Kem and Amber in the Love Island villa and despite their love affair being plagued with trouble on the show, they appeared to defy the odds and were crowned the winners of the series

Kem, however, seemed to be in a much more different frame of mind as he exclusively told MailOnline on Thursday that he doesn't want to reunite with Amber Davies, as he is 'happy being single'.

Romance blossomed for Kem and Amber in the Love Island villa and despite their love affair being plagued with trouble on the show, they appeared to defy the odds and were crowned the winners of the series, before continuing their relationship back home.

Kem had branded Amber 'The One' and while he insisted he was in 'no rush' to wed, the pair often spoke about their plans to marry, with Amber moving in with Kem and his family in their Essex home.

'Special place in my heart': This comes after Amber was probed on whether there was 'unfinished business' between the pair on ITV's Lorraine. She replied: 'Yeah... potentially'

'I'm happy': Seeming to have moved on from their romance, Kem told MailOnline he is embracing his newly single status and is content being on his own

However, they announced their decision to split in early December, shocking fans of the show, and blamed their incompatible schedules and not spending enough time with one another as the reason behind their break up.

Seeming to have moved on from their romance, Kem told MailOnline he is embracing his newly single status and is content being on his own. He said: 'If I'm brutally honest, I'm pretty happy where I am at the moment.

'I'm happy being single... and I'm really happy with how things are going.'

Kem credited his appearance on Dancing On Ice as helping to distract him from the break up, adding: 'Im there every hour training so its good for me. Im really excited and Im in a good place at the moment.'
She furiously denied reports that she 'occasionally' visited her acid attacker ex Arthur Collins in prison in a lengthy tweet on Thursday.

But just hours later, Ferne McCann seemed determined to put the scandal behind her, as she defiantly shared an Instagram selfie of her newly blonde hair.

The former TOWIE star, 27, pouted in a series of snaps displaying her 'unbelievable' lighter mane as she told fans she 'fancied a change'.

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Mane attraction: Ferne McCann defiantly shared an Instagram selfie of her newly blonde hair (left) just hours after slamming reports she 'occasionally' visited her acid attacker ex Arthur Collins (pictured right, before)

Donning a black and white sweater, the formerly brunette star pouted as she showed off her honey-hued tresses.

She wrote in the caption: 'Fancied A Change... lets see who has more fun.'

Ferne, who shares two-month-old daughter Sunday with Arthur, also gushed over the 'unbelievable colour change'.

Her hair transformation comes hours after she took to social media to slam claims that she has visited Arthur in prison on more than one occasion.

Arthur's barrister was reported to have said that she has visited him 'occasionally' while speaking in court.

However, the 27-year-old reality star said: 'I am posting this so it cannot be misquoted and sets the record straight.

Transformation: The former TOWIE star, 27, pouted in a series of snaps displaying her 'unbelievable' lighter mane, telling fans she 'fancied a change'

'I have NOT been back to see Arthur': It comes after she took to Twitter to slam reports she has visited her acid attacker ex in prison again - as Collins' barrister clarified her claims that she sees him 'occasionally'

'The story today says that I have been visiting Sunday's father in prison. As I have already made clear, I visited him once and I have not been to see him since.

'I have repeatedly made clear that I have not been to see him... Again and for absolute clarity, I do not in anyway condone the actions that took place in Mangle on April 2017.

'Nobody should be faced with violence on a night out and the victims have my fullest sympathy. Respectfully, Ferne.'

Guilty: Arthur, who is currently serving a 20-year sentence for an acid attack, was jailed for a further eight months on Wednesday for using a smuggled mobile phone in his cell

It had been reported that Collins' barrister revealed in court that Ferne 'occasionally visits him' with Sunday and his sister - two months after she claimed she had cut all ties with her ex.

However, Rebecca Randall later explained the error to Mirror Online, saying: 'Unfortunately, my comments were misreported yesterday. I said that his daughter has visited him with HIS mother and sister. I didnt say its mother.'

It has been well documented that Ferne visited Arthur in prison once and she is thought to have informed him at the time that he would not be seeing baby Sunday again.

Clarifying: Barrister Rebecca Randall later explained: 'Unfortunately, my comments were misreported yesterday. I said that his daughter has visited him with HIS mother and sister. I didnt say its mother'

Arthur is currently serving a 20-year sentence for an acid attack, was jailed for a further eight months on Wednesday for using a smuggled mobile phone in his cell.

Appearing in Woolwich Crown Court, Arthur's barrister Rebecca had also said Arthur had used a smuggled mobile to call Ferne while she was pregnant.

She said: 'The only reason Mr Collins had that phone was to contact, privately, his girlfriend and friends and family.

Firm: However, Ferne previously told Arthur: 'You will never see us again' during her first visit to prison with their daughter

'His girlfriend at the time was heavily pregnant with his first child. That child is now two months old and occasionally visits him with its mother and his sister.'

The former TOWIE star confirmed she was pregnant with his child during an emotional interview on This Morning in May, after Arthur had been arrested and charged.

Ferne welcomed Sunday in November, and took her to Category A Belmarsh prison three weeks later - where she reportedly told her ex: 'You have ruined our lives. This is what you have done.

'And this is what you are missing out on. You will never see us again.'

Speaking about the dramatic visit, she later told Sunday People: 'I went to see Arthur and I took Sunday with me. This was because I am very angry about what has happened and I needed to communicate that and wanted to hear what Arthur had to say.

'I strongly feel for the innocent people hurt that night and I in no way condone violence as I have already made clear.

'It was a difficult decision to take Sunday into that environment but I felt I needed to confront him about a number of things, which I have now done.'

On Wednesday Arthur was jailed for another eight months, for using a smuggled mobile phone to call Ferne from his prison cell.

He is currently serving a 20-year sentence for hurling the corrosive liquid across a crowded dance floor in an east London nightclub.

Last month he admitted hiding a phone, two SIM cards and two memory sticks inside a crutch while awaiting trial over the attack, which left 16 people with chemical burns and three people temporarily blinded.

Single mum: The former TOWIE star confirmed she was pregnant with Arthur's child shortly after he was arrested and charged for hurling acid in a London nightclub (pictured together)

Arthur claimed he had used the device to make private calls to then pregnant Ferne, ahead of the birth of their daughter Sunday in November.

Appearing at Woolwich Crown Court by video link from high security Belmarsh prison, he showed no emotion on Wednesday as he was sentenced for a single charge of possessing a prohibited item while in prison.

Judge Nicholas Heathcote Williams said: 'The presence of a mobile phone or component part such as a Sim card has many implications, not only for the prison establishment, but also the wider environment.

'It provides a prisoner or prisoners with an opportunity to communicate they would otherwise not have.

'This therefore allows them to act in a way prison is supposed to prevent them from doing.'

Happier times: The acid attacker is pictured with Ferne McCann (left) and on the CCTV the night he hurled acid over the innocent clubbers (right)

The drug dealer was jailed in December for the horrific nightclub acid attack at the Mangle E8 club in Dalston on April 17, which left some 22 revellers injured and leaving many with scars to the face or upper body.

The new father, of Broxbourne, Hertfordshire, was convicted of five counts of grievous bodily harm with intent and nine counts of actual bodily harm in November after a trial.

He had admitted throwing the substance but claimed he thought it was a date rape drug he had tossed away to prevent two men from spiking a drink.

Following the attack, Collins went on the run for several days.

Evidence presented during the trial included a text message Collins sent to his sister days before the attack reading - 'mind that little hand wash in my car acid' - which he told the court referred to hair-thickening shampoo.

Following the sentence, the court heard of Collins' previous convictions, including assault.

In a separate incident, he had threatened a former partner's mother with an acid attack and to have her raped, for which he received a caution after apologising.
They catapulted to fame as friends partying and living together on The Jersey Shore, nearly ten years ago.

And now the gang has reunited, ready to take party capital Miami by storm as they begin filming their highly anticipated reboot, Jersey Shore: Family Reunion.

The show's beloved cast members, Snooki, 30, Jenni 'JWoww' Farley, 31, and Deena Nicole Cortese, 31, were all spotted with their belongings in hand, not long after jetting into the Florida destination on Thursday.

Gang's all here! The show's beloved cast members, Snooki, Jenni 'JWoww' Farley, and Deena Nicole Cortese, were all spotted with their belongings in hand, not long after jetting into the Florida destination on Thursday to begin filming Jersey Shore: Family Vacation

Snooki had her light checkered purse on her arm as she made her way outside alongside Deena, wearing a black tank top, flannel shirt around her waist, and metallic sunglasses.

JWoww rocked a camouflage print jacket that showcased a hint of cleavage, along with a pair of comfortable leggings and white sneakers.

She wore her dark tresses down in a sleek and straight style, along with a pair of black glasses.

Just before taking off, Snooki rounded up the girls for a selfie as they waited for their flight at LaGuardia Airport earlier that day.

Stepping out: JWoww rocked a camouflage print jacket that showcased a hint of cleavage, along with a pair of comfortable leggings and white sneakers

Leading ladies! Snooki had her light checkered purse on her arm as she made her way outside alongside Deena, wearing a black tank top, flannel shirt around her waist, and metallic sunglasses

'& we're off! Get ready for a wild season kids,' Snooki captioned the snap.

The remainder of the cast took to social media to chronicle their journey to Miami.

Vinny Guadagnino took a selfie from inside the airplane, declaring to fans he wasn't going to be as active on social media as he was going to be 'busy' for a while.

Girls only! Snooki took a selfie just before jetting off to Miami with JWoww and Deena

'#Miami bound . You guys might not see me posting that much for a little while. Ill be busy. Love you all , and a big kiss to my haters #JSFamilyVacation,' he captioned the photo.

JWoww, meanwhile, posted a photo of her children as she spent quality time with them just before jetting off.

'Took my babies to play games and eat burgers last night,' she captioned the snap. 'daddy will be taking good care of you while bad moms meet @jerseyshore haha #jsfamilyvacation @rogermathewsnj.'

'Miami bound': Vinny Guadagnino took a selfie from inside the airplane, declaring to fans he wasn't going to be as active on social media as he was going to be 'busy' for a while

The main castmates from the fly-on-the-wall series, which aired from 2009 to 2012, will all be returning - with the exception of Sammi 'Sweetheart' Giancola.

Paul 'Pauly D' Delvecchio, Jenni 'JWOWW' Farley, Vinny Guadagnino, Ronnie Ortiz-Magro, Nicole 'Snooki' Polizzi, and Mike 'The Situation' Sorrentino and Deena Nicole Cortese are all confirmed.

Mike, however, will be pleading guilty in his tax evasion trial.

'Daddy will be taking good care of you': JWoww shared photos as she spent quality time with her children ahead of her trip

Both the Jersey Shore star and his brother/manager Marc were facing up to 20 years after failing to report almost $9million in earnings.

This week the Department of Justice and the US Attorney's Office in New Jersey filed documents informing the judge about the siblings' plea, according to The Blast.

However, Us Weekly has reported Mike will be able to film the reunion episode.

Coffee break! Deena got in her cup of Joe bright and early

The MTV series premiered in 2009 and became a huge hit, following the antics of a tight-knit group of friends partying on the Jersey Shore.

The reboot was able to record some scenes for the reunion in their home of New Jersey over the summer, but encountered resistance in their attempts to film it.

Asbury Park Press reported over the summer that an application for a permit to film the show in popular Seaside Heights was rejected.

So fly: Pauly D and Ronnie Magro struck a pose during their flight

Peter Mantas of Langosta Lounge said they turned down the show after it asked to film at the establishment.

'They called 10 days before they wanted to film and we said no freaking way, itll be bad publicity,' he told the website.

Jersey Shore's producer, Bright Road Productions, was able to film in Asbury Park - though they applied under the name Roadtrip Reunion.

No premiere date has been set for the upcoming reboot.
She's just celebrated her one year wedding anniversary with film director husband Tom Ackerley.

And it would appear that everything has been smooth sailing for Margot Robbie and her handsome beau, as she revealed to Whimn they rarely fight.

'We don't really fight. I know that sounds weird but we are not people who like conflict,' she admitted.

'It's pretty chilled in our house': Margot Robbie reveals she never fights with film director husband Tom Ackerley because 'we are not people who like conflict'

'We don't need to yell at each other to know that we love each other. So, it's pretty chilled in our house. We get along really well.'

The news may come as a surprise to fans who have watched her latest film I, Tonya because it deals with the explosive relationship between Tonya Harding and her husband Jeff Gillooly.

And it's a role the 27-year-old actress plays with aplomb.

Not like the roles she plays! The news may come as a surprise to fans who have watched her latest film I, Tonya because it deals with the explosive relationship between Tonya Harding and her husband Jeff Gillooly

They're on the same wavelength: 'We don't really fight. I know that sounds weird but we are not people who like conflict,' she admitted

Recently, make-up artist Deborah La Mia Denaver explained to Refinery29 that many types of cosmetics on the set left Margot looking like 'a fashion model as opposed to a skater from that time period.'

One of the challenges of the make-up team was to make Margot look more like she was in her teens and early 20s.

They discovered that Tonya's preferred eyeliner only 'enhanced Margots beauty' and they skipped foundation entirely to give her a 'fresher' and 'more innocent look.

The challenge: One of the challenges of the make-up team was to make Margot look more like she was in her teens and early 20s

Dressing down: They also bleached Margot's brows to disguise their magazine cover-level perfection as a part of what the publication referred to as a 'make-under'

They also bleached Margot's brows to disguise their magazine cover-level perfection as a part of what the publication referred to as a 'make-under.'

'Margot's are very arched and perfect, but Tonya had no discipline with her brows,' Deborah said.

'So once a week, I bleached Margot's out as far as I could take them to try and fade that arch, and then filled in hairs, made them longer, and tried to drag them down.'

I, Tonya is tipped for Oscars greatness after it scooped up a win and three nominations at the Golden Globes.
The famed slogan goes: 'Maybe she's born with it. Maybe it's Maybelline.'

So Adriana Lima and Jasmine Sanders were keen to live up to the ethos of the make-up range as they put on a sensational display while attending the cosmetic giant's Urban Catwalk - Faces of New York at Vollgutlager in Berlin on Thursday.

The 36-year-old supermodel looked incredible in a slinky black mini dress with a deeply plunging neckline and sky-high hem while the self-professed 'Golden Barbie', 26, was looking racy in a bondage-inspired skirt with her hair in braids.

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Monochrome madness: Adriana Lima and Jasmine Sanders were keen to live up to the ethos of the make-up range as they put in a sensational display while attending the cosmetic giant's Urban Catwalk - Faces of New York at Vollgutlager in Berlin on Thursday

Adriana proved she knows how to work the runway like a pro as she slipped into the simple yet sizzling black mini which featured a deep V-neck and high hemline.

Boosting her already staggering legs, she rocked a pair of lace-up ankle boots which added to her smouldering catwalk strut.

To best display the make-up she was plugging, Adriana's hair was scraped into a teetering ponytail sitting at the very top of her head.

Naturally her beauty look was nothing short of spectacular as she highlighted her plump pout with a plum lipstick and opted for a dramatic eye pallet.

Strutting her stuff: The 36-year-old supermodel looked incredible in a slinky black mini dress with a deeply plunging neckline and sky-high hem while the self-professed 'Golden Barbie', 26, was looking racy in a bondage-inspired skirt with her hair in braids

Sexy stuff: Adriana proved she knows how to work the runway like a pro as she slipped into the simple yet sizzling black mini which featured a deep V-neck and high hemline

Legs eleven: Boosting her already staggering legs, she rocked a pair of lace-up ankle boots which added to her smouldering catwalk strut

Stunner: Proving herself to be just like any other girl, she later slipped on a pair of sheer mesh boots which appeared to be slightly more comfortable than her runway look

Proving herself to be just like any other girl, she later slipped on a pair of sheer mesh boots which appeared to be slightly more comfortable than her runway look.

Aside from Victoria's Secret, Brazilian model Adriana has stormed the catwalk for pretty much all of the world's leading designers, including Versace, Prada, Gucci and Louis Vuitton.

Jasmine, who is dating actor and presenter Terrence Jenkins, rocked a duo of looks as she started out in a sexy mini with a lace-up front before transforming into a white buckled skirt.

The edgy skirt gave a bondage feel to the runway yet she softened the ensemble with the addition of a delicate knitted jumper.

She wore her hair pulled off her face in braids to help show off her chic eye make-up, which comprised of blue shadow and a heavy liner all around.

Bondage babe: Jasmine, who is dating actor and presenter Terrence Jenkins, rocked a duo of looks as she started out in a sexy mini with a lace-up front before transforming into a white buckled skirt

Bold look: She wore her hair pulled off her face in braids to help show off her chic eye make-up, which comprised of blue shadow and a heavy line all around

Chic: Earlier this month, Bulgari ambassador Jasmine spoke to Emirates Woman magazine about her desire to model: 'Ive wanted to model for as long as I can remember'

Earlier this month, Bulgari ambassador Jasmine spoke to Emirates Woman magazine about her desire to model: 'Ive wanted to model for as long as I can remember...

'I love it. I knew growing up that it was going to be a difficult industry to work in but I knew I was tough enough to brave it!'

She also touched on social media, saying : 'Social media is part of the time we live in and I love being able to share my voice in a fun and interactive way. The best way to maintain some sort of privacy is to always remember you control what you post.

'I love Instagram because I can share images directly with fans and interact with them. Ive recently started a Vlog on YouTube so people can see a bit more of my personality than images show.'

What a trio: The happy trio looked stunning as they posed together on the pink carpet

Chic and matching: Justin Bieber's protege and Brooklyn Beckham's former flame Madison Beer was also in attendance as she hit the red carpet in a chic white coord

Stylish: With her hair slicked back, she went for a youthful make-up look complete with a bronze eye-shadow and a bat-wing eyeliner

Justin Bieber's protege and Brooklyn Beckham's former flame Madison Beer was also in attendance as she hit the red carpet in a chic white coord.

With her hair slicked back, she went for a youthful make-up look complete with a bronze eye-shadow and a bat-wing eyeliner.

She added in oversized hoop earrings which complemented her chunky gold rings - sitting alongside her pointy white nails.

Here come the girls: The stunning stars looked incredibly chic as they hit the pink carpet
Catherine Zeta-Jones has been hard at work doing the promotional trail for her new TV movie, Cocaine Godmother.

And rising star Jenny Pellicer has now detailed her delight at filming a raunchy sex scene with the Welsh icon, who plays ruthless Colombian drug lord Griselda Blanco in the Lifetime original movie.

The stunning Norwegian star confessed that she 'felt like a little girl' when she realised she was doing a sex scene with the Oscar winner, 48, and even admitted 'she's a wonderful kisser.'

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'She's a wonderful kisser!' Rising star Jenny Pellicer has detailed her delight at filming a raunchy sex scene with Catherine Zeta-Jones, who plays ruthless Colombian drug lord Griselda Blanco in Cocaine Godmother

The explosive trailer for the TV movie - released back in November - showed busty Catherine stripping off for an incredibly steamy sex scene as she passionately kisses Jenny (who plays her lover Carolina).

And Jenny revealed all the behind-the-scenes realities of filming the raunchy scene to US Weekly: 'Its never such a cool, sexy thing in reality. Youve got pasties everywhere in all the areas that they cant show, and it gets hot and steamy, so they kind of slide off.'

However, the blonde confessed it was all worth it: 'Then suddenly youre like, "Oh my god, Im doing a sex scene with Catherine Zeta-Jones." This is real. I definitely had moments where I felt like a little girl kissing someone, or having sex with someone, for the first time.

'It really is, you feel like youre fumbling in the dark. But she was very lovely and supportive. Shes a wonderful kisser. Delightful,' Jenny gushed.

Steamy: The trailer for the TV movie - released back in November - showed busty Catherine stripping off for a steamy sex scene as she passionately kisses Jenny (who plays lover Carolina)

'I felt like a little girl': Jenny revealed all the behind-the-scenes realities of filming the raunchy scene

Catherine transforms into Colombian drug lord Griselda Blanco who ruled the Miami cocaine drug trade during the 1970s and early 1980s, for the Lifetime original movie.

Griselda was a part of the popular HBO docu-series Cocaine Cowboys that documented the rise of the drug in Florida in the 1970s.

She was depicted as a violent, vain drug lord who killed anyone who stood in her way.

It is believed she ordered the murders of 200 people in her lifetime.

She first dipped her toe into drug dealing when she was living in Queens, New York and then moved to Miami and staffed up.

'Oh my god, Im doing a sex scene with Catherine Zeta-Jones!' Jenny admitted that despite the initial awkwardness, filming the scene was worth it

When her second husband died she was given the nickname The Black Widow.

She amassed an incredible amount of wealth but when her enemies closed in, she moved to California.

When she was deported to Colombia in 2012 she was quickly gunned down.

Catherine told Deadline of the role: 'I gained weight, I was hunched over. If I had balls, Id have grabbed them from time to time. I wanted to let it all hang out.

The Oscar winner added: 'She thought she was beautiful. She was the movie star starring in her own movie. She didnt give a s***.'

Plot: Catherine transforms into Colombian drug lord Griselda Blanco who ruled the Miami cocaine drug trade during the 1970s and early 1980s, for the Lifetime original movie

Role: She was depicted as a violent, vain drug lord who killed anyone who stood in her way

And the Chicago actress said she was happy to play someone who was so tough.

'As women we get knocked down for being ambitious. I often wish we could take a little bit of that true ambition and be proud of it,' said the Zorro star.

Recently she revealed on Good Morning America that she took acting tips from her husband of 17 years, Michael Douglas.

'As I was leaving for the airport..., he said, "Let me give you a little something to think about, honey... Just remember you don't have to do a lot," ' she told Good Morning America.

'He added "You really don't have to do much at all, just remember that," and I went, "Why?", and he said, "Darling, you are at your most terrifying when you do absolutely nothing!" '

Learning from the best: Recently she revealed on Good Morning America that she took acting tips from her husband of 17 years, Michael Douglas

The actress joked: 'I went, "Really? Wow, 19 years (together), if I'd known that, I wouldn't scream like a banshee!" I'd just keep totally still and look at him...'

Although she was taken aback by the revelation, Catherine confessed his advice was right, and she used his tips to her advantage.

'I did take that advice, especially on such a crazy shoot, when it was like, the 16th hour and we're starting a new scene...,' she said. 'Sometimes you just do something because you think you have to. (I thought), "No, no, you know what? I'm doing nothing," and it helped me out.'
Blac Chyna's ex-boyfriends, Tyga and Rob Kardashian, showed support for the beauty brand entrepreneur's assistant who has been left hospitalized after suffering a brain hemorrhage.

The rapper and reality star, who are also the fathers of Chyna's two young children, Dream and King, are among the names who have to donated to Lorena 'Patty' Hernandez's GoFundMe page after a series of recent medical complications left her in a coma.

Rob pitched in $10,000 in the course of two donations, while Tyga, under his real name Michael Stevenson, pledged $5,000 toward the online campaign aimed to help the mother-of-three and her family. More than 30,000 has been raised as of late Thursday.

Chyna, whose real name is Angela Renee White, had not yet publicly submitted a donation- but her rep told Page Six she's had Hernandezs 'children at her house just to help out' since December.

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Troubled time: Blac Chyna's assistant Lorena 'Patty' Hernandez (R) has fallen ill, leading a friend to set up a GoFundMe page for her that Tyga and Rob Kardashian have given to

Heartbreaking: Hernandez, a mother-of-three, has been in a coma for a week, according to her friend Julia Pacheco

'Its really heartbreaking and everybody is trying to help out as much as possible right now, especially Chyna,' the rep told the gossip site.

The campaign to also help with medical expenses was set up by Chyna's friend, Julia Pacheco, who said in a lengthy statement on the GoFundMe page that 'in a moment like this, any contribution makes a difference.'

Hernandez, who appeared on Chyna's former E! reality show, Rob & Chyna, was felled by a severe brain hemorrhage on December 18 while at Chyna's Encino, California salon, Lashed, sources told The Blast.

The sources said Hernandez was also five months pregnant at the time.

Hernandez was immediately taken to Cedars Sinai Medical Center and subsequently placed in the ICU - where she was stabilized.

Generous: Tyga (L) and Rob Kardashian (R) have been among the people to donate money to help the embattled mom-of-three

Patty is shown center on the E! show, Rob and Chyna. The mother-of-three assistant has been left in a coma after suffering a brain hemorrhage

'After a [CT scan] and a couple of days, Patty was finally stable and [doctors] advised to terminate her pregnancy,' which she did December 28, amid fears the pregnancy left her susceptible to permanent disability or death, Pacheco said.

By January 11, Hernandez was left in a coma after she suffered 'a seizure which caused her brain to bleed again.'

Pacheco said that Hernandez's tragic health decline started in July of 2017.

At the time, 'she suffered a stroke that left her partially blind,' that doctors said was the result of a condition called arteriovenous malformation.

Hernandez was told at that time to cease working, terminate her pregnancy and undergo radiation therapy, as surgery was not an option.

Better times: Rob and Chyna were snapped in Las Vegas in May of 2016
Paul Bettany is in complex negotiations about the possibility of portraying Prince Philip

Paul Bettany is in complex negotiations about the possibility of portraying Prince Philip, alongside Olivia Colman as the Queen, in the third and fourth series of The Crown.

The actor emerged as the leading contender to take on the role that Matt Smith  acting with Claire Foy as our sovereign  played in the initial 20 episodes of the 60-hour drama, that will cover six decades of Elizabeth IIs reign.

Andy Harries and Suzanne Mackie, two of The Crowns senior executive producers, met with Bettanys agents at a Hollywood club where they discussed the actors availability to attend rehearsals in June, and whether he could film from July until January or February next year.

If a deal can be agreed, he will join Colman and Helena Bonham Carter  who has signed up to portray the late Princess Margaret, taking over from Vanessa Kirby.

Executives, and the shows casting director, are also busy finding the right actors to portray Charles, Camilla and Diana for the next 20 episodes that will cover the courtship and wedding of the Prince and Princess of Wales.

It would be a big coup for The Crown if Bettany were to join the alternative Royal Family. The 46-year-old is gearing up for a busy year. He appears in Saul Dibbs superb film version of Journeys End, which will open on February 2.

Then, in May, he can be seen in two of the years major blockbuster movies: the Han Solo stand-alone film Solo: A Star Wars Story and Marvels Avengers: Infinity War, in which he plays Vision.

Bettany made his name in the blood-soaked Gangster No. 1, and since then has appeared in a string of acclaimed pictures including A Beautiful Mind and Master And Commander: The Far Side Of The World, as well as the brilliant Manhunt: Unabomber TV series for Netflix.

He also wrote and directed the film Shelter  a raw tale of homelessness which starred his wife Jennifer Connelly in the central role.

The third season of The Crown will hit Netflix in the autumn of 2019.

Camden lad who's toast of Tinseltown

Daniel Kaluuya  an awards season contender thanks to his breakthrough leading role in Jordan Peeles Get Out  has been taking Hollywood in his cool stride.

I enjoyed watching big name studio executives and chiefs court the 28-year-old actor who once called Londons Camden Town home.

Theres expectation that Kaluuya will land a best actor Oscar nomination when the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences releases its list on Tuesday.

Daniel Kaluuya  an awards season contender thanks to his breakthrough leading role in Jordan Peeles Get Out  has been taking Hollywood in his cool stride

Hes already had a nod from the Bafta voters.

Next month brings the release of Marvel Studios Black Panther, in which Daniel plays WKabi, the Panthers best friend and leader of the border tribe that protects the country.

People think Im a tribesman or a farmer but WKabis one of the greatest fighters in Wakanda  and hes got all this amazing weaponry hidden under a tribal blanket, Kaluuya told me.

I was surprised when he revealed that the movie, which is supposedly set in an African state, was filmed in Atlanta.

Whats that all about, I asked him.

Its to do with the Africanisation of the United States, Kaluuya joked.

I wonder what the current occupant of the White House would make of that.

In November, Kaluuya will be seen as part of a cast that includes Viola Davis and Cynthia Erivo in director Steve McQueens film Widows, based on Lynda La Plantes 1983 series, which starred the great Ann Mitchell.

Now Ol' Blue Eyes is back in business

Ol Blue Eyes is back! After a long gestation, the Frank Sinatra musical is back on track, with Hollywood writer Danny Strong producing the book.

The untitled show is set to open in the West End some time in 2020.

Adam Speers, of the Ambassador Theatre Group, who is producing it with Stewart Till and Sinatra Enterprises, told me that Strong will pick the moment that encapsulates Sinatras life. We want to get a full sense of the man, through a good story, the songs, and good acting.

Once a director has been found, Speers said theyll look for someone to play Sinatra (right), adding that its the first time permission has been granted to cast an actor to portray the legend.

Watch out for ...

:: Ruthie Ann Miles, who will play Lady Thiang, the monarchs number one wife, in director Bartlett Shers glorious production of The King And I.

Ms Miles was in the Lincoln Center production that starred Kelli OHara and Ken Watanabe, which means that all three principals from the New York show will be playing the London Palladium from June 21.

Ms Miles (pictured ) was in the Lincoln Center production that starred Kelli OHara and Ken Watanabe, which means that all three principals from the New York show will be playing the London Palladium from June 21

When I interviewed Ms OHara last year she told me she had her fingers crossed that Miles would be joining her in the West End. Im pretty excited, too. I remember her playing Imelda Marcos  the shoe-loving widow of Filipino dictator Ferdinand  in the Public Theater production of David Byrnes Here Lies Love (with disco beats by Fatboy Slim). She couldnt make the National Theatre transfer, so Im pleased that youll get to see her stage artistry in this production of the landmark Rodgers and Hammerstein musical.

:: Leo Bill, who will appear in a revival of Curtains, a dark play written by his father, Stephen Bill, which I saw back in 1987 when it first ran at the Hampstead Theatre. The younger Mr Bill will play a grandson who has been caring for his grandmother Ida (who will be played by Sandra Voe).

Idas relatives have gathered at her home for her 86th birthday and events  both hilarious and harrowing  ensue.

Lindsay Posner directs a cast that also features Caroline Catz, Jonathan Coy, Wendy Nottingham, Saskia Reeves and Marjorie Yates.

Curtains will run at The Rose, Kingston, from February 22.
OCEAN SPRINGS, Mississippi -- After three nights of sub-freezing temperatures which shut down roadways, schools, governments and businesses, the Mississippi coast is about to begin warming up.

Temperatures rose above freezing by midday Thursday, but dipped again into the 20s along areas of the coast Thursday night. The National Weather Service expects temperatures to begin to climb by midday Friday, with a projected high of 52.

Many areas of the coast, including Jackson County, saw low temperatures in the teens Tuesday and Wednesday nights, with wind chill factors in some areas dropping into single digits.

Small accumulations of snow were reported in some areas and ice on roadways and bridges was found along Interstate 10 and U.S. 90, causing officials to shutdown many bridges Tuesday and Wednesday night, including the Biloxi-Ocean Springs Bridge and the Pascagoula high rise.

Ingalls Shipbuilding shut down operations after the first shift Wednesday and resumed normal operations Thursday.

All four of Jackson County's school districts shut down for various periods during the winter weather:

Ocean Springs schools cancelled classes all day Wednesday and Thursday.

Jackson County schools also cancelled classes both days.

The Moss Point school district cancelled classes on Wednesday.

The Pascagoula-Gautier School District cancelled classes Wednesday and reopened one hour later than normal on Thursday.

Each of those school districts will be required to make up the days missed. Ocean Springs students will lose one of their Mardi Gras break days (Feb. 14), as well as Good Friday, March 30. Moss Point schools will makeup their missed day on Feb. 14. Information on makeup days for Pascagoula-Gautier and Jackson County schools was not immediately available.

In addition, government operations across the county were affected:

Ocean Springs City Hall delayed opening until 10 a.m. Wednesday, dismissed all non-emergency employees at 3:30 p.m. and then resumed operations at 9 a.m. Thursday.

In Gautier, city employees were dismissed all day Wednesday and returned to work at 8 a.m. Thursday.

Pascagoula City Hall closed all day Wednesday, reopening at 9 a.m. Thursday.

Moss Point city employees were given until 10 a.m. Wednesday to report for work and resumed normal hours on Thursday.

Jackson County dismissed non-essential personnel at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday and returned to normal operations Thursday.

Mississippi drivers unaccustomed to driving on icy roads led to a significant number of crashes, particularly along I-10, according to the Mississippi Highway Patrol. Drivers were strongly advised to stay off roads during the sub-freezing temperatures, but many obviously did not heed the warnings, with more than 10 crashes in the coastal counties Tuesday and Wednesday.

Another hard freeze warning was issued by the NWS beginning at 6 p.m. Thursday and lasts until 10 a.m. Friday. After Friday afternoon's warmup, temperatures are expected to continue to rise, with Sunday's high expected in the upper 60's -- although a 50 percent chance of rain is included in that forecast.
She was soaking up the sun with boyfriend Scott Disick in Mexico earlier in the week.

But on Thursday Sofia Richie struck out alone for the first time in awhile to apparently visit with a friend in West Hollywood.

The 19-year-old daughter of the famed Lionel Richie looked quite laid back in her casual outfit.

Solo! On Thursday Sofia Richie struck out alone for the first time in awhile to apparently visit with a friend in West Hollywood

On top she opted for a simple, baggy white pullover, while a pair of sporty black leggings revealed her enviably toned gams.

Some black high-top sneakers with gum soles and a pair of black wayfarer-style shades completed her laid-back ensemble.

Her brunette locks were parted in the middle and pulled back into a long ponytail.

Lithe limbs! On top she opted for a simple, baggy white pullover, while a pair of sporty black leggings revealed her enviably toned gams

The young beauty appeared to be mostly make-up free for the outing, save for some nude lipstick.

Beau Scott Disick, 34, was apparently not in on the visit, though he and Sofia had just spent quite a lot of time together in Mexico.

Earlier in the week the couple - who have been dating officially since September - enjoyed time on a $150M superyacht which they had all to themselves - apart from the attentive crew.

All natural: The young beauty appeared to be mostly make-up free for the outing, save for some nude lipstick

Lucky duo: Earlier in the week the couple - who have been dating officially since September - enjoyed time on a $150M superyacht which they had all to themselves - apart from the attentive crew

The couple took turns on an inflatable slide, went out on a jet ski and posed for pictures next to a helicopter that accompanies the massive boat.

Sofia flaunted her slim physique in a black bikini while Scott sported checked shorts to soak up the sun.

The jet-setting couple have taken numerous trips together in the short time they've been dating including Colorado, Miami, Italy and Los Cabos.
Her name has been a familiar sound to Australian audiences since she began appearing on Neighbours as a child.

But chances are you have probably been saying Caitlin Stasey's name wrong, with the proper pronunciation of her name vastly different to how it is said by Australian and US audiences.

An Australian Irish culture organisation told Mamamia on Friday the correct pronunciation was 'Kat-leen' as opposed to 'Kate-lyn'.

Have YOU been saying it right? The proper pronunciation of Caitlin Stasey's name revealed

A spokesperson for Irish cultural organisation The Aisling Society of Sydney explained that Caitlin should be pronounced with a 'flatter' Irish 'a' sound.

Mamamia reports that it is likely that Caitlin began being pronounced 'Kate-lyn' due to the rise in popularity of the name in US pop culture during the 1980s.

Meanwhile earlier this month Caitlin posed topless on Instagram, protesting the social media platform's stance on nudity.

Sharing a photo of her on a inflatable flamingo, the Reign star questioned why 'Instagram deletes certain tits'.

That's different! The correct pronunciation is 'Kat-leen' as opposed to 'Kate-lyn

'I think its unfair that Instagram deletes certain tits': Caitlin Stasey poses topless on an inflatable flamingo in protest of social media rules on nudity

Taking to Instagram on Friday, Caitlin shared a snap of her wearing just bikini bottoms as she relaxed in a pool.

Lying on an inflatable flamingo, the actress used star emojis to cover up her ample chest.

In the caption, Cailtin rallied against Instagram's rules around nudity, which she claimed was selective.

Free the nipple movement: Caitlin frequently protests Instagram's nudity policy

She's not shy! In protest Caitlin shares topless or scantily clad pics

'I think its unfair that @INSTAGRAM deletes certain tits based on levels of engagement - there shouldnt be a hierarchy of body parts,' she wrote.

However Caitlin acknowledged that there were more important things she wanted to campaign about at present.

'The world is falling apart in real ways that hurt real people in real time and I just cant really justify railing against this particular brand of censorship rn (sic),' she explained.

Actress turned activist: Catilin rose to fame with roles on Neighbours and Reign

'I still think its bulls**t but I guess its also bulls**t for me to take advantage of any leniency theyve shown me.'

In the past Caitlin has frequently shared topless or scantily clad photos of herself to protest social media rules about nudity.

However last November she turned her attention to another issue; 'discriminatory' jeans.

Protested: In a lengthy video shared on Instagram, Caitlin claimed manufacturers made allowances for male genitalia but not for women's private parts.

In a lengthy video shared on Instagram, Caitlin claimed manufacturers made allowances for male genitalia but not for women's private parts.

'I do feel like it's a bit discriminatory, because, like, they make allowances for men's genitalia, but women's jeans do not,' she said.

In a second clip, she revealed: 'I personally don't mind [the camel toe look], but it is like [motioning towards her crotch], unmistakable.'
FIRST AID KIT: Ruins (Columbia)

Verdict: Perfect remedy

Rating:

FLEETWOOD MAC: Fleetwood Mac (Rhino Deluxe Edition)

Verdict: Calm before the storm

Rating:

The new year is just under way, but its first big heartbreak album is already upon us. It comes from Swedish sister act First Aid Kit, who take a huge step forward on Ruins.

The collection retains the tuneful harmonies that first brought Klara and Johanna Soderberg to our attention ten years ago when they posted their teenage cover of a Fleet Foxes song online. But now, taking inspiration from the collapse of Klaras engagement, they are a more grown-up proposition.

The songs are hard-bitten rather than winsome and twee, underpinned by horns, keyboards and the meaty presence of former R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck.

A raw return: First Aid Kit's Johanna, top, and sister Klara

With a new producer at the helm in Tucker Martine, theres also a rawness and immediacy to the duos fourth album that was absent from 2014s polished Stay Gold.

My life dictated what Ruins was about, says Klara, 25, who had been living with her former fiance in Manchester before heading home to Stockholm after things went wrong. Its about the aftermath of a relationship  and its quite sad.

The heartache is obvious from the off. I was just a kid when I fell for you, sings Klara on bruised country lament Postcard before taking a more philosophical approach on Its A Shame: Theres no point in wasting sorrow on things that wont be here tomorrow.

That song, performed live on last weekends Graham Norton show, contains references to LA sunshine, making it one of several tracks that look to America for embellishment. Guitar ballad Fireworks is set in Chicago.

Other numbers are punctuated by country-style finger-picking and pedal steel.

But for all their love of Americana, theres a strand of Nordic cool at play here that sets First Aid Kit apart from musical peers such as Alabama duo The Pierces and Indiana siblings Lily And Madeleine. You can hear it in the precision and timing with which bassist and fellow vocalist Johanna, 27, augments her younger sisters tales of romantic woe.

Putting invigorating twists on traditional country, folk and indie-rock, Ruins is a mature return.

Its no wonder that Jack White, of The White Stripes, calls them simply wonderful.

:: Fleetwood Macs self-titled 1975 album was the calm before the storm of 1977s Rumours.

It was made in just three months, shortly after drummer Mick Fleetwood had invited guitarist Lindsey Buckingham and his girlfriend Stevie Nicks to join, solidifying what would become the groups best-selling line-up.

The arrival of Buckingham and Nicks, both gifted songwriters, eased the creative burden on keyboardist Christine McVie while adding dreamy Californian melodies to the bands British blues foundations. The changes rejuvenated a band which had been treading water, setting a template not just for Rumours, but also for Seventies radio-rock as a whole.

This reissue comes in a range of formats, with a single CD (7), double album (15) and five-disc boxed set (46) all available, the latter two boosted by out-takes and live tracks.

Among the high points are two celebrated Nicks numbers  the melancholy Landslide, a snapshot of post-hippie yearning, and Rhiannon, described as a song about an old Welsh witch by its writer.

With Buckinghams driving West Coast guitars to the fore on Monday Morning, and Christine McVie supplying several soulful, bluesy love songs, the artistic scope is dazzling. The additional material is hit and miss. Other than the odd acoustic flourish or solo, the studio demos stick closely to the finished takes, while the live versions of Rhiannon and World Turning are overlong.

But a rollicking take on Blue Letter is punk-like in its energetic verve, and there are appreciative nods to the quintets blues roots in versions of Oh Well and The Green Manalishi. With the bed-hopping excess of Rumours yet to come, these songs hark back to the fleeting moment when the Mac were in perfect harmony.

 Both albums are out today. First Aid Kit start a UK tour at the Academy, Glasgow, on February 24 (ticketmaster.co.uk).
Cindy Crawford and her teen daughter Kaia Gerber caught a flight out of Los Angeles on Thursday.

The famous mother and daughter duo were photographed passing through the TSA screening checkpoint at LAX.

It's believed they were heading to Paris, France, given weight by the fact Cindy, 51, sported a cream sweater with 'Bonjour' colorfully embroidered on the front.

Heading out of town: Cindy Crawford and her teen daughter Kaia Gerber were photographed passing through the TSA screening checkpoint at LAX on Thursday

The brunette beauty added a pair of blue 7 For All Mankind jeans for her journey.

Her longhair was loose and she kept her make-up light with just mascara, a touch of blush and some lip color.

Kaia, 16, whose father is Cindy's husband Rande Gerber, covered up her hair with a black beanie and wore a black and orange hoodie.

The pair were snapped placing their footwear in plastic trays for the x-ray machine.

Screening: Supermodel Cindy, 51, sported a cream sweater with 'Bonjour' colorfully embroidered on the front and a pair of blue 7 For All Mankind jeans

On the move: Kaia, 16, was dressed in a black and orange hoodie and wore a black knit beanie pulled down over her hair

Lookalikes: Kaia is following in her famous mother's footsteps and has been making a name for herself in the modeling world since making her catwalk debut last September

Checked out: Cindy was seen passing through an x-ray machine in her bare feet

Meanwhile, Cindy's son and Kaia's brother Presley is already in Paris.

The 18-year-old was among the guests at the opening of the YSL Beauty Hotel in the French capital on Wednesday night.

He was there with girlfriend Charlotte DAlessio.

Male model: Cindy's son and Kaia's brother Presley Gerber, 18, is already in Paris where he attended an event Wednesday night with girlfriend Charlotte DAlessio

Both Presley and Kaia are following their famous parents by pursuing modeling careers.

Kaia, who made her catwalk debut last September and got major campaigns with Omega and Marc Jacobs beauty last year, just landed her first solo cover for Vogue Paris' February issue.

She and Presley also star together in Calvin Klein's new Spring 2018 campaign.
From the over-the-top outfits to her powerful vocals, Lady Gaga is someone who knows how to put on a show.

The chart-topper was at it again Thursday in Milan, Italy, where she literally sent temperatures soaring during a fiery performance as part of her Joanne World Tour.

The 31-year-old songstress wowed in a sizzling sheer all-red jumpsuit that showed off her gym-honed physique as she danced and sang alongside her back-up dancers beside a giant display of flames.

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Playing with fire! Lady Gaga wowed in a sizzling sheer all-red jumpsuit that showed off her gym-honed physique as she danced and sang alongside her back-up dancers beside a giant flames display during her world tour performance in Milan, Italy on Thursday

The pop star commanded attention in her skin tight outfit, which featured knee-high red boots with bows and mesh stockings.

Gaga's glittering outfit also showcased plenty of cleavage as she danced on stage.

But it certainly wasn't the only ensemble the popstrel turned heads in, as she put her incredible vocals and dance moves on full display.

Gaga set pulses racing in a sexy cowgirl inspired outfit with slashed sleeves and tiny black bottoms.

Sing it! The popstrel commanded the crowd with her powerful pipes

Seductive: Gaga laid back on the floor as her back arched

Flashing the flesh! The 31-year-old showcased some major cleavage in her sparkling ruby red outfit

Giddy up! The songstress sizzled in her racy cowgirl inspired ensemble

Sparkling from head to toe, Gaga danced and sang in a beaded denim one piece with no shortage of glitter.

The Artpop chart-topper showed off her posterior in a colorful and playful jumpsuit with bold neon patterns and designs - a custom piece from Versace.

The Grammy winner was clearly a huge fan of the decorative piece, raving about it on her Instagram account as she shared a series of snaps of herself rocking it for her fans.

Yee-haw! The hit-maker dazzled in her slashed outfit as her backup dancers surrounded her, clad in Western themed attire

Artpop! The Poker Face chart-topper rocked a bold and colorful onesie custom made by Versace

These boots were made for walking! Gaga hit her stride in a pair of lavish high heel boots

Red hot! The popstrel commanded attention in a bold and over-the-top bold red coat

'What an amazing show and I got to meet family from Italy of mine I'd never met before and wear this custom @donatella_versace @versace_official,' she captioned one of the photos.

She also gushed, 'MILANO IS SUCH A BEAUTIFUL PLACE I LOVE MY PICCOLI MOSTRI SO MUCH! Killer sold out show tonight!'

Donatella Versace proudly watched Gaga on from the crowd, even pulling out her phone to capture the moment.

Jean-ius! Sparkling from head to toe, Gaga danced and sang in a beaded denim one piece with no shortage of glitter

Hitting a fashion high note! The Grammy winner played her keyboard as she dazzled audiences

White hot! The star stole the show in a stunning white number that showcased her legs to perfection

Va va voom in velvet: Gaga was clad in a midnight black velvet outfit with puffy white skirt

The Pokerface hit-maker just kicked off the European leg of the tour on Sunday with a couple of shows in Barcelona, Spain.

After Italy she has stops in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark and France, as well five gigs all over England.

Meanwhile her Instagram feed is littered with comments from Brazilian fans begging her to reschedule her only South American  and only cancelled  show, which she pulled after being hospitalized for body pain caused by fibromyalgia.

You talking to me? Gaga struck a fierce pose in her flashy bold outfit

Let's get this show on the road! The popstrel raved about her 'sold out show'

Simply stunning: A close-up image of the gorgeous singer showed off her flawlessly made up complexion
The Commuter (15)

Verdict: Silly Thriller

Rating:

The Taken films with Liam Neeson mercifully appear to have stopped at Taken 3  but this films subtitle might as well be Taken 4: A Ride, as our ageing action hero, again risking life and limb to save his family, this time gets into a laughably unlikely spot of bother on a commuter train heading out of New York City.

Director Jaume Collet-Serra made the 2014 film Non-Stop with Neeson, in which he crammed a plane journey with everything conceivable, and occasionally inconceivable, that might happen on board a transatlantic flight.

Here, he gives a train journey the same treatment. The Commuter is like a crazed modern hybrid of Murder On The Orient Express and Strangers On A Train, with a plot that grows less credible with every forward chug.

Liam Neeson plays a former police officer now working as an insurance broker in the thriller The Commuter

Neeson plays Mike MacCauley, a former cop now working in Manhattan as an insurance broker so that he and his wife (Elizabeth McGovern, almost as drippy as she was as Downtons Lady Crawley) can see their son through college.

He has taken the same train to and from work for ten years and seems to know all the regulars on it by name, which I dont suppose happens in New York any more than it does on the 17.45 from Charing Cross to Tunbridge Wells.

On the day Mike unexpectedly loses his job, an enigmatic femme fatale (Vera Farmiga) sits opposite him on the train and makes him a bizarre offer: she will pay him $100,000 if he finds someone on the journey she needs to identify. Why she cant find this person herself is never satisfactorily explained, but suffice to say it has something to do with a conspiracy in City Hall.

Mike is soon forced to co-operate, otherwise something terrible will happen to his wife and son, cue several fights, one or two deaths and a speeding-train-in-danger-of-derailment episode that seems to belong to a different movie.

Neeson, the consummate pro, gives his all to this nonsense, and a decent supporting cast includes Sam Neill, Jonathan Banks and Patrick Wilson. But theres a yawning gulf here between action and plausibility. Mind the gap.
Shes the PR Queen who keeps her fingers in a multitude of pies.

Now it appears Roxy Jacenko, 37, could be making her foray into the commercial property market.

The savvy businesswoman was spotted meeting with leading property developer Dr Stanley Quek in Sydney on Friday.

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Out of her comfort zone? Now it appears Roxy Jacenko , 37, could be making her foray into the commercial property market

The attractive blonde kept her look simple for the meeting, wearing a black floral wrap dress which sat just above her knees.

The length revealed that a large bruise on her right leg, which she had sustained after falling at her home earlier in the week, has begun to heal.

Her long, blonde locks were left out and fell down upon her shoulders in soft waves.

She completed her look with a pair of classic white trainers and aviator sunglasses.

Property mogul: The attractive blonde kept her look simple for the meeting, wearing a black floral wrap dress which sat just above her knees

Healing nicely: The length revealed that a large bruise on her right leg, which she had sustained after falling at her home earlier in the week, has begun to heal

Dr Stanley Quek is one of the nations biggest property developers and recently purchased Chippendales blossoming Kensington Street precinct.

Speaking to Daily Mail Australia, Roxy said the meeting centered around the precinct and her desire to rid the nation of its 'couch mentality'.

'The doctor and I are working closely on the overall precinct ... we want people to get outside and active because with people able to order food via their phone an increasingly amount are staying home more,' she said.

In her stride: The PR maven seemed to be on a mission as she walked to her meeting with Dr Stanley Quek

The up market precinct is already home to a number of eateries including Spice Alley and OLIO.

The savvy businesswoman called Dr Quek the 'smartest person' she has ever met and praised him on development vision for Sydney.

The meeting comes a day after the mother-of-two was spotted sporting a bruise on her right leg and left bicep.

High praise: After their meeting Roxy called Dr Quek the 'smartest person' she has ever met and praised him on development vision for Sydney

Back into it: The meeting comes a day after the mother-of-two was spotted sporting a bruise on her right leg and left bicep

In the latest photos the bruise appears to have eased slightly and reduced in size.

A friend of the entrepreneur told Daily Mail Australia that the businesswoman 'slipped over on the wet floor of her bathroom at home' and also broke her two front teeth.

Oh dear! Roxy Jacenko reveals painful-looking bruises on her thigh and arm while picking up lunch after 'slipping over on the wet floor at home and breaking her two front teeth'

Home accident: A friend of the entrepreneur told Daily Mail Australia that the businesswoman 'slipped over on the wet floor of her bathroom at home' and also broke her two front teeth.

'On Friday, Roxy had a very bad accident in the evening. She slipped over on the wet floor of her bathroom at home, fell onto the bath, hit her leg, arm and then face,' the friend told Daily Mail Australia on Thursday.

Having broken two of her front teeth, the source went on to add that Roxy had to have 'emergency dental work to fix the teeth'.

Details: The author accessorised her workout attire with pristine white Nike trainers and swept her extensions into a ponytail with several strands framing her face

Having founded the reputable company Sweaty Betty PR at just 24-years-of-age, Roxy has grown the business into a multi-million dollar empire, representing some of Australia's biggest brands over the past 13 years.

Always one step ahead, Roxy founded The Ministry of Talent in 2012, the country's first management agency solely dedicated to digital influencers.

Looking back over her career to-date, the event planner told Daily Mail Australia that the business has taught her to always take risks.

'From the day I started I took risks and never settled with what would be good enough or what would 'do'. I always did and continue to take risks that will see us break the rules and not conform.'
She was spotted going for a friendly stroll with her ex-husband Liev Schreiber in New York earlier in the week.

But it was all about Naomi Watts on Thursday evening when she hosted a wellness panel discussion in the Big Apple.

The Australian actress, 49, looked gorgeous in a chic monochrome ensemble for the talk, wearing a simple black skirt and pretty white blouse.

A picture of good health! Naomi Watts, 49, delights in chic monochrome ensemble as she hosts wellness panel discussion in New York

She teamed the look with beige booties and accessorised with gold jewels.

Showing off her natural beauty, the accomplished actress wore minimal makeup and had her blonde locks coiffed in a chic messy bob.

On Tuesday, the Twin Peaks star was spotted with her ex-husband Liev as the former couple took their pet pooch for a walk.

Simple yet chic: The Australian actress, 49, looked gorgeous in a chic monochrome ensemble for the talk, wearing a simple black skirt and pretty white blouse

The pair are said to enjoy a very amicable relationship after they confirmed their split in 2016 after 11 years together.

In a joint statement released in September 2016, the duo said: 'Over the past few months we've come to the conclusion that the best way forward for us as a family is to separate as a couple.

'It is with great love, respect, and friendship in our hearts that we look forward to raising our children together and exploring this new phase of our relationship.'

Naomi has since been romantically linked to her Gypsy co-star Billy Crudup while Liev, 50, is rumoured to be dating Miss South Dakota, Taylor Niesen, 26.

Discussion: Naomi was at Saks Fifth Avenue in the Big Apple to speak about wellness

Say cheese: The 21 Grams star posed with the other ladies on the panel, including Sarah Bryden-Brown, Larissa Thomson and Cristina Cuomo
Gerard Butler opened up about his hook-up with her on a recent television appearance.

And Brandi Glanville came out swinging on social media after the interview aired.

The 45-year-old reality star took to Twitter to tell the 48-year-old Scottish actor that he could 'f*** off'.

She wrote: 'Lets set the record straight Gerard Butler hit on me at a party Asked for my phone number called me up the next day and asked me out so if he wants to cringe now he can f*** off.'

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Ouch: Brandi Glanville threw shade at Gerard Butler after he talked about their fling

Hitting back: The 45-year-old reality star took to Twitter to tell the 48-year-old Scottish actor that he could 'f*** off'

On Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen, Gerard said that he did not even know Brandi's last name.

The Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills star responded: 'Gerard Butler did not no my last name or what I did that is true but he hit on me and asked me out end of story.Moving on.

'Im sorry but when you meet someone that clearly doesnt know who you are, are you suppose to be a d*** and say bye Im famous????'

This all began due to Gerard's controversial interview which aired on Bravo on Wednesday night.

'Are you suppose to be a d*** and say bye Im famous????' She responded to how Butler said he didn't even know her last tname

Host Andy Cohen brought up how Glanville had came on the program previously and said that she and Butler had a relationship.

The 300 star said that when he had met her he had no idea that she was on television or had any fame at all.

He explained: 'It was kind of a crazy time in my life. Anyway we hung out and had fun and I never saw her again.'

Chatting it up: During his appearance on Watch What Happens Live host Andy Cohen brought up how Glanville had came on the program previously and said that she and Butler had a relationship

Eyebrow raising: The 300 star said that when he had met her he had no idea that she was on television or had any fame at all

Gerard said later people from TMZ had approached him and asked about his relationship with the reality star to which he replied: 'Who's Brandi Glanville!?'

The actor then continued with a laugh: 'Because I didn't even know her last name. So I'm like "Who's Brandi Glanville?" She got pretty upset about that.'

Gerard was an open book as he also revealed who was a better kisser between Jennifer Aniston and Angelina Jolie.

Good spirits: Butler also discussed the intimacies of smooching Hollywood's leading ladies

Tough choice: He participated in a Plead The Fifth game where he was asked by the 49-year-old host who was a better kisser between Angelina Jolie (left) and Jennifer Aniston

He participated in a Plead The Fifth game where he was asked by the 49-year-old host which between the star actresses is better to smooch.

As he had already plead the fifth once, he looked pained to have to answer as he finally said: 'Jennifer Aniston. I'm just going, you know, I'm just taking you by surprise.'

Gerard could be seen with shaky legs but other guest 50 Cent seemed pleased by his answer as he smiled big and said: 'No no no this is good!'

The hunk worked with 48-year-old Aniston on 2010's Bounty Hunter and with 42-year-old Jolie in 2003's Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life.

Interesting: The 48-year-old Scottish actor participated in a Plead The Fifth game where he admitted that Aniston was the better kisser

What a team: The Paisley, United Kingdom-born star worked with 48-year-old Aniston on 2010's Bounty Hunter

Intimate: Gerard worked with 42-year-old Jolie in 2003's Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life

Both actresses were also famously been married to Brad Pitt; Aniston from 2000 to 2005 and Jolie from 2014 until 2016.

It's been claimed that Jolie 'stole' Pitt away from Aniston while making the movie Mr & Mrs Smith in 2005, but other reports suggest that Pitt and Aniston were already on the outs when he met Jolie.

In an interview with Vogue in 2007, Jolie maintained she and Pitt remained friends for a long time, and only embarked on romance after his divorce from Aniston.

Moving on: Both actresses were married to Brad Pitt as Aniston was from 2000 to 2005, they are pictured together in February 2001

Former flames: Brad was married to Angelina from 2014 to 2016, as they are pictured together in November back in 2015

However, she did confess they had started to develop feelings for each other while shooting the thriller.

'Because of the film we ended up being brought together to do all these crazy things, and I think we found this strange friendship and partnership that kind of just suddenly happened,' she said.

'I think a few months in I realized, God, I can't wait to get to work.'

Rapport: Gerard could be seen with shaky legs but other guest 50 Cent seemed pleased by his answer as he smiled big and said: 'No no no this is good!'

Fun times: Gerard seemed loose during the appearance

The following year, Aniston addressed these comments in her own cover interview - and branded them 'inappropriate'.

Yum: The trio took a shot together

Dapper: 50 Cent looked handsome in a checked blue suit with patterned Gucci shoes

Gerard and 42-year-old rapper 50 Cent star together in crime/action flick Den Of Thieves.

The dynamic duo also both attended the premiere of the Christian Gudegast written and directed flick in Los Angeles on Thursday night. Den Of Thieves is set for release on Friday in the US with a UK release following on 2 February.
It appears another Real Housewives of New Jersey star is in financial hot water.

Officials with Unity Bank dispatched a notice of foreclosure toward Bravo star Margaret Josephs for her $1.125 million Englewood, New Jersey mansion December 15, Page Six reported Thursday, citing records from Bergen County courts.

Unity is moving to 'recover possession' of a pair of adjacent properties the 50-year-old fashion designer-turned-reality star and her husband, Joseph Benigno, mortgaged in late 2016, the paper reported.

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Troubles: Real Housewives of New Jersey star Margaret Josephs, 50, is facing foreclosure of her $1.125 mil mansion in Englewood, New Jersey, Page Six reported Thursday, citing records from Bergen County courts

The home was featured on the Bravo show earlier this month as cameras caught Josephs having a lavish, 1970s-themed birthday bash at the dwelling.

In the explosive episode - in which Josephs engaged in a bitter exchange with castmate Siggy Flicker - some red flags were raised toward the shaky ground the couple might have been on, as Josephs groused about the unfinished construction on the abode.

On a subsequent reunion episode, Josephs said that the ongoing work on the house had yet to be completed, and that she and Benigno were clashing over the forthcoming building arrangement.

Adding to her headache is an unpaid judgment lingering in Josephs' legal loss to Vineyard Vines in an infringement lawsuit over the designer's Macbeth Collection, according to the paper.

Fast fame: The Garden State native became a cast member of the series last year

Formal: (L-R) Josephs appeared alongside Teresa Giudice, Melissa Gorga, Dolores Catania and Siggy Flicker on the Bravo show

Josephs has only paid $190,000 of a court-ordered $300,000 in damages, leading Vineyard Vines to seek an additional $9.4 million toward damages.

In August, Vineyard Vines attorney Todd Sharinn told InTouch that 'Margaret didnt abide by the ruling.

Difficult: Josephs and her husband Joseph Benigno are both named in foreclosure documents

Knife to see you: The reality star's 50th birthday celebration was shown on RHONJ this past season

'Ive seen some of her banking records she lives a pretty good life, obviously good enough to get on RHONJ.'

Josephs had past gained prominence for her fashion business and lifestyle expertise, which she past imparted on the Today Show.

She joined the cast of the reality show last year, alongside Flicker, Melissa Gorga, Dolores Catania, and another reality star with a well-documented history of financial issues, Teresa Giudice.
OCEAN SPRINGS, Mississippi -- Those of a certain age likely remember the days of shop class in high school, creating wooden carvings for Mother's Day and the like.

But the Construction Trades class at Ocean Springs High School is a little more than that. Think of it as "shop class on steroids."

The 45 students currently enrolled in the program are in the process of building a "tiny house." Although there is no official definition, a tiny house is generally a full-functional home of less than 500 square feet.

The project was the result of a discussion between Tiffany Hodge, director of the Career Technical Education (CTE) department at OSHS, and Mike Mulvihill of the Mississippi Department of Education.

"I told him we were looking for an innovative project," Hodge said, "and he asked if we'd be interested in doing a tiny house. I said absolutely."

Students assisted in compiling estimates and the school submitted those estimates along with plans for the house to the MDE, which approved the project and provided $15,000 in funding to complete the project. OSHS is the first Mississippi school to tackle such a project.

Bids for materials went out in October and work began by the end of that month. All materials were purchased with the funding provided by the state, with the exception of a propane water heater, donated by Blossman Gas.

"The students are doing all the work," said instructor Ernie LaBatard. "I just oversee it, point them in the right direction. They're taking what's in our curriculum and books and putting it to real use."

That is the goal of these projects, Hodge said.

"I talk to (Mulvihill) often about what we can do to go above and beyond and give the students different projects that simulate a work force environment," she said.

The OSHS tiny house is about 270 square feet and will have a standup shower,, sink and toilet in the bathroom, a fully-functional propane stove, microwave, kitchen sink, refrigerator, and a loft sleeping area. It will also be heated and cooled.

LaBatard said they hope to have the house completed by May, at which point it will be sold to the highest bidder. Proceeds from the sale will go into the construction trades account to fund student activities such as traveling to the state competition in Jackson, field trips, awards banquets, etc.

They hope to get in the neighborhood of $25,000 for the house.

"I haven't spend a lot of time working on it, but when I have I've really enjoyed it," said senior and third-year construction trades student Ethan Cumberland. "I've learned some new things and it's been good spending time with the guys working on it."

Cumberland was being modest. According to LaBatard, when it came time to work on the roof of the house, he was the only student willing to climb up there.

"Nobody's scared of heights until you have to get up there," LaBatard said. "That's why I reach scaffolding safety."

Nearly all of the students in the construction trades program have assisted with the project. "Some more than others," LaBatard said. "Some just want to sweep, while others want to do everything."

The construction trades program began when the new high school opened in 2012. Students can earn national certification through the program if they score high enough on testing at the end of the two-year program, LaBatard said.

"The curriculum is the same as many of the apprentice programs many big companies offer, like Roy Anderson (Corp.) or Yates (Construction)," he said. "Completing this program can also give them a head start in the trades program at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College or the Ingalls Maritime Academy."

In year one, students learn safety, hand tools, power tools, reading blueprints, basic construction math, material handling and communication skills. In year two, they move into wall framing, ceiling framing, floor systems, some electrical work, masonry and plumbing.

"The first year is more theory; second year is hands-on, doing the work," LaBatard said.

The construction trades program is, in many ways, self-sufficient, saving the school district money by assisting with in-house projects. LaBatard said they recently agreed to build the lockers for the new girls softball complex.

"We've done stuff all over the district," he said. "We also did some work for the (City's) Ryan Youth Center -- we did the floor in there for them. We raise a lot of money and save the district a lot of money. We take on projects all the time."
That's So Raven star Orlando Brown was arrested Thursday at his home in Barstow, California.

The actor, 30, was booked on an outstanding warrant from 2016 for allegedly assaulting a girlfriend, People reported.

It came after police officers were called to his apartment after an argument erupted around eight in the morning between Brown, his girlfriend and his girlfriend's mother.

Busted: That's So Raven star Orlando Brown, 30, was arrested Thursday at his home in Barstow, California, on a 2016 warrant for alleged battery. He's pictured smiling in his mug shot

Citing a Barstow Police Department press release, People.com said law enforcement discovered the outstanding warrant during a warrants check on all three individuals involved in the argument.

It was issued from the Torrance Police Department in Los Angeles and Brown was wanted on charges including alleged battery, resisting a peace officer and possession of a controlled substance.

The actor was being held at the San Bernardino County Sheriffs Department Barstow Jail in lieu of $25,000 bail.

Most famous role: The actor starred for four seasons as Eddie Thomas on the Disney comedy that ran from 2003 to 2007. He's pictured with co-stars Kathie Lee Gifford and Raven Symone

Held on bail: His arrest came after police were called to his apartment for a heated argument between Brown, his girlfriend and his girlfriend's mother. He's pictured in 2014 in LA

Brown is best known for playing Eddie Thomas on Disney's That's So Raven over four seasons from 2003 to 2007.

Prior to starring with Raven-Symone, he had worked steadily as a child actor from the mid-90s onwards including recurring roles on Family Matters, The Jamie Foxx Show and Two Of A Kind.

According to IMDb, he has only worked sporadically as an actor in the 10 years since the end of That's So Raven.
Kanye West and Kim Kardashian welcomed their third child into the world via surrogate on Monday.

And the rapper still looked beaming with joy as he arrived for a meeting at his Yeezy warehouse in Calabasas, California, on Thursday.

The 40-year-old made sure to step out sporting his fashionable sense of style with an all-black ensemble.

Doting dad: Kanye West and Kim Kardashian welcomed their third child into the world via surrogate on Monday

Kanye made sure to flash a rare smile while wearing a black pull-over sweatshirt and matching sweatpants.

The hip hop star teamed his streetwear with a Yeezy hat that read 'Calabasas' emblazoned on the front and a pair of gray sneakers.

The new father-of-three was seen carrying his Macbook in his hand before stepping inside his warehouse.

Kanye made sure to accessorize his ensemble with a gold chain necklace and multiple gold rings.

Proud father: The rapper still looked beaming with joy as he arrived for a meeting at his Yeezy warehouse in Calabasas, California, on Thursday

Stepping out in style: The 40-year-old made sure to step out sporting his fashionable sense of style with an all-black ensemble

Just the day before, Kanye told photographers that the couple couldn't 'think of a name' for their newest bundle of joy.

When a paparazzi suggested 'Donda' in honor of Kanye's late mother, the Power hitmaker seemed to approve as he replied 'Oh, that's fire'.

Kim confirmed the happy news on her website on Tuesday, writing: 'Kanye and I are happy to announce the arrival of our healthy, beautiful baby girl,

'We are incredibly grateful to our surrogate who made our dreams come true with the greatest gift one could give and to our wonderful doctors and nurses for their special care.'

She wrote that the baby was born Monday at 12:47 am at seven pounds, six ounces.

Out and about: Kanye made sure to flash a rare smile while wearing a black pull-over sweatshirt and matching sweatpants

Doing business: The hip hop star teamed his streetwear with a Yeezy hat that read 'Calabasas' emblazoned on the front and a pair of gray sneakers

It's a girl! Just the day before, Kanye told photographers that the couple couldn't 'think of a name' for their newest bundle of joy.

Kim reportedly was the first to make skin-to-skin contact with the baby followed by Kanye, as a source revealed: 'Kanye was in the delivery room but behind a curtain. He immediately held the baby after Kim received her.'

On Thursday, Kim also took to her website to update followers on how her and the family are bonding with the new baby girl.

'The connection with our baby came instantly and it's as if she was with us the whole time,' the wife of Kanye West noted.

Kim and Kanye are already parents to four-year-old daughter North and two-year-old daughter Saint.

Happy family:Kim and Kanye are already parents to four-year-old daughter North and two-year-old daughter Saint
They might have had a nasty breakup, but Tiffany Scanlon isn't shedding any tears over her ex-girlfriend Megan Marx's new love interest.

In fact, the former Bachelor hopeful has given her blessing to Megan and her new love interest, former Bachelorette contestant Jake Ellis.

Speaking exclusively to Daily Mail Australia, Tiffany said she was 'happy' for the pair.

Nothing but love: The former Bachelor hopeful has given her blessing to Megan, who has recently found love with former Bachelorette contestant Jake Ellis

'I wish them luck'' said Tiffany adding that both her and Megan have 'moved on with their lives'.

Megan and Tiffany met while competing for the heart of Bachelor Richie Strahan on the 2016 season of the hit show.

After both being eliminated they began a shot-lived romance with the couple splitting February last year after moving to Bali to start a business together.

While Tiffany is still single, Megan appears to have fallen head-over-heels for her new love, Jake.

Fizzled out: Megan and Tiffany met while competing for the heart of Bachelor Richie Strahan on the 2016 season of the hit show

The couple have been inseparable since they were first spotted getting close on the Bachelor In Paradise set in Fiji last November.

Since then their relationship appears to have gone from strength to strength with the reality stars posting individual photos of themselves at a Gold Coast beach, within the same time frame.

A snap shared to Instagram on Wednesday shows Megan perched on the wooden ledge of a balcony, with a Gold Coast beach in the background.

Are Megan Marx and Jake Ellis DATING? Reality stars relaxed at a Gold Coast beach at the same time...after they were seen getting close on the Bachelor In Paradise set, in Fiji last November

Revealing her cleavage, slender waist and lean legs in a khaki bikini top and blue patterned skirt, the model has her blonde locks swept into an effortless topknot.

Beaming for the camera, Megan draws attention to her stylish sunglasses, that show the reflection of a shirtless male.

Is that you Jake? A photo shared to Instagram on Wednesday sees Megan perched on the wooden ledge of a balcony, with a Gold Coast beach in the background. Beaming for the camera, Megan draws attention to her stylish sunglasses, that appears to show the reflection of a shirtless male

She captioned the snap: 'Just chillin' in my new @siennaalexanderlondon sunnies.'

Meanwhile Jake also posted a photo to Instagram at the same time, which also saw him relaxing on a Gold Coast beach.

Same time, same location: Meanwhile Jake also posted a photo to Instagram at the same time, that saw him relaxing on a Gold Coast beach. Perched upright on a towel, the hunk dons a pair of abstract board shorts and a round-rimmed hat

Perched upright on a towel, the hunk wears a pair of abstract board shorts and a round-rimmed hat.

Looking directly at the camera and resting his arms on his knees, Jake captioned the image, appearing to pay tribute to his late mother Robyn who recently passed away from cancer: 'Cherish memories, enjoy every moment and hold on to the things that make you truly happy,' alongside the hash-tag #goldcoast.

Notoriety: Jake rose to fame after appearing on The Bachelorette in 2016, making it to the top three before being sent home by Georgia Love

Jake rose to fame after appearing on The Bachelorette in 2016, making it to the top three before being sent home by Georgia Love.

Daily Mail Australia has reached out to Megan and Jake for comment.

Bachelor In Paradise is set to air on Network Ten in early 2018.
She is a persistent luminary on the red carpet.

And Selma Blair stole the arrivals carpet at a star-studded launch for the new Paramount network in Los Angeles on Thursday.

The 45-year-old wore a crushed velvet dress to the event while posing for photographers.

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Kickstart: Selma Blair stole the arrivals carpet at a star-studded launch for the new Paramount network in Los Angeles on Thursday

The actress completed her look with some bright red lipstick and open toe heels,

Also in attendance was Kyle Richards with her husband Mauricio Umansky.

While Shannen Doherty looked great in a blazer teamed with a turtleneck and hoops earrings.

Pro: The 45-year-old wore a crushed velvet dress to the event while posing for photographers

Fetching look: The actress completed her look with some bright red lipstick and open toe heels

Alicia Silverstone, proved once again that in real life she is far from Clueless, as she hit the carpet in a black satin dress.

Camryn Manheim arrived in an elegant dress teamed with open toe metallic sandals.

Actor Kira Kosarin showed up in a crop top and miniskirt which she paired with boots.

Gothic beauty: Mena Suvari stunned in a lace black dress with matching nails

Looking fab: Shannen Doherty looked great in a blazer teamed with a turtleneck and hoops earrings

Housewives representing: Also in attendance was Kyle Richards with her husband Mauricio Umansky

Gorgeous: Alicia Silverstone, proved once again that in real life she is far from Clueless, as she hit the carpet in a black satin dress

While Pace Adkins and Rhonda Forlaw brought a country flair to the night's festivities.

Meanwhile, the outing comes after Selma claimed that disgraced filmmaker James Toback once threatened to murder her and gauge my eyes out.

The actress is among hundreds of women who have accused Toback of sexually assaulting or harassing them since the Harvey Weinstein scandal broke in October.

Still in Practice: Camryn Manheim arrived in an elegant dress teamed with open toe metallic sandals

Actor Kira Kosarin showed up in a crop top and miniskirt which she paired with boots

Blair, 45, originally only agreed to speak on condition of anonymity, saying she feared for her life after Toback warned he'd kill her if she told anyone he'd assaulted her.

But when Toback claimed his accusers were lying, the actress decided to take the incredibly brave step to speak out.

'I had literally been afraid for 17 years of James Toback who threatened to murder me,' she told the hosts of The Talk on Monday.

While Pace Adkins and Rhonda Forlaw brought a country flair to the night's festivities

She said that the 73-year-old screenwriter had threatened to 'put cement shoes on [me] and gouge my eyes out with a Bic pen if I ever told anybody' about the alleged assault.

Blair told Vanity Fair in October how her representatives arranged for her to meet Toback in 1999 to discuss an upcoming project he'd written called Harvard Man.

The Cruel Intentions star said that she had declined to meet the director in his hotel room, and arranged to meet him in the hotel restaurant. But when she sat down at the table to wait for him, the hostess approached her saying Toback couldn't come down and wanted to meet her in his room.
She was spotted sunning herself on a Gold Coast beach at the same time as another popular ex-Bachelor contestant.

And if the rumours are to be believed, Megan Marx and Jake Ellis have been secretly dating ever since they put on an amorous display in Fiji on the set of Bachelor In Paradise.

Megan's latest upload, which features her looking over her shoulder at someone while glamorously sashaying out of a pool, may very well have been taken by the 30-year-old heartthrob.

Did Jake Ellis take this? Megan Marx poses for very raunchy bikini snap while getting out of the pool amid rumours the pair are dating after their Bachelor In Paradise stint

She appeared to be asking for accommodation advice as she heads on a trip to the Maldives, but very few people in the comments appeared to be answering her query.

Instead all eyes were on her sizzling body which was glistening as she took a relaxing summer dip.

It comes as the reality stars posted individual photos of themselves at the same beach.

A snap shared to Instagram on Wednesday shows Megan perched on the wooden ledge of a balcony, with a Gold Coast beach in the background.

Is that you Jake? A photo shared to Instagram on Wednesday sees Megan perched on the wooden ledge of a balcony, with a Gold Coast beach in the background. Beaming for the camera, Megan draws attention to her stylish sunglasses, that appears to show the reflection of a shirtless male

Revealing her cleavage, slender waist and lean legs in a khaki bikini top and blue patterned skirt, the model has her blonde locks swept into an effortless topknot.

Beaming for the camera, Megan draws attention to her stylish sunglasses, that show the reflection of a shirtless male.

Meanwhile Jake also posted a photo to Instagram at the same time, which also saw him relaxing on a Gold Coast beach.

Perched upright on a towel, the hunk wears a pair of abstract board shorts and a round-rimmed hat.

Same time, same location: Meanwhile Jake also posted a photo to Instagram at the same time, that saw him relaxing on a Gold Coast beach. Perched upright on a towel, the hunk dons a pair of abstract board shorts and a round-rimmed hat

Notoriety: Jake rose to fame after appearing on The Bachelorette in 2016, making it to the top three before being sent home by Georgia Love

Looking directly at the camera and resting his arms on his knees, Jake captioned the image, appearing to pay tribute to his late mother Robyn who recently passed away from cancer: 'Cherish memories, enjoy every moment and hold on to the things that make you truly happy,' alongside the hash-tag #goldcoast.

Daily Mail Australia has reached out to Megan and Jake for comment.

Last November, Bachelor and Bachelorette stars Megan and Jake were pictured filming scenes together for spin-off Bachelor In Paradise in Fiji.

Jake rose to fame after appearing on The Bachelorette in 2016, making it to the top three before being sent home by Georgia Love.

Meanwhile, after quitting Richie Strahan's 2016 season of The Bachelor, Megan began a high-profile romance with former contestant Tiffany Scanlon.

The romance was short-lived with the couple splitting in February last year after moving to Bali to start a business together.

Bachelor In Paradise is set to air on Network Ten in early 2018.
Jada Pinkett Smith was among the celebrities who showed up for the opening night celebration at the Sundance Film Festival Thursday night in Utah.

The 46-year-old wife of Hollywood star Will Smith wore a sparkly suit with a black lace bodysuit.

She paired the sequinned number with shimmery dark blue heels.

Ready to party: Jada Pinkett Smith was among the celebrities who showed up for the opening night celebration at the Sundance Film Festival Thursday night in Utah

Jada wore her cropped hair in an asymmetrical style.

She ringed her eyes with black liner and mascara and chose bright red color for her lips.

She wore plenty of bling accessorizing with a couple of gold pendant chains and tiny diamond stud earrings.

Shiny: The 46-year-old wife of Hollywood star Will Smith wore a sparkly suit with a black lace bodysuit. She paired the sequinned number with shimmery dark blue heels

Main attraction: Jada was all smiles at the bash

Casual: Octavia Spencer, 47, opted for a more low-key look, pairing dark skinny jeans with a red sweater and winter boots for the Park City event

Oscar-winning actress Octavia Spencer opted for a more low-key look as she joined in the party.

The star of The Help and Hidden Figures paired dark skinny jeans with a red sweater and winter boots for the Park City event.

Octavia, 47, added a touch of glamour with a pair of dazzling diamond chandelier earrings.

Chloe Sevigny, 43, is at the festival for a screening of her new film with Kristen Stewart called Lizzie and based on reputed ax murdered Lizzie Borden.

She wore her long blonde hair loose with a black dress that had patterned sleeves.

On trend: Chloe Sevigny, 43,wore her long blonde hair loose with a black dress that had patterned sleeves

New movie: Sevigny, 43, is at the festival for a screening of her new film with Kristen Stewart called Lizzie and based on reputed ax murdered Lizzie Borden

Stylish: Issa Rae, 33, put on a show in a glittery red number. The sleeveless frock had a high drop waist and a fringed hem with a large opening at the front of the skirt

Date night: On hand, too, was The Big Bang Theory star Jim Parsons, 44, who posed for photos with his husband Todd Spiewak

Supported the cause: Actress Maggie Gyllenhaal slipped the carpet but did acknowledge the audience's appreciation of her presence inside the event

Issa Rae, 33, put on a stylish show in a glittery red number.

The sleeveless frock had a high drop waist and a fringed hem with a large opening at the front of the skirt.

She added a pair of black sandal heels and wore her hair in long braids.

On hand, too, was The Big Bang Theory star Jim Parsons, 44, who posed for photos with his husband Todd Spiewak.

All together now: Denis O'Hare, Molly Shannon, Paul Giamatti, Kathryn Hahn, Kayli Carter, and Desmin Borges posed together at the Private Life film premiere

Cosy: (L-R) Molly Shannon, Paul Giamatti, Kathryn Hahn and Kayli Carter posed together

Turning heads: Blythe Danner caught the eye with a funky colourful scarf

Party time! Emily Robinson was seen getting into the swing of things on the night

Loving life: Kayli Carter, Paul Giamatti, Molly Shannon and Kathryn Hahn giggled away

In high spirits: Kathryn Hahn (L) and Molly Shannon laughed away together on the night

All-smiles: : (L-R) Paul Giamatti, Kathryn Hahn and Ted Sarandos seemed in high spirits

Cosy: Director Tamara Jenkins and actor Oliver James Platt hugged each other for a snap

Laugh a minute: Paul Giamatti and Director Tamara Jenkins seemed very chirpy together

Terrific trio: : (L-R) Paul Giamatti, Kathryn Hahn and Ted Sarandos chatted away together

Party time: Sasha Lane, Kiersey Clemons and Ted Danson headed to the Hearts Beat Loud after-party at the Grey Goose Blue Door
Sisters Paris and Nicky Hilton sure know how to turn heads from coast-to-coast.

Paris, 36, wore a see-through black top with flower prints all over for a day out in Los Angeles on Thursday.

She paired it with a short black skirt and black booties.

Younger sister Nicky, 34, was dressed more conservative in a black coat, black tights, and flats for her walk around the city of New York.

Sister, sister: Paris and Nicky Hilton stepped out in chic ensembles for a day in their respective cities on Thursday

The newly engaged former The Simple Life star is rarely ever seen without fiance Chris Zylka.

Zylka proposed to Hilton during their New Year's Eve holiday getaway in Aspen.

Her $2 million engagement ring is the 'must have' accessory that makes every outfit that much more incredible.

That's hot: Paris can wear a much more revealing outfit in Los Angeles than in New York where winter is in full effect

Runway: The Simple Life star can turn any place into a runway with her fun, fashionable ensembles

New mom Nicky has been experiencing much colder weather so it's no surprise she's been wearing a stylish coat around the Big Apple.

She and husband James Rothschild welcomed their second daughter Teddy Marilyn in December.

They are already parents to one and a half year old Lily Grace Victoria.

Mommy: Nicky has always dressed more conservatively than her older sister but now that she's a mom-of-two, she dresses chic-yet-comfortable

Winter chill: Nicky stepped out in a beautiful black coat with red and black ribbon decorating the waist and collar

There's no word yet as to whether or not Nicky will serve as Paris's maid-of-honor when she ties the knot.

Although there's a big chance the opportunity will present itself since the reality star plans to have three separate weddings.

'For my 21st birthday I had five parties, so maybe for the wedding Ill have a European one, an American one, one for everyone around the world,' she told Extra TV during the Golden Globe Awards.
Nicole Kidman dazzled in green as she attended the Casting Society Of America's 33rd Annual Artios Awards in Beverly Hills on Thursday night.

The actress, 50, looked flawless in the semi-sheer patterned number with a high collar and long sleeves.

Kidman, who skipped the red carpet, was photographed on stage wearing her blonde hair in a gently waved style.

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Headliner: Nicole Kidman dazzled in green as she attended the Casting Society Of America's 33rd Annual Artios Awards in Beverly Hills on Thursday night.

Gorgeous in green: The actress, 50, looked flawless in the semi-sheer patterned number with a high collar and long sleeves

The Big Little Lies star was joined at the event by another Hollywood heavy hitter Geena Davis.

Davis, 61, wore a stylish cream outfit with short sleeves and left her hair loose tumbling around her shoulders.

The annual Artios Awards recognize the achievements of casting agents and the contribution of casting to the overall quality of a project.

Another Hollywood heavyweight: Geena Davis, 61, wore a stylish cream outfit with short sleeves and left her hair loose tumbling around her shoulders

Big wig: Former Beverly Hills, 90210 star Gabrielle Carteris turned out to support the awards show in her role as SAG-AFTRA President and wore an all-black ensemble

Former Beverly Hills, 90210 star Gabrielle Carteris turned out to support the awards show in her role as SAG-AFTRA President.

The 57-year-old paired a loose-fitting black satin smock top with black leggings and boots.

She added a black top coat and wore a triple strand of pearls.

Pitched perfectly: Actress Brittany Snow, 31, looked lovely in an above-the-knee black frock with wide sleeves and white detailing on one shoulder

Stylish: Nia Vardalos, 55, stood out from the crowd in a high-necked patterned dress with half-sleeves and she wore her hair in a messy ponytail

Actress Brittany Snow, 31, looked lovely in an above-the-knee black frock with wide sleeves and white detailing on one shoulder.

The star of the three Pitch Perfect movies carried a matching handbag and wore black strappy heels that revealed the black polish on her toe nails.

Nia Vardalos stood out from the crowd in a high-necked patterned dress with half-sleeves.

The My Big Fat Greek Wedding star, 55, wore her hair in a messy ponytail and added a pair of black pointed toe heels.
She is the stunning little sister of 90210's AnnaLynne McCord.

But Rachel McCord stepped out of her sister's shadow when she stripped down to her scanty costume for a sizzling photo shoot in Malibu, California on Thursday.

The model, 27, paraded her sensational figure and some serious underboob in a risque cutaway one-piece as her costume-clad pal submerged her with soapy water.

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At the car wash, yeah! Rachel McCord paraded her incredible figure in a scarlet cutaway costume as she climbed on top of a Jeep for a wet 'n' wild shoot in California on Thursday

Despite it being the American blogger's sexiest look yet, she almost suffered a nip slip as her one-piece was a little loose in design.

The American Heiress star flaunted her peachy derriere and toned tummy in the high-cut beachwear while she posed up a storm for the photo shoot.

Rachel added to her height in emerald stilettos which wrapped around her ankles with a delicate lace-up strap.

While she was joined by a bevy of costume-clad beauties, it was the socialite who took centre stage of the steamy car wash shoot.

Almost fashion faux pas: Despite it being the American blogger's sexiest look yet, she nearly suffered a nip slip when she showed off some major sideboob in a skimpy scarlet swimsuit

Feeling hot, hot, hot: The American Heiress star flaunted her peachy derriere in the high-cut beachwear while she posed up a storm for the photo shoot

Back in 2008, Rachel's sister was propelled to fame when she starred as Naomi Clark in the reboot of 90210.

Now ten years later, AnnaLynne has been out promoting her latest television series Let's Get Physical with Jane Seymour.

Rachel initially moved to West Hollywood to support her older sister as her 'biggest cheerleader' but she went onto carve her own career in the acting sphere.

Standing tall: Rachel added to her height in emerald stilettos which wrapped around her ankles with a delicate lace-up strap

Soaked siren: The golden-haired beauty scraped back her golden locks in wet tendrils to show off her pretty face while she climbed on top of the Jeep

Sizzling in scarlet: The Atlanta born beauty took centre stage of the staged car wash as she toted a water pump

The Atlanta born beauty starred as Casting Girl #4 in the movie Sirens of the Caribbean and three episodes of MyNetworkTV's American Heiress.

Aside from acting and modelling, the socialite founded the blog The McCord List which claims to be a network of influential women who mentor and entertain girls.

Rachel lives happily with her husband of three years Rick Schirmer, who joined her on the shoot, and their two Chihuahuas Giggles and Munchkin.

Proving inseparable: The model proved she was closer than ever with her husband of three years Rick Schirmer as she wrapped her legs around his waist

Stealing the show: While she was joined by a bevy of costume-clad beauties, it was the socialite who took centre stage of the steamy car wash shoot

Raunchy: The American rose was her sexiest yet in a scarlet costume when she posed up a storm during the shoot with a bevy of beauties

Working at the car wash! The blogger climbed on board the Jeep with her pals to wash the car for the sizzling shoot

Time out: Rachel stood out from the other beauties as she donned a scarlet costume while they all wore opted for white ensembles

Connections: The model is the stunning little sister of 90210's AnnaLynne McCord who carved her name in the spotlight back in 2008

Stardom: Rachel initially moved to West Hollywood to support her older sister as her 'biggest cheerleader' but she went onto carve her own career in the acting sphere
He's one of the brightest stars on TV, having hosted one of the nation's premiere breakfast shows for the past decade.

Which might explain why TODAY show presenter Karl Stefanovic, 43, appears to be advertising his new pair of sunglasses.

Apparently suffering from extreme glare, the controversial morning show presenter made a bizarre post on his Instagram on Friday, seemingly endorsing the translucent brown shades.

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Got shade? TODAY show host Karl Stefanovic has seemingly endorsed a pair of sunglasses on his Instagram account, which prompted a good old fashioned ribbing from fans

'The sun's rays can be damaging,' the Channel Nine star wrote in the caption.

'But with these on I have all the protection I need without compromising style.'

In the post, the popular morning host struck his best blue steel, putting on a serious face while looking at the camera straight on, with his brown hair looking swept to one side.

While on holidays in Fiji with girlfriend Jasmine Yarbrough, it appears the normally TV ready star is enjoying some downtime but that didn't stop his fans giving him a good old-fashioned ribbing.

'Glasses are cool, but the hair? Back to the Future,' one fan wrote.

Another added: 'Don't forget that the sun's rays can be damaging to your scalp ...Those remaining 17 strands of hair you've got don't provide adequate protection.'

'A new team, a new era... two of the best, together': Georgie Gardner and Karl Stefanovic star in promo clip for Today... after veteran host Lisa Wilkinson's shock resignation

It's been a big week for Karl, who will soon appear back on the TODAY show with new host, Georgie Gardner.

Last Tuesday, Nine shared a promotional clip praising the new 2018 hosts Georgia Gardner and Karl Stefanovic as 'two of the best, together.'

The advertisement spoke highly of the TV duo, announcing: 'A new team, a new era; Georgia and Karl.'

Introducing Lisa's replacement to audiences, footage was shown of Georgie presenting on numerous Channel Nine programs.

Welcome to the team! Journalist Georgie Gardner was announced as Lisa's replacement on the Today show in November, five weeks after Lisa resigned

The voice-over said: 'For 17 years she's been one of Australia's most trusted faces, to 60 Minutes to Nightly News, Georgia Gardner has done it all.'

Karl, who needed no introduction, was also shown behind the desk of Today and reporting from abroad at major events.

Journalist Georgie Gardner was announced as Lisa's replacement on the Today show in November, five weeks after Lisa resigned.

'Make a fresh start to your day': Georgie and Karl debut as Today show hosts in sneak peek promo for Nine

Earlier this month, fans were treated to a sneak peek promo of the new breakfast duo in action.

In the short advertisement, Georgie and Karl looked comfortable behind the desk as they read the news, shared banter and introduced high-profile guests.

Georgie opens the clip by announcing, 'It is a brand-new day! Morning, Karl', to which Karl responds: 'Morning, Georgie.'

However, the duo soon break the fourth wall and begin conversing with their devoted viewers, with Karl saying good morning to a mother Karen in her kitchen.

Karl also plays the hero, by warning Karen's son Jack, who is watching them on TV, that his toast was burning.

Georgie then delivers the news, and gives a personal shout out to Alex watching from his laptop.

He's so helpful! Karl also plays the hero, by warning Karen's son Jack, who is watching them on TV, that his toast was burning

'Here's your stop Tom': She also advises a distracted commuter watching her present the news on the bus to get off, before he misses his stop

She also advises a distracted commuter watching her present the news on the bus to get off, before he misses his stop.

The promo ends with a promo shot of the pair in their broadcast outfits, with the voiceover announcing: 'Make a fresh start to your day. Wake up with Georgie and Karl on Today.'

The hosts will return to screens officially from January 22.
They're the Bachelorette couple, who have just hit another major milestone.

Cat enthusiast Georgia Love, 29, has just replaced her 'cat nurse,' for handsome 37-year-old boyfriend Lee Elliott, as she continues to be bedridden with a mystery illness.

Taking to her Instagram Story on Friday, the former single girl joked that her feline friend Pawdrey Hepburn was no longer needed, instead sharing a snap of herself with her hunky beau.

'Cat nurse has been replaced': Bachelorette Georgia Love, 29, has replaced her 'cat nurse,' for hunky boyfriend Lee Elliott, 37, with the former reality star being sick for the past few days

'Cat nurse has been replaced,' she captioned the shot.

In the post, a pale-looking Georgia lays on the lap of her muscled, brown-haired beau, offering up a slight smile as the pair sit on the couch in what appears to be the living room of their Melbourne home.

Poor Georgia has been struck down for the past few days, with the brunette beauty taking to Instagram on Thursday to announce she was suffering from her 'sixth deathly health virus in as many months.'

'Sick of being sick,' she wrote in a caption accompanying an image of herself lying in bed wearing a skimpy top and a frown.

Fully sick! However, Georgia's illness didn't stop Lee, 37, from attending attending the Australia Open, while his 'puppy,' was still sick

Poor thing! 'My sixth deathly health virus in as many months': Poor Georgia Love announces she's bedridden with sickness and reveals the 'miracle remedy' items she'll use to get better

'And I NEVER get sick' Georgia reiterated, asking her followers: 'anyone have any miracle remedies?'

Her next post proved they certainly did, featuring snaps of not one, but six different products she was using to try and fix her bout of bad health.

Avoiding typical cold and flu medications, the Channel 10 reporter instead went for a selection of vitamins and minerals.

They sure did! 'And I NEVER get sick' Georgia re-iterated, asking her followers: 'anyone have any miracle remedies?' Her next post proving they did

Georgia's health cocktail comprised Grant's Liquid Chlorophyll Concentrate, Bee Vital Apple Cider Vinegar, Nature's Way Super Food Greens + WIld Reds, Ferro-Grad Vitamin C, BioCeuticals' Armaforce and Woolworths Chicken and Vegetable soup.

It's unclear whether the reality star was being paid or receiving free product for the post.

Although she's madly in love with Lee Elliott, Georgia was being nursed through her sickness by her cat, Pawdrey Hepburn.

Pawdorable! Although she's madly in love with Lee Elliott, Georgia was being nursed through her sickness by her cat, Pawdrey Hepburn

Sharing a snap of the adorable pet from her bed, she wrote: 'Love this floof so much. Reufses to leave my side when I'm sick.'

Just days ago, the journalist was feeling great, sharing a snap of her stunning frame in a crop top activewear and leggings.

Georgia revealed her New Year's resolution was to 'get abs', before confessing: 'so I don't have to suck in for crop top selfies like this!!'

Just days ago: Just days ago, the journalist was feeling great, sharing a snap of her stunning frame in a crop top activewear and leggings
She is no stranger to flaunting her frame in a bikini, having shot to fame on Love Island's third series last year.

And slipping into a Calvin Klein two-piece while enjoying a sun-soaked break in Dubai, Georgia Harrison looked nothing but sensational as she cooled off from the heat with a dip in the pool.

The reality star, 23, showcased her incredibly gym-honed physique in her plunging swimwear that not only teased a look at her assets, but her killer abs too.

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Bikini-clad beauty: Georgia Harrison, 23, looked nothing but sensational as she cooled off with a dip in the pool while enjoying a sun-soaked break in Dubai

Georgia, who had starred on The Only Way Is Essex alongside BFF Fran Parman for just one series, appeared in great spirits while making the most of her trip overseas and the desirable temperatures.

She oozed body confidence as she paraded her lean figure in her designer beach attire, while showcasing her bronzed glow from her sunbathing sessions.

Ensuring all eyes were on her, Georgia's bikini top drew attention to her bust and framed her honed stomach, while her matching briefs made sure to showcase her statuesque pins and pert behind, thanks to their high-rise cut.

Sensational! The reality star, 23, showcased her incredibly gym-honed physique in her plunging swimwear that not only teased a look at her assets, but her killer abs too

Sporting a subtle make-up look, Georgia highlighted her natural beauty as she took a refereshing dip in the pool, with the water slicking back her blonde tresses.

She was also seen indulging in a spot of volleyball, but stole a moment to herself mid-game to chat on her mobile phone.

Cutting a glamorous figure despite her exercise session, Georgia wore her tresses in perfectly styled curls and wore her mane pushed back from her face with her stylish shades.

Her trip comes after Georgia has enjoyed a busy few months after her stint in Love Island has rocketed her into the spotlight. She had arrived late to the villa, but made sure to leave her mark and was seen striking up a romance with co-star Sam Gowland.

Chic: The former Love Island star kicked off 2018 with a lavish break to Dubai, which saw her stopping by popular eatery Nobu and luxury resort Atlantis, The Palm

Stunning: She showcased a number of stylish ensembles via Instagram throughout her trip

While their romance continued briefly back on home soil, it wasn't long before Georgia and Sam called it quits, with the beauty initially alluding to Sam 'cheating', penning on Twitter: 'Would like to confirm that myself and Sam are no longer together. Unfortunately for some men one girl isn't always enough'.

She, however, later retracted her comments and insisted the duo had parted on amicable terms. Sam is now dating Geordie Shore star Chloe Ferry, after hinting it off with the star following his addition to the cast of the MTV reality series.

Georgia has since been embracing her single status and throwing herself into the opportunities that have followed since her appearance on Love Island. Feeling reflective, she posted a heartfelt message insisting she will 'never forget' those who have helped her on her journey to success.

'Anyone who knows me will know I think gratitude is such an important part of living a happy life,' Georgia penned.

'It's so easy when you become successful to forget those that helped you a long the way, but that is something I will never do.'
She's used to having to keep her figure slim and in the best possible shape for her job as a Victoria's Secret model.

So when New Zealand-native Georgia Fowler visited Instagram HQ this week, she must have felt a world of difference as she posed in a miniature version of a room for a photo opp.

In an image shared to social media on Thursday, the 25-year-old appeared oversized as she struggled to fit within the novelty space.

She's kind of a big deal! Victoria's Secret model Georgia Fowler declares she's 'large and in charge' as she poses in miniature room at Instagram HQ

Wearing jeans and a low-cut black shirt, Georgia brandished a wide grin as she posed on a couch and a desk, which contained a sign reading 'I'm kind of a big deal'

The rumoured ex-girlfriend of Harry Styles captioned the photo with several size-related play on words.

'Well the world turns out to be a pretty small place after all,' she wrote.

'LARGE AND IN CHARGE' Instagram HQ today #biggersalwaysbetter'

No cheat meals in sight! Georgia Fowler gave fans a rare glimpse inside her home fridge this week. It was packed with fruits and vegetables, with no sugary treats in sight

In reality, Georgia has a taut and toned physique and has previously given fans an insightful glimpse inside her home fridge, revealing she eats healthy in order to keep in shape.

The star shared a snap of her well-stocked fridge - which was packed with fruits and vegetables with no cheat meals in sight.

Georgia had lots of greens including avocados and celery, squash and a cheeky bottleof Perrier-Jouet champagne on her top shelf.

She wrote in the caption of her post: 'Adulting 2018, now to be Jaime.'

Bikini babe: This comes after she showcased her enviable figure in a tiny two piece bikini for a pool side photo shoot. In the photo she posed smiling with her pert posterior toward the camera as she tucked her thumbs under the band of the bottoms

Healthy eating: The Auckland-born stunner, who regularly poses in swimwear, revealed to Marie Claire her secret to staying in shape

Georgia is no stranger to showing off the results of her healthy eating and recently showcased her enviable figure in a tiny two-piece bikini for a poolside photo shoot.

In one photo she posed smiling with her pert posterior toward the camera as she tucked her thumbs under the band of the bottoms.

CThe Auckland-born stunner, who regularly poses in swimwear, revealed to Marie Claire her secret to staying in shape.

Trim and toned: 'I basically eat mostly fruit and vegetables, Im allergic to dairy so I dont have dairy, a little bit of protein and lots of good fats,' she said

'I basically eat mostly fruit and vegetables, Im allergic to dairy so I dont have dairy, a little bit of protein and lots of good fats,' she said.

'Some meals Ill go vegetarian and just have raw fats, and other times Ill put in a little bit of protein.'

'But really I just avoid dairy and excess amounts of carbs and grains. And no processed foods,' she added.
She is one of Hollywood's most versatile actresses.

So it is no surprise Sandra Bullock, 53, got into character with ease when she joined Sarah Paulson, 43, on the set of Netflix movie Bird Box in Los Angeles on Thursday.

The mother-of-two showed pregnancy suited her down to the ground when she rested her hand on the top of her prosthetic baby bump in a loose fitted silk blouse.

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Bumping along: Sandra Bullock, 53, cradled her huge prosthetic stomach in silk blouse ahead of filming car crash for Netflix thriller Bird Box filming in Los Angeles on Thursday

In thrilling scenes set to leave film fans on the edge of their seats, Sandra filmed the devastating aftermath of a horrific car crash.

Bird Box takes the audience to a post-apocalyptic future where mother Malorie and her children join a group of survivors to make a 20-mile terrifying journey blindfolded after an alien force has taken over their homes.

The Proposal star threw herself into the heart of the drama as she looked shaken and she wore her brunette tresses in a disheveled fashion.

Sandra's co-star Sarah can be seen with a gory gash on her head, thanks to the aid of skilled make-up artists on set, as her character was severely injured.

Terrifying: Sandra's co-star Sarah can be seen with a gory gash on her head, thanks to the aid of skilled make-up artists on set, as her character was severely injured following the smash

Their characters seemingly strike up a close bond as Sarah affectionately reached out to her co-star following the crash.

Netflix is starting to secure Hollywood stars for their movies following its success with their 2017 film War Machine, with Brad Pitt, and upcoming sci-fi drama Bright, with Will Smith.

John Malkovich, Danielle Macdonald, Trevante Rhodes, Jacki Weaver join the two leading ladies for the movie.

The pair have recently wrapped up filming the all-female reboot of Ocean's Eight, also in the pipeline for 2018, with a whole galaxy of stars including Dakota Fanning and Cate Blanchett.

Crime thrillers come second nature to Sandra who made her acting debut with a minor role in 1987 thriller Hangmen.

Inseparable: Their characters seemingly strike up a close bond as Sarah affectionately reached out to her co-star following the crash

The Golden Globe winner has a series of thrillers tied to her bow including The Vanishing, Premonition and A Time to Kill.

Spanning her flourishing career of more than 30 years, she has proved to be a master of her craft as she has found success with a number of genres including romantic comedies with The Proposal and feature films with The Blind Side.

As for her personal life, Sandra is happy with her beau Bryan Randall who she has been dating since 2015.

The award-winning actress adopted her two children five-year-old Laila and eight-year-old Louis.
He's the popular The Morning Show host, who is always up for a hearty laugh.

But on Friday, Larry Emdur took things to a royally funny level, with the 53-year-old posting a side-by-side photograph next to Prince William with the caption: 'B**tch stole my look.'

With his typical self-deprecating sense of humour, the veteran TV star shared the snap on Instagram, obviously having a joke about hair loss which sees him shave his head regularly.

'B**ch stole my look!': The Morning Show host Larry Emdur, 53, has poked fun at himself and Prince William about being in the 'Trimmer No.1 club'

In the image, which shows off their 'prickly heads,' the journalist and former Wheel of Fortune host even wrote the handsome prince a special message.

'Dear brother-to-another-mother welcome to the 'Trimmer No.1 club',' he started, before continuing '@jasonstatham and I welcome you with open arms and prickly heads x.'

A number of Larry's fans were quick to get the joke, one asking: 'Where were you the night he was conceived Larry? #doppleganger,' while another said:'Who wore it best: Larry Emdur.'

Doppelganger: This isn't the first time the TV host has showcased his self-deprecating sense of humour, last month he compared himself to Star Wars, Princess Leia

This isn't the first time veteran journalist has made a comparison to royalty, with him posting a number of side-by-sides in the past in order to make fun of himself, including Star Wars Princess Leia.

In December, Larry posted a side-by-side of what appears to be an old school photo of himself, and Carrie Fischer in her famously outlandish hairstyle.

'How could I not repost this for Star Wars release ???' he wrote, before adding, 'That time Princess Leia stole my look .. Throw back to some hair far far away.'

Real Housewife of Channel Seven? The TV funnyman is known for his gags, often dressing-up for comedic value

These aren't the only throwbacks the veteran presenter shared, however, with the buff 53-year-old regularly taking to Instagram to share some happy memories.

Last November, the handsome presenter took to Instagram to share a dated picture of himself from the 2006 reincarnation of the show Wheel of Fortune, which aired on Channel Seven.

In the photo, the Morning Show host looked very tanned as he flashed his trademark bleach white smile, wearing a pinstripe suit with a light blue checked shirt and metallic peach tie.

Like fine wine! Larry Emdur has shared a throwback snap of himself as the host of Wheel Of Fortune. In the photo he appears very tanned in a pinstripe suit with a light blue checked shirt and metallic peach tie

Larry captioned the post: 'Look what I found in that mouldy old box under the stairs... a picture of a mouldy old host. When I had hair to spare and vowels to sell... #wheeloffortune'

The awkward post was not missed by his well known friends including WSFM breakfast host Brendan Jones, who commented on the post: 'Come on down indeed! @larryemdur'

Seven newsreader Michael Usher joked: 'Do you still have that tie? Kind of like to bring it back for 6pm News. Word.'

Fitter than ever! Now, at 53-years-old he sports a buff physique and washboard abs

Game show days: Larry hosted the game show in 2006 alongside former beauty queen Laura Csortan

Federal politician Christopher Pyne wrote to the journalist: 'Larry is a fashion plate. Michael, jealousy is a curse...'

Meanwhile fans of the host loved the flashback picture: 'You're like a good wine. Better with age,' one wrote.

'You strangely look better now, you look fitter and have a glow about you,' another complimented.

'You strangely look better now': Fans of the host loved the flashback picture: 'You're like a good wine. Better with age,' one follower wrote (Larry pictured in 2006 hosting the game show)

Co-hosts and friends: Following the six-month air of the Wheel Of Fortune, Larry jumped on board to host The Morning Show alongside Kylie Gillies (pictured) and continue to front the mid-morning program

Following the six-month air of the Wheel Of Fortune, Larry jumped on board to host The Morning Show alongside Kylie Gillies and continue to front the mid-morning program.

Larry, who has been married to wife Sylvie for 22-years and together have two children, turned his health and lifestyle around a few years ago when he vowed to be '50 and fit'.

In 2015, he graced the cover of Men's Health magazine showcasing his washboard abs and bulging biceps after shedding 13kgs.

Life overhaul: Larry, who has been married to wife Sylvie (pictured) for 22-years and together have two children, turned his health and lifestyle around a few years ago when he vowed to be '50 and fit'
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Michael Douglas, 73, and Catherine Zeta Jones, 48, have been unable to sell their lavish home in Valldemossa, Majorca for four years, despite the property boasting the likes of a home cinema and vineyard.

The lavish property, where the showbiz couple previously hosted parties for the likes of Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, Michelle Pfeiffer and Jack Nicholson, is yet to be snapped up and as a result of its emptiness it is beginning to show signs of decay.

The home first went on the market in 2014 for 50 million ($61million), but after there was no interest, it was dropped to 40 million ($49million). Four years on it has been reduced again to 36.5 million ($44.75million).

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Still for sale: Michael Douglas, 73, and Catherine Zeta Jones, 48, have been unable to sell their lavish home in Valldemossa, Majorca for four years, despite the property boasting the likes of a home cinema and vineyard

The house and outlying buildings have 10,764 sq ft of floor space. Douglas and his first wife used to spent up to six months a year at SEstaca, where the Fatal Attraction star  who called it his spiritual home  would tend the vineyards and wander through olive and almond groves.

The sprawling property reportedly holds only bad memories for Zeta-Jones because it's co-owned by her Douglas' ex-wife Diandra Luker in a timeshare pact.

Consequently the Welsh beauty has almost never been seen at the house since they tied the knot in 2000, meanwhile, Douglas has not been seen on the island since June 2014 when he posted photos on Facebook of himself tending the vegetable patch.

At the same time Sothebys International began marketing the property for sale as ready to move in.

Owners: Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta Jones (pictured left) have been trying to sell the sprawling property for four years. Douglas bought the home with ex-wife Diandra Luker (right) in 1989 and the pair now have a timeshare pact

The couple currently own over $100 million in real estate all over the world, with Zeta-Jones previously admitting that they pick up houses like others collect art.

The couple now spend more time at their homes on the other side of the Atlantic where they have an apartment in Manhattan, a summer home in Bedford, New York, and a ranch in Bermuda, which Zeta-Jones has made no secret is her favourite home.

Now, the only signs of life on the Majorca coastal estate are dedicated staff tending to the vineyards and donkeys eating on the wild grass. The shutters on the windows are firmly closed and neighbours on the white isle say they havent seen the residents for months and only on the odd occasion in the last five years.

Hefty price tag: The lavish property, where the showbiz couple previously hosted parties for the likes of Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman and Jack Nicholson, is yet to be snapped up and as a result of its emptiness it is beginning to show signs of decay

Price slash: The home first went on the market in 2014 for 50 million, but after there was no interest, it was dropped to 40 million. Four years on it has been reduced again to 36.5 million

When Douglas first bought the sprawling property in Valldemossa in 1989 with his then wife Diandra, he was enchanted with the history of the estate, which is known locally as SEtaca and belonged to Archduke Ludwig Salvator of Austria in the 19th century.

The couple bought the property for just $3.5 million and spent a further $7 million on renovations.

Hed tend to the vineyards himself, which produced fine wines, and he liked nothing better than to potter in the vegetable patch of tomatoes, squash, olive and almond trees. Theyd spend at least six months of the year in Majorca and entertain their celebrity friends in one of the seven guest cottages.

Sprawling: The luxury manor features a balcony and deck overlooking the bright blue sea below

Spacious: The sprawling manor features a large indoor area for entertaining guests - the home has been a spot for parties with the likes of Nicole Kidman, Tom Cruise and Michelle Pfeiffer

Working out: The lavish mansion also features a fully equipped home gymnasium

Ever since his separation from Diandra in 2000, the pair have shared the house between them - Douglas and Zeta-Jones would have it from January to June, Diandra from July to December.

Now the stunning property with such a deep history is left empty and showing signs of decay - broken tiles and bricks left on the grounds and old wood fires havent been cleared.

The manor hit the headlines last August when a scarecrow on the estate, which overlooks his vegetable patch appeared to have been dressed up as Donald Trump, who is a friend of the Hollywood actors.

Plenty of room: The house and outlying buildings have 10,764 sq ft of floor space. Douglas and his first wife used to spent up to six months a year at SEstaca, where the Fatal Attraction star  who called it his spiritual home  would tend the vineyards

The reports that Douglas is struggling to sell his home come as he has been accused of sexual harassment after a former colleague said he masturbated in front of her, used crude language on an almost constant basis and bragged about cheating on his wife.

Susan Braudy, a journalist and author, said in an interview with the Hollywood Reporter that her time working for Douglas' Stonebridge Productions company in the late 1980s was uncomfortable and hostile because the actor used 'near-constant profane and sexually charged dialogue'.

One incident, she told the publication, left her distraught.

Pretty in pink: One of the lavish living rooms seems to have a pink colour scheme running through it

Getting some rest: One of the bedrooms is a calming sanctuary to unwind and relax for a good nights sleep

Rustic: The home is exquisitely decorated and features an abundance of lavish furnishings and trinkets throughout

Rub a dub dub: The luxurious feel extends to the bathroom where a marble tub rests in the middle of the room

During a one-on-one script meeting at Douglas' New York apartment to discuss a character similar to ET, Braudy said the actor slid off the chair he was sitting in onto the floor, unzipped his pants and began masturbating.

'Michael unzipped his chinos and I registered something amiss,' she said.

'Still complimenting my additions to our ET imitation, his voice lowered at least half an octave. I peered at him and saw he's inserted both hands into his unzipped pants. I realized to my horror that he was rubbing his private parts. Within seconds his voice cracked and it appeared to me he'd had an orgasm.'

Braudy said she bolted from the apartment in tears.

'I said nothing. I was surprised I wasn't falling to pieces even though I was humiliated. I realized he thought he could do anything he wanted because he was so much more powerful than I was,' she recalled. 'Michael ran barefoot after me to the elevator, zipping his fly and buckling his belt. 'Hey, thank you, you're good. You helped me, thank you, thank you.''

Taking turns: Ever since his separation from Diandra in 2000, the pair have shared the house between them - Douglas and Zeta-Jones would have it from January to June, Diandra from July to December

Green fingers: Michael is said to have tended to the vineyards himself, which produced fine wines, and he liked nothing better than to potter in the vegetable patch of tomatoes, squash, olive and almond trees

A home from home: Douglas and Zeta-Jones reportedly used to spend at least six months of the year in Majorca and entertain their celebrity friends in one of the seven guest cottages

The author also accused her former employer of making demeaning comments about her looks.

Braudy said Douglas commented on her appearance so much that she started showing up to work dressed in black.

'I began wearing long, loose layers of black,' she said. 'He asked a producer: 'Why does Susan dress like a pregnant nun?' Another time I laughed loudly and he shouted to a group of agents: 'Oh yeah, she's a screamer! I bet she screams in the sack.''

Neglected: Now the stunning property with such a deep history is left empty and showing signs of decay - broken tiles and bricks left on the grounds and old wood fires havent been cleared

Snap happy: Michael has shared several snaps of himself on the lavish property via his Facebook page

On the property: The manor hit the headlines last August when a scarecrow on the estate, which overlooks his vegetable patch appeared to have been dressed up as Donald Trump, who is a friend of the Hollywood actors

Braudy said she asked the actor to stop with the inappropriate comments, but he just laughed 'until he got pink splotches on his cheeks'.

Douglas also had no problem bragging about his extramarital affairs, Braudy said, including one alleged fling with his 'Romancing the Stone' co-star Kathleen Turner.

Douglas, 73, has repeatedly denied the allegations, telling Deadline in a January 9 statement that he used 'colorful language' but never touched himself in front of Braudy.

'That rung is something I've only heard about the last year. It's not an expression that related to the '80s. So I thought it stunk,' he said.

'And I tried to figure out, why the hell would somebody do this? The part that hurt the worst is having to share something like this to your wife and your children. My kids are really upset, has to go to school worrying this is going to be in some article about me, being a sexual harasser. They're scared and very uncomfortable.'

Accusations: The reports that Douglas is struggling to sell his home come as he has been accused of sexual harassment by former employee Susan Braudy (left) who claimned he masturbated in front of her and used crude language daily

Claims: Douglas (left) was also accused by his former colleague of having 'graphic discussions' about his affairs, including one with actress Kathleen Turner (right). Douglas and Turner are pictured above on the set of 'The Jewel Of The Nile' in 1985

Douglas also denied Braudy's story to the Hollywood Reporter saying he never behaved 'inappropriately towards her'

Catherine Zeta-Jones, Douglas' wife, has also spoken out, saying she supports her husband the the #MeToo movement.

'My reaction was that as two people who have been in this business  him longer than me  was that we support 'Me Too' and the movement more than anybody, anybody  me as a woman, him as a man,' she told People magazine.

She added: 'There was no other way than to be preemptive in a story that had to be watched. He did a statement. I think it's very clear the way that he stands. I cannot elaborate on something that's so very personal to him.'
He's the affable Australian actor who gave life to the beloved portable toilet plumber Kenny.

And Shane Jacobson has weighed in on the debate over changing the date of Australia Day, saying it's not up to white people to decide.

Appearing on The Project on Friday to promote his latest offering - the decidedly Australia Day-friendly film The BBQ - Shane said that he believed the country should 'shut up and listen' to Australia's indigenous population.

New spot on the calendar? Shane Jacobson has weighed in on the debate over changing the date of Australia Day on The Project, saying it's not up to white people to decide

'It is Australia Day coming up. Are you a change the date guy yourself?' host Meshel Laurie asked Shane.

'A lot of people say: "do you think we should change the date?" I don't think I'm the person that we should ask,' Shane responded.

He continued: 'We made a lot of decisions in the past. Shouldn't we be asking someone else like Aboriginals what they would want to do?

Not for me to say: 'A lot of people say: "do you think we should change the date?" I don't think I'm the person that we should ask,' Shane responded. shane is pictured in a scene from his upcoming film The BBQ. Also pictured is Magda Szubanski.

'I just don't think we're supposed to look at people like me and go: "Shane, what would you want to do?"

'I know a lot of people that were ancestors of ours that made a bunch of decisions. I don't think we're supposed to make the next decision. I think we should probably ask some other people and maybe shut up and listen.

Shane also revealed that he was 'unqualified' to speak with authority on the issue as he was a self-described 'illegal boat person.'

Open ears: 'I think we should probably ask some other people and maybe shut up and listen,' he added

'I'm an illegal boat person,' he said. 'It turns out my great grandfather jumped off a ship in Port Adelaide because he got here from Finland and went: "this is alright," and just ran. There was a $6000 reward on his head,' he revealed.

Shane said that whenever he is asked about his thought on what should happen in Australia, he rebuff the question by saying he doesn't know because he is 'an illegal boat person'.

With debate currently raging over whether to change the January 26 date as it is believed to be offensive to indigenous people, a recent poll, conducted by Research Now showed that 56 per cent of respondents didn't mind when the date fell, as reported in The Age.

Further, the survey showed that 84 per cent of Australians believed the country needs a national day of celebration.
She touched down in one of the world's most fashion conscious cities alongside her mother Cindy Crawford earlier in the day.

And it didn't take long for Kaia Gerber, 16, to let Paris know she had arrived as the teen stepped out in a seriously stylish ensemble ahead of a dinner date with a friend on Friday afternoon.

The model - who is in town following the start of Men's Paris Fashion Week 2018 - flaunted her fashion prowess as she perfected a look that ensured she was both warm and on trend.

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Model of the moment: It didn't take long for Kaia Gerber, 16, to let Paris know she had arrived as the teen stepped out in a seriously stylish ensemble ahead of a dinner date with a friend on Friday afternoon

Laughing alongside her pal, the giddy star sported a belted, leather trench coat, offset with a contrasting white T-shirt.

She paired the ensemble with cropped, flared jeans that boasted a stylish frayed hem, and square toe heeled boots.

Kaia gave her look an edgy finish by slipping on a pair of small pink shades which have made a comeback since their reign in her mother's 90s hey day.

Ooh la la! The model - who is in town following the start of Men's Paris Fashion Week - flaunted her fashion prowess as she perfected a look that ensured she was both warm and on trend

When in France: Cindy was pictured arriving in Paris for Fashion Week, wearing her jumper which had 'bonjour' emblazoned on the front

Starry-eyed: Kaia posed the day before in a scanty dress with a cut-out back, yet chose a less than glam backdrop as she posed in a toilet

The teen kept her hairstyle simple, sweeping her dark tresses into an easy high ponytail and opted for a minimal make-up look.

She toted a discreet yet ultra chic blue clutch bag with gold chain strap as she stopped into the Chanel store in Paris during the evening.

The outfit was a far cry to that Kaia donned earlier, when she touched down at Paris' Charles de Gaulle airport wearing a loose fitted hoodie and leggings.

She sashayed through the terminal alongside her supermodel icon mother, who donned a knitted sweater with 'Bonjour' emblazoned across the front in different coloured letters.

Finishing touches: Kaia gave her look an edgy finish by slipping on a pair of small pink shades which have made a comeback since their reign in her mother's 90s hey day

Icon: She looked effortlessly beautiful in a classic pair of jeans and biker boots

Demur style: The teen kept her hairstyle simple, sweeping her dark tresses into an easy high ponytail and opted for a minimal make-up look

Retro chic: She toted a discreet yet ultra chic blue clutch bag with gold chain strap as she stopped into the Chanel store in Paris during the evening

Shopping spree: Kaia was seen coming out of the Chanel store in the French capital

Men's Paris Fashion Week 2018 kicked off on Wednesday January 17 and it will wrap up on Sunday January 21.

Kate Moss, 44, and Naomi Campbell, 47, returned to the runway in matching Louis Vuitton trench coats as they honoured departing designer Kim Jones.

No doubt Kaia and Cindy will be back in the city of love in February as Women's Paris Fashion Week 2018 runs from Tuesday February 27 to Tuesday March 6.

Descendant from fashion royalty, Kaia has began to carve her own path in the great and the good of the modelling world.

Stepping out: No doubt Kaia and Cindy will be back in the city of love in February as Women's Paris Fashion Week 2018 runs from Tuesday February 27 to Tuesday March 6

Fashion royalty: Kaia, who rocked a pair of Pared Eyewear shades, was the spitting image of her youthful supermodel mum as they touched down earlier in the day

Comfy and chic: The IMG model cut a casual figure in a loose fitted hoodie and leggings when she sashayed through the terminal in trainers

Ready for Paris! Fashion royalty Cindy embraced the French culture as she donned a T-shirt with 'Bonjour' emblazoned across the front in different coloured letters

The rising star made her catwalk debut during New York Fashion Week in September 2017 after she rang in her 16th birthday.

Kaia already boasts of walking in glamorous runways for Chanel, Versace, Yves Saint Laurent and Isabel Marant.

The model also landed her first solo edition of the French fashion bible at the tender age of 16 while her mother had secured her first Vogue cover aged 20 in 1986.

It is no surprise that the American beauty has picked up a number of style tips from her famous mother.

'I'm so happy for Kaia and tell her there are no beauty secrets but she needs to remember to take off her make-up before she goes to bed each night,' Cindy told People in December 2017.

Close bond: They are arguably the most stylish mother and daughter in the showbiz circuit so it's no surprise they have proved inseparable

'I also tell her not to over tweeze her eyebrows because they wont necessarily grow back.'

Despite being one of the most famous supermodels to grace the catwalk, the mother revealed her children Kaia and Presley, 18, also love to give her advice.

She explained: 'I can suggest these health and beauty tips from my own experience but when it comes to modern technology, I have both of my kids advise me!'

Glamorous Cindy has been happily married to her children's father Rande Gerber ever since they tied the knot in 1998.
He became an international sex symbol after being cast as Christian Grey in the film adaption of erotic novel Fifty Shades Of Grey.

But Jamie Dornan, 35, has revealed his attempts to attract the opposite sex haven't always ended successfully  casting his mind back 20 years to recall an embarrassing ordeal.

Appearing on The Graham Norton Show, in an episode to be aired on Friday night, the actor told how he once cut up a black wig and glued it to his private parts in case he 'got lucky' at a party.

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Bad hair day: Jamie Dornan has revealed he once cut up a wig and glued it to his private parts in case he 'got lucky' as a teenager at a party

Baring all: The 35-year-old didn't spare any details about his ordeal - despite being sat next to Hollywood heavyweights Helen Mirren and Liam Neeson

Unfazed by the presence of Hollywood stars Helen Mirren and Liam Neeson on the sofa next to him, Jamie didn't spare any details.

He told the show: 'I was quite small and wasn't hairy at all  I was 15 and looked seven. On one particular day, I was in an amateur drama play and was going to a party after.

'For my role, I had bits of a black wig glued to my face for a beard and I decided to keep it for the party so I would look older. I also decided to cut up the rest of wig and glue it to my private parts just in case I got lucky.'

Flashback: The Fifty Shades Of Grey actor's confession will be aired on Friday night's episode of The Graham Norton Show

The stunt backfired on the young Northern Irishman when the time came to remove his improvised pubic hair.

He said: 'I didn't get lucky and removing the bits of wig ripped out the very small amount of natural hair I had down there. It was a physically and emotionally painful experience!'

Filming for the latest reprisal of his role as Christian Grey in Fifty Shades Freed also threw up an awkward moment involving, once again, his private parts.

'I didn't get lucky': The star's efforts were all in vain, however, as he didn't find himself a lady at the party - but he is now a globally famous movie star and heart throb

On-screen romance: The Northern Irishman also revealed his private parts were involved in another awkward moment during filming for Fifty Shades Freed

The actor talked about his sex scenes with co-star Dakota Johnson, 28, admitting he was horrified to learn his modesty cup had already been used.

He said: 'On set I wore a wee pouch to keep everything in.

'I was given a selection  for size I guess  and when I found one that fitted I took it off and noticed inside a label that said, 'Inmate number three'  clearly it had been worn before! I just had to grin and bear it.'
She's illustrious for her bold sense of style, frequently clashing her cuts and prints to piece together looks that garner a string of praise.

And Victoria Beckham retained her stylish reputation as she took to the streets of Madrid, Spain, in another fashion-forward ensemble on Friday - as her husband David revealed that she used to be a lover of seriously cheap wines.

After gracing a special Vogue Spain dinner in the wake of her breathtaking cover on Thursday night, the 43-year-old once again proved why she's considered somewhat of a fashion trailblazer.

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Fashionista: Victoria Beckham retained her stylish reputation as she took to the streets of Madrid, Spain, in another fashion-forward ensemble on Friday

Flashing a coy smile as she departed her city digs, Victoria sported a form-fitting navy roll neck jumper, paired with a billowing, patterned skirt.

The statement garment flowed to the ankle and was emblazoned with a striking white motif.

The fashion designer completed her chic city style with a black box bag and burgundy heeled boots.

Chic: After gracing a special Vogue Spain dinner in the wake of her breathtaking cover on Thursday night, the 43-year-old once again proved why she's considered somewhat of a fashion trailblazer

'She used to love a Blue Nun!': David recently revealed that his famously chic wife used to be a lover of seriously cheap wines

Her outing came as husband David revealed to ES magazine that while his wife might often be considered the epitome of sophistication, she actually had a penchant for cheap wine until he introduced her to the good stuff.

He confessed: 'Victoria didnt really drink wine up until very recently so she has all of a sudden discovered my passion.

Well she went through a stage of drinking a nice Blue Nun and a little bit of Lambrusco, but now its changed.

Dressed to impress: Flashing a coy smile as she departed her city digs, Victoria sported a form-fitting navy roll neck jumper, paired with a billowing, patterned skirt

Vibrant: Victoria's statement skirt flowed to the ankle and was emblazoned with a striking white motif

Finishing touches: The fashion designer completed her chic city style with a black box bag and burgundy heeled boots

Bye for now! Victoria waved goodbye to her crowded fans as she hopped into a car and departed her hotel

He continued: 'Ive introduced her to good, decent wine. I love Californian reds. I love the buttery-ness of Burgundy. Montrachet, I love. Cheval Blanc is one of my favourites.'

Bargain! Budget shoppers will no doubt be aware that a bottle of Lambrusco will set you back an exceedingly modest 2.50

Budget shoppers will no doubt be aware that a bottle of Lambrusco will set you back an exceedingly modest 2.50, while Blue Nun - a medium white wine - can be picked up for as little as 5.

His revelation might come as a surprise given that Victoria recently shared a picture of herself sipping on a glass of 2,500 wine and appeared to turn her nose up at the cheap stuff during an interview on This Morning.

Sharing an interview with her close friend Eva Longoria, the girls discussed how much they enjoy art and wine together, with Victoria appearing to snub a bottle at the cheaper end of the scale.

Former Desperate Housewives star Eva claimed she would spent her last 10 on wine, prompting Victoria to remark: 'For 10? I don't think you'd like it.'

In December, the former Spice Girl treated herself and son Brooklyn, 18, to an eye-wateringly expensive bottle of Screaming Eagle wine, known to sell for up to 2500 for just one bottle.

The Californian wine from Napa Valley and ranges on price depending on its year of production. The fine wine, that made its vintage in 1992, sells a bottle for an average price of 2,426 excluding tax, according to Wine Searcher.

Off she goes! The beauty adjusted her designer sunglasses before whizzing off

The good stuff: In December, the former Spice Girl treated herself and son Brooklyn, 18, to an eye-wateringly expensive bottle of Screaming Eagle wine

Not cheap! Screaming Eagle is known to cost around 2,500 a bottle

Star of the show: Her outing came after Victoria attended a special Vogue Spain dinner in the wake of her breathtaking cover on Thursday night

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Logan Paul, the YouTube star with a subscriber count topping 15 million, is still in hot water over his controversial Japan Suicide Forest dead body video.

Although TheOfficialLoganPaul star apologised for the suicide video, his net worth is likely to be impacted after YouTube axed him from the Google Preferred program and the YouTube Red series, Foursome.

His role in YouTube Reds The Thinning: New World Order has also been put on hold.

Who is Logan Paul?

Born in Westlake, Ohio on April 1, 1995, Logan Alexander Paul first rose to prominence through the social video platform, Vine. Prior to Vines discontinuation, the vlogger amassed over four billion loops on the social media outlet.

stallions A post shared by Logan Paul (@loganpaul) on Dec 16, 2017 at 3:32pm PST

Logan dropped out of Ohio University in 2014 to achieve his dream of being the biggest entertainer in the world.

In 2015, the same year his Facebook videos topped 300 million views, Logan Paul appeared on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Foxs Weird Loners.

However, his forays into Hollywood havent hit the heights of his YouTube success. Logan Pauls YouTube account, TheOfficialLoganPaul boasts 4.4 million subscribers while his Logan Paul Vlogs channel has 15.9 million subscribers. It is on the latter that Logan Paul apologised for the Japan Suicide Forest dead body video. Paul's apology video has been viewed 45 million times.

Logan Pauls brother, Jake Paul, is also a YouTube vlogger.

How much is Logan Pauls net worth?

Logan Pauls net worth has accumulated to $14 million (10.1m), according to Celebrity Net Worth.

Paul earned $12.5 million (9m) in 2017 alone, according to Forbes. The same year, Paul bought a 15,000-square-foot mansion in Los Angeles Calabasas for $6.9 million (4.9m).

How did Logan Paul make his money?

Perhaps surprisingly, Forbes estimates that YouTube ads only make up 25 percent, $3.25 million (2.34m), of Logan Pauls income.

In 2014, Business Insider reports that Logan Pauls first branded Vine post brought in $2,000 (1,440). Since then, with his profile growing exponentially, Paul has struck deals with the likes of Dunkin Donuts, HBO, Hanes, Doritos, Pepsi and Verizon.

Paul can command a fee of around $150,000 (108,000) per Facebook post and $80,000 (57,760) per Instagram post (a platform on which he has 16.2 million followers), according to Forbes.

As well as his social media presence, Logan earns money from TV and film appearances in shows such as Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. Logan also has his own clothing line, Maverick by Logan Paul.

However, since the controversy over the Logan Paul Suicide Forest video, his net worth may be affected, especially after YouTube distanced itself from the vlogger.

What is the Logan Paul dead body Suicide Forest controversy?

On December 31, 2017, Logan Paul uploaded a video entitled, We found a dead body, to YouTube that shows him and his friends walking through Japan's Aokigahara forest at the base of Mount Fuji and discovering a dead body hanging from a tree.

Logan Pauls net worth may be impacted over his 2017 Japan 'Suicide Forest' YouTube video

The forest has become known as the Japanese Suicide Forest due to its historical association with yurei, ghosts in Japanese mythology. It 'is known as a place where many people choose to commit suicide,' Karen Nakamura, an anthropology professor at Berkeley, told CNN.

In the YouTube video, Logan Paul is heard saying, You guys got a dead guy in the forest and Ive got to say, this is the top five craziest thing Ive ever seen in my life.

He also yells in the direction of the body, Yo, are you alive?

After asking his friend, What, youve never stood next to a dead guy, Paul starts laughing.

He was subsequently slammed for his response to seeing the dead body and for uploading it onto YouTube.

Breaking Bad star Aaron Paul condemned his actions on Twitter:

Dear @LoganPaul,



How dare you! You disgust me. I can't believe that so many young people look up to you. So sad. Hopefully this latest video woke them up. You are pure trash. Plain and simple. Suicide is not a joke. Go rot in hell.



Ap  Aaron Paul (@aaronpaul_8) January 2, 2018

After the backlash, Logan posted several apologies on Twitter, including a written statement and a recorded video.

However, celebrities such as Game of Thrones Sophie Turner branded it as self-praising.

@LoganPaul Youre an idiot. Youre not raising awareness. Youre mocking. I cant believe how self-praising your apology is. You dont deserve the success (views) you have. I pray to God you never have to experience anything like that man did.  Sophie Turner (@SophieT) January 2, 2018

For confidential support call the Samaritans on 116 123 or visit a local branch, see www.samaritans.org for details.
Sarah Jessica Parker proves that dressing glamorous shouldn't be reserved for evenings only.

On Friday, the 52-year-old Sex and the City star dazzled in flashy purple pumps as she made her way to the set of Good Morning America in New York City.

The Square Pegs star is known for her distinct style, and she affirmed this with her loud fashion statement early in the day.

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Loud heels: Sarah Jessica Parker made a big fashion statement by wearing metallic purple pumps on her way to the set of Good Morning America in New York on Friday

The Mars Attacks! actress complemented her stunning royal-colored heels with black fishnets that sparkled in glitter.

Parker was less ostentatious with the rest of her outfit by wearing a black high-waist skirt with floral patterns, a black floral blouse, and a black coat with pink floral trimming.

The mother of three wore her hair down and donned minimal makeup.

As the star headed to the set in Times Square, she appeared to be in good spirits and smiled frequently during her sighting.

Flashy pumps! The Sex and the City star is known for being a shoe lover, and she did not disappoint with her selection in the morning

The ensemble: The actress looked classy despite such a bold fashion choice as she made her way to Good Morning America

Loving her shoes: Parker was all smiles as she flaunted her extravagant shoes so early in the day

Good choice: The producer-actress pulled off the look as she walked with confidence in her purple pumps

Comfy feet: The SATC star posted a photo on Instagram after her visit to the news show and showed how she sometimes prefers to have her feet

Parker took to Instagram shortly after her television appearance and posted a photo that featured the flashy heels.

But instead of glamming it up and wearing them, the Hocus Pocus star chose to highlight a different accessory.

The fashionista wrote: 'Sometimes my husband's socks are just better. X, sj.'

Dressed in black: The blonde starlet supported the Time's Up movement at the 75th Annual Golden Globe Awards in Los Angeles by wearing all black

Parker currently stars in and produces the HBO series Divorce, which recently released a second season.

The glamorous blonde plays Frances Dufresne, a woman navigating her way through single life and motherhood, following her split from husband Robert, played by Thomas Haden Church.

The star's character also struggles to reconnect with her feisty teenage daughter in the show.

Bold fashion: Parker showed off another pair of glitzy shoes by wearing black sparkly boots during her visit to the set of the Ellen Degeneres show

On Wednesday, the Smart People actress sat down with Ellen DeGeneres who asked if a third film is possible without Kim Cattrall: 'So, she's not coming back but you can still do it without her right?'

Parker said, 'I think there's a period of grief, a mourning process and then perhaps we'll be able to consider, say for instance, you playing Samantha.'

Ellen joked: 'That is me. That's who I identify with on the show. That is me. I am a sexual beast.'
She unveiled the results of her early weight loss on Instagram, telling fans she had already lost five pounds in 12 days.

And Charlotte Crosby's followers rushed to compliment the star on her incredible new look, after she posted a snap of her new figure in a very tight red minidress.

The 27-year-old left little to the imagination in the racy number, which the star wore for a Valentine's Day-themed photoshoot.

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Jaw-dropping: Charlotte Crosby unveiled the incredible results of her five pound weight loss on Friday, posting a snap in a skintight red dress on Instagram - she claims it took her 12 days

Charlotte captioned the post: 'Shooting a very exciting valentines campaign with @inthestyle But being single ive decided to give you girls an early galentines gift from me!!'

The gorgeous star teamed her look with a matching statement red lip, along with a dramatic smoky eye and brows look, with her chocolate brown tresses poker straight.

Fans could not hold back their compliments for the stunning Geordie Shore star, with one saying she looked 'better than ever' in her new darker tresses.

Another wrote: 'Well looking beautiful' while a third commented: 'Red hot beauty.'

Gushing: Fans rushed to comment on Charlotte's snap on how amazing she looks, with one saying she looked 'better than ever'

The Heartbreak Diet: Charlotte previously revealed she had lost five pounds in twelve days, posting a snap in skintight gym wear

Charlotte unveiled the first results of her weight loss on Thursday, posting a snap in skintight gymwear.

She captioned the post: 'day12 of #30DayBlitz smashed 5 pounds down.'

The former Geordie Shore star recently admitted she wanted to 'shape up' following her split from Bear, speaking on This Morning about her plans for the future.

Moving forward: Charlotte recently revealed she was on a mission to 'shape up' following her split from Stephen Bear

She said: 'You have to turn it into a positive, to look the best you can look to get back at them, so they are looking at you going "How did I let them go?'"

The TV personality also revealed she had undergone a secret boob job in November after online trolls cruelly labelled her breasts 'deformed'.

Charlotte is also no stranger to weight loss struggles, after unflattering bikini snaps in 2014 spurred the star to lose two-and-a-half stone and four dress sizes.

Sensational: Charlotte has also revealed that she had a boob job in November after trolls left nasty comments on social media labelling her breasts 'deformed'

The beauty unveiled her new look in 2015 during an appearance on This Morning, after she admitted to drinking pints of Irish cream Baileys.

She said: 'I've changed my lifestyle to be healthier. I still drink but I've cut it down, I used to have pints of Baileys, I loved it.

'Before I didn't do any exercise. I did not want to go to gym, I felt intimidated as I didn't know what I was doing and I felt like people were staring at me.'
It's been five years since the original Jersey Shore left our TV screens.

And on Thursday, Nicole 'Snooki' LaValle, 30, showed just how much she's changed in those intervening years when she stepped out onto Miami Beach, Florida, to shoot the Jersey Shore spinoff, Family Vacation.

The reality TV star has admitted to regularly getting Botox and lip fillers and is rumored to have had a nose job.

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New look Snooki: Nicole LaValle was spotted in Miami for the filming of the reboot Jersey Shore: Family Reunion on Thursday

Buxom: The mother-of-two got breast implants in 2016 as part of a 'mommy make-over' after breastfeeding 'destroyed' her chest

The mother-of-two got breast implants in 2016 as part of a 'mommy make-over' after breastfeeding 'destroyed' her chest.

She also lost weight through regular fitness sessions after giving up her hard-drinking and partying.

The dancer married Jionni LaValle in 2014 and the pair share two children, Lorenzo, five, and Giovanna, three.

Transformation! The reality TV star has admitted to getting Botox, lip fillers and a breast enlargement. She is also rumored to have had a nose job. She is pictured right in 2010

Flashback: Snooki, with her co-stars in 2010, used to refer to herself as a 'meatball'

Her best assets: The petite mother-of-two drew plenty of attention from onlookers, many of whom snapped pictures of the celebrity

Future's so bright: The buxom TV star hid her eyes behind mirrored sunglasses

The new-look Snooki arrived on set ready to roll, with a venti-sized Starbucks coffee in hand and wearing a black and red themed ensemble.

The sometimes professional wrestler wore a low cut red and black striped blouse that showed off her augmented chest, with three quarter length black leggings and a red and black check shirt tied around her waist.

The 4'8" reality TV star wore her shorter wavy raven tresses out and with blonde highlights, in a departure from her previous longer, darker hairstyles.

The boys are back in town: Paul 'DJ Pauly D' DelVecchio, 37, and Ronnie 'Ortiz' Magro, 32, landed in Miami on Thursday

Meanwhile, Paul 'DJ Pauly D' DelVecchio, 37, and Ronnie 'Ortiz' Magro, 32, touched down in Miami on Thursday and were immediately enjoying the attention.

The pair posed happily for photos alongside their luggage, while still dressed casually from their flight.

Both men were decked out in distressed jeans, T-shirts and hi-top sneakers.

Undercover mother: JWoww covered up for the day in a heavy camouflage coat

Jennifer 'JWoww' Farley looked even more casual than her Snooki & JWoww co-star, rocking a camouflage jacket over a tan tank top as she strolled onto set.

While The Marriage Boot Camp: Reality Stars performer has previously denied having plastic surgery done herself, she admitted to ET that she's not opposed to getting some work done in the future.

'I do not want a saggy face in 30 years!' she said.

But that hasn't ruled out botox, which the mother-of-two readily admitted to People she had done.

'I dont like wrinkles,' said the 31-year-old.

Vinny Guadagnino, 30, meanwhile, looked relaxed in dark jeans, sneakers and a black jacket over a blue T-shirt.

Gym, tan, laundry: Vinny Guadagnino, 30, meanwhile, looked relaxed in dark jeans, sneakers and a black jacket over a blue T-shirt

Here they come! The only cast member not returning for Family Vacation is Sammi 'Sweetheart' Giancola

Botoxed beauty! 'I dont like wrinkles,' said the 31-year-old of her stance on Botox

Skin to spare! Deena Nicole Cortese, 31, wore a very revealing dress on Friday

One notable absentee was the man known as Michael 'The Situation' Sorrentino, 35.

Sorrentino had his day in a New Jersey court on Friday, where it was anticipated he would plead guilty to tax fraud.

The reality TV star is facing up to 15 years in prison, which may rule him out of the MTV series entirely.

Bad situation: Mike 'The Situation' Sorrentino, 35, arrived at the U.S. District Court of New Jersey on Friday morning where he is expected to plead guilty to tax evasion charges

No fist pumping today: The reality TV star, seen here with girlfriend Lauren Pesce, is facing up to 15 years in prison, which may rule him out of the MTV series entirely

Snooki and JWoww jetted into Florida on Thursday with fellow cast member Deena Nicole Cortese, 31.

The trio were all spotted with their belongings in hand arriving on set later that day.

Deena had previously told PageSix in 2011 that she's had a nose job.

Snooki had her light checkered purse on her arm as she made her way outside alongside Deena, wearing a black tank top, flannel shirt around her waist, and metallic sunglasses.

Gang's all here! The show's beloved cast members, Snooki, JWoww, and Deena were all spotted with their belongings in hand, not long after jetting into the Florida destination on Thursday to begin filming Jersey Shore: Family Vacation

JWoww rocked a camouflage print jacket that showcased a hint of cleavage, along with a pair of comfortable sweatpants and white sneakers.

She wore her dark tresses down in a sleek and straight style, along with a pair of black glasses.

Just before taking off, Snooki rounded up the girls for a selfie as they waited for their flight at LaGuardia Airport earlier that day.

Stepping out: JWoww rocked a camouflage print jacket that showcased a hint of cleavage, along with a pair of comfortable leggings and white sneakers

Leading ladies! Snooki had her light checkered purse on her arm as she made her way outside alongside Deena, wearing a black tank top, flannel shirt around her waist, and metallic sunglasses

'& we're off! Get ready for a wild season kids,' Snooki captioned the snap.

The remainder of the cast took to social media to chronicle their journey to Miami.

Vinny Guadagnino took a selfie from inside the airplane, declaring to fans he wasn't going to be as active on social media as he was going to be 'busy' for a while.

Girls only! Snooki took a selfie just before jetting off to Miami with JWoww and Deena

'#Miami bound . You guys might not see me posting that much for a little while. Ill be busy. Love you all , and a big kiss to my haters #JSFamilyVacation,' he captioned the photo.

JWoww, meanwhile, posted a photo of her children as she spent quality time with them just before jetting off.

'Took my babies to play games and eat burgers last night,' she captioned the snap. 'daddy will be taking good care of you while bad moms meet @jerseyshore haha #jsfamilyvacation @rogermathewsnj.'

'Miami bound': Vinny took a selfie from inside the airplane, declaring to fans he wasn't going to be as active on social media as he was going to be 'busy' for a while

The main castmates from the fly-on-the-wall series, which aired from 2009 to 2012, will all be returning - with the exception of Sammi 'Sweetheart' Giancola.

Paul 'Pauly D' Delvecchio, Jenni 'JWOWW' Farley, Vinny Guadagnino, Ronnie Ortiz-Magro, Nicole 'Snooki' Polizzi, and Mike 'The Situation' Sorrentino and Deena Nicole Cortese are all confirmed.

Mike, however, will be pleading guilty in his tax evasion trial.

'Daddy will be taking good care of you': JWoww shared photos as she spent quality time with her children ahead of her trip

Both the Jersey Shore star and his brother/manager Marc were facing up to 20 years after failing to report almost $9million in earnings.

This week the Department of Justice and the US Attorney's Office in New Jersey filed documents informing the judge about the siblings' plea, according to The Blast.

However, Us Weekly has reported Mike will be able to film the reunion episode.

Coffee break! Deena got in her cup of Joe bright and early

The MTV series premiered in 2009 and became a huge hit, following the antics of a tight-knit group of friends partying on the Jersey Shore.

The reboot was able to record some scenes for the reunion in their home of New Jersey over the summer, but encountered resistance in their attempts to film it.

Asbury Park Press reported over the summer that an application for a permit to film the show in popular Seaside Heights was rejected.

So fly: Pauly D and Ronnie Magro struck a pose during their flight

Peter Mantas of Langosta Lounge said they turned down the show after it asked to film at the establishment.

'They called 10 days before they wanted to film and we said no freaking way, itll be bad publicity,' he told the website.

Jersey Shore's producer, Bright Road Productions, was able to film in Asbury Park - though they applied under the name Roadtrip Reunion.

No premiere date has been set for the upcoming reboot.
She proved her supermodel prowess after returning to the catwalk with fellow Nineties fashion icon Naomi Campbell one day before.

And model Kate Moss, 44, made the Parisian streets her own fashion show as she left The Ritz Hotel in the French capital on Friday while flanked with her boyfriend Count Nikolai von Bismarck, with whom she has become inseparable.

The timeless beauty bundled up against the chilly day in an effortlessly chic ensemble, embellished with a head-turning teal scarf by Rockins while also showing off her staggering model legs in over-the-knee boots.

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Stylish: Supermodel Kate Moss flaunted her famous statuesque frame in orange thigh-high boots while stepping out in Paris

Her striking pop of colour was matched with an equally decadent snake-skin print silk scarf - an eye-catching choice against her simple black jumper.

Kate continued her demure sartorial choices with black skinny jeans, which hugged her famously statuesque pins.

She paced the Parisian streets in the sensational burnt orange thigh-high leather boots, intensely contrasting the turquoise of her statement leather bag.

Stunning beauty: The timeless beauty bundled up against the chilly day in an effortlessly chic ensemble, embellished with a head-turning teal scarf by Rockins

Couple up: Kate, who celebrated her 44nd birthday with Nikolai, continued her demure sartorial choices with black skinny jeans, which hugged her famous statuesque pins

The Croydon native wrapped up against the cold in a smart black blazer, with stylish silk cuffs, and tuned down her usual glamour with a subtle collection of gold rings.

Kate's natural beauty radiated through her untouched fresh faced, stepping out with minimal make-up, with her signature mousy blonde hair tucked into her bold neck wear.

On Thursday, Kate took the Parisian fashion world by storm as she reunited with supermodel heavyweight Naomi Campbell, 47, at Louis Vuitton's Fall-Winter 2019 showcase for Paris Fashion Week Men's, both sporting matching vinyl trench coats and DM boots.

Perfection: Her striking pop of colour was matched with an equally decadent snake-skin print silk scarf - an eye-catching choice against her simple black jumper

Fresh-faced: The Croydon native wrapped up against the cold in a smart black blazer, with stylish silk cuffs, and tuned down her usual glamour with a subtle collection of gold rings

Shopping trip: Kate's natural beauty radiated through her untouched fresh faced, stepping out with minimal make-up, with her signature mousy blonde hair tucked into her bold neck wear

The esteemed catwalk stars were on the arm of English fashion designer Kim Jones when he did a victory lap of the Palais Royal on a presentation that marked the 39-year-old's departure from the fashion house after seven years.

Kate and Naomi have both walked for Louis Vuitton on numerous occasions during their high-flying 20-year careers.

In fact, it was the 2011 show - headed up by Marc Jacobs - at which Kate announced her retirement from the catwalk.

In what's turning out to be a busy Parisian trip for the model, she also rang in her 44th birthday with Nikolai in a romantic trip in the French capital on Tuesday.

Wrapped up: Kate took the Parisian fashion world by storm as she reunited with supermodel heavyweight Naomi Campbell, 47, at Louis Vuitton's Fall-Winter 2019 showcase for Paris Fashion Week Men's
She has played everything from a sultry Bond vixen in Die Another Day to a psychopathic murderer in the thriller Gone Girl.

And Rosamund Pike is flexing her acting muscles once again with her latest role as the late award-winning war correspondent Marie Colvin in A Private War.

The 38-year-old British beauty looked unrecognisable as she donned Marie's famous eye patch while filming scenes on a lake in Oxford on Friday.

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Gritty new role: Rosamund Pike (left) is playing the late award-winning war correspondent Marie Colvin (right) in A Private War

The blonde beauty looked worlds away from her usual Hollywood glamour during the day of filming, wrapping up in a black anorak and woolly polo-neck jumper.

Warding off the January chill, she added black gloves and a beanie as she rowed on a small sailing boat.

Rosamund, who was cast in the role of Marie in April, looked fully immersed in the role as she shot scenes during the blistering cold day.

She plays Colvin, an award-winning American war reporter who filed reports from conflict zones including Chechnya, Kosovo, Sierra Leone, Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka, where she lost her left eye in 2001.

Worlds apart: The 38-year-old British beauty looked unrecognisable as she donned Marie's famous eye patch while filming scenes on a lake in Oxford on Friday

Who's that? The blonde beauty looked worlds away from her usual Hollywood glamour during the day of filming, wrapping up in a black anorak and woolly poloneck jumper

Wrapping up: Warding off the January chill, she added black gloves and a beanie as she rowed on a small sailing boat

She became known for her distinctive eye patch and tragically died during a rocket attack in 2012 while covering the civil war in Syria - just hours after telling the world how Bashar al-Assad's army was 'simply shelling a city of cold, starving civilians'.

A Private War chronicles her life's work and is adapted from Marie Brenner's 2012 Vanity Fair article Marie Colvin's Private War.

Marie's family have since launched legal action against the Syrian government. charging it with arranging her death in 2012.

Icon: Rosamund plays Colvin (pictured), an award-winning American war reporter who filed reports from conflict zones including Chechnya, Kosovo, Sierra Leone, Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka, where she lost her left eye in 2001

Tragic: She became known for her distinctive eye patch and tragically died during a rocket attack in 2012 while covering the civil war in Syria - just hours after telling the world how Bashar al-Assad's army was 'simply shelling a city of cold, starving civilians'

Brave: A Private War chronicles her life's work and is adapted from Marie Brenner's 2012 Vanity Fair article Marie Colvin's Private War (pictured, Marie in 1999)

According to a lawsuit filed in Washington in 2016, figures at the 'highest level' of Assad's government were part of a conspiracy to attack a makeshift media center used at the time by reporters in the besieged city of Homs.

Marie and French photographer Remi Ochlik were killed when a rocket slammed into the ground by the front door, sending shrapnel and splinters tearing through the house that severely injured British photographer Paul Conroy and Syrian translator Wael al-Omar

According to the legal papers, the plot to kill the journalists was drawn up by the Central Crisis Management Cell, a war cabinet set up by Assad.

Leading lady: A United Kingdom star Rosamund was cast in the role of Marie for the biographical drama last April

Dedicated: She appeared fully immersed in the role as she shot scenes during the blistering cold day.

Controversy: Marie's family have since launched legal action against the Syrian government. charging it with arranging her death in 2012

Conspiracy: According to a lawsuit filed in Washington in 2016, figures at the 'highest level' of Assad's government were part of a conspiracy to attack a makeshift media center used at the time by reporters in the besieged city of Homs

The night before the attack, the tip and plan of action was shared with his office, according to the papers.

Rosamund will star alongside Hunger Games star Stanley Tucci, Jamie Dornan (who will play Paul Conroy) and Tom Hollander.

It is being directed by BAFTA and Oscar nominated filmmaker Matthew Heineman - his first narrative project after helming feature documentaries including Cartel Land and City of Ghosts.

Horror: Marie and French photographer Remi Ochlik were killed when a rocket slammed into the ground by the front door, sending shrapnel and splinters tearing through the house that severely injured British photographer Paul Conroy and Syrian translator Wael al-Oma

Nightmare: According to the legal papers, the plot to kill the journalists was drawn up by the Central Crisis Management Cell, a war cabinet set up by Assad

Allegations: The night before the attack, the tip and plan of action was shared with his office, according to the papers

In good hands: A Private War is being directed by BAFTA and Oscar nominated filmmaker Matthew Heineman - his first narrative project after helming feature documentaries including Cartel Land and City of Ghosts
Jesse Williams' divorce just got a little bit more expensive.

The Grey's Anatomy star's monthly spousal support payments have been increased from $33k to $50k, TMZ reported.

Aryn Drake-Lee made the request to the court based on his ability to pay, and the judge granted it.

Pays anatomy! Jesse Williams spousal support payments to estranged wife Aryn Drake-Lee have increased from $33 to $50k per month amid bitter custody battle

Under the new agreement, the Aryn is responsible for all mortgage payments and expenses on the family home.

She is also entitled half of his residual cheques from September 2102 to April 2017

Jesse, 36, recently accused his estranged wife, 34, of stopping him from seeing their children in accordance with their custody agreement.

The former couple share two children: Sadie, four, and Maceo, two; in November he was granted overnight visits with his kids.

Bitter battle: Jesse, 36, recently accused his estranged wife, 34, of stopping him from seeing their children in accordance with their custody agreement

This month he asked a judge to modify the custody agreement after clkaiming Aryn makes it difficult for him to maintain a stable relationship with yhem.

In legal documents Jesse says he didn't get adequate time with the children on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and that Aryn also kept the children with her on New Year's Day.

The Butler actor also claims that Aryn answers only one out of every three of his Facetime phone calls and restricts the conversations with his children to only a few minutes.

According to TMZ Jesse is requesting a regular schedule to be enforced and custody on two weekdays.

The actor and his real estate broker ex previously reached other terms in their settlement, including no Uber or Lyft rides for the children, that both parents must childproof their homes and that they must ensure the kids wear helmets while riding bikes.

The Cabin In The Woods star has been linked romantically with his Grey's Anatomy co-star, 37-year-old Minka Kelly. She has repeatedly denied she had anything to do with the split.
They celebrated their first anniversary with a sun-drenched festive trip to Morocco, where they first began their romance.

And Yazmin Oukhellou and James Lock looked as smitten as ever as they hit the red carpet for the world premiere of Fast and Furious Live at London's 02 Arena.

The 24-year-old TOWIE star flashed a peek of her cleavage in a plunging caped jumpsuit as she cosied up to her entrepreneur boyfriend at the star-studded event on Friday.

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Cute couple: Yazmin Oukhellou and James Lock looked as smitten as ever as they hit the red carpet for the world premiere of Fast and Furious Live at London's 02 Arena

The brunette beauty certainly took centre-stage in her figure-hugging one-piece, which cinched in her tiny waist and featured accentuated shoulders.

Letting her statement garment do all the talking, Yazmin added height to her petite frame with a killer pair of metallic Valentino studded T-bar heels.

Showing off her bronzed glow from weeks spent sunbathing in Marrakesh, the reality star styled her glossy raven tresses in polished waves.

Yazmin, who recently unveiled her nose job, framed her features with lashings of mascara and a slick of nude lipgloss.

Turning heads: The 24-year-old TOWIE star flashed a peek of her cleavage in a plunging caped jumpsuit as she cosied up to her entrepreneur boyfriend at the star-studded event on Friday

Back to reality: The pair showed off their tans from their recent sun-drenched festive trip to Morocco, where they celebrated their first anniversary

Looking good: The brunette beauty certainly took centre-stage in her figure-hugging one-piece, which cinched in her tiny waist and featured accentuated shoulders

Action packed: The fast-paced live-action car race boasted new characters, as well as an introduction by original cast member Vin Diesel

On your marks: The high-impact stage show includes eight of the original 'hero' cars used in the successful racing franchise

The couple seemed excited for Fast & Furious Live, which aims to recreate the elaborate stunts for which the films are known.

'We talked about a live show, but we'd never imagined it in the way that Rowland (creative director, Rowland French) imagined it,' Vin Diesel said.

The show features around 40 vehicles, including tanks, trucks, a submarine and dozens of fire-spitting, customized muscle cars.

It uses 3D projection technology to help give the illusion that car chases are taking place over distances much greater than the inside of an arena.

Fast and The Furious, about a gang of illegal street racers, has spawned eight films since 2001, with two more in development, a forthcoming spin-off film, video games and theme park rides.

Light show: The impressive stage performances include 'art immersive 3D projection' onto the stage

Impressive: Matching up to their franchise name, the stage show wowed the crowd with stunts and pyrotechnics

Ready for her close-up: Yazmin, who recently unveiled her nose job, framed her features with lashings of mascara and a slick of nude lipgloss

Killer heels: Letting her statement garment do all the talking, Yazmin added height to her petite frame with a killer pair of metallic Valentino studded T-bar heels

Flirty in florals: Strictly Come Dancing professional Karen Clifton looked chic in a cherry-print minidress and racy thigh-high boots

Looking good: The 35-year-old, who has been facing split rumours from her estranged husband Kevin, put on a brave face as she hit the red carpet

Monochrome maven: The professional dancer injected a dose of heavy-duty chic into her ultra-feminine look with a weathered leather jacket

The franchise survived the death of one of its main stars, Paul Walker, killed in a car crash in 2013.

'I think he would totally get a kick out of, out of seeing our little movie turn into this show at the O2 arena,' Diesel said. 'He'd get a kick out of that.'

Meanwhile, Yazmin and James are no doubt relishing their time away at her family villa in the former imperial city, having previously found themselves locking horns with James' ex Danielle Armstrong.

James and Danielle dated for four years but decided to call it quits in 2016, before he went on to find love with Yazmin.

However the two women have had a fragile relationship, often taking to social media to publicly feud and insult one another on many occasions after Danielle insisted James still had feelings for her.

Sweet couple: Love Island star Olivia Buckland looked loved-up as she attended with her fiance Alex Bowen

Monochrome maven: The 24-year-old flaunted her gym-honed figure in a skintight white bodysuit teamed with black skinny jeans

Check her out: Olivia injected a dose of wintry chic to her look with an opulent Burberry scarf

Cute: Alex and Olivia met on Love Island in 2016 and embarked on a whirlwind romance, which saw them get engaged in New York City just five months later

Loved-up: The couple readily admit that making their relationship work after the ITV2 show was 'hard work'- but credit their long-lasting romance to the fact they put in the effort to see each other every day after their stint in the villa

Although it looks like the trio have now buried the hatchet after Danielle made a surprise return to the TOWIE show this Halloween where they appeared to make up.

Ahead of the holiday with her handsome beau, the reality TV star revealed she would also be joined by both hers and James' family, which she likened to the hit comedy film Meet The Fockers.

Speaking to the Daily Star she said, 'My dad has got a villa in Marrakech so James and his family are coming out with my family for Christmas.

Lady in red: Elysia Wren, who is Fast And Furious Live's leading lady, stunned in a showstopping scarlet gown

Glamorous: The British actress flaunted her incredible physique in the figure-hugging gown, which featured a racy thigh-split and a sheer floral lace neckline

Double trouble: She cosied up to her co-star ark Ebulu, who looked dapper in a grey suit

Handsome: The actor added a pop of colour with a bright crimson tie and matching pocket square

Man of the hour: Vin Diesel appeared to be having a whale of a time as he entertained the crowds on the red carpet

Loving life: The 50-year-old actor beamed as he flashed heart signs at the crowds

Wearing his heart on his sleeve: The Californian star appeared to be in great spirits as he affectionately greeted his fans

There you go! He stopped to sign autographs and take photos with a line of enthusiastic fans

'Crazy concept': Talking to BBC's Newsbeat, Vin Diesal, who plays street racer Dominic Toretto, called the new experience a 'benchmark in entertainment'

Morocco holds fond memories for the striking brunette, whose romance with the strapping TOWIE hunk, who she met through her brother, began when they 'started talking' during a month long visit in 2016.

'It's going to be a bit like Meet The Fockers! Last year my family and I went out there for a month and that's when I started speaking to James.

'I'd known him a long time as he was close to my brother but we'd always been off-limits out of respect to my brother and because he had a girlfriend.

Taking centre-stage: Amelia Lily looked stylish in a white polka dot wrap dress and leather jacket

Dazzling: The 22-year-old X factor star added height with a chunky pair of lace-up patent boots

Preened to perfection: The Celebrity Big Brother star styled her golden tresses in polished waves and plumped her pout with taupe lipstick

Stunning: The blonde beauty also followed suit in her own biker jacket, which many stars chose for the racing bash

Say it in stripes: Former Girls Aloud singer Nicola Roberts looked typically fashion-forward in pinstriped co-ords and a crocodile skin bag

Working her angles: The 32-year-old flicked her hair and pouted as she posed up a storm on the red carpet

Professional: Adding an intriguing design element to her outfit, the pop star's suit was embroidered with a picture of a tiger prowling next to a man

'We spoke everyday for a month. And look at us now!'

But while they ready themselves for their first anniversary, Yazmin dismisses any notion of a Christmas proposal, admitting it may well be 'a couple of years' before he gets down on one knee - and only after he seeks her father's permission.

The pair appear to be going from strength to strength, with Yazmin recently sharing a gushing tribute to James for his birthday on Instagram.

Like father, like son: EastEnders star Shane Richie brought along his sweet 11-year-old son Mackenzie

Bust a move: The 53-year-old seemed to be in touch with his inner youth as he pulled a series of hand gestures with his son

Mind tricks: Magician Dynamo also hit the red carpet, joining in on the biker jacket trend

Intricate: His chocolate leather jacket was embellished with a detailed white patterning

Thumbs up: Obviously never far away from a car, Little Stig joined the high-impact stage show party

Sharing a string of loved-up snaps with the entrepreneur, she wrote: 'HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my best-friend, boyfriend & soulmate.

'Im so grateful that you came into my life and showed me what a true relationship is! I know Im difficult to deal with at times and love the fact you still stand by me. Weve shared so many amazing memories already and I cant wait to share even more. Ive gone right back to our very first ever pic.

' Happy Birthday my love, I hope this is your best one yet. Love you always.'

Thrill ride: The show features around 40 vehicles, including tanks, trucks, a submarine and dozens of fire-spitting, customized muscle cars

Innovation: 'We talked about a live show, but we'd never imagined it in the way that Rowland (creative director, Rowland French) imagined it,' Vin Diesel said

Death defying: Fast & Furious Live aims to recreate the elaborate stunts for which the films are known

Wrapping up: Kirstie Allsopp rocked a black midi dress teamed with chic ankle boots and an orange scarf

Beaming: The TV personality smiled as she attended the live show, which boasts high octane stunt action

Flashing the flesh: Shireen Jathoonia (L) and Kayla Cadorna caught the eye with their skimpy ensembles

Dapper guy: Former footballer and Celebrity Big Brother star Jamie O'Hara kept things casual in a white shirt and camel coat

Quite the trio: 19: Tattoo Fixers Alice Perrin (C) and Sketch also attended the premiere in matching all-black outfits

Animated display: Elysia put on a sizzling appearance as she switched into a chic outfit for her stage performance

Ab-tastic! The love interest showcased her taut mid-section in her sports bra

Sultry! She paired her stylish ensemble with skinny jeans and a light brown leather jacket

Confident: She commanded attention with her daring performance as she stood on trendy heeled boots
She furiously slammed reports that she 'occasionally' visited her acid attacker ex Arthur Collins in prison, in a lengthy tweet on Thursday.

And Ferne McCann seemed determined to cast the controversy aside, as she enjoyed a day out with her sweet three-month-old daughter Sunday a day later.

Showing off her newly-blonde 'do, the 27-year-old former TOWIE star looked ultra chic in a fur-trim vinyl jacket and leather-look trousers during the relaxed outing.

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Cute moment: Ferne McCann, 27, enjoyed a day out with her sweet three-month-old daughter Sunday on Friday - just one day after denying claims she 'occasionally' visits her acid attacker ex Arthur Collins in prison

The blonde beauty layered a simple white button-up blouse under her chic outerwear during the solo outing in her native Essex.

She completed her stylish monochrome ensemble with a heavy-duty pair of black studded biker boots.

Styling her honey-hued tresses in a middle-parting, the former Celebs Go Dating star framed her features with lashings of mascara and taupe lipgloss.

The reality star looked every inch the independent mother as she assembled Sunday's pram behind her car before going for a stroll.

Sweet: Ferne looked every inch the doting mother as she carefully placed Sunday in her pram

Dazzling: Showing off her newly-blonde 'do, the former TOWIE star looked ultra chic in a fur-trim vinyl jacket

Chic: The blonde beauty layered a simple white button-up blouse under her chic outerwear during the solo outing in her native Essex

Never one to miss out on a social engagement, Ferne met up with her former TOWIE co-stars James 'Arg' Argent and Cara Kilbey for lunch on Friday.

James looked utterly smitten as he spent some time with Sunday, sharing a snap of himself cuddling the tot on Instagram.

He captioned the cute shot: 'Quality time with little Sunday, I love her!'

Ferne's outing comes after she debuted her new lighter locks in a series of sultry Instagram shots.

Precious cargo: Ferne, who gave birth to Sunday in November, lovingly cradled her adorable tot

Killer footwear: She completed her stylish monochrome ensemble with a heavy-duty pair of black studded biker boots

Preened to perfection: Styling her honey-hued tresses in a middle-parting, the former Celebs Go Dating star framed her features with lashings of mascara and taupe lipgloss

Guilty: Arthur, who is currently serving a 20-year sentence for an acid attack, was jailed for a further eight months on Wednesday for using a smuggled mobile phone in his cell

She pouted in a series of snaps displaying her 'unbelievable' lighter mane as she told fans she 'fancied a change'.

Donning a black and white sweater, the formerly brunette star pouted as she showed off her honey-hued tresses.

She wrote in the caption: 'Fancied A Change... lets see who has more fun.'

Ferne, who shares two-month-old daughter Sunday with Arthur, also gushed over the 'unbelievable colour change'.

Packing up: The reality star looked every inch the independent mother as she assembled Sunday's pram behind her car before going for a stroll

Image overhaul: Ferne's outing comes after she debuted her new lighter locks in a series of sultry Instagram shots

Oops! Ferne visited her former TOWIE co-star James 'Arg' Argent on Friday, who shared a snap of the tot's sick and captioned it cheekily: 'Thanks Sunday!'

Adorable: James looked utterly smitten as he spent some time with Sunday, sharing a snap of himself cuddling the tot on Instagram. He captioned the cute shot: 'Quality time with little Sunday, I love her!'

Her hair transformation comes hours after she took to social media to slam claims that she has visited Arthur in prison on more than one occasion.

Arthur's barrister was reported to have said that she has visited him 'occasionally' while speaking in court.

However, the 27-year-old reality star said: 'I am posting this so it cannot be misquoted and sets the record straight.

'The story today says that I have been visiting Sunday's father in prison. As I have already made clear, I visited him once and I have not been to see him since.

'I have repeatedly made clear that I have not been to see him... Again and for absolute clarity, I do not in anyway condone the actions that took place in Mangle on April 2017.

Having a whale of a time: The reality star appeared to be having a whale of a time as she smiled down at Sunday

New look: She pouted in a series of snaps displaying her 'unbelievable' lighter mane as she told fans she 'fancied a change'

Not impressed: Her hair transformation comes hours after she took to social media to slam claims that she has visited Arthur in prison on more than one occasion

'Nobody should be faced with violence on a night out and the victims have my fullest sympathy. Respectfully, Ferne.'

It had been reported that Collins' barrister revealed in court that Ferne 'occasionally visits him' with Sunday and his sister - two months after she claimed she had cut all ties with her ex.

However, Rebecca Randall later explained the error to Mirror Online, saying: 'Unfortunately, my comments were misreported yesterday. I said that his daughter has visited him with HIS mother and sister. I didnt say its mother.'

It has been well documented that Ferne visited Arthur in prison once and she is thought to have informed him at the time that he would not be seeing baby Sunday again.

Allegations: Arthur's barrister was reported to have said that she has visited him 'occasionally' while speaking in court

Not having it: However, the 27-year-old reality star said: 'I am posting this so it cannot be misquoted and sets the record straight

Setting the record straight: She added: 'The story today says that I have been visiting Sunday's father in prison. As I have already made clear, I visited him once and I have not been to see him since. 'I have repeatedly made clear that I have not been to see him'

Arthur is currently serving a 20-year sentence for an acid attack, was jailed for a further eight months on Wednesday for using a smuggled mobile phone in his cell.

Appearing in Woolwich Crown Court, Arthur's barrister Rebecca had also said Arthur had used a smuggled mobile to call Ferne while she was pregnant.

She said: 'The only reason Mr Collins had that phone was to contact, privately, his girlfriend and friends and family.

'His girlfriend at the time was heavily pregnant with his first child. That child is now two months old and occasionally visits him with its mother and his sister.'

The former TOWIE star confirmed she was pregnant with his child during an emotional interview on This Morning in May, after Arthur had been arrested and charged.

Backtracking: However, Rebecca Randall later explained the error to Mirror Online, saying: 'Unfortunately, my comments were misreported yesterday. I said that his daughter has visited him with HIS mother and sister. I didnt say its mother'

Parted ways: It has been well documented that Ferne visited Arthur in prison once and she is thought to have informed him at the time that he would not be seeing baby Sunday again

Ferne welcomed Sunday in November, and took her to Category A Belmarsh prison three weeks later - where she reportedly told her ex: 'You have ruined our lives. This is what you have done.

'And this is what you are missing out on. You will never see us again.'

Speaking about the dramatic visit, she later told Sunday People: 'I went to see Arthur and I took Sunday with me. This was because I am very angry about what has happened and I needed to communicate that and wanted to hear what Arthur had to say.

'I strongly feel for the innocent people hurt that night and I in no way condone violence as I have already made clear.

'It was a difficult decision to take Sunday into that environment but I felt I needed to confront him about a number of things, which I have now done.'

On Wednesday Arthur was jailed for another eight months, for using a smuggled mobile phone to call Ferne from his prison cell.

Moving on: Ferne welcomed Sunday in November, and took her to Category A Belmarsh prison three weeks later - where she reportedly told her ex: 'You have ruined our lives. This is what you have done'

Not happy: Speaking about the dramatic visit, she later told Sunday People : 'I went to see Arthur and I took Sunday with me. This was because I am very angry about what has happened and I needed to communicate that and wanted to hear what Arthur had to say'

He is currently serving a 20-year sentence for hurling the corrosive liquid across a crowded dance floor in an east London nightclub.

Last month he admitted hiding a phone, two SIM cards and two memory sticks inside a crutch while awaiting trial over the attack, which left 16 people with chemical burns and three people temporarily blinded.

Arthur claimed he had used the device to make private calls to then pregnant Ferne, ahead of the birth of their daughter Sunday in November.

Appearing at Woolwich Crown Court by video link from high security Belmarsh prison, he showed no emotion on Wednesday as he was sentenced for a single charge of possessing a prohibited item while in prison.

Mane attraction: Ferne defiantly shared an Instagram selfie of her newly blonde hair (left) on Thursday

Transformation: She revealed she wanted to have 'more fun' as she unveiled her new 'do

Judge Nicholas Heathcote Williams said: 'The presence of a mobile phone or component part such as a Sim card has many implications, not only for the prison establishment, but also the wider environment.

'It provides a prisoner or prisoners with an opportunity to communicate they would otherwise not have.

'This therefore allows them to act in a way prison is supposed to prevent them from doing.'

The drug dealer was jailed in December for the horrific nightclub acid attack at the Mangle E8 club in Dalston on April 17, which left some 22 revellers injured and leaving many with scars to the face or upper body.

The new father, of Broxbourne, Hertfordshire, was convicted of five counts of grievous bodily harm with intent and nine counts of actual bodily harm in November after a trial.

Single mum: The former TOWIE star confirmed she was pregnant with Arthur's child shortly after he was arrested and charged for hurling acid in a London nightclub (pictured together)

He had admitted throwing the substance but claimed he thought it was a date rape drug he had tossed away to prevent two men from spiking a drink.

Following the attack, Collins went on the run for several days.

Evidence presented during the trial included a text message Collins sent to his sister days before the attack reading - 'mind that little hand wash in my car acid' - which he told the court referred to hair-thickening shampoo.

Following the sentence, the court heard of Collins' previous convictions, including assault.

In a separate incident, he had threatened a former partner's mother with an acid attack and to have her raped, for which he received a caution after apologising.
Last year, she announced her retirement from topless modelling after 11 years.

But Rhian Sugden maintains her penchant for a sexy look as she was seen stripping off in yet another steamy social media snap on Friday.

The 31-year-old model showed off every inch of her stunning frame in the mint green and white two-piece with complementary stockings and a nurse's hat as she revealed the ensemble was intended to make her look like medical staff.

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Sexier than ever: Rhian Sugden maintains her penchant for a sexy look as she was seen stripping down off in yet another steamy social media snap posted on Friday

As she posed in front of the camera for the saucy shot, she added the caption: 'Heres a behind the scenes of my previous pic... well... just because really... Oooh matron! #obsessivelingerie #toolboxxx #nurse #carryon'.

A day before, the stunner flashed her ample cleavage in the lacy cobalt blue bra and suspender belt, adding to the outfit's sexy nature in stockings.

Rhian captioned the post: 'Feeling blue', with her honey blonde tresses styled into tousled waves and a statement red nail varnish clashing her colour palette.

The stunning beauty also sported a dramatic smoky eye and pink lip with her look, posing up a storm in the revealing snap.

Jaw-dropping: A day before, the stunner flashed her ample cleavage in the lacy cobalt blue bra and suspender belt, adding to the outfit's sexy nature in stockings

Rhian still knows how to ooze subtle sex appeal, despite ditching topless shoots, and telling The Sun of her decision: 'I'll still be modelling, I just won't be taking my bra off anymore.

'I'm eternally grateful to be one of the longest standing Page 3 girls but all good things must come to an end. I want to quit while I'm ahead.'

Rhian has been happily engaged to former Coronation Street star Oliver Mellor since 2014, after he proposed in front of a packed audience at the Manchester Opera House.

Incredible: Rhian donned a revealing lace bra and corset combo, along with sassy suspenders

Rhian first came to the forefront when she went public with several racy messages sent by married TV presenter Vernon Kay in 2010.

The 43-year-old was famously forced to make an apology to his wife Tess Daly on BBC Radio 1 following the sexting scandal.

Vernon went on to promise live on air that he would no longer contact Rhian or the four other women he had been caught messaging at the time.

Wedding bells: Rhian has been happily engaged to former Coronation Street star Oliver Mellor since 2014

It was then revealed the pair had got back in touch in 2015, with Vernon sending hundreds of texts asking to 'reconnect' with the model.

After a break of six years, the busty blonde admitted that it felt like an 'old friendship coming back'.

The blonde beauty recently claimed however that she had been treated as 'the villain' in the light of the sexting scandal, while the radio host has had a career boost.

Speaking on Celebrity Sex Pod earlier this year, the beauty reasoned: 'He got drunk and sent inappropriate text messages to me. And Im the one people would pour drinks on.'
When it comes to the fashion industry, Heidi Klum is a legend.

And the 44-year-old was seen sharing her insights with the cast of Germany's Next Top Model while the women got their hair and makeup done in Los Angeles on Friday.

Heidi confidently gathered the aspiring models as they wore hot hair rollers on their heads.

Leader of the pack: Heidi Klum directed the set of Germany's Next Topmodel as the cast of the competition followed her command in Los Angeles on Friday

The icon appeared happy to share her professional insight with the competitors and smiled while she spoke to the young cast members.

Although the Project Runway host was not included in the hair and makeup session, she hardly needed any work done as she stunned with her natural beauty.

The German-born star strutted in an all-gray ensemble, wearing heeled booties, charcoal-colored pants, a striped top, and a thick trench coat jacket.

Her hair and makeup were both minimal, as she wore her loose tresses down and sported light nude-colored lipstick.

Head of the game: The confident host smiled at the cast of Topmodel as she issued instructions for the women

Lady gray: The 5ft9 supermodel matched the gray skies in Los Angeles with her stylish ensemble

While the America's Got Talent judge may have been all covered up, on Thursday, the supermodel glowed in a gorgeous dress that showed off serious skin.

Heidi flaunted her tanned and toned legs in a black-and-white diagonal cut dress while walking to and from her dressing room.

She added a pair of towering nude stilettos to her already statuesque frame which further emphasized her slim pins.

Gorgeous: On Thursday in Los Angeles, The America's Got Talent judge flaunted her trim figure in the patterned dress that hugged her svelte waistline

Several months ago, the mother-of-four was named one of The World's Highest Paid TV Hosts by Forbes.

Klum pulled in a reported $21 million to nab the 10th place position on the esteemed list of millionaires.

Besides television, she has also been busy branching out into other areas, recently teaming up with budget store Lidl to release her clothing line Esmara.
He was shaped by his childhood in Chicago.

And now Kanye West has honored his hometown by naming his newborn daughter after the city.

On Friday his reality star wife Kim Kardashian revealed that the couple's daughter was named Chicago West, to be known as Chi (pronounced shy).

My Chi girl: Proud dad Kanye West grins as Kim Kardashian reveals new baby is named Chicago... after his childhood home

Daddy's girl: Kanye certainly seemed happy with the choice, as he headed to the studio after the announcement was made on social media

Kanye certainly seemed happy with the choice, as he headed to the studio after the announcement was made on social media.

Barely containing his delight, the proud father gave photographers a smile as they shouted out questions about the baby's moniker.

Casually but fashionably dressed, he carried a laptop under his arm.

Little Chicago joins big sister North and brother Saint.

Proud papa: The couple took to Kim's website and app on Friday to announce the name of their little one, who was born earlier this week

Poll Chicago West: Do you approve of Kim and Kanye's unique baby name? Yes No Chicago West: Do you approve of Kim and Kanye's unique baby name? Yes 7183 votes

No 24325 votes Now share your opinion





The couple took to Kim's website and app on Friday to announce the name of their little one, who was born earlier this week.

The post simply read, Chicago West, while a tweet by Kim linked the child's name to her older siblings. 'North, Saint & Chi,' she wrote.

Kim and Kanye welcomed their third child via a surrogate on Monday and shared the happy news about the arrival of a 'healthy, beautiful baby girl' with their fans the day after.

She announced: 'We are incredibly grateful to our surrogate who made our dreams come true with the greatest gift one could give and to our wonderful doctors and nurses for their special care. North and Saint are especially thrilled to welcome their baby sister.'

On Thursday, Kanye claimed he and Kim 'couldn't think' of a name for their baby daughter.

He said: 'Can't think of a name, know what I'm saying?'

Announcement: 'North, Saint & Chi,' Kim wrote

Proud auntie: It was clear Khloe was happy with the choice of name for her new niece

After the birth Kim recently publicly thanked her surrogate for carrying the couple's third child.

She added that her third child felt no different to her older two.

'The connection with our baby came instantly and its as if she was with us the whole time. Having a gestational carrier was so special for us and she made our dreams of expanding our family come true. We are so excited to finally welcome home our baby girl.'

Inspiration? A Seattle food truck company shares the same name - and now plan on naming a new food item after the newborn

Meanwhile a Seattle food truck named Chicago West has announced it will be releasing a new food item named in the baby's honor.

Owners Dave and Mellissa Chester joked to celebrity website The Blast: 'We at ChicagoWest are so honored that Kim and Kanye would consider naming their child after our food truck.

'We didn't see them at the truck, but feel this must be a nod to our amazing Chicago Beef Sandwich.'
She's the former Miss Universe Australia planning a highly anticipated wedding to her art dealer fiance this year.

But before she dons a white gown for the big day, Monika Radulovic, 27, was on a mission to paint the town red in a jaw-dropping crimson gown as she attended a Swiss watch brand IWC Schaffhausen event in Geneva on Tuesday.

Joined by her fiance Alesandro Ljubicic, the beauty turned heads as she posed on the red carpet in a floor length red Oglia-Loro couture gown, shining against her beau's MJ Bale black suit.

Watch out! Monika Radulovic, 27, turned heads in a jaw-dropping crimson gown as she and fiance Alesandro Ljubicic attended an event for Swiss watch brand IWC Schaffhausen in Geneva on Tuesday

She completed her look by slipping on an elegant watch by IWC Schaffhausen.

Monika was also joined the at the event by Ronan Keating, who gave the crowd an indelible performance alongside Aloe Blacc and Paloma Faith.

Following the festivities Monika told Confidential she and her husband-to-be would be jetting to Paris and onwards to the remainder of Europe where they would indulge in both 'business and pleasure'.

Star power! Monika looked comfortable in a floor length red Oglia-Loro couture gown, shining against her beau's MJ Bale black suit

Familar faces! Monika was also joined the at the event by Ronan Keating, who gave the crowd an indelible performance alongside Aloe Blacc and Paloma Faith

Love at first croissant: The capital city of France holds a special place in their hearts given it was the spot Alesandro proposed to the stunning brunette

The capital city of France holds a special place in their hearts given it was the spot Alesandro proposed to the stunning brunette.

In November, Monika confirmed she had finally set a date for marrying her longtime partner Alesandro Ljubicic.

'Lots of people think it's crazy that we've been engaged for so long, but our lives have been so busy with out careers that we haven't had any time until now to actually stop and plan a wedding,' she told The Daily Telegraph.

It's official! In November, Monika confirmed she had finally set a date for marrying her longtime partner Alesandro Ljubicic

Walking down the aisle: 'I'm happy to say that after four years of engagement, wedding planning is finally on the way,' she said

'I'm happy to say that after four years of engagement, wedding planning is finally on the way.'

Born in the former Yugoslav Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Monika and her family came to Australia as refugees from the Bosnian War when she was just four.

She was the first Miss Universe Australia contestant to be crowned the winning title while engaged.
A group of men accused of stealing two cars during two separate violent invasions of the same Queensland home have been charged after crashing one of the vehicles.

Three men armed with knives allegedly demanded car keys from the occupants of the Eagleby home on Wednesday evening and grabbed property before fleeing in a black Jeep Cherokee.

About an hour later they returned and used stolen keys to open a garage and took another car, police allege.

The trio and another man were on Thursday charged after the second car they allegedly stole crashed at West End.

Police are still looking for the Jeep.

The men, aged 21, 22, 26 and 36, are due to appear at Beenleigh Magistrates Court on January 19 on a raft of charges including robbery, entering a dwelling with intent, unlawful use of a motor vehicle and stealing.
Queensland Transport Minister Mark Bailey will next week meet with federal MP Ted O'Brien to discuss plans for a high-speed rail line to the Sunshine Coast.

The proposed multi-billion dollar project could transport passengers from Brisbane to the Sunshine Coast in 45 minutes and has the backing of the Liberal National Party's 26 federal Queensland MPs.

But Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has criticised the federal government for dismissing her government's priorities, including the $5 billion Cross River Rail project it has refused to fund.

Mr O'Brien, whose seat of Fairfax is on the Sunshine Coast, said fast rail would deliver huge economic and social benefits to the region.

Ms Palaszczuk, however, remains focused on the Cross River Rail and has warned the additional rail infrastructure would suffer without it.
Tony Abbott has described British settlement as "a very good thing" and attacked Bill Shorten for having a bet each way on the date of Australia Day.

The former prime minister said British settlement was something all Australians "on balance" could celebrate, and the country would not be improved by "wallowing in a kind of endless carping self-criticism."

"British settlement was a very good thing, it wasn't good immediately for everyone but the country, the modern Australia that emerged from British settlement stemming from the 26th of January 1788, is something that all of us on balance can and should be proud of," Mr Abbott told 2GB radio.

Mr Shorten on Thursday said he supported Australia Day staying on January 26, but would not sneer at indigenous Australians wanting to discuss changing the date.

Mr Abbott said the Labor leader's ambiguity on debate over the public holiday, which has again descended into a political pile-on, showed he was not ready to run the country.
Australia has been praised for legalising same-sex marriage but scolded for its "abysmal" treatment of refugees and asylum seekers.

Human Rights Watch, its its annual assessment of more than 90 countries, says Australia came a long way in 2017 but must address various unresolved issues.

More broadly, the report stressed the importance of world leaders pushing back against demagogues and their abusive policies towards minorities, human rights and democratic institutions.

In a chapter dedicated to Australia within its 643-page report, Human Rights Watch expressed serious concerns for the roughly 2000 asylum seekers and refugees being held on Manus Island and Nauru.

The organisation said many detainees had dire mental health problems and were enduring lengthy delays or denials of medical care.

It is also worried those being held offshore are being exposed to regular episodes of violence, threats and harassment from local residents.

Human Rights Watch welcomed a royal commission report into ending the systemic abuse of children in youth detention in the Northern Territory.

However, it was scathing of staggeringly high incarceration rates among indigenous Australians, as well as several other perceived missteps in the treatment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders.

The report took aim at Australia "inconsistent" record on human rights, saying the country rarely showed leadership at the United Nations, particularly in relation to nations with close trade and border security ties.
NSW Transport Minister Andrew Constance is expected to meet with unions as a 24-hour strike that he warns could "shut down the city" looms.

More than 9000 Sydney train workers are due to strike on Monday, January 29, as their union pushes for a six per cent pay rise over four years. The government is holding firm on a 2.5 per cent increase.

Mr Constance, who earlier in the week described the strike as a "silly stunt," is expected to meet with union officials on Thursday in an attempt to come to an agreement.

Meetings between Sydney Trains management and transport unions were described as "constructive" by both sides on Wednesday.

"We probably had the most movement we've had in a couple of months today, so everyone is working hard to get it resolved," Unions NSW secretary Mark Morey told AAP on Wednesday.

Mr Morey said unions would meet with Mr Constance on Friday morning in a bid to come to an agreement on wages and workplace conditions.
Severe heatwave conditions have been forecast across NSW, with severe fire warnings in place for several regions, including Sydney.

Temperatures are expected to exceed 40 degrees in Sydney's west for four days, beginning on Friday, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.

Police have also urged people to keep an eye out for elderly and disabled members of the community in cars during the coming days of extreme heat.

The Bureau of Meteorology has warned of extremely hot conditions across much of the state from Friday to Sunday.

On Saturday the mercury is set to top 45C at Hay and Ivanhoe in western NSW and 43C in Penrith in western Sydney.

Ivanhoe will again swelter on Sunday with temperatures rising to 46C, while Scone in the Hunter region reaches 44C.

Both Penrith and Richmond have already had eight days above 40C this summer, and are just two days away from beating their all time record of 12, according to the BOM.

The NSW RFS has issued a severe fire danger warning for Sydney, the central ranges, northwestern NSW, the Illawarra, the Hunter and the southern and northern slopes on Thursday.
Another day of searing heat is likely to push players to the limit at the Australian Open with Nick Kyrgios set to headline day-five proceedings on Rod Laver Arena.

The mercury is forecast to reach 42C at Melbourne Park on Friday, raising the prospect of some matches being halted and other marquee showdowns being played indoors.

Kyrgios, Australia's last remaining male contender, should benefit from a late-afternoon cool change ahead of his evening match against childhood idol Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

After cruising through his opening matches on Hisense Arena, the 22-year-old returns to centre court at the same age as when Tsonga made the men's final in 2008.

The Frenchman has shown that he remains a genuine force, coming back from the brink of defeat to see off Canadian prodigy Denis Shapovalov in the second round.

Should Kyrgios win through to the fourth round, he will face either third seed Grigor Dimitrov or Russian powerhouse Andrey Rublev.

A reigning semi-finalist at Melbourne Park, Dimitrov will be out for revenge after losing to Rublev in straight sets at last year's US Open.

World No.1 Rafael Nadal will take on Bosnian 28th seed Damir Dzumhur on Margaret Court Arena while Marin Cilic faces unseeded American Ryan Harrison.

In the women's field, title favourite Elina Svitolina is set for an all-Ukrainian showdown with teenage sensation Marta Kostyuk.

The 15-year-old qualifier could prove spoiler for Svitolina, who is the last seeded player in her quarter of the draw.

Last year's French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko meanwhile faces a Baltic battle with Estonian dark horse Anett Kontaveit.

Along with Angelique Kerber and Maria Sharapova, Latvian youngster Ostapenko is one of only three grand slam winners left in the women's field after a streak of opening-week upsets.

Frenchman Gael Monfils, who was close to collapsing in the 39C heat during his loss to Novak Djokovic, described Thursday's conditions as the toughest he had faced.

"Good luck to them," he said of the players scheduled to take the court on Friday.

"I'm telling you, I was dying on the court for 40 minutes."

The decision to invoke the tournament's extreme heat policy is made when the ambient temperature surpasses 40C and a wet-bulb reading of more than 32.5C is recorded.

When both these boxes are ticked, matches on outside courts are halted and roofs closed on all three indoor-capable venues.
Australian and Japanese fighter jets will participate in joint war games this year, as the two countries ramp up defence ties.

Malcolm Turnbull wrapped up his whirlwind 16-hour visit to Tokyo on Thursday night attending a special dinner at the residence of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

The North Korea nuclear threat and China's rise loomed large during their bilateral meeting.

The official communique stressed the importance of buddying up with India and the US as part of efforts to revive a four-country security forum, which is widely seen as an effort to counter China's growing influence.

At a defence base outside of Tokyo, the two leaders inspected Japan's Patriot missile defence system which protects the Tokyo skyline from North Korean rockets.

North Korea launched two ballistic missiles over Japan last year.

Mr Turnbull insisted new found North and South Korean unity ahead of the Winter Olympics in PyeongChang was nice but it won't denuclearise the Korean Peninsula.

"We have to be very clear-eyed about this," he said.

"History tells us a very bitter lesson about North Korea. They have a long habit of ratcheting up their militarisation and then ... going into a lull for a while trying to persuade people that they're changing their ways, changing nothing and then ratcheting up again."

Mr Abe characterised North Korea's actions as an "unprecedented and imminent threat" and called for "pressure to be maximised by all possible means".

The two leaders are seeking closer defence ties and in 2018 are expected to sign an agreement spelling out the legal status of joint military exercises.

Under the deal, Japanese troops could conduct military exercises out of Darwin - almost 76 years since Japan's air force bombed the city in World War II.

After catching a ride in a Chinook helicopter in the morning, Mr Turnbull indulged his love of public transport aboard a crowded Japanese subway train in the afternoon.

Mr Turnbull reflected on his and Mr Abe's efforts to keep the "train moving" on the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact, which was thrust into limbo when President Donald Trump withdrew the US.

The pair are optimistic a wayward Canada can be corralled back to the table and the agreement can be finalised by March when trade ministers from 11 countries meet in Chile.
The Queensland government has vowed to fix a mistake in last year's overhaul of retail trading laws that would block numerous regional stores from opening over the Easter weekend.

As part of the amendment to the Trading (Allowable Hours) Act the words "including Easter Saturday" were accidentally removed, which Industrial Relations Minister Grace Grace described as an "unintentional drafting omission."

"When it was brought to our attention, and after working with the National Retail Association, we determined it would be amended and therefore fixed before Easter," Ms Grace said in a statement.
The devastated family of a young British backpacker found dead in a gruesome murder-suicide in an inner Sydney apartment say their "beautiful girl" will be "missed by all who knew her".

The body of 22-year-old Amelia Blake and a Nepalese man, aged in his 30s and named by media as chef Brazil Gurung, were was discovered at a Newtown unit last week after concerns were raised for their welfare.

The pair had reportedly just started dating, as Ms Blake lived out her dream of travelling around Australia.

In a statement released by the UK Foreign Office on Friday, Ms Blake's parents and sister thanked those who had shown love and support to their family in recent days.

"We are deeply shocked and saddened by the sudden passing of our much-loved daughter and sister Amelia, who will be truly missed by all who knew her," they said.

"As we try to come to terms with losing our beautiful girl, we would very much appreciate privacy at this extremely difficult time."
Australian researchers say a groundbreaking new blood test that can detect eight common types of cancer before they spread will save countless lives.

US and Aussie researchers say their "liquid biopsy" will be a game changer in the fight against cancer, and hope it could be widely available within a few years.

The test was able to detect tumours, about 70 per cent of the time on average, in more than 1000 patients with early-stage cancer and crucially before it had spread, giving patients the best chance of beating the disease.

It works by looking for mutated DNA that dying cells shed into the blood, and protein biomarkers associated with bowel, breast, liver, lung, oesophageal, ovarian, pancreatic and stomach cancer.

Professor Peter Gibbs from the Walter and Eliza Institute, who's worked on the test dubbed CancerSEEK, believes it will save thousands of lives and hopes it won't be too long before it's widely available, and affordable.

"For the first time we're seeing a potential for a blood test that can screen for many types of nasty cancers that up until now, we've had to wait until symptoms (arise) and diagnose quite late," Prof Gibbs has told the ABC.

It's proven effective in detecting cancers, such as pancreatic cancer, that often result in few if any symptoms until the disease is well advanced, often meaning death for the patient.

Prof Gibbs believes many more people would be willing to have a simple blood test than undergo unpleasant and invasive screening procedures, such as colonoscopies.

With cancer risks spiking from the age of 50, he says the test will be most important to older people, but also for younger people whose family histories might put them in a high risk category.

The test, developed by researchers at Johns Hopkins University in the US, is now being tested on 10,000 more people.

"The big question is going to be the cost. I suspect currently you're looking at $1000 or something like that ... but as with most technologies, and scale, things get a lot cheaper over time ... hopefully that'll drop to a few hundred dollars," Prof Gibbs said.

It's hoped the test could be widely available within a few years.

The breakthrough have been published in the journal Science.
Two people have been injured after their car slammed into a truck that was part of a hazard team rescuing a duck from a Perth freeway tunnel.

Police say emergency workers were in the Graham Farmer Freeway tunnel just after midnight on Friday and had set up a 40 km/h speed zone and the emergency alert system to inform drivers of the hazard.

A Main Roads truck with a crash barrier in place was in the right lane and a tow truck was in front of the truck, with the driver attempting to retrieve the duck.

A car, believed to be speeding, lost control and struck the left wall before hitting the Main Roads truck crash barrier.

The male driver and his female passenger, both aged in their 20s, were taken to Royal Perth Hospital with serious injuries.
As New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern tried to negotiate her new job, she secretly had to struggle with another problem: morning sickness.

"It's just what ladies do", she said on Friday when asked how she dealt with it.

Ms Ardern has announced she and her partner, Kiwi television presenter Clarke Gayford, are expecting a baby in June.

In what she called an "unusual" press conference, the 37-year-old described in detail how she found out and how she dealt with it afterwards.

Ms Ardern said she received the news on October 13, in the midst of negotiations over who would form the new government, but kept it quiet - common in the early stages of pregnancy.

"Let's just say I was not feeling well," she said, adding her morning sickness had lasted into the early weeks of the government.

The news also came as a "surprise" - the couple had been told they needed help conceiving and had put their plans on hold when Ms Ardern was promoted to Labour leader in August.

"I am a human. Whose mind wouldn't it play on?" she said when asked if it the news weighed on her in the middle of the intense negotiations.

Asked why she had chosen Friday for the announcement, Ms Ardern, said: "There's only so long you can say you've been eating too many Christmas pies."

She is not the first world leader to be pregnant. Pakistan's Benazir Bhutto caused a political stir with her second pregnancy in 1990.
Trade Minister Steve Ciobo will sound out the political and business appetite for an Australia-European Union free trade agreement when he visits Hungary, France and Switzerland in coming days.

In Budapest, Mr Ciobo will meet members of the Visegrad Group, comprising Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia and representing a combined GDP of more than $1 trillion.

He'll then go on to Paris to meet with members of the French National Assembly and French business leaders.

In Davos, the minister will meet EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom at the World Economic Forum, before heading into a meeting of the World Trade Organisation ministers in which he will promote an Australian-led e-commerce initiative.

Agreement was reached on starting the process towards an EU agreement in November 2015.

Australian and EU officials have been completing a joint scoping exercise and are working towards the launch of formal negotiations.

The EU, as a bloc, is one of Australia's most important trading partners with total two-way trade in goods and services worth $99.5 billion.

The EU is also Australia's largest sources of foreign investment, with a total stock worth more than a trillion dollars in 2016.

Mr Ciobo will also visit the United Arab Emirates to discuss trade in agriculture and education.
The union representing West Australian school support staff will take industrial action on February 1 to protest the state government's education cuts.

At a meeting this week, CPSU/CSA delegates unanimously agreed to take industrial action after the McGowan government failed to address their concerns.

The union says despite the government's backflip on $23 million worth of cuts, including reversing a decision to scrap the School of the Air and funding for the gifted and talented program, there are still hundreds of jobs at risk.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has used a speech in Sydney to stress the importance of celebrating the country's 40,000 years of indigenous culture on Australia Day.

Speaking at a lunch on Friday, the state Liberal leader said Australia's story began with indigenous communities and their unique heritage.

"That we are home to the world's oldest continuing culture is a cause for celebration every day, but especially on Australia Day," she said.

"It fills us all with such great pride - and with determination to make sure that we value, protect and continue to support the aspirations of all our indigenous communities."

Her comments follow a week of heated debate around whether the date of the national holiday should be changed .

While not directly addressing whether it should remain on January 26, Ms Berejiklian noted that the colonial pioneers and their descendants who built a free democracy should also be acknowledged.

So, too, the successive waves of migrant communities, servicemen and women, and ordinary Australians who work hard to be good citizens.

The daughter of Armenian immigrants, the premier spoke of her family's gratitude for the opportunities Australia had given them.

Her father, a welder who worked on the Opera House, still hangs the Australian flag on the verandah of the family home in North Ryde every Australia Day.

"This gesture is his way of demonstrating his gratitude and loyalty to our nation," she said.
On January 22, 2008, a masseuse and housekeeper quietly entered a bedroom in Heath Ledger's Manhattan apartment hoping to wake up the Australian actor.

It was the early afternoon and Ledger, who had been battling chronic insomnia, pneumonia and exhaustion, was in bed and could not be roused.

They realised he was not breathing.

NYPD and paramedics were called, but Ledger, the father of then two-year-old daughter Matilda, could not be saved.

At the age of 28 the effervescent, bright light that was Ledger died from what the New York Medical Examiner concluded was an accidental overdose from a powerful mix of prescription drugs, including narcotic painkillers, anti-anxiety pills and sleep medication.

On the 10th anniversary of Ledger's death the Perth-born actor's legacy continues.

His heartbroken family has helped set up Scriptwise, a non-profit foundation in Australia designed to educate the public about the dangers of abusing prescription drugs.

Each year a young Australian actor is also awarded the Heath Ledger Scholarship.

The scholarship, organised by Los Angeles-based organisation Australians in Film and supported by Australia's biggest stars, is designed to give young talent a helping hand to make it in Hollywood.

"I think Heath's legacy is his spirit of generosity and enormous heart for helping others," Kate Marks, president of AiF, told AAP.

"We hope, that through the Heath Ledger Scholarship, we are playing a small part in honouring his legacy."

In June at a poolside event at West Hollywood's Sunset Marquis Hotel Ledger's father Kim, mother Sally and sisters Kate and Ashleigh presented 24-year-old Sydney actor Mojean Aria the $US16,000 scholarship for 2017.

An all-star panel of judges, including Ledger's one-time girlfriend Naomi Watts and The Dark Knight co-star Gary Oldman, selected Aria as the winner.

Each year Hollywood's A-List volunteer their time to be a judge or financially support the scholarship, with Watts, Nicole Kidman, Hugh Jackman, Deborra-Lee Furness, Phil Noyce, Baz Luhrmann, Catherine Martin and Ledger's former partner and mother of Matilda, Michelle Williams, founding patrons.

The scholarship was set up to reflect Ledger's love of helping out fellow Aussies.

Kate Ledger fondly recalls how her brother had 30 keys to his house in the Hollywood Hills and would hand them out to mates or strangers needing a bed or couch to sleep on while they found their feet in LA.

On January 27 in downtown LA Ledger will be honoured again alongside potential Oscar nominee Margot Robbie and Adelaide's Big Little Lies producer Bruna Papandrea at the G'Day USA gala.

Irish actor Colin Farrell will present the honour to Ledger's family members.

Ledger's generous spirit was only matched by his acting talent.

He famously despised Hollywood's manufactured roles, designed to exploit his good looks, and instead took established characters like Batman villain The Joker and made them his own.

He played a drug addict in the Australian film Candy, Bob Dylan in I'm Not There and the New York Times compared him to a young Marlon Brando for his tortured performance as a gay ranch hand in Brokeback Mountain.

A year after his death Ledger won the best supporting actor Oscar for his scene-stealing performance as The Joker in The Dark Knight, an achievement that made him just the second actor to claim an Academy Award posthumously.

The other was also an Australian, Peter Finch, who was awarded Best Actor for Network in 1977.

Ledger proved during his too-short career he was one of Hollywood's best, but when his family has had the opportunity to speak publicly or in interviews they focus on his love for his daughter, generous soul, energy and larrikin Aussie nature.

Just four days after Ledger's death 1000 guests at a G'Day USA gala sat inside the Waldorf-Astoria's grand ballroom in Manhattan, not too far away from the SoHo apartment where he drew his last breath.

Australia's then Consul-General in New York, John Olsen, took a piece of paper out of his tuxedo pocket and read to thiose gathered a letter penned by Ledger's dad, who had just landed in the US to escort his son's body back to Perth.

"Heath is, and always will be, an Australian," Kim wrote.

"He adored his home. His last two weeks with us over Christmas in Perth were just bliss.

"Heath did not become an actor for the fame or fortune. He loved his craft and he loved helping his friends.

"He loved chess and skateboarding too. My image of Heath in New York is him with his skateboard, a canvas bag and his beanie.

"That was Heath to me."
Edited by Peter Cunliffe-Jones 22nd May 2013 06:48 (GMT)

https://africacheck.org/reports/do-400-000-whites-live-in-squatter-camps-in-south-africa-the-answer-is-no/

Do 400,000 whites live in squatter camps in South Africa, as claimed in a recent BBC report. Are there really 80 "white squatter camps" dotted around Pretoria? The answer to both is no.

In April 2008, Jacob Zuma, soon-to-be president of South Africa, visited a community of 30 poor white people living in an informal settlement west of Pretoria. Photo: AFP

Are there really 400,000 poor whites living in abject poverty in squatter camps across South Africa? Are there 80 white squatter camps in the Pretoria area alone?

These are the figures cited in a recent article by the BBCs World Affairs editor, John Simpson, which questioned whether white people genuinely have a future in South Africa.

Published on Sunday, it elicited a furious response from both the African National Congress and the opposition Democratic Alliance who said it distorted the truth. One analyst described it as and exercise in selective reporting.

Visit to a white squatter camp

For the BBC report, Simpson travelled to Sonskyn Hoekie(Sunshine Corner), a white squatter camp on the outskirts of Pretoria.

There are broken-down cars and bits of discarded furniture everywhere, Simpson wrote in the article posted on the BBC website.

Beyond the wooden shacks lie ditches and pools of dirty, stagnant water where mosquitoes breed. Two basic toilets serve the whole camp.

Then he paraphrased comments made to him by his guide, Ernst Roets, the deputy chief executive of the Afrikaans civil society organisation, AfriForum.

According to Roets there are 80 white squatter camps  many of them bigger than this  in the Pretoria area alone. Across South Africa as a whole he believes there could be as many as 400,000 poor whites in conditions like these.

In the television report on the story, which was aired on the BBC current affairs programme, The Editors, Simpson spoke of 200,000 whites. One ugly secret in the new South Africa is white poverty, he said in a voiceover as a camera followed him picking his way through the shacks. At least 200,000 whites live in squatter camps like this today.

The 400,000 figure a civil society estimate

Africa Check reader Fiona Snyckers got in touch on Twitter and asked us to investigate. We first spoke to Roets who told us the BBC team had pressured him for a figure on the number of whites in squatter camps in South Africa.

The problem is that there are no reliable figures at this stage about white poverty, he said. So Roets said he called Solidariteit Helpende Hand (Solidarity Helping Hand), a charity organisation working with the poor in the Afrikaner community, to find out if they had any reliable figures the BBC could use.

They also told me it was very difficult to give a number at this stagebut the BBC guys were fairly serious about a number so the person I had called said, if they want a number then tell them it is this one. So my exact words to [the BBC] were that civil society estimates about 400,000.

The figure of 80 squatter camps had also come from Helpende Hand, Roets told Africa Check. That is also an estimate but it is a relatively reliable figure because Helpende Hand does have a list of addresses and so on.

Helpende Hand admits lack of statistics

The person Roets had spoken to at Helpende Hand was Mariana Kriel, a regional organiser. She told Africa Check the organisation had no reliable statistics for the numbers of whites living in informal settlements and said the last available figures, which apparently put the figure at 600,000, were many years old.

We dont give out statistics because there arent any, she added.

On the number of squatter camps around Pretoria, she said the description itself was problematic. We dont really have white squatter camps. We have homeless shelters.

Squatter camps are places where people squat illegally on state-owned land. These people are staying with permission on private land, she said.

Many camps are just a Wendy House in a yard

Also, many of the 80 camps werent really camps at all but places where a few people are living in an informal structure, Kriel told Africa Check.

I believe there are more than 70 places, as long as you take into account that many of them involve small places where a few people are living in an informal structure or a Wendy House in a yard, she said. In some places there are ten people living in informal housing behind a house. In others as many as 300.

Statistics South Africas 2011 General Household Survey found that about 1.1-million South African households of all races lived in informal settlements or what were described as shacks not in a backyard. A further 672,000 lived in shacks in the backyards of existing houses.

Just over 1.6-million households living in these informal dwellings were defined as black African. According to the survey, only about 98,000 Asian, coloured and white households lived in informal dwellings of any kind.

One report shows continued white prosperity

Coincidentally, Simpsons report and the accompanying article were aired and published the same day as South Africas City Press newspaper published a lengthy article by Frans Cronje, deputy chief executive of the SA Institute of Race Relations, in which he argued that the white population had shown continued economic prosperity since South Africas transition to democracy in 1994.

Census figures suggest 8 000 white households live in shacks

Raw data compiled for the 2011 Census backs up the picture painted by the General Household Survey. Using StatsSAs online tools it is possible to isolate specific population groups within the datasets and the results are revealing.

According to those figures 1,868,325 black African households lived in shacks, informal settlements, caravans or tents at the time of the census.

Just 7,754 white households lived in informal settlements. If each household consisted of four people, which is slightly higher than the national average of 3.6 used in the 2011 Census, it would mean that there were around 31,000 whites living in informal dwellings. A fraction of the number suggested by Helpende Hand.

Conclusion: The report grossly exaggerates the problem of white poverty

The claim that 400,000 whites are living in squatter camps is grossly inaccurate. If that were the case, it would mean that roughly ten percent of South Africas 4.59-million whites were living in abject poverty.

Census figures suggest that only a tiny fraction of the white population  as little as 7,754 households  are affected.

The claim that there are 80 or more white squatter camps in the Pretoria area would also appear to be grossly overstated. Many of the places referred to are not camps at all.

AfriForums Roets gave the BBC inaccurate figures and the BBC took them without apparently checking, producing a skewed piece of journalism that failed to accurately reflect reality.

Edited by Peter Cunliffe-Jones
One year after Melbourne's deadly Bourke Street car rampage, shop worker Vic Hook can't forget the sound of pedestrians being hit, people screaming and seeing bodies on the ground.

"It was just the noise, that's the main thing I remember ... it sounded like gun shots and it was very loud," she told AAP ahead of Saturday's one-year anniversary of the car attack.

"Obviously after, we put it together that that was him hitting people across the street ... and then we heard the gun shots that stopped him."

Alleged driver Dimitrious Gargasoulas is accused of killing six people and injuring dozens more along the CBD shopping strip on January 20 last year.

Sam Harun, at a nearby street kiosk, saw the car turn down down Bourke Street, and he is still taking medication for anxiety and panic attacks.

"I was here. I saw everything," he said.

"The car turned left on Bourke (Street) Mall. Everyone was running away ... and it started hitting people.

"I don't want to remember because it's very scary."

Another Bourke Street convenience store worker, who didn't want to be named, saw a woman being struck.

"The car was very fast and she was on the windscreen and she screamed," he said.

He's been forced to take months off work because of the trauma.

Premier Daniel Andrews said the horrific crime shook the state and victims' lives would never be the same.

"I also remember the bravery of our emergency services and the ordinary everyday Victorians - who in the most unthinkable carnage showed the most amazing courage," he said in a statement.

A private memorial service will be held for the Bourke Street victims and their families in Melbourne on Saturday, ahead of a public event on Tuesday.

Matthew Si, 33, was killed after having lunch with his wife.

Sydney insurance worker Jess Mudie, aged 22, 33-year-old Bhavita Patel and 25-year-old Japanese man Y. Kanno were also among the dead.

The youngest victims were three-month-old Zachary Bryant and Thalia Hakin, aged 10.

The Year 5 student went to Melbourne's Beth Rivkah College, where Rabbi Yehoshua Smukler said she was remembered for her "brightness and grace".

"Seeing the family healing and recovery from the physical wounds and attempting to return to a normal life, although the emotional wounds and loss will always remain, is a stark reminder of the tragedy," he said in a statement on Friday.

Gargasoulas last year pleaded not guilty to 39 offences, including six counts of murder and 28 of attempted murder.

His case is due to return to court on March 2.
The tram stopped and we stepped out into chaos.

I'd been on my way to the Australian Open on a mild summer's day when it was held up at the Elizabeth and Bourke streets intersection.

The driver told passengers a "police incident" had delayed the tram, and some of us got off.

The chilling screams of police officers filled the air outside.

Some ordered the public out of the way, another yelled to a colleague holding the keys to a police car making up a hastily arranged blockade.

In the next breath, a messy stream of blue and white cars sped up Bourke Street chasing something we couldn't see.

A visibly frightened middle-aged man told me: "A car just sped up the footpath."

His eyes were fixed on a stretch of footpath where three people lay motionless.

One woman was face down.

Many people who'd luckily avoided being hit did what they could to help. Some attended to wounds, others comforted the injured, others blocked out the summer sun with umbrellas.

A dismayed woman inside a shop recalled the moment the car passed her.

"It was going at about 60km/h, and just went boom."

You could trace the car's path up Bourke Street by the startled faces, the heavily armed police and those tending to the victims.

Two police - clad in bullet-proof vests - attended to someone in a gutter as a colleague performed CPR outside a newsagency.

A lone white running shoe stood in the centre of the footpath, next to an upright and battered bumper bar broken off in the carnage.

Small clusters of injured appeared every hundred metres.

At the pedestrian crossing of William and Bourke Street lay the mangled, empty wreck of a baby's pram.

As they'd done elsewhere along Bourke Street, startled crowds gathered behind police tape as police and reporters zig-zagged in between trying to piece it all together.

But even hours after the bystanders dispersed and the final ambulance victim departed, Melbourne didn't return to normal.

With many workplaces closing early and much of the CBD segmented by police tape, the city centre was mute at 5pm.

The chaos had turned to eerie silence.
Aaron Finch has notched his 10th one-day international hundred and again shapes as the key to Australia's fortunes against England at the Gabba.

The stocky opener hit nine fours and one six on Friday in a 104-ball century - his second in as many innings - after Australian captain Steve Smith won the toss and elected to bat.

Finch scored 107 on Sunday at the MCG as Australia reached 304, only to have it chased down with seven balls to spare in what was a record-breaking effort by England.

Australia were 3-197 in the 38th over and pushing hard to post an insurmountable total after the series-opening loss.

On Thursday, Finch took responsibility for the opening loss, saying his inability to bat further into the innings had cost the side an extra "30 or 40 runs" they needed to put them beyond reach.

Finch and Warner (35) had Australia away to a bright start, scoring around six runs an over, before Moeen Ali found the edge of Warner's bat.

It was the unlikely off-spin of Joe Root that continued to slow the Australians, the part-timer dismissing Smith (18) and Travis Head (seven) as the hosts lost momentum.

In-form Mitchell Marsh (30 not out) joined Aaron Finch to reinvigorate the innings.

Australia made three changes to the side who lost in Melbourne, with sick pair Tim Paine and Josh Hazlewood - who was due to step in for the rested Pat Cummins - replaced by debutantes Alex Carey and Jhye Richardson.

Cameron White was also brought into the side for his first ODI in almost three years, at the expense of legspinner Adam Zampa.
Opals superstar Liz Cambage is free to play in the final match of the WNBL grand final series after the Melbourne Boomers accepted an early guilty plea for striking Suzy Batkovic.

The WNBL reviewed the incident which occurred in the second quarter of Thursday's second game of the best-of-three series, and found Cambage guilty of of striking Townsville star and league MVP Batkovic with medium force.

It has resulted in a one-game suspension but by accepting an early guilty plea and a fine, Cambage will be allowed to play in Sunday's season decider in Townsville.
A man has been charged with attempted murder after allegedly being caught in a NSW hotel room with a gun, laser sight and drugs.

The 30-year-old man was arrested on the mid north coast on Friday afternoon, according to police, who say he was wanted on an outstanding attempted murder charge stemming from an incident in Newcastle in December.

Earlier on Friday the man had been involved in a police pursuit which was called off for safety reasons, police say.

The man, who has been charged with several offences including shooting with intent to murder, supplying prohibited drugs, possessing a shortened firearm, is expected to appear before Port Macquarie Local Court on Saturday.
A judge acknowledges a transgender sex worker will face an "onerous" time in a male prison after refusing her bail, pending sentence for infecting a Perth man with HIV through unprotected sex.

Clayton James Palmer, who identifies as a woman and is now known as CJ, wept in the WA District Court on Friday when the jury found her guilty of causing grievous bodily harm.

Palmer visited the WA Substance Users Association in August 2014 to get tested for sexually transmitted infections and was later informed by nurse Joanne Morgan that there was a positive indication of HIV.

Prosecutor Ben Stanwix said Palmer, 40, never returned any follow-up phone calls or messages and refused to face reality, continuing to advertise her sexual services online.

Defence counsel Simon Freitag had argued Palmer was not criminally negligent because she never knew she had the virus.

Palmer met the victim, who cannot be named, two months after the meeting with Ms Morgan and continued to see him until August 2015, telling him she was regularly tested for sexually transmitted diseases.

In September 2015, the victim saw a doctor and was told he had HIV.

Police tracked down Palmer, who had moved to NSW, via online advertisements for her services under the name Sienna Fox.

On Friday Mr Stanwix said the state opposed bail due to the seriousness of the crime and nature of the harm done.

"It did involve a breathtaking disregard for the life and health of another human being over an extended period of time," he said.

Judge Christopher Stevenson said being in a male prison would be especially onerous for her but he agreed the offence was too serious to grant bail.

Mr Freitag said when Palmer spent nine months in a male prison in 2016 following her extradition to WA, she was placed in the Special Handling Unit at Casuarina Prison in a cell alone and was sometimes searched by male guards.

Judge Stevenson made some provisional findings and comments ahead of sentencing, noting that Palmer's ads had stated she was "discrete, private and very clean".

He said Palmer had breached her duty of care to the victim, who now suffered prejudice from some people.

Palmer will be sentenced on February 16.
A young Melbourne man has been charged with sexually assaulting a number of women at a suburban bottle shop.

Manpreet Singh Bal, 23, is also accused of holding a woman against her will and sexually assaulting her at a home days later.

Bal was arrested on Thursday after he allegedly held and attacked the woman at the Wyndham Vale home.

It came four days after he allegedly groped several women at a bottle shop on Point Cook Road at Sanctuary Lakes on January 14.

He faced the Melbourne Magistrates Court on Friday charged with five counts of sexual assault and one of false imprisonment.

Bal did not apply for bail so he was remanded in custody as his case was adjourned.

A Punjabi interpreter was requested for when he returns to court on February 16.
When Tristan Carlyle-Watson invited a teenage girl to a house party over Facebook, she asked that he take care of her.

But the vulnerable 16-year-old girl would that night find herself surrounded by up to eight strange males, with Carlyle-Watson doing nothing to intervene when several of them forced themselves on her.

He would later remark in a Facebook message that bringing the girl to the party was like "throwing a piece of meat to a pack of wolves", the NSW District Court has heard.

On Friday, Carlyle-Watson was jailed along with convicted rapists Kurt Stevenson, 27 and Andrew Waters, 25, for their varied roles in the gang rape filmed on a GoPro at a St Clair party in 2015.

All three have said the girl consented, but a jury last year found them guilty of aggravated sexual assault after a joint trial.

Judge Sharron Norton told the court on Friday Stevenson and Waters during the poor quality GoPro recording both had intercourse with the girl, who has a mild intellectual disability.

She had consumed alcohol and cannabis, and it was the Crown's case that she was so intoxicated she couldn't freely consent.

The victim said she was tired and wanted to sleep, and at one point was so unresponsive that Carlyle-Watson told his mates he thought she was "snoozing", the judge said.

Judge Norton said that while Carlyle-Watson, now 27, didn't have intercourse with the girl, he was present in the room for much of the video's duration and was aware she wasn't consenting.

He said he would "get this f***ing party started, called the victim a "b****", and indicated a friend should "have a stab".

The victim doesn't remember the events of that night and when she asked Carlyle-Watson later if she'd had sex with Stevenson, he said "not that I know of", the court heard.

Judge Norton said the victim was upset and distressed when she then learned of the GoPro footage from police.

The judge jailed Carlyle-Watson on Friday for six years and four months with a non-parole period of four years and nine months over his role in the assaults.

Stevenson was sentenced to a maximum of 13 years with nine years non-parole, while Waters was sentenced to 11 years and six months with a non-parole period of seven years and eight months.

Four other men have previously been sentenced in relation to the assaults.

Detective Chief Inspector Peter Yeomans outside court said the case was "absolutely vile" and it was disgraceful what had happened to the the young and vulnerable victim.
Caroline Wozniacki has defied Kiki Bertens, perceived poor umpiring and the plight befalling senior women's players at the Australian Open, progressing to the fourth round.

The second-seeded Dane defeated her Dutch rival 6-4 6-3 in 86 minutes on Rod Laver Arena on Friday night.

The match finished early on Saturday as Nick Kyrgios' four-set defeat of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga entered a fourth hour.

While the world No.2 can now look forward to a fourth-round clash with Magdalena Rybarikova, she fumed several times through the night due to line calls.

"It's ridiculous how many bad, terrible calls you've made today," she told the chair umpire.

Wozniacki threw her racquet in disgust after Bertens saved a match point - with replays subsequently showing Bertens to have hit a ball long earlier in the point.

Bertens couldn't translate her fortune into a victory, falling several points later.

After facing elimination in the second round, staving off match points against Jana Fett, Wozniacki said each win was a bonus.

"I'm playing with house money. I have nothing to lose," she said.

"I got a second chance and I'm going to try and take it."

Wozniacki hasn't made the fourth round at the Australian Open in five years, and she has a great opportunity to go further.

Just four seeds remain in the bottom half of the draw; Wozniacki, Rybarikova, 32nd seed Anett Kontaveit and tournament favourite Elina Svitolina.

The Ukrainian fourth seed is on track to meet Wozniacki in the semi-final.

In the top half of the draw, which plays their third-round matches on Saturday, seven seeds have already fallen.

Top-ranked woman Simona Halep faces Lauren Davis in the first match on Rod Laver Arena, with Australian No.1 Ashleigh Barty facing Naomi Osaka later in the afternoon.

Should both win, they'll play in a blockbuster fourth-round match on Monday.
Tiahleigh Palmer's foster brother has been released on parole from a Brisbane prison having spent 16 months behind bars after being convicted of incest and perjury.

Trent Thorburn left jail on Friday morning, where he had served 12 months in custody, before being sentenced to four years jail in September after pleaded guilty to having sex with the 12-year-old girl and lying to the crime and corruption commission.

Cyndi Palmer, the mother of the slain schoolgirl, hit out at Trent's release.

"I have confirmation, Trent Thorburn was released from prison this morning on parole after serving the rest of his s....y sentence!!" She wrote on Facebook, alongside the hashtag #nojusticehere.

Trent's father Rick Thorburn is awaiting trial for Tiahleigh's murder.

His brother Josh and mother Julene were also jailed after pleading guilty to perjury charges last year.

Tiahleigh's body was found on the banks of the Gold Coast's Pimpama River in November 2015 and police swooped on her foster family the following September.
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My trip to China shattered my biases about developing nations

https://qz.com/1036479/visiting-china-upended-my-misconceptions-about-developing-countries/

When I went to China for two weeks on a recent reporting trip, I had certain expectations. Officially, China is still a developing country. I thought I had a pretty clear picture of life in developing and developed nations, having grown up in India and spent most of my adult life in the United Kingdom.

Going by the data, I was expecting China to be a lot more like India than the UK. After adjusting for purchasing power parity, Chinas GDP per capita was $15,535 in 2016closer to Indias ($6,572) than the UKs ($42,609). I expected trains and subways in China to be more modern than Indias, but equally chaotic. I thought customer service would be more polite, but equally harried. In other words, in any number of large and small ways, I thought Chinas status as a developing country would show.

I was wrong. My experience of two weeks in China left me thinking that I was visiting a country as rich as any I had visited before. The trip showed me how important it is for Westerners to change our perception of China so we can make more informed decisionsparticularly when it comes to recognizing our own place in the world relative to others.

I had vastly underestimated the impact of Chinas economic growth.Subways were modern, spacious, and fitted with air-conditioning. Mobile 4G internet worked on underground metro, on high-speed trains, and even on the short, very fast magnetically levitated train in Shanghai. Taxis were easy to find and cheap, though most smelled of cigarettes. Convenience stores were everywhere. Google Maps wouldnt work without VPN, but Apple Maps did a decent enough job. When I did get lost, it was not because the signs were missing, as in India, only that they lacked a translation.

The staff in restaurants, malls, and train stations sometimes seemed overworked, but they were unfailingly polite and efficient. Prices in stores were clearly marked, and there was no need to haggle. I never met a seller who irritated me, or a stranger on the neighboring table who annoyed me.

My own ignorance may be partly to blame for my misconceptions of China, but Jonathan Woetzel, a director in McKinseys Shanghai office, makes the case that the rest of the blame likely lies with the biased views of academics and think tanks that help create the misconceptions. My experience working and living in China for the past three decades suggests that this one-dimensional view is far from reality, he writes.

Admittedly, my experience was limited to what I saw in three of Chinas biggest citiesShanghai, Guangzhou, and Beijing. And I was a tourist among urban-dwellers with relatively decent incomes (albeit a brown face at a time when Indias army was in a standoff with Chinas at the Bhutan border). Still, each of those cities had better infrastructure than any world-class city Ive visited.

My time in China reminded me of what a smart, worldly Indian friend had said when I asked why hed decided to move to the UK. Everything here works as it should, he said.

He didnt need to say much more. As a fellow Indian who has lived in the UK for nearly 10 years, I understood him fully. He and I had spent better part of our lives in a country full of color and vigor, but also full of broken infrastructure and poorly run institutions.

In the UK, buses and metros run on time, drivers follow the rules of the road, and the police dont ask for a bribe before registering a citizens complaint. It may have bad weather and worse food choices, but daily life is much less of a struggle in the UK than it is in India. To me, life in Chinas metropolises seemed quite similar to those experienced in the UK. If anything, Chinas infrastructure was better.

The surprisingly good quality of life in Chinese cities made me wonder why the country is referred to as developing. Economists classify China as a developing country in part as a way to signal that its still in the process of liberalizing its economy. In practical terms, the classification gives China some leeway on, say, respecting intellectual property rights or on freeing up trade in all sectors. But even experts admit that they struggle to define China.

Its a developed country in its shiny cities on the eastern coast, its a developing country in its poor regions in the west, says Bjorn Conrad, vice president of the Mercator Institute for China Studies, a think tank based in Germany. Its a developed country if you look at number of Starbucks or literacy rate; its a developing country if you look at the numbers of doctors per capita or percentage of the workforce in agriculture.

Theres no denying Chinas problems. Its cities may offer world-class comforts, but Chinas human rights record is dismal. Pollution in cities, especially in Beijing, can get very bad. And as a socialist state run by a single political party, the government has the ability to place strict control on speech. But, as Siyi Chen notes in a recent article for Quartz, Western narratives about China tend to be overwhelmingly negative. They paint a limited picture of China, which may cause many people to come away with misguided ideas about what daily life there is like.

Recalling her first visit to the US five years ago, Chen writes, I was shocked by how often I get questions that revealed misunderstandings about my home country: Youve never gotten on Facebook, right? Have you ever heard of the Tiananmen Square incident? Have you ever used an iPad in China?'

Though I didnt suffer any of the abuses that journalists reporting on controversial topics have in the past, I experienced Chinas attempt at censorship first-hand. At the end of my trip, my translator used the popular app WeChat to send me a link to a New Yorker obituary of the Chinese dissident, Liu Xiaobo. The link never arrived. Through my two weeks, Lius health had been getting worse until he died on July 13. While the world was horrified and widely covered the developments, within China there was a tight control over what, if anything, could be said about him.

That said, it wasnt difficult for two strangers in a bar to talk politics, as I had thought it might have been. Many of the strangers I encountered were quite willing to openly criticize the government. You dont get government contracts without knowing somebody on the inside, said one private contractor who does coastal reclamation.

To my mind, these paradoxes only strengthen the case for Westerners to visit China. These days, a lot of people are putting fresh emphasis on getting outside our information bubbles and recognizing the strengths and limitations of the cultures we inhabit. A good first step is to book a flight east.

Stories from Akshats reporting in China will be published in a series called The Race to Zero Emissions. Sign up here to be the first to know.

Learn how to write for Quartz Ideas. We welcome your comments at ideas@qz.com.

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Regional Victorians have been warned to brace for more torrid conditions after sweltering through temperatures in the 40s for several days.

In particular, residents in the state's central and northern areas are facing another scorcher on Saturday.

Mildura can expect a maximum of 45 for a second day, with Wangaratta likely to hit 42 and Bendigo 40.

"The change does not extend to the northern part of Victoria," Emergency Management Commissioner Craig Lapsley said of expected cooler conditions which will begin to impact on Saturday.

"We still have extreme fire danger in the Mallee for tomorrow," he said.

However Mr Lapsley said he was pleased people had so far heeded total fire bans across the state, with about 10 bushfires reported on Friday.

The health department has also issued a weekend alert for central and northern Victoria.

"Vulnerable people are at risk in the heat so check on the elderly and those with existing health problems." Ambulance Victoria state health commander Paul Holman said.

People are being urged to drink water, never leave people or pets in cars, to check in on others and stay cool.
An ordinary Friday turned to terror for Melbourne's CBD workers when a car mowed down pedestrians along the crowded Bourke Street Mall.

Saturday marks one year since the deadly attack, which killed four adults, a child and a three-month-old baby.

Bourke Street shop worker Vic Hook remembers a scene of "mass confusion", as people feared they were caught in a terror attack.

"It was just the noise, that's the main thing I remember ... it sounded like gun shots and it was very loud," she told AAP.

"Obviously after, we put it together that that was him hitting people across the street ... and then we heard the gun shots that stopped him."

Victims, their families and Premier Daniel Andrews are set to attend a private memorial service in Melbourne on Saturday, while a public event will be held on Tuesday.

Alleged driver Dimitrious Gargasoulas has pleaded not guilty to 39 offences, including six counts of murder and 38 of attempted murder, over the rampage.

A street kiosk worker who saw the car turn down Bourke Street says he's still taking medication for anxiety and panic attacks.

"I was here. I saw everything," Sam Harun said.

"The car turned left on Bourke (Street) Mall. Everyone was running away ... and it started hitting people.

"I don't want to remember because it's very scary."

Another Bourke Street convenience store worker, who didn't want to be named, saw a woman being struck.

"The car was very fast and she was on the windscreen and she screamed," he said.

He's been forced to take months off work because of the trauma.

Among those killed was 22-year-old Sydney insurance worker Jess Mudie, 33-year-old Bhavita Patel and 25-year-old Japanese man Yosuke Kanno.

Matthew Si, 33, also died, moments after having lunch with his wife.

The youngest victims were three-month-old Zachary Bryant and Thalia Hakin, aged 10.

Mr Andrews said the horrific crime shook the state and victims' lives would never be the same.

"I also remember the bravery of our emergency services and the ordinary everyday Victorians - who in the most unthinkable carnage showed the most amazing courage," the premier said in a statement.
A volunteer firefighter has been charged after he allegedly deliberately lit five fires in southwest Sydney.

The 33-year-old man was arrested as a result of police investigations into five fires in Menangle, Spring Farm and Smeaton Grange in the Macarthur region on January 15 and 16, police say.

A small amount of land was destroyed in each fire.

The volunteer firefighter was charged with five counts of intentionally cause fire and be reckless as to its spread.

He's due to appear at Campbelltown Local Court on February 5.
A Dutch freelance photographer has been charged after a crash during the Tour Down Under that injured a South Australian police officer while he was escorting the race.

A car and police motorcycle collided on Friday as riders cycled through Gumeracha, in the Adelaide Hills, and the police officer was flown to the Royal Adelaide Hospital with non-life threatening injuries before being discharged.

The 53-year-old driver of the car, a photographer from the Netherlands who has been covering the event, was also taken to hospital with minor injuries and has been bailed to appear in the Adelaide Magistrates' Court on Monday after being charged with one count of driving without due care.
Fire crews will spend the day battling two large, remote bushfires in Victoria as temperatures in the region continue to soar.

The blazes in the Big Desert area near the South Australian border, which were triggered by lightning overnight, are the main focus for firefighters on Saturday, particularly with more lightning and very little rain likely in the area later in the day, a State Control Centre spokeswoman told AAP.

The fires are not yet under control, and a Total Fire Ban is in place for the Mallee district.
Hundreds of migrants faced being trapped at sea for days because of stormy conditions

A three-month old baby has died after being picked up by rescuers at sea off Libya, because bad weather and a lack of boats made a medical evacuation impossible, aid organisations said Thursday.

Over 1,650 migrants have been rescued in the Mediterranean since Tuesday, including many women and children. While some were brought to land Thursday, hundreds of others could be trapped for days yet by stormy seas.

The Proactiva Open Arms and Sea Watch 3, which have plucked over 700 people from unseaworthy vessels between them, are too small to attempt the rough crossing back towards Italy with that number of people aboard.

They are currently being forced to take shelter off the coast of Tunisia until the weather calms.

"This is one of the most difficult situations we have had to face so far," Laura Lanuza, spokesperson for the Spanish organisation Proactiva, told AFP.

On Tuesday, Proactiva's medical team sounded the alarm over an 18-year-old woman who had been rescued but whose life was in danger after a difficult delivery.

She and her four-day-old baby were evacuated by helicopter in the evening.

- 'Devastating pain' -

But in the confusion following the rescue operations on the overcrowded Proactiva, the doctor did not immediately spot among the 28 babies on board a three-month old Eritrean suffering from malnutrition and a high fever.

Proactiva asked for another medical evacuation on Wednesday, for the baby and a woman who was about to give birth prematurely.

The Italian coast guard told AFP it had received the request Wednesday evening, at which point the baby was described as stable.

A boat was dispatched from Lampedusa for the evacuation, but because of the bad weather it did not arrive before dawn on Thursday. The baby in the meantime had deteriorated, and died.

In the meantime, a young man who had seemed like a more urgent medical case had been evacuated by helicopter from the Sea Watch at 3am (0200 GMT).

"Haid Aman was three months old. He died overnight. Desolation, rage, helplessness... words fail to express the devastating pain of a mother" faced with such tragedy, Proactiva said on Twitter.

The three-month old joins the bodies of another baby and a young man found dead by the Proactiva on Tuesday on an overloaded wooden boat.

The rescue ship does not have a cold room for storing the dead, so all three are being towed behind in body bags in a rigid dinghy usually used to ferry migrants to safety.

"Rescue vessels have reached the limits of their capacity, cargo ships are being diverted to the south to assist," said Klaus Merkle, rescue coordinator on the Aquarius, which is chartered by SOS Mediterranee and Doctors Without Borders (MSF).

"This extremely dangerous situation is likely to continue in the coming days," he told AFP, adding that the Aquarius would immediately return to the rescue zone after disembarking 505 rescued migrants in Sicily Thursday.
This picture taken on October 13, 2017, shows a man (R) identified by local media as former CIA agent Jerry Chun Shing Lee at the Christie's showroom in Hong Kong

The former CIA agent arrested in the United States earlier this week on suspicion of helping Chinese spies was a security guard at Christie's in Hong Kong, the auction house said Thursday.

Hong Kong resident Jerry Chun Shing Lee, a naturalised US citizen also known as Zhen Cheng Li, was arrested late Monday after he arrived at JFK International Airport in New York.

His arrest was reportedly linked to Beijing's brutal dismantling five years ago of the CIA's network of undercover operatives and informants inside China.

When asked whether Lee, 53, had worked at Christie's, the auction house said they had suspended a Hong Kong employee pending a criminal investigation, without naming him.

"This person's role, which he occupied for the last 20 months, was focused on physical security for Christie's facilities and staff," said a statement from global head of communications Catherine Manson.

Manson added that his role was not linked to data security or IT at the company and that Christie's had "no involvement in this matter".

The South China Morning Post reported Thursday that Lee had previously investigated counterfeit cigarettes in Hong Kong for Japan Tobacco International after he left the CIA in 2007.

Lee served in the US Army in the 1980s and spent 13 years from 1994 at the CIA, where he had top secret clearance.

The charge against him was limited to one count of unlawful retention of national defence information. But the details of an investigation spanning at least five years suggested much more.

Lee's indictment said that in 2012, FBI agents had secretly examined his luggage while he was travelling.

They found two notebooks jammed with classified information, including the identities of CIA covert agents and assets, notes from their meetings, locations of covert facilities, and phone numbers.

The charge did not say whether this information, which would have been extremely valuable to Beijing, had been provided to the Chinese, or whether they had gained access to it otherwise.

According to The New York Times, US counter-intelligence has been working overtime since at least 2012 to uncover a possible pro-Beijing mole within the ranks of America's espionage services.

The Times reported last year that starting in 2010 to the end of 2012, the Chinese uncovered and killed "at least a dozen" sources the CIA had inside China and imprisoned another six or more.
US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley expressed regret over the furor created by Trump's "shithole" comment

US Ambassador Nikki Haley expressed regret on Thursday to African ambassadors who were outraged by President Donald Trump's alleged description of African countries as "shithole" nations, the head of the African Group said.

Haley asked to meet the African ambassadors at the United Nations after they released a joint statement on Friday demanding an apology from Trump for his "outrageous, racist and xenophobic remarks."

Ambassador Anatolio Ndong Mba of Equatorial Guinea, who chairs the Africa Group, said the US ambassador did not offer an apology during the closed-door meeting, but she did express regret.

Haley told the meeting that "she was not there at the White House, she is not sure what was said, but she regretted all this situation that has been created," the ambassador said.

The US mission declined to say whether Haley had addressed the furor over Trump's remarks allegedly made a week ago at a White House meeting with lawmakers on immigration reform.

Ndong Mba said the Africa Group "made a recommendation" to Haley to defuse tensions, which she promised to pass on to Trump.

Diplomats, who declined to be named, said they had suggested that Trump send a friendly message to African leaders at their upcoming summit in Addis Ababa as a gesture of goodwill.

"We appreciate the fact that she came and she talked about all the cooperation between the United States with Africa," said Ndong Mba, who described the meeting as "very friendly."

The US mission posted photos of the meeting on Twitter and said: "Thank you to the Africa Group for meeting today."

"We discussed our long relationship and history of combatting HIV, fighting terrorism, and committing to peace throughout the region," it said in the post retweeted by Haley.

Trump's remarks were condemned by the 55-nation African Union while some African governments summoned the US ambassador in their capitals to demand an explanation.

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."

Earlier this week, 78 former US ambassadors to Africa wrote a letter to Trump expressing "deep concern" over his comments and urging him to "reassess" his views on Africa.

The United Nations slammed the reported remarks as "shocking and shameful" as well as "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.
Zimbabwean politician Roy Bennett, pictured in November 2010, was killed along with his wife Heather and three other people in a helicopter crash in the US state of New Mexico

Leading Zimbabwe opposition figure Roy Bennett, one of long-time president Robert Mugabe's most outspoken critics, has died in a helicopter crash in a remote area of the US state of New Mexico, authorities said Thursday. He was 60.

Bennett was killed along with his wife Heather and three other people after the helicopter went down on Wednesday, New Mexico state police said.

A crash survivor called 911 for help but could not say where in the mountainous region the wreckage was located. After a frantic search the crash was found ablaze at a ranch about 10 miles east of the town of Raton.

State police officers at the scene "reported the helicopter wreckage had been engulfed in fire making identification difficult," the NMSP statement read but confirmed that Bennett, 60, and his 55-year-old wife were among the victims.

Bennett, who had been largely based in South Africa in recent years, sprang to prominence as the treasurer of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), led by Morgan Tsvangirai.

A former farmer whose property was seized by the Mugabe regime as part of a controversial land reform program, Bennett became the best known white opposition figure in the party, working closely with Tsvangirai before they later fell out.

Bennett was arrested in Zimbabwe in February 2009 shortly before he was to be sworn in as deputy agriculture minister in a shaky coalition government after being accused of funding a plot to topple Mugabe years earlier.

Even though Bennett was eventually cleared of the charges, Mugabe refused to swear him into the job for the next two years.

Fearing another arrest on trumped up charges, Bennett fled Zimbabwe and moved to South Africa.
Convicted serial killer Anthony Allen Shore, dubbed the 'tourniquet killer' for the way he strangled his victims, pictured in Texas on October 18, 2017

A confessed murderer in Texas, dubbed the "tourniquet killer" for the way he strangled his victims, on Thursday became the first inmate executed in the United States in 2018.

Anthony Shore was put to death for raping, torturing and murdering three girls and a young woman in Houston in the 1980s and 1990s. His oldest victim was 21, and the youngest was nine.

Prior to his execution Shore apologized for his crimes.

"No amount of words could ever undo what I've done. To the family of my victims, I wish I could undo that past. It is what it is," he said.

Shore also addressed persistent doubts about whether there are other unknown victims, saying he will "die with a clear conscience" and that there were "no others."

He was pronounced dead at 6:28 p.m. (0028 GMT), according to authorities.

Shore became the first inmate to be put to death this year in the US.

Last year 23 people were executed in eight states -- a near historic low, according to the anti-capital punishment group Death Penalty Information Center.

Another 39 people were handed death sentences in 2017, the organization said.

The 55-year-old Shore was known as the "tourniquet killer" for strangling his victims to death with an improvised compression device consisting of rope and a tightening tool.

Shore was caught in 2003 after police matched DNA found on the body of one of his victims, 21-year-old Maria Del Carmen Estrada, to a sample he had submitted after being convicted of molesting his two daughters.

He confessed to his crimes and asked for the death penalty. But, an earlier execution date in October was postponed after last-minute questions about another possible murder.

Prosecutors feared Shore was going to falsely confess to another crime to spare a fellow death row inmate. That inmate, Larry Swearingen, has been granted DNA testing in his case.

"We have proceeded as the law directs and satisfied all doubts," said the local prosecutor, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg.

"Even Shore's own family believes the death penalty is appropriate for his crimes."

In appeals, Shore's lawyers argued he should be spared execution because he suffered brain damage in a car accident in the early 1980s -- an argument judges rejected.
I wonder what makes you under the impression that Chinese are very smart.

Chinese are not different from any other groups on the earth, except the outlookings(which are a bit different from white and black people).

Perhaps you think Chinese are smart because of our civilization. In fact history is scientific. There are many reasons why ancient Chinese built such a magnificent civilization and you can read them in some historical books.

Perhaps you think Chinese are smart because you have met a Chinese who is so smart that you began to think all Chinese are smart like him/her. But in fact one person does not mean the whole group. Its not true. There are both smart people and people who were born with a little lower IQ than normal. And in fact there are not many people who are like this. Most people are just ordinary and average. We are not smarter or more foolish. So are the Chinese.

Perhaps you think Chinese are smart because you once heard Chinese are good at math. In fact it is not always true. Chinese primary school students and junior school students do a little better in math than other countries. Thats because of the difference of educational system and language. When it comes to higher math Chinese are just like any other groups on the earth.

If you have any further questions, just ask me. Thanks for reading.
A room is marked for safe sanctuary at the University Lutheran Chapel in Berkeley, California on January 14, 2018. The chapel allows undocumented immigrants certain protections against immigration agents while under threat of deportation

Enter California student city Berkeley, and you'll more than likely meet people marching and carrying signs.

Protest is deeply-rooted in the city across the bay from San Francisco, where a movement for campus free speech originated in the 1960s and launched a heritage of activism.

Now, in the face of an immigration crackdown since President Donald Trump took office one year ago, Berkeley is resisting again.

It is one of some 400 cities or communities -- including New York, Chicago and San Francisco -- that have declared themselves sanctuaries offering shelter to migrants who arrive illegally.

The entire state of California declared itself a sanctuary, and finances groups that protect immigrants -- but Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguin says his city was the first.

It has been a sanctuary since 1971 when it sheltered Vietnam War draft resisters, and was a place of refuge again during Central America's civil wars in the 1980s.

"It is essential that cities take a stand against the unjust policies of President Trump," says Arreguin, 33, the California-born son of Hispanic farmworkers.

Since assuming office in January, Trump has clamped down on refugees and unauthorized immigrants on a number of fronts but Arreguin says: "These are people fleeing civil war, poverty, violence."

Trump announced the scrapping of a program that protected from deportation hundreds of thousands of migrants who arrived illegally as children.

His administration separately ended temporary protection for about 200,000 Salvadoran immigrants, and smaller groups of Haitians and Nicaraguans.

- 'Un-American' -

Sanctuary Cities

The president wants to build a wall on the Mexican frontier, while arrests of unauthorized immigrants by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers have soared since he took office.

In Berkeley, ICE officers get the cold shoulder.

"We obviously can't stop ICE from coming to Berkeley but what we had made clear is that we won't be involved in any way" in assisting them, the mayor says.

"No police officers or city employees will be involved in any investigation or any enforcement action" by ICE unless a judge issues a warrant, says Arreguin.

"To be anti-immigrant is really un-American," he adds.

Berkeley's police no longer ask the migration status of complainants or witnesses in criminal cases and, at the university, students don't need to show immigration papers in order to register.

City council set up a group to coordinate resources and plan responses in case of immigration raids, which have not yet occurred in Berkeley but have been numerous in Los Angeles and southern California.

Experts have noted that state authorities have limited room to maneuver, considering that US immigration policy is set at the federal level.

Manuel de Paz, a coordinator at East Bay Sanctuary Covenant which offers assistance to immigrants, says raids and deportation of migrants are not new.

Former president Barack Obama was known as "the deporter in chief," de Paz said, but the difference is that Trump uses language that "is hurting people so much."

Trump this month was quoted as calling African nations and Haiti "shithole countries" during a meeting with lawmakers over immigration.

- Increased fear -

As a "sanctuary city," authorities in Berkeley, California, refuse to assist agents of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), a division of Homeland Security, in their search for undocumented migrants

Valeria Suarez, an undocumented University of California, Berkeley student, said "there is an increase of fear in the undocumented community."

Juan Prieto, another Berkeley student without legal status, says he wakes up every day "with fear of ICE agents coming to my family and detaining them."

Arreguin cites an increase in racist crimes in Berkeley, a climate of uncertainty in which it is very important for the undocumented to have support from public officials, said Eleni Wolfe-Roubatis, of the Centro Legal de la Raza, a legal assistance group.

That supportive environment contrasts with communities "where public officials are actively trying to identify the undocumented," she says.

In a church basement where about two dozen activists were assisting families, de Paz said that "since we've passed all these measures" for sanctuary, fewer people have contacted him to report that the sheriff had detained their relatives and handed them to ICE.

Suarez is more critical, saying that because Berkeley is not an affordable city, people are forced to live in neighboring communities where they lack sanctuary protection.

"I don't feel safe when my community isn't," she said.

Prieto noted that the neighboring city of Richmond is among those with a detention center where "community members that we love... are detained."

One of those held, UC Berkeley student Luis Mora, was just arrested near San Diego, further south. He was on holiday, and nobody has been able to free him.
Refuse collectors in a district of the Turkish capital, Ankara, have opened a library stocked with thousands of discarded books thrown out with the rubbish

Many would prefer probably not to dwell on what becomes of books thrown into the rubbish bin when their onetime reader declutters their shelves.

In the Turkish capital Ankara, however, discarded books need not necessarily end up heading for a papery oblivion.

Instead, a surprising life after death is now in store for them thanks to a rather unconventional library.

A group of the city's rubbish collectors has set up the library boasting thousands of works that would otherwise have been swallowed up by landfill.

The books had been left out on residential streets together with other refuse for collection, sparking the idea to recycle them for a whole new readership.

Opened more than seven months ago by one district's garbage collectors and their manager, the library is housed in a disused brick factory that was already serving as a base for the workers.

The once decaying plant, abandoned 20 years ago, is now a thriving space where staff can spend their break perusing the shelves stacked with some 4,750 books.

Originally intended just for the refuse workers and their families so they could borrow books for up to 15 days, it is now open to the public too, said Emirali Urtekin, the site's manager, whose office is equipped with other rescued items like magazines and a typewriter.

The unconventional library of books thrown out with the rubbish is housed in an abandoned brick factory in Ankara's Cankaya district

There are another nearly 1,500 books yet to be placed on the shelves as more are rescued and now donated, he added.

No book goes to waste, with some of the nonusable books employed as shelves for the others.

The renovated building -- where even copper pipes find a use as lights -- is also home to a barber's shop, cafeteria, social area and offices for administrative staff.

- 'Encourage new ideas' -

The books have so far been sorted into 17 categories, and counting, ranging from romance novels, economics textbooks, thrillers and children's fiction.

The library boasts a variety of works by top foreign and Turkish authors, including JK Rowling, Charles Dickens, JRR Tolkien, Orhan Pamuk and "Fifty Shades of Grey" author EL James.

It's accessible 24 hours a day for the refuse workers and has its own librarian, paid by the municipality: 20-year-old Eray Yilmaz.

Up until now Yilmaz said a total of 147 books had been borrowed from the library, whose members can potentially include the up to 700 rubbish collectors working for the Cankaya district.

Up to 700 rubbish collectors working for Ankara's Cankaya district can use the library, which is now open to the public too

According to the municipality, the new service is the only kind of library in the district open to the public.

"Reading books develops a person's intelligence, encourages new ideas... and here we introduce those new ideas from books to people," enthused Yilmaz.

"This is something that makes a person beyond happy. I take books to my mother too."

Malik Ercan, one of several disabled staff members, said he took books home to his wife and child and that the library was drawing those outside of the city as well.

"Recently I showed my cousin around who had come from (the central Turkish province of) Sivas. They had heard about it in the news. They wanted to see it.

"More friends are calling and saying they want to see it after seeing the news, 'let us see it... it's very different', they say," added Ercan, who has been working for the municipality for two and a half years.

- 'New lease of life' -

The library has received plenty of local and international attention, leading to the arrival of more books and not just from rubbish bins.

People from other Turkish cities now even pay the postal costs to send books to the library, Urtekin said, while refuse collectors continue to gather unwanted books on their daily rounds.

"We're getting many visits from members of the public but also donations. They say: 'This is such a good project, we want to support it as well'," Urtekin said.

Some 4,750 books are now on the shelves of the new libary, with more waiting to be arranged, as the Ankara refuse collectors continue to rescue books from the rubbish bin and people have started donating them

"We have given a new lease of life to those books that have been thrown away... and the books are available for free."

- Next: mobile library -

Although there are no plans to expand the current space, the library has sparked further projects for discarded books.

The manager told AFP that later in the year they will create a mobile library and visit some Ankara schools every 15 days so more children have access.

It will serve schools without libraries or with a limited choice on their shelves.

Students will also benefit during the visits from musical performances by "Tin Group" -- made up of 11 workers using broken rubbish containers and discarded metal objects.

The group started around the same time as the library opened, Urtekin said.

"We are happy," the manager said. "It has given us a different identity."
South Korea's Family Minister Chung Hyun-Back was appointed to try to reverse the world's lowest birth rates

The woman appointed to try to reverse the world's lowest birth rates knows better than most why billion-dollar campaigns to encourage South Korea's female populace to procreate have failed -- she is among the millions who have chosen to remain childless in the face of traditionalist social expectations.

A history professor at a Seoul University before joining the government, family minister Chung Hyun-Back says she remained single to pursue her professional ambitions.

Entrenched gender roles at home and a workaholic culture are pushing the next generation of South Korean women to follow suit, warned the 64-year-old.

"It was extremely difficult -- if not impossible -- to juggle an academic career while getting married and raising children," she explained, pointing out that many female professors in their 50s and 60s are single.

Rapid economic growth over several decades has seen South Korea's GDP boom, but birth rates have gone in the opposite direction.

The country's fertility rate -- an average number of babies women are expected to have in their lifetime -- stood at 1.17 in 2016, the lowest in the world and compared to a global average of 2.4.

It is set to fall to a record low of 1.07 for 2017 after the number of newborns sank below 400,000 for the first time.

The trend, coupled with the rapid ageing of its 50-million populace, casts a pall over the nation's future -- its population is projected to start shrinking in 2050.

Experts blame sky-high housing prices, the costs of raising children, and fears over unemployment.

But Chung told AFP: "For years, we have overlooked the real culprit of the problem -- our country's vast gender disparity and inhumanely long working hours."

- 'Selfish, too ambitious' -

South Korea has the second-highest average working hours in the OECD but women are still expected to be children's primary caregiver, whether they work or not.

Many firms prefer to drive pregnant staff to resign rather than pay for maternity leave, and those who return to work are seen as having damaged their career prospects.

"Under such unfair circumstances, young women usually choose their career, not marriage and childbirth," says Chung.

The phenomenon has been dubbed a "birth strike".

"Unless we tackle these problems head-on, South Korea's future will remain murky with the young generation staying away from marriage -- not to mention childbirth," said Chung.

South Korea's fertility rate -- an average number of babies women are expected to have in their lifetime -- stood at 1.17 in 2016, the lowest in the world and compared to a global average of 2.4

A recent survey showed 68 percent of female college students intended to marry -- compared to 80 percent for males. Dual burdens at home and work were the top concern cited by the women who did not intend to marry.

Among the world's advanced economies South Korea consistently ranks at the bottom of OECD surveys on gender pay gaps or female presence in senior positions.

Yet the reverse is true in education: girls beat boys in scholastic achievement tests, with about 75 percent of them going to college compared to 67 percent for their male counterparts.

About 70 percent of South Korean women in their 20s have jobs, compared to 60 percent of men.

But in their 30s the female employment rate dives to about 55 percent, far below males' 90 percent.

Many bemoan the double load on working mothers.

"My male bosses complain that their working wives are selfish and too ambitious at work if the wives fail to pick up children from daycare on time," said one online commentator.

"When I leave work on time to pick up my own kids, they also complain that women are useless, selfish and lack career ambition."

Even in dual-income households women spend more than three hours on household chores and childcare a day on average -- compared to a mere 44 minutes by men.

Marriage is "nothing but a graveyard for all smart, aspirant women out there", said another poster.

- 'Women's work' -

Seoul has mounted billion-dollar campaigns in a effort to reverse the decline, but the drives have been criticised for doing little more than preach at women to marry and reproduce -- in one notorious instance, an online "birth map" showed the number of women of childbearing age by district, city, and region.

At his New Year press conference left-leaning President Moon Jae-In said his government would reduce working hours and "strive to build a society where women can still lead their life pursuing their own values when they get married, give birth and raise children".

Five of the 19 members of the cabinet are women, a record high of 28 percent, including Chung and Kang Kyung-Wha, the country's first female foreign minister.

Seoul has also set non-binding quotas for women in senior roles at state agencies and state-run companies, and increased financial support for men taking paternity leave and their employers, while rolling out more benefits for long-stigmatised unwed mothers.

The government hopes that by changing the wider social atmosphere, private firms will be encouraged to follow suit.

Chung conceded it will be a challenge to change the view that "childcare is women's work" but warned: "Our country's future may depend on whether we can break these social customs."
US President Donald Trump visits the Pentagon amid a looming budget shutdown that he says would be "devastating" for the military

A last-ditch battle to avert a looming US government shutdown moved to the Senate on Friday, where Democrats angered by the collapse of immigration talks have vowed to block a stop-gap funding bill.

With the federal government set to run out of money Friday at midnight -- the eve of the one-year anniversary of President Donald Trump's inauguration -- the bill cleared the House with a 230-197 vote.

But prospects appeared gloomy in the Senate, where Democrats eager for leverage on budget and immigration deals were intent on shooting it down.

"Government Funding Bill past (sic) last night in the House of Representatives. Now Democrats are needed if it is to pass in the Senate - but they want illegal immigration and weak borders. Shutdown coming? We need more Republican victories in 2018!" Trump tweeted Friday morning.

Democrat Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said that if agreement is not reached by Friday night, there should be an even shorter-term funding measure that would "give the president a few days to come to the table."

Mitch McConnell, the Senate Republican Majority Leader, said the House bill provides for four weeks of funding, enough to allow talks to continue "without throwing the government into disarray for no reason."

Schumer wants to "hold the entire country hostage," McConnell said.

"The leader is looking to deflect blame, but it just won't work," said Schumer.

House Speaker Paul Ryan called on Schumer to avoid a government shutdown, saying: "It is risky. It is reckless. And it is wrong."

Trump -- who Schumer said "is like a Sphinx on this issue" -- started on Thursday adding to the chaos gripping Washington, weighing in on the intense Republican maneuvering aimed at avoiding a politically embarrassing funding debacle.

After a burst of tweets he second-guessed top Republican lawmakers and slapped down his own chief of staff, who had been leading a White House push on Capitol Hill for a budget compromise.

Arriving at the Pentagon for a visit, Trump told reporters the government "could very well" shut down Friday.

In the event the funding dries up, federal employees for agencies considered non-essential will be ordered to stay home until a budget deal is struck, at which point they are paid retroactively.

The most recent shutdowns -- in 1995, 1996 and 2013 -- saw about 800,000 workers furloughed per day.

Key government bodies such as the White House, Congress, State Department and Pentagon would remain operational, but would likely furlough some staff.

The military would still report for duty, but troops -- including those in combat -- would potentially not be paid.

The finger-pointing had already begun, with each side blaming the other for a failure to reach a budget compromise after three previous funding extensions.

"A government shutdown will be devastating to our military... something the Dems care very little about!" Trump tweeted Thursday morning.

And yet in another tweet, Trump criticized the Republican short-term funding measure, opposing a sweetener intended to make it hard for Democrats to vote against it.

- Bargaining chip -

The sweetener is a six-year extension of CHIP, a popular children's health insurance program which Democrats have worked hard to protect.

Up against a similar deadline last month, lawmakers passed a short-term resolution to keep the federal government funded until January 20.

If the Republican-led measure fails, Democrats will gain greater leverage to insist on a funding compromise that includes protection from deportation for the so-called "Dreamers," the estimated 700,000 immigrants brought to the United States illegally as children.

Friday morning, Paul Ryan hit out at the Democrats on Twitter, accusing them of "taking funding for the government and funding for our troops hostage" over "unrelated policy."

"They are treating our men and women in uniform like bargaining chips," he fumed.

Negotiations on a bipartisan compromise that includes a solution for the "Dreamers" program collapsed in acrimony at a White House meeting last week.

Trump's reported reference to African nations and Haiti as "shithole countries" ignited a still-smoldering political firestorm.

- No 'evolution' -

White House chief of staff John Kelly met Wednesday with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus to make the case that Trump had "evolved" on his signature campaign promise to build a wall the length of the US border.

Funding for border security, but not a full-blown wall, was part of the bipartisan budget compromise presented at last week's contentious White House talks.

Participants at the meeting with Kelly quoted the retired general and former head of the Department of Homeland Security as saying Trump was not "fully informed" when he made the wall promise.

But Trump hit back on Twitter Thursday: "The Wall is the Wall, it has never changed or evolved from the first day I conceived of it," he wrote.

"If there is no Wall, there is no Deal!" Trump said in another tweet that described Mexico as "now rated the most dangerous country in the world."

The mixed messages from the White House prompted a rebuke Wednesday from a frustrated McConnell.

"I'm looking for something that President Trump supports, and he's not yet indicated what measure he's willing to sign," McConnell told reporters.
Chinese lawyer Yu Wensheng has been a persistent voice for reform in China, despite the country's increasingly severe crackdown on civil society under President Xi Jinping

Chinese authorities detained a prominent human rights lawyer on Friday, people familiar with the case said, just hours after he provided journalists with a letter calling for constitutional reform.

Around a dozen people, including a SWAT team, seized Yu Wensheng as he left his Beijing apartment to walk his child to school, two sources told AFP.

Local police said they were unaware of his detention.

Yu has been a persistent voice for reform in China, despite the country's sweeping and increasingly severe crackdown on civil society under President Xi Jinping, which has led to the jailing of numerous human rights litigators.

Just hours before Yu's detention, he had circulated an open letter calling for five reforms to China's constitution, including the institution of multi-candidate presidential elections.

"Designating the nation's president, as head of state, through a single party election has no meaning as an election," he wrote.

"It has no power to win confidence from the nation, civil society, or the world's various countries."

The issue has always been a sensitive one in China, but has become even more so in recent years, as Xi's rise to the position of the country's most powerful leader in a generation has been accompanied by stern warnings against questioning his position as the Communist Party's "core".

- 'Retaliation' -

Yu has defended prominent civil rights lawyers targeted by the government and people detained for supporting Hong Kong's pro-democracy movement.

Yu has said that in 2014 authorities imprisoned and tortured him for 99 days for allegedly "disturbing public order".

He is perhaps best known for being one of six lawyers who attempted to sue the Chinese government over the country's chronic smog.

At the time, he scoffed at concerns that he might be detained for his actions, telling AFP last year: "If we do things according to the law and still get detained... it will be just the thing to show people the true nature of our so-called 'rule of law'."

During the Communist Party congress in October, during which Xi further consolidated power, Yu penned an open letter to delegates saying "China has no freedom, no democracy, no equality, no rule of law".

Yu said he was later interrogated by police for three hours.

He was recently suspended from practice and his application for starting a new law firm was also rejected, according to human rights organisation Amnesty International.

"It's likely retaliation against him for talking to media," the group's China researcher Patrick Poon told AFP.

"I'm worried he might be charged with a serious offence like 'inciting subversion of state power' for his words."

In December, China imprisoned activist Wu Gan for eight years on the charge in what many experts considered an unusually severe punishment.

Xi has increasingly stifled civil society since taking office in 2012, targeting everyone from activists to human rights lawyers and teachers to celebrity gossip bloggers.

More than 200 Chinese human rights lawyers and activists were detained or questioned in a police sweep in 2015 that rights groups called "unprecedented".

Last year, democracy activist and Nobel peace prize laureate Liu Xiaobo died of liver cancer while still in custody as authorities rejected his request to seek treatment abroad.

A veteran of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, Liu was sentenced to 11 years in jail in 2009 for "subversion" after pushing for democratic reforms.
A North Korean soldier stands outside a guard post on the bank of the Yalu river, opposite the Chinese border city of Dandong

China has ramped up security along its border with North Korea, installing new surveillance cameras, deploying extra security forces and operating radiation detectors as it braces for a potential crisis.

Bellicose rhetoric between Washington and Pyongyang has raised fears in China of a conflict that could send millions of North Korean refugees across the 1,420-kilometre (880-mile) border, and of nuclear fallout that could hit Chinese towns.

While authorities have been coy about preparations, residents have seen an increase in patrols along the frontier.

Radiation monitors are running in border towns, and locals say interactions with North Koreans have been discouraged.

A red banner tacked to a border fence in Dandong -- a major trading hub separated from North Korea by the Yalu River -- has a Cold War-like message to residents:

"Citizens or organisations who see spying activities must immediately report them to national security organs."

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Outside Dandong, new checkpoints dot the road running along the Yalu River. Locals say they were installed in October.

"Before, the North Koreans came to our side to fish. Now they don't dare," said Zhang Fuquan at his fish farm on the Chinese side of the Yalu River.

"The army patrols and watches."

On the opposite bank, North Korean soldiers peered out from turquoise watchtowers and at least one warplane surveilled the territory from above.

Experts said the aircraft, spotted by an AFP reporter, was a Stalin-era Ilyushin Il-28 light bomber or a Chinese copy.

"The North Koreans very likely are flying a patrol along the Yalu," said Rick Fisher, a fellow at the International Assessment and Strategy Center, a US-based think-tank.

"They want to see what they can on the Chinese side" and deliberately "raise Beijing's alarm."

Relations between China and North Korea have deteriorated as Beijing has backed a series of UN sanctions to punish its secretive ally over its repeated missile and nuclear tests.

A sign in Dandong gives instructions on how to behave near the North Korean border - including no smuggling or taking photos of troops

In a previously unthinkable meeting, top US diplomats and military officials told their Chinese counterparts last year about US plans to send troops to North Korea and secure its nuclear weapons in case the regime fell.

"The China-North Korea relationship has some problems at present," said Yang Xiyu, a former Chinese negotiator on Pyongyang's nuclear issue.

"It has brought about the current difficult situation in the relationship."

- 'Tightly controlled' -

At the massive Sup'ung hydroelectric dam, which provides power to both China and North Korea, surveillance cameras monitor the Yalu River.

"The border is tightly controlled now," said 75-year-old Yin Guoxie, retired from a lifetime of work at the dam.

Yin said regular North Koreans are not allowed to have boats, minimising the number who try to cross.

A light bomber flies over the North Korean town of Sinuiju

"If they do come over here, we'll catch them and send them back," he added.

Further north in Longjing, where the Tumen River freezes over in the winter, villages have established border protection units and cadres have taught self-defence to residents.

The local propaganda department said last year that hundreds of cameras were being installed to build a "second generation border surveillance system".

The measures are slashing the number of North Korean defectors who reach Seoul via a land route through China to Southeast Asia.

Fewer than 100 North Koreans a month reached the South last year -- the lowest number in 15 years -- according to Seoul's unification ministry.

- Radiation fears -

Five of Pyongyang's six nuclear tests have been carried out under Mount Mantap at Punggye-ri, some 80 kilometres from the border with northeast China, where citizens felt the accompanying earthquake.

Some Chinese and foreign scientists worry that the 2,200-metre peak suffers from "tired mountain syndrome" and could collapse from further nuclear tests.

Fear of radiation from a test, accident or nuclear war spreading to China's border regions runs high.

A North Korean woman stands on the bank of the Yalu river

After Pyongyang's sixth nuclear test in September, China's Ministry of Environmental Protection conducted emergency radiation monitoring, though nothing abnormal was found.

At the Dandong border crossing, authorities last week checked to make sure their nuclear radiation monitoring and protection equipment was working properly.

Further afield, in Lagushao village, AFP reporters saw a whirring "Radiation environment automatic monitoring station" housed inside a hut.

Guo Qiuju, a professor at Peking University, said the station was capable of detecting radiation coming across the border.

"If the monitoring stations show any abnormalities, we will immediately alert citizens," said Guo.

The Lagushao station is not listed on the environment ministry's online network, suggesting it may be new.

North Korean soldiers are seen at a guard post on the bank of the Yalu river

The ministry did not immediately respond to faxed questions for comment.

Last month, a state-run newspaper in the Jilin border province published a full-page illustrated advisory detailing how to response in the event of a nuclear attack or disaster.

"If there is a river, lake or pond near you, jump in to protect yourself," it read.

Afterwards, "flush out your nostrils, rinse your mouth, and clean out you ear canals."
Taiwan has blocked Chinese flights to protest new air routes announced by Beijing

Taiwan has blocked nearly 200 flights by Chinese airlines over the strait that separates the two rivals due to the carriers' use of controversial new travel routes introduced by China.

Taipei has repeatedly called for four new flight paths to be cancelled since China launched them earlier in January, but their complaints have fallen on deaf ears on the mainland.

Authorities on the island said they had not been consulted over the routes and described their introduction as "reckless", endangering flight safety, and politically motivated.

China Eastern Airlines and Xiamen Air have since requested to operate 176 additional flights between Taiwan and China during the Lunar New Year period in mid-February.

But Taiwan's Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) said Friday it had refused permission because the two airlines had been using the controversial new routes, even though the extra Lunar New Year flights they requested would not have flown along them.

It is the first action taken against Chinese airlines over the row.

"The two airlines' requests are not approved for now because they are operating other flights using the M503 and related routes that are launched without a consensus between the two sides," a CAA official told AFP.

M503 is an existing route introduced in 2015, which also sparked a backlash from Taiwan, prompting Beijing to move it closer to the mainland and use it only for north-to-south flights.

The CAA official declined to comment on reports that around 50,000 passengers would be affected by the decision.

Beijing sees self-ruling democratic Taiwan as part of its territory to be brought back into the fold and has recently upped military drills around the island.

Cross-strait ties have steadily deteriorated since 2016 when Beijing-sceptic president Tsai Ing-wen took the reins. Chinese authorities unilaterally stopped communication between the two sides after she took office.

China said it had introduced the new flight routes to help ease congestion in its airspace over the strait.

The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) said the routes would only be used for civilian flights and China would maintain technical communications with Taiwan.

The CAAC added that the M503 route would also now be used for south-to-north flights, overriding the original restriction.

Taiwan's military has said it would intercept, warn and repel if necessary any planes that cross into Taiwanese airspace and threaten the island's security.
Former German rapper Denis Cuspert appeared in numerous IS propaganda videos

A German rapper turned Islamic State fighter who reportedly married the FBI translator hired to spy on him has been killed in an airstrike in Syria, a US-based monitoring group has said.

Denis Cuspert, who performed under the stage name Deso Dogg, became one of the extremist group's most famous Western fighters, appearing in numerous propaganda videos including one that apparently pictured him with a man's severed head.

The German-Ghanaian was killed on Wednesday during an airstrike in the town of Gharanij in Syria's Deir Ezzor province, said a statement from the pro-IS Wafa' Media Foundation translated into English by the SITE monitoring group.

The jihadist group also posted eight graphic photographs on the Telegram messaging app that it said were of his bloody corpse, SITE said.

Cuspert's death has been reported before, including by the Pentagon which announced he had been killed in an airstrike in Syria in October 2015. It later acknowledged he appeared to have survived the attack.

Jihadist sources in April 2014 also said Cuspert had been killed in Syria but they later retracted the claim.

Daniela Greene, an FBI translator with "top secret" security clearance, allegedly sneaked off to Syria in June 2014 to marry Cuspert after she grew attracted to the extremist while spying on him, according to US court documents.

Greene, who was arrested on her return to the US less than two months after travelling to Syria, pleaded guilty to "making false statements involving international terrorism" and served a two-year prison sentence.

Cuspert had pledged an oath of loyalty to IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and was a chief recruiter of German fighters.

US officials have said Cuspert had made threats against former US president Barack Obama and US and German citizens, and had also encouraged Western Muslims to carry out IS-inspired attacks.
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Woody Allen, the director and four-time Oscar winner known for his comedies rife with neurotic characters, is in the crosshairs of America's sexual harassment watershed over decades-old claims that he molested his daughter.

The 82-year-old New Yorker -- who averages a movie a year, clocking up more than 50 titles total -- is considered a comic genius by fans and envied by fellow filmmakers for wresting freedom from studios, though he is not always adored by critics.

For more than 25 years, unproven allegations that he molested his adopted daughter when she was seven -- as well as a relationship with his ex-lover's adopted daughter from a previous marriage -- have colored a career now more lauded in Europe than at home.

Born Allen Konigsberg on December 1, 1935, to a New York family of second generation Jewish immigrants, Allen spent much of his Brooklyn childhood alone in his room, practicing magic tricks or playing the clarinet.

He was reportedly hired while a teenager to write one-liners for well-known comedians, and then kicked out of film studies at New York University. He worked as a stand-up comic and wrote for television in the late 1950s and early 1960s before moving into film.

"From the beginning, I dreamed of being Godard, Fellini, Truffaut or Resnais. Together with Bergman and Antonioni, these are the filmmakers who made me want to do this job," he told French weekly Le Nouvel Observateur in 2014.

As a screenwriter, actor and director, he has won four Oscars and been nominated an astonishing 20 times in a career that has often blurred with his personal life.

It was with one-time partner Diane Keaton that he made some of his most popular films, including romantic comedies "Annie Hall" and "Manhattan."

- 'Insensitive' -

Allen and wife Soon-Yi Previn in 2016 as they arrive for the screening of "Cafe Society" at the Cannes Film Festival

Then Mia Farrow, with whom Allen had a 12-year relationship, appeared in 13 of his movies, including "Hannah and Her Sisters" -- one of his greatest commercial successes.

But their relationship exploded in 1992 when Farrow discovered Allen had a stash of nude photographs of Soon-Yi, whom she had adopted during a previous marriage to pianist Andre Previn. Soon-Yi was 21 at the time.

Allen and Soon-Yi married and are still together. They have two children.

But in the midst of the toxic custody battle, Dylan Farrow claimed he had sexually assaulted her.

A New York judge ruled the allegations inconclusive, but lambasted the director as "self-absorbed, untrustworthy and insensitive."

Allen has always denied the claims and continued to work with generations of A-listers -- recently with Kate Winslet and Justin Timberlake for his 2017 movie "Wonder Wheel."

Showered with awards in Europe, Allen once described his relationship with Hollywood as love-contempt. He has regularly accused studios of pandering to the lowest common denominator and being driven by purely commercial concerns.

- 'Witch hunt' -

Online giant Amazon has bankrolled recent movies and commissioned television series "Crisis in Six Scenes" starring Miley Cyrus.

But the sexual harassment firestorm, fueled by a bombshell expose of alleged rape and other abuses by Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein, written by Allen's biological son, has seen a growing number of actors say they will no longer work with the director.

The Washington Post this month published an article claiming that Allen's 57-year personal archives at Princeton University show jottings filled with misogynist and lecherous comments, and an obsession with teenage girls.

Actors have recently spoken out in support of Dylan Farrow. Selena Gomez, Rebecca Hall and Timothee Chalamet have donated their salaries from his movies to charities.

In her first television interview, Dylan Farrow tearfully described her father this week as a liar.

Allen hit back, accusing his ex-lover's family of "cynically using the opportunity afforded by the Time's Up movement to repeat this discredited allegation."

Last October, he was criticized for saying he felt "sad" for Weinstein and cautioning against a "witch hunt atmosphere" in which "every guy in an office who winks at a woman is suddenly having to call a lawyer to defend himself."

This week, Allen was the guy defending himself.
Washington, D.C.

U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos and school choice advocates descended on Capitol Hill to cheerlead for their favorite issuewithout offering any specifics about how lawmakers might get new choice legislation over the finish line in an election year thats expected to be tough for Republicans.

During the National School Choice Week event, DeVos lead children from local charter and private schools in a cheer: When parents have a choice, kids have a chance.

You have been able to make a choice to be in a school thats working for you, DeVos told them. I hope you will go out from here and you will tell your story, and you will encourage others who havent yet joined us to do so because for every student here there are dozens more who havent been able to make these choices. ... Join me in raising your voices, Im here to fight on your behalf, Im here to fight all childrens behalf.

DeVos, a philanthropist who dedicated millions of dollars to expanding choice before taking the helm of the department, is the first sitting secretary to speak at the school choice rally. It has been held three times on Capitol Hill.

Last year, many school choice advocates saw DeVos appointment as secretarybacked by a Republican Congressas the best opportunity for a big federal school choice initiative in decades. But lawmakers rejected the administrations budget pitches on choice, including a $250 million private school voucher program, and a push to allow school districts to use some of their federal funding for public school choice.

And behind the scenes, Trump threw cold water on an attempt to include a federal tax-credit scholarship in the recent tax overhaul, sources say. In a small victory for choice, Congress did allow families to use 529 college savings plans for K-12 private school tuition , as part of the tax legislation.

But even ardent school choice fans argue that isnt likely to help many low-income families cover the cost of private school, since they may not have extra funds to set aside into the accounts. DeVos said she agreed, and would continue to push for choice initiatives for poor children.

Thats likely to be a tall order during an election year in which Republicans are expected to lose seats in the House and potentially the Senate.

We Have a Dream as Well

Still, there were plenty of high-profile speakers at the event who made it clear that they will continue to advocate for the issue, even though they didnt explain how they planned to sell choice to skeptical colleagues.

Speakers included GOP Rep. Luke Messer of Indiana, who is the co-chair of the School Choice Caucus in the House; Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, who helped lead the fight to get 529 plans included in the tax overhaul and Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C. the chairwoman of the House education committee. Cruz talked about the 529 amendment he got included in the tax overhaul measure, which needed the support of Vice President Mike Pence to get over the finish-line.

We passed what is the most significant federal school choice legislation in the history of our country, Cruz said. He linked the school choice movement to Martin Luther Kings fight for civil rights: We have a dream as well. A dream of every child being able to get an excellent education ... [and that education] being up to the parents, being up to the kids.

Foxx, though, acknowledged that going further wont be easy, at least on the federal level.

Weve always been a country that has promoted choice in post-secondary education level, she said. She argued that lawmakers need to extend that to K-12, saying, We want to educate members of Congress who dont feel the same way that some of us do.

School choice is one of the biggest topics we cover. See a sample of our top stories:

Photo: Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos at a Capitol Hill event for National School Choice Week. (Alyson Klein/Education Week)



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Many Rohingya living in the crowded, unsanitary camps in Bangladesh have said they do not want to return to Rakhine

Hundreds of Rohingya refugees staged protests in Bangladesh Friday against plans to send them back to Myanmar, where a military crackdown last year sparked a mass exodus.

The refugees chanted slogans and held banners demanding citizenship and guarantees of security before they return to their home state of Rakhine in Myanmar.

The protest came ahead of a visit by UN special rapporteur Yanghee Lee to the camps in southeastern Bangladesh where around a million of the Muslim minority are now living.

Bangladesh has reached an agreement with Myanmar to send back the around 750,000 refugees who have arrived since October 2016 over the next two years, a process set to begin as early as next week.

But many Rohingya living in the crowded, unsanitary camps have said they do not want to return to Rakhine after fleeing atrocities including murder, rape and arson attacks on their homes.

Rights groups and the UN say any repatriations must be voluntary.

They have also expressed concerns about conditions in Myanmar, where many Rohingya settlements have been burned to the ground by soldiers and Buddhist mobs.

The government has said it is building temporary camps to accommodate the returnees, a prospect feared by Rohingya, said Mohibullah, a refugee and former teacher.

"We want safe zones in Arakan (Rakhine) before repatriation," he told AFP by phone from Cox's Bazar, where the camps are located.

"We want a UN peacekeeping force in Arakan. We want fundamental rights and citizenship. We do not want repatriation without life guarantees," Mohibullah said.

Police said they were unaware of the protests.

A Bangladesh official said around 6,500 Rohingya currently living in no man's land between the two countries would be among the first to be repatriated.

The repatriation deal does not cover the estimated 200,000 Rohingya refugees who were living in Bangladesh prior to October 2016, driven out by previous rounds of communal violence and military operations.
Yasuhiro Suzuki, seen here in 2010, was banned for eight years for putting a prohibited muscle-boosting agent into the drink bottle of fellow sprint canoeist Seiji Komatsu during a domestic competition

Japan's Olympic chief has slammed a top canoeist for spiking a rival's drink with a banned substance to scuttle his Tokyo 2020 selection hopes, describing his act as "unthinkable".

The Japan Anti-doping Agency last week banned Yasuhiro Suzuki for eight years for putting a prohibited muscle-boosting agent into the drink bottle of fellow sprint canoeist Seiji Komatsu during a domestic competition last September.

Canoe officials branded Suzuki's actions "evil" and Japan Olympic Committee (JOC) president Tsunekazu Takeda also blasted the disgraced athlete Friday, accusing him of bringing shame on Japan before next month's Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang.

"For a scandal like this to break as we head to Pyeongchang is extremely sad," Takeda told AFP.

"It was an unthinkable act and totally goes against the spirit of the Olympics. It's a real shame and we cannot afford to let this kind of thing happen ever again."

Japan Olympic Committee (JOC) president Tsunekazu Takeda blasted the disgraced athlete, accusing him of bringing shame on Japan before next month's Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang

Suzuki admitted to spiking the drink after receiving an intensive anti-doping lecture during a training camp, according to the federation.

"We meet top athletes regularly to teach them the importance of maintaining their credibility and still this has happened," said Takeda.

"I met with all the Olympic organisations yesterday and called for them to go back to the drawing board and make sure this doesn't happen again."

The Japan Canoe Federation could still impose a life ban on Suzuki, 32, citing a history of sabotaging rivals, sometimes by stealing their equipment.

Komatsu won the race in September but was later provisionally suspended after he tested positive for the drug, which he strenuously denied using. His suspension has now been lifted.

Both Suzuki and Komatsu were among the top candidates to represent Japan at the forthcoming 2020 Olympics.
Niger troops have suffered a string of deadly Boko Haram attacks in the Diffa region, which lies on the frontier with Nigeria and Chad

At least seven Niger soldiers were killed and more than a dozen others wounded this week in an attack by suspected Boko Haram militants in the country's southeast, the government said on Friday.

"The provisional toll for the cowardly terror attack on Wednesday night in Toummour is seven dead, seventeen wounded and one soldier missing," said a cabinet statement.

Toummour is located in the Diffa administrative region, which lies on the border with Nigeria and Chad. It has suffered a string of deadly Boko Haram attacks since February 2015, although the area has been relatively calm in recent months.

Last week, the United Nations said there had been a sharp fall in the number of Niger civilians kidnapped, killed or wounded by Boko Haram last year, citing an overall toll of 141 compared with 227 a year earlier.

It did not detail the number of military casualties.

Boko Haram launched an insurgency in northeast Nigeria in 2009 that in 2015 spilt into Niger. It also affects the country's other neighbours, Chad and Cameroon.

Overall, more than 20,000 people have been killed and more than 2.6 million displaced in the conflict.
Mnangagwa took the helm after Robert Mugabe was forced out after 37 years in power

Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa wants international observers including UN officials to watch over the country's upcoming elections, he said in a Financial Times interview.

Mnangagwa has adopted a more diplomatic tone since taking over as leader in November, after the ousting of the authoritarian Robert Mugabe, his former boss.

After announcing earlier this week that elections will be held in four to five months, the new president invited international observers to Zimbabwe for the vote.

"We want fair, free, credible elections," he told British business newspaper the Financial Times in an interview published Thursday.

"I would want that the United Nations should come, the EU should come... If the Commonwealth were requesting to come, I am disposed to consider their application," he added.

Zimbabwe shunned international observers during Mugabe's 37-year rule, during which elections were marred by vote-rigging and violent suppression of the opposition.

Mnangagwa was one of Mugabe's closest allies in the ruling ZANU-PF party and the 75-year-old has been accused of playing a vital role in the authoritarian regime.

But since taking over the presidency he has extended an olive branch to the international community, including to former colonial ruler Britain.

The UK was an outspoken critic of Mugabe's leadership, but Mnangagwa predicted closer ties when Britain leaves the European Union next year.

"They will need us. And we will make sure we become very close to them," he told the FT.

The Zimbabwean president also said he would be open to seeking to rejoin the Commonwealth, a grouping of nations largely formerly ruled by Britain.
A Turkish tank transporter nears the Syrian border on January 16, 2018 as Ankara prepares for a threatened assault on the Kurdish-held enclave of Afrin

Mortar fire on a town in northern Syria held by Turkish-backed rebels wounded at least 14 people in a psychiatric hospital, a monitor said on Friday.

The Thursday evening fire on the town of Azaz just across the border from Turkey came after Ankara bombarded the adjacent Kurdish-held enclave of Afrin for five straight days ahead of a threatened invasion.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor of the war, said the mortar rounds were fired by the Syrian Democratic Forces, a US-backed alliance dominated by the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG).

But SDF spokesman Mustefa Bali denied that the alliance fired the rounds that hit the hospital, when asked by AFP.

Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman said most of the wounded were among the more than 100 patients being treated at the hospital, many for post-traumatic stress disorder resulting from Syria's near seven-year civil war.

Paramedics transferred the wounded patients to a nearby clinic, an AFP correspondent reported. One had lost several fingers.

The mortar fire destroyed a second-storey wall of the hospital, showering the beds of the ward with debris.

The Turkish army condemned the mortar fire and said wounded civilians were also taken across the border into Turkey for treatment.

Turkish forces on Friday began shelling the YPG enclave of Afrin from frontier Hatay province, according to the state-run Anadolu news agency.

Turkey has said repeatedly this week that an operation to oust the YPG from Afrin is imminent and has massed troops and armour on the border.

It regards the YPG as an offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), an outlawed rebel goup that has waged a deadly insurgency in southeastern Turkey since 1984.

The YPG, which also controls a much larger stretch of the border region further east, has vowed to defend the enclave.

Russia has some 300 military observers deployed in Afrin and, on Thursday, Turkey's army and intelligence chiefs held talks in Moscow that were seen as an essential precursor to any invasion.
Taiwan's justice ministry last week announced a ban on all financial dealings with Chen

A Taiwanese businessman who has been investigated and sanctioned by authorities on suspicion of selling oil to North Korea attempted suicide on Friday, prosecutors said.

Chen Shih-hsien was rushed to hospital in southern Kaohsiung city where he lives and was later discharged.

"We are aware of Chen's attempted suicide. We will consider his health state before deciding on the date for his next questioning," said Ke Kuang-hui, a spokesman for the Kaohsiung district prosecutor's office.

An emotional Chen, sitting in a wheelchair, told reporters as he was leaving the hospital that he was "framed by China", according to Central News Agency.

"I would not do business with North Korea," he was quoted by the agency as saying.

Taiwan's justice ministry last week announced a ban on all financial dealings with Chen and froze his companies' bank accounts due to the ongoing investigation into his activities.

Chen is being probed over links to a Hong Kong-registered ship that Seoul has said it detained in November.

The ship, known as the Lighthouse Winmore, is suspected of transferring oil products to a North Korean vessel and breaching UN sanctions against the nuclear-armed regime.

Chen is under investigation for making a false declaration that a ship he chartered was bound for Hong Kong when it actually sailed to international waters to sell oil, according to prosecutors.

He has told prosecutors that he did not know the oil products were bound for a North Korean vessel, sources told AFP.

Local media said the ship he chartered was the Lighthouse Winmore and that Chen sold oil products through "a Chinese middleman".

The Lighthouse Winmore was impounded in November by South Korean authorities after it allegedly transferred 600 tonnes of oil to a North Korean vessel, according to Seoul.

It was chartered by the Billions Bunker Group, which is incorporated in the Marshall Islands and cannot be traced directly to Chen.

But Taiwanese authorities found him to be the sole shareholder of another company with a similar name, Bunker's Taiwan Group, incorporated in the British Virgin Islands.

Taiwan has slapped sanctions on both firms.

Two other entities backed by Chen were also sanctioned by Taiwan under terrorism financing prevention laws.

Chen is currently on bail and has not yet been formally charged.

The US had previously asked the United Nations Security Council to blacklist 10 ships -- including the Lighthouse Winmore -- for violating sanctions against the North.

Taiwan announced in September it was banning all trade activities with North Korea.
Manila International Airport's general manager said he was 'ashamed' by the spate of baggage thefts

Manila airport fired a major contractor and announced a raft of new security measures on Friday after a spate of baggage thefts at the main Philippine gateway once derided as the world's worst airport.

President Rodrigo Duterte summoned airport authorities and the transport minister on Thursday and ordered them to put a stop to the thieving, Manila International Airport general manager Ed Monreal told reporters.

"I am really ashamed over what is happening, what our passengers are going through," Monreal said.

"Let us all work together to stop these embarrassing incidents."

Monreal said the airport would not renew the operating licence of one ground handling company serving 14 carriers after passengers on at least two flights lodged formal complaints over items stolen from their luggage.

It also ordered other contractors to equip baggage handlers and security personnel with body cameras, install closed circuit television in their working areas, and remove all pockets from their uniforms.

Monreal said surveillance footage had confirmed the pilferage, with authorities also finding evidence including "boots that allow them (suspects) to hide stuff at their feet".

The airport has filed criminal charges against a number of suspected thieves, he said without elaborating.

MIASCOR, the company that lost its Manila airport contract, did not reply to AFP's request for comment.

Manila airport, also known as Ninoy Aquino International Airport, says 20.4 million passengers used the hub last year.

It topped the list of worst airports on the travel website "The Guide to Sleeping in Airports" from 2011-2013, causing the government to make major renovations.

Travellers have long criticised its "dilapidated facilities", dishonest airport workers, rude officials and long waiting times, the website said.

In 2015 the government investigated claims of an extortion racket involving security personnel planting bullets in passengers' luggage and demanding money not to press charges for illegal possession of bullets, punishable by up to 12 years in prison.

Officials said the extortion ended after the 2016 election of Duterte, a fiery politician who warned in his campaign speeches that he would force airport security personnel to eat any bullets they found in passenger luggage.
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A former leader of a black tribal homeland that was one of the so-called Bantustans that helped to underpin South Africa's apartheid system has died, local media reported on Friday.

Lucas Mangope, 94, was president of Bophuthatswana until democracy in 1994 after which the 10 small apartheid-created states were dismantled and South Africa's first democratic president Nelson Mandela described him as a "forgotten man".

"Mangope was among the African personalities... that sustained the apartheid social engineering of ethnic division," the ruling African National Congress (ANC) party said in a statement.

"Mangope was an outspoken opponent of the democratisation project in South Africa as led by the ANC."

Mangope was installed by South Africa's apartheid government to administer the semi-autonomous tribal territory, which was scattered across a number of enclaves within the northwest region of the then white-ruled nation. He became president of the homeland in 1977.

No other country recognised supposedly independent Bantustan "nations", which were used by the racist regime to disenfranchise non-whites within South Africa, turning them into foreigners and depriving them of their political and civic rights.

"The history of Bophuthatswana was a history of forced removals of citizens, of corruption, of banning of organisations, political imprisonments, deportations, police brutality, torture, hangings," lawyer Brian Curran said in 1996 during a Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearing into the crimes of the apartheid era.

Mangope came to international attention in March 1994 a month before South Africa's first non-racial elections when he refused to let citizens of his enclave vote in the polls.

Days of looting and arson in the main town of Mafikeng ensued and dozens of white South African neo-nazis poured into the territory to prop up Mangope's teetering regime.

One of the enduring scenes of apartheid's final days was when a Bophuthatswana soldier shot dead three of the far-right paramilitaries as they pleaded for their lives in front of live TV cameras.
India has a grim record of sexual crimes against women, with nearly 39,000 rape cases reported in 2016, according to government data

India's top court on Friday upheld the acquittal of a Bollywood director accused of raping an American research scholar in a case that has sparked intense debate about consent in a country with high levels of sexual violence.

Mahmood Farooqui was initially found guilty of rape in 2016, but the Delhi high court last year overturned the conviction on appeal, ruling the incident had been consensual.

One of the judges hearing that appeal said Farooqui may not have been aware that the woman had not consented to sex, a comment that attracted fierce criticism from rights activists.

"In cases where the parties are known to each other, it could be really difficult to decipher whether a feeble 'no' - little or no resistance - actually amounts to denial of consent," said Justice Ashutosh Kumar.

The alleged victim sought to appeal, but the Supreme Court on Friday dismissed her plea, saying the acquittal had been sound.

"The high court judgement is well written. It does not require our interference," said S.A. Bobde, one of the judges hearing the case.

Activist Kavita Krishnan said Friday's ruling was a "betrayal of women's rights" and of the new, tougher laws on sexual violence introduced after the fatal gang rape of a Delhi student in 2012.

"If you made a drink for a man, our Supreme Court thinks your No can then be read as Yes," tweeted Krishnan, secretary of the All India Progressive Women's Association.

"SC refusal to even admit the plea against atrocious 'Feeble No' verdict is a betrayal of women's rights and of the 2013 rape law."

The case dates back to 2015 when the scholar had travelled to India to seek Farooqui's assistance with her research.

She travelled home to the US shortly afterwards but returned to India to report the matter to police.

India has a grim record of sexual crimes against women, with nearly 39,000 rape cases reported in 2016, according to government data.

The 2012 Delhi gang rape sparked mass protests and led to an overhaul of rape laws that increased penalties for offenders and accelerated trials through courts.

But activists say much more needs to be done.
The Senate education committee gave the thumbs up on Thursday to three of President Donald Trumps nominees to work at the U.S. Department of Education.

Committee members voted to send the nominations of Jim Blew, Kenneth L. Marcus, and Mick Zais to the full Senate. Blew is the nominee for assistant secretary for planning, evaluation, and policy analysis, Marcus is the pick to be assistant secretary for civil rights, and Zais is Trumps nominee to be the deputy secretary. All three would work under Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, if they win full Senate approval.

Blew spent many years working to expand school choice to low-income families at the Walton Family Foundation (The Walton foundation provides support to Education Week for coverage of parent engagement and involvement issues). Marcus is the president of the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, a Jewish civil rights advocacy group, and previously served as acting assistant secretary for civil rights at the department. Zais is the former schools chief in South Carolina and is a retired brigadier general in the Army.

Blew and Zais were pressed by Democrats about their support for school choice during their confirmation hearings in November. Marcus got grilled about his views on transgender student rights during his own December confirmation hearing.

All three must be confirmed by the full Senate before taking thier posts. The Senate confirmed Johnny Collett as the new assistant secretary for special education and rehabilitative services last month.

Photo: Kenneth Marcus, the pick to lead the U.S. Department of Educations office for civil rights, appears at a Senate confirmation hearing in December. (Tasos Katopodis for Education Week)

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About 98 percent of Aceh's five million residents are Muslims subject to religious law

An Indonesian Christian was publicly flogged on Friday for selling alcohol in conservative Aceh province, a violation of Islamic law, as a crowd of onlookers including children jeered.

Jono Simbolon grimaced in pain when a masked religious officer lashed his back with a rattan stick on a makeshift stage outside a mosque in the provincial capital Banda Aceh.

He is only the third non-Muslim to suffer a public whipping since Aceh, on Sumatra island, began implementing Islamic law after it was granted special autonomy in 2001 -- an attempt by the central government to quell a long-running separatist insurgency.

"This is our government's commitment to enforcing Islamic law," said Banda Aceh mayor Aminullah Usman.

"If there is a violation (of the law) immediately report it to the sharia police and we will carry out a punishment like today's caning," he said, referring to religious authorities.

A doctor checked on Simbolon's condition after 10 strokes before the flogging continued.

He was one of 10 people -- eight men and two women -- caned after Friday prayers for offences including pimping, prostitution and gambling.

One unmarried couple received 20 strokes each for being too physically close to each other -- seen as a prelude to banned pre-marital sex.

Simbolon was arrested in October and sentenced to 36 lashes for selling illegal alcohol.

About 98 percent of Aceh's five million residents are Muslims subject to religious law, known locally as Qanun.

Non-Muslims who have committed an offence that violates both national and religious laws -- such as selling bootleg liquor -- can choose to be prosecuted under either system.

"(Simbolon) is a Christian but he decided to bow to Qanun," chief prosecutor Erwin Desman said, adding that the man may have chosen a flogging to avoid a lengthy criminal prosecution.

Aceh is the only province in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim-majority country, which implements Islamic law, or Sharia.

Last year, two gay men who admitted having sex were flogged in Aceh, with each receiving 100 strokes of the cane, drawing heavy criticism from rights groups.

Gay sex is not illegal in the rest of Indonesia, which mainly follows a criminal code inherited from former colonial ruler the Netherlands.
Chinese President Xi Jinping's eponymous "thought" was enshrined in the Communist Party constitution in October

China's Communist Party proposed on Friday to engrave President Xi Jinping's guiding philosophy in the country's constitution, further cementing his status as its most powerful leader in decades.

Xi's eponymous "thought" was already enshrined in the Communist Party constitution at the 19th Party Congress in October, elevating him to the same status as modern China's founder Mao Zedong.

The architect of China's economic reforms, Deng Xiaoping, is the only other leader whose name appears alongside his guiding principle in both the state and party constitutions.

The party's Central Committee proposed at a two-day meeting that "Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era" should also be added to the state constitution, said the official Xinhua news agency.

The constitutional change must be approved by the National People's Congress, which is expected to hold its annual plenary session in March.

The forthcoming amendment would need to "enshrine the major theoretical points and major principles and policies stipulated by the 19th Party Congress -- especially Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era -- into state law," the body said in a statement released by Xinhua.

"The plenum believes that is a major event in the country's political life," it said.

A major outcome of the 19th Party Congress was the decision to establish a new anti-graft agency, the National Supervisory Commission, that will coordinate investigations at all levels of government and expand their remit to include non-party members.

The Central Committee noted in its statement that reforms to the state supervisory system would be included in the amendment.

"It is necessary to establish an anti-corruption work organ under the unified leadership of the party according to law, and establish a centralised, authoritative and efficient national surveillance system," it said.

The elevation of Xi, 64, into the Communist Party constitution in October had already brought him into the pantheon of the country's most powerful leaders.

Earlier this week, the Party mouthpiece People's Daily further cemented that status by publishing an article that for the first time referred to Xi as "lingxiu" -- a Mao-era honorific with more reverential and spiritual connotations than the ordinary monikers.

"We should resolutely support the core, faithfully follow the 'lingxiu', use our courage and morale...and make strides toward a brighter future," read the article published Monday.

China's ruling body, the Politburo, in October used the term to refer to Xi and the military's official PLA Daily and Henan Daily have also used it.

Mao, at the height of his personality cult during the early years of the 1966-76 Cultural Revolution, was hailed as a "great teacher, great lingxiu, great commander-in-chief, and great helmsman" -- a slogan known as the "four greats."

The party congress unveiled a new seven-member ruling council that did not include a clear successor to Xi, leaving the impression that he could break with recent tradition and seek a third term in office in 2022.
The ruling is seen by critics as Duterte's latest bid to stifle opposition to his narcotics crackdown

Philippine journalists took to the streets Friday in support of a news website facing state-enforced closure, accusing President Rodrigo Duterte of trampling on press freedom.

The government withdrew the corporate registration of the Rappler website this week and has summoned its chief executive to answer a "cyber-libel" complaint in what media watchdogs describe as payback for critical coverage of Duterte's deadly war on drugs.

About 200 journalists and activists, most of them wearing black, gathered in northern Manila at dusk to protest the ruling, seen by critics as Duterte's latest bid to stifle opposition to his narcotics crackdown.

The protesters carried banners saying "fight the Duterte dictatorship" and "defend press freedom".

Duterte's spokesman Harry Roque said in a statement that the demonstration showed "that freedom is alive and democracy is alive in the Philippines".

Rappler has had a testy relationship with Duterte since he won election on an anti-crime platform in 2016

Rappler, founded in 2012, is among a handful of Philippines-based news organisations which had produced reports critical of Duterte's flagship "war on drugs" that the government says has claimed the lives of nearly 4,000 suspects.

Human rights groups charge that thousands more have been killed by shadowy vigilantes.

The government's corporate regulator alleged that the news organisation violated a constitutional ban on foreign ownership of local media when its parent company issued Philippine depositary receipts for Rappler shares that were sold to a foreign fund.

Rappler maintains the investment did not constitute equity nor give the investors veto on editorial matters and has vowed to fight Monday's ruling, which takes effect after 15 days.

Rappler has had a testy relationship with Duterte since he won election on an anti-crime platform in 2016, with the Philippine leader threatening last year to expose the website's "American ownership".

Duterte has also publicly attacked other media outlets that have criticised his policies, including leading daily the Philippine Daily Inquirer and major broadcaster ABS-CBN, threatening to block the TV station's application for a franchise renewal.

The move to shut down Rappler has sparked protests in Manila, including at the University of the Philippines

Apart from the loss of its corporate licence, Rappler's chief executive Maria Ressa faced a second challenge after she was summoned by the justice ministry to answer a cybercrime complaint against her next week.

The complaint was filed by a businessman, who accused Rappler of libel for reporting in 2012 that he lent a luxury van to then-Supreme Court chief Renato Corona who was later impeached for failing to declare his assets.

Ressa said the charges against Rappler were part of a "fishing expedition" to find any legal basis to attack the news site.

"This administration's laws are being used to stifle Rappler, a group of journalists and press freedom," she told AFP.

"The end goal of all of this is to intimidate us into silence."

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UN forces have spent years trying to bring calm to eastern Democratic Republic of Congo's troubled areas

The defence minister for the Democratic Republic of Congo on Friday said the army was waging 'war' against two militia forces in the country's troubled east.

Crispin Atama Thabe told AFP that government forces were tackling rebels in both South Kivu province and neighbouring North Kivu, where deaths were reported on both sides in recent days.

According to the army, it is fighting the Ugandan Islamist rebels of the Allied Democratic Force (ADF) in North Kivu, while battling the Congolese Yakutumba militia several hundred kilometres away in South Kivu.

"Our priorities are: the ADF, settled in the territory of Beni, and the armed group Yakutumba in the territory of Fizi," Thabe said.

The army resumed its bombing in Beni, North Kivu, on Friday afternoon, according to an AFP correspondent.

Earlier in the day, two army positions were attacked by suspected ADF rebels near the Ugandan border. Four rebels were killed, according to the region's army spokesman Captain Mak Hazukay.

A military source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said five soldiers had died. Another source said the toll had been "heavy" but gave no further details.

North Kivu and South Kivu -- the two provinces which border Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and Tanzania -- are a deeply troubled region.

Rival militia groups hold sway over large areas of territory, often competing for its rich mineral resources.

- Fierce fighting -

Army sources said on Friday a general commanding military operations in the east was ambushed as rebels launched fresh attacks.

A convoy that included General Philemon Yav, in charge of forces in the region, came under fire by the Yakutumba militia in Fizi district in South Kivu province late Thursday, a source said.

At least one soldier was killed and three were injured.

"We are at war and when there is a war, ambushes are possible," the defence minister said, adding that it was "very regrettable" that men had died.

The attack came two days after gunmen in South Kivu abducted two members of the country's powerful domestic intelligence agency, the National Information Agency (ANR), an army officer said. One of the two escaped.

In neighbouring North Kivu province, two army positions came under attack on Friday by suspected members of the ADF.

Last Saturday, the army announced an offensive in North Kivu against the ADF, which is suspected of murdering 14 UN peacekeepers last month.

Three troops were killed on Monday in an attack on Beni attributed to the ADF, a witness told AFP.

Meanwhile, the outgoing head of the United Nations Mission in Congo (MONUSCO) said the country's problems could only be solved by having a democratic government in place.

General Derrick Mgwebi, from South Africa, told reporters in Kinshasa on Friday: "Every time the political tension goes up, the tension between the armed groups goes up too.

"The problem of Congo cannot be solved by military or security means. It is a political, economic and social problem."
Nelson Mandela's ex-wife Winnie argued that the home of the late president belonged to her because it was bought while they were still married

A South African court on Friday struck down a long-running effort by late president Nelson Mandela's ex-wife Winnie Madikizela-Mandela to claim ownership of his former rural home.

The Supreme Court of Appeal dismissed her appeal against a lower court's ruling that she was not the rightful owner of the property in his childhood village.

Mandela, the country's first democratic president, spent much of his early years in Qunu in the Eastern Cape province after being born nearby. He regularly returned to the village after his retirement and was buried there in 2013.

In his will, the anti-apartheid icon left the house to his family trust, but Madikizela-Mandela claimed it belonged to her under customary law because it was bought in 1989 while they were still married.

The couple were wed in 1956 and divorced in 1996.

Madikizela-Mandela had approached the Supreme Court in Bloemfontein to challenge the 2016 ruling by the Eastern Cape High Court that said she had no claim to the home.

"A reasonable person in (her) position... would have asserted a right to ownership of the property before the death of Mr Mandela," said justice Jeremiah Shongwe, delivering the ruling.

Mandela was arrested in 1962 and spent 27 years in jail before becoming South Africa's first black president in the post-apartheid elections of 1994.

On his death bed, he left his assets to family members, personal staff, schools and the ruling African National Congress party.

Mandela's will, which did not mention Madikizela-Mandela, said that he wanted the Qunu homestead to "be used by my family in perpetuity in order to preserve the unity of the Mandela family".

Mandela married his third wife Graca Machel, the widow of Mozambique president Samora Machel, in 1998.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had reacted with fury to the announcement of the US-backed border force on Syria's northern frontier with Turkey

Turkey on Friday started shelling the Syrian town of Afrin held by a US-backed Kurdish militia that Ankara considers "terrorists" in a move to oust them, the defence minister said.

The Turkish government has repeatedly warned that a full-scale operation against Syrian towns controlled by the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) militia, including Afrin, is imminent after the US said it was training a 30,000-strong border force there.

"The Afrin operation will take place," Defence Minister Nurettin Canikli told A Haber television.

"The presence of all the terror lines in northern Syria will be removed. There's no other way out," he said.

Turkish troops fired on several YPG targets in Afrin to prevent the formation of a "terror corridor" on the border, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported.

Army howitzers in the frontier Hatay province launched at least 10 rounds of artillery fire, targeting the "terror nests of the terror organisation in Afrin," Anadolu said.

A military convoy of 20 buses carrying Syrian opposition rebels backed by Ankara also crossed over into Syria, Turkish media reported.

Canikli said with the shelling "in fact, the operation has de facto started."

Asked about the timing of a ground incursion, Canikli said: "It could be tomorrow, it could be in the evening. What we say is that this operation will take place."

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had reacted with fury to the announcement of the US-backed border force on Syria's northern frontier with Turkey, denouncing it as an "army of terror".

The Pentagon said it does not plan to create an "army" and that the force is aimed at fighters from the Islamic State group and maintaining stability in areas recaptured from the jihadists.

Ankara however said it was not satisfied with the US assurances.

The YPG is a major bone of contention in ties between Ankara and Washington which considers it a key ally in fighting IS.

Turkey accuses the YPG of being a branch of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) that has waged an insurgency in its southeast since 1984.

Turkey needs the green light from Russia for a full cross-border operation because of Moscow's military presence in the area.

In a surprise development, Turkey's army chief General Hulusi Akar and spy chief Hakan Fidan were in Moscow on Thursday for talks with Russian counterparts on security issues and Syria.
Displaced Yemenis are seen in the coastal city of Hodeida on November 16, 2017

Intensified hostilities in Yemen have forced more than 32,000 people to flee their homes in the past two months, the United Nations refugee agency has said.

They join some two million Yemenis already displaced by the war, the UNHCR said in a statement on Thursday.

"The arrival of winter in Yemen, when temperatures can dip below zero degrees Celsius across a number of governorates, has worsened the hardship for many, particularly those displaced and living in informal settlements exposed to the elements with little protection against the cold," it said.

UNHCR spokeswoman Shabia Mantoo said flare-ups in fighting in the rebel-held capital Sanaa, as well as the provinces of Hodeida on the Red Sea and oil-rich Shabwa in the south, had driven the displacements.

"We continue to see correlations between intensified hostilities and civilian casualties + displacement," Mantoo said on Twitter Friday.

More than 9,000 people have been killed in Yemen since a Saudi-led military coalition intervened in 2015 against the Huthi rebels with the aim of restoring the country's internationally recognised government to power.

The coalition intensified its air campaign against the Huthis around Sanaa and on the country's west coast in December, after Saudi Arabia intercepted a ballistic missile the rebels had fired at its capital Riyadh.

On the ground, Emirati-trained government troops and coalition forces have been advancing along the Red Sea coast in a drive to retake the rebel-held port city of Hodeida, which is a key entry point for humanitarian supplies.

But the coalition has met strong resistance from the Iran-backed rebels, who continue to hold Sanaa and most of northern Yemen.

In mid-December, government forces retook Beihan district in Shabwa province from the Huthis, their last stronghold in the province.

"The latest violence has further exacerbated the world's worst humanitarian crisis, with more than 22 million people -- around three quarters of the total population -- in need of humanitarian assistance," the UNHCR said.
Lebanese army commandos stand on a hill captured from the Islamic State group in Jurud Ras Baalbek along the border with Syria on August 28, 2017

Lebanon thwarted jihadist plans to attack places of worship and government buildings over the holidays after gaining rare access to an Islamic State group operative, the interior minister said Friday.

Nuhad Mashnuq said at a press conference that an elite unit in Lebanon's Internal Security Forces (ISF) had arrested an Iraqi IS commander in Beirut last June.

The commander, known as Abu Jaafar al-Iraqi, had been tasked by the IS leadership to establish an IS network in Lebanon, according to information presented at the briefing.

This network would not only carry out attacks in Lebanon, but could have potentially hosted top IS officials fleeing Iraq and Syria.

Full details of the operation and the current whereabouts of Abu Jaafar were not revealed.

But Mashnuq said that for five months after the Iraqi commander's arrest the ISF kept tabs on him through a mysterious "volunteer," who had gained his trust and rented a home for him that was bugged by Lebanese authorities.

"This is one of those rare operations where you have someone this important in the terrorist organisation, and you're able to use him for five months to find out about the plans supposed to happen during the holidays, against places of worship and government buildings," Mashnuq told reporters.

"The nature of this operation, as we explained, is unprecedented in the Arab world," he claimed.

IS's now-defunct "caliphate" spread across swathes of Iraq and Syria but never officially included territory inside Lebanon.

Jihadists from IS were entrenched along the Lebanese-Syrian border for several years however and claimed several deadly attacks in Lebanon.

According to a film shown at Friday's briefing, Lebanese authorities had worked since the end of 2016 to lure Abu Jaafar to Lebanon with the help of Arab and international authorities.

An intermediary, trained in Turkey and cooperating with the ISF, rented out an apartment for Abu Jaafar that was being surveilled and met with him there several times.

Audio and video clips from the apartment were aired during the press conference.

Abu Jaafar allegedly asked IS leaders in Iraq and Syria for help in planning attacks on New Year's Eve in Lebanon, and they said they may be able to provide suicide belts and automatic weapons.

He was ultimately unable to pull together an operation, the clip said.

The film mentioned one Lebanese IS member who had been arrested as part of the year-long operation. The minister did not mention any other arrests nor did he elaborate on the intelligence gained.
Funerals have been held for some of the 14 young men who died in the attack in Bayotte forest

Sixteen people are to be prosecuted in connection with the massacre of 14 young men in Senegal's troubled region of Casamance, a source close to the case said on Friday.

The accused face charges of murder and criminal association over the January 6 killings in the forest of Bayotte.

The 16 suspects, who were arrested on Sunday, also face charges of participation in a rebel movement and possession of weapons without authorisation, according to the source.

Six other people detained by police have been released without charge "for the moment", added the source without naming the suspects.

The victims were looking for firewood, according to friends who escaped and their families.

But several sources told AFP the group was potentially involved in the illegal logging trade in a region with plentiful rosewood and teak, both highly prized in China.

Casamance is separated from the rest of Senegal by The Gambia and has been the target of an independence campaign for more than 35 years.

A local rebel group, the Casamance Movement of Democratic Forces (MFDC), was initially fingered for involvement in the killings but has strongly denied the allegations.

It says the logging network is run by corrupt local military and governmental officials, and that the murders were linked sawmill operators who work secretly in the forest.

President Macky Sall has suspended all authorisation for logging and ordered an overhaul of Senegal's forestry laws.

Several young members of a village foresty monitoring committee, who were among the men arrested on Sunday, were previously sentenced and then freed in October following a conflict with loggers.
Seventeen people were injured when a car crashed into a crowd at Rio de Janeiro's Copacabana beach on January 18, 2018

An Australian man, one of 17 people injured when a car crashed into a crowd at Rio de Janeiro's Copacabana beach, was in a serious condition Friday, health officials said.

A nine-month-old baby girl was killed when a man having an epileptic seizure crashed his car into the tourist-packed crowd.

The 68-year-old Australian was among 10 people still in hospital on Friday, most suffering multiple fractures after the accident, a statement from the Rio de Janeiro health secretariat said.

Police said the 41-year-old Brazilian driver lost control of his vehicle when he had a seizure, and his vehicle mounted the sidewalk, ploughing into the crowd enjoying an early-evening stroll.

Anti-epileptic drugs were found in his vehicle and he was not under the influence of alcohol, the police said.

"How is it that he's taking epilepsy medicine and is driving a car," the baby's 27-year-old father Darlan Rocha asked in an interview with Brazil's Globo TV.

"He's a killer. He shouldn't have a drivers license," he said.
After a protracted fight with state officials over student attendance and funding, one of the largest full-time online charter schools in the country will shutter its doors mid-year, sending as many as 12,000 students scrambling to find new schools.

The closure of Ohios Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow is effective today, following a 3-0 vote by the board of the schools sponsor on Thursday evening.

In a statement posted on Facebook Thursday, ECOT officials blasted the decision, saying the Ohio Department of Education should have come to an agreement that would have allowed the school to remain open through the end of the school year.

By rejecting an offer that would have allowed our current students to finish the year, Governor Kasich, State Superintendent Paolo DeMaria, Diane Lease, and company showed they were more interested in settling a political score than in doing whats best for students, school spokesman and lobbyist Neil Clark in the statement.

The closure comes because ECOT is running out of money, the result of efforts by the Ohio Department of Education to recover roughly $80 million in disputed funds.

After a review of student software-login records for the 2015-16 school year, state officials determined that ECOT had overstated its enrollment by more than 9,000 students , and thus was overpaid by more than $60 million. To recoup those funds, the state has withheld roughly $2.5 million from each of its monthly payments to ECOT this school year

In September, state officials told the school it must also repay an additional $19.2 million, based on a review of 2016-17 student-login records.

For months, the Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow has been waging a losing court battle against the state over its attendance audits, saying they are the result of retroactive application of an unfair attendance-tracking standard. The Ohio Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments in ECOTs latest appeal beginning February 13. In the hopes of avoiding closure, the school had requested an expedited hearing, but the court declined.

Among the big questions that remain following ECOTs shuttering is what will happen to its current students. Public school districts in the state are required to accept local students who were enrolled at the Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow. Many of those students, however, chose to attend the virtual school because they were dissatisfied with traditional schools or had negative experiences there. The Ohio Department of Education has posted a resource guide for families affected by the closure.

ECOT is not the only Ohio e-school to be adversely affected by the state education departments move to more aggressively audit student attendance and funding at full-time online charters. Over the past two years, at least four other, smaller, Ohio e-schoolsProvost Academy, the Marion Digital Academy, Southwest Licking Digital Academy, and the Virtual Community Schoolhave either closed or suspended their operations following attendance and funding disputes with the state. In some cases, the schools debts to the state are still outstanding.

It remains to be seen who will be held liable for the money that ECOT still owes the state, and how those funds will be collected. Ohio State Auditor Dave Yost is among those who have said companies operated by ECOT founder William Lage, which received large contracts to manage the school and provide it software, should return the money they have already received as part of a repayment plan.

Nationally, the closure of the Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow casts a bright light on an ongoing challenge for the full-time online charter sector at large: There is still no widely agreed-upon way for tracking student attendance and engagement in such schools, and student engagement with the online software programs that form the bulk of such schools instructional plans remain opaque. The information that has become public is not encouraginga 2016 Education Week investigation of Colorados largest cyber charter , for example, found that just 1 in 4 students used the schools software on a typical day.

ECOTs closure is also notable because it is so rare. Despite sector-wide poor academic performance and repeated scandals involving financial mismanagement at prominent cyber charter schools, very few have been shutteredin part because of sophisticated lobbying efforts .

For years, the Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow was one face of that dynamicLager is a major Republican donor, which critics contended resulted in a free pass for poor academic performance and questionable management.

Despite waging a multipronged legal and public-relations battle to stay open, however, ECOT is now officially shuttered.

Photo: William Lager, center, founder of Ohios largest online charter school, the Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow (ECOT), speaks to hundreds of supporters on May 9 during a rally outside the Statehouse in Columbus, Ohio.Julie Carr Smyth/ AP

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A Palestinian man pushes a cart with food aid in Gaza City on January 17, 2018

The head of the United Nations agency for Palestinians said Friday the US decision to freeze of tens of millions of dollars in aid resulted from diplomatic disputes rather than the agency's performance.

The US State Department this week froze two planned payments worth more than $100 million to the United Nations Relief and Work Agency (UNRWA), with a spokeswoman saying it was linked to necessary "reform" of the agency.

But Pierre Krahenbuhl, UNRWA's commissioner general, said the agency had not been informed by the United States of any new reform demands, and was "caught up" in a dispute between the Palestinian leadership and the US administration.

"I have to look at this as not related to our performance but a decision and a debate that was caught up in the aftermath of what of course was the General Assembly resolution on Jerusalem and other matters," Krahenbuhl told AFP in an interview in Jerusalem.

"My perception is there is a debate in the US administration about funding to the Palestinians and our funding got caught up in that."

Pierre Krahenbuhl, Commissioner General for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, is pictured during an interview in Jerusalem on January 19, 2018

The US gave around $700 million in support to the Palestinians last year, of which about half went to UNRWA, which has a non-political mandate to provide schooling, healthcare and other services to Palestinians across the Middle East.

Israel and some American politicians accuse the agency of bias, with Israeli leaders saying its existence perpetuates the conflict.

The Palestinian leadership has cut ties with President Donald Trump's administration since his controversial December 6 recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

It said that the US under Trump can no longer be mediator in peace talks with Israel.

The United Nations General Assembly voted to condemn the US decision on Jerusalem.

Trump had been pushing to restart peace talks but on January 2 he tweeted that the US gives the Palestinians "HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS" and gets "no appreciation or respect."

"With the Palestinians no longer willing to talk peace, why should we make any of these massive future payments to them?"

On Tuesday his administration suspended $65 million to UNRWA, followed Thursday by another $45 million in food aid destined for the agency.

State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said the money was being held but could be released "in the future, if reforms are met, if UNRWA agrees to undertake reforms, if other countries agreed to pitch in and provide money."

Krahenbuhl said the agency had received no communication from the United States about further necessary reforms in recent days.

"What is new is a decision by the United States to dramatically reduce its contribution and that was not in the communications to me associated with reform elements."
A devastating October 2017 blast, claimed by the Shabaab, killed as many as 512 people

US forces in Somalia said Friday that four Al-Shabaab militants were killed in an airstrike as part of the ongoing offensive against the jihadist rebels.

The US Africa Command said the strike took place on Thursday in southern Somalia, around 50 kilometers (30 miles) northwest of the port city of Kismayo.

Africa Command did not provide details on the attack, which it said was undertaken "in coordination with the Federal Government of Somalia."

But it said no civilians were killed.

"US forces will continue to use all authorized and appropriate measures to protect US citizens and to disable terrorist threats," US Africa Command said in a statement.

It was the second strike by US forces so far this year against the Shabaab militants.

The group has been fighting to overthrow successive internationally backed governments in Mogadishu since 2007, and frequently deploy car and truck bombs against military, government and civilian targets.

US military attacks have increased over the past year.

According to a study by the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a Washington think tank, 35 US air strikes were conducted in Somalia in 2017, a huge increase over prior years.
Ousted last year by President Donald Trump, former FBI director James Comey has been named to teach a course on leadership ethics at William & Mary university.

Former FBI director James Comey, who was fired last year after refusing to pledge loyalty to President Donald Trump, was named Friday to teach a course on ethical leadership at William & Mary university.

Comey, a devotee of Protestant theologian and ethicist Reinhold Niebuhr, will begin lecturing in September at the liberal arts university in southern Virginia, where he graduated in 1982, the university said.

Trump fired Comey on May 9 after he refused to ease off on a Federal Bureau of Investigation probe into alleged Trump campaign collusion with Russia in the 2016 election.

Comey revealed that Trump had personally pressured him several times over the investigation and demanded he pledge his personal loyalty.

"I need loyalty, I expect loyalty," Trump told him at a private White House dinner one week after becoming president in January 2017, according to Comey.

But the firing led to the naming of a special prosecutor, another former FBI director, Robert Mueller, who is now also probing whether Trump had tried to obstruct the Russia investigation.

Since then Trump has repeatedly called on the Justice Department to investigate Comey for his handling of the politically charged 2016 investigation into Trump's Democratic election rival Hillary Clinton.

Comey "understands to the core of his being that our leaders must have an abiding commitment to ethical behavior and sacrificial service if we are to have good government," said William & Mary President Taylor Reveley.

"Our students will benefit significantly from his experience and wisdom."

In November Comey revealed he is also writing a book whose planned title takes a snarky dig at the president: "A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership."
A Palestinian man pushes a cart with food aid in Gaza City on January 17, 2018

The head of the United Nations agency for Palestinians said Friday the US decision to freeze tens of millions of dollars in aid resulted from diplomatic disputes rather than the agency's performance.

The US State Department this week put on hold two planned payments of more than $100 million to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA).

The State Department denied the freeze was to punish the Palestinian leadership, which has cut ties with President Donald Trump's administration following his recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital, with a spokeswoman saying it was linked to necessary "reform" of UNRWA.

But Pierre Krahenbuhl, the agency's commissioner general, said they had not been informed by the United States of any new reform demands and were "caught up" in the political dispute.

"I have to look at this as not related to our performance but a decision and a debate that was caught up in the aftermath of what of course was the General Assembly resolution on Jerusalem and other matters," Krahenbuhl told AFP in an interview in Jerusalem.

"My perception is there is a debate in the US administration about funding to the Palestinians and our funding got caught up in that."

Pierre Krahenbuhl, Commissioner General for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, is pictured during an interview in Jerusalem on January 19, 2018

The US gave around $700 million in support to the Palestinians last year, of which about half went to UNRWA, which has a non-political mandate to provide schooling, health care and other services to more than three million Palestinians across the Middle East.

Israel and some American politicians accuse the agency of bias, with Israeli leaders saying its existence perpetuates the conflict.

Trump's December 6 recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital angered the Palestinians, who see the eastern part of the city as the capital of their future state.

President Mahmud Abbas has said the US under Trump can no longer be mediator in peace talks with Israel.

The United Nations General Assembly voted to condemn the US decision on Jerusalem.

- 'No further communication' -

Trump had been pushing to restart peace talks, but on January 2 he tweeted that the US gives the Palestinians "HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS" and gets "no appreciation or respect".

"With the Palestinians no longer willing to talk peace, why should we make any of these massive future payments to them?"

On Tuesday, his administration suspended $65 million to UNRWA, followed Thursday by putting on hold another $45 million in food aid destined for the agency.

State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said the money was being held but could be released "in the future, if reforms are met, if UNRWA agrees to undertake reforms, if other countries agreed to pitch in and provide money".

Krahenbuhl said the agency had received no communication from the United States about further necessary reforms in recent days.

He added that during a recent visit to the US he had been informed the administration was satisfied with UNRWA's performance.

"What is new is a decision by the United States to dramatically reduce its contribution and that was not -- in the communications to me -- associated with reform elements."

"We were simply informed that the contribution to our core budget would be this year $60 million when the United States contributed in total to UNRWA last year $360 million."

"For the moment there has been no further communication."

The Trump administration argues that other global powers are not paying enough for UNRWA, with China contributing only $300,000 last year, while Russia has just agreed to give $2 million a year for the coming years.

Krahenbuhl said they were searching for new sources of support, but that hundreds of thousands of students relied on the agency.

In 2015 UNRWA schools nearly did not open on time because of funding shortages.

"What is at stake is the access of 525,000 boys and girls to their education," Krahenbuhl said.
US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis (L) appears with President Donald Trump at a retreat with top Republicans at Camp David in Maryland earlier this month

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Friday that America is facing "growing threats" from China and Russia, and warned that the US military's advantages have eroded in recent years.

Mattis's assessment came as he unveiled the Pentagon's vision for the future detailed in a document called the national defense strategy.

"We face growing threats from revisionist powers as different as China and Russia, nations that seek to create a world consistent with their authoritarian models," Mattis said.

"Our military is still strong, yet our competitive edge has eroded in every domain of warfare -- air, land, sea, space and cyberspace -- and is continually eroding," he added.

President Donald Trump and his administration worry that the vast US military force is feeling the effects of years of budget shortfalls and atrophy, and needs a full reboot to restore it to an idealized strength.

- Blueprint for the future -

Part wish list, part blueprint for the coming years, the Pentagon's national defense strategy seeks to increase the size of the military, improve its readiness and work with allies -- all while operating across multiple theaters including in Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

"This strategy establishes my intent to pursue urgent change at significant scale," Mattis wrote in the introduction to the strategy.

"We must use creative approaches, make sustained investment and be disciplined in execution to field a Joint Force fit for our time, one that competes, deters and wins in this increasingly complex security environment."

The announcement sparked a backlash from Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who branded the new US strategy as "confrontational."

"It is regrettable that instead of having a normal dialogue, instead of using the basis of international law, the US is indeed striving to prove their leadership through such confrontational strategies and concepts," Lavrov told a news conference at the United Nations.

Elbridge Colby, the US deputy assistant secretary of defense for strategy and force development, told reporters that Mattis's strategy seeks to deal with the "erosion" of America's military advantage.

"What it is recognizing is that China and Russia in particular have been assiduously working over a number of years to develop their military capabilities to challenge our military advantages," he said.

- South China Sea threat -

A Chinese naval group in the South China Sea, where the US considers Beijing's presence is a growing strategic threat

The new defense strategy follows on from Trump's national security strategy that he released last month which, similarly, highlights the role of China and Russia in the global security environment.

"China is a strategic competitor using predatory economics to intimidate its neighbors while militarizing features in the South China Sea," Mattis wrote.

"Russia has violated the borders of nearby nations and pursues veto power over the economic, diplomatic and security decisions of its neighbors," he added, while also pointing a finger at Iran and North Korea for their threats to peace.

The two countries reacted furiously to Trump's security strategy, with Beijing accusing Washington of having a "Cold War mentality" while Moscow denounced its "imperialist character."

Trump's security strategy contrasts with the friendly nature of his first state visit to Beijing in November, when he received a lavish welcome and repeatedly praised President Xi Jinping.

One of the biggest criticisms inside the Pentagon and on Capitol Hill is that the US military is suffering from a lack of readiness, where troops and gear are not getting the training or maintenance they need.

Mattis said the United States must be ready to fight a war.

"The surest way to prevent war is to be prepared to win one," he said.

"Doing so requires a competitive approach to force development and a consistent, multiyear investment to restore war fighting readiness and field a lethal force."

- Pressure on European allies -

Mattis's strategy also calls for greater coordination with allies, who Trump on the campaign trail lambasted for not doing enough to share the burden of defending the post-World War II order.

"We expect European allies to fulfill their commitments to increase defense and modernization spending to bolster the alliance in the face of our shared security concerns," Mattis said, in reference to NATO countries paying more into their defense budgets.

Republican Senator John McCain, who chairs the powerful Senate Armed Services Committee that helps oversee the Pentagon, welcomed Mattis's strategy for getting "the big decisions right."

"A new era of great power competition has emerged, and this strategy prioritizes that reality," he said in a statement.

The document makes no mention of climate change, which under former president Barack Obama was recognized as a national security threat. Trump has claimed climate change is a hoax and pulled the US out of the historic climate accords in Paris.
The US Capitol shown in the morning hours January 20, 2018 in Washington, DC, as a government shutdown began after lawmakers could not agree on stop-gap funding

The top senator from US President Donald Trump's party urged lawmakers to "step back from the brink" as they gathered Sunday for a vote to keep the government shutdown from stretching into the coming work week.

Hundreds of thousands of federal employees are set to stay home without pay as of early Monday following the dramatic collapse Friday night of talks to agree on an urgent funding measure.

The shutdown cast a huge shadow over the first anniversary of Trump's inauguration as president and highlighted deep divisions between Republicans and Democrats.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell warned that the shutdown would "get a lot worse" if federal workers have to stay home without pay.

"Today would be a good day to end it," McConnell said from the Senate floor during a rare Sunday session aimed at reaching a deal ahead of a vote he said would take place at 1:00 am (0600 GMT) Monday, unless progress is made sooner.

A bipartisan group huddled for hours on Sunday trying to end the standoff.

"Encouraged that 22 members from both parties attended," Republican Senator Susan Collins said in a tweet.

A member of that group, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, told reporters that McConnell has "included immigration in the mix for the first time," addressing an issue at the heart of the dispute, if funding is provided until February 8.

"Mitch has got a proposal. We should rally around that," said Graham, blaming "White House staff" for not working with lawmakers.

"I'm begging the White House to find a way to work with us," Graham said.

Yet, rank-and-file Republicans expressed skepticism over the bipartisan effort.

"I don't see any of our people interested in some half-baked idea that's produced by a self-appointed group of senators," Oklahoma Republican House member Tom Cole said.

Lawmakers have traded bitter recriminations for the failure to pass a stop-gap funding measure, and McConnell once again sought to blame Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.

Trump early Sunday encouraged the Senate's Republican leaders to invoke the "nuclear option" -- a procedural maneuver to change the chamber's rules to allow passage of a budget by a simple majority of 51 votes to end the shutdown.

But Senate leaders have been wary of such a move in the past, as it could come back to haunt them the next time the other party holds a majority.

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said Trump had spoken during the day with McConnell and Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn. She did not mention Trump's speaking with any Democrats but said White House director of legislative affairs Marc Short had been in touch with members of both parties and updated the president.

"We are continuing to work hard towards reopening the government," she said.

- Essential services continue -

US Senate Majority Leader Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY), pictured in April 2017, warned a federal government shutdown could get a lot worse

At the heart of the dispute is the issue of undocumented immigration.

Democrats have accused Republicans of poisoning chances of a deal and pandering to Trump's populist base by refusing to back a program that protects an estimated 700,000 "Dreamers" -- undocumented immigrants who arrived as children -- from deportation.

Schumer said he and Democrats were willing to compromise, but Trump "can't take yes for an answer -- that's why we're here."

"I'm willing to seal the deal, to sit and work right now with the president or anyone he designates -- let's get it done," Schumer said.

Trump has said Democrats are "far more concerned with Illegal Immigrants than they are with our great Military or Safety at our dangerous Southern Border."

Essential federal services and military activity are continuing, but even active-duty troops will not be paid until a deal is reached to reopen the US government.

There have been four government shutdowns since 1990. In the last one, in 2013, more than 800,000 government workers were put on temporary leave.

"We're just in a holding pattern. We just have to wait and see. It's scary," Noelle Joll, 50, a furloughed US government employee, told AFP in Washington.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, said Sunday that state funding would pay for the reopening Monday of the Statue of Liberty, which was among facilities affected by the shutdown.

A deal had appeared likely on Friday afternoon, when Trump -- who has touted himself as a master negotiator -- seemed to be close to an agreement with Schumer on protecting Dreamers.

- Anti-Trump protests -

But no such compromise was in the language that reached Congress for a stop-gap motion to keep the government open for four more weeks while a final arrangement is discussed.

Republicans failed to win enough Democratic support in the Senate to bring it to a vote.

They have a one-seat majority in the Senate, and on Friday needed to lure some Democrats to their side to get a 60-vote supermajority to bring the motion forward. They fell 10 votes short.

US government shutdown

Highlighting the deep political polarization, crowds estimated in the hundreds of thousands marched through major US cities on Saturday against the president and his policies and express support for women's rights.

They gathered again on Sunday in Las Vegas, Nevada, chanting: "Power to the polls."
Hassan Nasrallah, the head of Lebanon's militant Shiite movement Hebnollah, gives a televised address from an undisclosed location

Lebanon's Hezbollah movement on Friday said a US pledge to keep its troops in Syria to defeat the Islamic State group was just a "flimsy excuse" to occupy the country.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Wednesday that US forces would remain in Syria to both fight IS and counter the influence of President Bashar al-Assad.

Assad is a key ally of the Iranian-backed Hezbollah, which has deployed its forces to keep the Damascus regime in power.

During a televised address to commemorate Hezbollah fighters killed in Syria, the group's chief Hassan Nasrallah fired back at the US.

"The Americans are the last people to have anything to do with rolling back Daesh," he said, using the Arabic acronym for IS.

The US, according to the Hezbollah leader, was "creating flimsy excuses to keep their forces and bases in the region. This is the real aim."

The United States has deployed around 2,000 ground troops to Syria and its warplanes patrol the skies over the east of the country, hunting IS remnants.

In a speech on Wednesday at Stanford University, Tillerson said the US "will maintain a military presence in Syria, focused on ensuring that ISIS cannot re-emerge".

But he also said the open-ended deployment is intended to help create conditions for Syrians to be able to remove Assad from office and reject Iranian influence.

The US has long considered Hezbollah a "terrorist" organisation and has targeted it with sanctions.

Last week, the US Justice Department announced it was also creating a special task force to investigate Hezbollah's alleged involvement in the international drug trade.

Current and former US officials have described a massive money-laundering operation involving drugs and used cars that they say has helped Hezbollah fund its operations.

But Nasrallah vehemently denied the claims on Friday.

"These are unjust accusations, that are not based on facts or truth," he said.

"Hezbollah has a very clear religious, jurisprudent, moral position on this. For us, dealing drugs is forbidden (in Islam) and not allowed," Nasrallah said.

He accused American security services and the CIA of "destroying societies" by spreading drug use abroad.

"Have a committee investigate your own involvement," Nasrallah said.
Anti-Trump protesters flood the US capital during the January 21, 2017 Women's March on Washington

Giant crowds are expected at rallies around the United States Saturday for a second Women's March opposing President Donald Trump, and calling for voter mobilization ahead of the 2018 midterm elections.

On January 21, 2017, one day after Trump's inauguration, more than three million people marched nationwide opposing the president, according to a Washington Post estimate. The flagship rally was held in Washington, echoed in sister protests around the world.

The giant outpouring illustrated the depth of resistance to the Republican billionaire president, whose hardline policies have impacted the rights of women, immigrants and minorities. But the demonstrations were also criticized for being too white and liberal.

This year the spotlight will be in Las Vegas, Nevada, a state which in 2016 voted for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton over Trump and elected the country's first Latina senator, Democrat Catherine Cortez Masto.

More than 300 towns and cities are organizing anniversary marches and rallies, not all of them affiliated to each other. In New York, 82,000 people have registered as "interested" in attending on the event's Facebook page.

- "Power to the Polls" -

The strapline for Las Vegas is "Power to the Polls," designed to drive national voter registration and maximize women's involvement in the 2018 midterm elections, in which a record number of women are standing for election.

Protesters are expected to denounce Trump's hardline immigration policies, promote women's rights, address the gender pay gap, concerns about health care and call for the removal of barriers to voting by marginalized communities.

"In 2018, we must turn our work into action ahead of the midterms. This new initiative will address voter registration and voter suppression head on," says Tamika Mallory, co-president of Women's March.

Las Vegas, which in October was the scene of the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history, has been rocked by sexual assault allegations against elected officials and is considered a battleground state that will shape the US Senate in 2018.

"As a swing-state that will shape the Senate in 2018 and as home to a strong activist network, Nevada is the perfect place to commemorate the Women's March and continue building our electoral power," wrote organizers on the event's Facebook page.

Last year, a sea of demonstrators brought downtown Washington to a standstill, in a parade of knitted, pink "pussy hats," an allusion to Trump's videotaped boasts of being able to grope women with impunity.

Pop diva Madonna also delivered an expletive-laden indictment of the president.
A picture taken on July 9, 2017 shows smoke billowing above Iraq's Mosul following an air strike by the US-led coalition fighting the Islamic State jihadist group

The number of civilians killed by the US-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria tripled in 2017, as battles raged in jihadist-held urban areas, a monitor said Friday.

Between 3,923 and 6,102 non-combatants were killed in the two countries, said Airwars, a London-based journalist collective that compiles data from public sources.

That is sharply up from its estimate of the previous year's toll of between 1,243 and 1,904.

The coalition backed Iraqi forces in a gruelling battle last year to oust IS from second city Mosul, as well as supporting a Kurdish-dominated force that seized Syria's Raqa city from the jihadists after months of fighting.

Airwars said the surge in deaths was likely partly caused by intense fighting in urban areas.

But it also said the administration of US President Donald Trump may be partly to blame.

"This toll coincided with the start of the Trump presidency, which has declared the conflict against ISIS to be a 'war of annihilation'," it said, using an alternative name for IS.

"The scaling back by the new administration of some measures aimed at protecting civilians" may have contributed to the "steep increase" in casualties, it said.

Airwars said the coalition had carried out some 11,573 artillery and air strikes, some 50 percent up on the previous year. More than 70 percent were in Syria.

It said 766 attacks last year wounded some 2,443 civilians in both countries.

The monitor, which also tracks casualties of Russian operations in Syria, said coalition-linked civilian deaths in 2017 had "far" outnumbered those attributed to Russia.

It said the toll for civilians killed in coalition strikes in Syria had quadrupled compared to 2016, with the battle for Raqa killing at least 1,450 civilians, while in Iraq deaths were up by 87 percent.

Between the start of the battle for Mosul in October 2016 and the announcement of its "liberation" in July, between 1,066 and 1,579 civilians were killed by coalition raids there, Airwars said.
The 162-member Geneva-based WTO aims to create a level playing field in global trade, although US President Donald Trump's trade envoys maintain the organisation has given unfair advantages to China at the expense of the United States

A World Trade Organization arbitrator on Friday gave Washington until August 22 to implement a prior ruling faulting the anti-dumping measures taken against Chinese products.

The WTO's Dispute Settlement Body ruled last May that some of the US anti-dumping practices were inconsistent with international trade rules.

Arbitrator Simon Farbenbloom said in a report that it was "reasonable" to expect the United States to implement the ruling within 15 months.

"The reasonable period of time for implementation will expire on 22 August 2018," he said.

The case dates back to December 2013, when China filed a dispute against the United States, taking issue with the way Washington assesses whether exports have been "dumped" at unfairly low prices onto the US market.

The use of anti-dumping duties are permitted under international trade rules as long as they adhere to strict conditions, and disputes over their use are often brought before the WTO's Dispute Settlement Body.

In this specific case, China alleged that the United States, in violation of WTO rules, was continuing a practice known as "zeroing", which calculates the price of imports compared to the normal value in the United States to determine predatory pricing.

In October 2016, a panel of WTO experts found largely in China's favour in the case, including on the issue of "zeroing".

The United States, which has repeatedly lost cases before the WTO over its calculation method, said in June 2017 that it would implement the panel's recommendations, saying it would do so within a "reasonable" time frame.

This prompted China to ask the WTO to appoint an arbitrator to set an end date.

The 162-member Geneva-based WTO aims to create a level playing field in global trade, although US President Donald Trump's trade envoys maintain the organisation has given unfair advantages to China at the expense of the United States.
The poverty, inequity, and isolation that students in rural schools must cope with are often overlooked in education research and policy discussions, according to a new report from the National School Board Associations Center for Public Education.

The report argues that despite the fact that rural schools struggle with high and lows more commonly associated with urban schoolshigh rates of poverty, low literacy rates, and low college attendance rates among themthe needs of millions of students are often neglected. More than 9 million students attend rural K-12 schools in the United States, according to Why Rural Matters, a 2017 report by the Rural School and Community Trust .

The deep dive from the Center for Public Education also highlights the fact that rural schools struggle to hire and train teachers and often have limited access to advanced coursework . A 2015 report by University of New Hampshire researchers found enrollment in Advanced Placement courses in rural districts lags behind the rates in suburban and urban school districts and, that even when those courses are available to rural students, they often have lower scores than their non-rural peers.

The national conversation around education often neglects the perspectives, needs, and circumstances of rural America, despite high needs and widespread challenges, the report concludes. Our continued failure to include the voices of this critical portion of the country undercuts our commitment to provide every student with the high-quality public education they deserve.

The report offers recommendations to school board members and superintendents looking to address the challenges that cash- and resource-strapped rural schools face. To find solutions, the paper advises that rural schools find new ways to pool resources with neighboring districts, cultivate local and state policymakers as advocates, and start research partnerships with universities to identify the needs specific to their students and staff.

Heres a look at the report:

Out of the Loop by corey_c_mitchell on Scribd

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Photo Credit: Children lie down during naptime at a preschool program in a building near a now-shuttered elementary school in rural northeast Arkansas. The parents of these children must decide in a year or two whether to put them on a school bus for the hourlong trip to schools in West Memphis, Ark., or move closer.

--Karen Pulfer Focht for Education Week


Government shutdown: monuments in the US capital will remain open to tourists but much of the federal government will be closed if Congress fails to agree on a budget by midnight Friday

Hundreds of thousands of US government defense workers, park rangers and business regulators could be temporarily out of work if Congress fails to pass a budget before a midnight Friday deadline.

But the looming government shutdown due to lack of funding -- which would be the second in five years -- does not mean every office closes its doors.

Vital services will still be provided by law enforcement, immigration officers, the central bank, veterans' hospitals and the military.

During the two-week shutdown in October 2013, around 800,000 workers were furloughed.

This time, about 850,000 workers, out of a total 3.5 million, could be told to stay home -- without pay -- until Congress reaches an agreement, the American Federation of Government Employees estimates.

The following is a rundown of who is and isn't affected in a government shutdown:

- Defense, security and borders -

The 1.5 million uniformed members of the US military, mostly in the Defense Department but also 40,000 with the Department of Homeland Security, will remain at work.

About 75 percent of the Defense Department's 740,000 civilian workers could be furloughed under a shutdown

"All military personnel performing active duty will continue in a normal duty status," the Pentagon ordered Thursday.

But a large number of civilians in both departments, including about three-fourths of the roughly 740,000 civilians who work for the Pentagon, will stay home.

That will slow many operations, and could impact the huge defense private sector, which depends on Pentagon contracts.

Officials of the Customs and Border Patrol, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and US Citizenship and Immigration Services will remain on the job checking and processing people entering the country by land, sea and air.

- Key government operations -

The White House, Congress, federal courts and the Veterans Administration will all continue to operate. The US Postal Service will continue to deliver the mail.

The investigation by special prosecutor Robert Mueller into possible collusion between Russians and President Donald Trump's election campaign will remain active.

- Washington -

The US capital is funded by the federal budget, which could have affected some services, but Mayor Muriel Bowser said Friday that all city employees will report to work and no services will be interrupted.

"I want to be perfectly clear that Washington, DC is open. DC government will continue to provide services to our residents," she said.

Bowser also said that the city will pick up trash at the multiple national park properties around the city while park employees are furloughed.

- Travel -

The Federal Aviation Administration, which oversees air traffic control, will remain at work, and airports will remain open for travellers.

- Parks and museums -

According to tentative plans, national parks and museums will remain open, but some public employees at the parks could be furloughed while private contractors, who supply food and other services, will maintain operations.

- Health -

Disease monitoring and prevention will slow. About 61 percent of the staff of the Centers for Disease Control will be furloughed, according to The Washington Post, and much of the research-focused National Institutes of Health will be shuttered.

- Other public services -

Other agencies will largely shut down, including the Internal Revenue Service, the Social Security Administration, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Department of Education, the Commerce Department, the Labor Department, and the Environmental Protection Agency.

That means people and businesses will not get documents and permissions processed, contractors will have difficulty moving ahead on their projects, and disaster relief will slow.
The US Trade Representative accuses China and Russia of continuing to violate the World Trade Organization's free trade rules and should not have been allowed to join the group

China and Russia have shown no intention of living up to World Trade Organization rules and Washington should not have supported their membership in the global trade body, the Trump administration said Friday.

In strongly worded reports to Congress, the US Trade Representative delivered a laundry list of grievances over unfair trade practices by Beijing and Moscow it says runs counter to global free trade rules.

USTR Robert Lighthizer said the reports show "the global trading system is threatened by major economies who do not intend to open their markets to trade and participate fairly."

"This practice is incompatible with the market-based approach expressly envisioned by WTO members and contrary to the fundamental principles of the WTO," Lighthizer said in a statement.

President Donald Trump has ratcheted up retaliatory measures against foreign trading partners, notably China, as part of his America First economic agenda which lifted him to power a year ago. That included an aggressive new trade probe into possible dumping of aluminum and steel.

The US had a $309 billion trade deficit in goods and services with China in 2016, and that was on track to expand by $10 billion last year.

USTR report said after joining the WTO in 2001, Beijing effectively abandoned efforts to adopt market-friendly reforms and instead increased central government control over commerce while erecting barriers to foreign competition.

But WTO rules are insufficient to correct Beijing's interventionist policies, and the United States "erred" in supporting China's membership in 2001, the report said.

US dialogue with Beijing since Trump took office yielded some results, such as renewed access to Chinese markets for US beef, but these were piecemeal changes, the report said.

"China is determined to maintain the state's leading role in the economy and to continue to pursue industrial policies that promote, guide and support domestic industries while simultaneously and actively seeking to impede, disadvantage and harm their foreign counterparts," the China report said.

Chinese authorities also continue to pressure American companies into sharing valuable intellectual property, the report said.

The USTR likewise accused Moscow of an "accelerating withdrawal" from the open market system demanded by WTO membership since joining in 2012, citing burdensome import licensing, opaque customs regimes, and barriers to agricultural imports.

"It was a mistake to allow Russia to join the WTO if it is not fully prepared to live by WTO rules," the report said.
Russia's top diplomat Sergei Lavrov said Moscow would not try to salvage the Iran nuclear deal with the remaining signatories if the United States pulls out

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Friday ruled out the possibility of salvaging the Iranian nuclear deal if President Donald Trump decides to pull the United States out of the agreement.

"This agreement cannot be implemented if one of the participants unilaterally steps out of it," Lavrov told a news conference at the United Nations.

"It will fall apart and there will be no deal then," he said, adding: "I think everyone understands that."

Trump last week agreed to again waive US nuclear-related sanctions on Iran, but demanded that US lawmakers and European allies fix the "disastrous flaws" in the deal or face a US exit.

"This is a decisive moment," Lavrov said.

Russia and the United States are among the six world powers that signed the 2015 landmark deal with Iran that aims to curb Tehran's nuclear program in exchange for lifting sanctions.

Lavrov made clear that there would be no attempt by Russia to salvage it with the five remaining powers, if the United States pulls out.

Russia will make every effort to persuade the United States "not to touch this thing," said Lavrov, saying that the deal was "not dead yet."

The foreign minister again made the argument that killing off the Iran nuclear deal would also compromise any bid to persuade North Korea to scrap its nuclear arsenal.

If the Iranian nuclear deal is not upheld, "how can we ask North Korea to use the same option" and abandon its nuclear ambitions, asked Lavrov.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the Security Council this week that it was in the world's interest that the nuclear agreement "be preserved."
This file photo taken on October 4, 2017 shows the broken windows of the Mandalay Bay hotel where Stephen Paddock opened fire on a music festival below

The US Federal Bureau of Investigation is looking at a new person of interest in connection with the October mass shooting that killed 58 people at a Las Vegas concert, the county sheriff said Friday.

The gunman, 64-year-old Stephen Paddock, killed himself after the rampage carried out from his hotel suite on Las Vegas' famed Strip.

It was the deadliest mass shooting in recent US history.

Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo told a press conference that "the FBI has an ongoing case against an individual of federal interest," but he said he could not elaborate.

Lombardo added, however: "I know and believe there's only one suspect who killed 58 people and injured hundreds more. All the evidence recovered in this case supports that theory."

He said charges were unlikely to be brought against Paddock's girlfriend Marilou Danley.

Paddock, a wealthy retired accountant and compulsive video poker player who took Valium for anxiety, had "lost a significant amount of his monetary wealth in close proximity to October 1," which may have been a factor behind the attack, Lombardo said.

The sheriff was commenting on an 80-page preliminary report published about the investigation -- which included examination of more than 20,000 hours of video.

The report tracks the sequence of events that began September 17, when Paddock checked into another hotel in Las Vegas, and culminated with the October 1 shooting from the 32nd floor hotel suite.

"This report is not going to answer every question or even answer the biggest question as to why he did what he did," said Lombardo.

"There was no suicide note nor a manifesto left behind. No ideology or radicalization was discovered."

The Islamic State group had claimed Paddock as one of their "soldiers," but investigators said early on that they found no link to any extremist group.

Authorities scouring Paddock's computer usage found searches for firearms and elite police response teams. They also discovered "numerous photos of child pornography," Lombardo said.

Paddock's brother Bruce was arrested in October in Los Angeles on child pornography charges, as part of a probe that began before the Las Vegas shooting.

Stephen Paddock had stockpiled an arsenal of firearms in his room at the Mandalay Bay hotel before he rained fire down on a country music festival where some 22,000 people had gathered on the night of October 1.

In addition to the 58 dead, hundreds were wounded. They included 422 people who sustained wounds related to gunfire.

The total number hurt was 851, taking into account others who were injured in the melee, Lombardo said on Friday.
Demonstrators protest against President Donald Trump's ban on visitors from six predominantly Muslim countries in October 2017

The US Supreme Court said Friday it will review President Donald Trump's latest travel ban affecting citizens from six Muslim majority countries plus North Korea and Venezuela.

In what could prove decisive in a legal battle that has roiled the first year of the Trump administration, the high court will rule on whether the president exceeded his powers and engaged in religious discrimination in the third rendering of the ban.

Lower courts in California, Hawaii and other states have repeatedly ruled that Trump's order targets Muslims in violation of the US Constitution.

"We have always known this case would ultimately be decided by the United States Supreme Court," said state Attorney General Doug Chin of Hawaii, which has repeatedly fought the travel bans.

"This will be an important day for justice and the rule of law. We look forward to the Court hearing the case."

The conservative-tilting court last month rejected calls for a freeze on the ban, which targets visitors from Chad, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen, allowing Trump to implement it while it was being challenged in lower courts.

The US administration has rewritten the ban twice, adding more national security justifications in the latest iteration in September and including citizens of North Korea and Venezuela to counter the argument the government was singling out Muslim countries.

- National security, not religion -

Trump's initial travel ban, decreed a week after he took office, triggered chaos out at US airports, with travelers detained upon arrival, and nationwide protests against a measure seen as discriminatory -- though Trump said it aimed to keep out extremists.

Court challenges have seized upon Trump's repeated comments against Muslims, starting with his campaign vow to ban them from entering the country, to make the case that they were the intended target.

The first ban was quickly blocked in court, as was a modified version removing Iraq from the list of countries.

Regarding the third version, critics noted that the United States welcomed no more than a handful of annual visitors from North Korea, and in Venezuela's case, the ban was made specific to a number of high-ranking officials in a government already facing US sanctions.

One key difference in the latest version of the ban was that it was open-ended, whereas the previous two versions were set for 90 days, ostensibly for the government to review security threats from the countries.

The Supreme Court will review those arguments, but also whether Trump has the executive power to order such a ban.

"Every version of the ban has been found unconstitutional, illegal, or both by federal trial and appellate courts," said Omar Jadwat, director of the Immigrants' Rights Project at the American Civil Liberties Union, which has supported Hawaii in its court challenge.

"The Supreme Court can and should put a definitive end to President Trump's attempt to undermine the constitutional guarantee of religious equality and the basic principles of our immigration laws, including their prohibition of national origin discrimination," Jadwat said.
Xu Jiaqiang, a Chinese national sentenced to five years for economic espionage, has previously been identified as a former IBM employee in China

A Chinese national was sentenced to five years in prison on economic espionage charges in connection with the theft of proprietary software code from a US technology company, officials said Friday.

A Justice Department statement announced the sentencing Thursday of 32-year-old Xu Jiaqiang, a software developer. The statement did not identify the company but Xu had earlier been identified as a former IBM employee in China.

"As he previously admitted in federal court, Xu Jiaqiang stole high-tech trade secrets from a US employer, intending to benefit the Chinese government," said US Attorney Geoffrey Berman in New York, where the case was heard.

Xu pleaded guilty in 2016 to charges related to the theft. Officials said his scheme was intended to benefit China's National Health and Family Planning Commission and that he also offered to sell the software code to undercover federal agents.

According to court documents, Xu admitted he built a copy of the proprietary software code -- the essential kernel of software programs often held tightly by their owners -- and took it with him when he left the company in 2014.

He met two undercover agents in a hotel in White Plains, New York, in 2015, offering the software which was modified in an effort to conceal its origins.

At the time, Xu told the agents he had also provided the same code to "multiple specific customers," according to the Justice Department statement.

"Xu not only stole high tech trade secrets from his US employer -- a federal crime -- he did so both for his own profit and intending to benefit the Chinese government," Assistant Attorney General Dana Boente said in the statement.

Xu's LinkedIn profile showed he earned a degree in computer science from the University of Delaware and worked for IBM from 2010 to 2014 in Beijing.
Jeanette Epps, (L) would have made the first long-duration stay by an African-American at the International Space Station. She is pictured during an inspection of the launch pad for the Soyuz MS-07 rocket, on December 17, 2017

Jeanette Epps, 46, a former CIA agent turned astronaut, was about to become the first African-American to embark on a mission lasting several months at the International Space Station.

It's still unclear why, but plans for her June liftoff suddenly changed, and another astronaut was chosen in her place, NASA has announced.

"A number of factors are considered when making flight assignments; these decisions are personnel matters, for which NASA doesn't provide information," US space agency spokeswoman Brandi Dean said in an email to AFP on Friday.

"Epps has returned to the active astronaut corps at Johnson Space Center to assume duties in the astronaut office," Dean added.

"She will be considered for assignment to future missions."

Epps was supposed to blast off aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket from Kazakhstan in June, to serve as a flight engineer on the ISS as part of Expedition 56, and remaining on board for Expedition 57. Each expedition's tour of duty typically lasts three months.

It would have been the New York native's first trip to space, and the first long-duration stay at the orbiting outpost by an African-American.

Six other African-American astronauts have traveled to the space station, but those were shorter missions during the space shuttle era when the ISS was being assembled.

NASA announced in a statement late Thursday that Serena Aunon-Chancellor, who was initially meant to fly on a later mission, will launch in June instead of Epps.

Aunon-Chancellor "joined the astronaut corps in 2009 and has been at NASA since 2006, when she became a flight surgeon," according to her biography.

"Before being selected as an astronaut, she spent more than nine months in Russia supporting medical operations for space station crew members, including water survival training in the Ukraine, and served as the deputy lead for medical operations for NASA's Orion spacecraft."

Epps earned her doctorate in aerospace engineering from the University of Maryland in 2000.

"She spent seven years as a CIA technical intelligence officer before being selected as a member of the 2009 astronaut class," her biography says.
Kim Dotcom has been battling extradition to the US since police raided his mansion near Auckland six years ago

Internet entrepreneur Kim Dotcom on Saturday marked the anniversary of the raid on his mansion by getting married and serving a multi-billion-dollar damages claim against the New Zealand government.

"I have a habit of turning bad anniversaries into good anniversaries by doing beautiful things that outshine bad events," he tweeted.

Dotcom has been battling extradition to the United States since police raided his mansion near Auckland six years ago on January 20.

The FBI alleges Dotcom's Megaupload file-sharing service netted more than US$175 million in criminal proceeds and cost copyright owners more than US$500 million by offering pirated content.

The German-born New Zealand resident has denied any wrongdoing and accused US authorities of pursuing a vendetta against him on behalf of politically influential Hollywood studios.

"Today, 6 years ago, the NZ Govt enabled the unlawful destruction of Megaupload and seizure of my global assets," he tweeted.

"I was arrested for the alleged online piracy of my users. Not even a crime in NZ. My lawyers have served a multi-billion dollar damages claim against the Govt today."

His website was an early example of cloud computing, allowing users to upload large files onto a server so others could easily download them.

At its height in 2011, Megaupload claimed to have 50 million daily users and that it accounted for four percent of global internet traffic.

Dotcom, who turns 44 on Sunday, said by getting married on the anniversary of the raid, he was turning January 20 into a "day of joy".

He separated from his first wife Mona three years ago and announced last year he would be marrying Elizabeth Donnelly, 21 years his junior.

"Getting married and getting justice. What a wonderful day," he tweeted on Saturday.
Kim Kardashian West and Kanye West, who announced their third child is called Chicago, already have two children: daughter North, four, and son Saint, two

Kim Kardashian and rapper Kanye West have called their third child Chicago, the reality star announced Friday, opening the floodgates to hefty doses of mockery and consternation on social media.

Kardashian West announced the name on her app, later suggesting the little girl already has a nickname. "North, Saint and Chi," she tweeted to her 58.4 million followers -- to be pronounced "Shy" the 37-year-old later clarified.

The couple already have daughter North West, four, and son, Saint, two.

Little Chicago was born via a surrogate on Monday weighing 7.6 pounds (3.3 kilograms).

Kardashian West and West, 40, who married in a lavish ceremony in Italy in May 2014, have been dogged by rumors of trouble in paradise recently amid gossip-press speculation that their marriage is on the rocks.

Kardashian West ranks 47 on Forbes' celebrity 100 ranking of highest-paid entertainers with pretax earnings of $45.5 million.

Celebrity website TMZ said the couple chose a surrogate after Kardashian suffered from a serious condition in which the placenta becomes too deeply attached to the wall of the uterus during her second pregnancy, making a third pregnancy too risky.

TMZ said the couple paid the surrogate $45,000, banning her from smoking, taking drugs, hot baths, dying her hair and eating raw fish during the pregnancy.
BOSTON (AP) - William Bain Jr., the founder of global consulting and private equity businesses bearing his name who helped drive the career of former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, has died. He was 80.

Bain died Tuesday at his home in Naples, Florida, according to his obituary. No cause of death was given.

He founded Bain & Co., a corporate strategy consulting firm in 1973, and in 1984 founded the private equity firm Bain Capital.

"Bill's enduring influence is as vibrant today as when he and a few colleagues first took the leap to start Bain & Company 45 years ago," Bain & Co. said in a statement Thursday. "His focus on client results over just good recommendations was revolutionary at the time. His vision of a more productive client relationship was profound, and he understood deeply the power of a community of extraordinary teams."

Romney served as Bain Capital's chief executive.

"It's hard for me to imagine my life and career without Bill Bain's mentoring,'" Romney said in a statement to The Boston Globe. "He hired me, taught me and gave me the opportunity of a lifetime. His vision and confidence made Bain Capital possible."

Bain was born in Johnson City, Tennessee, and attended East Tennessee State College for two years before transferring to Vanderbilt University, graduating in 1959 with a degree in history.

He joined the Vanderbilt development office, eventually becoming the school's director of development, where he caught the eye of Bruce Henderson, a Vanderbilt alumnus and founder of the Boston Consulting Group. Henderson recognized Bain's talent despite his lack of business experience, and Bain moved to Boston in 1967 to join BCG.

Bain was a philanthropist and a longtime trustee of several children's organizations in both Massachusetts and Florida, including Children's Hospital Boston, The Boys and Girls Clubs of Boston, and the Naples Children and Education Foundation.

He had homes in Weston and Falmouth, Massachusetts.

He is survived by his wife and four children. Memorial services are being planned in Naples and Boston.
Editors Note: Sandra Makielski, seventh grade social studies teacher at Davisville Middle School in North Kingstown, Rhode Island, shares an international collaborative project that helps students understand cultural differencesand more importantly, similaritiesaround the world. See her lesson plan as well.

In 2015, I had the honor of participating in Teachers for Global Classrooms , funded by the Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs at the U.S Department of State and administered by IREX. As a seventh-grade social studies teacher in North Kingstown, Rhode Island, I never dreamed that I would have the opportunity to travel to the Philippines. After nine months of preparation, I nervously boarded the plane. Sixteen American teachers were paired with 8 Filipino teachers. Upon arrival, we were scattered across various islands.

My American partner and I were assigned to a school in metro Manila: Jose Rizal University located in Mandaluyong. In a short time span of just 10 days, we observed numerous classes, taught countless lessons about our home states, attended various meetings with teachers and administrators, and paired up with a Filipino teacher to co-teach a lesson.

Forming a Lasting Partnership

Upon returning to Rhode Island, I taught my students how to dance Tinikling , and I shared artifacts I had purchased on my trip. We read Filipino folktales and learned about key events in Filipino history. Dancing, reading, analyzing...all of these activities were great fun and engaging for my students, but it still was not enough. How could I help my students connect with the students at Jose Rizal University?

After some serious brainstorming and many messages back and forth between Rhode Island and Mandaluyong, Sir Rufo de Leon, the Filipino teacher I had been paired with, and I decided to use a lesson that my students complete every year: cultural mandalas. A cultural mandala is a circle that has been divided into 8 pie wedges that depict the 8 attributes of culture. The students then draw pictures or symbols that represent themselves for each attribute. On the back, the students attach an I Am poem that connects to the mandala.

My students then swapped their mandalas with students in the Philippines as a first step in connecting.

Swapping Projects

Sir de Leon paired me with a Jose Rizal University social studies teacher, Ms. Jeanne Esteves, who was open squeezing this lesson into their busy days. Seventh-grade students in Rhode Island carefully drew their mandalas and wrote their personal poems while students on the other side of the planet were doing the same.

On the designated day, I packaged up nearly 100 mandalas and sent them on their way. My students and I waited impatiently for the return package, and my students frequently bemoaned the slowness of snail mail.

Then it happened: the mandalas from the Philippines arrived! For one entire lesson, my students admired the colorful mandalas and the intensely personal poems. My students delved into the mandalas looking for connections. Do Filipinos practice the same religion as Rhode Islanders? What songs and musicians are popular? Is pizza a favored food? And the same thing was happening simultaneously at Jose Rizal University! With this exchange, the Philippines came alive for my students.

Logistics for Making It Happen

If you are interested in making global connections using cultural mandalas or a similar project, a few simple steps will make the process simple to execute:



Establishing and maintaining connections is key. We as adults might have to make that initial contact, but once contact has been made and a plan put in place, the students should take over.

Do the familiar. Do not feel pressured to do something fancy or that might require lots of extra work. By keeping it simple, you may have an easier time getting buy-in from the partner teacher. Making connections is key.

When choosing a project, send student samples via email. The partner teacher will have a better expectation of the outcome.

Use snail mail when sending the student projects. Nothing can replace the feeling of receiving a package that has traveled halfway around the world. To top it off, the students love seeing the stamps!

When swapping projects, limit one page per student. It can be very expensive to mail articles.

Dont forget to share the swapped projects with your school. Create a display in the hall or have your students share their findings with another class. Help the other students become global citizens as they learn about the partner country.

Get started with the lesson plan .

Moving Forward

This year I will be swapping cultural mandalas again, this time with Sir Rufo de Leons students. Anticipation will build as we wait for the mail to deliver the projects. Once again, my students will be surprised that Filipino students are very much like Rhode Island seventh-graders. In the future, Sir Rufo and I hope to Skype with our students, but until we can work out the logistics, we will swap mandalas and watch the connections grow.

The author would like to thank her colleague, Colleen Baurele, for introducing her to mandalas.

Images taken by, and used courtesy of, the author.
MADRID (AP) - The smugglers took Rodriguez Tankeu's savings and disappeared, leaving the 25-year-old bewildered near Tripoli, the Libyan capital. The former car mechanic headed to Algeria, where he saw, one by one, all the spots on engine-powered boats go to wealthier migrants.

Broke, tired and desperate, he moved further west.

"Morocco was my last hope," he says. "It was either making it to Europe or giving up for once and for all."

FILE - This is a Friday Dec. 9, 2016 file photo of migrants sitting on the ground after storming a fence to enter the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, Spain. Increased controls on migration flows in Turkey and Libya, together with political and social instability in northern Morocco, are pushing record numbers of migrants and asylum-seekers through the hazardous Western Mediterranean passage into Europe. (AP Photo/Jose Antonio Sempere, File)

Algeria and Morocco are increasingly popular points of departure for economic migrants and asylum-seekers whose arrivals more than doubled last year along the hazardous Western Mediterranean passage into Europe.

The trend comes as Libya and Turkey have worked to stop migrants from departing for Europe. The controls helped reduce the number of migrants arriving in Italy by one-third and by more than 70 percent in Greece last year, according to European border agency Frontex.

Spain worked to help shape the European Union's approach to curbing immigration, in large part by training and funding governments in countries such as Turkey. Yet it is the EU member that could face most pressure if migrants keep moving westwards. The Spanish prime minister has called on the bloc to increase funding for southern European countries.

Observers say that recent social unrest in the northern Moroccan Rif region has been a contributing factor to the reshaped migration patterns. The focus on the internal conflict has relaxed policing of migrant departures and Moroccans of young age have also joined Algerians and sub-Saharan Africans seeking better economic opportunities.

In Morocco, Tankeu considered buying a fragile inflatable boat to brave the strong currents at the mouth of the Mediterranean. But having grown up in Douala, a coastal hub in his native Cameroon, he knew about the perils of a sea journey. Plus, he had no cash left.

The young man eventually joined hundreds of others who assemble in forest camps to get through the fence to Ceuta, a Spanish enclave and tiny pocket of official European soil in Africa's northern edge. Three times he was intercepted, and three times he returned. Last summer, on his fourth attempt, he finally made it to the other side.

"I've paid a high price for my European dream. I wouldn't do it again," Tankeu said at a charity-run migrant center in Madrid where he receives advice while he navigates Spain's intricate bureaucracy for asylum-seekers.

According to the International Organization for Migration, more than 28,300 migrants entered Europe via Spain last year. At least 6,200 people crossed the borders of Ceuta and Melilla -another Spanish territory- either jumping barbed-wired fences or hidden in vehicles.

But the highest numbers washed up in boats or were rescued off the Spanish coast: arrivals by sea totaled 22,100 in 2017, up from 8,100 in the previous year. Their sharp increase over the last quarter worries observers about what's to come.

"The current European policies are the perfect breeding ground for intensifying the flows along the Western Mediterranean route," says Estrella Galan, secretary general of CEAR, a non-governmental organization working with asylum-seekers.

"If we don't change our policies we are going to continue an endless cycle of replicating migration patterns from one location to another," she says.

Spain negotiated cooperation deals with transit countries more than a decade ago, offering funding and training to coast guards and security forces in its southern regions. The first repatriation agreements with sub-Saharan countries and pledges of development funds helped reduce a wave of nearly 32,000 arrivals to the Canary Islands in 2006.

The bill of this effort is costly. Speaking to Spanish daily El Mundo, Spain's state secretary of security Jose Antonio Nieto recently defended the deals with Algeria and Morocco saying they are "essential partners" and that "chasing mafias and human trafficking networks is the top priority."

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has often showed off the "success" of Spain's model before other European colleagues. But at the end of a Southern Europe summit in Rome this month, he also urged the EU to increase funding for member states at the forefront of the bloc's external frontiers.

NGOs and human rights organizations say that Spain also needs to draw its own plan to face the new situation. A Human Rights Watch report last summer criticized the country's treatment of migrants upon arrival, from immediate detention in poor facilities to obstacles for filing asylum applications.

The shortcomings became evident in December, when the death of a 36-year-old man brought unwelcome attention to an unfinished prison where more than 500 newly arrived Algerians had been housed.

As relatives cast doubts on the authorities' explanation that the man killed himself, public pressure increased over how migrants -some of them minors - were being held in a facility for criminals. Two weeks after the man's death, the Interior Ministry ended up relocating them elsewhere.

The uptick in the number of casualties at sea -from 169 deaths in 2016 to 223 last year- is an additional source of concern. Adolfo Serrano, chief coordinator of Spain's rescue services in Tarifa, says that most migrants end up in the water when something fails, both in high-capacity boats carrying a lot of passengers and small rafts "similar to the toys that children use in the beach."

And, like elsewhere in the Mediterranean, some NGOs have also been blamed as part of the problem.

Helena Maleno, a human rights activist who alerts rescue services about dinghies in the Mediterranean Sea, is now facing possible criminal charges in Morocco for allegedly aiding human traffickers. Spanish investigators initially pursued the investigation.

Maleno, who founded the Walking Borders NGO in the Moroccan city of Tangiers, says her phone and social media contacts are available to migrants who often share them and use them to plea for assistance. A prosecutor in Spain's National Court dropped the case last year, but the investigation had already extended to Morocco, where a magistrate is questioning the activist this month.

Spain's Interior Ministry didn't return calls or emailed questions for comment.

"I hope the case will be shelved," Maleno told The Associated Press last week. "I will make my case before the judge in order to clear my name, but also because this can't set a precedent for other organizations who are working to safeguard the right to life in the Mediterranean."

FILE - This is a Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2017 file photo of migrants sitting at the port of Tarifa, southern Spain, as they wait to be transported to a police station in Algeciras after being rescued in the Strait of Gibraltar. Increased controls on migration flows in Turkey and Libya, together with political and social instability in northern Morocco, are pushing record numbers of migrants and asylum-seekers through the hazardous Western Mediterranean passage into Europe. (AP Photo/ Marcos Moreno/ File)
SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) - The parents of a University of Pennsylvania student found stabbed and buried in a California park said Thursday they're not focused on potential motives for the killing or any suggestions their son was attacked because he was gay.

A former high school classmate was charged Wednesday with murder in the death of 19-year-old Blaze Bernstein. Samuel Woodward, 20, killed Bernstein with a knife, prosecutors said, while the college sophomore was visiting his family on winter break.

Speaking on NBC's "Today" show, Gideon Bernstein and Jeanne Pepper Bernstein would not elaborate on previous comments they made that the killing may have been a hate crime.

FILE--This undated file photo provided by the Orange County Sheriff's Department shows Blaze Bernstein. A suspect has been arrested in the death of 19-year-old University of Pennsylvania student Bernstein,whose body was found this week at a Southern California park. (Orange County Sheriff's Department via AP, file)

"If we talk about these things now then this young man will not get a fair trial. And I want that. I want that for all of us. I want the legal system to work," Jeanne Pepper Bernstein said.

District Attorney Tony Rackauckus said prosecutors were still trying to determine a motive for the killing and looking into whether it was a hate crime.

According to a court filing obtained by the Orange County Register, Woodward told investigators that he became angry after Bernstein kissed him the night they went to the park.

Authorities said Woodward picked up Bernstein at his parents' home around 11 p.m. on Jan. 2 after they communicated on Snapchat and took him to a neighborhood park. His body was found in a shallow grave there a week later.

Desperate to find him, his parents learned their son had left the house by "hacking into his computer and getting into his social media account," Jeanne Pepper Bernstein told the Los Angeles Times Wednesday.

"Most people our age don't understand how much our children are using social media for communicating," Gideon Bernstein said.

Woodward appeared in court in an orange jail jumpsuit but did not enter a plea. He was ordered held without bail until his arraignment on Feb. 2.

If convicted of murder and an allegation he used a deadly weapon, Woodward could face as much as 26 years to life in prison.

"There is still much discovery to be done and if it is determined that this was a hate crime, we will cry not only for our son, but for LGBTQ people everywhere that live in fear or who have been victims of hate crime," Bernstein's family said in a statement earlier this week.

Woodward's parents held hands at Wednesday's hearing and sat with a Catholic priest who is a long-time friend of the family. Other church members also attended the brief hearing.

"This is a tragedy," defense attorney Edward Munoz said later to reporters. He said his heart goes out to Bernstein family and that the Woodward family is in shock.

"This young man I'm representing was an Eagle Scout and now he's facing murder," Munoz said.

___

AP reporters Christopher Weber and John Antczak contributed to this report from Los Angeles.
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) - Authorities in Puerto Rico have issued more than 100 arrest warrants for suspects they say ran a multimillion-dollar drug trafficking ring tied to more than 30 killings.

Officials say over 20 people have been arrested as of Thursday morning. Forty-eight of the suspects are in Puerto Rico, 24 on the U.S. mainland and one in the Dominican Republic. The rest are already in prison.

U.S. Attorney Rosa Emilia Rodriguez said the gang aimed to control drug trafficking in the northern city of Bayamon and a spate of killings there nearly two months ago is tied to the group.

Puerto Rico continues to struggle with a surge in homicides. Police say 50 people have been killed so far in January, compared with 34 last year in the same period.
CHICAGO (AP) - A Cook County judge on Thursday cited alleged torture by Chicago police for freeing a man who spent 21 years in prison for two 1997 murders.

Police allegedly used an industrial-strength paper-cutter to slice off the toes of Jaime Hauad's shoes and threatened to cut off the then 17-year-old's toes if he didn't confess to the murders of alleged gang members Jason Goral and Jose Morales.

The Illinois Torture Inquiry and Relief Commission determined last year that Hauad's claim of torture was credible. The commission noted evidence from two lineup photos, one showing Hauad wearing undamaged shoes, the other showing him in cut shoes.

The commission also noted the murder investigation involved a Chicago police detective who is serving a life sentence for racketeering and drug conspiracy. Testimony at his trial indicated Det. Joseph Miedzianowski abused suspects and fixed cases.

The commission sent the case back to Cook County prosecutors for resolution. The State's Attorney's Conviction Integrity Unit and Hauad's attorneys settled on re-sentencing Hauad for time served and setting him free.

"I want to thank the state's attorney's for the investigation and giving (me) back my life," Hauad told Judge William Gamboney.

"We had enough concerns that we felt a new sentence was appropriate," Cook County Assistant State's Attorney Eric Sussman told Gamboney. "We made a decision jointly that this was the best outcome."

Gamboney signed off on the agreement. The now 37-year-old Hauad could be released from Graham Correctional Center in Hillsboro as early as Friday.

Despite his sentence reduction, Hauad's convictions still stand. Attorney Alison Flaum said Hauad has maintained his innocence throughout the ordeal and they plan to pursue a certificate of exoneration.
LA QUINTA, Calif. (AP) - Jon Rahm's soaring 5-iron settled 5 feet away to set up an eagle on the par-5 fifth hole at La Quinta Country Club.

"It's quite simple, honestly," Rahm said. "Beyond perfect drive, perfect second shot, perfect putt."

Two hours later Thursday in the first round of the CareerBuilder Challenge, young Charlie Reiter matched his new friend's eagle with a low hook around a tree to a foot.

Jon Rahm waves after a birdie on the 18th hole during the first round of the CareerBuilder Challenge golf tournament at La Quinta Country Club, Thursday, Jan. 18, 2018, in La Quinta, Calif. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

"It was a little down in the rough," said Reiter, the Palm Desert High School senior who recently played with Rahm at nearby Big Horn. "I just closed the face and trusted my swing and it worked out perfectly."

Rahm also had eight birdies in his bogey-free round for a 10-under 62 and a one-stroke lead. The 23-year-old Spaniard - the top-ranked player in the field at No. 3 in the world - played the first seven holes in 6 under on a sunny morning so comfortable he shed his light sweater halfway through his warmup on the driving range.

"You're not going to make every single putt. You're not going to hit every single shot perfect," Rahm said. "I do feel like I could have made a couple more putts, just because I had so many that were makeable. But there's a couple birdie putts, like the one on 14, that, if I'm being quite honest, I did not hit the line I wanted and it still went in dead center."

Rahm had the lowest score in his PGA Tour career, topping a 64 two years ago at Congressional in his first round as a professional. At 10 under, the former Arizona State player bested his four-day total of 9 under last year in the CareerBuilder when he tied for 34th in his first start in the event.

"This type of golf is something I love," Rahm said. "La Quinta is really, really similar to Phoenix Country Club, which I played many times. I've also shot 10 under there, funny enough, and it's just really familiar to what I'm used to playing. Four years of college on these golf courses, it's something you're not going to forget."

Rahm was second two weeks ago at Kapalua in his first start since winning the European Tour's season-ending event in Dubai in November. He's the defending champion next week at Torrey Pines, and also won last year in Ireland.

"I feel super-rested and really in peace with my game and I think it shows," Rahm said. "Kapalua wasn't the best ball-striking week of my life, but I was able to scramble really well and keep calm and have a good score. Today, it was a complete opposite. I had one of the best ball-striking days of my life and just had it going."

Reiter, 18, finished with a 68 after a shaky start to his PGA Tour debut.

"We went over to the Mountains Course because I can't hit driver here because the range is too short," Reiter said. "I hit a couple drives and my legs were like wobbly and I was like getting light-headed and I said, 'I think I'm going to throw up.' And then I got to the course and I kind of settled down."

The University of Southern California recruit is the first amateur to receive a sponsor exemption in tournament history. He tied for 65th in the Australian Open in November in his first pro event.

"It was a little different playing with everybody I know watching me," Reiter said.

Austin Cook, Jason Kokrak and Andrew Landry were a stroke behind Rahm at 63. Cook closed with a 15-foot par save on PGA West's Jack Nicklaus Tournament Course. Kokrak and Landry opened at La Quinta.

Beau Hossler, Aaron Wise, Brandon Harkins and Martin Piller were at 64. Hossler, Wise and Harkins played La Quinta, and Piller was on the Nicklaus layout. Nick Watney and Grayson Murray shot 65 to top the players at PGA West's Stadium Course, the once-feared layout that will be the site of the final round.

Phil Mickelson had a 70 at La Quinta in his first tournament round since late October.

"It was fun to get back out and be competitive," Mickelson said. "For some reason, I'm stuck on 70 here at La Quinta. Whether I get off to a good start or a bad one, I end up shooting the same score."

The 47-year-old Hall of Famer was 4 under after six holes, and then had one birdie and three bogeys - the first on the par-4 eighth after driving out-of-bounds to the right - on the final 12.

"With the exception of one tee shot, I drove it pretty well today and putted OK," Mickelson said.

Jon Rahm watches his tee shot on the third hole during first round of the CareerBuilder Challenge golf tournament at La Quinta Country Club Thursday, Jan. 18, 2018, in La Quinta, Calif. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Jon Rahm watches his tee shot on the fourth hole during first round of the CareerBuilder Challenge golf tournament at La Quinta Country Club Thursday, Jan. 18, 2018, in La Quinta, Calif. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Jon Rahm watches his tee shot on the first hole during first round of the CareerBuilder Challenge golf tournament at La Quinta Country Club Thursday, Jan. 18, 2018, in La Quinta, Calif. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Phil Mickelson tips his cap after a birdie on the fourth hole during the first round of the CareerBuilder Challenge golf tournament at La Quinta Country Club Thursday, Jan. 18, 2018, in La Quinta, Calif. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Phil Mickelson hits form the bunker on the sixth hole during first round of the CareerBuilder Challenge golf tournament at La Quinta Country Club Thursday, Jan. 18, 2018, in La Quinta, Calif. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Phil Mickelson hits from the fairway on the fourth hole during the first round of the CareerBuilder Challenge golf tournament at La Quinta Country Club Thursday, Jan. 18, 2018, in La Quinta, Calif. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Austin Cook reacts after missing a birdie putt on the 18th hole during the first round of the CareerBuilder Challenge golf tournament on the Jack Nicklaus Tournament Course at PGA West, Thursday, Jan. 18, 2018, in La Quinta, Calif. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Beau Hossler watches his tee shot on the 15th hole during the first round of the CareerBuilder Challenge golf tournament at La Quinta Country Club, Thursday, Jan. 18, 2018, in La Quinta, Calif. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Beau Hossler hits from the bunker on the 16th hole during the first round of the CareerBuilder Challenge golf tournament at La Quinta Country Club, Thursday, Jan. 18, 2018, in La Quinta, Calif. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) - Martin Guptill scored a hundred and Ross Taylor made a half century to lift New Zealand to 271 for seven in the fifth one-day international against Pakistan on Friday.

Guptill posted his 13th ODI century from 125 balls but was out one ball later for exactly 100 while Taylor completed his 41st half century before falling in the 45th over for 59.

The New Zealand innings revolved around Guptill, who faced the first ball of the match and batted until the 42nd over. He put on 52 for the first wicket with Colin Munro (34) and 49 for the second with Kane Williamson (22) before joining Taylor in a 112-run third wicket partnership that spanned 24 overs.

New Zealand made an explosive beginning as Munro hit seven fours. Munro and Guptill took 43 runs from the first five overs and New Zealand's first 50 runs came from just 34 balls.

A massive total seemed possible on a good pitch at the Basin Reserve but when Munro was out, caught in the deep by Mohammad Hafeez from the bowling of Rumman Raees, the run rate dropped abruptly. Guptill was dismissed in exactly the same manner.

Williamson wasn't able to score with any freedom as Pakistan produced its best bowling and fielding performance of the series, which New Zealand leads 4-0.

After laboring for 52 minutes to reach 22 from 36 balls with no boundaries, the New Zealand captain hit out in frustration and was caught by newcomer Umar Amin from the bowling of Aamer Yamin.

The Pakistan bowlers, particularly the spinners Shadab Khan and Mohammad Nawaz were able to tightly constrain New Zealand's scoring through the middle of the innings and it took a long time for Guptill and Taylor to reassert their authority. They managed to add only 14 runs between the 20th and 25th overs and 23 runs between the 25th and 30th.

Leg spinner Khan bowled his 10 overs for 35 runs while Nawaz's 10 over spell cost only 43 runs.

After being hit by Munro for two fours from his first two deliveries and for 20 runs from his first two overs, Rumman Raees took 3-67, including the wickets of Guptill and Munro. Yamin, who was also on the end of some harsh treatment from Munro, also came back well, dismissing Williamson and finishing with 1-65. Faheem Ashraf bowled tidily at the death and took 2-49.

Guptill's dismissal triggered the collapse of New Zealand's middle order. The next four wickets fell for 31 runs, including three in the space of five runs and nine balls after Taylor was out.

Colin de Grandhomme and Tim Southee revived the innings a little with an unbroken stand of 27 from 19 balls for the seventh wicket. De Grandhomme finished with 29 from 21 deliveries and Southee was not out on 14 from 11 balls.
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) - A Kansas City, Missouri, man who was thousands of dollars in debt from a drunken driving case has pleaded guilty to a Kansas bank robbery that netted just $615.

Prosecutors say 41-year-old Ryan Michael Cothern pleaded guilty Wednesday to robbing a U.S. Bank in Overland Park in October 2017.

Investigators say Cothern handed a teller his cellphone with a message demanding she put money into a bag. The teller placed $615 and a GPS locator in the bag and pulled the alarm. Cothern was arrested about 7 miles from the bank.

Johnson County records show Cothern was released from jail four days before the robbery. He was under court order to pay back more than $14,000 he owed in an earlier DUI case.
SRINAGAR, India (AP) - Tensions have soared along the volatile frontier between India and Pakistan in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir, as rival troops shelled villages and border posts for a third day Friday.

Three civilians and a soldier were killed on both sides in the latest clash, officials in the two countries said, as each blamed the other for initiating the violence.

Indian officials said two civilians and a paramilitary soldier died and at least 10 civilians and two soldiers were injured in Indian-controlled Kashmir. According to Pakistani officials, Indian fire on Friday killed a civilian and wounded nine others in Sialkot in Pakistan's eastern Punjab province.

Indian policemen rescue villagers civilians following shelling from the Pakistan side of the border, in Ranbir Singh Pura district of Jammu and Kashmir, India, Friday, Jan.19, 2018. Tensions soared along the volatile frontier between India and Pakistan in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir as soldiers of the rivals continued shelling villages and border posts for third day Friday. (AP Photo/Channi Anand)

An Indian paramilitary officer said soldiers were responding to Pakistani firing and shelling on dozens of border posts and called it an "unprovoked" violation of a 2003 cease-fire accord.

Angered over the rising violence, Pakistan's Foreign Ministry summoned Indian Deputy High Commissioner J.P. Singh and condemned what it called "unprovoked cease-fire violations" by India.

Each country has also accused the other of initiating past border skirmishes and causing civilian and military casualties.

The Indian officer, speaking on condition of anonymity in keeping with official policy, said Friday's shelling came after relative calm overnight in Jammu following two days of fighting that left at least three civilians and a soldier dead and several others wounded on both sides.

The border guard official said by Friday evening fighting had stopped in most places but still continued at about half a dozen outposts.

Indian police officer S.D. Singh said shells have landed in dozens of villages since early Friday. He said authorities deployed bulletproof vehicles to evacuate people who were injured and sick. Bullets and shrapnel scarred homes and walls amid the intense firing and shelling.

Dozens of schools in villages along the frontier have been closed and authorities advised residents to stay indoors as shells and bullets rained down. Some damage to houses was also reported on the Indian side.

Pakistan urged India to respect the cease-fire, investigate the latest incidents and maintain peace on the frontier. It also asked India to allow the U.N. Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan to play its mandated role in accordance with Security Council resolutions.

"This unprecedented escalation in cease-fire violations by India is continuing" since 2017 despite calls for restraint from Islamabad, Pakistan's statement said.

India's foreign ministry condemned what it called "continued and unprecedented cease-fire violation by Pakistan, which has caused loss of lives and properties."

"Pakistan violates the cease-fire as a cover to infiltrate terrorists across the border into India. We of course retaliate in such cases," said Raveesh Kumar, India's foreign ministry spokesman. "We'll also take up the matter at appropriate level with the Pakistani side."

India and Pakistan have a long history of bitter relations over Kashmir, a Himalayan territory claimed by both in its entirety. They have fought two of their three wars over the region since they gained independence from British colonial rule in 1947.

The latest fighting is taking place along a somewhat-defined frontier where each country has a separate paramilitary border force guarding the lower-altitude 200-kilometer (125-mile) boundary separating Indian-controlled Kashmir and the Pakistani province of Punjab.

The contentious frontier also includes a 740-kilometer (460-mile) rugged and mountainous stretch called the Line of Control that is guarded by the armies of India and Pakistan.

The exchange of fire comes days after Islamabad accused Indian forces of killing four Pakistani soldiers along the Line of Control in Kashmir, where rebel groups demand that Kashmir be united either under Pakistani rule or as an independent country.

India accuses Pakistan of arming and training the rebels, which Pakistan denies.

Nearly 70,000 people have been killed in the uprising and the ensuing Indian military crackdown since 1989.

___

Ahmed reported from Islamabad, Pakistan. Associated Press writer Ashok Sharma in New Delhi contributed to this story.

Indian policemen rescue villagers civilians following shelling from the Pakistan side of the border, in Ranbir Singh Pura district of Jammu and Kashmir, India, Friday, Jan.19, 2018. Tensions soared along the volatile frontier between India and Pakistan in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir as soldiers of the rivals continued shelling villages and border posts for third day Friday. (AP Photo/Channi Anand)

Relatives of Indian boy Sahil kumar who was killed in Pakistani firing and shelling, wail near his body at a hospital in Ranbir Singh Pura district of Jammu and Kashmir, India, Friday, Jan.19,2018. Tensions soared along the volatile frontier between India and Pakistan in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir as soldiers of the rivals continued shelling villages and border posts for third day Friday. (AP Photo/Channi Anand)

An Indian border security vehicle rescues civilians injured following shelling from the Pakistan side of the border, in Ranbir Singh Pura district of Jammu and Kashmir, India, Friday, Jan.19, 2018. Tensions soared along the volatile frontier between India and Pakistan in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir as soldiers of the rivals continued shelling villages and border posts for third day Friday. (AP Photo/Channi Anand)

Relatives of Indian woman Bachno Devi, who was killed in Pakistani firing and shelling, wail near her body at a hospital in Ranbir Singh Pura district of Jammu and Kashmir, India, Friday, Jan.19,2018. Tensions soared along the volatile frontier between India and Pakistan in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir as soldiers of the rivals continued shelling villages and border posts for third day Friday. (AP Photo/Channi Anand)

Relatives of Indian boy Sahil kumar who was killed in Pakistani firing and shelling, wail near his body at a hospital in Ranbir Singh Pura district of Jammu and Kashmir, India, Friday, Jan.19,2018. Tensions soared along the volatile frontier between India and Pakistan in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir as soldiers of the rivals continued shelling villages and border posts for third day Friday. (AP Photo/Channi Anand)

Relatives of Indian boy Sahil kumar who was killed in Pakistani firing and shelling, wail at a hospital in Ranbir Singh Pura district of Jammu and Kashmir, India, Friday, Jan.19,2018. Tensions soared along the volatile frontier between India and Pakistan in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir as soldiers of the rivals continued shelling villages and border posts for third day Friday. (AP Photo/Channi Anand)
BEIJING (AP) - The birthrate in China fell last year despite the country easing its family planning policies and allowing all couples to have two children.

There were 17.2 million births in the country last year, down from 17.9 million in 2016, the National Bureau of Statistics reported Thursday.

China changed its long-standing one-child policy in 2015 in hopes of reversing the trend toward an aging population. The number of births rose nearly 8 percent in 2016, with nearly half of the babies born to couples who already had a child.

In this Dec. 23, 2017 photo, parents and children play together at an activity station during the grand opening of a Hamleys toy store in Beijing. The birthrate in China fell in 2017 despite the country easing family limits and allowing all couples to have two children. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

That increase appears to have been a one-off however, with couple's decisions to not have a second child affected by the trend toward later marriage, the desire for smaller families and concerns about the high cost of raising children.

Despite government hopes, studies have predicted the loosening of the one-child policy would bring only a relatively small increase in population growth. Those have been accompanied by recommendations that the country increase its retirement age to address an expected labor shortage and declining economic growth.

With almost 1.4 billion people, China currently has the world's largest population. It is expected to peak at 1.45 billion in 2029.

China enacted its one-child policy in 1979, enforced with fines and in some cases state-mandated abortions. But it now faces a rapidly aging workforce and the prospect of not having enough younger workers to support its elderly.

In this June 1, 2017 photo, women walk with children wearing matching hats as they cross a bridge at a public park on International Children's Day in Beijing. The birthrate in China fell in 2017 despite the country easing family limits and allowing all couples to have two children. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
WASHINGTON (AP) - As bad as President Donald Trump describes U.S.-Pakistani ties today, they can get far worse.

Over 16 years that included hundreds of deadly U.S. drone strikes, Osama bin Laden's killing on Pakistani soil and accusations Pakistan helps insurgents that kill Americans, the reluctant allies never reached one point of no return: Pakistan closing the air routes to Afghanistan.

It's an action that could all but cripple the U.S.-backed military fight against the Taliban. It could also be tantamount to Pakistan going to war with the United States.

Even if such a step is seen as unlikely by most officials and observers, Pakistan's ability to shape the destiny of America's longest war is a reminder of how much leverage the country maintains at a time Trump is suspending hundreds of millions of dollars in military assistance.

"There's some suggestion that we have all of the cards in our hands," said Richard Olson, a former U.S. ambassador to Pakistan. "But we don't. The leverage is strong on the Pakistan side as well and arguably stronger than our side."

Trump's re-commitment of U.S. forces to the fight in Afghanistan makes the stakes high for his administration. The top U.S. diplomat for South Asia, Alice Wells, made a low-key visit to Islamabad this week, suggesting both sides want to prevent a breach in ties. Pakistan's cooperation is needed not only to reduce violence in its northern neighbor. It's also critical to any hope of a political settlement with the Afghan Taliban after decades of conflict.

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has said the U.S. doesn't expect Pakistan to cut off supply routes. Even so, the U.S. is seeking out alternatives, a senior administration official said, without elaborating on what those routes might be. The Pentagon wouldn't discuss the issue, citing operational security, other than to say military planners develop "multiple supply chain contingencies" to sustain their mission.

The administration official, who wasn't authorized to comment by name and demanded anonymity, said it would be "very difficult" but not impossible for the U.S. to get military equipment into Afghanistan if the Pakistan route is shut down. Restrictions limit what types of supplies can flow through the Northern Distribution Network in Central Asia, set up during the Obama administration amid concerns about relying solely on Pakistan.

Pakistan has cut overland access before. When a U.S. airstrike killed 24 Pakistani soldiers at the Afghan-Pakistan frontier in late 2011, months after the U.S. commando raid that killed bin Laden, Pakistan blocked border crossings into Afghanistan.

The decision sunk U.S.-Pakistani relations to a post-9/11 low point. Supply trucks that trundle across desert into Afghanistan's southern Kandahar province or into Nangarhar via the mountainous Khyber Pass ground to a halt. Hundreds of containers shipped from the U.S. or the Gulf were left stranded in the Pakistani port of Karachi until mid-2012.

For the U.S., truck and rail costs inflated by about 50 percent, said David Sedney, a former Pentagon official who organized the alternative northern routes. He said deliveries by air cost three times as much or more.

But the saga, resolved through a U.S. apology, also exposed the limits of Pakistan's leverage, Sedney said. Pakistan's own economy was hurt, notably the military-dominated trucking industry. And the Afghan war effort, which was then supporting more than 70,000 U.S. troops, compared with around 16,000 now, endured.

That was perhaps the result of Pakistan never closing the air corridor into Afghanistan, which U.S. pilots call "the boulevard." It's essential for ferrying ammunition and weapons for U.S. and Afghan forces, and waging war. U.S. intelligence flights and combat missions use it when taking off from U.S. bases in the Persian Gulf or from aircraft carriers in the Indian Ocean.

Since closing Pakistan's airspace would hinder America's ability to defend its forces in Afghanistan, Olson, the former ambassador, said the U.S. might regard such action as a "casus belli," or grounds for war. Other former U.S. officials echoed that assessment.

"From what I can tell we don't actually have any serious alternative," said Daniel Markey, a South Asia expert at the John Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.

Sedney said the Northern Distribution Network, which fell out of use after most U.S. forces were withdrawn from Afghanistan by late 2014, could be restored with astute U.S. diplomacy. Nations such as Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan all have been used before for transporting mostly nonlethal supplies. Poor U.S. relations with Russia could make the task trickier, however. Moscow wields significant influence over these former Soviet states.

Pakistan is weighing options carefully. The suspension of around $1.2 billion in assistance and Trump's accusations of Pakistani "lies and deceit" for allowing Taliban havens have stirred anger and demands from opposition party leader Imran Khan for both land and air links to be cut.

Pakistan's ambassador in Washington, Aizaz Chaudhry, indicated such steps weren't imminent, urging greater U.S. cooperation on counterterrorism. But he warned that further downward spiraling in U.S.-Pakistani ties could create a situation in which "everything will be on table."

Chaudhry cited Pakistan's longstanding complaints that its efforts have been unappreciated, claiming that most leaders of the Haqqani network - which the U.S. hopes to eradicate - have fled to Afghanistan. Critics say Pakistan's military only targets insurgents threatening Pakistan itself.

"The problem is we have a porous open border and it's like a revolving door," Chaudhry told The Associated Press. "These elements tend to come back, and travel back and forth, but there is no organized presence or safe havens inside Pakistan."

Republicans and Democrats in America aren't sold. Lawmakers have urged targeted financial sanctions against Pakistani intelligence officials linked to militants, and for Pakistan to lose its "non-NATO ally" status that offers preferential access to U.S. military technology. Zalmay Khalilzad, a former U.S. ambassador in Kabul, is among hawks advocating Pakistan be declared a state sponsor of terrorism, unless it cooperates.

But others who've worked with the Pakistanis fear coercion could backfire at a time they're hedging their bets, unsure America will win in Afghanistan.

A tacit Pakistani alliance with the Taliban will appear "more important to them than ever as we turn once again from an ally into an adversary," said Ryan Crocker, who was U.S. ambassador in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

____

Associated Press writer Josh Lederman contributed to this report.
When their young kids came home squirming and complaining about a lack of school recess time, a pair of Florida moms set out on a mission to ensure that every elementary school in their state allowed unstructured play time.

In this Education Week video, which is part of our new series called Parent Changemakers, Angela Browning and Amy Narvaez discuss their successful three-year effort to convince lawmakers to pass a statewide recess mandate.

While things like test scores and classroom work are important, the mothers believe children need time to play and build relationships during the school day.

For us, it was really changing the conversation from what adults want to what kids need, Browning said.

The push to protect school recess time is taking place in other states and districts.

In addition to mandated play time, schools around the country have limited or eliminated teachers ability to take away a students recess time as a form of discipline , their efforts bolstered by district policies and state laws that place renewed emphasis on physical activity and by increased public involvement in the creation of district wellness policies.

Related reading about school recess.

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RIVERSIDE, Calif. (AP) - They are safe for now and, according to authorities, they are relieved.

But the 13 children, aged 2 to 29, rescued from what was described as nothing less than a torture chamber will have years of therapy ahead, experts say, as they learn to live in a world that, until a week ago, they never really knew.

Since arresting David and Louise Turpin earlier this week, authorities said they have learned the children were confined to the house, chained to furniture, starved and often deprived the use of a toilet. Some of the children were so detached they didn't understand the concept of a police officer or medicine.

Trash and a fake rattle snake sculpture are seen on the front door of a home where police arrested a couple on Sunday accused of holding 13 children captive in Perris, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 18, 2018. The parents of 13 children and young adults have pleaded not guilty in a California court to numerous charges that they tortured and abused the siblings for years. David and Louise Turpin were each ordered held on $12 million bail after entering their pleas Thursday and were scheduled to return to court on Feb. 23. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

"You don't need to learn what a police officer is from going to school, you learn that from just being out in the world," said Patricia Costales, chief executive of The Guidance Center, a Long Beach, California-based nonprofit that provides mental health therapy to thousands of children.

"To not even know something like that really speaks to how incredibly controlled their environment was. They're going to experience a culture shock even apart from the trauma they have undergone," said Costales, a licensed clinical social worker and therapist who has treated kidnap victims, some held for years.

The Turpin siblings, seven adults and six children, likely need years of therapy, psychological experts said, adding that if possible it would be best to keep them together.

The youngest should have the easiest road to recovery, Costales said, but added she is optimistic that over time all could eventually learn to lead relatively normal lives.

"Their brains are still adapting, they're still forming, they're still developing their understanding of the world," she said of the younger children. "But someone who has experienced these things for 20-some years of their life will have a lot of learning to do about what relationships are like, what the world is like, how they're supposed to be treated."

Even being separated from their parents, who are now in jail on torture, child abuse and other charges, could be unsettling initially to some of the children, said Jessica Borelli, a clinical psychologist and professor of psychology and social behavior at University of California, Irvine.

"When we come into this world, our attachment figures are our primary sources of safety and security, no matter how abusive they are," she said. "That impulse or that draw to be back with the people who are supposed to keep you safe is incredibly strong, and that is what has to be overridden to get out of an abusive situation."

Police were summoned to the Turpin home in Perris, a city of about 70,000 people 60 miles southeast of Los Angeles, on Sunday after the couple's 17-year-old daughter jumped out of a window and called 911. She had planned the escape for two years and fled with a sibling who became too scared and turned back, Riverside County authorities said.

The fact that she carried out such a courageous act, Borelli said, shows she could play a leadership role in helping her siblings recover.

"To me, that is a sign she has something inside of her that is really healthy," she said. "One of the things that happens with really prolonged abuse like this is the instincts about self-protection and the desire to protect oneself are totally disrupted - but she has it. So, I think she might be someone who can help."

When deputies arrived at the home they found a 22-year-old chained to a bed. The house reeked of human waste and evidence of starvation was obvious, with the oldest sibling, a 29-year-old woman, weighing only 82 pounds, said Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin.

The children were tethered to beds with chains and padlocks as punishment and allowed to do little but write in journals, authorities said.

David Turpin, 56, and Louise Turpin, 49, have pleaded not guilty to multiple counts of torture, child abuse, dependent adult abuse and false imprisonment dating to 2010, when the family moved to California from outside Fort Worth, Texas. David Turpin also pleaded not guilty to performing a lewd act on a child under age 14.

Each is held on $12 million bail.

David Turpin had worked as an engineer for both Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman. Louise Turpin identified herself as a housewife in a 2011 bankruptcy filing.

The family led a nocturnal existence and slept all day, which kept them largely out of sight from neighbors in their tight-knit suburban-styled community.

Authorities have given no motive for the parents' behavior, which Hestrin called "depraved."

Abbey Kanzer, a clinical psychologist at the Center for Victims of Torture in St. Paul, Minnesota, said recovery can take years but there is hope in even the most horrific cases.

"The hope for treatment is to find a way so the trauma becomes a contained part of what happened to them," she said. "It becomes part of their story, but not their complete story."

___

Rogers reported from Los Angeles

Louise Anna Turpin, left, appears in court with her attorney Jeff Moore in Riverside, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 18, 2018. Prosecutors filed 12 counts of torture, seven counts of dependent adult abuse, six counts of child abuse and 12 counts of false imprisonment against Turpin and his wife, Louise Anna Turpin. Authorities say the abuse left the children malnourished, undersized and with cognitive impairments. (Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times via AP, Pool)

David Allen Turpin, center, and Louise Anna Turpin, not seen, appear in court for their arraignment in Riverside, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 18, 2018. Prosecutors filed 12 counts of torture, seven counts of dependent adult abuse, six counts of child abuse and 12 counts of false imprisonment against Turpin and his wife, Louise Anna Turpin. Authorities say the abuse left the children malnourished, undersized and with cognitive impairments. (Terry Pierson/The Press-Enterprise via AP, Pool)

Neighbor Liza Tozier, and her son, Avery Sanchez, 6, drop off his large "Teddy" as a gift for the children who lived on a home where police arrested a couple on Sunday accused of holding 13 children captive in Perris, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 18, 2018. The parents of 13 children and young adults have pleaded not guilty in a California court to numerous charges that they tortured and abused the siblings for years. David and Louise Turpin were each ordered held on $12 million bail after entering their pleas Thursday and were scheduled to return to court on Feb. 23. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

Neighbor Rilee Unger, 3, plays with a toy after dropping off a couple of her own teddy bears on the porch of a home where police arrested a couple on Sunday accused of holding 13 children captive in Perris, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 18, 2018. The parents of 13 children and young adults have pleaded not guilty in a California court to numerous charges that they tortured and abused the siblings for years. David and Louise Turpin were each ordered held on $12 million bail after entering their pleas Thursday and were scheduled to return to court on Feb. 23. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

Neighbor Avery Sanchez, 6, peeks behinds his mother, Liza Tozier after dropping off his large "Teddy" for the children who lived on a home where police arrested a couple on Sunday accused of holding 13 children captive in Perris, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 18, 2018. The parents of 13 children and young adults have pleaded not guilty in a California court to numerous charges that they tortured and abused the siblings for years. David and Louise Turpin were each ordered held on $12 million bail after entering their pleas Thursday and were scheduled to return to court on Feb. 23. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

Louise Anna Turpin and her husband David Allen Turpin appear in court for their arraignment in Riverside, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 18, 2018. The parents of 13 siblings who were allegedly held in captivity in their family's Southern California home were charged Thursday with committing years of torture and abuse that left their children malnourished, undersized and with cognitive impairments. (Terry Pierson/The Press-Enterprise, Pool)

David Allen Turpin, center, and Louise Anna Turpin, not seen, appear in court for their arraignment in Riverside, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 18, 2018. Prosecutors filed 12 counts of torture, seven counts of dependent adult abuse, six counts of child abuse and 12 counts of false imprisonment against Turpin and his wife, Louise Anna Turpin. Authorities say the abuse left the children malnourished, undersized and with cognitive impairments. (Terry Pierson/The Press-Enterprise via AP, Pool)

David Allen Turpin appears in court for his arraignment in Riverside, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 18, 2018. Prosecutors filed 12 counts of torture, seven counts of dependent adult abuse, six counts of child abuse and 12 counts of false imprisonment against Turpin and his wife, Louise Anna Turpin. Authorities say the abuse left the children malnourished, undersized and with cognitive impairments. (Terry Pierson/The Press-Enterprise via AP, Pool)

Louise Anna Turpin smiles as she appears in court with her attorney Jeff Moore for an arraignment in Riverside, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 18, 2018. Turpin and her husband, David Allen Turpin, the parents of 13 siblings who were allegedly held in captivity in their family's Southern California home, were charged Thursday with committing years of torture and abuse that left their children malnourished, undersized and with cognitive impairments. (Terry Pierson/The Press-Enterprise, Pool)

David Allen Turpin, second from right, and his attorney David Macher, far right, appear in court for an arraignment in Riverside, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 18, 2018. Turpin and his wife Louise Anna Turpin, far left, the parents of 13 siblings who were allegedly held in captivity in their family's Southern California home, were charged Thursday with committing years of torture and abuse that left their children malnourished, undersized and with cognitive impairments. (Frederic J. Brown/Pool Photo via AP)

Louise Anna Turpin, far left, with attorney Jeff Moore, second from left, and her husband David Allen Turpin, listen to attorney, David Macher, as they appear in court for their arraignment in Riverside, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 18, 2018. The parents of 13 siblings who were allegedly held in captivity in their family's Southern California home were charged Thursday with committing years of torture and abuse that left their children malnourished, undersized and with cognitive impairments. (Frederic J. Brown/Pool Photo via AP)

David Allen Turpin, right, and Louise Anna Turpin, left, appear in court for their arraignment in Riverside, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 18, 2018. Prosecutors filed 12 counts of torture, seven counts of dependent adult abuse, six counts of child abuse and 12 counts of false imprisonment against Turpin and his wife, Louise Anna Turpin. Authorities say the abuse left the children malnourished, undersized and with cognitive impairments. (Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times via AP, Pool)

David Allen Turpin appears in court for his arraignment in Riverside, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 18, 2018. Prosecutors filed 12 counts of torture, seven counts of dependent adult abuse, six counts of child abuse and 12 counts of false imprisonment against Turpin and his wife, Louise Anna Turpin. Authorities say the abuse left the children malnourished, undersized and with cognitive impairments. (Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times via AP, Pool)
MOSCOW (AP) - Russian President Vladimir Putin has taken a dip in icy lake waters to celebrate Epiphany, a major holiday in Orthodox Christianity marking the baptism of Jesus.

Russian television stations have shown the 65-year-old Putin approaching a hole cut in the ice on Lake Seliger in northwestern Russia and then dunking himself in and crossing himself.

Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said the president had dipped in icy waters on the Epiphany before, but Friday marked the first time he publicly did so.

Russian President Vladimir Putin crosses himself as he bathes in an ice-cold water on Epiphany neat St. Nilus Stolobensky Monastery on Lake Seliger in Svetlitsa village, Russia, Friday, Jan. 19, 2018. Thousands of Russian Orthodox Church followers will plunge into icy rivers and ponds across the country to mark Epiphany, cleansing themselves with water deemed holy for the day. (Alexei Druzhinin, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

In Orthodox tradition, water blessed by a priest during Epiphany week is considered holy and pure, and believers attribute healing powers to it.

Authorities set up bathing sites for believers all over Russia, including some areas in Siberia where temperatures dipped below -30 C (-22 F).

Russian President Vladimir Putin bathes in an ice-cold water on Epiphany neat St. Nilus Stolobensky Monastery on Lake Seliger in Svetlitsa village, Russia, Friday, Jan. 19, 2018. Thousands of Russian Orthodox Church followers will plunge into icy rivers and ponds across the country to mark Epiphany, cleansing themselves with water deemed holy for the day. (Alexei Druzhinin, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin bathes in an ice-cold water on Epiphany neat St. Nilus Stolobensky Monastery on Lake Seliger in Svetlitsa village, Russia, Friday, Jan. 19, 2018. Thousands of Russian Orthodox Church followers will plunge into icy rivers and ponds across the country to mark Epiphany, cleansing themselves with water deemed holy for the day. (Alexei Druzhinin, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
MINSK, Belarus (AP) - Belarus on Friday mocked Kazakhstan's suggestion that it could serve as a new venue for Ukraine peace talks previously hosted by Minsk.

Belarusian Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei said in a statement released to The Associated Press that the ex-Soviet nation "isn't seeking peacemaker's laurels unlike some others." He added that moving the talks elsewhere wouldn't change anything.

"The negotiations' venue is hardly relevant," Makei said. "The negotiations on Ukraine could even be moved to Antarctica if there is a certainty about their success."

Protesters with a Ukrainian national flag burn tires while clashing with police during a rally outside the Supreme Rada in Kiev, Ukraine, Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2018. At least one policeman has been injured and several protesters have been detained during scuffles outside the Ukrainian parliament to protest a new law governing the areas in the country's east under separatist control. (AP Photo/Andrew Kravchenko)

He added that for the talks to succeed it's necessary that every party to the conflict sincerely aims to end the bloodshed.

Belarus has hosted a series of negotiations to try to settle the separatist conflict in eastern Ukraine that erupted weeks after Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014.

A 2015 agreement signed in Minsk that was brokered by France and Germany helped reduce hostilities that have killed over 10,000 since April 2014, but clashes between Ukrainian forces and Russia-backed separatists have continued and attempts at political settlement have stalled.

Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev said Thursday that the Minsk talks were deadlocked and suggested that his country could host them.

He said on a visit to the U.S. that he discussed the issue during a meeting with President Donald Trump, adding that Trump suggested moving the talks to another location.

Asked to comment on the statements by Kazakhstan and Belarus, Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said the adherence to the Minsk agreements is of primary importance and the choice of venue matters little.

The 2015 peace deal obliged Ukraine to offer broad autonomy to the separatist regions and a sweeping amnesty to rebels. Most Ukrainian political parties rejected that idea as a betrayal of national interests.

On Thursday, Ukraine's parliament passed a bill on "reintegration" of the rebel regions that envisages the use of military force to get them back under Ukraine's control. It contained no reference to the Minsk agreement, and Russia warned that the bill effectively kills the Minsk agreements.

In Moscow, Peskov rejected the Ukrainian bill's description of the rebel-controlled areas as "occupied territories" and its reference to Russia as "aggressor," saying it directly contradicts the Minsk agreements signed by Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.

"Russia isn't a party to the conflict," Peskov said. "Russia will adhere to the letter and the spirit of the Minsk agreements along with other countries guarantors. We stand for the implementation of the Minsk agreement to settle the internal Ukrainian crisis."

----

Vladimir Isachenkov in Moscow contributed to this report.
LONDON (AP) - John Barton, co-founder of the Royal Shakespeare Company, has died. He was 89.

The company said on its website Thursday night that Barton had died earlier in the day.

Barton co-founded the company in 1960 and spent the rest of his career with the group.

He was "simply one of the greatest influences in the acting of Shakespeare of the last century," RSC artistic director Gregory Doran said.

Barton directed many classic plays and taught generations of actors how to approach Shakespeare's works.

Doran said Barton had a rare "ability to uncover the clues that Shakespeare wrote into the text to enable actors to deliver it with freshness and vivid clarity."

Barton's "Playing Shakespeare" workshops were often shown on television beginning in 1982.

He collaborated with co-founder Peter Hall on the influential "The Wars of the Roses" in 1963 and directed "Twelfth Night," ''Much Ado About Nothing," ''Love's Labour Lost" and others, working with Judi Dench, Donald Sinden, Patrick Stewart and other stalwart British actors.

Barton continued working with the company until several years ago. He had recently moved from his home in central London to a care home in west London.

His wife Ann died in 2013. He is survived by his sister Jennifer.
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - North Korea on Friday abruptly canceled plans to send a delegation led by the head of a hugely popular girl band to South Korea over the weekend to check preparations for a trip by a North Korean art troupe she also leads during next month's Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.

South Korea's Unification Ministry said North Korea didn't explain why it was "suspending" the two-day visit by the seven-member advance team that it proposed just hours earlier through a cross-border communication channel.

It wasn't immediately clear whether the visit, which was to begin on Saturday, was permanently canceled or postponed. The ministry said it will try to gather further information from the North regarding the decision.

FILE - In this Jan. 15, 2018, file photo, in this photo provided by South Korea Unification Ministry, the head of North Korean delegation Kwon Hyok Bong, center, and Hyon Song Wol, the head of the Moranbong Band, left, sit during the meeting with South Korea at the North side of Panmunjom in North Korea. The head of North Korea's most popular girl band is visiting South Korea this weekend to check preparations for a trip by another Northern art troupe led by her as part of Pyongyang's Olympic delegation, officials said Friday.(South Korea Unification Ministry via AP, File)

The rival Koreas earlier this week agreed that the 140-member Samjiyon art troupe, which will include singers, dancers and orchestra members, will perform twice in South Korea during the games in a sign of warming ties between the countries. It will be part of a North Korean Olympic delegation that will also include athletes, officials, state media reporters, a cheering group and a taekwondo demonstration team.

South Korea has also proposed that it send a 12-member delegation to North Korea on Tuesday to inspect preparations for a joint cultural event at the North's scenic Diamond Mountain and a training session between non-Olympic skiers at the North's Masik ski resort ahead of the Olympics in the South, the ministry said.

The little-known Samjiyon art troupe is led by Hyun Song Wol, who also heads the popular female Moranbong Band hand-picked by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Hyon has been the focus of intense South Korean media interest since she attended inter-Korean talks at the border on Monday that reached agreement on the troupe's visit. Hyon's gestures during the talks as well as her makeup, looks, navy blue suit and green shoulder bag received widespread coverage.

The reconciliation mood between the Koreas began after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said in a New Year's speech that he was willing to send a delegation to the Olympics. While South Korea hopes to use the games to improve relations with its rival after a year of animosity involving North Korea's rapidly expanding nuclear weapons program, some experts view Kim's overture as an attempt to weaken U.S.-led international sanctions against the North and buy time to further advance his nuclear weapons program.

Hyon is also an alternate member of the ruling Workers' Party's Central Committee. Her visit would have made her the highest-profile North Korean to visit South Korea since its International Olympic Committee representative, Chang Ung, came last July.

___

Associated Press writer Tong-hyung Kim contributed to this report.

___

This story has been corrected to show that proposed South Korean trip is Tuesday instead of Monday.

A South Korean army soldier stands guard behind a poster showing the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympic mascot at the Unification Observation post in Goseong, near the border with North Korea, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 19, 2018. The rival Koreas agreed Wednesday to form their first unified Olympic team and have their athletes parade together for the first time in 11 years during the opening ceremony of next month's Winter Olympics in South Korea, officials said. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Posters showing the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympic mascot are displayed as a South Korean army soldier stands guard at the Unification Observation post in Goseong, near the border with North Korea, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 19, 2018. The rival Koreas agreed Wednesday to form their first unified Olympic team and have their athletes parade together for the first time in 11 years during the opening ceremony of next month's Winter Olympics in South Korea, officials said. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

A couple passes posters showing the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympic mascot at the Unification Observation post in Goseong, near the border with North Korea, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 19, 2018. The rival Koreas agreed Wednesday to form their first unified Olympic team and have their athletes parade together for the first time in 11 years during the opening ceremony of next month's Winter Olympics in South Korea, officials said. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

A South Korean family view the Diamond Mountain in North Korea at the Unification Observation post in Goseong, near the border with North Korea, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 19, 2018. The rival Koreas agreed Wednesday to form their first unified Olympic team and have their athletes parade together for the first time in 11 years during the opening ceremony of next month's Winter Olympics in South Korea, officials said. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

A South Korean army soldier uses binoculars to view Diamond Mountain in North Korea at the Unification Observation post in Goseong, near the border with North Korea, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 19, 2018. The rival Koreas agreed Wednesday to form their first unified Olympic team and have their athletes parade together for the first time in 11 years during the opening ceremony of next month's Winter Olympics in South Korea, officials said. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
LONDON (AP) - Britain may be leaving the European Union, but Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson wants to build bridges with the Continent. Literally.

Johnson has suggested that the U.K. and France should build a bridge across the English Channel to bolster links between the two nations after Brexit.

At a U.K.-France summit on Thursday, Johnson said the idea of a bridge was worth considering. He said it's ridiculous that countries 20 miles (32 kilometers) apart are linked only by a single railway tunnel.

British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, left, with French President Emmanuel Macron, and Laurent Fabius, prepare for a group photo during UK-France summit talks at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, in Camberley, England, Thursday Jan. 18, 2018. The leaders announced that police and security services from France and England will meet to help combat extremism and terrorist threats. (Stefan Rousseau/Pool via AP)

"Our economic success depends on good infrastructure and good connections," Johnson tweeted. "Should the Channel Tunnel be just a first step?"

Johnson neglected to mention that there are also sea and air links between Britain and France.

Ian Firth, past president of the Institution of Structural Engineers, said Friday that a bridge was "entirely feasible." But shipping firms warned it could disrupt one of the world's busiest shipping lanes.

At Thursday's summit the two countries pledged to set up a panel of "eminent and qualified persons" to examine "significant projects."

Prime Minister Theresa May's office said there were no specific plans for a cross-Channel bridge.

Johnson has a penchant for large infrastructure projects. As mayor of London he backed a "garden bridge" over the River Thames, a project that was scrapped by his successor, Sadiq Khan, as poor value for money.

Johnson also championed building a new airport in the Thames estuary, a project dubbed "Boris Island" by the press. The idea was rejected by an inquiry looking into airport expansion.
BERLIN (AP) - The German government says Chancellor Angela Merkel will appear at the World Economic Forum in Davos next Wednesday, a day when the event's focus is on Europe.

Merkel spokesman Steffen Seibert said Friday that the chancellor will give a speech to the annual gathering of global political and business leaders in the Swiss Alps and also hold some bilateral meetings, though he couldn't immediately say who with.

He said she chose to appear Wednesday because the focus then is on Europe and Germany, the most populous European Union member and the 28-nation bloc's biggest economy, has long taken a leading role in European policy debates.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel arrives at the German parliament Bundestag prior to a debate about refugee policy in Germany, in Berlin, Friday, Jan. 19, 2018. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

That means Germany's longtime leader won't coincide with President Donald Trump, who is due to make a keynote address before the forum closes next Friday.
WHITE PLAINS, Ala. (AP) - Authorities say an Alabama man allegedly killed his son and daughter along with her fiance before fatally shooting himself.

Calhoun County Sheriff Matthew Wade tells news outlets that 49-year-old Anthony Wayne Parker shot his 12-year-old son, 19-year-old Heather Parker and 20-year-old Brandon Roberts at his home in the White Plains community.

Authorities say Anthony Parker called his sister and told her he had killed three people and was about to kill himself. The sister called 911 and deputies responded to his house, where they found the three dead in the yard in front of the home Thursday.

Deputies traced Parker's last location through his cellphone and found him dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
NEW YORK (AP) - A woman who worked for Michael Douglas in the late 1980s says he fondled himself in front of her - an allegation the actor has vigorously denied.

Susan Braudy appeared Friday on NBC's "Today" show.

Braudy, a journalist and author, says the actor unbuckled his belt, put his hand into his trousers and fondled himself in her presence. She says a friend later cautioned her not to tell anyone.

FILE - In this Feb. 26, 2016 file photo, U.S actor Michael Douglas arrives at the 41st French Cesar Awards Ceremony, in Paris. A woman who worked for Douglas in the late 1980s says he fondled himself in front of her, an allegation the actor has vigorously denied. Journalist and author Susan Braudy appeared Friday, Jan. 19, 2018 on NBC's "Today" show. Earlier this month, Douglas said he anticipated an upcoming report containing allegations and called it a "complete lie, fabrication."(AP Photo/Thibault Camus, File)

Douglas, a two-time Oscar winner, told Deadline earlier this month that he anticipated an upcoming report would contain an allegation by a former employee that he acted inappropriately in front of her about 32 years ago. He called it a "complete lie, fabrication." He says his wife, Catherine Zeta-Jones, "has been very supportive."

Douglas' agent and publicist didn't immediately respond to email and phone messages seeking comment.
MADRID (AP) - The Latest on the Spain-Catalonia political situation (all times local):

2:15 p.m.

Officials say that former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont, who fled to Brussels to avoid arrest in Spain nearly three months ago, will leave Belgium and travel to Denmark next week to attend a university forum.

A Yellow ribbon in support of Catalonian politicians who have been jailed on charges of sedition is displayed before a parliamentary session where elected lawmakers meet for the first time after regional elections in Catalonia, Barcelona, Spain, Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2018. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Puigdemont is being sought in Spain as part of an investigation into rebellion, sedition and embezzlement charges for events last fall that led to a unilateral declaration of independence in the northeastern Spanish region of Catalonia.

He faces detention if he returns to Spain, but is free to travel elsewhere after a Spanish judge canceled a European arrest warrant for him.

A spokeswoman for Puigdemont's party Together for Catalonia (Junts per Catalunya), and Janni Brixen, a media officer at the Faculty of Social Sciences in the University of Copenhagen, confirmed separately that Puigdemont will attend Monday's event in the Danish capital.

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10:30 a.m.

Catalonia's fugitive former leader, who wants his old job back, says new technologies would allow him to govern from Belgium.

Carles Puigdemont spoke to Catalan public radio from Brussels, where he fled to avoid a judicial probe in Spain over secession attempts.

The challenge led Spanish central authorities to disband the Catalan Cabinet and call an election in the northeastern region. Results granted separatists a slim parliamentary majority.

But with ousted Catalan Cabinet members under investigation, jailed or in Brussels and facing arrest if they return home, the Catalan parliament's new governing body must decide by the end of January whether to permit Puigdemont's re-election through a proxy delegate.

Spain's central government has vowed to impede Puigdemont's reinstatement by challenging it in courts if necessary.

People gather outside the Catalonia parliament during a parliamentary session in Barcelona, Spain, Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2018. A new Catalan parliament is meeting following a botched secession attempt last year and amid looming questions about the role that fugitive and jailed politicians will play in the chamber's separatist majority. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
President Donald Trumps administration on Thursday night filed an appeal asking the U.S. Supreme Court to immediately review a federal district judges nationwide injunction that restored the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.

As Congress rancorously debates a long-term solution to the issue of immigration relief for teenage and young adult undocumented immigrants, the administration is moving aggressively to overturn the judges order that blocks the 2017 process to rescind the Obama-era DACA program.

The DACA debate is being followed closely by K-12 schools and colleges. Under the DACA program, federal authorities exercise their discretion not to deport undocumented immigrants who were brought to the United States before age 16 and who were under age 31 as of June 15, 2012. Other provisions include one requiring DACA applicants to have been enrolled in school, graduated from high school, obtained a GED, or been honorably discharged from the U.S. military.

In terminating DACA, the administrative record failed to address the 689,800 young people who had come to rely on DACA to live and to work in this country, U.S. District Judge William Alsup of San Francisco said in his Jan. 9 order granting the nationwide injunction that essentially restored DACA for now. The administrative record includes no consideration to the disruption a rescission would have on the lives of DACA recipients, let alone their families, employers and employees, schools and communities.

The administration has filed an appeal with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, also in San Francisco. But in his filing in U.S. Department of Homeland Security v. Regents of the University of California , U.S. Solicitor General Noel J. Francisco called for the Supreme Court to bypass the appeals courts review.

The district court has entered a nationwide injunction that requires DHS to keep in place a policy of non-enforcement that no one contends is required by federal law and that DHS has determined is, in fact, unlawful and should be discontinued, Francisco says in the appeal to the Supreme Court.

The DACA program is materially indistinguishable from two later programs the Obama administration created, an expanded DACA and the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents. Those latter programs were blocked by a federal district court in Texas, a ruling upheld by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit, in New Orleans.

In 2016, the Supreme Court deadlocked 4-4 on the fate of DAPA and expanded DACA, affirming the appeals court ruling without setting a national precedent.

Francisco said in the brief that the Homeland Security Departments decision to rescind DACA was a matter of agency discretion and was proper in light of its view that the program was likely illegal.

The challengers of the decision to rescind DACA, which include the University of California as well as the states of California, Maine, Maryland, and Minnesota and other plaintiffs, will likely file a response to the administrations appeal in short order.
RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) - A California man who authorities say was arrested in South Dakota with his mother's body found in the vehicle he was driving is fighting extradition.

Tosten Walsh Lommen, 30, appeared in court in Rapid City on Friday and declined to waive extradition to California, KEVN-TV reported. A hearing on the matter is scheduled for Feb. 20.

Authorities allege Lommen killed his mother, Michelle Walsh, 58, sometime around Dec. 30 while the two were living in her home in Palm Springs, California.

FILE - This undated file photo provided by the Pennington County Sheriff's Office in Rapid City, S.D. shows Tosten Walsh Lommen. Authorities in South Dakota have dropped local charges against Lommen, a California man who they say was arrested Jan. 1, 2018, with his mother's body found in the vehicle he was driving. The procedural move by prosecutors clears the way for Lommen to be returned to California to face a murder charge in that state. (Pennington County Sheriff's Office via AP, File)

Lommen was arrested on New Year's Day on suspicion of drunk driving and eluding police following a 50-mile (80-kilometer) chase on Interstate 90 in South Dakota that reached speeds surpassing 100 mph. Authorities said they found his mother's body wrapped in a blanket in the back of his sport utility vehicle, and that an autopsy concluded Walsh had died from head and neck injuries.

He was charged with murder in California's Riverside County on Jan. 8.

Lommen had been scheduled to enter pleas Wednesday to South Dakota state charges of felony aggravated eluding and misdemeanor drunken driving, reckless driving and resisting arrest. Assistant Attorney General Scott Roetzel dropped those charges early in the week, and the hearing was canceled.

"We dismissed our file so (Lommen) could go back to (California)," attorney general spokeswoman Sara Rabern told the Capital Journal . "The much more serious charges he is facing (are) out west."

Lommen remains jailed in Rapid City in lieu of $2.5 million bond.
Federal government regulators proposed changes Friday in the way most hogs slaughtered for meat in the United States are processed in a series of new rules that officials say improve industry practices but critics say could imperil food safety.

The new rules would allow hog slaughter plants to voluntarily join a new proposed inspection system that would put plant employees in charge of determining which animals are unfit for processing. Government inspectors who currently perform this function would be moved to other areas of the plant focused more on food safety, said U.S. Department of Agriculture Acting Deputy Under Secretary for Food Safety Carmen Rottenberg.

The proposed rules are similar to ones rolled out in 2014 for the poultry industry.

Federal government regulators on Friday proposed new rules for how hogs are slaughtered in the U.S. Above, a view of boneless pork loins waiting to be packaged at a store in Iowa in 2011

Critics have said such changes turn too much of the inspection and food safety testing over to the companies, creating increased risk of food-borne illnesses from contaminated meat as well as an increased risk of inhumane treatment of animals.

'We think that food safety is going to suffer from this,' said Tony Corbo, a senior lobbyist at Food & Water Watch, a Washington-based advocacy group that is calling for USDA to drop the proposed rules. 'We opposed what they did in poultry and we're opposing what they're doing here. This is a belated Christmas gift to the industry.'

Rottenberg insists the changes could improve food safety and said they would still require government inspectors to look at all hog carcasses processed.

'There is no single technology or process to address the problem of foodborne illness, but when we focus our inspections on food safety-related tasks, we better protect American families,' she said.

The proposed rules would also increase the number of hogs plants could process by revoking limits on line speeds and allowing plants to determine their own speeds. Corbo argued the move could endanger workers and reduce quality control.

Maximum line speeds are currently set at 1,106 hogs per hour, meaning each line in a plant is allowed to handle that number of carcasses each hour. The USDA said five pilot plants operating at their own established speeds have operated efficiently but safely.

Corbo said data he's collected indicate the pilot plants have had significantly higher noncompliance reports in key areas including sanitation.

The USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service, which is proposing the rules, said the new system is unlikely to result in increased bacterial contamination of hog carcasses and could lower it, 'which in turn may result in fewer human illnesses.'

Companies may choose not to adopt the new rules and could continue to operate under the existing inspection system.

The voluntary inspection program would apply only to those processing plants slaughtering market hogs, animals about six months old weighing around 250 pounds, which make up about 96 per cent of the pork products sold to consumers.

After officially posting the rules in the next few days, the agency will begin taking comments, which could lead to changes in the proposal. No date has been set for enactment.

A second set of rules proposed Friday would be mandatory and require all pork processing plants to implement their own new daily documentation on how they prevent bacterial contamination of carcasses and procedures for microbial testing.

USDA has been working on changes to pork processing since 2002, Rottenberg said.

The agency said the U.S. has 612 swine slaughter plants under federal inspection. They process about 118 million hogs a year.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - A Virginia lawmaker whose journalist girlfriend was fatally shot by a former co-worker during a live broadcast in 2015 is pushing for a new law he says could have prevented her death.

The Roanoke Times reports that Del. Chris Hurst has introduced legislation that prevents a job candidate from suing employers for sharing information about past violent or threatening behavior. Companies would also be immune from lawsuits for considering any violent episodes when hiring.

Hurst is a former Virginia news anchor who was living with Alison Parker when she and cameraman Adam Ward were killed by former co-worker Vester Flanagan while reporting for Roanoke's WDBJ-TV in August 2015.

Hurst said the station had been unaware of Flanagan's troubled history before hiring him.
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - Arkansas lawmakers on Friday approved banning an herbicide that farmers say has drifted onto crops where it wasn't applied and caused damage, but the prohibition still faces a legal challenge from a maker of the weed killer.

The Legislative Council, without discussion, approved the Plant Board's plan to ban dicamba from April 16 through Oct. 31. A subcommittee earlier this week recommended that the council - the Legislature's main governing body when lawmakers aren't in session - approve the proposal.

Dicamba has been around for decades, but problems arose over the past couple of years as farmers began to use it to kill invasive weeds in soybean and cotton fields where specially engineered seeds had been planted to resist the herbicide. The board proposed the ban after receiving nearly 1,000 complaints last year about the weed killer drifting onto fields and damaging crops not resistant to the herbicide. Arkansas is one of several states where farmers have complained about dicamba drifting.

Monsanto, a maker of dicamba, has asked a state judge to prevent the restriction from taking effect. A hearing is scheduled next month in the St. Louis-based company's lawsuit.

"We've committed to growers and our customers that we will pursue (the lawsuit) until it is complete to see if we can't help them have access to modern technology and have the maximum amount of choice," said Scott Partridge, Monsanto's vice president of global strategy.
Associated Press journalists visited the old city of Homs, Syria. It has been almost four years since the last remaining rebels and civilians withdrew from the remaining strongholds in the ancient heart of Homs. But few people have returned, and large parts of the once vibrant old city are still abandoned and destroyed, as if time has stood still since the guns fell silent.

From the Gaza Strip to Jordan and Lebanon, millions of Palestinians are bracing for the worst as the Trump administration moves toward cutting funding to the U.N. agency that assists Palestinian refugees across the region. The expected cuts could deliver a painful blow to some of the weakest populations in the Middle East and risk destabilizing the already struggling countries that host displaced Palestinian refugees and their descendants.

A burning Iranian tanker listing for days off the coast of China after a collision with another vessel sank Sunday, with an Iranian official saying there was "no hope" of survival for the 29 missing sailors onboard.

Relatives of Palestinian fisherman, Abdullah Zidan, mourn in the family house during his funeral in Gaza City, Saturday, Jan. 13, 2017. Palestinian authorities say a Gaza fisherman died a day after Egyptian naval forces shot him off the beach. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

Firefighters extinguished a burning car that was destroyed in a bombing, in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon. The Lebanese military said the bomb went off in a car, wounding its Palestinian owner. It was not immediately clear who carried out Sunday's bombing in Sidon or why the Palestinian Hamas member, identified as Mohammed Hamdan, was targeted.

People lit candles at the site of Monday's twin suicide bombings in Baghdad. Two suicide bombers blew themselves up at a busy street market in central Baghdad on Monday, in back-to-back explosions that killed dozens and wounded many civilians, Iraqi health and police officials said. It was the deadliest attack since last month's declaration of victory over the Islamic State group.

Palestinian teenager Ahed Tamimi was brought to a courtroom inside the Ofer military prison near Jerusalem. Tamimi, 16, was filmed in December pushing, kicking and slapping Israeli soldiers. Her father said his daughter was upset after her 15-year-old cousin was shot in the head with a rubber bullet.

Eritrean migrants wore chains to mimic slaves at a demonstration against the Israeli government's policy to forcibly deport African refugees and asylum seekers from Israel to Uganda and Rwanda, outside the Knesset, Israel's parliament, in Jerusalem.

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This gallery was curated by Associated Press photographer Khalil Hamra in Gaza.

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A relatives of Palestinian fisherman, Abdullah Zidan, mourns his death during his funeral in Gaza City, Saturday, Jan. 13, 2017. Palestinian authorities say a Gaza fisherman died a day after Egyptian naval forces shot him off the beach. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

Palestinian demonstrators run from tear gas fired by Israeli troops during clashes following a demonstration in support of Palestinian prisoners in Nabi Saleh near the West Bank city of Ramallah, Saturday, Jan. 13, 2018. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

An Israeli soldier fires teargas toward Palestinians during clashes following a demonstration in support of Palestinian prisoners in Nabi Saleh near the West Bank city of Ramallah, Saturday, Jan. 13, 2018 . (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen listens to national anthems during a ceremony handing over equipment to Jordan, at Marka airport, Amman, Jordan, Sunday, Jan. 14, 2018. (John MacDougall/Pool Photo via AP)

Firefighters extinguish a burning car that was destroyed in a bombing, in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, Sunday, Jan 14, 2018. The Lebanese military said the bomb went off in a car in southern Lebanon, wounding its Palestinian owner. It was not immediately clear who carried out Sunday's bombing in the city of Sidon or why the Palestinian, identified as Mohammed Hamdan, was targeted. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

Friends and colleagues of the deceased Iranian seafarers aboard a tanker that sank off the coast of China weep at the headquarters of National Iranian Tanker Company, in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, Jan. 14, 2018. The burning Iranian tanker listing for days off the coast of China after a collision with another vessel sank Sunday, with an Iranian official saying there was "no hope" of survival for the 29 missing sailors onboard. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

In this Sunday Jan. 14, 2018 photo, a Palestinian woman waits to receive food aid at a U.N. warehouse in the Shati refugee camp, Gaza City. From the Gaza Strip to Jordan and Lebanon, millions of Palestinians are bracing for the worst as the Trump administration moves toward cutting funding to the U.N. agency that assists Palestinian refugees across the region. The expected cuts could deliver a painful blow to some of the weakest populations in the Middle East and risk destabilizing the already struggling countries that host displaced Palestinian refugees and their descendants. (AP Photo/ Khalil Hamra)

Out going U.S. Marine Brigadier General Roger B. Turner walks on the airfield after the change of command ceremony at Task Force Southwest military field in Shorab military camp of Helmand province, Afghanistan, Monday, Jan. 15, 2018. (AP Photo/Massoud Hossaini)

Ahed Tamimi is brought to a courtroom inside the Ofer military prison near Jerusalem, Monday, Jan. 15, 2018. Tamimi, 16, was filmed in December pushing, kicking and slapping Israeli soldiers, who stood by silently. Her father said the girl was upset after her 15-year-old cousin was shot in the head with a rubber bullet. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

A rainbow appears over Damascus, Syria, Monday, Jan. 15, 2018. Turkey's president on Monday denounced U.S. plans to form a 30,000-strong Kurdish-led border security force in Syria, vowing to "drown this terror force before it is born," as Russia and Syria also rejected the idea.(AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Eithan Osborne, a professional surfer from the USA, rides a wave during the Qualifying Series of the World Surf League in the Mediterranean Sea in Netanya, Israel, Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2018. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

People light candles at the site of Monday's twin suicide bombings in Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2018. Two suicide bombers blew themselves up at a busy street market in central Baghdad on Monday, in back-to-back explosions that killed dozens and wounded many civilians, Iraqi health and police officials said. It was the deadliest attack since last month's declaration of victory over the Islamic State group. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim)

Mourners carry the body of Palestinian Ahmad Saleem, 24, who was killed in clashes with the Israeli army, during his funeral in the village of Jayous, near near the West Bank city of Qalqilya, Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2018. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

Two people carry goods on a bicycle in the war-damaged Bab Dreib neighborhood of the old city, in Homs, Syria, Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2018. Elsewhere in Syria Tuesday, several civilians were killed and others were wounded by insurgent shelling of Aleppo city, the state-run news agency SANA reported. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

People hold their prayers seeds to receive bless during Moulid al-Hussein, a gathering which commemorates the birth of the Muslim Prophet Muhammad's grandson, in front of his shrine inside the al-Hussein Mosque, in Cairo, Egypt, late Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2018. The event attracts thousands of Muslims from all over the country to the mosque and shrine named after him. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) - Defense attorneys say video, photos and other evidence from the Pulse nightclub attack should not be shown to jurors during the upcoming federal trial of the shooter's widow.

Noor Salman faces charges of aiding a terrorist organization and obstruction of justice.

During a hearing Thursday in Orlando, attorneys for the 31-year-old Salman objected to showing the jury graphic evidence from the June 12, 2016, shooting that killed 49. Attorney Charles Swift said the police body camera footage would be prejudicial to the jury.

The Orlando Sentinel reports prosecutors must prove Salman aided the terrorist organization that her husband pledged allegiance to during phone conversations with police as the nightclub attack was underway.

Judge Paul Byron said he'll make a ruling before the trial, scheduled for March 1.
BOSTON (AP) - Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker plans to recommend $15 million in additional state funding for school districts that are educating students displaced by hurricanes in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The Republican told the Massachusetts Municipal Association on Friday that he planned to make the request in his annual state budget proposal next week.

The $15 million would be included in an approximately $118 million increase in overall state aid to school districts, funding known as Chapter 70.

Baker also announced that his budget - due out Wednesday - seeks a $37 million, or 3.5 percent increase in unrestricted local aid that municipalities can use for any purpose.

Officials say more than 2,000 students from Puerto Rico have enrolled in public schools since coming to Massachusetts after Hurricane Maria.
JERUSALEM (AP) - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he will soon decide on Israel's new ambassador to Jordan a day after the two countries agreed to put a monthslong diplomatic spat behind them.

Israel media reported Netanyahu as saying Israel had expressed remorse over a shooting at its Amman embassy last summer that killed two Jordanians.

Israel's ambassador returned to Israel along with the guard involved in the shooting. The guard claimed self-defense and received a hero's welcome at home, angering Jordanians.

The incident ruptured relations between the countries which signed a peace agreement in 1994 and cooperate on security and other issues.

Haaretz quoted Netanyahu saying Israel has "a strong interest in this relationship."

The report adds he says Israel will compensate the Jordanian government but not the families of the deceased.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - Three politicians are teaming up across state and party lines in effort to ban public spending on a new stadium for the Washington Redskins.

A conservative Virginia lawmaker is joining with liberal legislators in Maryland and the District of Columbia to push for an interstate agreement that no jurisdiction will use public spending on incentives for a stadium as a way to lure the team.

The current lease at FedEx Field in suburban Maryland ends in 2027 and the team is exploring new potential locations.

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam and District Mayor Muriel Bowser have said they don't support using public money to help build a stadium. Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan previously told The Washington Business Journal that he would do "whatever it takes" to keep the team.
VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) - Lithuania's Defense Ministry says an investigation was launched Friday after hackers posted a bogus story on the website of a television news station.

Television station TV3 said it was hacked late Thursday and shortly after that a bogus story appeared on the channel's website accusing Defense Minister Raimundas Karoblis of sexually harassing a male radio journalist.

Tensions have been running high between Russia and Lithuania, which like other Baltic nations was long subject to Moscow's rule. Cyberattacks and disinformation campaigns have become more frequent in the last few years.

Defense Vice Minister Edvinas Kerza told reporters the national cybersecurity center is investigating the case and the internet protocol address (IP) of the hacker had been traced to St. Petersburg in Russia.

Attributing hacks is often difficult and the AP could not immediately corroborate the claim.

Russian officials didn't immediately comment on the reports of possible hacking in Lithuania but the government routinely denies ordering hackers to strike at Kremlin opponents.

The editor of the website also blamed Russian hackers.

"It is not the first Russian hacker attack on our website. They began when Russian government institutions demanded we delete two articles about Vladimir Putin. I refused and soon after we received an email from Russian institutions, informing us our site was blocked in that country. Cyberattacks followed shortly after that," editor Arturas Anuzis told The Associated Press.

Most of the letters were sent from the Russian Ministry of Communications and Mass Media, Anuzis said.

In a separate disinformation campaign this week, the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry was forced to deny false but widely published reports that Lithuania had imposed economic sanctions on Mongolia.

"We face a pretty huge and long-lasting disinformation campaign against our society. The power of propaganda is much harder to quantify than tanks or planes, but it was clearly aimed at a very huge variety of targets," said Tomas Ceponis, an analyst for the Lithuanian military.

TV3 and its website have been repeatedly targeted by hackers who have compromised the group's networks half dozen times. Government, parliament and other institutions' websites in Lithuania have seen several major cyberattacks every year.

Defense Minister Karoblis Facebook account was hacked and erased last year, but investigators were not able to prove a direct link to Russian hackers.

Lithuania regularly imposes three-month bans on Russia's TV channels for "incitement to war, discord and hatred."

Lithuanian citizens are actively fighting back, working to shut down people disseminating bogus news stories by reporting them to social media sites such as Facebook. Thousands of these activists saw their personal details exposed on a Russian website recently and some were openly threatened, according to Ricardas Savykynas, who leads a civic group.
The U.S. Supreme Court announced Friday that it would review the latest version of President Donald Trumps restrictions on travel to the United States from six predominantly Muslim countries, an issue that has been watched closely by colleges and universities but also has some implications for K-12 schools.

Many legal observers believe the case of Trump v. Hawaii (No. 17-965) involves a major clash over presidential powers. At issue is the third version of a policy the president issued in his first week in office, which was implemented chaotically and led to protests at U.S. airports as arriving visitors from the affected countries were turned around and sent home by immigration officials.

The Supreme Court had agreed to take up the second version of the presidents executive order, but it expired and the justices dropped the case from their docket. The third version, issued in September, built on version two and is meant to be permanent.

The third version applies to travelers from Chad, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria, and Yemen. It also applies to two non-Muslim countriesNorth Korea and some Venezuelan government officials and their families.

The challenge to the third version led by the state of Hawaii did not include North Korea or Venezuela. Both a federal district court in Hawaii and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, in San Francisco, blocked the policy and held that the president likely exceeded his authority under immigration law and the policy likely involves illegal discrimination based on nationality.

The 9th Circuit did not rule on the question of whether the policy violated the U.S. Constitutions prohibition on government establishment of religion based on Trumps various anti-Muslim statements. But another federal appeals court had so ruled with respect to version two of the policy, and the Supreme Court said it would consider that question as part of its review.

In its appeal to the Supreme Court, the Trump administration said the third version of the policy responds to multiple federal agencies findings that a handful of countries have deficient information-sharing practices or other factors that prevent the government from assessing the risk their nationals pose to the United States.

The courts below have overridden the presidents judgments on sensitive matters of national security and foreign relations, and severely restricted the ability of this and future presidents to protect the nation, said the appeal signed by U.S. Solicitor General Noel J. Francisco.

In their high court brief , the challengers say, The president has issued a proclamation, without precedent in this nations history, that purports to ban over 150 million aliens from [these countries] based on nationality alone.

The immigration laws do not grant the president this power: Congress has delegated him only a measure of its authority to exclude harmful aliens or respond to exigencies, and it has expressly prohibited discrimination based on nationality, the brief says.

The implications for education are in the area of visas for students, faculty, and speakers from the affected countries, although the current policy makes some exceptions for non-immigrant students. Numerous colleges, as well as the American Federation of Teachers, had filed friend-of-the-court briefs in the 9th Circuit supporting the challengers.



In December, the justices voted 7-2 to lift a stay on the policy, letting it take full affect.

Arguments in the case are expected in April, with a decision by the end of June.
WASHINGTON (AP) - In his first year in office, President Donald Trump has frequently bent Washington to his will.

He's shattered long-standing norms that have governed the capital and plunged politics to a new level of corrosiveness. And he's wielding his executive power to start rolling back his predecessor's policies on the environment, education and America's role around the world.

But at times, Trump's Washington can also look strikingly similar to the era before presidential directives were delivered by tweet.

Hyperpartisanship and legislative gridlock still reign. Many of the same issues that bedeviled previous presidents now sit unresolved on Trump's desk, including North Korea's nuclear threats and the fate of millions of people living in the U.S. illegally.
LAS VEGAS (AP) - The Latest on the shooting in Las Vegas last October that left 58 people dead and hundreds injured on the Las Vegas strip (all times local):

1:20 p.m.

The FBI and U.S. attorney's office in Las Vegas are not providing details about whether a federal grand jury is hearing evidence in a case spun off of the Oct. 1 mass shooting that became the deadliest in modern U.S. history.

This Oct. 2017 photo released by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Force Investigation Team Report shows exploding targets found in Las Vegas gunman Stephen Paddock's vehicle, an evidence imaged released as part of a preliminary report by Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo on Friday, Jan. 19, 2018, in Las Vegas. Paddock began shooting into the crowd attending the Route 91 Music Festival from his hotel room into a crowd of 22,000 people attending the Route 91 Harvest Festival music below on Oct. 1, 2017. (Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department via AP)

Spokeswomen for both agencies declined comment Friday after Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo said the FBI was investigating "an individual of federal interest" other than the shooter, Stephen Paddock.

Lombardo also says a federal grand jury is hearing evidence in a case spun off from the Oct. 1 mass shooting.

Paddock killed himself after killing 58 people and injuring hundreds, and Lombardo said no criminal charges are being considered against Paddock's girlfriend, Marilou Danley.

The sheriff did not identify the person under federal investigation or say what charges the person might face.

Lombardo told reporters that all the guns Paddock amassed were legally obtained.

But he noted that investigators found "numerous" images of child pornography on Paddock's computers.

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12:50 p.m.

The sheriff in Las Vegas now says 851 people suffered injuries directly related to the Oct. 1 mass shooting that became the most deadly in modern U.S. history, including 422 who were hurt by gunfire.

The new overall injury figure provided Friday by Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo is significantly higher than the number of about 550 hurt that was provided last October.

Lombardo provided no further details about the injured or how people were hurt other than by gunfire.

In the days after the shooting, some people reported suffering injuries in the hectic rush by thousands to flee the gunfire.

Fifty-eight people were fatally shot before the shooter, Stephen Paddock, killed himself.

A preliminary police report says the bodies of 31 were found in or immediately outside a concert venue across Las Vegas Boulevard from the Mandalay Bay resort.

That's where the report says Paddock amassed an arsenal of assault-style weapons and opened fire into a concert crowd of about 22,000 at the annual Route 91 Harvest Festival.

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11:55 A.M.

The sheriff in Las Vegas says a federal grand jury is hearing evidence in a case spun off of the Oct. 1 mass shooting that became the deadliest in modern U.S. history.

But Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo would not say Friday whether anyone would be charged with a crime.

Lombardo says no charges are being considered against the girlfriend of Stephen Paddock, who killed himself after killing 58 people and injuring hundreds.

Lombardo says the FBI has "an ongoing case against an individual of federal interest."

The sheriff also did not say what charges the federal grand jury is considering.

Officials with the U.S. attorney's office and FBI in Las Vegas did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment.

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10:50 a.m.

The sheriff in Las Vegas says a federal grand jury is hearing evidence in a case spun off of the Oct. 1 mass shooting that became the deadliest in modern U.S. history.

Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo told reporters Friday that no one may be charged with any crimes directly stemming from the shooting that killed 58 people and injured hundreds.

The shooter, Stephen Paddock, killed himself before police reached him and the sheriff said no criminal charges are being considered against Paddock's girlfriend, Marilou Danley.

But Lombardo said the FBI has "an ongoing case against an individual of federal interest."

The sheriff didn't say what charges the federal grand jury is considering.

Officials with the U.S. attorney's office and FBI in Las Vegas did not immediately respond to messages.

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10:30 p.m.

Authorities say Las Vegas gunman Stephen Paddock conducted extensive online searches for police and SWAT tactics and searched for other potential targets before he carried out the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history.

Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo said Friday that investigators believe Paddock had searched for several other public venues and took photographs of other potential sites.

A preliminary report about the shooting says Paddock searched for outdoor concert venues, the number of attendees at other concerts in Las Vegas and the number of people who go to the beach in Santa Monica, California.

The report also says Paddock also searched for information about several other hotels in Las Vegas.

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10:10 a.m.

Investigators say they have still not determined why Las Vegas mass shooter Stephen Paddock opened fire from his high-rise hotel suite, killing 58 people and injuring hundreds.

Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo told reporters Friday that investigators believe Paddock acted alone in the Oct. 1 shooting at the Mandalay Bay casino-hotel.

Lombardo says he does not expect charges to be filed against Paddock's girlfriend, Marilou Danley, who had been previously called a person of interest in the case.

Lombardo said the investigation found that Paddock had possessed child pornography.

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10 a.m.

With questions still unanswered about the shooter's motive and whether he had help, Las Vegas police are due to provide a public update Friday about the investigation of the Oct. 1 shooting that left 58 people dead and hundreds injured on the Las Vegas Strip.

Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo's briefing comes three days after a lawyer for the police department asked a Nevada state court judge to keep search warrant documents sealed because charges are still being investigated. The judge agreed to wait until at least next week.

A department spokeswoman said criminal charges could relate to items discovered in the service of warrants at homes, vehicles, cellphones, internet and email accounts belonging to the shooter, Richard Paddock, and his girlfriend, Marilou Danley.

Lombardo is the elected head of the metropolitan police department. His last media briefing about the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history was Oct. 13, following several days of shifting timelines and accounts. The sheriff has expressed frustration about speculation and theories that have grown about the shooting and an investigation that he compared with solving a puzzle.

This Oct. 2017 photo released by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Force Investigation Team Report showing the interior of Las Vegas shooter Stephen Paddock's 32nd floor room of the Mandalay Bay hotel, an evidence imaged released as part of a preliminary report by Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo on Friday, Jan. 19, 2018, in Las Vegas. Paddock began shooting into the crowd attending the Route 91 Music Festival from his hotel room into a crowd of 22,000 people attending the Route 91 Harvest Festival music below on Oct. 1, 2017. (Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department via AP)

This Oct. 2017 photo released by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Force Investigation Team Report showing the interior of room 32-134 of Las Vegas shooter Stephen Paddock's 32nd floor room of the Mandalay Bay hotel, an evidence imaged released as part of a preliminary report by Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo on Friday, Jan. 19, 2018, in Las Vegas. Paddock began shooting into the crowd attending the Route 91 Music Festival from his hotel room into a crowd of 22,000 people attending the Route 91 Harvest Festival music below on Oct. 1, 2017. (Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department via AP)

This Oct. 2017 photo released by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Force Investigation Team Report shows the interior of the Mandalay Bay hotel room 32-134 towards bathroom, part of the evidence images included on a preliminary report showing the interior of Stephen Paddock's 32nd floor room of the Mandalay Bay hotel in Las Vegas. Paddock began shooting into the crowd attending the Route 91 Music Festival from his hotel room into a crowd of 22,000 people attending the Route 91 Harvest Festival music below on Oct. 1, 2017. (Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department via AP)

This October 2017 photo released by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Force Investigation Team Report shows the view of Las Vegas Village from Mandalay Bay's room 32-135, part of the evidence images included on a preliminary report showing the interior of Stephen Paddock's 32nd floor room of the Mandalay Bay hotel in Las Vegas. Paddock began shooting into the crowd attending the Route 91 Music Festival from his hotel room into a crowd of 22,000 people attending the Route 91 Harvest Festival music below on Oct. 1, 2017. (Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department via AP)

This Oct. 2017 photo released by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Force Investigation Team Report shows the view of Las Vegas Village from Mandalay Bay room 32-135, part of the evidence images included on a preliminary report showing the interior of Stephen Paddock's 32nd floor room of the Mandalay Bay hotel in Las Vegas. Paddock began shooting into the crowd attending the Route 91 Music Festival from his hotel room into a crowd of 22,000 people attending the Route 91 Harvest Festival music below on Oct. 1, 2017. (Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department via AP)
PHILADELPHIA (AP) - An order of nuns brought their fight to stop a natural gas pipeline project on their rural Pennsylvania property to a federal appeals court Friday.

The Adorers of the Blood of Christ argue that the construction of a pipeline through their cornfield in Lancaster County represents a violation of their religious freedom and duty to preserve the earth.

A lower court dismissed the nuns' lawsuit last year, and the pipeline company already has been given permission use the land to build the Atlantic Sunrise project, which is more than 20 percent finished.

But the sisters, backed by a courtroom full of supporters in Philadelphia, said they're undeterred.

"If there's anybody who thinks sisters live quiet, uneventful lives, they have not met the Adorers of the Blood of Christ," Sister Janet McCann said after the hearing. "And they have not heard about our resistance to the forced placement of a 42-inch high-pressure fracked gas pipeline on our farmland in Lancaster, Pennsylvania."

Lawyers for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Company said the order doesn't have grounds to object because it never brought its religious freedom argument to the federal agency.

"They had the opportunity to present a defense, and they chose not to," company lawyer Elizabeth U. Witmer told the panel of appeals judges. "They have simply waived all of their rights."

In a statement, the company reiterated the basis of the lower court's decision to toss the case because of insufficient evidence that the pipeline will infringe on nuns' religious beliefs. It said the pipeline will be a good source of inexpensive natural gas.

The Adorers of the Blood of Christ's legal claim draws, in part, on Pope Francis' 2015 encyclical letter, Laudato Si, which they said provides theological basis that members of the Roman Catholic Church and others must protect the earth as god's creation. A copy of Francis' letter was attached to one of the nuns' legal filings.

The nuns also allowed an outside group to build a makeshift chapel on the land.

J. Dwight Yoder, the order's lawyer, framed the case in religious terms when talking with reporters.

"It's David versus Goliath," he said after the hearing. "And we have to believe that there is a way to get this done."
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - The state and regional economic development agencies that swung and missed at landing Amazon's second headquarters in Minnesota still won't release the details of their pitch, including the individual sites it touted and any local, taxpayer-backed incentives that were on the table.

Word came Thursday that the Twin Cities missed the cut as the Seattle-based tech giant announced a list of 20 finalists, including Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Denver and more. GreaterMSP - the regional economic development agency that worked on the bid in tandem with the state's Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) - called it disappointing but helpful in their next quest to recruit new business to the state.

Minnesota was quick to join the rush for Amazon's business in September when the company announced a nationwide search for its second hub, with the promise of up to 50,000 jobs. But while other states such as New Jersey trumpeted multibillion dollar incentive packages, Minnesota released few details about its proposal submitted in mid-October: In a letter to Amazon released that month, DEED commissioner Shawntera Hardy wrote that the state could offer between $3 million to $5 million in subsidies from a combination of existing state incentive programs.

The state rebuffed a Thursday request from The Associated Press to see the entire proposal, saying the agency did not have a copy of it. DEED handed off the final compilation and submission of the bid to GreaterMSP, potentially shielding the proposal from Minnesota's open records laws.

"All of the information concerning the State of Minnesota's role and offers of state incentives to Amazon have been publicly disclosed," Hardy said in a statement. "The remainder of the bid materials, which are all in Greater MSP's possession, are within their purview to disclose."

But state law also makes clear that private entities - including GreaterMSP - are subject to the state's open record law if they contract with the state to handle public data. GreaterMSP spokesman Mike Brown said the organization never signed a contract with DEED.

"There is no plan to release site-specific details of the response to Amazon. All financial details on the response have previously been disclosed," Brown said Thursday.

But the economic development organization kept the door open to releasing more information on its proposal to Amazon. Brown said Friday that GreaterMSP was "reviewing the situation and understanding what our obligations are in this case."
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Trump administration's promise to exempt Florida from an offshore drilling plan is not a formal action, an Interior Department official said Friday in a statement that Democrats said contradicted a high-profile announcement by Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke.

Zinke has proposed opening nearly all U.S. coastline to offshore oil and gas drilling, but said soon after announcing the plan that he will keep Florida "off the table" when it comes to offshore drilling.

Zinke's Jan. 9 statement about Florida "stands on its own," said Walter Cruickshank, the acting director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, but there's been no formal decision on the five-year drilling plan.

FILE - In this Sept. 29, 2017 file photo, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke speaks on the Trump Administration's energy policy at the Heritage Foundation in Washington. Zinke has presided over a year of bureaucratic upheaval at the Interior Department that has seen dozens of senior staff re-assigned, key leadership positions go unfilled, rules governing industry shelved and a mass resignation from a National Park system advisory board. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)

"We have no formal decision yet on what's in, or out, of the five-year program," Cruickshank told the House Natural Resources Committee at a hearing Friday.

Zinke's announcement about keeping Florida off the table, made during a Tallahassee news conference with Florida Gov. Rick Scott, will be part of the department's analysis as it completes the five-year plan, Cruickshank said.

Democrats seized on the comment to accuse Zinke of playing politics by granting the Republican governor's request to exempt Florida while ignoring nearly a dozen other states that made similar requests.

Florida Sen. Bill Nelson called Cruickshank's comments "stunning" and said they confirm what he and other Democrats had suspected - that Zinke's statement was "nothing more than a political stunt" to help Scott run for Nelson's Senate seat.

Scott is a friend and ally of President Donald Trump, and Trump has urged him to run for the Senate.

Zinke's promise to take Florida off the table was "just empty words" until he takes formal steps needed to publish a new draft plan that excludes Florida, Nelson said.

Heather Swift, a spokeswoman for Zinke, called the claims by Nelson and other Democrats false. "Cruickshank simply said BOEM will finish the legally-required analysis of the planning areas, as is always done for all planning areas," she said in an email.

Scott said Friday he did not see Cruickshank's comments but was confident the Trump administration will not allow drilling in Florida.

"Secretary Zinke is a man of his word. He's a Navy Seal. He promised me that Florida would be off the table, and I believe Florida is off the table," Scott told reporters Friday.

Zinke announced plans two weeks ago to vastly expand offshore oil drilling from the Atlantic to the Arctic and Pacific oceans, including in more than a dozen states where drilling is now blocked. The five-year plan would open 90 percent of the nation's offshore reserves to development by private companies.

The plan has drawn bipartisan opposition by coastal state governors from California to New Hampshire, with at least 11 governors formally asking Zinke to remove their states from the plan. Seven governors from Massachusetts to North Carolina submitted a joint request for exemptions this week.

"Like Florida, each of our states has unique natural resources and an economy that is reliant on tourism as an essential driver," the governors wrote. The letter was signed by Republican leaders of Massachusetts and Maryland and Democrats from Rhode Island, Connecticut, Delaware, Virginia and North Carolina.

By exempting Florida but not other states, Zinke showed he is "more concerned with politics than proper process when it comes to making key decisions that affect our coastal communities," said Sen. Maria Cantwell of Washington state, the top Democrat on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

Zinke's action may violate the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, which governs drilling in U.S. coastal waters, Cantwell said. The law requires formal notice and a comment period before taking regulatory action.

Rep. Jared Huffman, D-Calif., a member of the natural resources panel, told Cruickshank that the Interior Department has not offered "a single reason why Florida is more unique than California or Virginia or South Carolina or other coastal states."

Oil industry groups have praised Zinke's plan, while environmental groups say it would harm America's oceans, coastal economies, public health and marine life.

Nelson said this week he is blocking three Trump nominees for high-level Interior jobs to protest the drilling proposal.

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Associated Press writer Gary Fineout in Tallahassee, Florida contributed to this report.
LAS VEGAS (AP) - The Las Vegas gunman meticulously planned how to carry out the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history, researching SWAT tactics, renting other hotel rooms overlooking outdoor concerts and investigating potential targets in at least four cities, authorities said Friday.

But almost four months after Stephen Paddock killed 58 people and wounded more than 800 others with a barrage of bullets from the Mandalay Bay casino-hotel, investigators still have not answered the key question: Why did he do it?

Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo released a preliminary report on the Oct. 1 attack and said he did not expect criminal charges to be filed against Paddock's girlfriend, Marilou Danley, who had been called a person of interest in the case.

This Oct. 2017 photo released by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Force Investigation Team Report showing the interior of room 32-134 of Las Vegas shooter Stephen Paddock's 32nd floor room of the Mandalay Bay hotel, an evidence imaged released as part of a preliminary report by Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo on Friday, Jan. 19, 2018, in Las Vegas. Paddock began shooting into the crowd attending the Route 91 Music Festival from his hotel room into a crowd of 22,000 people attending the Route 91 Harvest Festival music below on Oct. 1, 2017. (Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department via AP)

Paddock, who killed himself before police reached him, told friends and relatives that he always felt ill, in pain and fatigued, authorities said.

His doctor thought he may have had bipolar disorder but told police that Paddock refused to discuss the possibility, the report said. The doctor offered him antidepressants, but Paddock accepted only a prescription for anxiety medication. He was fearful of medication and often refused to take it, the doctor told investigators.

During an interview with authorities, Paddock's girlfriend said he had become "distant" in the year before the shooting and their relationship was no longer intimate.

When they stayed at the Mandalay Bay together in September 2017, Paddock acted strangely, she told investigators. She remembered him constantly looking out the windows overlooking an area where the concert would be held the next month. He moved from window to window to see the site from different angles, the report said.

She described him as "germaphobic" and said he had strong reactions to smells.

The 64-year-old retired accountant was a high-stakes gambler and real estate investor. He had lost a "significant amount of wealth" since September 2015, which led to "bouts of depression," the sheriff has said. But Paddock had paid off his gambling debts before the shooting, according to the report.

Prior to the attack, Paddock's online searches included research into SWAT tactics and consideration of other potential public targets, including in Chicago, Boston and Santa Monica, California, the sheriff said.

His research also sought the number of attendees at other concerts in Las Vegas and the size of the crowds at Santa Monica's beach.

Among his searches was: "do police use explosives," the report said.

Four laptops and three cellphones were found inside his hotel suite. On one of the computers, investigators found hundreds of photos of child pornography.

The same computer was used to search online for the height of the Mandalay Bay, how to remove hard drives from laptops, the locations of gun shows in Nevada and information about several other Las Vegas casinos.

Authorities have said they found no link to international terrorism.

Paddock fired more than 1,100 bullets, mostly from two windows on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel, into a crowd of 22,000 people attending the Route 91 Harvest Festival music below, Lombardo has said.

That includes about 200 shots fired through his hotel room door into a hallway where an unarmed hotel security guard was wounded in the leg and a maintenance engineer took cover.

Several bullets hit fuel storage tanks at nearby McCarran International Airport that did not explode. Authorities reported finding about 4,000 unused bullets in Paddock's two-room suite, including incendiary rounds that Lombardo said were not used.

Investigators found 23 guns in the rooms, including 12 rifles fitted with "bump stock" devices that allowed rapid-fire shooting similar to fully automatic weapons. Dozens of guns were strewn around the room, some left inside a bassinet.

Danley was in the Philippines at the time of the shooting. In the days before the attack, Paddock sent her a $100,000 wire transfer. She has said she found that odd and thought he might have been breaking up with her when he sent her the money and told her to use it to buy a home for her family there.

During an interview with the FBI after she returned from the Philippines, Danley volunteered that investigators would find her fingerprints on bullets used during the attack because she would sometimes help Paddock load high-volume ammunition magazines, according to FBI warrant documents.

___

Balsamo reported from Los Angeles.

This Oct. 2017 photo released by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Force Investigation Team Report showing the interior of Las Vegas shooter Stephen Paddock's 32nd floor room of the Mandalay Bay hotel, an evidence imaged released as part of a preliminary report by Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo on Friday, Jan. 19, 2018, in Las Vegas. Paddock began shooting into the crowd attending the Route 91 Music Festival from his hotel room into a crowd of 22,000 people attending the Route 91 Harvest Festival music below on Oct. 1, 2017. (Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department via AP)

This Oct. 2017 photo released by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Force Investigation Team Report shows exploding targets found in Las Vegas gunman Stephen Paddock's vehicle, an evidence imaged released as part of a preliminary report by Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo on Friday, Jan. 19, 2018, in Las Vegas. Paddock began shooting into the crowd attending the Route 91 Music Festival from his hotel room into a crowd of 22,000 people attending the Route 91 Harvest Festival music below on Oct. 1, 2017. (Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department via AP)

This October 2017 photo released by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Force Investigation Team Report shows the view of Las Vegas Village from Mandalay Bay's room 32-135, part of the evidence images included on a preliminary report showing the interior of Stephen Paddock's 32nd floor room of the Mandalay Bay hotel in Las Vegas. Paddock began shooting into the crowd attending the Route 91 Music Festival from his hotel room into a crowd of 22,000 people attending the Route 91 Harvest Festival music below on Oct. 1, 2017. (Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department via AP)

This Oct. 2017 photo released by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Force Investigation Team Report shows the broken down door to room 32-135, an evidence image included in a preliminary report showing the interior of Stephen Paddock's 32nd floor room of the Mandalay Bay hotel in Las Vegas. Paddock began shooting into the crowd attending the Route 91 Music Festival from his hotel room into a crowd of 22,000 people attending the Route 91 Harvest Festival music below on Oct. 1, 2017. (Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department via AP)

This Oct. 2017 photo released by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Force Investigation Team Report shows Las Vegas gunman Stephen Paddock's vehicle, part of a preliminary report released by Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo on Friday, Jan. 19, 2018, in Las Vegas. Paddock began shooting into the crowd attending the Route 91 Music Festival from his hotel room into a crowd of 22,000 people attending the Route 91 Harvest Festival music below on Oct. 1, 2017. (Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department via AP)

This Oct. 2017 photo released by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Force Investigation Team Report shows the interior of the Mandalay Bay hotel room 32-134 towards bathroom, part of the evidence images included on a preliminary report showing the interior of Stephen Paddock's 32nd floor room of the Mandalay Bay hotel in Las Vegas. Paddock began shooting into the crowd attending the Route 91 Music Festival from his hotel room into a crowd of 22,000 people attending the Route 91 Harvest Festival music below on Oct. 1, 2017. (Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department via AP)

Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo discusses the Route 91 Harvest Festival mass shooting during a news conference at the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department headquarters, Friday, Jan. 19, 2018, in Las Vegas. Lombardo released a preliminary report on the investigation of the shooting that became the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo discusses the Route 91 Harvest Festival mass shooting during a news conference at the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department headquarters, Friday, Jan. 19, 2018, in Las Vegas. Lombardo released a preliminary report on the investigation of the shooting that became the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo discusses the Route 91 Harvest Festival mass shooting during a news conference at the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department headquarters, Friday, Jan. 19, 2018, in Las Vegas. Lombardo released a preliminary report on the investigation of the shooting that became the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history. (AP Photo/John Locher)

This Oct. 2017 photo released by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Force Investigation Team Report showing a small sledge hammer, broken glass and bullet casings inside the interior of Las Vegas shooter Stephen Paddock's 32nd floor room of the Mandalay Bay hotel in Las Vegas, , an image released as part of a preliminary report by Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo on Friday, Jan. 19, 2018, in Las Vegas. Paddock began shooting into the crowd attending the Route 91 Music Festival from his hotel room into a crowd of 22,000 people attending the Route 91 Harvest Festival music below on Oct. 1, 2017. (Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department via AP)

This Oct. 2017 photo released by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Force Investigation Team Report shows the kitchenette in the hotel room of Las Vegas gunman Stephen Paddock's 32nd floor room of the Mandalay Bay hotel in Las Vegas, an image released as part of a preliminary report by Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo on Friday, Jan. 19, 2018, in Las Vegas. Paddock began shooting into the crowd attending the Route 91 Music Festival from his hotel room into a crowd of 22,000 people attending the Route 91 Harvest Festival music below on Oct. 1, 2017. (Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department via AP)
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) - Sen. Bob Menendez might spend 2018 asking voters to re-elect him and jurors to acquit him.

Federal prosecutors told a federal judge in New Jersey on Friday that they will seek a retrial of the Democratic senator, whose 11-week corruption trial ended in a hung jury in November.

The filing to the judge seeks a retrial "at the earliest possible date."

FILE - In this Aug. 17, 2017, file photo, U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., speaks during a news conference in Union Beach, N.J. In a Friday, Jan. 19, 2018, court filing, the government has told a federal judge in New Jersey it will seek a retrial of Menendez, whose 11-week corruption trial ended in a hung jury on Nov. 16, 2017. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez, File)

Menendez's office released a statement saying he would be "vindicated - again."

"We regret that the DOJ, after spending millions and millions of taxpayer dollars, and failing to prove a single allegation in a court of law, has decided to double down on an unjust prosecution," the statement continued.

Menendez and his longtime friend, Florida eye doctor Salomon Melgen, were charged in 2015 with a bribery scheme in which Menendez allegedly traded political favors for gifts and campaign donations. Menendez also was charged with making false statements on his Senate financial disclosure forms.

Menendez, a former chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee who has been in the Senate since 2006, is expected to run for re-election, though he hasn't officially announced his candidacy.

The first trial began the week of Labor Day and lasted until mid-November. Several jurors interviewed after U.S. District Judge William Walls declared a mistrial said as many as 10 of 12 members of the panel were in favor of acquittal.

In December, the defense renewed its pre-trial motions to have Walls dismiss the charges. Attorneys wrote that "scrutiny of the evidence remains warranted, especially given the press statements by jurors and alternates about the lack of proof."

Prosecutors had sought to tie gifts and campaign donations from Melgen to meetings and conversations Menendez had with executive branch officials on matters that would have benefited Melgen's business interests.

One such matter was a $9 million Medicare billing dispute involving Melgen's ophthalmology practice. Another was a dispute over port security equipment involving a company Melgen owned in the Dominican Republic.

Defense lawyers argued during the trial that Melgen's gifts, which included a stay at a luxury Paris hotel and free trips for Menendez on Melgen's private jet to his villa in the Dominican Republic, were an expression of the pair's longtime friendship and weren't bribes.

They also contended Menendez's meetings with officials including former Health and Human Service Secretary Kathleen Sebelius were to advance broader policy objectives.

Daniel Petalas, a Washington lawyer and former prosecutor in the Justice Department unit that brought the Menendez case, said the government obviously feels confident about the strength of the case but may bring a more streamlined version the second time around.

"I think that they will be carefully reviewing what they thought happened, and trimming and cutting where they think it makes sense to," Petalas said. "And if that includes dropping charges, I don't think they'll be afraid of that."

In a separate case in Florida, Melgen awaits sentencing after being convicted last year on 67 counts of Medicare fraud that prosecutors say exceeded $100 million. They want a 30-year sentence, while the 63-year-old Melgen's attorneys are seeking a much shorter sentence and have argued prosecutors only proved he stole $64,000.

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Associated Press writer Eric Tucker in Washington contributed to this story.
Court Stays Order to Redraw North Carolina Voting Maps

The U.S. Supreme Court stayed a controversial lower court order that would have required North Carolina to rework congressional voting districts.

As a result, the Republican-dominated districts will likely stay the same for at least another election. For opponents, the stay was justice delayed.

They also say it is troubling because the lower court concluded that North Carolina discriminated against voters.

Equal Protection

In Common Cause v. Rucho, the US. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina ruled the election boundaries violated equal protection laws by diluting non-Republican votes. The majority said lawmakers had discriminated based on political belief and association.

The judges ordered the state legislature to redraw the districts by Jan. 24. Without an opinion, the Supreme Court suspended that ruling.

Justin Levitt, a professor at Loyola Law School, said the decision "likely delays the resolution of justice" for another election cycle.

"That sort of delay, in a case in which the legislature admitted to seeking maximum partisan advantage, makes it even more important for the Supreme Court to lay down clear rules for addressing the epidemic of partisan gerrymandering going forward," he told CNN.

First Amendment

In the meantime, the Supreme Court is considering two other gerrymandering cases. Each case pits one party against the other.

In Gil v. Whitford, the issue is equal protection in Wisconsin. Benisek v. Lamone is a First Amendment challenge from Maryland.

While the Supreme Court weighs those issues, North Carolina legislators may get in one more election before they have to redraw boundaries. It would not be the first time.

Last year, the Supreme Court ruled twice that North Carolina violated equal protection on racial grounds.

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ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - An Alaska Native group spoke out Friday against a shamanism retreat, saying the event commercializes and exploits the spiritual healing practices of indigenous people.

The Juneau-based Sealaska Heritage Institute voiced its opposition to the pricey June retreat in a letter emailed Friday to the event sponsor, Dance of the Deer Foundation. The event - billed as the 24th in Alaska - is scheduled for June 22 to July 1 at an undisclosed lodge outside Juneau.

In the short letter, Heritage Institute president Rosita Worl calls the event "a violation of a most sacred tradition of Native peoples." She asked that the foundation not come to the area that's considered the ancient homeland of a Tlingit group.

Rosita Worl, president of Sealaska Heritage Institute, poses for a photo in Juneau, Alaska, Thursday, Jan. 18, 2018. The Juneau-based Sealaska Heritage Institute is speaking out against a shamanism retreat as an event it says commercializes and exploits the spiritual practices of indigenous people. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen)

Worl said the event appears to be another form of cultural appropriation.

"They are taking a cultural practice, cultural knowledge. They're taking it away from a tribe," she said. "Then they are transforming it into a commercial enterprise to benefit themselves."

The Dance of the Deer Foundation later apologized for not reaching out to the Alaska Native organization.

In a letter addressed to Worl, the Soquel, California-based foundation released a statement saying it holds the deepest respect for Native people, including the Huichol tribe that it is closely connected to.

It said foundation founder, Brant Secunda, went through a 12-year apprenticeship and traditional training with a revered Huichol shaman.

A shaman is considered a spiritual healer.

The foundation says the cost of its program helps sustain educational and cultural support initiatives and that the Huichol tribe is aware of the costs.

"The cost of this particular program correlates to the cost of putting on such an event, which includes comfortable accommodations and gourmet meals in an area where costs are high for such amenities," it states. "We have made very little profit on this program over the last number of years, and some years it is even a money-losing proposition."

The group said it returns year after year to Alaska to connect with and "honor the spiritual energy of the mountains, glaciers, sea, and boundless wildlife."

Peter Silberschatz of California-based Travel Works, said he has handled air travel arrangements for the group since the mid-1990s.

The foundation's website says the organization was founded in 1979 by Secunda, a "world renowned shaman and healer."

According to the website, the group's goal is to support the Huichol Indians "in keeping their shamanic traditions alive, to preserve their cultural and economic survival, and to bring the power and joy of this ancient wisdom into our modern world."

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Follow Rachel D'Oro at https://twitter.com/rdoro
FORT ANN, N.Y. (AP) - An upstate New York man has pleaded guilty to strangling his 95-year-old grandmother in what his lawyer says was a "mercy killing."

The Post-Star of Glens Falls reports 50-year-old Kevin Gonyea (GAHN'-yay) entered his plea Friday in exchange for a minimum sentence of 15 years to life in prison.

Gonyea was charged with second-degree murder in the death of Leona Twiss. Police say Gonyea and his 35-year-old wife, Melissa, reported finding Twiss dead in their Fort Ann home in July.

An autopsy determined Twiss was strangled with a towel.

Gonyea's lawyer says Twiss was killed because her dementia had worsened. He says other family members were either aware or involved in the woman's death.

Melissa Gonyea pleaded guilty to charges related to the death in December.

An investigation is ongoing.
The man accused of attacking Senator Rand Paul in his yard has been charged with the federal crime of assaulting a member of Congress as part of a federal plea agreement.

Rene Boucher signed a plea agreement Friday for the November 3 attack on the Republican senator in Kentucky, according to J Minkler, US Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana.

And Boucher's lawyer confirmed what's long been suggested by neighbors: The attack stemmed from a dispute about yard maintenance. A date has not yet set for his guilty plea for the attack.

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Rene Boucher signed a plea agreement Friday for the attack on the Republican senator in Kentucky, according to J Minkler, US Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana

Boucher faces possible prison time, and his attorney says he is 'very regretful' about the attack and that it had to do with the upkeep of their yards.

'Assaulting a member of Congress is an offense we take very seriously,' Minkler said in a release.

'Those who choose to commit such an act will be held accountable.'

Boucher faces possible prison time, and his attorney says he is 'very regretful' about the attack and that it had to do with the upkeep of their yards.

Paul and Boucher are longtime neighbors in Bowling Green, Kentucky.

'This is over a matter that most people would regard as trivial,' Boucher's attorney, Matt Baker, said in a phone interview Friday. 'It has to do with yards and the maintenance of those.'

Boucher is 'very meticulous' about how he maintains his yard, while Paul takes 'a much different approach' to the upkeep of his property, Baker said.

'It all goes to large piles of leaves and branches and yard clutter that were placed on the property line,' Baker said.

Some residents of the gated neighborhood had speculated the attack was motivated by a dispute over yard debris- but Paul's office rejected that.

Paul told the Fox News Channel in November that ultimately, the motive does not matter.

Boucher is 'very meticulous' about how he maintains his yard, while Paul takes 'a much different approach' to the upkeep of his property, Baker said. Pictured is Boucher's home

Some residents of the gated neighborhood had speculated the attack was motivated by a dispute over yard debris- but Paul's office rejected that. Paul's home in Bowling Green, where he was attacked, is pictured

Boucher, a retired anesthesiologist in his late 50s, already faces a misdemeanor assault charge in state court in Kentucky. He has pleaded not guilty to that charge.

Baker said Friday that he's hopeful the state charge will be dismissed now that Boucher has reached the plea agreement on the federal charge.

Paul, a former presidential candidate, was attacked Nov. 3 while mowing his lawn at his home. A close friend of Paul's said the senator had gotten off his riding lawn mower to remove a limb when he was tackled from behind. Paul has said he never saw the attacker because he was facing downhill and wearing ear protection from the noise of his lawn mower.

Paul suffered six broken ribs in the attack.

He returned to Washington less than two weeks later but developed pneumonia when he returned to Kentucky. Paul has since said he's recovering well from the attack.

Baker said Friday the attack was 'completely, 100 percent out of character' for Boucher. He said his client is looking forward to getting the case resolved.

Boucher faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine in the federal case.

'He is facing the possibility of incarceration, but I'm hopeful that it won't be anything toward the top end,' Baker said.

Minkler's office was assigned the case after a U.S. attorney in Kentucky recused himself. The case was investigated by the FBI's Louisville office.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - A woman whom prosecutors said was angry about supposed U.S. military actions abroad was charged Friday with setting several fires at a Minnesota university.

A criminal complaint said Tnuza Jamal Hassan, 19, a former student at St. Catherine University in St. Paul, admitted to investigators that she started the fires on Wednesday, including one in a dormitory that housed a day care center. She's charged with first-degree arson.

"Hassan stated she started the fires because she's been reading about the US military destroying schools in Iraq or Afghanistan and she felt that she should do exactly the same thing," the complaint said. "She said that her fire-starting was not as successful as she wanted."

This photo provided by the Ramsey County Sheriff's Office shows Tnuza Jamal Hassan. A criminal complaint said Hassan, 19, a former student at St. Catherine University in St. Paul, admitted to investigators that she started the fires on Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2018, including one in a dormitory that housed a day care center. She's charged with first-degree arson. (Ramsey County Sheriff's Office via AP)

Hassan was held Friday night in the Ramsey County Jail on $100,000 bail.

The fires were small and quickly contained. Nobody was injured and damage was limited to furnishings, the school said in a statement. A sprinkler system prevented the dormitory fire from spreading beyond a chair to the day care center, where 33 children and eight adults were present.

"Hassan said she wanted the school to burn to the ground and that her intent was to hurt people," the complaint said. "Hassan said this was that same thing that happened in 'Muslim land' and nobody cares if they get hurt, so why not do this?"

Hassan, of Minneapolis, was an English major who last enrolled in the fall 2017 semester but is not currently enrolled, the school said. The complaint said she withdrew because she and her family were planning to vacation in Ethiopia.

The complaint also said she wrote a letter to her roommates containing "radical ideas about supporting Muslims and bringing back the caliphate." It said the letter scared the roommates, who turned the letter over to campus security.

"She told the police and fire investigators 'You guys are lucky that I don't know how to build a bomb because I would have done that,'" the complaint said.

Court records did not list an attorney for Hassan. Spokesmen for the St. Paul Police Department and Ramsey County Attorney's Office said they didn't have any information on her nationality. A St. Catherine's spokeswoman said the school can't release information on Hassan's nationality because of federal privacy laws.

An FBI spokesman said he couldn't comment on whether or not the bureau is investigating.
More than half of the people in Scotland support plans to raise income tax, according to a poll.

The YouGov survey for The Times found that 54% back Scottish Government proposals for an increase, while 30% said they thought they would be unfair.

Finance Secretary Derek Mackay has announced changes to the tax rates which would introduce two new bands and alter existing ones.

Scottish Parliament handout photo dated 10/01/18 of Finance Secretary Derek Mackay appearing before Holyroods Finance and Constitution Committee to give evidence on his draft Budget for 2018-19.

If passed, those earning above 26,000 would pay more than their counterparts in the rest of the UK from April, while Scots below that rate would pay less.

People in Scotland earning more than 33,000 would pay more than they do now, and those on more than 150,000 would pay extra.

Mr Mackay told The Times: As this poll and others have shown, a majority of Scots support the SNPs progressive tax reforms that will allow us to invest in our schools and hospitals.

The SNP is on the side of Scotlands taxpayers  ensuring that 70% pay less and that Scotland has the fairest taxed system in the UK.

The Times said that when voters were asked about the basic plans  increasing taxes compared with the rest of the UK for those on 26,000  54% said they supported the move, 27% opposed and 19% did not know.

A total of 49% of respondents said they were fair, 30% said they were unfair and 21% did not know.

Labour claimed the poll supported its position on tax, which is to raise all income tax rates to pay for better public services.

Labour MSP James Kelly told The Times: This confirms that Scots are in favour of a more progressive system of taxation, however the support for these proposals cannot be accurately considered at this time.

That is because Derek Mackays tax plan will not stop cuts to lifeline local services.

Poll after poll has shown Scots are willing to pay more tax to fund public services, instead Derek Mackay has tinkered around the edges and delivered a plan which will just mean more cuts.

Scottish Conservative finance spokesman Murdo Fraser told the newspaper: Making Scotland the highest-taxed part of the UK wont just hit people in the pocket, it will damage the economy too.
Novak Djokovic overcame Gael Monfils in brutal conditions at the Australian Open.

The thermometer headed towards 40C in the shade as Djokovic and Monfils took to a sun-baked Rod Laver Arena for their second-round clash.

Monfils had lost all 14 of their previous professional meetings and, after he won the first set, the heat began to take a serious toll on the Frenchman, who appeared to consider retiring before eventually going down 4-6 6-3 6-1 6-3.

Novak Djokovic is through to the third round (Vincent Thian/AP)

Im not at 100% but building I know what Im capable of and coming back to this court is a special feeling.



Its official. @DjokerNole is back. #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/e9NLL5krLE  #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 18, 2018

Djokovic, who has had his fair share of struggles in the heat during his career, said: It was obvious that we both suffered on the court. Really tough conditions, brutal, especially for the first hour and a half. I was just hanging in there trying to use every single opportunity. Obviously he wasnt at his best at the end of the second and the entire third set.

The Australian Open has an extreme heat policy but it does not come into effect until the temperature hits 40C, while a decision on whether play continues also depends on the humidity.

It was certainly more than hot enough for Monfils, who began to double over repeatedly early in the second set. After saving a raft of break points to hold for 3-3, Monfils simply walked from side to side during a Djokovic service game.

Djokovic had reportedly asked to play in the day rather than in the cooler evening conditions. Monfils, great athlete that he is, is not renowned for his physical resilience and Djokovic would have backed himself to outlast his former junior rival.

Djokovic finishes off a 4-6 6-3 6-1 6-3 victory over Monfils. The Frenchman rallied in the fourth set but Djokovic survives. He will need to play a lot better, though.  Eleanor Crooks (@EleanorcrooksPA) January 18, 2018

The six-time champion looked like a man who had been sidelined for six months during the first set, making uncharacteristic errors at bad times and finding his remodelled serve given a pounding.

He let Monfils off the hook for most of the second set, too, before finally converting a break point at 4-3. At the end of the set the Frenchman called for the doctor and appeared to express a wish to retire.

But, after leaving the court for a bathroom break, he returned to play the third set. That was over very quickly but Monfils roused himself in the fourth before Djokovic finally clinched victory.

Djokovic goes forward to a third-round meeting with either 21st seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas or American Tim Smyczek.
Radio host and TV presenter Chris Tarrant has apologised after he was given a road ban for drink-driving.

The 71-year-old was over the limit while behind the wheel of his Mercedes on December 16 in Bucklebury, close to his home in Berkshire.

Tarrant, wearing a navy suit and striped tie, entered a guilty plea to the charge at Reading Magistrates Court on Thursday morning.

He was disqualified from driving for 12 months and fined 6,000.

The court heard Tarrants breathalyser reading was 50 microgrammes of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath  the legal limit being 35 microgrammes.

After the hearing, Tarrant told reporters: I made a mistake and I paid for it. I shouldnt have driven. Full stop.

The presenter, famous for his role hosting hit quiz show Who Wants To Be a Millionaire?, said he was very sorry.

He said he drank just enough to be over, adding: I honestly didnt think I was over, but apparently I was, so fair enough.

Asked if he thought the punishment was fair, he said: Yes.

Tarrant was at the Bladebone Inn in Bucklebury from 12.30pm and the court heard he was served four drinks  all brandy and ports  but it was pointed out by his counsel that they were not all drank by him.

Chris Tarrant and Jane Bird arrive at Reading Magistrates Court, where the presenter admitted drink driving (Steve Parsons/PA)

Prosecutor Hasrat Ali said that staff and others in the pub were concerned that he had decided to drive home after 2pm.

One member of the public had noticed that Mr Tarrant had stumbled near the bar area, she said.

As a result of a discussion in the pub, a member of the public phoned the police.

Officers arrived at Mr Tarrants home at 2.25pm  13 minutes after the phone call was made.

He claimed that he had just drank three glasses of wine just prior to police arriving, Ms Ali said.

The court heard that he refused to sign a pocketbook and after a breath test he was taken to the police station where he was interviewed about the offence.

He gave a different version of events in the sense that it wasnt three glasses of wine that he had drank, that in fact he had a large glass of brandy and a glass of wine, Ms Ali said.

Tarrants counsel, Simon Ray, said the drinks that were bought in the pub were not all consumed by Tarrant.

Sentencing the TV host, District Judge Shomon Khan said drink-driving was serious and puts others at serious risk.

The judge, who said he was giving Tarrant credit for pleading guilty at the first hearing, imposed a fine of 6,000 and disqualified him from driving for 12 months.

If Tarrant completes a rehabilitation course by August 18, he will be allowed to drive again on October 18.
Theresa May has welcomed President Emmanuel Macron for summit talks which will see Britain commit tens of millions of pounds to strengthen UK border controls in France.

The French president, making his first visit to Britain since entering the Elysee Palace, was greeted at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, with a guard of honour from the Coldstream Guards.

Before the ceremonial welcome, the two leaders enjoyed a working lunch at the Royal Oak pub in Paley Street, in Mrs Mays Maidenhead constituency.

Dejeuner de travail avec la Premiere ministre britannique pour faire face aux defis daujourdhui et preparer demain. #UKFRSummit pic.twitter.com/4pFuKXfgur  Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) January 18, 2018

Officials said the 44.5 million cash injection would go towards fencing, CCTV and detection technology in Calais and other ports along the Channel.

Part of the money will also go towards helping relocate people away from Channel ports to prevent another migrant camp from forming as it did in Calais in 2015.

Britain could also commit to taking in a higher proportion of child refugees from France as part of its commitment to resettle 480 unaccompanied children under the Dubs scheme, it is understood.

Migrants from Ethiopia on the streets of Calais. (Joe Giddens/PA)

Figures show more than 750 children have been transferred to Britain through various routes since the Jungle camp was shut down in 2016.

Mrs Mays official spokesman said on Wednesday: We have given a clear commitment in relation to child refugees following the Dubs amendment.

The work to identify unaccompanied minors in and around the Calais area continues and where its appropriate to find them homes in the UK were determined to do so.

The French president has been pressing for Britain to increase its financial contribution as well as a commitment to take more refugees ahead of his first visit to the UK as president.

A Government spokeswoman said: This is about investing in and enhancing the security of the UK border.

Just as we invest in our borders around the rest of the UK, it is only right that we constantly monitor whether there is more we can be doing at the UK border controls in France and Belgium to ensure they are as secure as possible.

The summit is also an opportunity for the two leaders to underline their countries enduring ties, despite Britains impending withdrawal from the EU.

Increasing co-operation on defence and counter-terrorism will be high on the agenda at an event which will see the first meeting together of the heads of the two countries main intelligence agencies.

The heads of MI5, MI6, GCHQ and Frances DGSE and DGSI will discuss how they can work together to counter threats such as the targeting of concert venues like Manchester Arena and the Bataclan in Paris, and terrorists using the internet as a safe space.

Britain will also commit to participating in Mr Macrons European intervention initiative, which officials do not regard as a European army but a plan to enhance co-ordination of existing armed forces.

Three RAF Chinook helicopters and around 50 non-combat troops will be deployed to Mali to provide logistical support to French forces attempting to stabilise the Sahel region of Africa where extremists like Islamic State and al Qaida have gained a foothold.

The meeting will also be an opportunity to discuss what Mrs May has described as very significant proposals by the French to loan the Bayeux Tapestry to Britain, where it has never been displayed.

Mr Macrons focus on border issues, however, was underlined by a visit to Calais on Tuesday when he vowed there would be no return of the infamous migrant Jungle tent city which was cleared by the authorities in 2016.

UK funding for security in the region is thought to have topped 100 million over the last three years, while more than 750 children have been transferred to Britain since the Jungle was shut down.

British officials said the new UK funding would build on previous security work in the area, pointing to figures showing illegal attempts to enter the UK fell from more than 80,000 in 2015 to just over 30,000 last year.

Up to 7,000 men, women and children lived in the Jungle in Calais before the site was cleared in 2016.

But hundreds of asylum seekers hoping to cross the Channel remain in the area, more than a year after authorities dismantled the sprawling site.

Officials said the new funding will also help relocate migrants away from Channel ports to stop another similar camp forming.
HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) has launched a team dedicated to promoting press coverage of courts.

It will bring together representatives from HMCTS and across the media who will look at ways to build strong relationships between media organisations and their local courts.

The working group will also improve and promote the existing guidance to staff relating to media access.

The working group will also improve and promote the existing guidance to staff relating to media access (Andrew Matthews/PA)

The group  which will make recommendations to HMCTS CEO Susan Acland-Hood  will include representatives of the Society of Editors and the News Media Association, and the Judicial Office, and will be chaired by Ed Owen, the Head of Communications for HMCTS.

The initiative was launched at a Society of Editors event on Thursday, attended by former Lord Chief Justice, Lord Judge, Ian McGregor, The Society of Editors President and Emeritus Editor of the Telegraph, John Whittingdale MP and Ian Murray, Society of Editors executive director.

Highlighting the importance of court reporting, Lord Judge said: In a country governed by the rule of law, the importance of the press if a constitutional necessity.

As part of the transformation of our justice system, weve launched a series of public consultations about the HM Courts & Tribunals Service estate. Find out more: https://t.co/eySLOeQZY5 #CourtReform  HM Courts and Tribunals Service (@HMCTSgovuk) January 18, 2018

Susan Acland-Hood, CEO of HMCTS, said: The reporting of court proceedings has long been an important part of maintaining public confidence in our justice system. So its decline in recent years represents a real concern.

I want to ensure that HMCTS is doing all we can to promote media coverage of court hearings as part of our commitment to openness and transparency, and I am pleased that media organisations have joined us to consider this issue together. I look forward to receiving its recommendations.

The group will also aim to look at how transparency and openness will form part of HMCTS 1bn reform and modernisation of courts and tribunals.

Changes introduced through digital reforms will mean accessing justice without the need to travel and physically attend court.
Last year was the hottest on record without the influence of an El Nino weather pattern that helps push up global temperatures, scientists said.

Figures from a series of different international analyses show that, overall, 2017 was one of the three hottest years on record, with temperatures around 1.1C above pre-industrial levels.

Last years temperatures were outstripped only by the record heat of 2016, and in some of the analyses by 2015.

Fossil fuel pollution helped make 2017 one of the hottest on record (Rui Vieira/PA).

Both 2016 and 2015 saw a significant El Nino, a natural phenomenon in the Pacific ocean that increases temperatures on top of human-induced global warming.

The main contributor to the rising temperatures over the last 150 years is human activity, such as burning fossil fuels which puts heat-trapping greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, the scientists said.

One of the analyses of global temperatures is done by the Met Office Hadley Centre and the University of East Anglias Climatic Research Unit.

Dr Colin Morice, of the Met Office Hadley Centre, said: The global temperature figures for 2017 are in agreement with other centres around the world that 2017 is one of the three warmest years and the warmest year since 1850 without the influence of El Nino.

2015, 2016 and 2017 were the three warmest years in the series.

In addition to the continuing sizeable contribution from the release of greenhouse gases, 2015 and 2016 were boosted by the effect of a strong El Nino, which straddled both years.

However, 2017 is notable because the high temperatures continued despite the absence of El Nino and the onset of its cool counterpart, La Nina.

Professor Tim Osborn, director of research at the University of East Anglias Climatic Research Unit added: It isnt only the average global temperature that matters: we can also explain the geographical pattern of the warming.

Greater warming over land and in the Arctic region, and less warming in the sub-polar regions, are what we expect from our understanding of climate physics, and this is what we observe.

The World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), which brings together five leading international datasets, said temperatures were on the rise over the long term.

WMO secretary-general Petteri Taalas said: The long-term temperature trend is far more important than the ranking of individual years, and that trend is an upward one.

Seventeen of the 18 warmest years on record have all been during this century, and the degree of warming during the past three years has been exceptional.

Arctic warmth has been especially pronounced and this will have profound and long-lasting repercussions on sea levels, and on weather patterns in other parts of the world.

And he said 2017s warm temperatures were accompanied by extreme weather in many countries around the world.

The US had its most expensive year ever in terms of weather and climate disasters, while other countries saw their development slowed or reversed by tropical cyclones, floods and drought, he said.

President Donald Trump has announced his intention to pull the US out of the Paris Agreement, the worlds first comprehensive deal on cutting greenhouse emissions, which would leave the US as the only country not signed up to the treaty.
A wolf escaped from a sanctuary after someone deliberately unlocked its enclosure, it is claimed.

The UK Wolf Conservation Trust first realised 12-year-old male wolf Torak, which has now been captured, was missing at around 7.45am on Thursday morning.

Teresa Palmer, founder of the trust in Beenham, which is around three miles from the Duchess of Cambridges family home in Bucklebury, Berkshire, said a friend called her to say they had spotted a wolf on a footpath.

The 62-year-old went to check the enclosure and found his partner wolf Mosi barking in an alarmed manner.

She said: When I got to the front of the enclosure I found that the gate was open. I think somebody deliberately opened the gate.

A lot of people dont particularly believe in having animals in captivity.

The trust securely padlocks in wolves into the enclosures, she said.

The wolf which escaped from the UK Wolf Conservation Trusts premises near Reading is led by a handler to be placed in a trailer (Steve Parsons/PA)

Police were called at 8am and warned members of the public not to approach the wolf.

Nearby schools were put into lockdown with children kept inside and officers making sure outside gates were secure.

Witnesses said police told them the wolf had escaped after strong winds blew down a fence in its enclosure.

Ms Palmer said she tracked the wolf over several miles and tried to coax him back, adding: When we were near the wolf trust I was close to him but he was frightened and didnt want to be caught.

Assisting @ThamesVP and other NPAS colleagues search for an escaped wolf! Located & tracked by us using thermal imagery... safely captured without injury to the public or the animal #TeamA ^413  pic.twitter.com/A8PjK51pr2  NPAS South East Region (@NPASSouthEast) January 18, 2018

He was eventually captured at just after 1pm eight miles away in Curridge.

Armed police and animal specialists with tranquilliser guns were on hand, but Torak was coaxed back into a trailer without being harmed.

Ms Palmer added: The fact he went through a field of sheep shows he never would have been a danger to the public. Now hes given up. Hes had his moment of freedom.

Tony Roe, who lives near the wolf sanctuary and first learned of the escape when taking his son to Beenham Primary School, said no-one was concerned by the incident and the wolves were much loved in the village.

The UK Wolf Conservation Trusts premises in Berkshire (Steve Parsons/PA)

The 53-year-old, who runs Theale-based Tony Roe Solicitors, added: The schools emblem is a wolf and there is a lot of support here for the trusts work. We have seen them being walked on leads in the woodland.

Wildlife presenter Anneka Svenska praised the authorities for allowing the animal  who she bottle fed as a baby and met again when he was three  to be captured safely.

The conservationist, who has worked with wolves around the world for 20 years, said it was a myth they could harm humans and they were very affectionate.

She previously condemned the decision to shoot dead a wolf which escaped from the Cotswold Wildlife Park in Oxfordshire in July last year.

Anneka Svenska said wolves were loving animals (Ian West/PA)

She told the Press Association: Its wonderful the [police] allowed the keepers to save Torak. They are the people he would recognise and would be comfortable with.

He is an exceptionally beautiful wolf. When I met him he was a little bit timid. He would not have hurt schoolchildren.

Wolves cover you with love, they would not hurt a single hair on your head.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle drove Cardiff wild when they finally made an appearance in the city after a train delay kept royal fans waiting.

The hundreds of waiting well-wishers quickly forgave Harry and his bride-to-be for their hour-long delay as they went on a walkabout at Cardiff Castle.

As they shook outstretched hands, the prince said sorry were late while the US actress echoed his words, saying: Im so sorry.

Prince Harry meets the crowds during a visit to Cardiff Castle (Ben Birchall/PA)

Harry and his bride-to-be, who wore a coat by Stella McCartney and trousers by Welsh brand Hiut Denim, responded to the enthusiasm of the crowds by posing for pictures, patiently chatting to young children and accepting gifts.

Meghan even received an invitation from royal superfans Anne and Judy Daley, who were holding a balloon printed with the words Happy Engagement, to stage her hen do in the nightclubs of Cardiff

 and she accepted.

The couple also came across their namesakes, Megan Taylor, nine, and six-year-old Harry Smith, who presented them with a Welsh love spoon, an early wedding present from the people of Wales.

Meghan Markle arrive for a visit at Cardiff Castle with Prince Harry (Aaron Chown/PA)

Ms Markle, who will marry her prince on May 19, said: Oh my goodness, wow, its beautiful, thank you very much.

Anne Daley, who had brought her Cavalier King Charles Spaniel  named Camilla  to meet the couple, said: I asked her if she would like to come on a hen night around the nightspots of Cardiff, and she said shed love to.

It was overwhelming, she was so beautiful and kind and she loved Camilla, she gave her a little squeeze.

Harry and his fiancee travelled to Cardiff by train from London but were delayed because of a track fault between the west London suburb of Southall and Slough, Network Rail said.

When Harry first arrived at the castle he clasped his hands together in front of him as if praying, in a sign of forgiveness, as he was greeted by Morfudd Meredith, the Lord-Lieutenant of South Glamorgan, and said sorry for being late.

The couple were making their first official visit to Wales and many of the hundreds waiting to greet the royals had been waiting four hours to catch a glimpse of the prince and his fiancee.

Linda Thompson, 66, from the town of Dinas Powys, just outside Cardiff said after chatting to the prince: I said to Harry good choice of bride and he said would you prefer a Welsh lady? and I said no shes beautiful.

I told Meghan what I said and she said thanks very much. She said sorry for us waiting so long but it was worth it.

Self-confessed royal fanatic Cynthia Osborne, from Bridgend, presented Kate with a posy of daffodils, the national flower of Wales.

The retired nurse, aged in her 60s, said: Meghan said its lovely to be in Wales I asked to see her engagement ring and she held it out and said Im such a lucky lady. I told her to come back to Wales.

Meghan was given the first of a number of Welsh love spoons by June Haws, from Llanduff, while 11-year-old school girl Polina Patsiakina, from Cardiff, presented the US actress with a drawing of the prince she had completed yesterday.

The US actress was kissed on the hand at one point by a male admirer and she also broke the normal rules of royal behaviour when she wrote in a schoolgirls notebook.

When Caitlin Clark, 10, asked Can you sign my book? Ms Markle agreed writing Hi Kaitlin  albeit with a K  and adding a heart and a smiley face.

Linda Nubert, 67, a retired civil servant, said: I said, Hello Meghan, welcome to Cardiff, Wales.

She said, Its my first time in Wales. She said she thought it was amazing, and was really excited to be here.

Later, hundreds of well-wishers lined the street outside the Star Hub, in the Tremorfa area of Cardiff, and cheered and screamed as they welcomed Harry and his fiancee to the community and leisure centre.

The couple arrived 30 minutes behind their original schedule having been delayed by an hour arriving in the Welsh capital.

The Prince and Ms Markle were visiting the Star Hub to see how sport is being used to engage young people and aid social development.
Attorney General Jeremy Wright has failed to persuade Court of Appeal judges to hand a harsher sentence to a man convicted of murdering his girlfriends two-year-old son.

Craig Smith, 29, of Orton, Merseyside, was last year found guilty of murdering toddler Teddy Tilston, causing actual bodily harm to Teddys twin sister Cassidy, and being cruel to both children, following a trial at Liverpool Crown Court.

Trial judge Mr Justice Garnham in November imposed a mandatory life sentence and ruled that Smith must spend at least 17 years in jail before being considered for parole.

Craig Smith was found guilty of the murder of his girlfriends toddler son (PA/Merseyside Police)

Lawyers representing Mr Wright on Thursday argued, at a Court of Appeal hearing in London, that the minimum term should have been longer.

But three appeal judges disagreed.

Lord Chief Justice Lord Burnett, who headed the panel of appeal judges, said the minimum term imposed by Mr Justice Garnham was appropriate and

not unduly lenient.

Smith was not at the hearing but watched proceedings via a video link.

Jurors were told how Teddy had been found unresponsive by paramedics in March.

They heard that the little boys death had been caused by a tear to the wall of the abdomen.

Tests showed that he also had a bleed on the brain, likely to have been caused a week before his death, and bruises to his head, ear, upper lip, neck, jaw, abdomen and back.

Mr Justice Garnham said Smith had flown into a rage.

I cannot say whether you punched him or kicked him or used your knee on him but Im quite certain that you struck him in the gut with such force to cause that internal bleeding, Mr Justice Garnham had told Smith when passing sentence.

I cannot speculate what might have caused that loss of temper but something, probably something trivial  caused you to fly into a rage.
Royal fans began arriving as early as 7am at Cardiff Castle, although Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were held up by a train delay as they set out on their Welsh away day.

The prince introduced his bride-to-be to the residents of another area of the country, following successful visits to Nottingham and Brixton in south London.

Harry, watched by Meghan, joins in a group hugh (Geoff Pugh/PA)

Members of the public were in good spirits as they awaited the delayed arrival of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle at Cardiff Castle (Andrew Matthews/PA)

Despite a wait of seven hours for some people, the couple received an enthusiastic welcome (Aaron Chown/PA)

The couple went on a walkabout outside the castle (Ben Birchall/PA)

Prince Harry apologised to wellwishers after the couples train was delayed (Andrew Matthews/PA)

Prynhawn da Caerdydd! What an incredible welcome to Wales! pic.twitter.com/XH6xirT38m  The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (@KensingtonRoyal) January 18, 2018

Harry Smith and Megan Taylor - note their names - both from Marlborough Primary School, presented the couple with a wedding gift (Ben Birchall/PA)

Ms Markle was dressed in a black coat by Stella McCartney, a top by Theory and trousers by Welsh brand Hiut Denim (Ben Birchall/PA

Royal-watchers spotted that Ms Markle was wearing different earrings in each ear (Aaron Chown/PA)

The couple attended a reception inside the castle (Ben Birchall/PA)

Ms Markle described the couples visit to Wales as `so exciting (Ben Birchall/PA)
Detectives investigating the death of a 57-year-old man are asking for help to find out what happened to him and who he spoke to or saw in his last days and hours.

Gwent Police launched a murder investigation after being called to an address in Brynderwen Road, in the Newport area of South Wales, at around 3.30pm on Monday.

At the property they found the body of Anthony Bubbins, from the Newport area.

Anthony Bubbins was found dead at a property in the Newport area on Monday (Gwent Police/PA)

Officers issued an appeal to trace a 54-year-old man from the Newport area, who it was believed may have information about the incident and he was arrested in Devon a short time later.

On Wednesday, DCI Mark Pope said the man remained in custody.

At this moment, we are following several lines of enquiry into the investigation, he said.

We are keen to speak to anyone who has any information on the victims last sightings and particularly interested in speaking to anyone who may have seen or been in contact with Anthony Bubbins from Monday January 8 to Monday January 15 at 3.30pm.

Anyone with information is asked to call 101, quoting log number 320 15/01/18.
Donald Trumps decision to cancel a trip to London will allow Theresa May to focus on Brexit, US secretary of state Rex Tillerson has suggested.

The US president publicly claimed that he did not want to come to the UK to open the new US embassy in Nine Elms, south London, because it was in an off location and had been a poor deal for America.

But there has also been speculation that the prospect of demonstrations against the controversial president could have been a factor in him putting off a visit, and now Mr Tillerson has suggested Brexit was also a reason.

Mr Tillerson has suggested Brexit may have been behind Donald Trumps cancelled visit (Matt Dunham/PA)

Mr Tillerson told reporters: President Trump was supportive of the UKs exit from the EU.

He still thinks that was the right decision for them.

Britain needs to focus on those Brexit negotiations right now, which is really important to them, and I think the president realises thats where Prime Minister May really needs to focus her attention, working through the negotiation around the exit.

Mr Tillerson is due to come to London next week and could visit the new embassy.

He said Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson is packing the agenda for his visit, but I hope to get by the embassy.

Number 10 said Mr Trump had set out the reason for his cancelled visit in his Twitter post, which focused on the embassys location and cost.

A Downing Street spokesman said: The president himself set out some of the reasons when he tweeted.

But Labour MP Chris Bryant, a leading supporter of the Open Britain campaign which wants to preserve close links to Brussels, said Mrs May was relying on the least stable of allies for her Brexit plans.

He said: Donald Trump has a narrow nationalist vision of America First.

The idea he cares about the UKs national interests is laughable. He has repeatedly insulted our country and our values.

The fact that Theresa Mays policy of hard Brexit is approved of by Trump ought to be deeply embarrassing to the Prime Minister and a signal to us all that leaving the single market and customs union is not the right policy for the UK and its people.

As Mrs May fumbles her way towards a damaging hard Brexit, she is relying more and more on the least stable of allies, Donald Trump, whose idea of a good deal with the UK would doubtless include us selling the NHS as well as deregulating food standards.
MSPs have called for the appointment of a Scottish minister for loneliness and the creation of a national day in Scotland to tackle social isolation.

Conservative MSP Annie Wells said social isolation has become a prevalent public health issue and highlighted research showing it can increase mortality risk by 10% and is also linked to dementia, high blood pressure and depression.

She said the issue is worsening as peoples lives become transient and socialising online rises, adding that 79% of adults in Scotland reported experiencing loneliness.

MSPs called for a minister for loneliness during a Holyrood debate (Andrew Milligan/PA)

As well as a national day dedicated to dealing with the problem, she also urged the setting up of penpal schemes to connect pupils with older people in their communities.

She highlighted the UK Governments appointment of a minister for loneliness to carry on the legacy of murdered MP Jo Cox.

Liberal Democrat MSP Alex Cole-Hamilton urged the Scottish Government to appoint their own equivalent minster.

Speaking in a Holyrood debate, Ms Wells praised the Scottish Governments draft national strategy to tackle social isolation and loneliness which was published on Tuesday, but called for a clear way to measure its impact.

Tackling loneliness and isolation is one of @agescotlands key strategic aims. Today @scotgov published a draft of a new national loneliness strategy  a world first. Fantastic to see #loneliness being recognised as a public health priority. https://t.co/efu7hmhm1z  Age Scotland (@agescotland) January 16, 2018

She said: Long-term cultural change is key and thats something that can be achieved through both government and individual action.

Im pleased that the draft strategy picks up on the need to focus on grassroots action and letting communities lead.

Social security minister Jeane Freeman, who opened the Scottish Government debate, said loneliness and social isolation are often discussed as affecting older people but can affect anyone of any age at any time.

She said the solution lies in our communities and highlighted Scottish Government work to support community projects through the Community Empowerment Act and the 500,000 social isolation and loneliness fund.

Today's #loneliness debate in @scotparl highlights the welcome cross party consensus on the value of bringing people together to address #socialisolation, each week veterans across Scotland value their time together at our centres. pic.twitter.com/pJgy0GtWPd  Sight Scotland Veterans (@SightScotVets) January 18, 2018

She added: This draft strategy signals this governments commitment to tackling social isolation and loneliness.

It sets out our belief that we have to do more to empower communities to lead in this area and that our role to is create the conditions for change to happen and to lead by example.

Building a connected and cohesive Scotland is everyones business.

Labours Monica Lennon welcomed the strategy but raised concerns over public-sector budget cuts.

She said: Community organisations are well-placed to tackle loneliness but they are at risk in places.
A Democratic Unionist MP has rolled back on controversial comments in which he branded the Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar a nutcase.

East Antrim representative Sammy Wilson has expressed regret for his choice of language when referencing the Irish premiers stance on Brexit.

He said: Leo Varadkars approach may make him popular in Brussels but it will eventually destroy Ireland.

Upon reflection, I should have said Leo Varadkars EU policies defy logic rather than the language I used. I regret my choice of language.

Mr Wilson, a veteran politician well known for being outspoken, also branded the Irish premier arrogant, naive and inexperienced during an interview with website Politico.

He said there had been a change of tone since Mr Varadkar took office last June and criticised the Taoiseach for siding with EU negotiators.

In an address to the European Parliament on Wednesday, Mr Varadkar said the UK could not backslide on commitments made on the Irish border.

It was always our view at the very start of this process that the biggest ally we would have when it came to negotiating with the European Union was Dublin, and indeed that always was the impression we got when Enda Kenny (the former Irish prime minister) was in power, but since this nutcase Varadkar has taken over that things have all changed, Mr Wilson said.

Leo Varadkar was criticised for his stance on Brexit (Niall Carson/PA)

Tanaiste Simon Coveney was asked for his reaction to Mr Wilsons remark during the announcement of fresh powersharing talks at Stormont.

While Mr Coveney declined to be drawn on the specific nutcase comment he did stress the need for a constructive relationship between his government and the DUP.

I have been quoted publicly that we need to have a good working relationship with the DUP, he said.

As an Irish government we need to have a good relationship with the largest political party in Northern Ireland.

We need to respect the difference of views on many things but also we need to work in a pragmatic way to improve peoples lives on the island of Ireland as a whole and I think we have shown in the past that we can do that.

Simon Coveney said different views needed to be respected (Brian Lawless/PA)

In many areas of practical co-operation, in terms of north south cooperation, I have heard (DUP leader) Arlene Foster make very constructive comments in relation to looking for practical solutions to some of the challenges that the island of Ireland, indeed Ireland and Britain, face.

So our focus is on trying to be constructive and I look forward to having the opportunity to have a bilateral discussion with the DUP next week.

Meanwhile, Simon Hamilton, a former Stormont Economy Minister and DUP colleague of Mr Wilson said: Sammy is never shy about telling you what he thinks.

On this occasion he used language which he accepts was wrong and he regrets the language that was used and I think he has already expressed publicly his regret at using the language that he did.

We look forward to engaging with the Irish government as part of these talks on issues that are pertinent and relevant to Irish government.
Theresa May and Emmanuel Macron stopped at a Michelin star pub co-owned by Sir Michael Parkinson and his son for a working lunch ahead of the start of the UK-France summit.

The Royal Oak in Paley Street, a gastro-pub in Mrs Mays Maidenhead constituency which boasts non-intrusive service and British food cooked to perfection, was the venue of choice for the leaders.

The PM welcomed @EmmanuelMacron to the UK with lunch in her Maidenhead constituency #UKFRSummit pic.twitter.com/LCwWqyqMEa  UK Prime Minister (@10DowningStreet) January 18, 2018

The pubs chef Craig Johnston, who was branded a local hero after he was revealed as the winner of BBCs Masterchef: The Professionals at the end of last year, prepared lunch for the Prime Minister and French leader.

They dined on a menu of dressed crab, blood orange radicchio and sorrel followed by carver duck breast, roasted onion tartlet and beetroot puree.

Craig is the youngest ever Professional MasterChef Champion #MasterChefUK pic.twitter.com/DdU8xdt9pO  MasterChef UK  (@MasterChefUK) December 23, 2017

A series of videos tweeted by Mr Macron show him meeting members of staff, including one from the French town of Rodez.

But it seems the French president may have confused the Michelin star pub with a less upmarket Greene King pub of the same name in Yateley, which is just over 12 miles away.

He wrote on Twitter: From Rodez to Yateley, these young French people are making the partnership between our two countries live.

De Rodez a Yateley, ces jeunes Francais font vivre le partenariat entre nos deux pays. pic.twitter.com/o9YnGC6zzi  Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) January 18, 2018

Sir Michael and son Nick Parkinson opened The Royal Oak in July 2001.

The pub went on to gain a Bib Gourmand in 2008 and a Michelin star in 2010, which it still holds along with three AA Rosettes.

Dejeuner de travail avec la Premiere ministre britannique pour faire face aux defis daujourdhui et preparer demain. #UKFRSummit pic.twitter.com/4pFuKXfgur  Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) January 18, 2018

The Royal Oak states: Our food is not designed not to be pretentious, but rather to embrace the flavours of the produce and not disguise them with unfamiliar ingredients and complicated cooking methods.

It adds: We defy you not to scrape the plate.

Guests can choose to arrive by helicopter or park in a spot specially reserved for Ferraris (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

Guests are able to arrive by helicopter, landing in a field behind the pub, while a sign outside the venue states Ferrari parking only and warns all other vehicles will be towed.

The interior of the restaurant is elegant, stylish and nostalgic while service is described as friendly, efficient and non-intrusive, offering a laid back setting for the encounter between Mrs May and Mr Macron.

Theres no standing on ceremony, we want you to relax and enjoy your visit to the Oak so you feel at home and keep coming back for more, the Royal Oak website states.
Additional funding aimed at helping the NHS get on a financially sustainable footing has instead been spent on coping with existing pressures, according to a report.

The National Audit Office (NAO) warned that repeated short-term funding boosts could turn into the new normal when funding with a long-term plan would be more effective.

Clinical commissioning groups and trusts are increasingly reliant on one-off measures to deliver savings, rather than recurrent savings that are realised each year, the report said.

The National Audit Office said "repeated short-term funding boosts could turn into the new normal" when funding with a long-term plan would be more effective. (Andy Hepburn/PA)

The NHS was given an additional 1.8 billion Sustainability and Transformation Fund in 2016/17 ahead of the service having to survive on significantly less funding growth from 2017/18 onwards. It was also intended to give it stability to improve performance and transform services, to achieve a sustainable health system.

The report said this financial boost helped the NHS improve its financial position and overall the combined trust deficit reduced from 2,447 million in 2015/16 to 791 million in 2016/17.

But despite its overall financial position improving, the report said the NHS is struggling to manage increased activity and demand within its budget and has not met NHS access targets.

Furthermore, measures it took to rebalance its finances have restricted money available for longer-term transformation, which it said is essential for the NHS to meet demand, drive efficiencies and improve the service.

It said that, for example, the department transferred 1.2 billion of its 5.8 billion budget for capital projects to fund the day-to-day activities of NHS bodies.

On top of this funding, many trusts are receiving large levels of in-year cash injections, most of which are loans from the department, which have worsened rather than improved their financial performance. Extra cash support increased from 2.4 billion in 2015/16 to 3.1 billion in 2016/17.

It said progress has been made in setting up 44 new partnership arrangements across health and local government, which are laying the foundations for a more strategic approach to meeting the demand for health services within the resources available.

But the report added that, in reality, partnerships effectiveness varies and their tight financial positions make it difficult for them to shift focus from short-term day-to-day pressures to delivering transformation of services.

Amyas Morse, head of the National Audit Office, said: The NHS has received extra funding, but this has mostly been used to cope with current pressures and has not provided the stable platform intended from which to transform services

Repeated short-term funding-boosts could turn into the new normal, when the public purse may be better served by a long-term funding settlement that provides a stable platform for sustained improvements.

Chief executive of the Kings Fund, Chris Ham, said: Across the country, there are encouraging examples of areas that are changing services so that they better meet the needs of local people. But transforming services requires investment, and the speed of progress in Greater Manchester, for example, has only been possible because of upfront investment.

Yet, most of the Sustainability and Transformation Fund is being spent on addressing acute hospital deficits rather than being invested in new service models, which is holding back progress.

British Medical Association council chairman, Dr Chaand Nagpaul, said: This report provides clear evidence that investment designed to help the NHS transform and improve patient services is instead being used to firefight and meet existing pressures and deficits.

With pressure on NHS services intensifying year-on-year, we agree with the reports findings that the short-term funding is not meeting patients needs.
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A car has driven onto the crowded seaside promenade along Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro  injuring at least 11.

The Twitter account of Brazils military police force reports the number of injured and says the driver in Thursday nights incident has been taken into custody.

A witness reports seeing at least one child among the injured.

Firefighters give the first aid to people that were hurt after a car drove into the crowded seaside boardwalk (Silvia Izquierdo/AP)

The car stopped in the sand after it apparently crossed the wide pavement that runs between the beach and a busy road with several people knocked down and lying on the ground.
Royal fever hits the papers on Friday as both Kate and William, and Harry and Meghan carried out official engagements across the UK on Thursday.

Red tops The Sun and the Daily Mirror both focused on the Dukes new hair cut. The Mirrors headline reads God shave the King, while The Sun goes with Hairless to the throne as William showed off a shorter No1 buzzcut.

The Sun reports the new style cost the royal 180 but one barber replied: Id have done it for a tenner.

What the papers say - January 18

Tomorrow's front page: The jaw-dropping price of Prince William's new hair cut pic.twitter.com/ISWUBNcN5l  The Sun (@TheSun) January 18, 2018

As well as the Dukes do, the Mirror is a warning of a possible new flu epidemic in two weeks time.

The Daily Telegraph picks up on the same story saying the Japanese strain is now dominant and figures show cases of the illness have risen by 150% in a fortnight.

Meghan Markle is featured on the front of the paper, as she and Harry received a warm welcome on a visit to Wales. Hundreds braved the cold to catch a glimpse of the Prince and his bride-to-be.

The front page of tomorrow's Daily Telegraph: 'Boris calls for bridge across the Channel' #tomorrowspaperstoday pic.twitter.com/9WwIOHFFUV  The Telegraph (@Telegraph) January 18, 2018

The Daily Mail breaks down the cost of Ms Markles outfit and leads with an interview with a former head of the military.

DAIKY MAIL: General: Betrayal of Afghan hero is shameful #tomorrowspaperstoday pic.twitter.com/gZE199flAL  Neil Henderson (@hendopolis) January 18, 2018

The Metro leads on the daughter-in-law of Sir Philip Green after a court heard she was allegedly robbed while taking a shower.

Boris Johnson has raised the prospect of a second crossing for the English Channel, as covered by the The Times, which also leads on how an FOI request to the City watchdog has revealed there have been fewer than 10 prosecutions for insider trading in the last decade.

Tomorrow's front page: City traders getting away with abuse of markets #tomorrowspaperstoday pic.twitter.com/RsrYm5fjKk  The Times (@thetimes) January 18, 2018

Theresa May and and Emmanuel Macron are pictured on the i following the UK-France summit, as the French president delivered a tough message on Brexit and urged the public to think again on the decision to the leave the European Union.

Jermey Corbyns thoughts on the the collapse of Carillion make the front page of The Guardian, with the Labour leader saying his party will rewrite the rules to give the public back control of their services.
Fifteen-year-old Marta Kostyuks run at the Australian Open came to an end with a 6-2 6-2 loss against fourth seed and fellow Ukrainian Elina Svitolina.

Kostyuks success, coming through qualifying and reaching the third round, has been one of the stories of the tournament but she found Svitolina too strong and too experienced in her debut on Rod Laver Arena.

Kostyuk was given a wild card into qualifying after winning the junior title 12 months ago and must now focus on working her way up the professional game from her current ranking of 521.

Ukraines Elina Svitolina, right, is embraced by compatriot Marta Kostyuk (Dita Alangkara/AP)

Asked how much she learned, Kostyuk said: A lot. How much do you have to pay Svitolina to have a one-hour lesson? I got it for free.

Shes a great player, but what I learned is that you can play against everyone. I had the chances, but because I thought she is incredible, like shes a god, I cannot do anything against her, thats the problem.

The pair shared a warm hug at the net and Svitolina had some encouraging words for Kostyuk, who revealed she was in tears after the match.

.@marta_kostyuk is going places 



Congratulations on a special #AusOpen campaign, Marta, we look forward to seeing you in Melbourne for many more years. pic.twitter.com/HnyW1LQUHC  #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 19, 2018

It was sad playing another Ukrainian girl, said Svitolina. Shes a great fighter. She has a great future  were going to hear a lot more about her.

Svitolina revealed after her second-round struggle against Katerina Siniakova that she has not been feeling healthy but she was strong and focused against Kostyuk and is a hot favourite to reach the semi-finals.

The world number four is the only seed left in her quarter of the draw and next faces Czech qualifier Denisa Allertova.
A Malaysia Airlines plane landed safely in an Australian Outback city after the plane shook violently mid-flight and passengers braced themselves for a hard landing.

Flight 122 had been heading from Sydney to Kuala Lumpur and was over the northwest Australian coastal town of Broome when it turned back on Thursday.

It landed safely in Alice Springs and the airline said safety was not at any time compromised.

[UPDATE] Malaysia Airlines flight MH122/18 January 2018 from Sydney to Kuala Lumpur has been diverted to Alice Springs due to technical reasons. For more info: https://t.co/Zf0QU07NA1  Malaysia Airlines (@MAS) January 18, 2018

We suddenly experienced a very violent shaking of the aircraft and that probably lasted about five minutes and it was coming from one of the engines, passenger Hugh Wolton told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

We got a call from the captain on the deck describing how to make plans for an emergency landing, you know, the wording used things like impact, so we were suddenly bracing ourselves for a rough landing.

Passenger Peter Brooks said the captain announced there would be a couple of impacts and some passengers thought the plane would come down in the desert.

[UPDATE] Passengers of MH122 will be transferred from Alice Springs to Kuala Lumpur on MH148/ 19 January 2018. The flight is scheduled to depart Alice Springs at 5.45pm and is expected to arrive in Kuala Lumpur at 9.50pm the same day. For more info: https://t.co/ze6Vm9tOeO  Malaysia Airlines (@MAS) January 18, 2018

But about 45 minutes later the captain said they would land in Alice Springs, he said.

The airline said the Airbus A330-300 plane experienced a technical fault in one of its two engines and the pilot decided to divert the flight.

The flight was travelling from Sydney to Kuala Lumpur (Steve Paston/EMPICS)

Passenger Cath Cat said the landing was ultimately smooth.

We were aware of a sudden shuddering noise and then we were told to prepare for an emergency landing and there were instructions, Ms Cat told Nine Network television.

But later  fairly rapidly actually  the pilot said that the situation was under control and that we were returning to Alice Springs and although it was an emergency landing technically, it was going to be like a commercial landing, which in fact happened and we were all very grateful for that.

The airline said passengers would be flown to Kuala Lumpur on Friday.
Sir Ridley Scott has paid tribute to author Peter Mayle, who has died at the age of 78 after a brief illness.

The film director, Mayles friend and neighbour, said his writing had depicted Anglo-French competitiveness brilliantly.

The 2006 film A Good Year, directed by Sir Ridley and starring Russell Crowe and Marion Cotillard, was based on Mayles best-seller A Year In Provence.

He told BBC Radio 4s Today Programme: It was all that humorous competitive spirit between the French and the English that Peter captured brilliantly.

It was quite true about the French, and it was quite true about the British.

A Year In Provence had previously been turned into a TV series starring John Thaw in 1993.

Originally from Sussex, the author moved to France in the late 1980s and wrote several follow-on books inspired by his love for the country, including Toujours Provence and Encore Provence.

Sir Ridley Scott paid tribute to his friend and neighbour, A Year In Provence author Peter Mayle (Dominic Lipinski/PA)

His works proved so popular that he later bought a home in Long Island, New York, to escape crowds of sightseers at his French cottage.

In an interview with the Baltimore Sun in 1996, he said: We had people coming up the drive from Japan, from Australia, from Germany, from Sweden, from England, from America. At the beginning, it was really quite exciting  Then it just increased in volume until we were getting four, five, six visits a day.

In 2002 the author was awarded a Chevalier de la Legion dHonneur by the French government for services to French culture.

Publisher Alfred A Knopf announced on Twitter on Thursday night that Mayle died in a hospital near his home in the south of France after a short illness.

A statement read: We are sad to report that Peter Mayle, the beloved writer who wrote multiple best-selling books about life in Provence, died early today at a hospital near his home in the south of France. He was 78.

Mayle started out writing a series of educational books for children, including sex education books and others discussing issues like life and death.

Titles included Where Did I Come From? The Facts Of Life Without Any Nonsense And With Illustrations, and Will I Like It? Your First Sexual Experience, What To Expect, What To Avoid, And How Both Of You Can Get The Most Out Of It.

A Year In Provence was published in 1990 with a print run of 3,000 copies, and went on to sell six million copies in 40 languages, Mayle said on his website.

We are sad to report that Peter Mayle, the beloved writer who wrote multiple bestselling books about life in Provence, died early today at a hospital near his home in the south of France. He was 78. pic.twitter.com/71oJP9oVYI  Alfred A. Knopf (@AAKnopf) January 18, 2018

In 2016 he reflected fondly on his two-and-a-half decades in the south of France, saying he had found contentment.

He said: I am still easily lured from my desk by interesting distractions: a wine tasting, a promising young chef, the rumour of truffles to be found under a nearby oak, a murky hammam in Marseille, a vicious game of petanque in the village and, of course, the spectacle of daily life as seen from the cafe terrace.

Oddly enough, more ambitious distractions, such as long-distance travel, no longer appeal to me.

I dont want to go anywhere else. Im happy where I am. That, I suppose, is contentment, and I shall always be grateful to the literary accident known as A Year In Provence for helping me to achieve it.
Shares in Carpetright have plunged after the retailer warned over profits following a hefty drop in sales during the crucial weeks after Christmas.

The firm was down 47% in early morning trading on the London market after reporting that like-for-like sales fell 3.6% in the 11 weeks ending January 13.

Total group sales also slid 2.3% lower, with the company pinning the blame on reduced consumer confidence.

Carpetright chief executive Wilf Walsh at the companys Gerrards Cross store in Buckinghamshire (PA)

In response, the group slashed its profit outlook from around 13.8 million to 16.7 million, to between 2 million and 6 million.

Chief executive Wilf Walsh said the significant deterioration in UK trade came on the back of a positive start to the third quarter.

He said: While average transaction values were up year on year, the number of customer transactions since Christmas was sharply down, which we believe is indicative of reduced consumer confidence.

Our response to the threat of new competition continues to be effective, with those stores that have traded against new local competition for more than 12 months performing ahead of the rest of our estate.

Sales in our rest of Europe business have also been volatile but we continue to deliver like-for-like sales growth, primarily reflecting the introduction of lower margin service income.

The severity of the decline in footfall over this key trading period and our more cautious view of the outlook for the balance of the year leads to a significant reduction in our full-year expectations.

Carpetright, which has 552 stores worldwide, said UK flooring sales had slipped 1.4% and bed sales continued to struggle.

However, it booked a brighter performance across the Republic of Ireland, Holland and Belgium, where like-for-like sales grew 4.3% over the period.

Neil Wilson, market analyst at ETX Capital, said: After a profits warning in December, in which it said it expected underlying profit before tax for the year to be at the lower end of the previous range of 13.8 million to 16.7 million, management has slashed this to a range of 2 million to 6 million.

As we noted in December, the guidance appeared like wishful thinking and so it turned out to be the case.

Again its the same old story as with other brands that have failed to adapt to changing consumer trends  lower footfall has left transaction numbers down significantly from last year.

We must also consider weaker consumer sentiment for big ticket items as a factor, as well tougher competition from a more diverse marketplace.
Sir Ridley Scott has praised the success and spirit of author Peter Mayle, who has died at the age of 78 after a short illness.

The film director, Mayles friend and neighbour, said his writing had depicted Anglo-French competitiveness brilliantly.

The 2006 film A Good Year, directed by Sir Ridley and starring Russell Crowe and Marion Cotillard, was based on Mayles best-seller A Year In Provence.

He told BBC Radio 4s Today Programme: It was all that humorous competitive spirit between the French and the English that Peter captured brilliantly.

It was quite true about the French, and it was quite true about the British.

He added: Peter was a very kind and successful man, and it was driven by his own spirit. You could feel whatever he did, whatever he touched was going to work.

It was typical Peter that his first book became a best-seller, he added.

A Year In Provence had previously been turned into a TV series starring John Thaw in 1993.

Originally from Sussex, the author moved to France in the late 1980s and wrote several follow-on books inspired by his love for the country, including Toujours Provence and Encore Provence.

Sir Ridley Scott paid tribute to his friend and neighbour, A Year In Provence author Peter Mayle (Dominic Lipinski/PA)

His works proved so popular that he later bought a home in Long Island, New York, to escape crowds of sightseers at his French cottage.

In an interview with the Baltimore Sun in 1996, he said: We had people coming up the drive from Japan, from Australia, from Germany, from Sweden, from England, from America. At the beginning, it was really quite exciting  Then it just increased in volume until we were getting four, five, six visits a day.

In 2002 the author was awarded a Chevalier de la Legion dHonneur by the French government for services to French culture.

Publisher Alfred A Knopf announced on Twitter on Thursday night that Mayle died in a hospital near his home in the south of France after a short illness.

A statement read: We are sad to report that Peter Mayle, the beloved writer who wrote multiple best-selling books about life in Provence, died early today at a hospital near his home in the south of France. He was 78.

Mayle started out writing a series of educational books for children, including sex education books and others discussing issues like life and death.

Titles included Where Did I Come From? The Facts Of Life Without Any Nonsense And With Illustrations, and Will I Like It? Your First Sexual Experience, What To Expect, What To Avoid, And How Both Of You Can Get The Most Out Of It.

A Year In Provence was published in 1990 with a print run of 3,000 copies, and went on to sell six million copies in 40 languages, Mayle said on his website.

We are sad to report that Peter Mayle, the beloved writer who wrote multiple bestselling books about life in Provence, died early today at a hospital near his home in the south of France. He was 78. pic.twitter.com/71oJP9oVYI  Alfred A. Knopf (@AAKnopf) January 18, 2018

In 2016 he reflected fondly on his two-and-a-half decades in the south of France, saying he had found contentment.

He said: I am still easily lured from my desk by interesting distractions: a wine tasting, a promising young chef, the rumour of truffles to be found under a nearby oak, a murky hammam in Marseille, a vicious game of petanque in the village and, of course, the spectacle of daily life as seen from the cafe terrace.

Oddly enough, more ambitious distractions, such as long-distance travel, no longer appeal to me.

I dont want to go anywhere else. Im happy where I am. That, I suppose, is contentment, and I shall always be grateful to the literary accident known as A Year In Provence for helping me to achieve it.
New City Minister John Glen is to discuss Brexit with bank chiefs on Friday in what will be his first round of talks with Square Mile firms since being appointed to the role last week.

The Remain-backing Conservative MP will meet a group of finance chiefs from major EU lenders after being invited to talk about the challenges and opportunities arising from Britains divorce from the bloc.

It will mark Mr Glens first set of banking meetings since being handed the role as part of Prime Minister Theresa Mays reshuffle, and comes at a critical time for the sector.

Without a Brexit transition deal in place, London-based banks are weeks away from triggering contingency plans that could see thousands of jobs leave the UK.

Once Britain leaves the EU, banks based in the country will lose passporting rights, which allow them to do business across the single market.

EU lender Deutsche Bank is preparing to settle more of its transactions out of Frankfurt, and is likely to move hundreds of staff from London.

UBS has also signalled that it could move up to 1,000 of its near 5,000-strong UK staff involved in operations dependent on passporting to the EU, while Swiss peer Credit Suisse is one of the last major banks yet to announce its post-Brexit plans.

The minister missed a round-table meeting with the likes of Barclays, Lloyds of London and Goldman Sachs hosted by Mrs May and Chancellor Philip Hammond last week.

While Mr Glens portfolio explicitly covers Brexits impact on financial services, he had already scheduled in a parliamentary debate on the role of banks in communities, which covered a recent spate of branch closures.

Mr Glen is the fourth politician to be handed the financial services and Brexit brief since July 2016, and will have big shoes to fill after taking over from Stephen Barclay.

John Glen is tasked with reassuring the City as Britain leaves the EU (PA)

Mr Barclay  who is now a minister in the Department for Health and Social Care  was well regarded in the City during his six months in the role.

He had experience of financial regulation and crime prevention as a director of regulatory affairs and later as the head of anti-money laundering and sanctions at Barclays retail bank.

He was also qualified as a solicitor and was a member of the Public Accounts Committee from 2010 to 2014, according to his website.

But Mr Glen is no a stranger to the corporate world, having graduated with a Master of Business Administration degree from Cambridge University in 2003 and working for consultancy Accenture, which included managing the companys relationship with the World Economic Forum.

However, City sources have told the Press Association that the numerous handovers of the Brexit and financial services brief has been frustrating for an industry that has been crying out for clarity on policy on Britains EU divorce.

The Brexit portfolio was previous held by former commercial secretary Baroness Lucy Neville-Rolfe over the first six months of 2017, with those duties having been transferred from then-City minister Simon Kirby amid reports that senior Square Mile executives were unhappy with his banking credentials.

But firms are understood to appreciate the relationship developed with the Chancellor in recent months, with Mr Hammond having taken a lead role in Treasury meetings with foreign banks since 2017.

Hopes for a bespoke deal for financial services were shot down by French President Emmanuel Macron, who told Mrs May on Thursday that the UK would have to abide by European legal jurisdiction and contribute to the Brussels budget if the City of London is to be covered by a deal after Brexit.
A proposed shake-up to the ATM network could put a greater strain on hundreds of remote areas which already lack access to cash, Which? warns.

The consumer group claims the plans could lead to mass closures of free-to-use cash machines.

It said its analysis has identified more than 200 communities with poor ATM provision, or no cash machines at all, which it said might be hardest hit by proposals that could reduce the network.

Which? claims more than 200 communities already have a lack of access to cash (Gareth Fuller/PA)

Cash machine network Link said it would review the areas identified by Which? and take action if there is found to be inadequate free ATM provision. It said the UK has one of the largest free-to-use ATM networks globally.

Ahead of a final decision on the proposals, Which? analysed data on 70,000 cash machines across the UK.

It found 123 postcode districts did not appear to contain a single ATM, making many people reliant on access in nearby villages or towns.

Meanwhile, a further 116 postcode districts appear to have just one ATM, 37 of which charge a fee, it said.

Examples of postcode districts where ATM provision is particularly low include PE32 (Norfolk), TA7 (Somerset), TN27 (Kent), NR16 (Norfolk) and YO13 (North Yorkshire), Which? said.

Gareth Shaw, Which? money expert, said: Reducing the free-to-use ATM network would hit consumers who rely on access to cash machines hard.

These proposals could place a strain on communities across the UK that are already struggling to access the cash they need following mass bank closures.

The financial regulator must intervene to avoid this situation getting worse.

The row centres around interchange fees  which fund the free-to-use ATM network. These interchange fees are paid by card issuers such as banks and building societies to ATM operators.

Consultation plans previously outlined by Link include a reduction in interchange rates over the next four years, from around 25p to 20p per withdrawal.

Links independent board has previously said that it will protect all free-to-use ATMs which are a kilometre or more from the next nearest free-to-use ATM.

John Howells, chief executive at Link, said: The UK has one of the largest free-to-use ATM networks anywhere in the world, and the number of free ATMs is at an all-time high and rising.

We welcome the research produced by Which? and will review all of the areas that it has identified and take action if there is inadequate free ATM provision. Link is always looking for ways to improve the network, and extend our financial inclusion programme, which today subsidies ATMs in over 1,000 less affluent and rural communities.

The Treasury Committee has raised concerns, and has said its overriding priority is that consumers ability to access cash does not suffer.

The Payment Systems Regulator has said it is monitoring the situation closely.
Rohingya refugees are continuing to flee from Burma into Bangladesh, despite the two countries saying they will begin repatriating members of the minority ethnic group next week, Bangladesh officials said.

More than 650,000 Rohingya Muslims poured into Bangladesh after Burmas military launched a brutal crackdown against them in August.

More than 100 Rohingya have entered Bangladesh in the past two days, according to Mohammed Mikaruzzaman, a top official in Bangladeshs Ukhiya sub-district, where the refugees are living in a number of camps.

Bangladesh and Burma have agreed that they will try to complete the repatriation of Rohingya Muslim refugees within two years (AP)

Mr Mikaruzzaman would not say why the latest refugees fled, but the Bangladeshi media said some reported being forced by the Burmese military to work without pay and food.

Burma and Bangladesh signed an agreement in November on repatriating Rohingya refugees, and officials said earlier this week that some would return to Burma beginning next Tuesday. The process is expected to take about two years.

However, it is unclear if there will be more than a handful of symbolic repatriations. Mr Mikaruzzaman said very few preparations had been made.

A Rohingya refugee boy flies a kite at Kutupalong refugee camp (AP)

I have visited some border points to see the possible routes for repatriation over last few days, but we have not finalized anything yet, he said, calling it a huge task to co-ordinate among government departments, international agencies and the Rohingya.

Many Rohingya have expressed fears about going back to Burma.

A statement issued on Thursday by nearly two dozen Rohingya organisations around the world demanded security guarantees for the refugees and their property before they return.

A Rohingya refugee looks out from a makeshift Mosque (AP)

The statement said there had been no change of attitude of the Burmese government and its military toward Rohingya.

Under the November agreement, Rohingya will need to provide evidence of their residency in Burma in order to return  something many do not have.

Rohingya Muslims are denied citizenship in Burma, along with many basic rights, though many have lived in the predominately Buddhist country for generations. They are widely seen as illegal migrants from Bangladesh.

Rohingya refugees are seen silhouetted against setting sun at Balukhali refugee camp (AP)

In Burma, a top official insisted the repatriations would begin as planned, with the paperwork for the first 1,100 refugees already finished in both countries.

Win Myat Aye, the minister of social welfare, relief and resettlement, said: These refugees can be sent on January 23 because they are already verified to come back.

Rohingya began fleeing to Bangladesh when Burmas military launched a crackdown after a militant group attacked police posts. Burmas army described it as clearance operations against terrorists, but the United Nations and the US have called it ethnic cleansing.
The Government should pay the upfront costs of removing flammable cladding from tower blocks to ensure the immediate safety of residents, an MP said.

Labour MP Steve Reed urged central Government to act immediately, after it emerged residents from a privately owned block in his south London constituency were facing a 2 million bill to replace its Grenfell-style cladding.

Leaseholders at Citiscape in Croydon, which has aluminium composite material (ACM) panels, thought to have fuelled the fire at Grenfell Tower, are appealing for the publics help in their David and Goliath fight.

The frightened residents have been told by their property management company that the cost of a new cladding system for the 10-storey block will likely be covered through service charges, which would be borne collectively by leaseholders.

The ACM cladding panels on the outside of Citiscape tower block (XXX/PA)

A hearing at a first-tier property tribunal will take place on February 6 to determine where the costs should fall.

Mr Reed told the Press Association: Above all else here theres a threat to life, and that must trump everything else. Given there are ongoing legal uncertainties, the Government needs to come up with the money.

Youve got people now afraid to sleep at night worried about whether theyll wake up the next morning or not. The Government needs to get in there and protect these people.

Whether they later on then have to attempt to claim that money back, is a matter for discussion, but right now the Government needs to make sure people are safe in their homes.

Smoke billowing from the 24-storey Grenfell Tower in west London (Rick Findler/PA)

They need to answer a question here. What would they say if another Grenfell-style tragedy happened because they had chosen to do nothing?

Mr Reed raised concerns last year with Communities Secretary Sajid Javid, who replied he would urge landlords to not attempt to pass on costs to leaseholders.

The MP said he would be writing again and that he was seeking an emergency debate on the matter.

The building is one of 228 across the country which failed fire safety tests carried out by the then-named Department for Communities and Local Government in the weeks after the blaze, in which 71 people died.

Statement from the Independent Expert Advisory Panel on cladding tests following the #GrenfellTower fire. https://t.co/9T0dVyyiGJ  Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Govt (@mhclg) June 30, 2017

FirstPort Property Services, the buildings property manager, was advised in August that measures should be taken to replace the cladding.

Alexandra Blanc, 37, who bought her flat in 2014, said: We are not asking for a handout. We are asking for them to fix a broken system.

This is a David and Goliath fight.

Anuj Vats, a first-floor Citiscape resident, bought his flat in November 2016 with all his savings and said he was now questioning his decision.

He set up a Go Fund Me page last week after learning the total amount would be between 1.8 and 2 million.

Communities Secretary Sajid Javid speaks in the House of Commons (PA)

The 41-year-old said: Im not saying it should be the publics role (to help us).

I personally would not be able to pay that much money within the short duration time and we havent heard any concrete response from Government so far, that they will try to help us or put some measures in place to safeguard our interests, our lives and our homes.

So thats when I put up the page  to seek broader public support and interest. Because if the Government is not able to help us, by directing the freeholder/landlord then where else can we go? What can we do?

He said, should the cost of the cladding be covered, then any money raised would be diverted to other residents in the same situation.

A Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG) spokesman said: Keeping people safe in their homes is paramount.

We are clear we want to see private-sector landlords follow the lead of the social sector and not pass on the costs of essential cladding replacement to leaseholders. We are keeping the situation under review.
Sergi Roberto has dismissed any speculation of a move away from Barcelona by agreeing a new four-and-a-half year contract at the Nou Camp.

Roberto had been linked with a reunion with former manager Pep Guardiola at Manchester City in recent transfer windows but Barca boss Ernesto Valverde has ensured the youth team graduate has been tied down to a long-term deal.

The 25-year-old, who has made 25 appearances this season, had 18 months left on his previous contract and a release clause of 40million euros (35m).

Sergi Roberto has signed a contract extension at Barcelona (Nick Potts/Empics)

However, the Spain international will now remain at the LaLiga leaders until June 2022 and has had his minimum release clause increased to 500million euros (440m).

Roberto has had a trophy-laden career since making his debut in November 2010, winning four LaLiga titles, two Champions League crowns and the Copa del Rey on four occasions.

The versatile player is the second Barca player to commit his future to the club this week following defender Gerard Piques contract extension to the end of the 2021/2022 season on Thursday.
An obsessed builder was inspired by an infamous acid bath killer as he plotted to abduct, rape and murder his niece and another young woman, a court has heard.

Mujahid Arshid, 33, allegedly came across convicted serial killer John George Haigh as he trawled the internet for ways to dispose of the bodies, jurors were told.

In July last year, he snatched Celine Dookhran and another young woman, bundling them into his pick-up truck with the help of labourer Vincent Tappu, jurors have heard.

Barclays bank worker Ms Dookhran, 20, was found stuffed into a freezer with her throat cut at a house Arshid was renovating in south-west London after the other woman managed to raise the alarm.

Following his arrest at a Holiday Inn in Folkestone, police examined Arshids laptops and found pictures of both victims and a bank payment to Tappu in the days before the killing.

Internet searches included chest freezers for sale, at what temperature does the human body freeze and can a person freeze to death.

John George Haigh was hanged in 1949 for murdering six people (PA)

Arshid also allegedly researched strong pain killers, sulphuric acid, and googled acid bath murderer.

Prosecutor Crispin Aylett QC told jurors it led to a Wikipedia page about John George Haigh, who was hanged in 1949 for murdering six people and disposing of their remains in different ways, including in baths filled with acid.

He said Haigh was known in infamy as the acid bath killer.

He said the defendant was inspired by Haigh to set up a new Google email address ineedanacidbath@space.com.

He looked into human cremation and butchering the human carcass, jurors were told.

He also allegedly viewed a YouTube video entitled Woman cut throat.

A post-mortem examination found 5ft 3in tall Ms Dookhran had tape wrapped around her mouth and a sock rammed inside, reducing her ability to breathe.

She had three cuts to the neck, slicing through her voice box.

She died from the combined effect of loss of blood and obstruction to the airways.

Arshid, of no fixed address, and Tappu, 28, of Spencer Road, Acton, west London, deny kidnap, false imprisonment and possession of a firearm with intent.

Arshid has also pleaded not guilty to murder, attempted murder, rape of both women and the previous sexual assault and assault by penetration of the surviving woman when she was about 13.
Police have released fresh images of an elderly man who has been missing for a week in wintry conditions.

Concern is growing for 90-year-old William Ritchie, who was last seen by neighbours in the West Road area of Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire, around noon on Friday January 12.

A major search is under way to find Mr Ritchie, known as Bill, who was reported missing on Sunday.

Police have now released the last CCTV image of him which was captured at Asda in Fraserburgh on Thursday December 21, 2017.

Inspector Kevin Goldie, who is leading enquiries, said: We hope that by releasing this footage  even though it dates back a few weeks  it can give people a better idea of what Bill usually wears and the way he walks.

We dont know exactly what Bill was wearing when he went missing, however he appears to be a man of routine and would either wear a 3/4 length black jacket or a waterproof jacket with the hood up, and a flat cap.

Extensive enquiries are continuing to establish Bills movements in the couple of weeks leading up to him being reported missing, including reviewing both public and private CCTV footage. 

William Ritchie has gone missing from his Aberdeenshire home (Police Scotland/PA)

Police Scotlands dog and dive units have been involved in the search efforts this week.

Officers are appealing for anyone with private CCTV which may have captured Mr Ritchie to contact them.

He lives at West Road and was known to walk in and around the town regularly.

Officers will also be handing out missing person leaflets appealing for information this weekend as hundreds of people descend on the town on Sunday to watch Fraserburgh FC take on Rangers FC at Bellslea Park.

A CCTV image of missing William Ritchie (Police Scotland/PA)

Inspector Goldie said: It is crucial we continue to keep Bill in peoples minds as more time passes. If you have seen Bill recently but dont think your information will be significant I would still ask you to come forward and let us make that judgement.

Theres no doubt that Bill was a private man, but you maybe know of a place he likes to walk or a spot that meant something to him.

Mr Ritchie is described as being around 5ft 7, of a slim build, with short grey hair.

It is not known what he was wearing when he went missing, however he usually wears a 3/4 length black jacket and potentially a flat cap.

He regularly shops at Asda, the local Co-op and attends at the post office at Mid Street.

Anyone with information should contact Police on 101 quoting incident no. 2549 of Jan 14.
An airline pilot has pleaded not guilty to murdering his wife after she was found fatally injured at her village home.

Nail technician Patricia McIntosh, 56, had suffered head injuries and was discovered by police in the hamlet of Knightcote, Warwickshire, on November 15 last year.

Andrew McIntosh, appearing at Warwick Crown Court wearing a sweater and a shirt, entered his plea during a 30-minute hearing on Friday, ahead of his trial on May 14.

Patricia McIntosh, 56 , described by her son as a "beautiful, smart, hard-working, funny" woman, was found fatally injured at her Warwickshire home in November, last year. Her husband, airline pilot, Andrew McIntosh, is due to stand trial accused of her murder.

The 54-year-old, who had been living at a separate address in Woolscott, near Rugby, before his arrest, had worked flying airliners and was still employed as a pilot around the time of the death.

Judge Andrew Lockhart QC, who is set to hear the trial, told McIntosh he would be remanded in custody until the next hearing.

He said: Mr McIntosh, you know already that your trial will take place on May 14.

The order I have made means you must serve your defence case statement by February 2, and you will be instructed about that.

You know it (the statement) must be a full one, or it might count against you.

He added: In the meantime, you are remanded in custody.

The trial is expected to last seven days and will hear from witnesses who knew the couple, and include medical and CCTV evidence.
Scotland have received a boost ahead of the NatWest 6 Nations after Stuart Hogg and Greig Laidlaw were lined up for comebacks from injury.

Hogg has been named in Glasgows starting line-up for their European Champions Cup clash with Exeter on Saturday. The British and Irish Lions full-back has not played since dropping out of Scotlands victory over Australia in November with a hip problem minutes before kick-off.

Scrum-half Laidlaw could be back in action for Clermont Auvergne following a broken leg before he joins up with the Scotland squad next week.

A timely comeback for a certain full-back...  https://t.co/f4vAq3MVfk  Scottish Rugby (@Scotlandteam) January 19, 2018

Laidlaw has not yet featured for Scotland under Gregor Townsend and has lost the captaincy to John Barclay, but he will be on the bench when his club take on Ospreys in a European clash on Saturday. The former Edinburgh and Gloucester player has been out for three months.

Hoggs international team-mates Tommy Seymour and Alex Dunbar will also make their comebacks in Warriors final pool match at Scotstoun on Saturday, in their last chance to build up match-sharpness ahead of the Six Nations opener against Wales on February 3.

Centre Dunbar has not played this year because of a knee injury while wing Seymour will start for the first time since suffering a foot problem in the first of Glasgows double header against Edinburgh on December 23.

Ryan Wilson is still battling back to fitness (Jane Barlow/PA)

All three returning Glasgow players were named in Townsends 40-man Six Nations squad on Tuesday along with Warriors captain Ryan Wilson, who again misses out with an ankle injury this weekend.

The back-row forward has not featured since a European defeat to Montpellier in mid-December.

Meanwhile, Edinburgh have handed starts to five members of Townsends squad for their final pool match against Stade Francais in the European Challenge Cup.

Murray McCallum, Magnus Bradbury, Cornell du Preez, Nathan Fowles and Mark Bennett will start in Paris on Saturday.
A bitterly divided US congress is hurtling towards a government shutdown this weekend amid a stand-off over demands by Democrats for a solution on legislation to protect about 700,000 younger immigrants from being deported.

Democrats in the US senate have served notice they will filibuster a four-week, government-wide funding bill that passed the House on Thursday evening.

The Democrats are seeking to shape a subsequent measure, but have been accused of being responsible for the looming shutdown.

US president Donald Trump said Senate Democrats are focused on illegal immigration and weak borders.

He said on Twitter: Government Funding Bill past (sic) last night in the House of Representatives. Now Democrats are needed if it is to pass in the Senate  but they want illegal immigration and weak borders.

He added: Shutdown coming? We need more Republican victories in 2018!

Republicans controlling the narrowly divided chamber argued that Democrats are holding the entire government hostage over demands to protect Dreamer immigrants brought to the country illegally as children under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) programme.

Nobody wants to shut down the govt, not Dems, not the GOP.



The only one who has ever rooted for a shutdown is @realDonaldTrump who said our country could use a good shutdown  only he could come up with that. But no shutdown can be good for the American people.  Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) January 19, 2018

Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell said: Democratic senators fixation on illegal immigration has already blocked us from making progress on long-term spending talks.

That same fixation has them threatening to filibuster funding for the government.

In the House, Republicans forced the measure through on a mostly party-line 230-197 vote after making modest concessions to chamber conservatives and defence hawks. House Speaker Paul Ryan immediately summoned reporters to try to pin the blame on top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer of New York.

A test vote on a filibuster of the measure by senate Democrats appeared likely before the shutdown deadline of Friday at midnight. Mr Schumer was rebuffed in an attempt to vote on Thursday night.

Mr Schumer said: We cant keep kicking the can down the road, and insisted on more urgency in talks on immigration.

An activist reacts as she is arrested amid a protest over Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (AP)

In another month, well be right back here, at this moment, with the same web of problems at our feet, in no better position to solve them.

The measure would be the fourth stopgap spending bill since the current budget year started in October. A pile of unfinished Capitol Hill business has been on hold, first as Republicans ironed out last autumns tax bill and now as Democrats insist on progress on immigration.

Talks on a budget deal to ease tight spending limits on both the Pentagon and domestic agencies are on hold, as is progress on a huge 80 billion-dollar-plus (57 billion) disaster aid bill.

A shutdown would be the first since 2013, when tea party Republicans sought to use a must-pass funding bill to try to force then-President Barack Obama into delaying implementation of his signature health care law.

Congress must act by midnight Friday or the government will begin immediately locking its doors. In the event of a shutdown, food inspections, federal law enforcement, airport security checks, and other vital services would continue, as would Social Security, other benefit programmes and military operations. But federal workers would not be paid.
Tragic US astronaut Christa McAuliffes lost school lessons are finally going to be taught in space.

Thirty-two years after the teacher died in the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster, a pair of teachers turned astronauts on the International Space Station will pay tribute to Ms McAuliffe by carrying out her science classes.

As Nasas first designated teacher in space, McAuliffe was going to experiment with fluids in orbit and demonstrate Newtons laws of motion for schoolchildren. She and six crewmates were killed after an explosion during lift-off on January 28 1986.

Two astronauts are set to hold the lessons Ms McAuliffe had planned (AP)

Astronauts Joe Acaba and Ricky Arnold will perform some of Ms McAuliffes lessons over the next several months.

Mr Acaba will share the news during a TV link-up with students at Ms McAuliffes alma mater, Framingham State University near Boston.

He will return to Earth at the end of February, while Mr Arnold heads into space up in March.
Caroline Wozniacki and Elina Svitolina avoided more drama to reach the fourth round of the Australian Open but French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko was knocked out by Anett Kontaveit.

The Latvian had her left thigh heavily strapped after losing the first set and, although she took the second comprehensively, it was Estonian Kontaveit who prevailed in the decider to win 6-3 1-6 6-3.

Ostapenkos exit means there are only two former grand slam champions left in the draw in Maria Sharapova and Angelique Kerber, and they clash in the third round on Saturday.

Jelena Ostapenko was unable to find the answers against Anett Kontaveit (Vincent Thian/AP)

Second seed Wozniacki is the only player in the bottom half to have made a slam final before, and she stayed on course to emulate her two appearances in the US Open showpiece with a 6-4 6-3 victory over Kiki Bertens.

Wozniacki had to come back from 1-5, 15-40 in the deciding set against Jana Fett in the second round but stepped up her game and was a relatively comfortable winner against 30th seed Bertens.

The Dane, who did not wrap up victory until after midnight, said: Im playing with house money. I was already out of the tournament and on my way home. I got a second chance and Im just going to see how far I can go.

 Sweet Caroline 



Our No.2 seed @CaroWozniacki is into the round of 16 for the 4th time d Kiki #Bertens 6-4 6-3.#AusOpen pic.twitter.com/Ee89gC9Efe  #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 19, 2018

Wozniacki next plays 19th seed Magdalena Rybarikova, who battled to a 7-5 3-6 6-1 victory over Kateryna Bondarenko.

Fourth seed Svitolina ended the run of her 15-year-old Ukrainian compatriot Marta Kostyuk with a 6-2 6-2 victory on Rod Laver Arena.

Kostyuks success, coming through qualifying and reaching the third round, has been one of the stories of the tournament but she found Svitolina too strong and too experienced.

Kostyuk was given a wild card into qualifying after winning the junior title 12 months ago and must now focus on working her way up the professional game from her current ranking of 521.

Ukraines Elina Svitolina, right, is embraced by compatriot Marta Kostyuk (Dita Alangkara/AP)

Asked how much she learned, Kostyuk said: A lot. How much do you have to pay Svitolina to have a one-hour lesson? I got it for free.

Shes a great player, but what I learned is that you can play against everyone. I had the chances, but because I thought she is incredible, like shes a god, I cannot do anything against her, thats the problem.

The pair shared a warm hug at the net and Svitolina had some encouraging words for Kostyuk, who revealed she was in tears after the match.

.@marta_kostyuk is going places 



Congratulations on a special #AusOpen campaign, Marta, we look forward to seeing you in Melbourne for many more years. pic.twitter.com/HnyW1LQUHC  #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 19, 2018

It was sad playing another Ukrainian girl, said Svitolina. Shes a great fighter. She has a great future  were going to hear a lot more about her.

Svitolina revealed after her second-round struggle against Katerina Siniakova that she has not been feeling healthy but she was strong and focused against Kostyuk and is a hot favourite to reach the semi-finals.

The world number four is the only seed left in her quarter of the draw and next faces Czech qualifier Denisa Allertova.

Kontaveit will meet Carla Suarez Navarro while Croatian Petra Martic, who is fast making a name for herself at the slams, takes on a rising talent of the womens game in Belgian Elise Mertens.
A boulder chamber discovered by a hill walker on a mountainside in Mayo was a mysterious ritual site where people had their skulls smashed after death.

The remains of at least 10 adults, adolescents and children were placed in the cave-like structure over the course of 1,200 years in the Neolithic era, experts have revealed.

Scientific analysis of adult bones found in the chamber dates them to 3,600 BC, while a bone of a child skeleton dated to 2,400 BC.

Scroll down for video

A boulder chamber discovered by a hill walker on a mountainside in Mayo was a ritual site for the dead, experts have revealed (pictured)

The discovery was made in August 2016 by local hill walker Michael Chambers, who came across the chamber among massive boulders on Bengorm Mountain in the Nephin Beg range.

It is believed the chamber was not a burial site but used as a ritual place for bodies to decompose before bones were removed.

Mr Chambers found ancient human bones scattered over the rock floor.

Large pieces of quartz rock had been placed in and around them.

Marion Dowd of IT Sligo was called in by the National Monuments Service of the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht and the National Museum of Ireland to carry out a rescue excavation.

'There is plentiful evidence that quartz was considered ritually significant during the Neolithic period in Ireland and elsewhere in Europe', Dr Dowd told MailOnline.

Archaeologists inspect the chamber found by a hill walker. Analysis of adult bones found in the chamber dates them to 3,600 BC, while a bone of a child skeleton dated to 2,400 BC

BENGORM MOUNTAIN CHAMBER The discovery was made in August 2016 by local hillwalker Michael Chambers, who came across the chamber among massive boulders on Bengorm Mountain in the Nephin Beg range. The remains of at least 10 adults, adolescents and children were placed in the cave-like structure over the course of 1,200 years in the Neolithic era. Scientific analysis of adult bones found in the chamber dates them to 3,600 BC, while a bone of a child skeleton dated to 2,400 BC. It is believed the chamber was not a burial site but used as a ritual place for bodies to decompose before bones were removed. Large pieces of quartz rock had been placed in and around them. The research suggests bodies were initially taken into the cave chamber and laid out in a pit. At some later point the skulls might have been deliberately broken as part of a complex burial ritual and larger bones removed. Advertisement

Quartz was included in the cairn material of many other Neolithic passage tombs as well as in Neolithic burials and human bones within megalithic tombs, she explained.

'We cannot know why this particular stone was so ritually significant, but it may have something to do with the white or transparent colour', Dr Dowd said.

'When the radiocarbon dates came through it was very exciting. Not only were the bones Neolithic, but the dates showed the site had been used for over 1,000 years,' she said.

The research suggests bodies were taken into the cave chamber and laid out in a pit.

At some later point the skulls might have been deliberately broken as part of a complex burial ritual and larger bones removed.

The discovery was made in 2016 by local hill walker Michael Chambers, who came across the chamber among massive boulders on Bengorm Mountain in the Nephin Beg range (pictured)

The research suggests bodies were taken into the cave chamber and laid out in a pit. At some later point the skulls might have been deliberately broken as part of a complex burial ritual and larger bones removed. The chamber was found in the Bengorm Mountains

Osteoarchaeologist Linda Lynch, who examined the bones, said: 'Only a very small proportion of each skeleton was found, with the majority of bones apparently deliberately removed.

'The discovery indicates highly complex processing of the dead', she said.

Josepha Madigan, Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, said: 'This is a fascinating archaeological discovery and I want to thank the community of hillwalkers for reporting it to us.

Minister @josephamadigan thanks Mayo hiking group for discovery of chamber used for human burial practice, from as early as 3,600 BC. You can read about what how the chamber was used over 5,000 years ago here: https://t.co/aBEI9VC3D0  Tourism-Culture-Arts-Gaeltacht-Sport-Media (@DeptCulturelRL) January 19, 2018

'Such vigilance is extremely important to us in helping to protect and understand our archaeological heritage.

'The excavation has provided a glimpse into prehistoric Ireland over 5,000 years ago.

'Such discoveries show the enduring capacity of archaeology to enthral and demonstrate how advances in scientific research are affording us a better understanding of Ireland's ancient past and its people.'
Posted 1/19/18

The public is invited to attend the 94th annual Webster County Diversified Agriculture Conference, scheduled to start at 8:30 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 27, at Faith Southern Baptist Church, 1002 S. 
A High Court judge has suggested deciding what reporters can reveal about a case in which two men want Google to stop linking their names to internet information referring to criminal convictions may prove difficult.

The two men say the convictions are more than a decade old and legally spent.

Both have taken legal action against Google bosses arguing they have a right to be forgotten.

Judge says deciding what journalists can say about Google trial may prove difficult (PA/Peter Byrne)

A judge is due to analyse rival arguments at a trial later this year.

Mr Justice Nicklin says a balance will need to be struck between open justice and not revealing the information the two men say should be forgotten.

The judge examined a number of legal issues at a High Court hearing in London on Thursday and has outlined his thoughts in a written analysis.

He has barred journalists from revealing the mens identities in coverage of the case  following applications from their lawyers  pending further discussion about reporting.

These two claims will be the first cases in England & Wales in which the right to be forgotten will be considered by the court, said the judge.

The very important principle of open justice applies to all cases that come before the courts, but there is likely to be a substantial and obviously legitimate interest in these two cases because they are novel and because of the issues that are raised.

The reason that reporting restrictions are sought by the claimants in this case is that, if they were named (or otherwise identified), reports of this case would lead to the publication again of the very information which they argue should be allowed to be forgotten.

In other words, without reporting restrictions, the claimants would destroy by the legal proceedings that which they are seeking by those proceedings to protect.

He suggested that one solution would be to stage hearings behind closed doors.

In some cases, the only way in which the court can preserve the information that is sought to be protected, pending the courts decision as to whether it should be, is by holding the hearing in private and by excluding the public and media from the whole or part of the proceedings, he said.

The court strives to avoid that. It is a measure of last resort because it prevents the public and press from being able to see and report on those proceedings that are held in private.

Even when cases are heard in private, the Court will  wherever possible  give a public judgment, in suitable terms, that enables an explanation to be given as to the nature of the proceedings, what has been decided and why but without destroying that which the claimant is trying to protect.

He added: The reporting of this case presents challenges in striking the correct balance.
Catalonias fugitive former president, who is being sought by Spain over a foiled secession bid, will risk arrest by travelling to Denmark next week for a university debate.

Carles Puigdemont plans to make the trip from Belgium to Copenhagen as he tries to get his old job back and step up pressure on Spanish authorities, which have said that a fugitive abroad cannot be the Catalan regional president.

The University of Copenhagen announced a debate for Monday in the Danish capital on Catalonia and Europe at a Crossroads for Democracy. Janni Brixen, a media officer with the universitys Faculty of Social Science, said Mr Puigdemont would attend in person.

A spokeswoman for Mr Puigdemonts party also confirmed that he was planning to travel to Copenhagen and attend the debate representing the legitimate government of Catalonia.

Demonstrations continue outside the Catalan parliament (AP)

Mr Puigdemont is being investigated for possible rebellion, sedition and embezzlement linked to a unilateral declaration of independence last autumn in the north-eastern Spanish region of Catalonia.

A Spanish Supreme Court judge dropped an extradition request to Belgium in early December after it became clear that authorities in Brussels would probably agree to send him back, but that they would be restricting the crimes that he could be judged for in Spain.

The separatist politician still faces detention if he returns to Spain, but is free to travel elsewhere unless the judge re-activates European and international arrest warrants against him.

Mr Puigdemont is seeking to be back in charge of affairs in Catalonia, even if it is from self-imposed exile in Belgium.

Mr Puigdemont risks arrest (AP)

If I have to choose between being an inmate or a president, Id rather be a president, even from afar, he told Catalonias public radio on Friday.

At least now I can do things that I wouldnt be able to do in prison, he said, referring to the help that new technologies could provide.

The October secession attempt led Spanish central authorities to take direct control of the north-eastern region, disband the Catalan cabinet and call an early regional election.

Results failed to break the political deadlock, granting separatists a slim parliamentary majority that in theory would allow them to form government. But with ousted Catalan Cabinet members under investigation, jailed or in Belgium and facing arrest if they return home, the regional parliament must decide by the end of January whether to permit Mr Puigdemonts re-election.
Mauricio Pellegrino has told his Southampton players to turn their season on its head in the next month.

Southampton could drop into the relegation zone by the time they host Tottenham at St Marys on Sunday, with pressure mounting on manager Pellegrino after no wins in 10 Premier League encounters.

Saints face Brighton, West Brom and Liverpool in a busy run of league action, with the FA Cup clash against Watford sandwiched in the middle.

Southampton manager Mauricio Pellegrino has work to do (John Walton/PA)

Pellegrino still expects Saints to add January recruits despite missing out on Theo Walcott, who joined Everton from Arsenal  but has called on his current crop to transform their campaign.

We are not happy with our position but in three or four weeks time everything can change. Its part of our competition, he said.

I feel in our team the spirit is really good and everybody is conscious about what we need.

I receive these messages from players every day, and we have to convert these feelings into stats.

Saints are rumoured to be closing in on deals for Monaco striker Guido Carrillo and Spartak Moscow wing Quincy Promes, and Pellegrino refused to rule out moves for either reported target.

When quizzed on Carrillo, Pellegrino replied: Hes a player that I know and the club knows well, but I will not talk about someone that is not here.

The player is either 100 per cent yours, or nothing.

On Promes, Pellegrino continued: Hes an important player, an international.

But again, I dont want to talk about him because hes not our player and we have to respect that.

The players we want to bring in are obviously offensive.

If we bring someone in it will be important for everybody at the club.

We have to wait and I repeat that the board is working very hard.

The market is very hard, to bring in players is easy  but to bring in good players when a lot of teams are fighting for them, thats difficult.

We have to wait for players where we are sure, otherwise it doesnt make sense.

To bring anybody just to bring in someone? No.

On missing out on Walcott, Pellegrino added: That is part of the market.

The market has got offers and demands.

I think we did everything to try to bring this possibility here but we have to accept that. Its part of our job. Negotiations have two sides.
Henry Bolton faced a fresh blow to his leadership today after a Ukip MEP quit the party in protest at his leadership.

The Ukip leader is battling to cling on to his job after his glamour model girlfriend Jo Marney, 25, was revealed to have sent racist messages about Prince Harry's fiance Meghan Markle.

The crisis-hit party is due to hold a crunch meeting this weekend that will seal the former soldier's fate as leader.

And today Ukip MEP Jonathan Arnott quit the party saying Mr Bolton is 'not the right man for the job' and hitting out at 'backstabbing and shameless self promotion' in the party.

The Ukip leader Henry Bolton (pictured with Jo Marney on the tube on Wednesday night) is battling to cling on to his job after his glamour model girlfriend was exposed for sending racist tweets about Prince Harry's fiance Meghan Markle

Announcing his resignation, he said: 'Politics has a reputation for nastiness, in-fighting, backstabbing, shameless self-promotion and over-inflated egos.

'That's not what it should be.'

Mr Arnott, who was the party's treasury spokesman, added: 'With yet another new leader came new forlorn hope.

'Over the last week it has become abundantly clear that the current leader is not the right person for the job, but likewise that those jockeying for position and hoping to take his job would be no better.

'Politics has always been like that, but as true believers in a cause, we always thought ourselves to be different. Once, maybe, but no longer.'

Mr Bolton is expected to face a vote of no confidence at an emergency meeting of Ukip's National Executive Committee in London on Sunday.

Ukip MEP Jonathan Arnott quit the party saying Mr Bolton is 'not the right man for the job' and hitting out at 'backstabbing and shameless self promotion' in the party (file pic)

Statement on my resignation from the UK Independence Party:https://t.co/hKkegMI6Q5  Jonathan Arnott (@JonathanArnott) January 19, 2018

The crunch meeting was called to discuss his leadership after offensive remarks made by his former girlfriend Ms Marney plunged the party into crisis.

Mr Bolton, 54, left his wife and young children over Christmas to start a relationship with the ex glamour model 30 years his junior.

He said he dumped her a few days ago after it was revealed she sent racist messages about Prince Harry's fiance and he was told by senior Ukippers he had to choose between her and the party.

Ms Marney called the US actress a 'dumb little commoner' whose mixed-race background would 'taint' the royal family.

Henry Bolton, 54, left his wife and young children over Christmas to start a relationship with the ex glamour model 30 years his junior (pictured together). He will face a crunch meeting on Sunday where other Ukipers will decided whether to oust him from the leadership

But the pair were spotted canoodling in a restaurant in a London wine bar on Wednesday night.

Ukip has lurched from one crisis to the next ever since Nigel Farage quit as leader and is now facing serious questions about whether it can survive this latest crisis.

Mr Bolton is the sixth party leader in 18 months, but his tenure may be cut short at the meeting this weekend.

Mr Arnott said the party has been embroiled in a series of embarrassing crises ever since Mr Farage left.

He said: 'The unpleasant nature  the Steven Woolfe fracas, the Diane James fiasco, the Anne-Marie Waters debacle, the John-Rees Evans bizarreness, the countless leaks, briefings and character assassinations  became almost as bad as the political establishment I had hoped to counter.'
Witnesses to a British Army operation in which 10 people were killed in 1971 are being urged to make statements about what they saw.

A Catholic priest and a mother of eight were among those gunned down during three days of shooting involving members of the Parachute Regiment in west Belfast after the introduction of internment in August that year.

The episode is referred to by bereaved families as the Ballymurphy massacre.

Relatives of those killed in Ballymurphy in 1971, including John Teggart (front centre), whose father Danny was shot dead by soldiers, have campaigned for years for inquests to be held (PA).

With inquests due to be held in September, the Coroners Court appealed for anyone who has not made a statement or anyone who wants to change their account to come to a special meeting.

The Coroners investigator may ask to take a statement from you on the day or may make arrangements to take a statement from you on a later date, a spokeswoman for the office said.

If you were a witness to the shootings or if you have other information to provide about the shootings, this is an important opportunity for you to assist the inquest.

You may also be asked to attend the inquest to give evidence, but the necessary arrangements for that will be made at a later stage.

Coroners staff will be on hand to liaise with witnesses at Belfast Metropolitan College on the Springfield Road in Belfast on February 1.

Witnesses are being asked to be prepared to give brief details of their account of the events in Ballymurphy around August 9, 10 and 11 in 1971.

Those who died were Francis Quinn, Father Hugh Mullan, Noel Phillips, Joan Connolly, Daniel Teggart, Joseph Murphy, Edward Doherty, John Laverty, Joseph Corr and John James McKerr.

As well as the 10 people shot, another man died of a heart attack following an alleged violent confrontation with British soldiers troops in the estate.

The coroners office also said other arrangements can be made for witnesses who are not comfortable attending the day-long meeting or if they cannot make it.

The inquests, among 50 Troubles-related legacy cases to be examined, are being heard by Justice Siobhan Keegan.
A baby has been killed and 17 other people were injured when a motorist drove into a crowded promenade along Copacabana beach in Brazil.

Rio de Janeiros municipal health department confirmed that a 68-year-old Australian citizen was among those injured in the Thursday night incident and and is breathing with the help of a respirator.

Eight other people remain in hospital, many with broken bones. The state health department confirmed the death of a baby girl.

The driver claimed he has epilepsy (AP)

The famous Brazilian seafront location was crowded on a hot summer night when the car mounted the kerb.

Police have said the incident was not a terrorist attack, and have arrested the driver.

The driver told police he had not been drinking but lost control of his car. He also said that he has epilepsy.
A fugitive who complained on Facebook about his unflattering police mugshot has been arrested.

Wayne Savage was wanted by Avon and Somerset Police for allegedly breaching a court order and failing to appear in court.

The 33-year-old, from the Highbridge area of Somerset, had been due to appear in court to face charges of criminal damage, common assault and traffic offences.

The force posted an appeal for Savage on its Facebook page and he responded, saying: Could have put up better pic.

Wayne Savage has commented on Avon and Somerset Polices Facebook appeal for him (Avon and Somerset Police/PA)

He went on to respond to a number of people who shared or commented on the post, branding one person a snitch and saying that the polices description of his physical appearance was not accurate.

Savage also posted a gif which showed a cat driving a car with a caption saying F*** the police.

An Avon and Somerset Police spokesman said: We had issued an appeal to find the 33-year-old. Savage was arrested on Friday and is currently in police custody.

He was apprehended within two days of our appeal and wed like to thank our Facebook users, as well as the wider public, for their overwhelming response to the appeal.
Donald Trumps first year as President of the United States has been a story of Twitter and TV news, at least according to his social media activity.

More than a third of Mr Trumps tweets were sent before 10am, when he is most likely to tweet about topics which get his supporters agitated, according to new analysis of the presidents Twitter feed by the Press Association.

Of the 2,267 tweets posted, almost 40% fall between 6am and 10am, when Mr Trump is famously rumoured to regularly watch the Fox News channels breakfast show Fox And Friends.

And while there is a noticeable dip in his social media activity between mid-morning and mid-afternoon, Mr Trump is often back on Twitter before 4pm.

President Trump is busiest on Twitter in the morning, with another uptick in the early evening. PA Graphics/Press Association

Previous research by the Press Association found the president favoured tweeting about himself over any other topic, closely followed by tweets about America. But it is the subjects which get his supporters riled up that dominate his morning routine.

Two-thirds of all Mr Trumps tweets mentioning Russia or Hillary Clinton were sent between 6am and 10am, compared to only a third of his tweets about himself or America. Similarly, more tweets about the New York Times (65%), CNN (62%) and Mexico (62%) were sent in the earlier hours of the presidents day than at other times.

Tweets about himself and the country he leads, by comparison, are spread out across the day, only hitting the same volume by mid afternoon.

Four out of five of the presidents most popular tweets from the year were published in this morning period. The only outlier came when he boasted about having a much bigger & more powerful nuclear button than North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un 10 minutes after Fox Newss evening news hour reported similar statements from Kim.

The president just threatened a nuclear strike while live-tweeting a Fox News segment.



Left, Fox, 7:37 pm

Right, Trump, 7:49 pm pic.twitter.com/vJciYH6LIA  Matthew Gertz (@MattGertz) January 3, 2018

Much has been made of the presidents daily Twitter routine over the last year and his relationship with Fox News.

Matthew Gertz, a research fellow at Media Matters for America, has spent months tracing the parallels between the presidents Twitter feed and Foxs programming schedule, noting the feedback loop between the network, Mr Trump and his supporters.

My conclusion has been that he is literally live tweeting episodes of Fox And Friends, which he appears to watch most days, Mr Gertz told the Press Association.

Mr Trumps mentions of Fox certainly fit that pattern, appearing in his tweets more than any other news organisation and Gertz suggested that Fox is feeding the presidents feuds with their competitors.

Fox And Friends and Fox more broadly has a conflicting relationship with the press and frequently run segments criticising other media, he said.

So the president is seeing Fox And Friends segments and responding to those in real time and it is fuelling his fights with the rest of the media.

The same would explain Mr Trumps seemingly scattergun choice of subject matter in the mornings, as Mr Gertz says he follows the broad range of material covered by the breakfast show.

One fact I find alarming about this is the way that Trumps tweets are inherently newsworthy, Mr Gertz continued.

So the way he mimics Fox means that the rest of the media ends up chasing the obsessions of the Fox network. It changes the news cycle dramatically and very quickly.
Fianna Fail grassroots members have been urged to oppose Micheal Martins call for the liberalisation of abortion laws.

After his significant intervention in the debate, going against a policy agreed at the ard fheis in October, Mr Martin said it was a personal decision and not a party political one.

The opposition leader called for the Eighth Amendment, which gives equal right to life to mother and the unborn child, to be removed from the Constitution.

He also said he would support access to abortion in the first trimester.

But Bobby Aylward, TD for Carlow-Kilkenny, said the majority of ordinary rank-and-file Fianna Fail members were anti-abortion.

He encouraged the grassroots to oppose Mr Martins call for reform.

And he also called for other TDs and senators who hold anti-abortion views to make their opinions known.

Fianna Fails Bobby Aylward has called on party grassroots to oppose abortion reform.

We need to let our voice be known and that Fianna Fail is not gone all liberal all of a sudden and on some kind of a social agenda, that were still there to represent the people that elected us, Mr Aylward said.

Im going to call on like-minded members next week and Im going to see if I could get more of them to make their position known on pro-life.

I was taken aback and surprised but having said that it is his (Micheal Martins) personal opinion and hes entitled to that.

We all agreed that, its an open vote, a free vote.

Mr Aylward said he wanted the grassroots of the party to know he was prepared to fight for retention of the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution as agreed at the ard fheis.

Mr Martin made his position known on the second day of the Dail debate on the future of the constitutional restrictions on abortion.

In a departure from previous positions on the issue, the Fianna Fail leader said he changed his mind after hearing the evidence in a specially-convened Oireachtas committee.

That committee has recommended repeal of the Eighth Amendment. It also backs unrestricted access to abortion in the first 12 weeks.

A referendum on the issue is expected in late May or early June.

Mr Martin told the Dail he was keen to see legal advice being drafted for the Government on whether the Eighth Amendment should be repealed or repealed and replaced.

He also said provisions should be made for cases of fatal foetal abnormality and serious threats to the health of the mother.

Fianna Fail TD for Waterford Mary Butler agreed with Mr Aylward.

She said Mr Martins position was now at odds with the majority of the parliamentary party.

My position in relation to the Eighth Amendment is completely now different to what the leader articulated, said Ms Butler.

Probably two-thirds of the parliamentary party would be of the same mindset of me.

We dont want people, Fianna Fail supporters and members feeling that there is only one viewpoint being articulated in relation to this very, very contentious issue.
New City minister John Glen has used his first meeting with Square Mile firms to urge bank chiefs to look beyond Brexit and focus on Londons strengths in fintech and green finance.

The Conservative MP had been invited to speak to a group of chief financial officers (CFO) from some of Europes leading banks about the challenges and opportunities arising from Britains divorce from the bloc.

But while the clock is ticking for London-based banks who are weeks away from triggering contingency plans that could see thousands of jobs leave the UK, Mr Glen tried to turn attention to what London had to offer towards the markets of the future.

The Economic Secretary updated the CFOs on the latest progress made in the Brexit negotiations, including the UKs aim to agree an implementation period as soon as possible, and invited them to share their insight, the Treasury said.

He also invited the CFOs to look beyond the UKs exit from the European Union, reiterating the UKs leading position in the markets of the future, such as Green Finance and FinTech, the statement explained.

It marked Mr Glens first set of banking meetings since being handed the role as part of Prime Minister Theresa Mays reshuffle last week, and comes at a critical time for the sector.

Without a transition deal in place, banks based in the country will lose passporting rights, which allow them to do business across the single market  creating less incentive to stay in the UK.

EU lender Deutsche Bank is preparing to settle more of its transactions out of Frankfurt, and is likely to move hundreds of staff from London.

UBS has also signalled that it could move up to 1,000 of its near 5,000-strong UK staff involved in operations dependent on passporting to the EU, while Swiss peer Credit Suisse is one of the last major banks yet to announce its post-Brexit plans.

The City minister was invited to speak to European bank finance chiefs (PA)

The minister missed a round-table meeting with the likes of Barclays, Lloyds of London and Goldman Sachs hosted by Mrs May and Chancellor Philip Hammond last week.

While Mr Glens portfolio explicitly covers Brexits impact on financial services, he had already scheduled in a parliamentary debate on the role of banks in communities, which covered a recent spate of branch closures.

Mr Glen is the fourth politician to be handed the financial services and Brexit brief since July 2016, and will have big shoes to fill after taking over from Stephen Barclay.

Mr Barclay  who is now a minister in the Department of Health and Social Care  was well regarded in the City during his six months in the role.

He had experience of financial regulation and crime prevention as a director of regulatory affairs and later as the head of anti-money laundering and sanctions at Barclays retail bank.

Mr Barclay was also qualified as a solicitor and was a member of the Public Accounts Committee from 2010 to 2014, according to his website.

But Mr Glen is no stranger to the corporate world, having graduated with a Master of Business Administration degree from Cambridge University in 2003 and working for consultancy firm Accenture, which included managing the companys relationship with the World Economic Forum.

However, City sources have told the Press Association that the numerous handovers of the Brexit and financial services brief have been frustrating for an industry that has been crying out for clarity on policy on Britains EU divorce.

The Brexit portfolio was previously held by former commercial secretary Baroness Lucy Neville-Rolfe over the first six months of 2017, with those duties having been transferred from then-City minister Simon Kirby amid reports that senior Square Mile executives were unhappy with his banking credentials.

But firms are understood to appreciate the relationship developed with the Chancellor in recent months, with Mr Hammond having taken a lead role in Treasury meetings with foreign banks since 2017.

Hopes for a bespoke deal for financial services were shot down by French President Emmanuel Macron, who told Mrs May on Thursday that the UK would have to abide by European legal jurisdiction and contribute to the Brussels budget if the City of London is to be covered by a deal after Brexit.
Posted 1/18/18

A program to discuss Missouris complicated fence law will be from 6:30 to 9 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 23, at the Dallas County Extension Center, in the basement of the Dallas County Courthouse in 
A teenager who bragged about gaining access to the accounts of senior US intelligence officials was annoyed at the corrupt and cold-blooded American government, a court has heard.

Kane Gamble, 18, targeted high-profile figures such as then CIA chief John Brennan and deputy director of the FBI Mark Giuliano between June 2015 and February 2016, from his family home on a Leicestershire housing estate.

Gamble founded the group Crackas With Attitude (CWA) which went online to claim responsibility for the attacks on numerous email and phone accounts.

Several sensitive documents were reportedly obtained from Mr Brennans private inbox, including a 47-page application for top-secret security clearance.

A Comcast cable TV and broadband account belonging to James Clapper, director of national intelligence under president Barack Obama, was also targeted.

Other names on the list of people targeted included Mr Obamas deputy national security adviser Avril Haines, his senior science and technology adviser John Holdren, the then secretary of homeland security Jeh Johnson and FBI special agent Amy Hess.

Gamble also gained access to the FBIs Law Enforcement Exchange Portal, using Mr Giulianos credentials.

Prosecutor John Lloyd-Jones QC told a sentencing hearing at the Old Bailey: Kane Gamble gained access to the communications accounts of some very high-ranking US intelligence officials and government employees.

The group incorrectly have been referred to as hackers. The group in fact used something known as social engineering, which involves socially manipulating people  call centres or help desks  into performing acts or divulging confidential information.

Gamble also used an anonymous Twitter profile to talk to journalists.

Kane Gamble targeted high-profile figures from his family home on a Leicestershire housing estate (Joe Giddens/PA)

Mr Lloyd-Jones said: He told a journalist, It all started started by me getting more and more annoyed at how corrupt and cold-blooded the US government are. So I decided to do something about it.

To gain his victims personal details, Gamble impersonated them, fooling employees at companies such at Comcast and Verizon to divulge personal details.

He used the phone numbers he obtained to call and taunt his victims and their families, and take control of their devices, including iPads.

Gamble used a TV in Mr Johnsons family home to post the message I own you.

He leaked some of the information gained through accessing phone and email accounts  including thousand of email contacts  using various websites including WikiLeaks.

In online conversations with other CWA members Gamble said he was targeting the high-ranking officials because the US was killing innocent people across the world.

Mr Lloyd-Jones said: Access to Mr Brennans communications account allowed the group to obtain extremely sensitive documents referring to, amongst other things, military operations, intelligence operations, in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Gamble then posted anonymously on Twitter saying: @CIA set your game up homies. We own everything. #freepalestine #CWA.

The court heard that Gamble accessed phone lines to transfer calls to the free Palestine movement.

Last October, Gamble, of Linford Crescent, Coalville, pleaded guilty at Leicester Crown Court to eight charges of performing a function with intent to secure unauthorised access to computers and two charges of unauthorised modification of computer material.

Gamble, who the defence submits has autistic spectrum disorder, was aged 15 and 16 at the time of the offences.

He will be sentenced at the Old Bailey when the hearing resumes at a later date.
Robin van Persie has agreed to rejoin his first club Feyenoord after 14 years away.

The Dutch striker, best known for spells with Arsenal and Manchester United, is to terminate his deal with Turkish club Fenerbahce.

The Rotterdam side announced the news on Friday, saying Van Persie, now 34, would officially join them on Monday.

Van Persie left to join Arsenal in 2004, going on to score 132 goals for the Gunners, winning the FA Cup in 2005.

He left to join Manchester United in the summer of 2012  in a situation reminiscent of the current one with Alexis Sanchez  and was the crucial factor as United snatched the Premier League title back from Manchester City.

Van Persie, who won 102 caps for Holland and scored 22 times for Feyenoord in his first spell, has been in Turkey since leaving Old Trafford in 2015.
US President Donald Trump and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer have held eleventh-hour talks to avert a government shutdown.

The discussions came as Washington is locked in a partisan stalemate over politically fraught legislation to protect about 700,000 younger immigrants from being deported.

Republicans and Democrats in Congress and the White House traded blame for the possible shutdown with just hours remaining before the midnight deadline. Mr Trump phoned the New York senator to invite him to the White House to try to reach an accord.

Donald Trump is hoping to avert a shutdown of the US government (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

.@realDonaldTrump should heed his own words:

if there is a shutdown I think it would be a tremendously negative mark on the president of the United States. He's the one that has to get people together. #TrumpShutdown pic.twitter.com/pqbGAQf1Tx  Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) January 19, 2018

Democrats in the Senate have served notice that they will filibuster a four-week, government-wide funding bill that cleared the House on Thursday evening. That could expose them to charges that they are responsible for a shutdown, but they point the finger at Republicans instead.

Theyre in charge, Mr Schumer said on Friday as he entered his office. Theyre not talking to us. Theyre totally paralysed and inept. Theres no one to negotiate with.

Republicans controlling the narrowly split chamber argue that it is the Democrats who are holding the government hostage over demands to protect dreamer immigrants brought to the country as children and now here illegally.

And the White House piled on, trying to paint the impending action as the Schumer shutdown. But officials said the president has been working to avert one.

Senate Democrats, do not shut down the federal government. You are jeopardizing funding for our military and health insurance for our children. That is wrong. #SchumerShutdown  Governor Walker (@GovWalker) January 19, 2018

As a shutdown loomed, the White House said that Mr Trump would not leave for a planned weekend trip to Florida. The president had been set to leave on Friday afternoon to celebrate the one-year anniversary of his inauguration at his Palm Beach estate.

The impact of the potential shutdown on the planned trip by Mr Trump and much of his Cabinet to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, next week was still undetermined.

Mr Trump entered the fray early on Friday morning, mentioning the House-approved bill on Twitter, adding: Democrats are needed if it is to pass in the Senate  but they want illegal immigration and weak borders. Shutdown coming? We need more Republican victories in 2018!

Mr Trump has given Congress until March 5 to save the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals programme protecting young immigrants, so there is absolutely no reason to tie those things together right now, budget director Mick Mulvaney said at the White House.

On Capitol Hill, senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, said he hoped to vote on the House-passed bill soon, and added that Americans at home would be watching to see which senators make the patriotic decision and which vote to shove aside veterans, military families and vulnerable children to hold the entire country hostage until we pass an immigration bill.

A Senate Republican aide said Mr McConnell was not attending the White House meeting because Mr Trump had only issued the invitation to Mr Schumer.

In the House, Republicans muscled the measure through on a mostly party-line 230-197 vote after making modest concessions to chamber conservatives and defence hawks.

The chamber backed away from a plan to adjourn for a one-week recess on Friday afternoon, meaning the Republican-controlled House could wait to see if a last-minute compromise would be reached requiring a new vote.

Before he took office, @realDonaldTrump was happy to say the president owns the blame for a government shutdown. As President, he blames Democrats. That tells you all you need to know. #TrumpShutdown  Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) January 19, 2018

A test vote on a filibuster by Senate Democrats appeared likely before the shutdown deadline. Mr Schumer was rebuffed in an attempt to vote on Thursday night.

We cant keep kicking the can down the road, said Mr Schumer, insisting on more urgency in talks on immigration. In another month, well be right back here, at this moment, with the same web of problems at our feet, in no better position to solve them.

The short-term measure would be the fourth stopgap spending bill since the current budget year started in October. A pile of unfinished Capitol Hill business has been on hold, first as Republicans ironed out last autumns tax bill and now as Democrats insist on progress on immigration.

For the first time in our nations history, we could have a government shutdown while one party controls the White House, the U.S. Senate, and the House of Representatives. A government shutdown is 100% avoidable.  Kirsten Gillibrand (@SenGillibrand) January 19, 2018

Talks on a budget deal to ease tight spending limits on both the Pentagon and domestic agencies are on hold, as is progress on a huge 80 billion dollar-plus disaster aid bill.

House Republican leaders sweetened the pending stopgap measure with legislation to extend for six years a popular health care programme for children from low-income families and two-year delays in unpopular Obamacare taxes on medical devices and generous employer-provided health plans.

AP
Theresa May and Donald Trump will meet for talks at the World Economic Forum in Davos next week, Downing Street said.

The Prime Minister and the US President will hold a bilateral meeting in the margins of the Swiss summit.

.@POTUS looks forward to having a bilateral meeting with @theresa_may in Davos next week to further strengthen the US-UK Special Relationship.  Kayleigh McEnany 45 Archived (@PressSec45) January 19, 2018

Downing Street and the White House made the announcement just a day after reports Mr Trump would snub the PM at the gathering.

Theresa May will meet with Donald Trump in Davos (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

A No 10 spokesman said: The Prime Minister will have a bilateral meeting with President Trump in the margins of the World Economic Forum at Davos in Switzerland next week.
Newcastle manager Rafael Benitez insists he is not even thinking about his own future after the apparent collapse of Amanda Staveleys takeover bid.

The Yorkshire businesswoman placed Benitez at the centre of her plans for the club.

She remains adamant her offer is still on the table, but Spaniard Benitez has revealed he was told two or three weeks ago by current owner Mike Ashley that the deal was off.

Amanda Staveley was the centre of attention at a recent Newcastle match (Owen Humphreys/PA)

News of the breakdown sparked concern among fans that the former Liverpool and Real Madrid boss could walk away from St James Park, but he was coy when asked about his position ahead of Saturdays trip to Premier League leaders Manchester City.

He said: There has been a lot of speculation about the takeover, but officially he told me it was not going to happen. Fair enough, I have no problem.

My future is Manchester City now, and after Chelsea and then Burnley and Crystal Palace and so on.

That doesnt change anything. Im not thinking every day about whether this will happen or not, it doesnt change anything.

Rafa: Our fans dont need any message from me. They have been fantastic all season. We will have a lot in Manchester and they will support the team. We have to be united. #NUFC  Newcastle United FC (@NUFC) January 19, 2018

Staveley is said to have been surprised by Ashleys decision to bring an end to negotiations on Tuesday evening, but Benitezs admission that he knew weeks ago has at least allowed him get on with the business of trying to strengthen his squad.

The current owner has sanctioned a limited recruitment drive.

Benitez said: They told me, Give us a list of names, and we are working on that. It was really positive, the message, so we will see where we are at the end of the window.

#nufc boss Rafael Benitez addressing the media this afternoon. pic.twitter.com/4kYyq1iK7f  Damian Spellman (@DamianSpellman) January 19, 2018

We are working on it. I dont know if anything is closer, but we have the green light to bring players in.

That is positive, that there will be some money spent this month. It will be a red light when we get to the end of the transfer window, but it is a green light now.
As United States President Donald Trump today completes his first year in office -- which many analysts describe as a reign of dangerous chaos and unpredictability -- a senior Senator of his own Republican Party last Wednesday made a historic speech which many compared to the famous, I have a dream oration of Martin Luther King Junior.



Senator Jeff Flake took to the Senate floor, with his speech being telecast live all over the world -- to rebuke President Trump for his repeated attacks on the media, regarded as the one of the four institutions which maintain democracy through checks and balances.



He said, Mr. President, near the beginning of the document that made us free, our Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson wrote: We hold these truths to be self-evident ... So, from our very beginnings, our freedom has been predicated on truth. The founders were visionary in this regard, understanding well that good faith and shared facts between the governed and the government would be the very basis of this ongoing idea of America. As the distinguished former member of this body, Daniel Patrick Moynihan of New York, famously said: Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts. During the past year, I am alarmed to say that Senator Moynihans proposition has been tested more severely than at any time in our history.



The Senator said he was making his speech to talk about the truth, and its relationship to democracy. For without truth, and a principled fidelity to truth and to shared facts, American democracy would not last. He lamented that 2017 was a year which saw the truth -- objective, empirical evidence-based truth -- more battered and abused than any other in the history of the US, at the hands of the most powerful figure in the government.



It was a year which saw the White House enshrine alternative facts into the American lexicon, as justification for what used to be known simply as good old-fashioned falsehoods. It was the year in which an unrelenting daily assault on the constitutionally-protected free media was launched by that same White House, an assault that was unprecedented and unwarranted. Senator Flake whose speech is still being analysed by international political specialists said, The enemy of the people, was what the US President called the free media in 2017. It was a testament to the condition of US democracy that its own president used words infamously spoken by Soviet dictator Josef Stalin to describe his enemies.



He noted that so fraught with malice was the phrase, enemy of the people, that even former Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev forbade its use, telling the Soviet Communist Party that the phrase had been introduced by Mr. Stalin to annihilate such individuals who disagreed with the dictator.



This alone should be a source of great shame for us in Congress, especially for those of us in the presidents party. For they are shameful, repulsive statements. The president has it precisely backward -- despotism is the enemy of the people. The free media are the despots enemy, which makes the free media the guardian of democracy, he said adding that when a figure in power reflexively called any news that did not suit him as fake news, it was that person who should be the figure of suspicion, not the media. The Washington Post, famous for bringing down President Richard Nixon in the Watergate scandal of the 1970s said this week Mr. Trump had used the words fake news more than 400 times last year.



Sri Lanka has much to learn from Mr. Trumps attack on the free media and the fake news scenario. To a large extent the US media has maintained high ethics, checking and double checking reports and giving both sides of a story in a fair, balanced and accurate manner. While our government has restored media freedom to a large extent and needs to maintain it, our media also need to be ethical and balanced, lest fake news hits Sri Lanka also.
The Body Shop in Colombo is ringing in the New Year with brand new bath and body formulas to complement three ultimate shower routines. Find and indulge in the products - Tahitian Tiara Body Wash, Balkan Juniper Bath and Shower Gel, and Adriatic Peony Bath and Shower Cream - by visiting The Body Shops flagship store at Bagatale Road and at Odel, Alexandra Place.

This trio of deliciously named indulgences fit in perfectly with three skincare routines devised by the experts at The Body Shop. The Tahitian Tiare Body Wash is part of the Blissful Ritual, comprising of a range of indulgent bath and body products designed to replenish the body and mind. This shower oil-in-gel cleanses and scents skin with a fragrance inspired by the Hawaiian Kukui Cream. Monoi oil -a nourishing blend of coconut oil and tiare flower extract- melds with Community Trade moisturizing honey from Ethiopia and coconut oil from Samoa to create a heady, opulent fragrance that layers skin with a warm scent and leaves it feeling calm, de-stressed and relaxed. Massage onto damp skin in circular motions or pour under warm running water to use as a foaming bath.

Plump up The Body Shops Firming Ritual with the Balkan Juniper Bath and Shower Gel - this ritual is perfect for customers who want to invigorate their senses with refined textures and uplifting fragrances. The Balkan Juniper Bath and Shower Gel is inspired by the fragrance of Ethiopian Green Coffee Cream, with a delicious blend of energizing juniper berry fruit oil, stimulating caffeine and Community Trade moisturizing honey from Ethiopia. Massage onto damp skin in circular motions or pour under warm running water to use as a bubble bath- the formula gently cleanses skin to remove impurities and surface dirt and leaves it clean and invigoratingly scented.

The Relaxing Ritual is enhanced by the addition of the Adriatic Peony Bath and Shower Cream, a product that cleanses skin with a soothing fragrance inspired by the Japanese Camellia Cream. The formula is a blend of delicate peony flower extract and Community Trade moisturizing honey from Ethiopia. Massage onto damp skin in circular motions or pour under warm running water to use as a foaming bath cream for a floral fragrance, skin that feels soothed and a mind that feels completely at peace.
The head table, from left: Joint Apparel Association Forum Secretary General Tuli Cooray, Lanka Exhibitions and Conference Services (Pvt.) Ltd Chairman Dirk Flamer Caldera, Sri Lanka Apparel Institute Chairman Prof. Lakdas Fernando, Industry and Commerce Minister Rishad Bathiudeen, National Policies and Economic Affairs Deputy Minister Dr. Harsha De Silva, Joint Apparel Association Forum Chairman Sharad Amalean, Lanka Exhibitions and Conference Services (Pvt.) Ltd Managing Director Arjun Dharmadasa and Hairong Investments International (Pvt.) Ltd Managing Director Dr. Palitha Kohona

Bringing together suppliers and service organisations in the apparel industry in Sri Lanka, the Apparel Industry Suppliers Exhibition (AISEX) will be held from May 10th to 12th at the Sirimavo Bandaranaike Memorial Exhibition Center, BMICH premises.



Organised and managed by Lanka Exhibition and Conference Services in collaboration with the Sri Lanka Apparel Institute (SLAI), organisers hope to make it a platform in which the future development of the industry as a major sourcing hub for the apparel sector by 2020 would come to fruition.



Held every two years, AISEX 2018, the eighth edition of the exhibition will bring together a wide range of players, big and small, focused on the development of the industry together. Reinvigorated by the provision of GSP plus, the apparel industry is on the brink of taking every foreseeable step in a bid to take full advantage of the benefits allowed under the scheme. This is a benefit that is time stamped. As the country develops and reaches a higher per capita income, we will lose this opportunity. The time is now to make full use of what is given to us, Sri Lanka Apparel Institute Chairman Prof. Lakdas Fernando said.



Sri Lanka did not have the capacity to become a large scale manufacturing hub like China, Bangladesh or India. However, the country had the potential of converting to a major suppliers hub for the industry, with the added advantage and reputation of providing high quality garments in the region, an attribute that needed to be marketed and taken full advantage of, Prof. Fernando explained. Set in this backdrop, the Apparel Industry Suppliers Exhibition aims to bring all suppliers and service organisations in the sector under one roof and will focus on a wide range of textile machinery, accessories and services from many parts of the world.



AISEX will provide manufacturers of all sizes a platform expand existing manufacturing methods and possibilities of increasing production volumes through state of the art innovative technology.



the South Asian apparel market has been identified as the second largest in Asia, after China. AISEX will also focus on generating new opportunities closer to home for small scale local designers and manufactures an open door to enter the market regional and international market.



AISEX 2018 will provide the ideal platform for corporations to communicate amongst apparel related bodies in the region.



AISEX was first held in 1998. The latest innovations in apparels and global trends were displayed for the benefit of the Sri Lankan apparel industry. 20 years on, the ninth edition of AISEX sets out to attract innovators and trend setters both domestic and overseas to access, meet, learn and experience.
A point of pride common to most Sri Lankans is the nations rich cultural legacy. From ancient palaces and temples to complex irrigation and aqueduct systems, it is clear that ancient Sri Lankans had developed a sophisticated understanding of engineering, art, agriculture, and many other vital disciplines necessary for a civilization to develop and prosper.



Ultimately, it is the synthesis of such knowledge that is the true cultural hallmark of Sri Lankas ancient past and the common consensus today is that knowledge, skills and expertise are what will help drive the nation towards an equally bright future. However the journey ahead is challenging and while Sri Lankans have demonstrated tremendous resourcefulness and tenacity in advancing development, systemic bottlenecks have hampered the nations ability to develop. Today, the lack of skills and expertise is often cited as one of the most significant limitations to growth, particularly in relation to young Sri Lankans entering the workforce for the first time.



The urgency of resolving this growing skills gap is further exacerbated by Sri Lankas demographic dynamics. By 2041, over 25 percent of the countrys population is projected to reach the age of 60, while youth unemployment currently hovers at around 70 percent for those between the ages of 15-29. These are trends which do not bode well for the Sri Lankan economy however, while the country remains polarized on many different issues, there is common consensus on the fact that Sri Lankas next chapter of growth will hinge on successful outcomes in education and skills development.



Seeking to build capacity locally with a view to empowering Sri Lankans to resolve these challenges for themselves, the USAID-funded YouLead programme is collaborating with a wide array of partner organisations, government and non-governmental bodies, leading private sector companies and several local and international academic institutions, in order to bolster the countrys education systems and re-align them to help young Sri Lankans become more competitive in the labor market.



The role of education in the age of information



Prominent among YouLeads partners in this endeavor is Arizona State University (ASU). Having topped the US News and World Report list of Most Innovative Schools in the United States for three years in a row - ahead of Stanford, MIT and numerous other internationally renowned institutions - ASU is now leveraging its considerable expertise to help teachers and trainers across the countrys vocational training institutions to shape a common framework and understanding of education.



Leading the ASU team in Sri Lanka is Ann Nielsen, Associate Director of the Center for Advanced Studies in Global Education (CASGE) in the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College at ASU and Samuel DiGangi, Associate Professor of Special Education in the Division of Education Leadership and Innovation of Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College at ASU and affiliated faculty with the Center for Advanced Studies in Global Education.



Both are specialists in the field of pedagogy  the method and practice of teaching itself  and believe that concerted, home-grown reforms aimed at refining the approach that educators take in the classroom will be vital in bridging the growing skills gap. Having recently completed their second trip to the island during which the duo worked extensively with educators in vocational institutes across the island, they were eager to share some preliminary observations and insights into the challenges and opportunities in Sri Lankas vocational training sector.



Since arriving, we have met and shared experiences with some truly phenomenal Sri Lankan educators. All of the people that we worked with showed remarkable knowledge in their fields and were passionate and sincere about their motivation to improve the lives of their students. Our goal from has therefore been to leverage a process of cooperative collaboration to work with these educators to further refine their instructional techniques and delivery while improving their ability to monitor and evaluate student performance in a manner that promotes the best learning outcomes, Nielsen explained.



Fundamental to this process according to DiGangi, is the need for a common definition of pedagogical concepts fitted to Sri Lankan requirements that in turn form the foundation of a common, standardised approach to teaching.



Once we have all Sri Lankan educators working to commonly agreed-upon framework, we are able to ensure that they are able to replicate teaching best practices and extend them to cover the whole island. This will empower educators to build up their students to a professional level so that when they complete their training, they are already equipped with the skills necessary to have a strong impact in the workforce. The training programmes that we are developing are the first step in this journey. Through this process, we hope to consolidate their expert knowledge and content, and help them to draw connections to key pedagogical concepts. In many cases, these concepts are already embedded in their teaching methods and our job is to help to clearly define them so that the content and approach is consistent irrespective of where the teaching takes place, DiGangi stated.



A systematic, data-driven approach to education



The Sri Lankan education system is frequently described as outdated; often better at producing graduates who are skilled in taking tests and memorising, rather than ones capable of retaining and actively applying knowledge to solve real world problems.



However DiGangi notes that such issues are not unique to Sri Lanka, and that all over the world, there is a vibrant debate raging as to what constitutes an effective education system in the first place.



This is certainly a hot topic in the United States, especially in the field of comparative and international education and the feasibility and reliability of global learning metrics. While it is important to have these high-level debates to determine the ultimate direction these systems must take, it is much more difficult to influence this direction from the top-down. Meanwhile, educators are still focused on the immediate problems: What do I teach today and how do I teach it? That is a question which at some point, each individual educator needs to answer for themselves and their students. We believe that we can provide vital support to them by leading them to formative assessments that generate the information necessary to take such decisions.



A unique component of the YouLead project is that it takes a systematic approach to refining education outcomes with Nielsen and DiGangi emphasising that there are no quick-fixes or one-size-fits-all solutions to education, noting that a significant focus of their training was therefore related to mastery of learning, and the establishment of effective feedback mechanisms between teachers and students.



By generating precise information on the performance and needs of individual students, they believe that teachers can build co-operative learning techniques that will produce students capable of not just surviving but also thriving in the 21st century workforce.



In practice, it is often very difficult to separate these overlapping concepts and the training in many ways has been a process of analysing and taking apart this figurative puzzle to examine it from different perspectives. We evaluate different teaching techniques to identify what works, and what does not, and change our approach accordingly.



It is therefore vital to be science-based in our approach. Even in advanced economies, it is often the case that approaches to teaching are not informed by data and this is an area which ASU has built strong expertise. We are a bit unique in this regard since the use of data and research is not actually common practice in many parts of the education sector; even though should be. Basing our teaching goals, techniques and outcomes in data and facts, is the best way to build effective, scalable solutions to the skills gap to ensure the highest quality of education regardless of location, socioeconomic status or any other related factors. Nielsen reiterated.



Home-grown solutions to bridge the skills gap



Given that the mandate of the YouLead programme spans a four year period, the work on enhancing opportunities and improving the employability of young Sri Lankans through skills development is only just beginning. Moving forward, the US$12 million programme is working to directly improve the lives of over 100,000 young Sri Lankans by introducing 57 new or improved curricula, developed with the private sector and prioritised in high-growth sectors.



At present Sri Lanka faces significant challenges arising out of the mismatch between the type of skills that the school system produces against those needed in high-growth areas of the private sector. But we believe that it is why it is more important than ever to identify bright-spots in education. We must focus on our strengths and how they can be expanded and emulated in a way that provides the most benefit to the student, DiGangi noted.



Elaborating on one such example, he cited a recent training session for artisans entering the gem and jewelry industry during which students were given lessons across multiple administrative aspects of a the business in addition to training aimed at honing their craft.



These students were already quite skilled but it was such a great initiative on the part of that educator to also teach them about the administrative components of a business - from acquisition of materials to budgeting, and marketing. These students were essentially being provided with integrated training to create beautiful new products, while also being inspired to adopt an entrepreneurial mindset. This is the kind of powerful example that needs to be evaluated and emulated, Nielsen asserted.



Looming large over these discussions is the impending wave of technology enabled reform to not just what is taught, but how it is taught.



There are a lot of important and timely questions being raised as to the reliability of global learning metrics particularly with the emergence of Big Data technology. Today there is a greater opportunity than ever before to utilise data-driven research to enhance learning outcomes. Ultimately however, we must realize that all of this will boil down to how we approach education in the classroom.



The changes we make must be based on provable facts however, all of this will only be possible through the implementation of standards and approaches to education and teaching that are common across the island. It should make no difference whether you learn your skills in Jaffna or Colombo or Galle. Therefore it is very encouraging to see a real sense of urgency from the educators weve worked with. They are eager to improve and to implement these improvements into their range of teaching approaches. We believe this is the best indicator of a strong start. Nielsen stated.



While Nielsen and DiGangi have since returned to the United States, their engagement with the YouLead programme is set to continue over the next four years. Over the coming months, they will be in regular virtual communication with educators and programme partners in Sri Lanka as they collect and evidence on what they have been able to implement in their respective classrooms.



However, the end-game for ASU is to collaboratively design a self-sustaining, self-improving education system in Sri Lanka. In the process, Nielsen and DiGangi were keen to emphasise that two-way learning is also embedded in ASUs involvement in the YouLead programme.



Ultimately, we are also here to learn from these educators and co-develop future training components that we can apply locally, but also take back and even apply into our own teaching at Arizona State University both directly, and through our distance learning programmes, he concluded.
I come across numerous patients who have had body aches for years. They have made many visits to the doctor to find out what causes tiredness, lack of sleep, headaches, depression, forgetfulness and painful muscles and joints. Arthritis has been ruled out in many among them, but what actually is the reason for all these symptoms? Fibromyalgia might explain all of the above.



Fibromyalgia is a condition that mainly affects the muscles and sometime the joints. Its a collection of various symptoms and is a diagnosis made after ruling out more obvious reasons for joint pain like arthritis. Fibromyalgia might lead to significant problems at ones work place and is common among ladies.



In the following article I will explain some of the features of fibromyalgia, ways to diagnose this condition and some common mimics and methods of treatment. Its a common disorder affecting almost one in every twenty-five adults.



The beginning

The exact trigger for fibromyalgia is unknown. We think that its a combination of neurological, psychological and sometimes external factors that initiate the symptoms. Pain is a defensive response to any form of injury. It makes any living form withdraw from the stimuli. When we feel pain we try to get away from the harmful source and this itself protects our body from further damage. In fibromyalgia, there is no visible cause for the pain. The patients simply feel pain without any reason. Some research shows that patients who have fibromyalgia are more sensitive to pain compared to others. When the body repairs the damaged organ/part in a healthy person, pain tends to diminish or disappear. But in fibromyalgia, as there is no exact cause for pain, it tends to last longer.



Sleep disturbance is also associated with this condition and we believe that the patients never experience deep sleep. This could be because of the continuous pain. Not feeling refreshed upon awakening is a result of this haphazard sleep pattern.



Depression is associated with pain in any healthy person. As the pain tends to last longer, patients with fibromyalgia are more depressed. This could in turn affect sleep and vice versa. Normal pressure over healthy muscles/joints/parts of the body can cause severe pain and this was earlier used as a test to diagnose the condition. Unlike in arthritis when we examine the joints we do not find features of wear and tear or inflammation (red, hot, swollen joints).



Most patients with fibromyalgia feel very tired. As this is again a long standing complaint we call it chronic(long standing) fatigue (undue tiredness). Healthy people get tired after physically demanding tasks, but fibromyalgia patients feel tired even after periods of rest. There is a different condition called chronic fatigue syndrome which usually happens after a viral infection. This should not be confused with fibromyalgia.



A condition where the bowel habits become irregular with constipation and diarrhoea is called irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). IBS can be associated with fibromyalgia.



Common conditions

Certain diseases need to be ruled out before diagnosing fibromyalgia. For an example lack of blood particles (haemoglobin) can cause a condition called anaemia. Anaemia leads to breathlessness, tiredness, difficulty in concentrating etc. Treatment for anaemia is with iron or nutrients. Lack of thyroid hormones can cause lethargy, slowness, hoarse voice, weight gain, muscle aches, joint pain and constipation. This Hypothyroidism requires hormone supplements.



Arthritis is the commonest cause for joint pain. Some patients who have arthritis have muscle involvement with swelling. This could cause severe muscle pain and tenderness (pain when being pressed upon). Treatment for arthritis differs from the medication given for fibromyalgia.



Outlook

Before explaining the methods of treatment I would like to say a few words about the long-term outlook of fibromyalgia. The strange conclusion is that fibromyalgia doesnt actually cause any damage to either bones, muscles or joints. Having said that, it does cause severe mental agony. This is because it is a long lasting condition.



Fibromyalgia affects different patients in different ways. In some it is just a body ache which one could cope up with, but in others it leads to failure in life events and work. So as specialists we need to identify how severely this affects the individual patient, hence the need to individualise treatment.



Diagnosis

Earlier we used to diagnose fibromyalgia using eighteen different areas of the patients body. When pressure is applied over those areas it leads to a diagnosis of fibromyalgia. Now the method of diagnosis is different.



Patients with fibromyalgia should have widespread pain lasting three months or more, fatigue, waking up not feeling refreshed and problems with the thought processes like memory and understanding (cognitive symptoms).



The widespread pain is checked over nineteen areas of the body. And then a score is given between zero to nineteen. Fatigue, not wake refreshed and cognitive symptoms are again given a score between zero to four. This is based on how bad things are. Somatic symptoms are considered next and given a score between zero to four. Some examples for somatic symptoms are headache, pain/cramps in the abdomen, numbness/tingling, dizziness, insomnia, depression and constipation. After the scores are obtained we figure out whether the patient has fibromyalgia or not. But the most important task is to exclude serious underlying illnesses. There is no blood test or scan to diagnose fibromyalgia, so it is a challenge diagnosis to make sometimes.



Treatment

I prefer to simply divide the treatment strategies to ones involving medication and therapies that dont introduce medication. It is strongly advised to combine both methods to provide the best benefits to the patient.



There are various drugs used for fibromyalgia out of which antidepressants take centre stage. Usually antidepressants are given to treat low mood, but in fibromyalgia these are proven to help reduce the pain. Sometimes patients need to take these for a longer duration for the best results to be achieved. Some common examples of antidepressants used are amitriptyline and duloxetine.



Another category of drugs used are gabapentin and pregablin. These are also called neuropathic drugs and change the way we perceive pain. We start these with a very low dosage and gradually observe how the symptoms subside. A common sideeffect of these drugs is drowsiness. But as most fibromyalgia patients suffer from insomnia, this side effect is sometimes considered as an advantage.



Tablets which have a mixture of paracetamol and codeine are sometimes useful, but usually the normal pain killers and ointments are ineffective in treating fibromyalgia.



If we consider alternative therapy, I find exercise one of the best remedies for fibromyalgia. Exercise doesnt mean that patients have to run one or two kilometres a day. Brisk walking for about twenty minutes a day or climbing a staircase rapidly are also good forms of exercise that might be very soothing to the body. There are also stretching exercises that could be done without mobilising yourself too much.



Sometimes referral to physiotherapy and occupational therapy is beneficial in fibromyalgia. In the United Kingdom we used to refer patients to a pain clinic attended by physiotherapists and psychologists. One might wonder what a psychologist has to offer in fibromyalgia. I would say the psychologist can do a lot, considering all the emotional aspects of pain and its consequences. Relaxation techniques are also proven to be useful when treating fibromyalgia.



In Sri Lanka some patients have found Yoga as a useful remedy for pain relief. The same principals apply in a martial arts form named Tai Chi. In China I have witnessed this common sight before office hours or even at parks, where groups of individuals practice Tai Chi to bring down the stress levels. Both Yoga and Tai Chi involve gradual movement of limbs in a methodical manner.



I always advice patients with fibromyalgia to practice good sleep hygiene techniques. Sleep hygiene is not just maintaining cleanliness, but various other factors such as food, beverages, natural light, ventilation etc. which have a collective effect in improving sleep.
Posted 1/18/18

The Community Foundation of the Ozarks and Missouri Foundation for Health have launched the second phase of the Rural Ozarks Health Initiative to address health issues in communities or regions 
The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka (CA Sri Lanka) recently chartered a Rotaract Club for the benefit of its members and students in the presence of Rotary International President Ian Riseley, who was in Sri Lanka recently.



The CA Sri Lanka Rotaract Club will bring together CA members and students to exchange ideas, develop their leadership and professional skills, while also taking initiative to serve the community.



The CA Sri Lanka Rotaract Club was launched following an initiative taken by Rotary Club of Colombo East President Indrajith Fernando, who is also a Past President of the institute.



During the launch of the club, CA Sri Lanka Immediate Past President Lasantha Wickremasinghe, Rotaract Club President Dinushki Herat, District Governor Dr. Bandagiriye Somawansa Thera, CA Sri Lanka former Council Member N.R. Gajendran and Chief Executive Officer Aruna Alwis were also present.



Rotaract is a social organisation for young adults between the ages of 18 and 30 aimed at providing a platform for these young professionals to advance their career while instilling the service ideals of Rotary, while also encouraging the occupational excellence of the rotary movement.



The CA Sri Lanka Rotaract Club was launched to cater to the members and students of the institute in fulfilling the Rotary movement objective.

The Executive Committee for the new Rotaract Club of CA Sri Lanka are: President: Dinushki Herat, Secretary: Kushnara Herath, Treasurer: Shezmina Sherriffdeen, Editor: Omardeen Azardeen and Sergeant-at-arms: Shenuka Yatagama.
The Communist Party of China (CPC) has met every five years since 1921 to hold its National Congress. The party which commenced with fifty members is has a membership of 89 million today. Now its has 4.5 million party branches throughout China. In other words, it has become the worlds greatest political party.



At this party congress they evaluate the quantum of work done during the last five years and then elect new leaders of the party for next five years. New leaders will deliver the programme of work they will carry forward during the next five years.



The 19th party congress was held at Beijing commencing on October 18, 2017. At this congress, Chinese President Xi Jinping gave an analytical description of work done during the last five years. Chinas economy has been transitioning from medium to high-speed growth in the last five years. The average annual GDP growth rate from 2013 to 2016 was 7.2%, higher than the average rate 2.6% of the world economy and 4% of other developing countries. Chinas total GDP of 73.7 trillion yuan (USD 11.2 trillion) in 2016 accounted for 14.8% of the world economy. It is obvious that China has passed very successful five years. The initiatives taken since 2012, especially the economic reforms, the Chinese dreams, the Belt and Road initiative and anti-corruption campaign account for the rapid development.

The average annual GDP growth rate from 2013 to 2016 was 7.2%, higher than the average rate 2.6% of the world economy and 4% of other developing countries. Chinas total GDP of 73.7 trillion yuan (USD 11.2 trillion) in 2016 accounted for 14.8% of the world economy.



At this congress, Xi Jinping was re-elected as the General Secretary of CPC. Also, this congress accepted his position as equivalent to the position held by Chinese great leaders Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping. He then laid down CPC future vision and programmes till 2050. The new theme has been branded as Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a new era. The base for this new conception is Marxism, Leninism and Mao Zedong thoughts, Deng Xiaoping theories as well as Xi Jinpings thoughts. CPCs aim is to arrive at this target in 30 years and they laid different steps to achieve this.



The first step is to turn China into a Moderately Prosperous Society in all aspects by 2020 (Xiaokang in Chinese). China has planned to eradicate poverty completely by 2020. CPC will celebrate his 100-year anniversary in 2021. They have eliminated nearly 800 million people from poverty during the last four decades. During Xi Jinpings last five years, they have managed to eliminate poverty among 100 million people. The balance of some 50 million will be eliminated from poverty in 2020. This will be a landmark achievement of great China.



Their aim is to establish a modern socialist country by 2050 and to convert China into a prosperous, strong, culturally-advanced, harmonious and beautiful country. Xi Jinping said at the collective study session of the CPC central committee political bureau in Beijing on December 8, 2017, At the present stage, the basic feature of Chinas economic development is the transition from a phase of rapid growth to a stage of high-quality development. According to CPCs new vision, after 2020, every Chinese product should be eco-friendly and of high-quality. Human resources of the country should also be developed. Fiscal control should be brought to a sound level.All provinces of China should be equally developed. China will accelerate introducing innovations to the world. In the past, China has introduced many innovations to the world. Gunpowder, paper, printing and compasses are few of them. How China developed its speed train service during the last ten years stands testimony to this. Today, the most advanced high-speed train service is found in China. More than 24,000 kilometres are served by this train that travels at a speed of 300-350kmph. In America, a high-speed train could reach only 170kmph. President Xi Jinping pointed out in his report delivered to the 19th National Congress of the CPC that innovation was the primary force driving development and the strategic underpinning for building a modernised economy. Very recently, Mr. Yang Yuanqing, CEO of Lenovo said, unlike in the past, China is no longer just a factory for the world, but makes as important contribution to global innovation.



Xi Jinping who rose to power in 2012 has managed to create much discipline in the country. Even at the 19th congress, he stressed the importance of creating discipline within the party and the country. He said corruption was a great hindrance for development. He insisted government servants to investigate the instances of misusing State funds. Some 240 high-ranking officials and about a million of ordinary officials have been investigated for corruption charges since 2012.



For the first time in June, the CPC completed inspections within a five-year administrative term, covering CPC organisations in provincial level, Central CPC and government organs, major State-owned enterprises, central financial institutions and universities. Today, China speaks of the wellbeing of other friendly nations.The One Belt One Road initiative put forward by Xi Jinping in 2013 is a good example of this. Significant infrastructure development will take place in countries that come under this plan. It will make the economies of these countries stronger and with that in mind China has created the Silk Road Fund and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.China has expanded freight train services to Europe under the One Belt One Road concept. As a result, Chinese goods arrive at European markets quickly and vice versa.



I would like to remind our former Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamars statement about Sri Lanka-China bilateral ties. He said, When a relationship is based on mutual respect and affection, the size, importance and power of one of the two countries in that relationship does not have a disproportionate influence on the other. China has never sought to influence the domestic politics of Sri Lanka. Over the years, China has proved to be benign and sincere with no ulterior motives for befriending Sri Lanka. She has never tried to dominate undermine or destabilise Sri Lanka.



The leaders of China who assumed office after the Peoples Republic of China was created in 1949 formulated their policies for the well-being of their people. They will definitely eradicate poverty by 2020. This is a message given to the entire world where poverty is rampant. By 2050, they have formulated policies to make every Chinese a happy and a content man. In 2049, they will celebrate the centenary of the creation of the Peoples Republic of China. By then, the people of China would be one of the prosperous persons living in this world.



Jinith de Silva, Vice President, Sri Lanka-China Society
China LvHai Technology Group signed an agreement with the Sadaham Sevana International Buddhist Information and Research Institute, Sri Lanka, on eco-agriculture cooperation.



Under the agreement, the Chinese and Sri Lankan institutions will jointly conduct eco-agriculture experiments and promotional activities to help develop the agriculture sector in Sri Lanka.



The signing of the agreement took place at the Strategic Enterprise Management Agency in Colombo in the presence of Sadaham Sevana founder Athuraliye Rathana Thera, Strategic Enterprise Management Agency Chairman Asoka Abeygunawardana and Luang Yizhen, a representative of China LvHai Technology Group.



China LvHai Technology Group and Sadaham Sevana together with the Strategic Enterprise Management Agency will work together in seeking a win-win model for commercial cooperation in eco-agriculture.



Islandwide awareness programmes will also be carried out as the parties concerned look to contribute to the development of eco-agriculture in Sri Lanka.

LvHai Group Chairperson Wei Jianhua was in Sri Lanka recently on a week-long familiarisation visit.



During her visit, Wei Jianhua and her colleague had talks with Agriculture Minister Duminda Dissanayake as well as met with Strategic Enterprise Management Agency Chairman Asoka Abeygunawardana and also met Athuraliye Rathana Thera.



The discussions focused on cooperation in ecological agriculture and other related areas.



In the recent past, the Sri Lankan government has proposed to comprehensively develop the ecological agriculture sector in order to protect the environment and ensure food safety.
The European Union (EU) and Sri Lanka had discussed unmet expectations of justice in the 'emblematic cases' in the country among many other areas of concern during the 21st meeting of the EU-Sri Lanka Joint Commission held on Thursday.

In a statement, the EU Embassy in Sri Lanka said progress with regard to the enactment of the International Convention on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance Act, the further release of land and the normalisation of civilian life in the Northern and Eastern Provinces of Sri Lanka were also discussed during the meeting.

At the meeting, both sides had welcomed the formal restoration of the GSP Plus concession to Sri Lanka, providing duty free access for more than 80% of Sri Lankan exports to the European Union

Sri Lanka said that the restoration of GSP-plus had contributed to a near doubling of export growth.

The EU had re-emphasised its 'clear' and 'unwavering' expectation that urgent action would be taken by the Sri Lankan authorities to repeal the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) and replace it with legislation that is in line with international standards.

Plans to resolve as soon as possible the situation of the remaining detainees held under the PTA were also discussed. In addition, there was discussion of the need to amend the Code of Criminal Procedure to ensure fundamental legal safeguards, the statement said.

The parties agreed on a series of follow-up actions ahead of the next Joint Commission meeting in Brussels later in the year.

The meeting was co-chaired by Paola Pampaloni, Deputy Managing Director for Asia and Pacific of the European External Action Service and Foreign Affairs Ministry Secretary Prasad Kariyawasam. (Lahiru Pothmulla)
Growth mainly driven by industrial and agricultural exports

Apparel, fisheries exports to EU up due to GSP Plus, lifting of ban

Tea export earnings hit US $ 1.4bn amid higher global prices

The exports continued to record a growth momentum for more than eight months in 2017, compared to 2016, except in three instances, the Export Development Board (EDB) said this week.



As per the latest provisional merchandise and export statistics, the EDB said the exports in the first 11 months of 2017 grew 10.82 percent year-on-year (YoY) to US $ 10.4 billion.



During the period under review, the export of services recorded a 5.8 percent YoY growth, registering US $ 3.36 billion. The foreign exchange earnings of merchandise and services exports are expected to be US $ 15 billion by end-2017.



The growth in exports was mainly driven by industrial exports (42 percent) followed by agricultural (18 percent) and fisheries (42 percent) respectively, the EDB said.

The industrial exports contribute almost two-thirds of the total export earnings of the country, while 24 percent is from agricultural products and 2 percent from the fisheries sector.



The earnings from industrial exports grew by 6.12 percent YoY to US $ 7.4 billion in January-November 2017, led by increased exports of apparel (nearly 2 percent), rubber finished products (nearly 8 percent), electrical and electronic products (nearly 17 percent) and paper-based products (21 percent).

The apparel exports to the European Union (EU) market increased by 2.21 percent YoY, recording US $ 1.8 billion in January-November 2017. This could be attributed to the restoration of the GSP Plus facility in May 2017.



In addition, the earnings from seafood exports to the EU region increased considerably by 117 percent YoY to US $ 49.41 million in January-November 2017, compared to that of 2016.



The notable performance in seafood exports indicates the positive impact of the multiple factors such as the removal of the IUU ban on the exports of fisheries products to the EU, regaining the EU GSP Plus facility, etc.



The earnings from agricultural exports increased substantially by 18.40 percent YoY to US $ 2,508.47 million in January-November 2017, mainly due to the performance recorded in tea exports.



The export earnings from tea increased significantly by 21.16 percent YoY to US $ 1.4 billion, due to the higher tea prices fetched for our tea in the global market, mainly Turkey (91 percent increase), Russia followed by Iran and Iraq.



The top markets during the period under review were the USA, UK, India, Germany, China and Italy for merchandise exports of Sri Lanka, accounting for about 55 percent of total exports.
While urging the President and ministers not to belittle the post he holds, his predecessor Mahinda Rajapaksa on Thursday wanted to know if it was a bladder or a water tank that President Maithripala Sirisena has to answer a call of nature for 30 minutes.

Minister Rajitha Senaratne on Wednesday said President Sirisena did not storm out of the Cabinet meeting and he had simply gone out to answer a call of nature.

Mr. Rajapaksa said the minister had come up with this ludicrous excuse to cover up the fact that the President had actually been furious and had stormed out of the Cabinet meeting.

There was a drama enacted at a Cabinet meeting held recently. The scriptwriter is unknown. The President has come to the meeting, yelled and then had stormed out. Afterwards, the Prime Minister and other ministers had gone and brought the President back. This is like a boy leaving a house following a fight with his parents and is then brought back in after consoling him.

When asked about this by journalists at the Cabinet briefing, Ministers say the President went out to answer a call of nature. Is it a bladder or the water tank from Colombo that the President has to answer a call of nature for half an hour?

The post of President shouldn't be belittled in this manner. When this happens the country and its people also feel they are being belittled, Mr. Rajapaksa explained.

He expressed these views at a Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) election rally held at the Vihara Maha Devi Open Theatre in Colombo on Thursday.

Commenting on the development projects carried out by the previous government in Colombo, Mr. Rajapaksa said their objective had been to elevate Colombo City to higher standards by the time the Port City was completed.

All the development work has been reversed now. Garbage is piling up everywhere. Dengue cases are on the increase. This is why we need to rebuild the city as well as the country soon, he said. (Lahiru Pothmulla)

Pix by Nisal Baduge
Environmentalists claim deer strolling across Trincomalee face the threat of extinction mainly due to infrastructure development. Although deer have always been a tourist attraction in Trincomalee, relevant authorities have failed to acknowledge the alarming threat to this endangered species.



Commenting on this, Gonathota Environmental Organisation Chairman Anura Bandara told Lankadeepa that these animals have hitherto contributed to paint the beauty of Trincomalee.



After the end of the war, more tourists throng Trincomalee and a majority of them do not fail to snap at least one candid photograph with these tame animals. However, lunch sheets disposed in disarray by local tourists have fuelled the extinction of this species. These animals often devour leftovers on disposed polythene sheets, oblivious to the fact that what they consume ultimately determines their fate. However, the authorities have cleared arable land for infrastructure development efforts, thereby creating a scarcity of food for deer. It is sad to note that non-degradable polythene has been found in the digestive systems of deer carcasses. To add insult to injury, the many small tanks around Trincomalee from which deer used to consume water have been removed with the spread of the Dengue epidemic, he said.

After the end of the war, more tourists throng Trincomalee and a majority of them do not fail to snap at least one candid photograph with these tame animals. However, lunch sheets disposed in disarray by local tourists have fueled the extinction of this species



On a different note, Mr. Bandara said deer cubs fall prey to stray dogs. He suggests converting a block of land in the Fredric Fort into a sanctuary for this endangered species.



Meanwhile, Sobadahama Environment Centre Secretary Niranga Wickremesinghe said in most countries, suitable enclosures were provided for animals and apt measures taken to preserve the environment.

These animals often devour leftovers on disposed polythene sheets, oblivious to the fact that what they consume ultimately determines their fate. However, the authorities have cleared arable land for infrastructure development efforts, thereby creating a scarcity of food for deer.



Against this backdrop, the environmentalists have forwarded their proposals to the Trincomalee District Secretary, but to no avail.



Trincomalee Assistant Wildlife Director Attorney Lalith Kumara said they were unable to implement these proposals due to the of funds. Thus, he appeals for assistance from volunteers and wildlife officers to save this extincting species.
Aries (Mesha):



Lagnadhipati Mars Swakshetra in the 8th House assures you of the benefits such as increased wealth, happiness and longevity. However, you are advised to avoid risk-involved activity. Bright career prospects and a happier time at work are held out by the Sun powerfully placed in the 10th House conjunct with Venus and Ketu. Opportunities for foreign travel for academic purposes are likely for those in appropriate circumstances. Time is not favourable for buying or selling lands and other property. Jupiter in the 7th House assures you of the delightful company of friends relatives and cordial relations with all.



Taurus (Vrushabha):



Heavy expenditure, poor health and the possibility of incurring debts are indicated by an unfavourable Jupiter in the 6th House. A very auspicious time is on with Lagnadhipati Venus powerfully posited in the 9th House holding out wealth, health and happiness. Success in educational pursuits too are on the cards. With Mars gaining Swakshetra in the 7th House, even honours and achievements in foreign lands are possible if you are in appropriate circumstances. Ongoing period is very favourable for those running the Rahu Maha Dasa.



Gemini (Mithuna):



Mars due in your 6th House by January 17 is highly favourable. You will win over enemies and gain respect and honour in the society. Success at exams and competitions are also indicated. You can look forward to comforts and luxuries, sound health and relief from worries and miseries with a favourable Venus in the 8th House. Jupiter in the 5th House is an equally favourable position which signifies financial gains, happiness from children and marital prospects for bachelors and maidens. Natives who are students will do well in their studies.



Cancer (Kataka):



In view of the total Lunar Eclipse due to take place beginning 16.41 hours (Colombo time) on Jan: 31, natives are advised not to fix any important event in life for Jan: 31 and for three days ahead and three days after this celestial event which means for a duration of seven days. Prospects of marital problems and domestic troubles are raised by the Sun - Venue  Ketu combination in your 7th House. Time is not opportune to go into partnerships either. You are advised to stay away from litigation and property-related issues and transactions..



Leo (Sinha):



The Sun in the 6th House holds out a whip hand over enemies and rivals and resourcefulness to overcome obstacles. You may achieve success in litigation in matters related to lands and other property. You are also likely to find yourself in a position to meet challenges with energy and courage and self-confidence thanks to powerful Mars in the 4th House giving rise to effects of Ruchaka Yoga. Honours and recognition are in store for those engaged in the fields of arts and literature. Time now on is favourable for foreign travel, but not for making money.



Virgo (Kanya):



Those running the Maha Dasa of Rahu can look forward to financial gains and job satisfaction or a rise in the career. Mars in your 3rd House signifies the ability to act with much courage and self-confidence as well as financial gains and short gainful journeys. A rise in career and higher status are in store for natives running Rahu Maha or Antar Dasa. Venus placed in the 5th House with Sun holds out a happy family life, financial gains and a favourable time for artistes. However, stomach related problems are likely due to the adverse influence of the Sun.



Libra (Thula):



Time on is auspicious for natives active in politics. A very happy time socially and financial gains are indicated. However, time is not favourable for property-related transactions. You have to resist the inclination to make money by means fair or foul. You may develop an altruistic bent and get drawn to religious activity. A good time professionally and financially is on the cards. A favourable time for studies is on. Natives active in politics can look forward to high office if they are running the Rahu Maha Dasa.



Scorpio (Vrushika):



Time now on is auspicious for foreign travel, higher education and spiritual pursuits, but unfavourable for parents. A very favourable time when successes and achievements will come to you with no effort is ahead with Lagnadhipati Mars in your Lagna. However, avoid taking risks and hasty decisions. Sound health, financial gains and higher status in the society are on the cards thanks to the Sun in your 3rd House. Shani Erashtaka affecting you continues in its final phase.



Sagittarius (Dhanu):



Natives prospecting for gems or other hidden treasures are in for luck. You have to act with restraint, foresight and mindfulness as the Saturn  Mercury continues in your Lagna. A great achievement or a good fortune is possible for those running favourable Dasas. Venus in the 2nd House makes it very strong raising the prospect of an increased income and a generally happy time. Mars in your 12th House makes it strong with Swakshetra status raising the prospect of unexpected gains.



Capricorn (Makara):



Time on is not favourable for matrimonial matters except in cases of Rahu being strong at birth. Your Lagna has gained much strength with Venus moving into it to be conjunct with Sun. You will have a good time with friends, relatives and family members. You can look forward to an increase in income with Mars in your Ayasthana fortified with Swakshetra status. You are advised to exercise restraint, diplomacy and understanding in dealings with your spouse given the malefic influence of Rahu now passing through the 7th House.



Aquarius (Kumbha):



You may take bold decisions and embark on new projects with confidence as Rahu is favorably posited in your 11th House. A happy time at workplace, a possible rise in career and even gainful foreign travel on the cards with a powerful Mars in your 10th House. You can look forward to a better or a steady income due to the favourable Saturn  Mercury in the 11th House. Financial gains and higher returns from investments too are on the cards..



Pisces (Meena):



You have to be mindful of your health and avoid getting involved in law suits and litigation given Lagnadhipati Jupiter unfavorably placed in your 8th House. You can look forward to an enhanced income and more profits from whatever economic activity you are engaged thanks to the favourable Sun  Venus combination in the 11th House. Avoid risk-involved activity and travels as far as possible. Those running the Rahu Maha Dasa can look forward to windfalls from unexpected sources.
Oman Ambassador to Sri Lanka , Al-Sheikh Jumah Hamdan Al-Shehhi, will be the Special Guest Speaker in Meet the Ambassador programme on Bilateral Trade Between Sri Lanka and Oman  January 30 at the Chamber, from 3.00 p.m. to 4.30 p.m.



The participants will get an opportunity to have a close dialogue with the ambassador and other officials of the embassy and get information on trade matters concerning Oman and services available for Sri Lankans From officials of the Embassy of the Sultanate of Oman.



One of the fast growing free ports in the world , Oman is interested in tea and offers zero custom duties, tax exemptions and other benefits and also welcomes to set up in other designated clusters -rubber, plastics, ceramics, food & perishables and steel and iron.



The 11000-acre Sohar free zone is Omans joint venture with the Port of Rotterdam and is one of the fastest developing port cum economic zones in the world, therefore vast amount of space is available for Sri Lankan exporters too , the Omani officials said.



Oman is the 59th largest export economy in the world and 13th export destination among the Middle East countries to Sri Lanka. Total trade between Oman and Sri Lanka was US$ 45 million in 2016, the value of exports was $ 7 million and imports being US$ 38 million.



Exports from Sri Lanka to Oman include desiccated coconut, tea, fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds, processed food etc.



Imports from Oman to Sri Lanka: petroleum products, light oils, polymers, unwrought aluminum and amino resins.



For registration contact chamber TP 4741788 Fouad/Nishanthi
(Daily Mail), 18 January 2018 - Ditching ready meals wont just be good for your health, it could also help the environment.



A new study has found microwaves in Europe are as toxic to the environment as nearly seven million cars. In the EU every year, microwaves account for almost eight million tonnes of CO2 pumped into the atmosphere.



University of Manchester researchers conducted the first ever comprehensive study of the environmental impacts of microwaves, considering their whole life cycle - from cradle to grave. They found that microwaves emit 7.7 million tonnes of carbon dioxide, which is equivalent to the same as the annual emissions of 6.8 million cars.The findings also show that, every year, microwaves across the EU consume an estimated 9.4 terawatts per hour (TWh) of electricity. That is the same as the annual power generated by three large gas power plants.The number of microwaves in the Europe Union is predicted to reach 135 million by 2020.
Posted 1/19/18

Nancy Pelosi has said it will bring about Armageddon, and Democrats have criticized it for giving away too much money to the rich at the expense of the middle class. They said if corporations get tax 
India, (Hindustan Times), Jan 18, 2018 - Japanese Engineering companies are in the drivers seat to bag major supply contracts for a $17 billion Indian bullet train, several sources said, undermining a key component of Prime Minister Narendra Modis economic policy  a push to Make in India.



Japan is funding most of the project, and Japanese companies are likely to supply at least 70% of the core components of the rail line, said five sources in New Delhi with direct knowledge of the matter.

A spokesman for Modis office declined comment. A Japanese transport ministry official involved in the project said the two countries were still working out a strategy for the supply of key components, and would unveil a plan for procurements around July. The official spoke on condition of anonymity.



Modi faces a general election in 2019 and is under pressure to provide more jobs to millions of unemployed in India. Critics also say the bullet train is wasteful and that the money could be better used elsewhere.
While claiming that the page 854 of final bond report had categorically articulated that the statement proclaimed by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe in parliament on March 17, 2105 that the former Governor Arjuna Mahendran did not intervene into the issuance of bonds, was untrue,

General Secretary of Pivithuru Hela Urumaya (PHU), MP Udaya Gammanpila said yesterday that PM should either resign from his office for misleading parliament or they would take the initiative to file a No Confidence Motion against the PM.

Addressing a news conference he said the mentioned incident was sufficient enough to file a No Confidence Motion against the PM.

Meanwhile, he said even though the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PCoI) report which was submitted to President Maithripala Sirisena on January 3, consisted of 1,257 pages, the report submitted to parliament on Wednesday only had 1,154 pages.

President Sirisena must make a special announcement as to what happened to the rest of the [103] pages. At the same time, it was questionable as to why former Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake was handed over a Commission Report before it was presented to Parliament.

The said incident leads to a suspicion that the missing pages (103) have been removed out of the report in favour of the former Finance Minister who had a look at the report earlier. Therefore, we insist President Sirisena should deliver a statement with regard to the controversial incident and take pertinent steps with immediate effect, Gammanpila said.

Nevertheless, he said although Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe had proclaimed that the appointment of former Governor Arjuna Mahendran was done in accordance with the consensus of the President and the government, the President himself and several other ministers had opposed to the appointment.

Some crucial questions could have been raised at the bond commission when the Premier was summoned to give the evidences. But such crucial questions such as why Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe took over the management of the Central Bank - which was under the purview of the Ministry of Finance, appointing Arjuna Mahendran as Governor of the Central Bank despite being aware that he was a citizen of Singapore and why he had been appointed despite the President had opposed to it etc., should have been raised when the Premier had appeared before the PCoI, Gammanpila said.

He said if those questions were raised, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe would have been found guilty of the bond scam. (Sheain Fernandopulle)
Although the loss to the country as a result of the bond had been to be Rs. 11,500 million in the report of the Presidential Commission of inquiry (PCoI) into the Central Bank bond issuance that occurred in 2015 and 2016, the actual profit made by Perpetual Treasuries Ltd (PTL) was Rs.18, 200 million, the Voice Against Corruption (VAC) said yesterday.

VAC Convener Wasantha Samarasinghe said it is questionable whether the Central Bank had done its duty properly as it had failed to track some Rs 6,813 million earnings of the PTL.

He said the PCoI was given authority to probe the bonds issued until March 31, 2016 but former Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran had stayed in office until July 2016.

Mr. Samarasinghe said until September 2016, PTL owner Arjun Aloysius has presented reports of profit and loss of the Perpetual Treasuries Limited.

During the six months from April 2016 to September 2016 PTL had received an income of Rs 6,813 million and it had not included to the PCoI report as the investigation was only until March 31, 2016.

According to the PCoI Report he said Rs 11,500 million loss to the State was on what was earned by PTL during the period that ended on March 31, 2016 and therefore only this sum could be recovered from them.

He added that the PTL had received a total profit of around Rs 18,250 million during the 30 months from March 1, 2015 to March 31, 2017.

Therefore he said the commission had only published accounts for six months but the loss incurred after March 31, 2016 was yet with PTL.

He said that from March 31, 2017 to September 30, 2017 Perpetual Treasuries had earned Rs 316 million which would be in their books along with the interest thereon as they were not able to function in the secondary market during this time.

Therefore he said over Rs 6 billion in profits which they earned from the bond scam was still with the company. Aloysius is attempting to withdraw the money from the Perpetual Treasuries bank accounts as he know the total profit made by the PTL after the report came out, he said.

Furthermore, he said Aloysius still had treasury bonds left over from February 2015 and some were transferred to other companies. Therefore those bond transactions should be probed separately, pointed out.We request President Maithripala Sirisena to appoint a second Presidential Commission to probe the rest of the bond fraud, he added. (Thilanka Kanakarathna)
The Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia has boasted that he had the backing of President Donald Trump for his November coup, a source in the country has told DailyMail.com.



Prince Mohammed bin Salman, now the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, told his close aides that Trump had given his explicit support for a power grab, which involved the arrests of 11 princes and hundreds of officials and businessmen in midnight raids across the kingdom.



A source close to the Saudi leader, known by his initials MBS, told DailyMail.com that Salman bragged about his cozy relationship with the U.S. president and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, claiming that the president backed Salmans takeover.



The claim closely matches an insider account in Michael Wolffs explosive book Fire and Fury that the president told his friends, Weve put our man on top!  implying that he and Kushner had engineered the Saudi coup. The princes, including one of the worlds richest men, Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, were arrested suddenly at the beginning of November, held in the Ritz-Carlton in Riyadh, and - a source told Dailymail.com later that month - being tortured.



The White House declined to comment to DailyMail.com but Wolffs book revealed the warm relations with MBS and reported how Trump told friends: Jareds gotten the Arabs totally on our side. Done deal.



Wolff writes that Salman, 32, befriended Kushner, 37, after the U.S. election, and offered himself to Kushner as his guy in the Saudi kingdom.



-Saudi Arabia, (Daily Mail), 17 January 2018
Exports in 2017 top US$ 15bn, up 10% from year earlier

Government policy on shifting to export-driven growth continues through trade agreement negotiations underway and EDB initiatives



Sri Lankan merchandise exports grew to an all time record of over US$11.4bn in 2017, surpassing the previous high of US$11.1bn achieved in 2014. Once, again the EU and the USA were our biggest markets taking US$ 3bn each.



The sectors showing particularly strong year-on-year growth were tea 20 percent and fisheries 40 percent. Tea benefitted from higher prices and enhanced access to Middle Eastern markets, particularly, Iran. Fisheries benefitted from both the lifting of the EU ban in June 2016 and the GSP Plus concession in May 2017.



Apparel which accounts for over 40 percent of all goods exports and employs over 300,000people directly, mostly women, recorded a modest 2 percent growth over 2016. However it is encouraging that the past 4 months showed 10 percent year-on-year growth as new orders from the EU were secured due to the GSP Plus benefit of 12 percent duty exemption. 2018 is expected to be a strong year for the apparel manufacturers.



Services exports comprising ICT/BPM, logistics, financial services and construction contributed an additional US$ 3.7 billion of exports, an increase of 8 percent compared to 2016. The growth in services in 2017 was significant compared to the year 2016 where ICT/BPM grew at 7.7 percent and logistics at 5 percent.

Furthermore, ICT/BPM companies are expected to show a double digit growth next year with thebudget support for IT SMEs to be executed in 2018,while benefiting from grant schemes for innovation and entrepreneurship. In addition the 40 percent foreign ownership restriction will be removed from freight forwarding to facilitate investment into the sector.



The Export Development Board (EDB), under the Ministry of Development Strategies and International Trade, is Sri Lankas apex organisation for the promotion and development of exports. Commenting on the landmark 2017 performance, EDB Chairperson, Indira Malwatte said, Our export results are particularly noteworthy given the global trading environment.

Our peer nations have experienced material declines in trade in the past year, while Sri Lanka has maintained growth. This is a testament to the tenacity of our exporters and the relentless enhancementof their value proposition to customers.



The EDB has been championing the National Export Strategy (NES) in collaboration with the International Trade Centre to develop the future export sectors. The main strategies on 06 focus sectors are: IT, spices & concentrates, boating industry, wellness tourism, processed food and beverages and electrical and electronic components and 04 trade support functions; trade information and promotion, national quality infrastructure, innovation and R&D and logistics, which will create the conditions of success for high potential growth sectors that can deliver leading exporters of tomorrow. The vision of the EDB to Position Sri Lanka as a prominent export hub for innovative products and services is well aligned with the development vision of the government to reorient economic policy towards exports- and investment-driven growth, rather than debt-funded public infrastructure spending.



Minister of Development Strategies and International Trade Malik Samarawickrama said, We are signing the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Singapore later this month. This sophisticated FTA will give a signal to the world that Sri Lanka is ready to engage in global value chains and production-sharing networks. The trade agreements currently under negotiation with China, and India will give our exporters preferential access to a middle class market of 300million people  the same size as the whole of the EU. These trade agreements will be a key pillar in our quest to reach foreign exchange earnings of US$ 22 billion from merchandise and services exports by 2020.
AFP: Taiwan has blocked nearly 200 flights by Chinese airlines over the strait that separates the two rivals due to the carriers use of controversial new travel routes introduced by China.



Taipei has repeatedly called for four new flight paths to be cancelled since China launched them earlier in January, but their complaints have fallen on deaf ears on the mainland.



Authorities on the island said they had not been consulted over the routes and described their introduction as reckless, endangering flight safety, and politically motivated. China Eastern Airlines and Xiamen Air have since requested to operate 176 additional flights between Taiwan and China during the Lunar New Year period in mid-February.



But Taiwans Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) said yesterday it had refused permission because the two airlines had been using the controversial new routes, even though the extra Lunar New Year flights they requested would not have flown along them. It is the first action taken against Chinese airlines over the row.

The two airlines requests are not approved for now because they are operating other flights using the M503 and related routes that are launched without a consensus between the two sides, a CAA official told AFP.

M503 is an existing route introduced in 2015, which also sparked a backlash from Taiwan, prompting Beijing to move it closer to the mainland and use it only for north-to-south flights.



The CAA official declined to comment on reports that around 50,000 passengers would be affected by the decision.



Beijing sees self-ruling democratic Taiwan as part of its territory to be brought back into the fold and has recently upped military drills around the island.Cross-strait ties have steadily deteriorated since 2016 when Beijing-sceptic president Tsai Ing-wen took the reins. Chinese authorities unilaterally stopped communication between the two sides after she took office.



China said it had introduced the new flight routes to help ease congestion in its airspace over the strait.



The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) said the routes would only be used for civilian flights and China would maintain technical communications with Taiwan.



The CAAC added that the M503 route would also now be used for south-to-north flights, overriding the original restriction.



Taiwans military has said it would intercept, warn and repel if necessary any planes that cross into Taiwanese airspace and threaten the islands security.
Hissene Habre, the brutal former dictator of Chad, became the first Head of State to be convicted of rape, and that was based on the testimony of Khadidja Zidane, a poor, illiterate woman who feared Habre even after he fled the country 25 years ago.



Habre was given a life sentence in May 2017 of crimes against humanity and other crimes at a special court set up by the African Union and the Government of Senegal, where he lived for 22 years in exile.



The rape and sexual slavery charges were not even listed on the original charge sheet, and victims refused to come forward until they were sure that the trial would actually take place.



The Extraordinary African Chambers, as the tribunal was called, changed the charges at the last minute and convicted Habre of rape.



Nobody could guarantee my security, Zidane said from her home in the Chadian capital, where she lives with her extended family.

Habre was given a life sentence in May 2017 of crimes against humanity and other crimes at a special court set up by the African Union and the Government of Senegal, where he lived for 22 years in exile



From the very beginning, I said Id only tell my story when I was face to face with Hissene Habre. Then Ill have a story to tell, I said.



She was arrested by the Directorate of Documentation and Security (DDS), Habres dreaded Secret Police, as her family are Chadians of Libyan origin.



At the time, Libya supported rebels fighting Habres regime.



My whole body is marked  look, she said, showing where she had been electrocuted under her arms.



Look, taking off her headscarf and exposing her neck.



They strangled me with a rope. I was struggling with Habre when he stabbed me here with a pen, she said, pointing at her groin.



I told the court that. Someone, who disrespects you like that.



Zidanes mother and brother died in Habres jails.

But at least I was able to face him. If I die today, Ill die in peace. I had the opportunity to tell the whole world what he did to me. Thank Allah for that. Hell pay in the afterlife for what he did. Im happy for that.

-Khadidja Zidane-



At night, he would sit at his desk, smoking and watch as his men tortured Zidane, someone he didnt know personally. Put back into her cell, the exhausted, starving woman would be recalled early in the morning so that he could rape her.



Habre watched court proceedings with the greatest contempt and called Zidane a nymphomaniac prostitute on his website.



According to Kim Thuy Seelinger, Director of the Sexual Violence Programme at Berkeley Laws Human Rights Centre in the US, the verdict represented a huge brick in the wall that establishes sexual violence as international crimes.



He adds that it built on the tribunals in Rwanda and Yugoslavia, and would make a huge contribution to the jurisprudence that any future tribunal dealing with sexual violence as a crime against humanity would be able to draw on.



After Habres regime was overthrown, his Chief of Staff Deby became ruler of Chad.



He kept many of Habres henchmen in his administration, including DDS torturers.



Some were in senior positions and were arrested only in 2014, and convicted in NDjamena before Habres trial started.



Many of his supporters are still moving about and working in Chad.



Zidane says that, after she came out with her story, she has received death threats, faced physical violence in the streets and abused in her own home. She says:



When I came back from Dakar, people came to my house and shouted, Whore, you went to Dakar to testify. Something will happen to you this year. Well do something to you.



One said: What would Habre want with an ugly woman like you, and slapped me. But she is defiant and says she will not be intimidated. Her life has already been badly disrupted by her arrest and its consequences.



When she was finally let out of jail, her husband left her.



This has been the fate of other women, too, who faced jail, torture and rape during Habres time. Another victim called Ngarbaye was deserted by her fiance. Another called Mouaba, relatively wealthy before her incarceration, was reduced to poverty in a week.



They were treated as spies by friends and even families as anyone arrested by the DDS was thought of as a spy.



Habre took 12 million US dollars from the national bank accounts when he fled Chad. The Senagalese Government froze a property worth about a million dollars and two small bank accounts containing just $5,000. Nothing else has been recovered.



The court has ordered Habre to pay millions of dollars in compensation to more than 4,000 victims who registered as civil parties. This is a lot less than the $ 250m that their lawyers asked for. Each victim should receive up to $34,000.



Campaign groups have urged the international community not to abandon his victims, and put money into a fund for them in case the amount recovered from Habre proves to be insufficient.



Campaigners are also owed the $129m that the Chadian Government was ordered to pay victims after the NDjamena trial. President Deby has so far remained silent on the issue and has not set up a commission to deal with it. Zidane and other victims need medical attention due to the tortures inflicted on them, but cannot afford medical treatment. Most of them have very little money. Zidane says Habres life sentence will compensate for his crimes. Hes been jailed, but when we were in jail, we slept on the bare floor, we had no mats  we didnt even have cardboard. Hissene Habre dresses in a pristine white robe. He wears glasses. He eats fish. He eats chicken. He would tie our hands behind our backs and torture us, sit and watch. And after all that, hes in an air-conditioned prison cell. Were we treated like that? As long as hes not tortured, given electric shocks, dressed in dirty clothes, I wont be satisfied. All I have to look forward to is death. I have no future  look at me. My life has been destroyed. What can I expect from life?



But at least I was able to face him. If I die today, Ill die in peace. I had the opportunity to tell the whole world what he did to me. Thank Allah for that. Hell pay in the afterlife for what he did. Im happy for that.
President Maithripala Sirisena yesterday said he would leave the presidency after giving appropriate punishments to corrupt politicians.

Some people ask as to when I will resign from the office of President. I will leave the presidency after giving appropriate punishments to corrupt politicians, the President said addressing a public rally held in Kosgama.

President Sirisena emphasized that he is ready to walk down in the streets with the people to commence a journey against the fraud and corruption.

After the local government elections held on February 10, a national movement against the corruption will be established joining hands with all the politicians who love the motherland irrespective of their political differences, he said.

He extended an invitation to all citizens who love the motherland to join him in this initiative.

Addressing the gathering, the President further said that by no means the work that has to be done for the betterment of the country and the nation, could be neglected.

Recalling the request made by former leaders to the people of this country, to rectify the mistake happened on January 08, 2015, the President questioned whether they are asked to re-create an era where disappearances, killings, murders of journalists and setting fire to media institutions occur.
What's Happening with MiFID II Now

MiFID II went into the effect this month. But that doesnt necessarily mean all organizations are compliant with this new EU regulation. Some regulators say thats fine, as long as theres forward movement on MiFID II compliance efforts.

Thats because this whole MiFID II thing is new, and at least a little confusing. So many organizations that need to comply are still figuring out what they need to do.

If youre one of them, or you just want to understand MiFID II, heres a guide.

What is MiFID II?

MiFID II stands for Markets in Financial Instruments Directive. It is a regulation that applies to financial services entities that do business in the European Union.

This new regulation makes it mandatory to record all conversations related to financial transactions on both personal- and company-owned mobile devices. It also requires those affected to hold on to those records for five years.

What was the deadline?

Technically, MiFID II went into effect Jan. 3.

But at least one regulator has indicated it will go easy on enforcement while financial entities get their ducks in a row on this complex new requirement.

What did regulators say?

Reuters, in September, reported the following comments by Mark Steward of Britains Financial Conduct Authority. [W]e have no intention of taking enforcement action against firms for not meeting all requirements straight away where there is evidence they have taken sufficient steps to meet the new obligations by the start-date.

However, Steward is just one guy at one regulatory body in the larger EU. So others might have a different view.

Indeed, Deloitte warns businesses not to assume regulators will go easy on MiFID II non-compliance. Firms need to act swiftly to identify areas where they are at risk of not being fully compliant and plan accordingly, including documenting how and by when they will achieve full compliance, said Deloitte (News - Alert) , which is in the business of helping companies do that kind of work.

What should organizations be doing?

What exactly those impacted by MiFID II need to do is not entirely clear. Thats why at least one regulator is allowing those affected by it some additional time. But here are some thoughts from companies that offer solutions in this realm.

Umesh Patel of Revista Systems in this Finextra piece suggests that API, microservices, and SaaS (News - Alert) mean that tactical solutions are much more attractive than adding components to already outdated systems.

Robert Powell, director of compliance at IPC Systems (News - Alert) , in this byline says that cloud-based automated and unified recording and archiving platforms that offer a single pane of glass into all communications channels are a good choice for organizations working on MiFID II compliance.

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Edited by Mandi Nowitz
United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit. UNITED STATES of America, PlaintiffAppellee, v. Michael Lawrence MAYNES, Jr., a/k/a Kamile Jones, a/k/a Mac Mill, a/k/a Horseblock, Jr., DefendantAppellant. No. 16-4732 Decided: January 18, 2018

Before WILKINSON, SHEDD, and DIAZ, Circuit Judges. ARGUED: Mark Bodner, Fairfax, Virginia, for Appellant. Michael John Frank, OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY, Alexandria, Virginia, for Appellee. ON BRIEF: Dana J. Boente, United States Attorney, Patricia T. Giles, Assistant United States Attorney, OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY, Alexandria, Virginia, for Appellee.

Michael Maynes raises various assignments of error arising from his trial and convictions for four counts of sex trafficking by use of force, fraud, or coercion in violation of 18 U.S.C.  1591(a) and one count of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking in violation of 18 U.S.C.  1591(a) and 1594(c). For the reasons that follow, we affirm the convictions.

I.

Michael Maynes was a pimp. He worked with several others in running his prostitution business, including his girlfriend and two male relatives. His sex trafficking convictions relate to four women whom he prostituted.

The first woman gave her child to Maynes's girlfriend to care for while she engaged in commercial sex work, and has not seen her child since. When she asked to see her son, she was told that Maynes would decide when she could take time off from prostitution to see her child. She later received a text threatening that her son would be taken to Child Protective Services if she did not send more money to Maynes's girlfriend.

The second woman initially met Maynes in Houston, where he told her that he worked in construction and expressed romantic interest in her. Maynes suggested moving together to Virginia to be closer to his family, and she agreed. Once there, she was surprised to learn that Maynes wanted to prostitute her. He then refused to let her return home from the motel where she worked, and thus refused to allow her to see her infant daughter, unless she met her $1,500 daily earnings quota. While she opened a savings account to hide some of her earnings from Maynes, he later learned of the account and required her to give him nearly all of the funds.

The third woman was convinced by Maynes to perform commercial sex work when he told her that she would receive a home as well as 50 percent of her prostitution proceeds. She believed this income and a stable home would help her regain custody of her children. Maynes did not provide her with a home, and did not allow her to keep 50 percent of the prostitution proceeds. He did, however, provide her with cocaine, which she was addicted to.

The fourth woman was performing commercial sex work in Orlando, Florida, when Maynes contacted her through an internet site advertising her services. Maynes invited her to come to Virginia to work as an escort, and promised to help her obtain a home and a car and provide her a share of the prostitution earnings. Maynes did not follow through on these promises after she arrived in Virginia and began working for him.

In November 2015, Maynes was indicted for conspiracy to commit sex trafficking in violation of 18 U.S.C.  1591(a) and 1594(c), five counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion in violation of 18 U.S.C.  1591(a), and one count of kidnapping/aiding and abetting kidnapping in violation of 18 U.S.C.  1201(a)(1), (d), and (2). After a trial, the district court acquitted Maynes as to one count of sex trafficking, and the jury returned a not guilty verdict on the kidnapping charge. The jury convicted Maynes of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking and four counts of sex trafficking. Maynes was sentenced to concurrent sentences of 420 months on each count, a special assessment of $100 on each count, and 5 years of supervised release. The district court also imposed an order of restitution for the victims in the amount of $405,400.

Maynes appeals all of his convictions. He asserts that the district court erred in its jury instructions and erred in entering a judgment of conviction, because there was insufficient evidence. He also asserts that he should receive a new trial because the district court abused its discretion in excluding certain evidence. As explained below, we are not persuaded by any of these arguments, and we affirm his convictions.

II.

Maynes first contends that the district court's instruction defining force, fraud, and coercion was insufficient because the district court did not include Maynes's proffered materiality instruction.

The federal sex trafficking statute on which Maynes's convictions rest is violated by anyone who knowingly  recruits, entices, harbors, transports, provides, obtains, advertises, maintains, patronizes, or solicits by any means a person knowing that means of force, threats of force, fraud, coercion described in subsection (e)(2), or any combination of such means will be used to cause the person to engage in a commercial sex act. 18 U.S.C.  1591(a). To clarify the meaning of fraud in the statute, Maynes sought an instruction informing the jury that fraud is an act of trickery or deceit especially when involving misrepresentation; such specific act of fraud must have been material to cause a person to engage in a commercial sex act. J.A. 50. The district court rejected this proposed instruction, and instead instructed the jury that fraud is any act of deception or misrepresentation. J.A. 71819. Maynes argues that this instruction erroneously allowed the jury to convict him based on even immaterial misrepresentations. He asserts that this is an impermissible broadening of the statute, because the term fraud implies an element of materiality.

We agree with Maynes that only material misrepresentations could contribute to a violation of the statute by means of fraud. Indeed, the Government does not dispute this point, and the Supreme Court has acknowledged that fraud has long had a well-settled meaning at common law, and that this meaning require[s] a misrepresentation or concealment of material fact. Neder v. United States, 527 U.S. 1, 22, 119 S.Ct. 1827, 144 L.Ed.2d 35 (1999). Nonetheless, we remain unconvinced of both the purported deficiencies of the instruction given and the supposed superiority of Maynes's proffered instruction. The district court's instructions tracked the language of the statute and adequately conveyed the required elements. By contrast, Maynes's instruction is, at best, a misleading statement of the law.

The definition of fraud given to the jury cannot be evaluated in isolation, and must be considered in the context of the surrounding instructions. Shortly before defining fraud, the district court informed the jury that an element of 18 U.S.C.  1591(a) was that the defendant [acted] knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that means of force, threats of force, fraud, coercion, or any combination of such means would be used to cause that person to engage in a commercial sex act. J.A. 718. Thus, for any fraud to be relevant to the question of guilt, it must have been fraud that would be used to cause that person to engage in a commercial sex act. Using the district court's definition of fraud, the complete element thus was that any act of deception or misrepresentation would be used to cause that person to engage in a commercial sex act. By definition, only material misrepresentations could be used to cause a person to engage in such acts. The concept of materiality was therefore contained in the instructions given to the jury.

Any additional meaning that Maynes's proffered instruction would have conveyed would likely have been a misrepresentation of the law. First, his instruction might have led a jury to believe that the fraud must in fact have caused a commercial sex act. But there is no such requirement in the statute; the crime is complete when the defendant recruits, entices, harbors, etc., the victim with knowledge that the prohibited means will be used in the future to cause them to engage in commercial sex acts. See, e.g., United States v. Willoughby, 742 F.3d 229, 241 (6th Cir. 2014); United States v. GarciaGonzalez, 714 F.3d 306, 312 (5th Cir. 2013); United States v. Brooks, 610 F.3d 1186, 1197 n.4 (9th Cir. 2010). There is no requirement that a commercial sex act actually occurred, much less that fraud in fact caused the commercial sex act. To the extent Maynes's proffered instruction implied otherwise, it was incorrect. Further, by including causation in the definition of fraud, Maynes's instruction obscures the statute's clear statement that any one of the prohibited means is sufficient for conviction, alone or in any combination. See 18 U.S.C. 1591(a).

In the end, Maynes is simply wrong in claiming that the district court's instruction permitted conviction for ordinary prostitution. And in any event, Maynes did not simply facilitate prostitution for women who freely chose that profession. Instead, the evidence showed that he convinced women to work for him through a variety of material misrepresentations, such as false promises to provide the women with homes and incomes. And once the women were working for him, he used a variety of coercive means, such as controlling access to their children, to prevent them from leaving.

Maynes's challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence therefore must also fail. We may set aside the jury's verdict on the ground of insufficient evidence only if no rational trier of fact could have agreed with the jury. Coleman v. Johnson, 566 U.S. 650, 132 S.Ct. 2060, 2062, 182 L.Ed.2d 978 (2012) (per curiam). Here, evidence was provided to support each element of each of Maynes's convictions. Although Maynes denied at trial that he made promises to the women, that he withheld children from their mothers, and that he provided the women with drugs, the jury was entitled to disbelieve his testimony in light of the other evidence. We are not empowered to reweigh that evidence or to second guess the jury's credibility determinations.

III.

Maynes next challenges his convictions on the basis of the district court's decision to exclude certain evidence relating to the women's sexual histories. Specifically, the district court limited the extent to which Maynes's attorney could cross-examine the women regarding their sexual histories prior to engaging in commercial sex work for Maynes. Maynes asserts that this evidence was necessary to his defense, because it would have shown that the women were not innocent victims but rather were aware of the nature and circumstances attendant to the business of prostitution. Maynes Opening Br. 23. He thus contends that the district court's ruling violated his rights under the Confrontation Clause of the Sixth Amendment. We are unpersuaded.

District courts are given significant discretion in making evidentiary rulings, and we will reverse such decisions only upon finding an abuse of that discretion. United States v. Dinkins, 691 F.3d 358, 382 (4th Cir. 2012). In considering Sixth Amendment challenges, specifically, the Confrontation Clause guarantees an opportunity for effective cross-examination, not cross-examination that is effective in whatever way, and to whatever extent, the defense might wish. Delaware v. Van Arsdall, 475 U.S. 673, 679, 106 S.Ct. 1431, 89 L.Ed.2d 674 (1986) (quoting Delaware v. Fensterer, 474 U.S. 15, 20, 106 S.Ct. 292, 88 L.Ed.2d 15 (1985) (per curiam)). Therefore, trial judges retain wide latitude  to impose reasonable limits on [ ] cross-examination based on concerns about, among other things, harassment, prejudice, confusion of the issues, the witness' safety, or interrogation that is repetitive or only marginally relevant. Van Arsdall, 475 U.S. at 679, 106 S.Ct. 1431. There is no reason that this wide latitude should be removed in the context of questions regarding witnesses' sexual histories. The district court remains in the best position to strike a balance between the relevance of the information to the defense and the risk of creating a mini-trial into the victims' character.

In this case, the possibility of subjecting the victims to a mini-trial was certainly real. Disputes regarding whether their prior commercial sex work was consensual, how extensive that prior experience was, how their prior experiences compared to their experiences with Maynes, and similar questions could provide fodder for days of tangential testimony. Indeed, allowing such testimony ran the risk that the focus of the trial would shift from Maynes's activity to the victims' past lives. Simply knowing that some of the women had engaged in prior commercial sex work, without greater detail, would have risked prejudicing the jury without actually illuminating the women's susceptibility to Maynes's techniques.

The past sexual history of the victims was thus a poor guide to any assessment of overtures made to victims whose vulnerability to the false blandishments of the defendant was apparent. The testimony was at best of only the most marginal relevance to the core issue in Maynes's trial: not what the victims' sexual history may have been, but whether the defendant in this case employed force, threats of force, fraud, coercion, or any combination of these to cause the women to commit commercial sex acts. For this reason, many courts have found the victims' sexual histories inadmissible in sex trafficking trials. See, e.g., United States v. Gemma, 818 F.3d 23, 34 (1st Cir. 2016) (noting that evidence of a victim's prior prostitution in a  1591(a) case is either entirely irrelevant or of [ ] slight probative value in comparison to its prejudicial effect); United States v. Rivera, 799 F.3d 180, 185 (2d Cir. 2015) (rejecting the argument that a victim's experience in the sex industry, and knowledge of its practices, is  relevant to whether she was coerced or whether, on the other hand, she knew precisely what she was getting into and accepted it) (quotation marks and emphasis omitted); United States v. Roy, 781 F.3d 416, 42021 (8th Cir. 2015) (The victim's participation in prostitution either before or after the time period in the indictment has no relevance to whether [the defendant] beat her, threatened her, and took the money she made from prostitution in order to cause her to engage in commercial sex.); United States v. Cephus, 684 F.3d 703, 708 (7th Cir. 2012) (rejecting the defendant's argument that having already been a prostitute [the victim] would not have been deceived by the defendant and finding that the testimony sought to be elicited  would have been irrelevant).

Maynes in fact is complaining of a district court ruling that was more permissive of the testimony he sought to elicit than many courts have been in similar cases. Rather than a blanket exclusion, the district court here carefully weighed the probative value of each specific piece of evidence against the concerns noted in Van Arsdall, ultimately excluding only those lines of questioning most likely to lead to fruitless fishing expeditions. For example, one woman testified that she moved from Houston to Virginia with Maynes without realizing he intended to prostitute her, and was unsure what to do when her first client arrived. The district court held that the defense could cross-examine that woman as to her experience as a prostitute in Houston in order to challenge these claims. See J.A. 45860. This differentiation between types of sexual history evidence reflects the district court's careful consideration of the relevant factors. The ultimate balance the district court struck was entirely fair; Maynes has not come close to establishing any abuse of discretion on the part of the trial court.

IV.

Based on the foregoing, the judgment of the district court is

AFFIRMED.

FOOTNOTES

. Maynes also challenges his trial counsel for ineffective assistance. We do not generally review such claims on direct appeal, see United States v. King, 119 F.3d 290, 295 (4th Cir. 1997), and in any event we see nothing in this record to indicate that counsel's performance fell outside the wide range of reasonable professional assistance. Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 689, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984).

WILKINSON, Circuit Judge:

Affirmed by published opinion. Judge Wilkinson wrote the opinion, in which Judge Shedd and Judge Diaz joined.
Company had started its chain of 'Moto Hub' stores in August where all its products are displayed and available for sale on the same day as online availability.

New Delhi: Handset maker Motorola on Thursday said it will set up 50 Moto Hubs in Delhi as part of its plans to expand offline retail presence in the country.

Motorola, which had re-entered the Indian market in 2014 in an exclusive partnership with e-commerce Flipkart, has been gradually increasing its offline presence to reach out to more customers.

The company had started its chain of 'Moto Hub' stores in August where all its products are displayed and available for sale on the same day as online availability.

"As part of our retail expansion plans, we are opening 50 new Moto Hubs in Delhi. These Moto Hubs are a key destination for consumers to experience our technology and get a hands-on demo of the entire product portfolio," Motorola Mobility India MD Sudhin Mathur told PTI.

He added that the company now have over 200 such stores across six states.

According to reports, Delhi is one of the biggest markets for the Indian smartphone industry, accounting for an estimated 8-9 per cent of the total sales.

Motorola is a part of Chinese technology giant, Lenovo.

Offline retail channels account of a major share of India's handset sales. Companies like Xiaomi had entered the Indian market through the online channel but are now aggressively targetting offline buyers and are setting up stores.

According to research firm IDC, Lenovo (alongwith Motorola) had a 9 per cent market share in the September 2017 quarter, taking up the third slot of the leading smartphone players tally in India.

Samsung and Xiaomi were tied at the top spot with 23.5 per cent share each. Vivo (8.5 per cent) and Oppo (7.9 per cent) formed a part of the top 5 tally, as per IDC.
United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit. UNITED STATES of America, PlaintiffAppellant, v. Donald COVINGTON, DefendantAppellee. No. 17-4120 Decided: January 18, 2018

Before TRAXLER and AGEE, Circuit Judges, and Loretta C. BIGGS, United States District Judge for the Middle District of North Carolina, sitting by designation. ARGUED: Philip Henry Wright, OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY, Charleston, West Virginia, for Appellant. Philip Bradley Sword, SHUMAN, MCCUSKEY & SLICER, PLLC, Charleston, West Virginia, for Appellee. ON BRIEF: Carol A. Casto, United States Attorney, Monica D. Coleman, Assistant United States Attorney, OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY, Charleston, West Virginia, for Appellant.

The government appeals the district court's determination that the West Virginia criminal offense of unlawful wounding, W. Va. Code  61-2-9(a), is not a crime of violence under the force clause of  4B1.2 of the United States Sentencing Guidelines (the Guidelines). For the reasons stated below, we vacate the sentence imposed by the district court and remand for resentencing.

I.

Donald Covington pleaded guilty to distribution of heroin, in violation of 21 U.S.C.  841(a)(1). Covington's presentence report classified him as a career offender under  4B1.1(a) of the Guidelines based on two prior felony convictions: one for robbery with a firearm, and the other for the offense of unlawful wounding under West Virginia law. Covington did not object to the career offender classification; however, prior to sentencing, the district court sua sponte ordered the parties to brief the issue whether unlawful wounding qualifies as a crime of violence under the Guidelines.

At sentencing, the district court concluded that West Virginia's unlawful wounding offense did not qualify as a crime of violence and, therefore, Covington was not a career offender. The district court then calculated the advisory sentencing guideline range applicable to Covington as 1824 months, rather than, a sentence of at least 12 and a half years  if the career offender guideline was applied, J.A. 106. Since Covington had already been detained on a pretrial basis for about thirty-seven months prior to sentencing, the district court imposed a sentence of time served and ordered Covington's release.

II.

The sole issue before this Court is whether the offense of unlawful wounding under West Virginia law is a crime of violence under the Guidelines, as the government contends. This Court reviews de novo the question whether a prior state conviction qualifies as a crime of violence. United States v. Salmons, 873 F.3d 446, 448 (4th Cir. 2017).

A.

The term crime of violence is defined in  4B1.2 of the Guidelines, which reads as follows:

(a) The term crime of violence means any offense under federal or state law, punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year, that

(1) has as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against the person of another, or

(2) is murder, voluntary manslaughter, kidnapping, aggravated assault, a forcible sex offense, robbery, arson, extortion, or the use or unlawful possession of a firearm described in 26 U.S.C.  5845(a) or explosive material as defined in 18 U.S.C.  841(c).

U.S.S.G.  4B1.2(a). Section 4B1.2(a)(1) is generally referred to as the force clause and  4B1.2(a)(2) as the enumerated clause. See, e.g., United States v. Riley, 856 F.3d 326, 328 (4th Cir. 2017), cert. denied,  U.S. , 138 S.Ct. 273, 199 L.Ed.2d 175 (2017). Because the government does not argue that the predicate crime at issue in this appeal, unlawful wounding under West Virginia law, is an enumerated offense, we consider whether it qualifies as a crime of violence under the force clause only.

To determine whether a defendant's prior conviction qualifies as a crime of violence, this Court applies the categorical approach. Salmons, 873 F.3d at 448. The categorical approach directs a court to focus solely on the fact of conviction rather than the facts of the case. See Taylor v. United States, 495 U.S. 575, 602, 110 S.Ct. 2143, 109 L.Ed.2d 607 (1990). The Court must compare the elements required for conviction of an offense to the element(s) required for application of the sentence enhancement, while ignoring the conduct that gave rise to a particular defendant's past conviction. United States v. Wilson, 951 F.2d 586, 588 (4th Cir. 1991). As recognized by the Supreme Court, the categorical approach is straightforward when a statute is indivisible, that is, when the statute defines only a single crime with a single set of elements. Mathis v. United States,  U.S. , 136 S.Ct. 2243, 2248, 195 L.Ed.2d 604 (2016). However, where a statute defines multiple crimes by listing multiple alternative elements, which renders the statute divisible, the categorical approach is made more difficult. Id. at 2249. Where a statute is divisible, the Court generally must first apply a modified categorical approach to determine which of the alternative elements are integral to a defendant's conviction. Id. This approach allows a court to look at a limited class of documents (for example, the indictment, jury instructions, or plea agreement and colloquy) to determine what crime, with what elements, a defendant was convicted of, before proceeding as the categorical approach commands. Id. The modified approach acts as a tool, rather than an exception, to help[ ] implement the categorical approach when a defendant was convicted of violating a divisible statute. Descamps v. United States, 570 U.S. 254, 133 S.Ct. 2276, 2285, 186 L.Ed.2d 438 (2013).

The statute at issue here, West Virginia Code  61-2-9(a), reads as follows:

If any person maliciously shoots, stabs, cuts or wounds any person, or by any means cause him or her bodily injury with intent to maim, disfigure, disable or kill, he or she, except where it is otherwise provided, is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by confinement in a state correctional facility not less than two nor more than ten years. If the act is done unlawfully, but not maliciously, with the intent aforesaid, the offender is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall either be imprisoned in a state correctional facility not less than one nor more than five years, or be confined in jail not exceeding twelve months and fined not exceeding $500.

W. Va. Code  61-2-9(a) (emphasis added). It is clear that the West Virginia statute in question is divisible in that it lists two separate crimes with different elements and punishments. See Mathis, 136 S.Ct. at 2256 (If statutory alternatives carry different punishments, then under Apprendi [v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466, 120 S.Ct. 2348, 147 L.Ed.2d 435 (2000)] they must be elements.). Because neither party challenges the district court's determination that Covington was convicted of unlawful, not malicious, wounding, which the record supports, this Court need not employ the modified categorical approach here. See United States v. Carthorne, 726 F.3d 503, 512 (4th Cir. 2013) (The divisible nature of Virginia Code  18.2-57(C), however, does not require application of the modified categorical approach in the present case because the parties agree, and the record shows, that Carthorne was convicted under that statute of the distinct offense of assault and battery of a police officer.). The Court will, therefore, compare the offense of unlawful wounding with the requirements of the force clause. See Salmons, 873 F.3d at 449.

B.

The force clause provides that an offense is a crime of violence when it has as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against the person of another. U.S.S.G.  4B1.2(a)(1). The Supreme Court has interpreted the term physical force as violent forcethat is, force capable of causing physical pain or injury to another person. Johnson v. United States, 559 U.S. 133, 140, 130 S.Ct. 1265, 176 L.Ed.2d 1 (2010). Further, this Court focuses on the minimum conduct required for conviction in categorically comparing the offense to the controlling definition of the force clause. See United States v. Gardner, 823 F.3d 793, 803 (4th Cir. 2016). Thus, to qualify as a crime of violence under the force clause, the minimum conduct necessary for conviction of an offense must at least involve violent force. See id. Therefore, [a] predicate offense qualifies as a crime of violence if all of the conduct criminalized by the statuteincluding the most innocent conductmatches or is narrower than the Guidelines' definition of crime of violence.  Salmons, 873 F.3d at 448 (quoting United States v. DiazIbarra, 522 F.3d 343, 348 (4th Cir. 2008)).

Comparing the elements of the force clause as articulated above, with the elements of the West Virginia offense of unlawful wounding, yields the conclusion that unlawful wounding under  61-2-9(a) categorically qualifies as a crime of violence under the force clause. Section 61-2-9(a) applies only to a defendant who shoots, stabs, cuts or wounds any person, or by any means cause[s] him or her bodily injury with intent to maim, disfigure, disable or kill, W. Va. Code  61-2-9(a). The statute's text thus dictates that the minimum conduct required for conviction of unlawful wounding must at least involve physical force capable of causing physical injury to another person. See United States v. Reid, 861 F.3d 523, 527 (4th Cir. 2017) (concluding that the  knowingly and willfully inflict[ing] bodily injury on another person element of a Virginia criminal offense squarely matches ACCA's force clause, which requires force that is capable of causing physical pain or injury  (alteration in original) (first quoting Va. Code Ann.  18.2-55) (then quoting Johnson, 559 U.S. at 140, 130 S.Ct. 1265)), cert. denied,  U.S. , 138 S.Ct. 462,  L.Ed.2d  (2017).

C.

The district court in this case, in concluding that unlawful wounding did not qualify as a crime of violence, relied on this Court's decision in United States v. TorresMiguel, 701 F.3d 165 (4th Cir. 2012). There this Court stated that a crime may result in death or serious injury without involving the use of physical force, such as by threatening to poison another, which involves no use or threatened use of force. TorresMiguel, 701 F.3d at 16869. Based on TorresMiguel, the district court hypothesized that a defendant could commit unlawful wounding by indirect means, such as by withholding much-needed medication from someone gravely ill, or by telling the victim he can safely back his car out while knowing an approaching car driven by an independently acting third party will hit the victim.  J.A. 102. The court thus found that while West Virginia's unlawful wounding statute requires a bodily injury [causally] linked to the conduct of the defendant, it does not require the defendant to have used violent force as required in the force clause. J.A. 102.

The government argued before the district court that United States v. Castleman,  U.S. , 134 S.Ct. 1405, 188 L.Ed.2d 426 (2014), had abrogated the direct versus indirect use of force distinction articulated in TorresMiguel. In Castleman, the Supreme Court explained that when a defendant uses poison against another person, the relevant  use of force  is not the act of sprinkl[ing] the poison; it is the act of employing poison knowingly as a device to cause physical harm. That the harm occurs indirectly, rather than directly (as with a kick or punch), does not matter. Castleman, 134 S.Ct. at 1415. The district court nevertheless rejected the government's argument and further concluded that Castleman is simply not controlling. J.A. 100. Since Covington's sentencing below, however, this Court has confirmed and reaffirmed in several decisions that the direct versus indirect use of force distinction articulated in TorresMiguel has been abrogated by Castleman. See United States v. BurnsJohnson, 864 F.3d 313, 318 (4th Cir. 2017) (explaining that Castleman abrogates [this Court's] statement in TorresMiguel that the use of poison would not constitute the use of force under Johnson I); Reid, 861 F.3d at 529 (concluding that following Castleman, the phrase use of physical force  includes indirect applications); In re Irby, 858 F.3d 231, 23738 (4th Cir. 2017) (noting that the distinction [this Court] drew in TorresMiguel between indirect and direct applications of force  no longer remains valid in light of Castleman's explicit rejection of such a distinction). Thus, the district court's reliance on TorresMiguel concerning the issue presented here was error.

Likewise, the district court erred in considering hypothetical scenarios from cases that did not interpret the criminal offense at issue here. This Court has made clear that its focus on the minimum conduct required for conviction does not give litigants [or courts] a green light to conjure up fanciful fact patterns in an attempt to find some nonviolent manner in which a crime could be committed. Salmons, 873 F.3d at 451. Rather, there must be a  realistic probability, not a theoretical possibility, that a state would actually punish that conduct. United States v. Doctor, 842 F.3d 306, 308 (4th Cir. 2016) (quoting Gardner, 823 F.3d at 803), cert. denied,  U.S. , 137 S.Ct. 1831, 197 L.Ed.2d 773 (2017). See Gonzales v. DuenasAlvarez, 549 U.S. 183, 193, 127 S.Ct. 815, 166 L.Ed.2d 683 (2007). Accordingly, litigants must point to the statutory text or to actual cases in order to demonstrate that a conviction for a seemingly violent state crime could in fact be sustained for nonviolent conduct. Salmons, 873 F.3d at 451. See DuenasAlvarez, 549 U.S. at 193, 127 S.Ct. 815 (To show that realistic probability, an offender  must at least point to his own case or other cases in which the state courts in fact did apply the statute in the special  manner for which he argues.). Here, Covington has not identified a single West Virginia case that interprets the offense of unlawful wounding to apply to one who uses force that is not capable of causing physical pain or injury to another person, Johnson, 559 U.S. at 140, 130 S.Ct. 1265. In contrast, the government has identified scores of cases that confirm that the unlawful wounding offense only criminalizes the degree of force required under Johnson.

III.

The Court concludes, based on the text of the statute as well as the examination of the convictions under the statute, that the crime of unlawful wounding under West Virginia law,  61-2-9(a), is categorically a crime of violence under the Guidelines. For the foregoing reasons, we vacate Covington's sentence and remand for resentencing in accordance with this opinion.

VACATED AND REMANDED

FOOTNOTES

. In Johnson, the Supreme Court considered a challenge arising under the violent felony sentence enhancement found in the Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA), not under the Guidelines. Johnson, 559 U.S. at 135, 130 S.Ct. 1265. However, this distinction is immaterial as this Court applies precedents interpreting violent felony under the ACCA and crime of violence under the Guidelines interchangeably. United States v. MontesFlores, 736 F.3d 357, 363 (4th Cir. 2013) (quoting United States v. King, 673 F.3d 274, 279 n.3 (4th Cir. 2012)).

. The district court explained that these examples were taken from Whyte v. Lynch, 807 F.3d 463, 469 (1st Cir. 2015).

. The district court acknowledged that the question whether the offense of unlawful wounding is a crime of violence under the force clause is a somewhat close call and basically boils down to the plain language of the statute. J.A. 102.

. Castleman did not however abrogate the causation aspect of TorresMiguel that a crime may result in death or serious injury without involving the use of physical force, TorresMiguel, 701 F.3d at 168. See United States v. McNeal, 818 F.3d 141, 156 n.10 (4th Cir. 2016).

LORETTA COPELAND BIGGS, District Judge:

Vacated and remanded by published opinion. Judge Biggs wrote the opinion, in which Judge Traxler and Judge Agee joined.
Ranveer Singh and Shahid Kapoor in a still from 'Padmaavat', Deepika Padukone on the poster.

Mumbai/New Delhi/Ujjain (Madhya Pradesh): The Supreme Court today rejected a plea seeking urgent hearing on a fresh PIL that sought cancellation of Censor Board's certificate granted to controversial Bollywood movie 'Padmaavat'.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justice A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud also trashed the submission that the screening of the movie may cause serious threat to life, property and law and order.

"Maintaining law and order is not our job. That is the job of the state. Prayer rejected," the bench said while refusing to accord urgent hearing on the fresh plea filed by lawyer M L Sharma.

Read Also: 'Padmaavat' row: Senior lawyer Harish Salve gets open threat from Karni Sena

The lawyer has sought cancellation of the U/A certificate granted by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) to Deepika Padukone starrer 'Padmaavat' on various grounds including the provisions of the Cinematograph Act.

"Yesterday, we have passed a reasoned order," the bench said, adding that once CBFC has granted the certificate, there was no scope of any interference.

The apex court had yesterday paved the way for the nationwide release of movie 'Padmaavat' on January 25 by staying the ban on the screening of the film in Gujarat and Rajasthan.

The court had also restrained other states from issuing any such notification or order banning the screening of the film.

Haryana and Madhya Pradesh governments have not issued any formal order but had stated that they would not allow the exhibition of the film.

Maintaining that states were under constitutional obligation to maintain law and order, the apex court had said that this duty also includes providing police protection to persons who are involved in the film, its exhibition and the audience watching it.

According to a report on Bollywood Life, "The members of Rajput Karni Sena vandalised a single-screen theatre today in Muzaffarpur. The protestors pelted the stones and even tore the posters of Padmaavat. Except for one multiplex in Patna, none of the theatres are planning to screen Padmaavat."

Rajput Karni Sena Chief Lokendra Singh Kalvi on Tuesday urged people to impose curfew in cinema halls and stop screening of the movie 'Padmaavat'.

He also appealed the social organisations to come together to protest against the release of the film.

"I appeal to all social organisation to not let the movie run in cinema halls and public should impose curfew in the cinema halls."

Kalvi also said that he is going to conduct an emergency meeting following Supreme Court's green signal for 'Padmaavat's release.

The flick, based on the legend of Rani Padmini, a 13th century Hindu Rajput queen, mentioned in Padmavat, an Avadhi poem written by Sufi poet Malik Muhammad Jayasi in 1540, has been facing protests from various groups, particularly the Shri Rajput Karni Sena, for allegedly tampering with historical facts.

The CBFC has suggested five modifications in 'Padmavati', which included changing the film's title to 'Padmaavat', in December last year.

The movie, starring Deepika Padukone, Shahid Kapoor and Ranveer Singh in lead roles, is based on the saga of historic battle of 13th century between Maharaja Ratan Singh and his army of Mewar and Sultan Alauddin Khilji of Delhi. It is all set for January 25 worldwide release in Hindi, Telugu, and Tamil and will be the first Indian film to get a global IMAX 3D release.
In February, Hrithik Roshan will start shooting for his biopic on the Patna-based mathematical genius Anand Kumar. Except that the film Super 30 wont be shot in Patna initially, but in Varanasi instead.

Says a source in the know, Producer Madhu Mantena and director Vikas Bahl wanted to shoot in Patna, but the practical impossibility of controlling crowds in Bihar obstructed this urge to be authentic. So now, Hrithik will shoot with Bahl and television actress Mrunal Thakur, who plays his wife, in Varanasi.

Thereafter, Hrithik will move to Patna to briefly visit Anand Kumars home and get a feel of where he lives and how. While hes in Patna, Hrithik will also meet chief minister Nitish Kumar, who is quite close to Anand Kumar in real life.

In fact, Anand will also be joining the Super 30 team in Varanasi for a brief while. The entire film will be made under his supervision, the source adds.

Interestingly, Super 30 isnt the first movie based in Bihar to be shot outside of the state. Prakash Jha has shot almost all his Bihar-based flicks outside it. Hrithik will shoot in the capital, but the majority of the film will be shot in Varanasi, the source adds.
Having served in places around the word as Trade Commissioner of the United States, (including 10 years in Mumbai), Richard Rothman settled in India and launched OpenMind, the world's first and only Opportunity Consultancy. Over a span of 32 years, Richard has expanded business opportunities for hundreds of companies operating in 67 sectors spanning 41 countries.

Richard Rothmans book Master Opportunity and Make It Big which was recently launched, shares inspiring stories and success secrets of 18 Indian businessmen who started with nothing, and captured opportunities to make it big. With little to their name, these businessmen took great opportunities and converted them into success stories  Uday Kotak of Kotak Bank, Harsh Mariwala of Marico, Dr. Yusuf Hamied of Cipla, Subhash Chandra of Zee, Aditya Puri of HDFC Bank, Nirmal Jain of India Info Line are a few of the personalities who find mention in the book.

Speaking to this correspondent, Rothman talks about the reasons behind writing the book and shares his insight into the Indian business market.

What gave you the idea for the book?

Is there any word in the English language that's more attractive than "opportunity?" Opportunity is absolutely universal - every individual and every business needs to choose and implement opportunities to become successful. Yet surprisingly, Master Opportunity and Make it Big is the first book in decades to be written on the subject of opportunity. There are many books on innovation and strategy, but these are generally written for use by managers of large companies. I wanted to create a book on opportunity that could be helpful for everyone who aspires to create a richer, better life.

Your book asks the question, Does an average Indian businessman really know how to choose the right opportunities. Why?

Unfortunately, the average Indian businessman does not know how to choose the right opportunities. That's because 99.9 per cent of Indian companies lack a proven, systematic process for identifying, assessing and choosing opportunities. You certainly wouldnt trust a doctor or any other professional who didnt use a systematic process. You wouldnt run a factory without them. Unfortunately, because no systematic opportunity process has been available to them, Indian businessmen have had to rely on luck in choosing opportunities. I saw this as a huge gap that urgently needs to be filled. That is why Ive developed the OpenMind Process, the worlds first process to uncover, recover and discover opportunities for sustained, profitable growth.

Would you say that the average Indian businessman lacks the desire or the ability to make it big?

Absolutely not! The average Indian businessperson strongly desires to make it big. Everyone would like to be rich and successful, but very few succeed. A lack of desire is rarely the reason for failure. Unfortunately, simply having a goal doesn't provide you with the path to its achievement.

Most people believe that money makes money, but thats not entirely true. Money invested in the wrong opportunity will surely be lost. On the other hand, if you choose a great opportunity, you don't need any money to succeed. Thats because opportunities are absolutely free.

Better yet, great opportunities are like powerful magnets that attract all the money and talent you need to succeed. These days, 20-year-old kids are attracting millions of dollars in venture capital. Its not because they have great track records. It's because the opportunities they are pursuing are big.

Master opportunity and make it BIg By Richard M. Rothman Jaico Rs 227; pp. 256

What kind of research did you have to do for it?

I have been researching the subject of opportunity for over 27 years. I've been fortunate to have had a very broad exposure to over 67 sectors of business, all types of companies large and small, all over the world. For 23 of those years, I served as Trade Commissioner of the United States in Italy, Indonesia and for ten years in India.

As Trade Commissioner I counseled literally thousands of companies of all sizes and all sectors of business to open up new markets. I also taught strategy and marketing in MBA programs in Italy and Indonesia. I found that many of the companies I counseled had a great deal of trouble identifying the right business opportunities, because they lacked a coherent process to do this.

I found that most business strategy books and consulting focused only on the needs of large companies, neglecting 99 per cent of the companies in the world. In any case, what good is a strategy, or an innovation, if it is not an opportunity? Opportunity is where it all starts. It is the seed from which all riches grow. I was fortunate to have easy access to hundreds of top businessmen in several countries, such as the people in my book. Over the years I met and learned from them, especially the ones who had leveraged opportunities to go from rags to riches. Over time, I developed and tested the OpenMind Process based on the things I got to learn from these men and women, who I dubbed as Opportunity Masters.

Why Indian businessmen? Is the Rags to Riches story not prevalent across the globe?

As I am based in India, I was determined that the book should focus completely on Indians who have gone from rags to riches. Traditionally Indians have relied on family and connections to get ahead. But this is changing fast. Millions of Indians would like to create their very own Indian Dream.

However, it's not enough to simply desire riches; aspiring Indians must learn how to identify and leverage great opportunities to attract the resources they need to succeed. My book provides both inspiring examples of Indians who have made it big, as well as practical lessons that anyone can follow to help them on their journey of opportunity.

Was there a particular reason you targeted the Indian audience?

I wholeheartedly believe in India, and I have made my home here. I have been married to an Indian woman for 33 years. When I retired as US Trade Commissioner in 2013, I decided to start OpenMind, the world's first and only opportunity consultancy in India, because I am completely convinced that India is the greatest land of opportunity in the world today.

How would you define your book? Would you say it is a self-help piece? How long did it take for you to write it?

This is entirely a self-help book. It can be effectively used by individuals, employees, entrepreneurs, or existing promoters to improve their opportunities.

The process of creating the book took about two years. After the book proposal was approved by Jaico, the first step was to personally interview the 18 Opportunity Masters in the book, after which I wrote the book and submitted it for editing.

In terms of business in the global scenario, where would you place India?

I am extremely bullish on India. I believe that over the next few decades, India will have the fastest rate of growth in the world, far exceeding China. India's greatest advantage lies in its bright young aspiring population  exactly the people who can benefit most from my book.

What next for you?

I will continue consulting Indian companies, using the OpenMind Process to help them to uncover, recover and discover opportunities for sustained, profitable growth. I am also developing training courses for both companies and individuals. Other than that, my mind is always open to exciting new opportunities.
Researchers at the University of Maryland have discovered the flu can spread just by breathing, the Daily Mail reported.

It is public knowledge that people should cover their mouths when they sneeze or cough in order to prevent the virus from spreading. But a new study warns this may not be enough.

Researchers came to this conclusion after examining 142 people with the flu. In order to monitor their natural breathing, each participant was placed in a contained room. They found that the infectious virus was spreading in the air as they exhaled.

Lead author of the study Dr Donald Milton, told the Daily Mail the virus can linger in the air for hours".

"Influenza comes on hard and fast and you are probably infectious right then," he is quoted as saying in the report. Adding, "I would like people in my work place who are coming down with the flu to please go home and not infect me."

He urges people who are sick with the flu to stay home so they don't infect others. The team hopes their alarming findings help officials gain a better understanding about how the flu really spreads and produce a more effective vaccine in the future.

Health officials are also encouraging people to get their flu shot.
Officials at the Railway Technical Research Institute said that there were 45 per cent fewer deer on the tracks when the sounds were played, compared to when the trains ran as normal. (Photo: Pixabay)

In a move to protect wildlife, trains in Japan have started barking like dogs and snorting like deer in order to prevent accidents.

According to a Japanese newspaer Asahi Shimbun newspaper, deer often congregate to lick the train tracks in the evening and late at night  which, sadly, leads to regular collisions.

However, authorities found that blaring the animal sounds from the top of oncoming trains has bee found to shoo away the deer in good time to prevent any crashes.

Officials at the Railway Technical Research Institute said that there were 45 per cent fewer deer on the tracks when the sounds were played, compared to when the trains ran as normal.

They explained that deer will repeated let off a short, shrill snort when they want to alert other deer to danger.

Researchers decided to combine the warning snort with the sound of an animal deer are afraid of  dogs. In tests, a three-second-long recording of a deer snort and 20 seconds of a barking dog were played from a running train car at night.

Deer were seen from aboard the trains just 7.5 times per 100km, around 45 per cent less than when the sounds werent played.

According to an RTRI official who spoke to the Japanese newspaper, If our new contraption works, that will obviate the need for installing anti-trespass facilities at many locations.
The German couple Leo and Sebastian is on an ambitious world tour for over 10 months now, and theyve already covered 15 countries without once taking a plane! Ask them about it on their brief stopover in Hyderabad and Leo explains, We are very environmentally conscious people, and flying has one of the biggest negative impacts on climate change. Earlier, when planes had not become relatively less expensive, cross country travel used to be by road. So we thought why not take it our ourselves?

The couple has had some interesting encounters. We came to India from Pakistan, and surprisingly, the people at the border received us so warmly. The media may give a certain impression but the civilians there are so fond of India, she says.

But not everything has been a cakewalk. In China, they not only checked our bags thoroughly but even asked us strange questions like what we thought of Hitler, why we dont have kids, and when we would have them! We even got separated once when Sebastian had to go to another room with a police officer and the atmosphere was quite tense. But we stayed in China for almost a month and it was just the best experience there, narrates Leo.

The travel enthusiasts pose for a picture as they enter India

Their visit to Hyderabad couldnt have happened at a better time. We attended an exhibition called Mapping Frontiers at the Goethe Zentrum and also followed the Krishnakriti festivals formal inauguration, says Leo, adding, We went to the Charminar, Mecca Masjid, Qutub Shahi Tombs and the Old City too.

After wrapping up Hyderabad, the couple headed to Vizianagaram where they experienced the farm life. Our friend invited us to their farm, where we watered plants, fed the chickens, and Sebastian even learnt how to maneuver the cows and became a shepherd for a brief while, explains Leo with a laugh, adding, Having been to many Indian cities, it was really nice to spend time at a slow and quiet town. The couple is currently in Vishakhapatnam for a week before they head off to Bheemavaram and then Nepal.

They also plan to travel for about three weeks in a container ship from Hong Kong to Mexico. It is something we have been wanting to do, says Leo.

Interestingly, Sebastian gave up his cushy job as an industrial engineer as did Leo, who worked as a manager at the Centre for Environmental Education.

As for their future plans, they say, We initially planned to travel for one year, but there is so much more to see. We will go on touring for as long as we can afford it and the day we feel that its enough, well pack up and go.
The move comes after a resolution was given overwhelming approval from the state House of Representatives committee on Thursday. (Representational Image)

In a new move Florida could brand pornography.

The move comes after a resolution was given overwhelming approval from the state House of Representatives committee on Thursday.

The move that was spearheaded by Republican Representative Ross Spano, saw the resolution claiming that research has found links between pornography and 'mental and physical illnesses,' among a host of other societal and individual ills.

The resolution passed by 18 to one in the House, where the sole dissenter, Democrat Dr Cary Pigman, was also the only medical doctor on the committee.

Spano initially wanted to have porn dubbed a state public health crisis in Floria (a status held by the opiod epidemic), but the resolution passed by deeming adult material a 'risk' instead.

The resolution states that pornography is a public health risk from which Florida needs to 'protect the citizens of [the] state' through 'education, prevention, research and policy change.'

Spano along with the resolution's other 17 supporters see pornography as a growing risk in an age of ever-advancing technology and access to media.

Spano's concern over porn stemmed in part from his worry over his own son, local news station WFSU reported.

In the resolution, he cites research finding that 27 percent of young adults 'report that they first viewed pornography before the onset of puberty.'

The resolution says that porn has ties to a wide-ranging slew of adverse health effects, including low self-esteem, eating disorders, normalizing violence and abuse of women and children, marital problems and that it is 'potentially biologically addictive, resulting in the user consuming increasingly more shocking material to satisfy the addiction.'

In fact, psychologists and psychiatrists have considered adding porn to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), but it was once again excluded from the book's fifth edition.

Research has shown that watching pornography earlier tends to be linked to having sex younger, and small studies suggest that exposure at a young age may affect men's attitudes toward women.
Cases of harassment by Uber and Ola drivers are on the rise. Recently, Ola cab driver Kandukuri Naga Madhu Kiran was arrested for molesting a woman passenger. Shockingly, he later revealed that he had raped a 10-year-old girl in October 2017 and he often attempted to force himself on women. The Hyderabad police had previously arrested an Uber driver for masturbating in the car with woman passenger, while in another case, a woman was harassed during a Ola Share Trip.

About the harassment she faced in an Ola trip recently, artist Sravanthi Juluri says, Narrating this incident gives me the creeps. I was travelling with my son and a lady friend in an Ola cab. I did not suspect anything strange in the drivers behaviour until I told him to make a quick stop enroute to my destination. Shockingly, both the rear doors had the child lock on and I wasnt able to get out.

Sravanthi continues, The driver refused to remove the child lock even after I insisted several times. Instead, he started harassing both of us ladies. Even after we got off the car, he stalked us and got abusive. I was lucky to have exited the car. I urge female passengers to be safe and ensure that the child lock is not on.

Sravanthi Juluri

Actress Priyanka Jawalkar, too, had a horrifying experience during an Uber ride. I had taken an Uber at night recently and insisted that the driver take the route that I was comfortable with. However, he kept arguing with me throughout the journey. I felt pretty unsafe. I had to warn him saying Id call the police but he didnt seem to care. Ironically, Uber doesnt even have a proper customer care unit in place, Priyanka says.

Actress Priyanka Jawalkar

While women consider the share rides to be safer, it looks like thats not the case always. As Rebecca Benny, a B.Com graduate and former employee with HSBC, tells us, I took an Ola Share from HiTec City and I was the last drop. While the driver is supposed to take the route the map shows, this driver took a detour. I started panicking and contemplated jumping out of the cab! He probably realised that and changed the route. I felt unsafe throughout the journey and never took an Ola for a long time. Ironically, he asked me to give him a five star rating when I got down from the cab. He was arrogant.

Rebecca Benny

Swastika Das, another commuter says, I recently travelled to Bhubaneshwar from Hyderabad. I booked an Uber at the airport and called the driver to check his status. I found him rude. Once in the cab, I saw him being rude to another passenger. She adds, He didnt help me with my luggage and instead made a huge scene when I requested him to drop me closer to my destination. The overall experience was quite bad and I gave him one star.

Swastikas ordeal didnt end there. She narrates, Almost an hour later, I got a call from him, asking how dare I give him such a low rating. When I told him he was behaving unprofessionally, he threatened to lodge a reverse complaint against me, telling Uber that I was trying to entice him! I was flabbergasted to hear all this and frightened that he had seen my house and even had my number. It wasnt easy to contact the customer care number for Uber and I had to write an email. While they assured me of my safety and said that action would be taken, the experience was horrible.

Ola and Uber speak up

With so many cases of harassment reported, what do the cab aggregators have to say?

Says an Ola spokesperson, We focus on three pillars of verification before we appoint a driver, which includes a criminal background check. But if a customer faces any untoward incident, there are features on the app to send messages to a police station or other emergency number, like the SOS button. If a complaint is registered against a driver, we suspend the driver with immediate effect. We encourage customers to file cases if they face any such incident. Only after police clearance, we take the driver back on. While training, we dont encourage our drivers to use the child lock system unless a child is travelling alone.

An Uber spokesperson says, The safety of our riders and driver-partners is of paramount importance to us. For riders, we have incorporated several safety features in the app to ensure a safe, reliable and convenient travel. These include the ability to see your drivers details in advance, GPS tracking, share my ride feature, an emergency button which helps riders directly dial 100 and an internal response team to ensure passenger safety.

We are conscious about onboarding driver-partners with valid documents, after a comprehensive background check and the mandatory soft skill training. Riders and driver-partners can see each others first name and rating before the trip begins. Drivers are also periodically required to take a selfie before going online to drive with Uber to make sure the driver on the account matches with the driver behind the wheel. If the face doesnt match, we block the driver from accepting rides, the spokesperson continues.

About the lack of a proper customer care number, Uber says, In India, the Uber rider app features an emergency button that can be used in the case of an emergency. Upon being pressed, it will ask the rider to dial the police. It also alerts the Uber incident response team, which connects back to the rider in a short time. In case you are unable to access the emergency button due to poor network conditions, we encourage riders to call the police helplines for immediate support.

 With inputs from Shweta Watson, Pranita Jonnalagedda and Reshmi Chakravorty
Hyderabad: A domestic help who had decamped with gold jewellery from the residence of the director of National Institute of Plant Health Management (NIPHM) was arrested by the Rajendranagar police on Thursday and recovered 12 tolas of gold from her possession. The suspect was identified as Shaheen Begum, hailing from Nizamabad district.

According to police, Ms J. Alice R.P. Sujeetha, director of NIPHM at Rajendranagar, is residing at Shivarampally in a villa. After she returned home from Kolkata last Saturday, she noticed that 15 tolas of gold jewellery missing. She immediately approached the police and a case was registered. During inquiry, Ms Sujeetha expressed suspicion about her domestic help, who was the only one to enter the house in her absence. Shaheen had stopped coming for work and was absconding.

On Thursday, cops apprehended Shaheen Begum at her residence in Shivarampally.

During inquiry, she confessed her role in the crime. 12 tola of gold was recovered from her possession and she was sent to judicial remand.
Kollam: The boy Jithu Job, 14, whose charred body was recovered from a plot near his house at Kureeppalli, Kundara, on Wednesday, was killed by his mother single-handedly in a fit of rage, according to the Chathannoor police probing the case.

The police registered the arrest of Jaya Mol of Job Bhavan on murder charges on Thursday.

According to the statement given by Jaya Mol to the police, she strangled her son using a shawl, as the duo had a tiff over property issues in the kitchen of the house on Monday night.

She later dragged the body to the nearby plot and burnt it using kerosene. She, however, denied that she had disfigured the body.

Her husband Job G John, a medical store employee, and daughter Tina, a B.Sc student, were not at home when the incident happened.

Jaya Mol was not on good terms with the family of her husband over property issues. Her son had visited his paternal house disregarding the restriction imposed by Jaya on the fateful day.

Jithu, on returning home, told his mother that the family would not get his fathers share, which provoked her to commit the heinous act.

The body was found with the hands and one leg severed. The autopsy held at the Thiruvananthapuram MCH revealed that the limbs were detached from the body after it was charred.

The police have ruled out the involvement of outsiders in the crime as the mother persisted in her statements without contradictions. The police also collected evidence in the presence of Jaya Mol at their house amid angry protests by the local people.

The police also inferred that the murder was not a pre-planned one.

Jithu Job was a ninth standard student of MGD boys high school in Kundara.

His father had filed a petition with the Chathannoor police that the boy was missing after he went out of the house to buy study materials by 8.30 pm on Monday.

The body was laid to rest at St. George church at Kureepally on Thursday.
United States Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit. Luis SEGOVIA, et al., Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. UNITED STATES of America, et al., Defendants-Appellees. No. 16-4240 Decided: January 18, 2018

Before Manion, Rovner, and Hamilton, Circuit Judges. Brendan B. Gants, Attorney, Marisa B. Van Saanen, Attorney, Michael Allen McIntosh, Attorney, Geoffrey M. Wyatt, Attorney, [COR LD NTC Retained], Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, 1440 New York Avenue N.W., Washington, DC 20005-0000, Charles F. Smith, Attorney, Lara A. Flath, Attorney, [COR LD NTC Retained], Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, Suite 2700, 155 N. Wacker Drive Chicago, IL 60606-1720, for Plaintiffs-Appellants. Michael S. Raab, Attorney, Carleen Mary Zubrzycki, Attorney, [COR LD NTC Government Federal], Department of Justice, Civil Division, Appellate Staff, Room 7237, 950 Pennsylvania Avenue N.W., Washington, DC 20530-0000, for Defendants-Appellees, United States of America, Ashton B. Carter, James N. Mattis, and Federal Voting Assistance Program, Matt Boehmer. James M. Scanlon, Attorney, [COR LD NTC Retained], James M. Scanlon & Associates, P.C., Suite 3500, Eight S. Michigan Avenue, Chicago, IL 60603-0000, for Defendants-Appellees, Board of Election Commissioners for the City of Chicago, and Marisel A. Hernandez. Patricia Castro, Attorney, [COR LDNTC Gov'tState/Local], Rock Island County State's Attorney, Civil Division, 1504 Third Avenue, Rock Island, IL 61201, Kathy Laura Swett, Attorney, [COR NTC Gov'tState/Local], Rock Island County State's Attorney, 4th Floor, 210 15th Street, Rock Island County Courthouse, Rock Island, IL 61201-8644, for Defendants-Appellees, Marisel A. Hernandez, and Karen Kinney.

In this appeal, former residents of Illinois now residing in the United States territories of Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Virgin Islands challenge federal and state statutes that do not allow them to obtain absentee ballots for federal elections in Illinois. Generally, federal and state law require that former residents living outside of the United States who retain their U.S. citizenship receive such ballots. But the territories where the plaintiffs now reside are considered part of the United States under the relevant statutes, while other territories are not. The anomalous result is that former Illinois residents who move to some territories can still vote in federal elections in Illinois, but the plaintiffs cannot. The plaintiffs challenge that result as violative of their equal protection rights and their right to travel protected by the Due Process Clause.

The district court rejected their claims, holding that there was a rational basis for the inclusion of some territories but not others in the definition of the United States. With respect to the challenge to the Illinois statute, we agree with the district court. However, we conclude that plaintiffs lack standing to challenge the federal Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA) in this context. The UOCAVA does not prevent Illinois from providing the plaintiffs absentee ballots, and so it does not cause their injury. To the extent the plaintiffs are injured, it is because they are not entitled to ballots under state law. Therefore, we affirm the portion of the judgment in favor of the state defendants, but vacate the portion of the judgment in favor of the federal defendants and remand the case with instructions to dismiss that portion for want of jurisdiction.

I. Background

Congress enacted the UOCAVA to protect the voting rights of United States citizens who move overseas but retain their American citizenship. To do that, the law requires the States to permit overseas voters to use absentee registration procedures and to vote by absentee ballot in general, special, primary, and runoff elections for Federal office. 52 U.S.C.  20302(a)(1). An overseas voter for these purposes is a person who resides outside the United States and (but for such residence) would be qualified to vote in the last place in which the person was domiciled before leaving the United States. Id.  20310(5)(c). In short, federal law requires each State to provide absentee ballots to its former otherwise qualified residents who now reside outside of the United States.

Illinois complies with this requirement. Its law provides that [a]ny non-resident civilian citizen, otherwise qualified to vote, may make application to the election authority having jurisdiction over his precinct of former residence for a vote by mail ballot containing the Federal offices only not less than 10 days before a Federal election. 10 ILCS 5/20-2.2. Non-resident civilian citizens are United States citizens who reside outside the territorial limits of the United States, but previously maintained a residence in Illinois and are not registered to vote in any other State. Id. 5/20-1(4). As required under the UOCAVA, these voters need not declare any intent to return to Illinois in order to be eligible to vote. Id.

So what's the catch? Our plaintiffs are residents of Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. All three territories are considered part of the United States under both the UOCAVA and Illinois law. Federal law says the United States means the several States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Virgin Islands, and American Samoa[,] 52 U.S.C.  20310(8), while Illinois law says that it includes the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam and the Virgin Islands; but does not include American Samoa, the Canal Zone, the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands or any other territory or possession of the United States. 10 ILCS 5/20-1(1). The upshot is that the plaintiffs are not entitled to vote in federal elections in Illinois because they still reside within the United States. Had they moved instead to American Samoa or the Northern Mariana Islands, Illinois law would consider them to be overseas residents entitled to ballots. This distinction between the various U.S. territories gave rise to this litigation.

The plaintiffs sued federal and Illinois officials in the Northern District of Illinois seeking declaratory and injunctive relief. They argued that the UOCAVA and Illinois law violate the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses by permitting residents of some territories to vote in federal elections but not others. The plaintiffs also contended that the statutes infringe upon their right to travel guaranteed by the Due Process Clause. The parties filed cross-motions for summary judgment, and the district court granted the defendants' motions in two separate opinions. Segovia v. Bd. of Election Commrs., 201 F. Supp. 3d 924 (N.D. Ill. 2016) (Segovia I ); Segovia v. Bd. of Election Commrs., 218 F. Supp. 3d 643 (N.D. Ill. 2016) (Segovia II ). The plaintiffs timely appealed.

II. Analysis

A. Standing to Challenge the UOCAVA

Nobody doubts that the plaintiffs, who are unable to apply for absentee ballots, have suffered an injury-in-fact sufficient to confer Article III standing in this case. But, in order for us to properly exercise jurisdiction, their injury must be fairly traceable to the challenged conduct. Hollingsworth v. Perry, 133 S. Ct. 2652, 2661 (2013). The federal defendants say that the plaintiffs' injury is not traceable to the government's enforcement of the UOCAVA, but rather to the plaintiffs' ineligibility for ballots under Illinois law. As they explain, federal law sets the floor, but Illinois is permitted to offer ballots to residents of the territories even if not required to do so by the UOCAVA. The district court rejected this argument, concluding that Illinois is bound by the floor that the federal defendants stress that the UOCAVA provides. Segovia I, 201 F. Supp. 3d at 937. Thus, it concluded that the plaintiffs' injury is in part traceable to the UOCAVA.

We disagree. Federal law requires Illinois to provide absentee ballots for its former residents living in the Northern Mariana Islands, but it does not prohibit Illinois from providing such ballots to former residents in Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. State law could provide the plaintiffs the ballots they seek; it simply doesn't. Instead, it adds (by way of subtraction from the definition of the United States) only American Samoa to the roster of territories that may take advantage of the overseas voting procedures. In short, the reason the plaintiffs cannot vote in federal elections in Illinois is not the UOCAVA, but Illinois' own election law.

To be sure, federal law could have required Illinois to provide the plaintiffs absentee ballots. But that does not render federal law the cause of the plaintiffs' injuries. Consider Simon v. Eastern Kentucky Welfare Rights Organization, 426 U.S. 26 (1976). In that case, the Supreme Court held that indigent patients lacked standing to challenge an IRS rule that gave favorable tax treatment to hospitals which declined to provide non-emergency services to such patients. The Court explained that Article III requires that a federal court act only to redress injury that fairly can be traced to the challenged action of the defendant, and not injury that results from the independent action of some third party not before the court. Id. at 4142. So while the IRS rule may have incentivized hospitals to deny the plaintiffs care, it was the hospitalsnot the IRSthat made the decision not to treat the patients.

Our decision in DH2, Inc. v. S.E.C., 422 F.3d 591 (7th Cir. 2005), is similar. DH2 was an arbitrager that made money buying undervalued mutual funds whose prices had yet to be adjusted from the effects of overseas trading. It challenged SEC statements that it said required mutual funds to use fair value pricing, eliminating the discrepancy that permitted companies like DH2 to profit with minimal risk. In reality, the challenged rules didn't require the use of fair value pricing if market quotations for their portfolio securities [were] not readily available. Id. at 595 (quoting 69 Fed. Reg. 2230405 (Apr. 23, 2004)). For that reason, we concluded that DH2 had not established that any injury it might have suffered would be fairly traceable to the SEC rules. Id. at 597. We observed that under the challenged rules, mutual funds have the discretion to use fair value pricing in lieu of market quotations when circumstances warrant the conclusion that market quotations are no longer current. Id. Thus, to a significant degree, the injury DH2 complains of hinges on the decisions of independent actors whose discretionthough subject to securities laws and regulation by the SECis nonetheless quite broad. Id. Given the discretion the funds retained, DH2 could not sue the SEC.

Like the funds in DH2 and the hospitals in Simon, Illinois has discretion to determine eligibility for overseas absentee ballots under its election laws. That discretion is actually wider than the independent actors had in those cases, because there is nothing other than Illinois law preventing the plaintiffs from receiving ballots. Federal law doesn't encourage Illinois not to offer the plaintiffs ballots. And the federal government doesn't run the elections in Illinois, so, UOCAVA or not, whether the plaintiffs can obtain absentee ballots is entirely up to Illinois. Given that type of unfettered discretion with respect to the plaintiffs, the federal government cannot be the cause of their injuries. Illinois has caused their injuries by failing to provide them ballots. Simply put, the plaintiffs cannot sue the federal government for failing to enact a law requiring Illinois to remedy their injury. Therefore, we hold that the plaintiffs lack standing to challenge the UOCAVA.

B. Constitutionality of the Illinois Law

Having decided that the plaintiffs lack standing to challenge the UOCAVA in the context of this case, we are left with their challenge to Illinois' overseas-voting law. The plaintiffs say the law violates the Equal Protection Clause as well as their right to interstate travel guaranteed by the Due Process Clause. We consider these arguments in turn.

1. Equal Protection

The plaintiffs first argue that the Illinois law should be subject to strict scrutiny. [E]qual protection analysis requires strict scrutiny of a legislative classification only when the classification impermissibly interferes with the exercise of a fundamental right or operates to the peculiar disadvantage of a suspect class. Mass. Bd. of Retirement v. Murgia, 427 U.S. 307, 312 (1976) (per curiam) (footnote omitted). To be sure, the right to vote is a fundamental matter in a free and democratic society. Reynolds v. Sims, 377 U.S. 533, 56162 (1964). But the residents of the territories have no fundamental right to vote in federal elections. The territories send no electors to vote for president or vice president and have no voting members in the United States Congress. See Igartua v. United States, 626 F.3d 592, 59798 (1st Cir. 2010). Even residents of the District of Columbia had no federal voting rights at all until the Twenty-Third Amendment was ratified in 1961, allowing the District to designate three electors to vote with the Electoral College. Washington, D.C., still has no voting representation in the House of Representatives or the Senate. The unmistakable conclusion is that, absent a constitutional amendment, only residents of the 50 States have the right to vote in federal elections. The plaintiffs have no special right simply because they used to live in a State.

Nor do the plaintiffs constitute a suspect class. A suspect class either possesses an immutable characteristic determined solely by the accident of birth, or is one saddled with such disabilities, or subjected to such a history of purposeful unequal treatment, or relegated to such a position of political powerlessness as to command extraordinary protection from the majoritarian political process.  St. John's United Church of Christ v. City of Chicago, 502 F.3d 616, 638 (7th Cir. 2007) (quoting Frontiero v. Richardson, 411 U.S. 677, 686 (1973), and San Antonio Indep. Sch. Dist. v. Rodriguez, 411 U.S. 1, 28 (1973)). The plaintiffs' current condition is not immutable, as nothing is preventing them from moving back to Illinois. And there has been no suggestion that the plaintiffs form a class of people historically subjected to unequal treatment. Indeed, we doubt that people who move from a State to a territory even constitute a class of people recognized by the law. Thus, we decline the plaintiffs' invitation to apply strict scrutiny to the Illinois law.

Because the Illinois law does not affect a fundamental right or a suspect class, it need only satisfy rational-basis review. Armour v. City of Indianapolis, 132 S. Ct. 2073, 2080 (2012). That is, we will invalidate it only if there is no rational relationship between the law and some legitimate government purpose. Id. And while the distinction among United States territories may seem strange to an observer today, it made more sense when Illinois enacted the challenged definition. As the district court explained, in 1979 the Northern Mariana Islands were a Trust Territory, rather than a fully incorporated U.S. territory. See Segovia I, 201 F. Supp. 3d at 94546. The covenant to establish a commonwealth in the Northern Marianas did not take effect until 1986. Meanwhile, American Samoa is still defined as an outlying possession under federal law, and persons born there are American nationals, but not citizens. 8 U.S.C.  1101(a)(29), 1408(1); United States v. Karaouni, 379 F.3d 1139, 114243 (9th Cir. 2004) (All citizens of the United States are nationals, but some nationals, such as persons born in American Samoa and other U.S. territorial possessions, are not citizens.). One could rationally conclude that these two territories were in 1979 more similar to foreign nations than were the incorporated territories where the plaintiffs reside. So, at least at the time, it was rational for Illinois to treat the Northern Marianas and American Samoa as foreign countries for the purposes of overseas absentee voting.

In the special context of this case, our conclusion that the Illinois definition was rational in 1979 controls the outcome. That is because even if the plaintiffs were correct and the definition at some point became irrational as the Northern Marianas and American Samoa became more integrated into the United States, it would not help the plaintiffs. They are injured specifically because Illinois defines their resident territories as within the United States. It would be perverse for us to tell Illinois that (1) its distinction made sense in 1979; (2) the current definition is arbitrary because the territories are more integrated into the United States; and so (3) the remedy is to contract voting rights for residents in the excluded territories (which it couldn't do anyway because the Northern Marianas are treated as overseas under the UOCAVA). Rather than remove voting rights from its former residents in American Samoa, we think it rational for Illinois to retain the same definition it enacted nearly 40 years ago.

Finally, on a somewhat related note, we think it is significant that were we to require Illinois to grant overseas voting rights to all its former citizens living in the territories, it would facilitate a larger class of super citizens of the territories. As the Second Circuit observed, further extending voting rights under the UOCAVA would have created a distinction of questionable fairness among Puerto Rican U.S. citizens, some of whom would be able to vote for President and others not, depending whether they had previously resided in a State. Romeu v. Cohen, 265 F.3d 118, 125 (2d Cir. 2001). The natural result, as we explained in the previous paragraph and in the first footnote, would be to treat all the territories as part of the United States, so that residing in a territory would give one the rights to participate in territorial elections, but not federal elections in one's former State of residence. Until that happens, however, we see no reason to require Illinois to extend voting rights to its former residents living in Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.

We affirm the district court's judgment in favor of the state defendants on the equal-protection claim.

2. Right to Travel

The plaintiffs also argue that the Illinois statute violates their due process right to interstate travel. This claim is borderline frivolous. The Second Circuit correctly explained that [a] citizen's decision to move away from her State of residence will inevitably involve certain losses. She will lose the right to participate in that State's local elections, as well as its federal elections, the right to receive that State's police protection at her place of residence, the right to benefit from the State's welfare programs, and the right to the full benefits of the State's public education system. Such consequences of the citizen's choice do not constitute an unconstitutional interference with the right to travel. Id. at 12627. We agree. By choosing to move to a territory, the plaintiffs gave up the right to vote in Illinois and gained the right to vote in territorial elections. The right to travel doesn't guarantee the plaintiffs anything more than the privileges afforded other territorial residents. See Memorial Hosp. v. Maricopa County, 415 U.S. 250, 261 (1974) (The right of interstate travel must be seen as insuring new residents the same right to vital governmental benefits and privileges in the States to which they migrate as are enjoyed by other residents.). Therefore, the district court properly granted summary judgment to the state defendants.

III. Conclusion

This is a strange case. The plaintiffs seek the right to continue to vote in federal elections in Illinois even though they are now residents of United States territories. In effect, the plaintiffs are upset that the territories to which they moved are considered under federal and state law to be part of the United States rather than overseas. They would like overseas voting rights while still living within the United States. No court has ever held that they are so entitled, and we will not be the first.

We hold that the plaintiffs lack standing to challenge the federal UOCAVA because their injury derives not from the federal statute, but from the failure of Illinois law to guarantee them absentee ballots. So we VACATE the portion of the district court's judgment in favor of the federal defendants and REMAND the case with instructions to dismiss the claims against the federal defendants for want of jurisdiction. With respect to the state defendants, however, we AFFIRM the portion of the judgment below that the Illinois law does not violate the Equal Protection Clause or the due-process right to interstate travel.

FOOTNOTES

. Additionally, at least for the equal-protection claim, there may be an additional standing problem. The plaintiffs must establish the district court's jurisdiction over each of their claims independently. Rifkin v. Bear Stearns & Co., Inc., 248 F.3d 628, 634 (7th Cir. 2001). And we have serious doubts that the plaintiffs' injury with respect to the equal-protection claim is likely to be redressed by a favorable judicial decision against the federal defendants. Hollingsworth, 133 S. Ct. at 2661. For even if we were to hold that the UOCAVA's distinction among the territories violated the equal-protection component of the Due Process Clause, what would be the proper remedy? The Supreme Court has told us that we must adopt the remedial course Congress likely would have chosen had it been appraised of the constitutional infirmity.  Sessions v. Morales-Santana, 137 S. Ct. 1678, 1701 (2017) (quoting Levin v. Commerce Energy, Inc., 560 U.S. 413, 427 (2010)). Although the remedy in the run of cases would be to extend the favorable treatment (here, voting rights) to all, that would not hold when extension would render the special treatment Congress prescribed  the general rule, no longer an exception. Id.The caveat would seem to apply here, as the UOCAVA makes the Northern Mariana Islands the only United States territory treated as a foreign nation for the purposes of overseas voting. The other territories are considered part of the United States and therefore not subject to the UOCAVA's requirement that they be permitted to vote in federal elections in their last state of residence. Under Morales-Santana, we should presume that Congress would have wanted the general rulethat U.S. territories are part of the United Statesto control over the exception for the Northern Marianas. Therefore, instead of extending voting rights to all the territories, the proper remedy would be to extend them to none of the territories. That means a holding that the UOCAVA violates equal protection would not remedy the plaintiffs' injuries.

Manion, Circuit Judge.
Mr Syed Akbar Hussein, chairman of the TSMFC, brought the issue to the notice of Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao.

HYDERABAD: Irregularities to the tune of Rs 2 crore have taken place in the tender process to purchase computers for the 37 training centers of the Telangana State Minorities Finance Corporation (TSMFC).

Mr Syed Akbar Hussein, chairman of the TSMFC, brought the issue to the notice of Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao.

Mr Akbar claimed, Before the tenders were finalised, two centers were opened and computers provided. The systems were supplied by the company which bagged the contract later.

However, the TSMFC offcials denied the charges. They said that the contracts were awarded only after scrutinising the tenders, ensuring that only students benefitted by the scheme. The contract was given to a firm allegedly without taking into consideration the requirements of the institutes. It is alleged that the contract for computers was allotted to a company which is supplying outdated fifth generation desktop computers.

Already eighth generation computers are in the market. A few months from now, the accessories for fifth generation computers will not be available in market, noted the chairman.

Mr Syed Omer Jaleel, principal secretary, minorities welfare department, said that he had issued the order, asking the TSMFC to make the purchases through the Telangana State Technical Services (TSTS). The officials are dealing with this aspect in a transparent manner, he said.

B Shafiullah, managing director of TSMFC, said that no discrepancies had taken place in the entire tender process and everything was done in a fair manner to benefit students and the government.

A high-level committee oversaw the tender process and the systems are being procured through GeM (government e-market), he said.
Meanwhile, Pakistan Army has also violated ceasefire in Jammu and Kashmir's Samba and Kathua district on Friday. (Photo: ANI/Twitter)

Jammu: Two civilians were killed and three others injured as Pakistan Rangers heavily shelled civilian areas and Border Out Posts for the second consecutive day on Friday along the IB in Jammu and Samba districts. BSF troops effectively retaliated.

"Pakistan Rangers resorted to heavy firing and shelling along the IB in several areas in R S Pura, Arnia and Ramgarh sectors since 0640 hours", a BSF officer said.

They targeted around 40 Border Out Posts (BoPs) in three sectors using 82 mm and 52 mortar bombs, automatic and small weapons, he said.

"The exchange of fire is going on when the reports last came in", he said adding they have targeted BoPs and villages in over 35 kms of IB.

A police officer said Pakistani troops have targeted over 40 civilian villages in Arnia, R S Pura and Ramgarh sectors along the IB till now.

Two civilians, including a woman, were killed and three civilians were injured in the shelling, they said.

While the woman died in Sai Khurda, the man died in Korotona in R S Pura-Arnia belt. A civilian was injured in Sai Khurd village while two others were injured in Ramgarh.

In view of the heavy shelling, over 1000 border dwellers have migrated from the area and schools along the borderline have been closed

On Thursday, a 17-years old girl and a BSF jawan were killed and six persons injured when Pakistan Rangers violated the ceasefire and heavily shelled BoPs and villages along IB in three sectors of Jammu and Samba districts.

BSF Director General K K Sharma visited Jammu to pay homage to Suresh yesterday and directed his field commanders to retaliate with full force and teach Pakistan Rangers a lesson.

He said the situation along the IB and LoC was tense.
The Supreme Court fixed January 22 for the hearing and directed listing of petitions before 'an appropriate bench'. (Photo: Facebook)

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday decided to hear on Monday the pleas seeking an independent probe into the alleged mysterious death of special CBI judge BH Loya.

The top court fixed January 22 for the hearing and directed listing of petitions before "an appropriate bench".

A bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud said an appropriate bench of the apex court would hear the petitions filed by Congress leader Tehseen Poonawalla and Maharashtra journalist BS Lone.

The counsel for the petitioners (rpt the counsel for the petitioners) said they wanted clarification on the date of hearing of the petition in the wake of the order passed by a bench of Justices Arun Mishra and M M Shantanagoudar.

"List the matters on January 22, 2018, before the appropriate bench as per the roster," the CJI's bench said.

A bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra had on January 16, ordered the matters to be listed before an appropriate bench and had not fixed any specific date for hearing.

It had left it to the Maharashtra government to decide which documents, relating to Loya's death, could be handed over to the petitioners.

The state government, which had filed documents in a sealed cover relating to Loya's death, had during the hearing opposed the petitioners' demand that the entire material should be handed over to them for perusal.

The apex court, in its January 16, order said, "Let the documents be placed on record within seven days and if it is considered appropriate, copies be furnished to the petitioners. Put up before the appropriate bench".

The case, whose assignment to the bench hearing the PILs was a bone of contention of the unprecedented press conference by four senior-most judges of the apex court on January 12.

Loya, who was hearing the sensitive Sohrabuddin Sheikh encounter case, 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.

In the encounter case, the BJP President along with Rajasthan Home Minister Gulabchand Kataria, Rajasthan-based businessman Vimal Patni, former Gujarat police chief PC Pande, Additional Director General of Police Geeta Johri and Gujarat police officers Abhay Chudasama and N K Amin, have already been discharged.

The issue of Loya's death had come under the spotlight in November last year after media reports quoting his sister had fuelled suspicion about the circumstances surrounding his death and its link to the Sohrabuddin case.

However, Loya's son had on January 14 said in Mumbai that his father died of natural causes and not under suspicious circumstances.

The court had earlier termed as "serious matter" the issue of Loya's death and had asked Maharashtra government to file certain documents, including the autopsy report.

The counsel for petitioners had told the court that this was a case of alleged mysterious death of a judge, who was hearing a sensitive case, and an independent probe was required.

In his plea, he had claimed that circumstances revolving around the death of the judge were "questionable, mysterious and contradicting".

The other plea filed by the journalist has submitted that a fair probe was needed into the mysterious death of Loya, who was hearing the 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 was also filed before the Bombay High Court on January 8 by the Bombay Lawyers' Association.

The Indian judiciary was thrown into a turmoil on January 12, when four senior apex court judges, Justices J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, MB Lokur and Kurian Joseph, had convened an unprecedented press conference raising some issues, including "selective" allocation of cases by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra.

The cases indicated by them included this case.
Of the 15, six, including Manaf, have been killed in Syria while another five were arrested and handed over to NIA for investigation. (Photo: Representational)

Kannur: An Islamic State (ISIS) recruit from the district has been killed in Syria, police said in Kannur on Friday.

Confirming the death of Abdul Manaf (30), a native of Valapattinam in the district in November last year, a senior police official said the news was received by his relatives on January 17 from his friend, who is also in Syria, through Telegram messenger app.

"The news about the death of Abdul Manaf in a fight in November, 2017 in Syria is correct. It was sent by his friend Kayyum, who is also fighting for the ISIS in Syria", Deputy Superintendent of Police PP Sadanandan said.

Kannur DySP Sadanandan confirms that family of 27 yr old Abdul Manaf has got a message that Manaf has been killed fighting for ISIS in Syria. #Kerala pic.twitter.com/3Qr7P2VgBx  ANI (@ANI) January 19, 2018

Manaf was a local leader of the Kerala based Popular Front India. He had also worked as the office secretary of the outfit in Delhi for some time before joining the ISIS, he said.

Manaf was also involved in the murder of a CPI(M) worker in 2009, he said.

About 15 persons from Kannur district have joined the terrorist outfit over a period of time.

Of them, six, including Manaf, have been killed in Syria while another five were arrested and handed over to NIA for investigation, Sadanandan said, adding, the remaining four are in Syria fighting for the ISIS.
Petraeus headed International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in 2010-11 and was Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) chief from September 6, 2011 to November 9, 2012. (Photo: AP)

New Delhi: Ex-CIA director David Petraeus said that in his entire career he "never once heard the term Indian state-sponsored terrorism."

According to reports, Petraeus intervened on a question about India-sponsored terror that was originally directed at soon-to-be-former foreign secretary S Jaishankar from an audience member at the Raisina dialogue on Thursday.

Petraeus headed International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in 2010-11 and was Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) chief from September 6, 2011 to November 9, 2012.

"I might offer that as director of the CIA, and commander of ISAF in Afghanistan, I never once heard the term 'Indian state-sponsored terrorism'," said Petraeus, as seen in a video clip circulating online.

The ex-chief's comment can be a good answer to Pakistan, which has been claiming that unrest and terror in the restive Balochistan province is sponsored by India.

Balochis, however, say that the terror and atrocity is perpetrated by the Pakistani state and army, including alleged rapes and 'disappearances'.

Balochis also say that the existing separatist trends in the province are not a disparate incident, but a result of the behaviour meted out to them by their government.

Pakistan has lately been under US fire as President Donald Trump began his broadsides against Pakistan in August and kept up the pressure with a New Year's Day tweet roundly berating the country for "lies and deceit" in return for as much as USD 33 billion in aid it has got from the US in over the last decade and a half.

The Trump administration then suspended as much as USD 2 billion of military assistance to Pakistan, a development that had Islamabad and the country's army frothing at the mouth.
Jaipur/Chandigarh: Hours after Supreme Court cleared the release of the controversial period film, Padmaavat, a group of people allegedly belonging to Karni Sena vandalised a cinema hall in Bihars Muzaffarpur.

Sources said workers turned violent after they found posters of the movie inside the premises of cinema hall. According to reports, cinema hall owner later lodged a complaint with the local police station demanding action against the group.

Reports coming from different parts of the state suggest that a group led by various Rajput organisations may intensify agitation if the movie is released in Bihar.

Elsewhere, Rajput leader Suraj Pal Amu, who had reportedly offered a Rs 10-crore bounty for beheading Padmaavat actor Deepika Padukone and director Sanjay Leela Bhansali, on Thursday said he will continue to protest the film in a peaceful manner

Amu said, We respect the court order. We are educated people. But we have the right to peaceful protest, which we have been doing.I will continue to protest in a peaceful manner. I do not mind if I am hanged for it.
Senior lawyer Harish Salve who represented the producers of 'Padmaavat' in the Supreme Court has received open threat from the Rajput Karni Sena. (Photo: PTI | File)

New Delhi: Senior lawyer Harish Salve who represented the producers of 'Padmaavat' in the Supreme Court has received threats over the phone from the Rajput Karni Sena, according to reports.

Karni Sena has threatened Salve of dire consequences. According to reports Salve said, "Karni Sena called my office to threaten. They dared my office to complain."

Karni Sena has spearheaded protests against the Sanjay Leela Bhansali directed movie - 'Padmaavat' since its shooting and has also tried to block its release. Security has been hightened at Salve's office in Delhi.

On Thursday, the Supreme Court, following strong arguments made by Salve, ruled that 'Padmaavat' cannot be banned by states on grounds of potential law and order problems.

Read Also: SC strikes down 4 states ban against 'Padmaavat', gives nod for release

Soon after the order of the apex court, people claiming to be members of Karni Sena vandalised a theatre at Muzzafarnagar in Bihar and announced that they would not allow the film to be screened.

Read Also: 'Padmaavat' shouldn't be shown: Karni Sena defies SC, vandalises theatre

The Supreme Court said it is the state's responsibility to protect people and make sure that there is order, a view that it underscored when a petitioner challenged the censor board's clearance to the period drama based on Rajput queen Padmini.

The 190-crore film starring Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh and Shahid Kapur is set to hit the big screen on January 25.
New Delhi: In a big boost to the artistic freedom of speech and expression, the Supreme Court on Thursday has cleared the release of Sanjay Leela Bhansalis film Padmaavat on January 25 and stayed the ban orders imposed by the four states of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Haryana.

A three-judge bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A.M. Khanwilkar and D.Y. Chandrachud also restrained all other states from banning the Deepika Padukone and Shahid Kapoor starrer and thereby paved the way for its release across the country.

The bench said freedom of speech and expression, particularly as a medium of expression in the celluloid, cannot be curtailed in this manner. The creative content is insegregable aspect of Article 19 (1) (a) of the Constitution. Needless to emphasise that this right is absolute, it added.

Refusing to accept the arguments advanced by additional solicitor general Tushar Mehta on behalf of the four states that law and order must be kept in mind, the Bench said, Creative freedom, freedom of speech and expression cant be guillotined and artistic freedom has to be protected.

The CJI told the ASG that even Bandit Queen passed the test of the court.

The bench also held that if the States continue with the ban, then they would be liable for contempt of court.

Reacting to the order, the Rajasthan government said it would study the order and then only a decision on filing a revision can be taken.

State home minister Gulab Chand Kataria said, The government will do everything to maintain law and order in the state. The Karni Sena that led protests against the film, asserted it would not allow Padmaavat to be screened. Its president Mahipal Singh Makrana said the Rajputs would hit the streets against it.

When ASG pleaded for a day's time so that he would demonstrate the reasons for the ban, the CJI said that conditional freedom couldn't wait for a day.

Film hurts faith: ASG

When petitioners counsel Harish Salve and Mukul Rohatgi said that in the Western world they can make a movie Jesus Christ Super Star, additional solicitor general Tushar Mehta objected saying India will not allow if anyone projects Mahatma Gandhi sipping liquor in the name of freedom of speech. Mr Mehta said it is not a mere issue of a film denigrating women or projecting a woman in bad light but it is the question of hurting faith of people. There is serious apprehension of law and order problem because there are many who worship Rani Padmavati as a Goddess.

The Bench said the states could not have prohibited the release of the film for exhibition in theatres once the Censor Board had granted the certificate after examining the movie.
He raised the question whether the state can compel a citizen to give their information to a private party which is completely out of UIDAI control and which is then free to put this to commercial use. (Photo: File)

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday asked the Aadhaar petitioners what their problem was with sharing address proof with the government when they had no objection sharing it with private parties.

Justice D Y Chandrachud, one of the five judges of the Constitution Bench, said, "If you need insurance, you go to a private party. If you need a phone, you go to a private party If private player asks for address proof, it is okay. But if government asks the same, then (the argument is) its at the core of my identity."

If you apply for a job, the first thing they ask is your address proof, and salary is admitted to a private bank, he added.

Justice A K Sikri, another judge of the bench told advocate Shyam Divan, who was appearing for the petitioners that their argument seems to be if one gives their passbook, all transaction details will be accessed which does not seem to be a case with Aadhaar.

Divan argued that there is a difference in sharing information with a private party known to one and an unknown one.

He raised the question whether the state can compel a citizen to give their information to a private party which is completely out of Unique Identification Authority of India's (UIDAI) control and which is then free to put this to commercial use.

At this, Justice Chandrachud said the court would like to know what safeguards were put in place by UIDAI to protect personal data.

Divan said that the argument that enrolling for Aadhaar is voluntary becomes redundant if it is mandatory to provide it for all services.

Referring to the introducer system  a person had to be introduced by a person already with Aadhaar  Divan said this was meant for people who did not have any identity since the government argument was that there were many who did not have any identity and Aadhaar was intended to help them.

But according to information accessed under the Right to Information, only 219,096 out of 93 crore Aadhaars, that is only 0.0003 per cent, were generated using the introducer system, Divan informed the Court.

Divan also said the petitioners' concerns regarding maintenance of information collected by private enrollers was confirmed and increased by a government statement itself.

The statement that Divan was referring to was one made on April 10, 2017, which stated that in the last six years, the government cancelled and blacklisted 34,000 petitioners trying to pollute the system.

Action had been taken against 1,000 petitioner since December 2016, but news reports of September 12, 2017, show that UIDAI had learnt of such contraventions by private enrollers and blacklisted 49,000 operators, Divan said.
Hyderabad: Traffic violators can land in jail if they have more than 10 challans pending, according to a new initiative of the Hyderabad traffic police.

After imprisonment for drunk driving and driving licence violations, the Hyderabad traffic police has been recommending to the courts that prison sentences be handed out for this offence too.

On Thursday, 14 persons were sentenced to jail for a day each for the first time for having 10 pending challans. Those with less than five pending challans will be given the opportunity to make online payment and spot payment but not those who have more than 10 pending challans.

A traffic police official said that they issue 10,000 challans every day. Around 8,000 pay up immediately. Some traffic violators try to escape without paying up. There are many repeat offenders and those who just don't pay up and this is what has prompted the traffic police to get tough.

Accurate data must to jail violators

DCP Traffic A.V. Ranganath said if a person has more than 10 pending challans, a charge-sheet will be booked against him and the vehicle will be seized. He will have to appear in court to retrieve the vehicle.

The offences that people are most commonly charged with are improper parking, speeding, jumping signals, and violating stop lines. Teams have been deployed by the traffic police, to nab violators.

He said the courts were being strict with violators and awarding imprisonment as a punishment.

Mr Vinod Kumar Kanumala, chief functionary of the Indian Federation of Road Safety, said that though its a good move by Hyderabad traffic police, they should have accurate data because in recent cases people have got challans for a vehicle that they sold two or three years ago.

It is really important to have proper data before penalising people. The traffic police should have the same data that the transport department has to avoid challans being issued for old vehicles. Data is not being updated regularly, he said.

Mr Kanumala pointed out that this is the first time any state is resorting to imprisonment for pending challans.

They should focus more on how to develop their transport system, he commented.
United States Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. SKYLAR D. HENSHAW, Defendant-Appellee. No. 17-1628 Decided: January 18, 2018

Before KANNE and ROVNER, Circuit Judges, and DURKIN, District Judge. *

The district court sentenced Skylar D. Henshaw, a career offender, to five years' probationa sentence 151 months lower than the bottom end of his guidelines range and 57 months lower than the sentence recommended by Henshaw's counsel. Because we find this departure substantively unreasonable, we vacate Henshaw's sentence and remand for resentencing.

I. BACKGROUND

In July 2015, at the direction of the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), a confidential source arranged for the purchase of a kilogram of cocaine by Henshaw and his friend Corey Pryor. When the DEA arrested Henshaw during the purchase on July 14, 2015, he had $3,174 in cash on his per-son. Agents subsequently entered Henshaw's residence pur-suant to a search warrant and found $55,090 in cash, 750 grams of marijuana, and five ecstasy pills.

In statements at the time of his arrest and the following day, Henshaw acknowledged that he was a marijuana dealer, that Pryor was Henshaw's recent source for marijuana, and that Henshaw owed Pryor $30,000 for 30 pounds of marijuana. But Henshaw represented that he attended the cocaine purchase merely to test the cocaine for Pryor. Because Pryor died before the return of Henshaw's indictment, the government could not obtain testimony from him corrobo-rating his prior statement to the confidential source regard-ing the extent of Henshaw's involvement in the cocaine transaction.

At the time of his arrest, Henshaw was subject to a four-year felony conditional discharge sentence imposed in Jack-son County, Illinois in August 2012 for selling two pounds of marijuana. He also was subject to a second four-year felony conditional discharge sentence imposed in Williamson County, Illinois in August 2012 for possessing with intent to deliver over 500 grams of marijuana.

Henshaw pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting Pryor in attempted possession with intent to distribute cocaine in vio-lation of 21 U.S.C.  841(a)(1), 841(b)(1)(C), & 846 (Count 1), and possession with intent to distribute marijuana in viola-tion of 21 U.S.C.  841(a)(1) & 841(b)(1)(C) (Count 2). Henshaw did not contest the determination in the presentence investigation report (PSR) that he qualified as a career offender under U.S.S.G.  4B1.1 et seq. based on his two prior felony controlled substance offenses.

Henshaw had other prior convictions as well, including a 2006 felony conviction for possession of cannabis and a 2004 misdemeanor conviction for assault. For the misdemeanor assault conviction, Henshaw was sentenced to two years' probation and eight days in jail. His probation was revoked twice in that caseonce in March 2005 for testing positive for marijuana and cocaine, and once in July 2006 for unlawfully possessing 231 grams of marijuana.

Based on Henshaw's criminal history, the PSR calculated an advisory sentencing range of 151 to 188 months. Henshaw's sentencing memorandum cited policy disagreements with the severity of career-offender enhancements as applied to offenders with prior drug trafficking (as opposed to violent) offenses. The memorandum explained that without the career-offender designation, Henshaw's guidelines range would be 57 to 71 months. The memorandum also represented that Henshaw had minimal involvement in the un-derlying cocaine transaction. Lastly, the memorandum described Henshaw's personal history and characteristics, including his family history of drug abuse, physical abuse, and verbal abuse. It stated that Henshaw was a loving father to three children and had remained substance free since his arrest. Henshaw's sentencing memorandum requested a sentence of 57 months. The government did not file a sentencing memorandum.

At the February 2017 sentencing, the district court adopted a revised version of the PSR without change, including the PSR's finding that Henshaw was a career offender with a guidelines range of 151 to 188 months. The district court then said it would entertain arguments under 18 U.S.C.  3553(a).

The government recommended a sentence of the low end of the guidelines range (151 months). The entirety of the government's argument in aggravation was as follows:

Your Honor, I have [no] information that would take [Henshaw] outside of the guidelines according to the 3553(a) factors and, therefore, I would recommend, because this defendant has been relatively cooperative and he's been released on bond and has been fairly compliant as far as I know, the Government would recommend the low end of the guide-line range of 151 months, three years super-vised release, an appropriate fine to be deter-mined by the Court, and the 200-dollar special assessment.

Henshaw's counsel reiterated the arguments made in his sentencing memorandum and recommended a sentence of 57 months.

After hearing Henshaw's allocution, the district court imposed a sentence of five years' probation with special conditions. This represented a 151-month departure from the low end of the guidelines range that the district court ac-cepted.

The district court described the need for a sentence to reflect the objectives of just punishment, deterrence, and pro-tecting the public. The court's major concern with sentencing Henshaw was that he had periods in the past where [he] ha[d] been on probation or supervision and compliance ha[d] not been [his] strong card. [G]iven that, and your history, the court explained, there without question has been a lack of respect for the law. The court further stated that it was concerned about the need to facilitate or to promote deterrence as it relates to you.

The district court nevertheless found a probationary sentence appropriate. It cited a number of factors in support, including: (1) the nature and circumstances of the offense, which the district court described as a stupid and bonehead deci[sion] to help a friend; (2) the extremely harsh consequences of being a career offender where the predi-cate offenses are drug trafficking offenses as opposed to violent offenses; and (3) Henshaw's personal characteristics and family history. The court expressed concern that if it sentenced Henshaw to incarceration, the employment and family support he had built since his arrest 19 months earlier may no longer be available to him. It explained that it was giving Henshaw an opportunity to rebound from this mistake. The government made a formal objection to the sentence as being unreasonable at the end of the hearing.

The government now appeals Henshaw's sentence.

II. ANALYSIS

In assessing the reasonableness of a sentence, we first consider whether the district court made a procedural mistake in formulating its sentence, and then consider whether [the sentence] is substantively reasonable. United States v. Brown, 610 F.3d 395, 39798 (7th Cir. 2010). The government does not argueand we do not findthat the district court made a procedural mistake in sentencing Henshaw. Rather, the government challenges the substantive reasonableness of the district court's sentence.

We review the substantive reasonableness of a sentence for abuse of discretion. Gall v. United States, 552 U.S. 38, 56 (2007). When conducting this review, [we] will  take into account the totality of the circumstances, including the extent of any variance from the Guidelines range. Id. at 51. We do not apply a presumption of unreasonableness to a sentence outside the Guidelines range, id., and there is no rigid formula for determining whether the justification for an out-of-range sentence is proportional to the extent of the sentence's deviation from the range. United States v. McIl-rath, 512 F.3d 421, 426 (7th Cir. 2008). But [i]t is also clear that a district judge must give serious consideration to the extent of any departure from the Guidelines and must ex-plain h[er] conclusion that an unusually lenient or an unusually harsh sentence is appropriate in a particular case with sufficient justifications. Gall, 552 U.S. at 46. [A] major departure should be supported by a more significant justification than a minor one. Id. at 50; see also United States v. Smith, 811 F.3d 907, 910 (7th Cir. 2016) ([T]he farther down the judge goes the more important it is that [she] give cogent reasons for rejecting the thinking of the Sentencing Commission.).

Henshaw's sentence unquestionably constitutes a major departure. It represents a 151-month variance from the low end of the guidelines range. This departure resulted in an unusually lenient sentence of no imprisonment for a defendant whose own counsel recommended a sentence of well over four years.

As this Court explained in United States v. Goldberg, 491 F.3d 668 (7th Cir. 2007), [w]hen the guidelines, drafted by a respected public body with access to the best knowledge and practices of penology, recommend that a defendant be sentenced to a number of years in prison, a sentence involving no (or  nominal) imprisonment can be justified only by a careful, impartial weighing of the statutory sentencing factors. Id. at 673. The statutory sentencing factors under 18 U.S.C.  3553(a) include, as relevant here:

(1) the nature and circumstances of the offense and the history and characteristics of the defendant;

(2) the need for the sentence imposed(A) to reflect the seriousness of the offense, to promote respect for the law, and to provide just punishment for the offense; (B) to afford adequate deterrence to criminal conduct  [and]

(6) the need to avoid unwarranted sentence disparities among defendants with similar records who have been found guilty of similar conduct.

When imposing a sentence of no imprisonment, a district court must be particularly careful not to neglect[ ] considerations of deterrence and desert. Goldberg, 491 F.3d at 674.

The primary problem with the sentence in this case is that it fails to adequately account for considerations of specific deterrence. It is difficult to see how a sentence of probation could be expected to deter a defendant who has not in the past been deterred by probation. There is no dispute that at the time Henshaw committed the crimes at issue, he was already serving two conditional discharge sentences for drug-related crimes. Those conditional discharge sentences did not deter him from committing the crimes in this case. And there is no dispute that Henshaw's probation was revoked twice following his earlier misdemeanor assault conviction. Probation has repeatedly failed to serve as a deter-rent to Henshaw.

The district court recognized the need for specific deterrence. It expressed major concern that Henshaw had periods in the past where [he] ha[d] been on probation or supervision and compliance ha[d] not been [his] strong card. It explained that given that, and your history, there without question has been a lack of respect for the law. It appropri-ately noted, I am concerned about the need to facilitate or to promote deterrence as it relates to you. In other words, to deter you from future crimes. But it then went on to impose the very type of sentence that has proven ineffective in de-terring Henshaw in the past.

This Court has vacated sentences in cases where there is a significant discrepancy between the judge's statements and the sentence imposed. See, e.g., United States v. Omole, 523 F.3d 691, 696700 (7th Cir. 2008), abrogated on other grounds by United States v. Statham, 581 F.3d 548, 556 (7th Cir. 2009) (vacating 51-month below guidelines variance where judge's statements and sentence imposed painted irreconcilable pictures); Brown, 610 F.3d at 399 (vacating 142-month below guidelines variance and noting [t]he contrast between the tone of the court's words and the ultimate sentence imposed). The discrepancy in this case between the district court's recognition of the failure of probation to deter Henshaw and the probationary sentence imposed helps illustrate the sentence's unreasonableness.

Nor is the sentencing objective of just punishment re-flected in Henshaw's sentence of probation. It is clear from the record that accompanying Pryor to the drug purchase was not simply a one-off, stupid and bonehead deci[sion] to help a friend as the district court characterized it. To the contrary, Henshaw admitted at the time of his arrest to being an active marijuana dealer. The substantial amounts of marijuana and cash found in Henshaw's home and the fact that he admittedly owed Pryor $30,000 for 30 pounds of marijuana confirm the scale of Henshaw's marijuana dealing. Henshaw's conduct to which he pleaded guilty was part of a larger, ongoing pattern of drug dealing. But that pattern was simply not addressed at sentencing.

The district court expressed desire to give Henshaw the opportunity to rebound through a lenient sentence, ex-plaining that [i]t may be the first opportunity that you have ever had in your life. In fact, the record shows that Henshaw had multiple other opportunities to rebound through lenient sentences, and he continued to commit crimes. To con-stitute just punishment, Henshaw's sentence needed to reflect the fact that Henshaw remained a drug dealer despite the generous opportunities he had been given. Compare Gall, 552 U.S. at 4160 (finding 30-month downward variance of probation substantively reasonable for defendant with no significant criminal history who self-rehabilitated and had not sold drugs for years prior to the return of the indictment).

Henshaw's sentence also needed to reflect general deterrence objectives of preventing like or related crimes. United States v. Molton, 743 F.3d 479, 486 (7th Cir. 2014). A sentence of probation after multiple prior, serious offenses does not serve the purpose of general deterrence. If in-creased criminal activity is not punished through an in-creased sentence, without at least some compelling reason for not doing so, then others will not be sufficiently deterred from repeated criminal activity.

Finally, Henshaw's sentence needed to account for the need to avoid unwarranted sentence disparities among defendants with similar records. 18 U.S.C.  3553(a)(6). The district court certainly had discretion to express a policy disagreement with the career-offender guidelines as applied to non-violent offenders and to vary its sentence from the recommended range on that basis. See, e.g., United States v. Corner, 598 F.3d 411, 416 (7th Cir. 2010) (a judge  may disa-gree with the Commission's recommendation categorically, as well as in a particular case, and may sentence a career offender below the guidelines range on that basis); United States v. Price, 775 F.3d 828, 840 (7th Cir. 2014) (the district court's sentencing discretion includes the option to vary from the guidelines based on a policy disagreement with them ) (quoting Spears v. United States, 555 U.S. 261, 264 (2009)) (emphasis in original). But the district court also need[ed] to understand the Commission's recommenda-tions, which reflect (among other things) the goal of avoid-ing unwarranted disparities in how different judges treat equivalent offenses and offenders. Corner, 598 F.3d at 416.

Even disregarding the career-offender designation, Henshaw's guidelines range would have been 57 to 71 months, and his probationary sentence would represent a serious dif-ference in treatment compared to defendants with similar records. For that reason, Henshaw's probationary sentence failed to avoid unwarranted sentence disparities. 18 U.S.C.  3553(a)(6).

Although other considerations cited by the district court, including Henshaw's troubled family history and concerns that a criminal sentence would impact his employment and family support, may warrant a departure from the guidelines range, they are not so extraordinary as to justify the degree of departure here. That departure resulted in a substantively unreasonable sentence.

In his brief and at oral argument, Henshaw emphasized that the government failed to file a sentencing memorandum and thus squandered an opportunity to make many of the points below that it makes now. The Court agrees with Henshaw that the government's failure to file a sentencing memorandum and its very brief argument at sentencing poorly served the district court. The government made its best (and its only substantive) arguments on appeal. But the government did request a 151-month sentence below, and it object-ed to the reasonableness of Henshaw's sentence after it was imposed.

In any event, the government's approach does not change the district court's obligations. The district court had an obligation to apply  3553(a), and the question before this Court is whether the district court abused [its] discretion in determining that the  3553(a) factors supported [the] sentence in question. Gall, 554 U.S. at 56. We conclude that an abuse of discretion occurred.

Like the sentence of one day of imprisonment in Goldberg, Henshaw's sentence neglected considerations of deterrence and desert. 491 F.3d at 674. As in Goldberg, [w]e do not rule that a sentence below  [the] guidelines range would have been improper in this case. Id. And we reiterate that the statutory sentencing factors  leave plenty of discretion to the sentencing judge. Id. But we do find that discretion was abused in this case. Id. The case therefore must be remanded for resentencing.

III. CONCLUSION

We VACATE Henshaw's sentence and REMAND for proceedings consistent with this opinion.

I join the majority's opinion vacating and remanding Skylar Henshaw's sentence for resentencing. I write separately simply to reiterate that the district court here very carefully and thoroughly consid-ered the nature and circumstances of the offense and Henshaw's history and characteristics in selecting a sentence of probation. As the majority notes, however, that careful consideration was not offset by a thorough enough explanation as to why the sentence of probation adequately reflects the seriousness of the offense, provides just punishment, and affords adequate deterrence. See, e.g., Gall v. United States, 552 U.S. 38, 50 (2007) ([A] major departure should be supported by a more significant justification than a minor one.). I do not read the majority's opinion as foreclosing en-tirely the possibility that a sentence of probation could be reasonable if the court more thoroughly explained how such a sentence might still specifically deter Henshaw from future crime in light of the specifics of this offense. With that un-derstanding, I join the majority's opinion.

FOOTNOTES

. The district court correctly explained that Henshaw's career-offender-qualifying convictions involved drug trafficking. We note, however, that as set forth in the PSR adopted by the district court, Henshaw's criminal record also included his older conviction for misdemeanor assault.

. Henshaw's counsel acknowledged at sentencing that the 57-month sentence he recommended would not have the same devastating impact on Henshaw's family members that a sentence of something like 151 months would.

PER CURIAM.
This court is of the view that the appellants have not made out any case, for interference with the order of the single judge. Hence, the appeal is dismissed.

Chennai: The Madras high court has upheld an order of a single judge, which directed the state government to stop sand mining/quarrying in the state within six months and to permit the importers to transport and sell imported river sand from other countries.

Dismissing an appeal filed by the state government against the order of a single judge, a division bench comprising Justices K. Kalyanasundaram and T. Krishnavalli said, This court is of the view that the appellants have not made out any case, for interference with the order of the single judge. Hence, the appeal is dismissed.

Citing several judgments of the Supreme Court, the bench said it is clear that the courts have stepped in to protect the environment by curbing mining activity, wherever the state has failed in its duty under Article 48 A and 51 A. Also from the various reports of the authorities concerned, it is evident that the direction and the orders of the apex court and this court have been violated and the illegal mining activity has not been curbed, the bench added.

Writing the judgment for the bench, Justice Kalyanasundaram said, If the ecology is not protected, there is no doubt that it will endanger the very existence of human life and we might not even have a future generation. It is the duty of this court to ensure that environment is protected and is not subjected to degradation when the authorities have failed.

Even after all the committees reports and frequent intervention of this court in many cases, the illegal mining in the state has not stopped and the same was evident from the number of cases filed in 2017 for the release of a vehicle. Under this background, when the directions issued by the single judge were examined, this court was of the view that the directions were not legislative directions, but only directions issued for non-compliance of statutory provisions and for failure to safeguard the environment and the ecology, the bench added. The bench said it was the duty of the state to ensure that the fundamental right to life guaranteed in the Constitution was safeguarded. The maintenance of ecology by preserving the river and river beds go a long way in not only preserving them for future generations or inhabitants in the vicinity but also will have a global impact, the bench added.
New Delhi: A five-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear a writ petition seeking a direction to the Election Commission to link the voter identity card with Aadhaar to remove bogus voters from the electoral list.

A Bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A.M. Kanwilkar and D.Y. Chandrachud told senior counsel V. Krishnamurthy appearing for the petitioner, dissident AIADMK member of Parliament Sasikala Pushpalatha, that he could assist in the hearing before the Constitution bench which is underway and disposed of the petition.

The petitioner submitted that in February 2015 the Election Commission had launched the national electoral rolls purification and authentication programme in the backdrop of duplicate names, multiple entries, and bogus voters in the electoral lists. She said the procedure for deletion of names had not been streamlined and not followed in all the states. It was pointed out that various courts had also expressed concern over defective electoral rolls.

She said it was necessary to bring transparency in the electoral process. Linking the Aadhaar card with voter ID card would result in greater authentication in preparation of final electoral rolls by the Election Commission.
Hyderabad: The TS vigilance and enforcement (V&E) and Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) are sitting for over seven years on 600 cases filed against public servants. The maximum duration to inquire, conclude probe and dispose of a case is two years.

Of the 600 cases, 400 were filed before state bifurcation, and are in different stages like inquiry pending, awaiting departmental inquiry and forwarded to the Vigilance Commission. The suspension of the accused had been revoked in many cases and they have been shifted to different posts within the department.

The cases included those in which the ACB had trapped the accused and those involving officials with disproportionate assets and the cases filed by the V&E over alleged irregularities in discharging official duties.

A large number officials against whom cases were filed by the ACB and V&E retired on superannuation, some of them as long as five years ago.

Those who completed five years since superannuation were spared under Rule 9 (2) (b) (II) of the AP Revised Pension Rules 1980. It says, "No further action is permissible against the retired government employees on completion of limitation period of four years from the date of FIR. Even the Supreme Court passed a ruling that no action could be taken against retired employees.

TUS appeals to CM to form inquiry panel

A senior official from ACB on condition of anonymity said, For every case, a procedure needs to be followed. Cases are stuck at different stages due to multiple reasons. The ACB seeks permission to prosecute the accused from departments concerned which in majority of cases are delayed and directed to departmental inquiry. No official from V&E was willing to comment.

There was an appeal by the Telangana Udyugula Sangam (TUS), an association of gazetted officers, to the Chief Minister to appoint a one-man commission of inquiry on all the pending ACB and V&E inquiries with necessary guidelines. They wanted all pending files across government departments relating to ACB cases to be examined in detail.

On completion of the process, the TS government can pass necessary orders in the interest of social justice. With this, all pending cases can be disposed. Also, this is consistent with the assurance given by the CM before the 2014 elections at public meetings, said TUS president Padma Chary.

Pending cases

Cases filed by Anti-Corruption Bureau:

Accused caught red-handed (trap)

Disproportionate assets

Criminal misconduct case

Vigilance and Enforcement handles:

Allegations of irregularities while discharging official duties

Prosecution or department action ordered based on its report
VIJAYAWADA: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu has stated that the state government is ready to knock the doors of the Supreme Court, in case the assurances of the AP Reorganisation Act are not fulfilled.

Addressing the second day of District Collectors conference on Friday, Mr. Naidu took serious objection to Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Raos remarks about Andhra Pradeshs development.

Special chief secretary L.V. Subrahmanyam and APIIC chairman Krishnaiah also joined Mr Naidu in condemning Mr Chandrashekar Raos remarks.

Stating that without any fault, Andhra people were being punished, Mr Naidu said that the Central government has to play the role of the Big Brother, as government of India is a big organisation.

The same feelings were conveyed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Mr Naidu explai-ned and added that he has requested the Union government to extend their helping hand till AP reaches a leveled playing field.

We are not seeking any extra favour, the Mr Naidu said and added that the state is slowly reviving now.

We are not against anybody, or any government, the CM said.

Reacting sharply on the observations made by Mr Chandrashekhar Rao that there is no comparison between Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, the CM said, The difference in the development before and after 1995 should be noted. Then they will come to know as to who has developed what!

He added that the AP government would knock the doors of the Supreme Court, if necessary, in case of injustice done, with regard to the assurances of the AP Reorganisation Act.

AP is in the last position in south India, as far as per capita income is concerned. It is not because of the people but because of the bifurcation, Mr Naidu said.

Unjustified division has brought all these troubles to the people of AP. Our people are highly capable, CM said.

Mr Naidu stated that he has ignited the spirit among the people, with Nava Nirmana Deeksha and Maha Sankalpam.
The CBI court issued the NBW after the Madras high court recently upheld the order of the Principal Special Court for CBI cases dated August 26, 2008 convicting them in the DA case.

Chennai: The Special Principal court for CBI cases has issued a NBW against TTV Dinakaran's sister Sreedaladevi and her husband S.R. Baskaran, alias RBI Baskaran, in a disproportionate wealth case. The CBI court issued the NBW after the Madras high court recently upheld the order of the Principal Special Court for CBI cases dated August 26, 2008 convicting them in the DA case.

According to the prosecution, S.R Baskaran had joined as a clerk/coin and notes examiner (Grade II), in RBI, Chennai, on December 14, 1988. He married B Sreedaladevi, sister of TTV Dhinakaran and niece of VK Sasikala, General Secretary, AIADMK (Amma) on August 26, 1990. Before joining service, Baskaran disclosed his total assets to I-T as Rs 2.96 lakh.

On November 24, 1997, the CBI registered a case against them and conducted searched at various places on March 18, 1998 and on June 30, 1998. The search in the locker at TNSC bank, Santhome led to the seizure of 80 gold bars.

Investments in moveable and immoveable assets, cash, gold and silver

articles were seized during the search of the premises.

The CBI held Baskaran had amassed assets disproportionate to his known sources of income to the extent of Rs 1.68 crore, which stands in the name of his wife.

At the end of the check period as on July 31, 1998 the couple had immovable properties worth Rs 87.96 lakh, while moveable properties worked out to Rs 2.28 crore.

The Special Principal Court for CBI Cases on August 26, 1990 confirmed that the couple were guilty under various sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act and IPC and the court directed Baskaran to undergo RI for five years and pay a fine of Rs 20 lakh and his wife was sentenced to three years RI and fined Rs 10 lakh.

Later, they challenged the trial court order before Madras High Court.

Dismissing appeals filed by Baskaran and his wife, Justice G Jayachandran in November last year, had confirmed the trial court verdict in the Madras high court.

When the matter came up for hearing before CBI court, the judge has issued NBW and directed CBI to produce them before the court.
Once upon a time some novice monk went up to a great Zen master and asked the question, Where is the best dojo? To which the master snapped, Your daily life is your dojo. This answer appears to be terse and dismissive but there lies a buried wisdom which is the essence of Zen: the ordinariness. Or better said, the extraordinarily ordinary daily life. Zen says, if your ordinary life becomes extraordinary, only then are you spiritual. The simplicity of such statements is mind blowing. People are normally in search of something extraordinary, the supernatural. And to get that they deny the natural, and the human. In the clutter of spiritual paths that try to allure seekers with other worldly temptations, Zen is one of the few systems that emphasize human dignity. This is the dignity deriving not from the ego but from the original face we all have.

We gain vital freedom by becoming aware of this original face and living in terms of it. Zen returns the human being to this original wholeness and introduces him to his real creative being. Man, surrounded by machines, mass-communication, and organised systems, has become alienated from freedom and spontaneity. Zen has the potential of breaking the deadlock facing modern man. Science seems to have become all-powerful and destructive. In contrast Zen is highly creative, penetrates to mans true self and helps him live it in daily life.

Much of Zens appeal stems from its uncompromising view of the whole man. Many Western thinkers are drawn to Zen because it promises fulfillment without the supernatural. In an increasingly complex and mechanised world, perhaps there is need for a teaching that helps man toward being himself. Zen seems well suited to restore the sense of life to many who have lost it. The business management is highly inspired by the principles of Zen and try to inculcate them in their training as well as in their work situations.
The report stated that Sony is looking to launch more smartphones with dual camera setups and full-screen displays in 2018.

Japanese tech giant, Sony has recently unveiled a bunch of smartphones, three of which was launched a few days back at the CES 2018. It seems that the company is not going to slow down its pace as a new report suggest that Sony is gearing up to launch its latest smartphone  Xperia XZ Pro at the MWC 2018, scheduled to kick start on February 26.

According to Chinese news website MyDrivers, the handset might sport a 5.7-inch OLED display with a 4K resolution along with 18:9 aspect ratio. It is expected to be powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 chipset clubbed with 6GB RAM and 128GB of storage. Citing Don Mesa, Vice President of Marketing at Sony Mobile North America, the report stated that Sony is looking to launch more smartphones with dual camera setups and full-screen displays in 2018.

If rumours are to be believed, the Xperia XZ Pro could feature a dual-camera setup at the rear, with one 18MP sensor and other one 12MP. The front camera will apparently have a 13MP lens. The device is believed to draw its power from 3420mAh battery. As of now, Sony has not yet revealed any details about the Xperia XZ Pro, but as per the MyDrivers, the phone might be priced at RMB 6,000 (approximately Rs 60,000).

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Washington: US President Donald Trump is very eager to speak to the special counsel overseeing the Russia election meddling probe into claims that he colluded with Moscow, his lawyer said.

Ty Cobb told CBS in interview excerpts released on Thursday that Mr Trump is very eager to sit down and explain whatever is responsive to the questions that Robert Mueller might pose. Mr Trump last week said he did not expect to meet with Mueller.

When they have no collusion ... it seems unlikely that youd even have an interview, Mr Trump told a news conference during which he repeated that there was no collusion several times.

Those comments were a change from ones he made in June last year when he said he was 100 per cent willing to testify under oath about conversations he had with former FBI director James Comey.

The Mueller team is also looking at is Mr Trumps abrupt firing of Comey in May and whether this was intended to thwart the Russia investigation  which could amount to obstruction of justice.

Meanwhile, White House is relying on a sweeping interpretation of executive privilege that is rankling members of Congress on both sides of the aisle as current and former advisers parade to Capitol Hill for questioning about possible connections with Russia.
The US has labelled JuD the 'terrorist front' for the LeT, a group Saeed founded in 1987. (Photo: File)

Washington: The United States has called for Hafiz Saeed's prosecution "to the fullest extent of the law", following Pakistan's Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi's remark that no action could be taken against the UN-designated terrorist.

Abbasi, during an interview to Geo TV on Tuesday, referred to Saeed as 'sahib' or 'sir'.

"There is no case against Hafiz Saeed sahib in Pakistan. Only when there is a case can there be action," Abbasi said when asked why there was no action against Saeed.

Reacting strongly to the comments, State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert said the US believes that Saeed should be prosecuted and they have told Pakistan as much.

"We believe that he should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. He is listed by the UNSC 1267, the al-Qaida Sanctions Committee for targeted sanctions due to his affiliation with Lashkar-e-Taiba, which is a designated foreign terror organisation," Nauert told reporters at her daily news conference on Thursday.

"We have made our points and concerns to the Pakistani government very clear. We believe that this individual should be prosecuted," Nauert said.

Responding to a question, Nauert said the US has "certainly seen" the reports about Abbasi's comment on Saeed.

"We regard him as a terrorist, a part of a foreign terrorist organisation. He was the mastermind, we believe, of the 2008 Mumbai attacks which killed many people, including Americans as well," she said.

Saeed, the chief of the Jamaat-ud-Dawah (JuD), was released from house arrest in Pakistan in November.

The US has labelled JuD the "terrorist front" for the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), a group Saeed founded in 1987. LeT was responsible for carrying the 2008 Mumbai attack that killed 166 people.

Acknowledging that the US has had some challenging times with the government of Pakistan recently, Nauert said the Trump Administration expects Pakistan to do a lot more to address terrorism issues.

"That's something that we've been very clear about all along. You know the news that we had that came out a couple weeks ago about our decision to withhold some of the security funding for Pakistan," she said.

Nauert said the entire administration is on the same page on the issue of US-Pakistan relationship.

Early this month, the US suspended about USD 2 billion worth of security assistance to Pakistan accusing it of not doing enough in the fight against terrorism.

In retaliation, Pakistan suspended military and intelligence co-operation with the US.

The State Department on Thursday said it has not received any formal information in this regard from Pakistan.
Washington: The US on Friday said it has told Islamabad clearly that Hafiz Saeed is a terrorist and should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, reacting strongly to Pakistan Prime Ministers remarks that there was no case against the Mumbai attack mastermind.

The reaction by the state department came after Pakistan Premier Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, during an interview to Geo TV on Wednesday, referred to Saeed as sahib or sir.

There is no case against Hafiz Saeed sahib in Pakistan. Only when there is a case can there be action, Abbasi had said when asked why there was no action against Saeed.

Reacting strongly to Abbasis comments, state department spokesperson Heather Nauert said, We believe that he should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

He is listed by the UNSC 1267, the Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee for targeted sanctions due to his affiliation with Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, which is a designated foreign terror organisation, Nauert said.

We have made our points and concerns to the Pakistani government very clear. We believe that this individual should be prosecuted, she said.

Responding to a question about Abbasis remarks, Nauert said the US had certainly seen the reports about his comment on Saeed. We regard him as a terrorist, a part of a foreign terrorist organisation. He was the mastermind, we believe, of the 2008 Mumbai attacks which killed many people, including Americans as well, she said.

The JuD is believed to be the front organisation for the LeT which is responsible for carrying out the Mumbai attack that killed 166 people. It has been declared as a foreign terrorist organisation by the US in June 2014.
Dagorn is already serving a five-year prison term for theft, fraud and sequestration involving an octogenarian in the French Alps in 2012 who had agreed to let her live with him in exchange for sexual relations. (Photo: AFP)

Nice: A French woman dubbed the "Black Widow of the Riviera" was jailed for 22-years Thursday for poisoning four wealthy elderly men, two of whom died.

Patricia Dagorn, 57, was convicted of killing two men found dead in 2011 on the Cote d'Azur and of drugging two others. Prosecutors say she attempted to enrich herself by seducing older men she met mostly through a dating agency.

The "Black Widow", who denied all the charges against her, did not flinch as the verdict was handed down.

Dagorn is already serving a five-year prison term for theft, fraud and sequestration involving an octogenarian in the French Alps in 2012 who had agreed to let her live with him in exchange for sexual relations.

One of the men she poisoned, 91-year-old widower Robert Vaux, told reporters at the courthouse on Monday that Dagorn "was like a ray of sunshine in winter. When you are with a younger woman you know it won't last but you don't deny yourself the moment unless you're a masochist".

The prosecution team called her a "perverted narcissist" while the defence spoke of a "victim" of loneliness.

Attorney General Annie Brunet-Fuster described Dagorn as "not psychotic but psychopathic".

Police began suspecting Dagorn after the body of Michel Kneffel, a man in his 60s with whom she had been living at a residential hotel in Nice, was discovered in July 2011.

No charges were filed at the time, but the investigation was reopened the following year after police found vials of Valium and personal documents belonging to about a dozen different men among her belongings.

The documents included IDs, bank account details and health insurance cards.

Investigators then followed the trail to another suspected murder case, that of Francesco Filippone, 85, whose body was found in his bathtub in an advanced state of decomposition in Mouans-Sartoux, outside Cannes, in February 2011.

Dagorn had earlier cashed a cheque from Filippone for 21,000 euros (USD 25,600), money which she said was a gift to help her open a jewellery shop.

'Quick And Easy Money'

Police now think Dagorn may have met at least 20 men, after arriving on the French Riviera in 2011, mainly via a matchmaking agency.

Vaux, comfortably retired but lonely since the death of his wife, brought Dagorn to live with him in early 2012 in the coastal town of Frejus.

When he was at his lowest ebb, Dagorn wrote to his solicitor, asking to be written into his will, according to Vaux.

He and another man whom Dagorn is accused of trying to poison, Ange Pisciotta, 82, joined the case as civil plaintiffs.

Dagorn, who has a law degree, had already been handed a one-year suspended prison term in a case involving her ex-husband who was found guilty of fraud.

In 2013, her youngest son told a local newspaper that he was not surprised by the accusations against his mother.

"She has always been obsessed with quick and easy money," the son, identified only as Guilhem, told Nice Matin daily.
Ghani, born in Birmingham to parents who migrated from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, was cheered by her colleagues as she addressed the House of Commons as a junior minister in the Department for Transport. (Photo: Twitter | @Nus_Ghani)

London: Nus Ghani, a Indian-origin parliamentarian in the UK, on Friday became the first female Muslim minister to speak from the British Parliament dispatch box.

Ghani, born in Birmingham to parents who migrated from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, was cheered by her colleagues as she addressed the House of Commons as a junior minister in the Department for Transport.

"Made my debut as @transportgovuk Minister and made a bit of history as the first female Muslim Minister to speak from the House of Commons dispatch box," she tweeted soon after her first Commons outing in her new role.

Made my debut as @transportgovuk Minister and made a bit of history as the first female Muslim Minister to speak from the House of Commons dispatch box. Supported by wonderful colleagues Chris Grayling, @JoJohnsonUK & @Jesse_Norman @Conservatives pic.twitter.com/CwkDIPY5xX  Nusrat Ghani MP (@Nus_Ghani) January 18, 2018

Dispatch box is the designated place where ministers stand and speak from in the Commons.

The 45-year-old was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary at the Department for Transport by British Prime Minister Theresa May as part of her New Year reshuffle last week.

The Conservative Party MP from Wealden was also given the assistant government whip in the reshuffle to oversee party discipline.

"The roles are both exciting and challenging opportunities... Transport is a subject on which I have campaigned passionately since being elected as the MP for Wealden. Alongside my ministerial duties, I will continue to be a strong voice for Wealden and deliver for my constituents," Ghani had said in a statement.

The minister in charge of her department, transport secretary Chris Grayling, said Ghani's promotion proved the Tories "were a party of opportunity".

"We're the party to provide...the first Muslim woman minister to speak from the government dispatch box - the member for Wealden. I congratulate her - I'm very proud to sit alongside her," he said.

Ghani worked for charities such as Age UK and Breakthrough Breast Cancer as well as the BBC World Service before first standing as a Conservative Party candidate in Birmingham in the 2010 general election.

In 2015, she became the first Conservative party Muslim female candidate to be elected to Parliament.

After the June 2017 snap election, she made history after she repeated her oath of allegiance to Queen Elizabeth II in Urdu when she was sworn into Parliament.

"My motivation is simple. My parents are incredibly proud that I have been elected to serve as MP and I wanted to honour my mother by speaking in a language she understands and my mother tongue," she had said at the time.

Soon after, she was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary to the UK Home Office.

Her rapid rise in Theresa May's government is seen as part of the British Prime Minister's declared aim of moving away from an all-white middle-aged male Cabinet.
Rathore had denied the allegations and insisted he had always acted professionally and, in each case, the touching during 'manipulative therapy' had been medically appropriate. (Representational Image)

London: An India-born doctor was on Thursday sentenced to 12 years in prison for sexually assaulting four women patients in United Kingdom between 2008 and 2015.

Jaswant Rathore was found guilty of conducting unnecessary massages on the patients at his Castle Meadows Surgery in Dudley, in the West Midlands region of UK.

The 60-year-old, who had moved to UK with his family at the age of three, was also placed on the sex offenders' register indefinitely and made the subject of a 15-year sexual harm prevention order at the end of the hearing at Wolverhampton Crown Court.

"You used your standing within the community as a cloak behind which you could carry out sexual assaults on your patients for your personal gratification," Judge Michael Challinor told him during sentencing.

"By your actions you violated the faith they had in you to carry out legitimate medical procedures. Some of your behaviour demonstrated a breath-taking degree of arrogance you no doubt hoping your standing in the medical community would enable you to talk your way out of any difficulty," he said.

The general practitioner (GP) was convicted of eight charges of sexual assault and two counts of assault by penetration against four women aged in their 20s and 30s following a seven-week trial.

He was cleared of a further eight allegations relating to four other patients.

The judge recounted that many witnesses had spoken highly of his "professionalism, diligence, expertise and amiability" but his personal and professional life had been turned into a "complete shipwreck" due to the "planned and sustained" assaults.

"Many people visit their doctors and submit to the most intimate of examinations because they trust their doctor and that is eroded by people like you," he noted.

Rathore had denied the allegations and insisted he had always acted professionally and, in each case, the touching during "manipulative therapy" had been medically appropriate.

The court was told that the GP had conducted his assaults on patients who had gone to his surgery with regular complaints such as pain in their stomach or back.

Detective Inspector Michelle Thurgood of West Midlands Police, who headed the police investigation in the case, said: "It was a horrific breach of a position of trust. This was somebody who was a trusted GP, respected in the community."

"Many of the patients had gone to him for many years, so absolutely trusted him. We go to our doctor when we're at our most vulnerable and he has abused that trust by carrying out those offences."

Thurgood said the police feared there may be other victims as Rathore was working as a GP for many years and called on any others to "find the strength" to come forward.
India's largest telecom operator Bharti Airtel on Thursday reported over 39% fall in its consolidated net profit for the third quarter ended December 31, 2017 to about Rs 306 crore.



The company's net profit stood at Rs 504 crore in the same period previous fiscal.

The company - which competes with the operators like Vodafone, Idea Cellular and newcomer Reliance Jio in the highly-competitive telecom market in India - saw its overall revenue declined 13% to Rs 20,319 crore.

Its revenue was pegged at Rs 23,336 crore in the corresponding period last financial year.

"Regulatory fiat in the form of a cut in domestic IUC (Interconnection Usage Charges) rates has exacerbated the industry ARPU (Average Revenue Per User) decline in Q318," Gopal Vittal, MD and CEO, India and South Asia, Bharti Airtel said in a statement.

He added that the recent decision to reduce International termination rates "will further accentuate this decline and benefit foreign operators with no commensurate benefit to customers".

The company's overall customer stood at 394.2 million across 16 countries, which was 9.2% higher over the year-ago period.

"India revenues for Q318 at Rs 15,294 crore have declined by 11.3 per cent year on year (15.1% on reported) on an underlying basis, adjusted for the impact in reduction of domestic termination rates," the company statement said.

On the other hand, its Africa revenues were up 5.3% over the same quarter previous fiscal (in constant currency terms).

The companys consolidated net debt rose to Rs 91,714 crore as against Rs 91,480 crore in the previous quarter.

"The company's Board has declared an interim dividend of Rs 2.84 per share, which is a complete pass through of dividend received from subsidiaries," the statement added.

The results were declared after market hours. Bharti scrip closed 1.17% lower at Rs 494.50 a piece on the BSE on Thursday.
Nearly 120 children were taken ill after eating a meal at a school and admitted to a hospital here.



The children were from a lower primary school at Thonnakel in the district. Though the condition of the none of the affected children was serious, they would be discharged only after monitoring their health condition, a release from the Medical College Hospital said today.



Parents rushed their children to local hospitals initially as they complained of uneasiness after they had noon meal served in school on Wednesday.



Later they were admitted to the hospital. Samples of the food the students had were being sent for examination.
A German national was booked on the charges of sexual harassment by the Jubilee Hills police for allegedly sending lewd messages to one of his woman employees.



The victim, a 25-year-old female sales executive, who is a native of Gujarat filed a sexual harassment complaint against Thorsten Naumann managing director, BD Agriculturals located in Jubilee Hills. The victim in her complaint said that the 60-year-old used to harass her by sending obscene messages on WhatsApp.



According to ACP Banjara Hills, A.Murali the victim registered compliant along with screenshots of the objectionable messages sent by the accused on 20 December. The victim mustered the courage to file a complaint with the support of Deepa a senior faculty at the state-owned Marri Chennareddy HRD institute. Deepa also creates awareness among working women about sexual harassment in workplaces.



The accused is out on an anticipatory bail. Jubilee Hills Police registered a case under Sections 354 A (Sexually assault) and 354 D (stalking) against the accused. Police is confident that the culprit will be arrested soon.


Amid heavy shelling by Pakistani forces on the border, Union minister Subhash Bhamre said today that Indian forces know "what to do" and are "well prepared" to contain any ceasefire violation in Jammu and Kashmir.



The remarks came hours after two civilians were killed and three others injured as Pakistan Rangers heavily shelled civilian areas and Border Out Posts for the second consecutive day today along the IB in Jammu and Samba districts.

"Our forces know what to do. Government is sensitive and our forces are well prepared. They have been giving a befitting reply," the Minister of State for Defence said.

Indian forces are able to "tackle any eventuality" and "safeguard the motherland", he said, adding that at the same time, they "stop cross-border infiltration" that has been "unfortunately going on".

He said the end to the standoff in Doklam was the "victory of our leadership".
With the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) finally agreeing to take up probe into the alleged custodial death of Sreejeev. Sreejith's battle for justice to his brother is expected to see the day of light sooner.



The CBI decision comes a week after support was mobilised through social media for a sit-in agitation by the victim's elder brother, Sreejith, near the State Secretariat. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's private secretary and senior CPM leader M V Jayarajan handed over to Sreejith a copy of the draft notification regarding the CBI investigation. Sreejith said he would continue the stir (which reached its 770th day on Friday) till the agency formally commences the probe.

Sreejeev, a native of Neyyattinkara in Thiruvananthapuram, was arrested by Parassala police on May 19, 2014 in connection with a case of mobile phone theft. He died two days later. While the police claimed that he consumed poison he had attached to his underwear, Sreejeev's family alleged that he was tortured at the behest of a police official related to a girl Sreejeev was in a relationship with. The State Police Complaints Authority (SPCA) confirmed custodial torture and said Sreejeev was forced to consume poison. The five police officials named by SPCA obtained from the High Court a stay on a probe against them. The government has handed over Rs 10 lakh as compensation to Sreejeev's family, as directed by the SPCA.

"I never said I would end the agitation after the notification is out. I'll wait for the investigation to begin. The government could have obtained this notification earlier," Sreejith told reporters. Even as support poured in for Sreejith after a social media campaign titled #JusticeForSreejith, police circles have raised counter-arguments pointing to the inquest and autopsy reports which did not establish torture. Sreejeev's death happened when the previous Congress-led government was in office.
The Supreme Court today dismissed a plea filed by an American researcher challenging the Delhi High Court verdict acquitting Peepli Live' co-director Mahmood Farooqui in an alleged rape case.



The apex court rejected the plea filed by the 30-year-old woman, saying it would not interfere with the high court's "well-written judgement".

"We are not satisfied. We will not interfere with the high court verdict. It is a well-written judgement," the bench comprising Justices S A Bobde and L Nageswara Rao said.

Farooqui was earlier convicted and sentenced to seven-year jail term by a trial court here in August 2016. However, the high court had acquitted him in the case last year.

The police had on June 19, 2015, lodged the FIR against Farooqui on the woman's complaint after which he was arrested. The police had ten days later filed its charge sheet against Farooqui alleging he had raped the research scholar from Columbia University at his Sukhdev Vihar house in South Delhi on March 28, 2015. Farooqui had denied all allegations.

During the hearing before the apex court today, the woman's counsel told the bench that a new argument of alleged consensual relation was advanced by Farooqui's lawyer before the high court and claimed that this issue was not raised before the lower court during the trial.

The bench, however, observed that it was not a case where strangers came, met and did something as both Farooqui and the woman were known to each other.

"This is a very hard case. We would like to say that it has been decided extremely well (by the high court)," the top court said.

When the woman's counsel said the issue was whether there was any consent, the bench observed that there appeared to be a "positive response" which according to her was faked by her.

"People give false smiles. How would the other person know that it's a false response? This is very difficult to understand," the bench said, adding, "she appeared to have responded in a positive manner".

When the petitioner's counsel referred to the email conversation between the woman and Farooqui, the apex court said the record reflects that they were good friends.

The bench also referred to one of the communications between them and asked whether she had said "I love you" to Farooqui in one of the emails after the alleged incident.

"How many rape cases you have gone through where the prosecutrix (woman) has said I love you to the alleged accused much after the alleged incident," the bench asked the counsel and also posed several other queries including how many times the woman had visited Farooqui and had drinks together.

The bench was not satisfied with the answers given by the counsel and dismissed the plea, saying no question of law was involved in the matter.

The Delhi High Court had on September 25 last year acquitted Farooqui saying it remained doubtful whether any such incident took place.

The high court, which analysed the case, gave the filmmaker the benefit of doubt and set aside the trial court order that had awarded a seven-year jail term to him. The high court had asked the Tihar jail authorities to release Farooqui, who was in custody since August 4, 2016.

The high court judge had said in the order that "the testimony of the victim is not reliable and there are discrepancies."

The high court had, however, brushed aside her contention and noted that "what the appellant has been communicated is, even though wrongly and mistakenly, that the prosecutrix is okay with it and has participated in the act."

A trial court had on August 4 last year sent him to jail for seven years, observing that he had taken advantage of the situation when the victim was alone in his house.

The court, which on July 30, 2016, had held Farooqui guilty of raping the woman in 2015 in a drunken state, had also imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 on him.
Negotiations on a bilateral investment protection pact will figure prominently during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's meeting with Switzerland's President Alain Berset in Davos next week, the Swiss government has said.



The two leaders will also discuss, among other trade and business matter, the envisaged free trade agreement between India and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), of which Switzerland is a member.

The Swiss government statement on topics for the meeting of the two leaders did not mention black money, an issue which has been central to most of the high-level deliberations between the two countries.

India has framed a model Bilateral Investment Protection Agreement (BIPA) and is now negotiating it with several countries. Besides, the talks have been going on for a long time for a free trade agreement between India and the four- member EFTA ((Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein).

The trade pact talks had started in October 2008 and several rounds of negotiations have taken place since then. The proposed agreement covers trade in goods and services, investments, trade facilitation, customs cooperation, protection of intellectual property and public procurement.

The two-way trade between the regions dropped to USD 19 billion in 2016-17, from USD 21.5 billion in 2015-16. The trade gap is highly in favour of the EFTA group.

Under an FTA, trading partners give market access to each other with a view to promoting bilateral trade in goods and services, besides investments.

"Topics on the agenda of the working meeting (of President Berset) with Indian Prime Minister Modi on Monday include business and trade matters, particularly the ongoing negotiations on a BIPA and the envisaged free trade agreement between the EFTA and India," the Swiss government said.

Federal Councillor Johann Schneider-Ammann, also the head of the Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research, will also be attending the talks with the Indian prime minister, the Swiss government statement added.

Modi, accompanied by six union ministers, will be in Davos on January 22-23 to attend the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting, where he will give the opening plenary. On the sidelines of the high-profile event, Modi will hold a number of important bilateral meetings with various world leaders.

Announcing schedule of its various leaders, the Swiss government said Berset will also meet US President Donald Trump, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, the British Prime Minister Theresa May, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, among other leaders.

Ammann will also meet India's Trade and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu and will host the traditional informal WTO ministerial meeting on the sidelines of the WEF summit.

The Swiss government said Ammann will focus on fostering bilateral economic relations and free trade negotiations in his various meetings.
Amid reports of Chinese People's Liberation Army building military infrastructure in Doklam Plateau, India on Friday said that it had existing mechanism to resolve any misunderstanding with China.



New Delhi also said that the government was keeping a constant watch on "developments" along the disputed Sino-Indian border.



"We are keeping constant vigil on the developments which have a bearing on security of India and taking all necessary steps," Raveesh Kumar, official spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs, said.



"The two sides (India and China) do have and have used established mechanism to resolve any misunderstanding," said Kumar.



Mischievous



The government had on Thursday reiterated that status quo had not been altered at the scene of last year's face-off between Indian Army and the PLA in Doklam Plateau.



"Any suggestion to the contrary is inaccurate and mischievous," Kumar said in a statement on Thursday.



The MEA statement came after recent reports in a section of the media suggested that Chinese PLA had built a full-fledged military base in Doklam Plateau.
A city-based lawyers' association today filed a public interest litigation in the Bombay High Court against the CBI decision not to challenge a lower court order discharging BJP president Amit Shah in the Sohrabuddin Shaikh fake encounter case.



In the PIL, the Bombay Lawyers Association has urged the High Court to issue a direction to the CBI to file revision application challenging the sessions court order discharging Shah.

The petitioner's lawyer Ahmad Abidi said the plea would be mentioned before a division bench of justices S C Dharmadhikari and Bharti Dangre on January 22.

"The CBI is a premier investigating agency. It has public duty to observe the rule of law in its action which it has miserably failed," the petition said.

It submitted that the trial court had similarly discharged two Rajasthan Police Sub Inspectors Himanshu Singh and Shyam Singh Charan and senior Gujarat Police officer N K Amin.

"The petitioner has learnt that the CBI has challenged their discharge before the high court. This act of the CBI in challenging discharge of the accused persons on selective basis is arbitrary and unreasonable, rather malafide," it alleged.

The petition claimed that the Supreme Court, while transferring the trial in the case from Gujarat to Mumbai, had ordered that it to be concluded expeditiously.

"The Supreme Court had said the Administrative Committee of the high court would assign the case to a court where the trial may be concluded judiciously, in accordance with the law, and without any delay. The Administrative Committee would also ensure that the trial should be conducted from beginning to end by the same officer, the apex court had said in its order," it said.

Sohrabuddin Shaikh, alleged to be a terrorist, was killed in an alleged fake encounter by the Gujarat and Rajasthan police along with his wife Kauser Bi and his associate Tulsi Prajapati in 2005.
Hundreds of tourists guides and drivers working for various tiger reserves in Maharashtra and central India are protesting against Survival International, a United Kingdom-based group's appeal to foreigners to boycott Indian tiger reserves.





Stephen Corry, Director, SI, wrote an open email to global community saying: "India's government is illegally evicting tribal people from their forest homes. They are being forced out because the forests that they have cared for since time immemorial have been turned into tiger reserves....Hundreds of thousands of tourists in jeeps are permitted to enter the reserves. This disturbs the tigers, gets them used to human presence (which helps poachers), and creates litter and pollution....I pledge to boycott Indian tiger reserves....".



Kishor Rithe, President of Satpuda Foundation, who is a member of Maharashtra State Board for Wildlife, said that this campaign is against India and its economic development.



"Our tribals are protecting the forests and ripping its benefit through wildlife tourism. Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve earn more than 5 crore revenue from tourism every year and most of the share goes back to local communities. Also it has provided direct employment to around 2,500 locals. This is by following Supreme Court orders and NTCA guidelines. The similar picture can be seen in other Tiger Reserves of Vidarbha as well as India. We condemn this campaign and appeal to foreign tourist that our tribals are happy and their livelihood comes from tourism and conservation and not from bushmeat like Africa."



"We have not given consultancy to SI to speak on our behalf", said Bandu Uike, President of Eco-development Committee of Ghatpendhari village in Pench Tiger Reserve. Its totally unethical to make an appeal to foreign tourist by using the name of Indian tribal communities, he stated further.



On an average, each tiger reserve generates around 1500 direct employment opportunities, besides a few thousand indirect jobs, besides the revenues generated through various tourism activities activities.




India's third largest IT services company Wipro on Friday reported 8.7% year-on-year decline in its consolidated net profit at Rs 1,930 crore for the third quarter ended December 2017, compared with the corresponding quarter of last year.



The Bengaluru-based IT major had registered a net profit of Rs 2,115 crore in the year ago period. On a sequential quarter basis, the net profit has come down by 12%, compared to Rs 2,189 crore in the September quarter of 2017-18. The decline in profits was on account of a 2.3% rise in expenses, which stood at Rs 11,704 crore, compared with Rs 11,441 crore in the year ago quarter.



Its revenue from operations dropped marginally by 0.1% to Rs 13,669 crore during the second quarter, compared with Rs 13,688 crore in the corresponding quarter of last year.



IT Services Margin for the quarter was 14.8%, impacted by a provision of Rs 318 crore ($49.7 million) made with respect to insolvency of a customer post the balance sheet date. Adjusted for this event, IT Services Margin for the quarter was 17.2%, the company said in a statement.



The company's board approved an interim dividend of Re 1 per share (50% on an equity share of par value of Rs 2).



Wipro, which gets bulk of its topline from IT services, said it expects March quarter revenues from that business to be in the range of $2,033 million to $2,073 million.



"We surpassed the milestone of $2 billion in quarterly revenues for IT Services on the back of rigorous execution of our strategy," said Abidali Z Neemuchwala, Chief Executive Officer and Member of the Board. "Our unique digital capabilities powered growth in top clients and positioned us well to drive our clients' digital transformation," he said, adding that the digital business contributes over 25% of revenues.



The increase in the company's profits came from efficiency in its general and administrative expenses, which were down to Rs 708.5 crore in the quarter under consideration.



"We have made strong progress in our client mining with number of clients contributing revenues over $50 million increasing from 33 to 41 in the last one year. In the first nine months of the current fiscal, we generated robust operating cash flows of Rs 7,700 crore, 14.2% more than the same period last year. We also completed the share buyback in December and saw strong participation from our investors," CFO Jatin Dalal said.



Americas contributed highest to the IT major's revenues, with 53.1% contribution, followed by Europe (25.9%), and APAC and Other Emerging Markets (11.0%).



The scrips of the company closed up by 0.74% on BSE at Rs 328.45 per scrip.



The company said it has concluded the buyback of 343.75 million equity shares. This has resulted in a total cash outflow of Rs 11,000 crore.




In a shocking incident reflecting lack of sensitivity on the part of the Uttar Pradesh police, two minors, who had met with an accident, bled to death allegedly after the cops, who had reached there on being informed, refused to carry them to the hospital in their vehicle saying that it would become dirty.



The shocking incident occurred in state's Saharanpur late on Thursday night. According to the sources three police personnel have been suspended in this connection and a probe was ordered.

Sources said that two minors, identified as Arpit Khurana and Sunny, both aged around 16 years, met with an accident in Kotwali area in the town around midnight on Thursday. Their motor bike collided with an electric pole and fell into the nearby nullah.

A few locals managed to bring the two youths out of the nullah and informed the cops. 'Dial 100', a police vehicle, reached the spot a little later but the cops, after seeing the bloodied youths, refused to transport them in their vehicle.

''Where will we sit?....the vehicle will be dirty,'' the cops said and sped away from there leaving them to die.

By the time the locals arranged a private vehicle and took them to the hospital, the two had already died owing to excessive bleeding.

The matter came to light, when a video showing the cops leaving the spot without the injured youths and containing their utterances went viral on the social networking sites on Friday.

Police sources said that three cops, including a sub-inspector, were suspended in this connection and a probe had been ordered.

Barely a few days back the UP cops had forced the parents of an eight year old child, who had been hit by a bullet fired by the police during an encounter in Mathura, to get down from their vehicle midway to the hospital. The child was declared brought dead upon reaching the hospital later.
Expressing concern over possible spying via imported equipment, Minister of State for IT Alphons Kannanthanam on Friday called for a re- look at the government's procurement system which favours the lowest bidders.



"I am a little scared about lot of equipments being imported into India from not-so-friendly country. I hope you understand what I mean. I don't have to name them," Kannanthanam said while speaking at Cyber Surakshit Bharat Conclave.

He said equipment from the unfriendly nation can be switched off with a press of a button or voice command and there is a need to cleverly deal with it.

The government has to think over L1 (lowest bidder) procedures, where we buy from the lowest quoted firms. Their objective to quote lowest price was aimed at to spy on you and our country?, he said.

India has been importing large scale electronic equipments and Chinese firms have been a major supplier.
Hamilton County Schools will welcome back students and teachers on Friday as the system will be open on a regular schedule for the day. Slightly warmer temperatures, sunshine and road treatments during the day on Thursday have cleared the ice from last remaining roads in remote areas that kept the system closed on Thursday.

The system has built extra instruction time into the calendar that will not require the days missed this week because of snow to be made up by students and staff.



Officials said, "We know that parents, grandparents, relatives, neighbors and others who helped to care for children have treasured the extra time at home with them but we look forward to once again having children in the classroom with our excellent teachers as they seek to impact their potential for success after graduation. Parents, Hamilton County Schools thanks you for your patience and your commitment to excellence for your children and their schools."
Reacting strongly to the Election Commission's decision to disqualify 20 Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) legislators, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday said the decision was an outcome of "political vendetta".



"A constitutional body cannot be used for political vendetta. The 20 AAP MLAs were not even given a hearing by the Hon. EC. Most unfortunate. This goes against the principles of natural justice. At this hour we are strongly with @arvindkejriwal and his team," Mamata said in a tweet.



A Constitutional body cannot be used for political vendetta. The 20 AAP MLAs were not even given a hearing by the Hon EC. Most unfortunate. This goes against the principles of natural justice.At this hour we are strongly with @arvindkejriwal and his team  Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) January 19, 2018





The EC has recommended to the President that 20 legislator of the AAP be disqualified for holding offices of profit as parliamentary secretaries.




Indian Navy's honorary Sub Lieutenant Ramesh Chand Katoch will play his swan song on Republic Day when he will lead the naval marching contingent on the Rajpath.



Katoch has participated in 30 Republic Day parades, leading the naval band in the last 20 of them consecutively, setting a record in the history of Indian military bands.



Set to retire in April, 2018, it would be one last hurrah for Katoch to lead the 81-member naval brass band, which will follow 148 officers and sailors from the navy marching on the central boulevard.

When asked which Republic Day parade he remembers best, Katoch picked the one in 2001, when the earth shook beneath his feat as he started marching down the Rajpath, leading his team.



"We were shaken for a few moments, but continued. Only later did I come to know about the devastating earthquake," the bandmaster told DH. The quake is said to have killed anywhere between an estimated 14,000 and 20,000 people.

A resident of Kangra in Himachal Pradesh, he had learnt to play the flute in his village, and this came in handy when he joined the navy in April 1981.

He first participated in the Republic Day parade in 1987, when he played flute in the band. Those days, the contingent marched on a longer route, even touching areas near Connaught Place and Chandni Chowk.



Even though he has three decades of experience, there is no let up when it comes to practice.

"We wake up around 4.30 am and march down from Rashtrapati Bhavan to India Gate two to three times practising our tunes," Katoch said.
The EVMs in bypolls will have photographs of candidates contesting elections, Rajasthan's chief election officer said on Friday.



The bypolls are due on January 29 in Ajmer and Alwar parliamentary and Mandalgarh Assembly seats.

Though the same procedure was followed in the Dholpur Assembly bypoll in Rajasthan last year, according to the chief election officer, this time it will be done for the very first time in any Lok Sabha elections.

"The arrangement was made to make sure there was no confusion on candidates with similar names contesting election," Rajasthan's Chief Election Officer Ashwani Bhagat said.

Under the new system, a 2.5 cm size photograph of the candidate will be displayed on the EVM.

The EVM will have name of the candidate, photo and the election symbol. However, for NOTA option the space for photo will be left blank.

Ballot papers meant for service employed voters will also have photographs of candidates' contesting election, the officer said.

According to the chief election officer, the ballot paper will have candidates' photograph along with their name, both in English and Hindi.

11,580 service employed voters will cast their votes in the bypolls, he said.

On all the three seats, over 39 lakh voters would be exercising their franchise during the bypolls.

There are nearly 18.27 lakh voters in Alwar, 18.42 lakh in Ajmer and 2.31 lakh voters in Mandalgarh.

The department has set-up 1979 polling stations in Alwar, 1907 in Ajmer and 280 in Mandalgarh.
In a rare gesture in Bollywood, actor Akshay Kumar agreed to shift the release of his social-cause film, Pad Man, whose release date clashed with Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Padmavaat.



Padmaavat would be released as per schedule on 25 January, on the eve of Republic Day, Pad Man would now be released on 9 Febuary.

Akshay and Bhansali jointly announced this at a hurriedly-convened media interaction on Friday evening.

"While I was doing my rehersal for an event, Sanjay Leela Bhansali was also there, he requested me if we could move our film ahead...I agreed," Akshay said.

"We requested him to move the release date of his film and he agreed. We will be grateful to him for a lifetime," said Bhansali.

Both of them hugged each other and posed for photographs - in what is being seen as a major development in recent times.

"The industry is proud of him (Akshay).... I would be indebted to him for lifetime. As a fraternity we are proud," Bhansali said.

"He has gone through a lot. It is essential for them to release the film at this time, their stakes are higher than mine...his need is much more," Akshay said about Bhansali.

Padmaavat, earlier named as Padmavati, has seen a series of controversies including protests by fringe groups and Right-wing organisations, violent threats to actors and makers, modifications and name change by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC).

Several states banned the movie, however, the Supreme Court overturned the ban.

Producers of the film, Viacom18, had moved the Apex Court challenging the ban imposed by the state governments of Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan and Gujarat.

The film had to miss its scheduled release of 1 December because of the protests.

Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh and Shahid Kapoor play the lead roles in the high-budget film. Deepika plays the title role of Rani Padmavati, the Rajput queen and consort of Ratan Singh while Ranveer Singh will be seen as Alauddin Khilji, the Delhi sultan.

Pad Man is biographical film written and directed by R. Balki, featuring Akshay Kumar, Sonam Kapoor and Radhika Apte in lead roles and cameo appearance by Amitabh Bachchan, which is inspired from the life of Arunachalam Muruganantham, a social activist from Tamil Nadu.

The film is based on "The Sanitary Man of Sacred Land", a short story from Twinkle Khanna's book, The Legend of Lakshmi Prasad, which is inspired from the life of Arunachalam Muruganantham, a Tamil Nadu-based social activist who revolutionized the concept of menstrual hygiene in rural India by creating a low-cost sanitary napkin machine.
India on Friday became a member of Australia Group, aimed at checking proliferation of chemical and biological weapons.



With this, India has gained entry in three of the four multilateral export control regimes even as its quest for a seat in the most significant of them all Nuclear Suppliers Group continued to be blocked by China. The Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) admitted India in June 2016 and the Wassenaar Arrangement (WA) in December 2017.

The Australia Group (AG) announced that India's plea for membership of the cartel had received widespread support from its members at its last plenary in Paris in June last year.

New Delhi said that India's entry into the AG would be "mutually beneficial and further contribute to international security and non-proliferation objectives".

NSG pursuit on

Raveesh Kumar, spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs, said that India's membership would help further strengthen its impeccable non-proliferation credentials. He said that India was continuing its pursuit for membership of the NSG and remained engaged with the members of the cartel, which controlled global nuclear commerce to check proliferation of atomic weapons.

The AG said in its statement that India had "demonstrated the will to implement rigourous controls of high standards in international trade, and its capacity to adapt its national regulatory system to meet the necessities of its expanding economy".

India, like all other members of the AG, is a signatory to both the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) and the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC).

The AG members do not undertake any legally binding obligations and the effectiveness of the cooperation depends solely on "a shared commitment to the goal of stopping proliferation of chemical and biological weapons".

Credentials

The MTCR's primary objective is to restrict proliferation of missiles, complete rocket systems, unmanned air vehicles, and related technology for systems capable of carrying a 500 kg payload at least 300 km, as well as systems intended for the delivery of weapons of mass destruction. The WA controls global commerce of conventional arms and dual-use goods and technologies.

China has been blocking India's bid for NSG membership arguing that the NSG should reach agreement on a non-discriminatory formula to deal with the issue of granting membership to countries which had not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, or NPT.
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) on Friday directed Reliance Communications (Rcom) to refund unused balance of its prepaid customers and security deposit of post-paid subscribers by January 31.



The direction issued following large number of complaints that the company is yet to refund the balance amount left with it in the form of recharges or voucher plans in their prepaid mobile account and non-refund of security deposits for post-paid mobile accounts.

Trai directed RCom to transfer unspent balance and security deposits of customers to the telecom operator on whose network they have ported out for crediting in their account.

The loss-making and debt-ridden RCom closed mobile-calling service on its network from December 1 in about half of the country, and the rest from December 29. For those subscribers who could not port out from the RCom network, Trai has asked the company to issue public notice on the main page of its website, and at least two daily newspapers at the national level, seeking their contacts and bank details, along with address and id proof for transferring the money.
Will the CPM stand united or will the split in its most powerful body continue till its leaders meet for their biennial conclave?



A question has been looming large on the CPM since two separate drafts were prepared on the party's political and tactical line and circulated in the Central Committee meeting in October 2017 - will the CPM be able to successfully bury its internal hatchet and decide on a common line before the 2019 general elections or will the differences persist till its 22nd Party Congress scheduled at Hyderabad in April?

To find a solution to this crisis, the CPM Central Committee began its crucial deliberations in the Kolkata on Friday.

One of the two lobbies in the party sides with general secretary Sitaram Yechury. This side follows an approach that favours forming a broader political platform of Opposition parties along with the Congress to oust the BJP in the next Lok Sabha polls.

The other side supports former general secretary and Polit Bureau member Prakash Karat, who is strongly opposed to any truck with the Congress.

The two drafts have already been in circulation for some time now and the Central Committee wants to avoid any repetition of its last meeting and formulate only one resolution before heading for the Party Congress and finalise its political line.

The Bengal lobby in the Central Committee has been favouring Yechury's approach.

The party has been virtually decimated in the state by the TMC and the BJP is steadily cementing its position as the principal Opposition party.

The Kerala lobby, presently the most powerful in the central committee, shares Karat's views, which says both the Congress and BJP have similar views on the economic front and both are pursuing neo-liberal policies.

The only silver line among Yechury-supporters is that Tripura Chief Minister and party's Polit Bureau member Manik Sarkar has recently softened his anti-Congress stand after facing serious contest from the BJP in his own state. Tripura goes to polls in February.
The Supreme Court on Friday upheld the acquittal of 'Peepli Live' co-director Mahmood Farooqui in a rape case, citing an email sent by the victim, a US woman, saying, "I do love you."



"How many times you have come across a case where the (rape) victim says I love you," a bench of Justices S A Bobde and L Nageswara Rao asked advocate Vrinda Grover, appearing for the woman.

"They were good friends. The facts of the case show good friendship. How did she communicate initially 'yes'. How does the other person know that her response is false," the bench asked the counsel.

Grover, for her part, submitted this is a case involving complex relationship. She urged the court to look into the provisions of Section 375b (rape) of the IPC brought in through the Criminal Amendment Act, 2013, which clearly stated consent means unequivocal voluntary agreement by words or gesture or non-verbal communication.

"Yes they were friends and in a relationship but it was not a sexual relationship," she said. The counsel urged the court to go through rest of the same email sent by the victim to Farooqui, clearly stating that Farooqui became forceful on that day, she was afraid of something happening to her like the victim of 2012 Delhi gang-rape, so she consented but she still owned her sexuality.

"According to her, they knew each and had drinks together. But there was no confusion and neither any positive assertion of willingness on her part," Grover submitted.

The bench, however, made her read the email further, wherein the victim said, "She visited his house when his wife was in the kitchen, he kissed me and I kissed him back."

"This is a very hard case. We will say it is a well-decided case, extremely well-decided," the bench said, dismissing her plea.

Yes not always yes

The Delhi High Court had on September 25 last overturned the trial court's judgement sentencing Farooqui to seven-year jail term for raping the US research scholar. "It may not necessarily always mean yes in case of yes or no in case of no," the judge said.

The HC had cast its doubt over the March 28, 2015 incident, that allegedly took place in Farooqui's South Delhi residence, and concluded that it was not clear if there was no consent from the 30-year-old victim and if Farooqui was able to understand it as he was allegedly in an inebriated state and suffered from bipolar disorder. The victim had lodged the FIR two months after the incident.
Speak up on Doklam, creating jobs and stopping rapes, Congress President Rahul Gandhi told Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who invited topics for his monthly 'Mann ki Baat' radio programme.



"Dear Narendra Modi, since you've requested some ideas for your MannKiBaat monologue, tell us about how you plan to get our youth jobs, get the Chinese out of 'Dhoka-Lam', stop the rapes in Haryana," Gandhi said in tweets dripping with sarcasm.

Gandhi's sharp attack came as the Prime Minister reached out to Twitterati inviting suggestions for the 'Mann ki Baat' programme.

"It is always a delight to read your insightful ideas and inputs for #MannKiBaat. What are your suggestions for 2018's first 'Mann Ki Baat' on 28th January. Let me know on the NM Mobile App," Modi said.

Pun and sarcasm

The Congress President punned on Doklam using the word 'Dhoka-Lam' to suggest an apparent betrayal by China. Reports had it that Chinese troops had built permanent structures, helipads and watch towers in the Doklam plateau within 10 km of the Indian border.

Congress claimed that the alleged construction activity by Chinese troops ran contrary to the Modi government's assertions in Parliament that both India and China had agreed to "expeditious disengagement" in the Doklam plateau.

Congress has also been targeting the Modi government on his "failure" to create jobs and prevent crimes against women.
David Sharpe announced his candidacy for Hamilton County Commission, District 6. Mr. Sharpe "emphasized the need for a change in leadership for the communities of District 6." He said, The time has come for new leadership on the Hamilton County Commission.It is time to move past the politics of complacency and obstruction and elect leaders who are committed to do the hard work it takes to get things done. Hamilton County is a community on the rise and I believe in our potentialthat is why I am running. We simply cannot afford to continue electing politicians who block progress and stand in the way of success.



Mr. Sharpe, a husband and a full-time father of three, said he will be highlighting quality public education and efforts to modernize county government during his campaign. He said he "is advocating for a more responsive County Commission with a clear set of priorities."



He stated, One of the most critical obligations the County Commission has is ensuring our public schools have the resources they need to be successful - the success of our entire community starts there. We will not be able to continue to thrive and grow as a community if we continue electing politicians who do not take this obligation seriously. The path to a good job begins at the doorstep of a great public school.

Mr. Sharpe began his career at Big River Grille & Brewing Works, where he started out as a line cook and quickly worked his way up to become a regional brewer, supervising two dozen employees across three states.



Mr. Sharpe, 41, also served as a member of Chattanoogas 21st Century Riverfront Steering Committee where he worked closely with other community leaders to help revitalize Chattanoogas waterfront. He also served as co-chair of the Southern Brewers Festival, an event that has raised over a million dollars for local charities and draws thousands of visitors to Chattanooga.



He said, We need to ensure that we are doing all we can to help our kids, our schools, and our community be successful. Hamilton County cannot continue to grow and prosper without broader success in public schools, safe streets, and a modern government with an eye on the future,Sharpe said.I am running because I want to move us forward and make sure that our community reaches its potential as a world-class destination for families and businesses.



Mr. Sharpe was born in Hamilton County and is a seventh generation Tennessean. He attended St. Andrew's-Sewanee School and the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. He and his wife, Rebekah, live in Hamilton County with their three children.



Mr. Sharpe is running in the Democratic primary taking place on May 1. The general election for County Commission seats will take place on Aug. 2.
Former Gujarat chief minister Anandiben Patel is set to become the governor of Madhya Pradesh.



She will replace Om Prakash Kohli who is holding the additional charge of Madhya Pradesh. Kohli is the governor of Gujarat.

A formal announcement about her appointment is expected in a day or two.

Anandiben refused to comment. "I have no idea about anything as yet. Please forgive me," she said when cornered by mediapersons at a function on Friday evening.

Anandiben's name for the governor's post had been doing the rounds after the Gujarat Assembly polls got over last month. She had opted out of the polls.

Born on November 21, 1941, Anandiben has been a BJP member since 1987. She joined Modi's cabinet in the state as minister for education from 2002 to 2007 and later as minister of road and building, revenue, urban development and urban housing, disaster management and capital projects from 2007 to 2014.

Anandiben was appointed the first woman chief minister of Gujarat in 2014 after Narendra Modi became the prime minister, following BJP's victory in 2014 Lok Sabha polls. She had pipped her direct political opponent Amit Shah at the post, but had to quit in 2016, after facing tremendous headwind from within the party. She was asked to make way for Vijay Rupani, after her government was found wanting in tackling the Patidar reservation agitation and Dalit protests.

She later refused to contest and generally stayed away from active campaigning during the 2017 Assembly elections.

With her being sent into political oblivion as governor, Chief Minister Vijay Rupani could breathe a bit easy as Anandiben loyalists would find it difficult to make their voice heard in state party and government affairs. This also hints at Amit Shah tightening his grip over the state.
The heads of government and business leaders attending the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos next week can also indulge in some yoga in-between brainstorming sessions on global economy.



Two yoga teachers from India will join Prime Minister Narendra Modi's entourage to WEF and will hold sessions for the heads of government, corporate honchos, executives and others attending the Forum, said Ramesh Abhishek, Secretary of the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

American President Donald Trump is among the leaders, who are likely to attend the WEF in the Swiss Alps. Top business leaders and bankers are also likely to take part.

Modi will deliver the keynote speech at WEF's plenary session, which will be moderated by Prof Klaus Schwab, founder and executive chairman of the Forum.

The last Indian Prime Minister to attend the WEF was H D Deve Gowda in 1997.

"Our economy has expanded significantly since the last time an Indian Prime Minister went to Davos and, therefore, this visit is very important," Vijay Gokhale, Secretary (Economic Relations) at the Ministry of External Affairs, said.

Modi will hold a bilateral meeting with Swiss President Alain Berset. He is also likely to have brief "pull-aside" interactions with some other heads of government and state.

Gokhale, however, made it clear that the Prime Minister would not have a bilateral meeting or pull-aside interaction with the US President as the two leaders would not meet in Davos.

Modi message

He said the Prime Minister would highlight his government's reform initiatives and send out the message that India was ready for investment from around the world.

Abhishek said that the Prime Minister would also host a round table dinner on January 22 for Chief Executive Officers of top 60 companies, including 40 multinational corporates. The CEOs of Airbus, Hitachi, BAE Systems and IBM are among the ones who have already confirmed their attendance.

Modi will also meet about 120 members, including heads of General Motors, Salesforce, Royal Dutch Shell, Nestle and JP Morgan, from the investor community at WEF on January 23.
Amid talk of 'one nation, one poll', Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said he alone will not be able to call for simultaneous elections for Lok Sabha and state assemblies.



In an interview to Zee News, Modi said although he favoured 'one nation, one poll', he wanted all political parties to understand the hardships faced by the country and the huge costs involved in the exercise.

"Simultaneous polls won't happen if I want it or the BJP wants it. It will happen only if all parties want it," the prime minister said.

He said the 2014 Lok Sabha elections cost the national exchequer Rs 4,000 crore and almost a similar amount is spent in a staggered manner when Assembly elections are held.

"Our idea is to create a planned election system. The polling could be held in a certain week across the country at one time," Modi said.

Modi's renewed pitch for simultaneous elections comes at a time when a think-tank headed by BJP Rajya Sabha member Vinay Sahastrabuddhe organised a seminar on 'one nation, one poll' over the weekend in Mumbai.

EPF figures

On his much-touted slogan of creating jobs, Modi evaded a direct reply but said the Employees Provident Fund Organisation data shows that 70 lakh new accounts have been opened in the last one year. "I am not talking in thin air, EPF figures are not wrong," the prime minister said.

He said that 10 crore people have benefited from the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana under which Rs 4 lakh crore has been given as loans to small entrepreneurs.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, in a veiled manner, expressed his commitment to the construction of Ram Temple at Ayodhya and said his government would act in accordance with the sentiments of the saint community.



Speaking at the Vishwa Hindu Parishad-sponsored 'Dharm Sansad' (Religion Parliament) near 'Sangam' (the confluence of Ganga, Yamuna and mythical Sarswati rivers) at Allahabad on Friday, Adityanath said the Centre and the state governments were doing what the saints desired.

"We need the blessings of the saints... we also want what you all desire... but we cannot express it... we will do what you want," Adityanath said in a veiled reference to the Ram Temple construction.

The chief minister, who had earlier expressed his commitment to the Ram Temple, said that he had not changed, though his responsibilities had increased.

The meeting, which was attended by prominent VHP leaders and saints associated with the Ram Temple movement, saw the speakers seeking construction of temple at Ayodhya. "The construction of Ram Temple is a matter of faith and prestige for the country," VHP international general secretary Champat Rai said.
The Mumbai police have arrested Sunil Pumpwell, a Bajrang Dal leader from Mangaluru in connection with the abduction of a girl.



It is said that Reshma, who was studying in a private college in Mangaluru, had married Iqbal Choudary of Mankhurd in Mumbai.

However, the Hindu organisations had claimed it as 'Love Jihad' and had even submitted a memorandum to the Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman during her recent visit to Mangaluru. Though Reshma's parents persuaded her to return to their native place, she did not do so.

Habeas corpus petition

Recently, her husband had filed a habeas corpus petition in a court seeking to trace Reshma, who was allegedly kidnapped from a mall in Mumbai. Now, the Mumbai police have arrested Sunil Pumpwell in connection with her abduction.
A student from Congo and her friend reportedly assaulted two police constables and tore the uniform of one of them when pulled up for speeding. The incident occurred at HBR Layout in Banaswadi, East Bengaluru, last Monday but emerged only on Friday.Kilambo Nzeba (24) and Kalau Mujinga (22), undergraduate students at a city college, were driving in a rash and negligent manner behind Forest Road around 4.30 pm. Beat patrolmen, Anand Shirola and Basavaraj Tonape, set out on a Cheetah motorbike in search of the students after receiving an alert from the police control room. They saw the car and tried to stop it. But Mujinga, who was at the wheel, lost control of the automobile and crashed it into the policemen's motorbike, a senior police officer said.

The policemen confronted the students and asked them to get off the car. The students did as told but got into an argument with the policemen. The girl roughed up Shirola and tore his uniform. The policemen alerted the Hoysala patrol team which rushed to the spot and detained the students.

The Congolese were booked for rash and negligent driving, and assaulting a public servant. A court later sent them into judicial custody. Shirola and Tonape are recovering at a hospital, the officer added.
The Karnataka High Court directed the Bangalore University to conduct a special examination for 6 affiliated study centres within Bangalore city limits.



Justice B V Nagarathna was hearing a petition filed by Manasa Education Trust and 5 other study centres who have moved the court challenging Bangalore University's denial to conduct examination for these centres.

The petitioners had sought to quash the notice issued by the University.

They stated that the general notification dated November 7, 2016, affirmed that the study centres situated beyond the Bangalore city limits cannot be approved. The university also disapproved the college admissions of the petitioners' students for the academic year 2016-17.

The petitioners claimed that the study centres are in accordance with the University Grants Commission's guidelines. They are affiliated colleges and are situated in the city.

The university had issued a notification for conducting the examination for students admitted for the period 2016-17. The examinations are set to be conducted from January 22, 2018.

Even though the petitioners' students are entitled to appear for the examination, the university has denied the students from it.

The examinations are to be conducted for undergraduate and postgraduate courses.

The matter was adjourned.
A citizens' group is demonstrating for pedestrian rights on Saturday. Citizens for Bengaluru (CfB) has called a meeting on Richmond Circle on Saturday at 3.30 pm.



Its campaign #NadiyaluBidi (Let Us Walk) has already kicked off on social media.

"The city lacks in pedestrian infrastructure. We want roads where people can walk freely without any fear," said Srinivas Alavilli of CfB.

More pedestrians in Bengaluru have died in accidents than other road users in 2017. The numbers are staggering: 284 pedestrians killed and 1,346 injured. Children, youth, college students and senior citizens are expected to join the initiative in large numbers.

Tara Krishnaswamy, another CfB member, said, "The right to walk and pedestrian signals are one of the demands put forth by citizens as part of Beku Beda Santhe (a campaign that brings together people who have been fighting for various civic issues), organised last year."

On Saturday's demonstration, Tara said, "The event is being organised to ask for the basic rights of pedestrians."

They are also opposing unnecessary skywalks in the city.

"After the MG Road skywalk project, we thought of this campaign. Skywalks are necessary only on highways and on the outer ring roads, but not inside the city.

Most of the skywalks are unused and are only meant for advertisement hoardings. Constructing skywalks inside the city is a waste of public money," she said.
Three teens from Athens, Tn., have been charged in a murder in Polk County that happened Wednesday of last week.

Robert Jerome Benton, 18, was taken into custody along with two juveniles.

Authorities said the three victims knew the three teens who were charged.

They said there was an exchange of property going on when an argument broke out and a fight started. Then one of the trio from Athens pulled a gun and started shooting at the home in the 9800 block of Highway 411..

Timothy Maklain Lawson of Bradley County was killed.

Charles D. Buffkin of Polk County was shot. James Meeks of Bradley County was not injured.

The trio are charged with felony murder and especially aggravated robbery.
CES  more commonly known to the world as the Consumer Electronics Show  is where to find latest innovations and breakthroughs in consumer technologies. CES attracts companies large and small, filling almost every convention center space, hotel room and suite, in Las Vegas for the better part of a week in early January each year. Considering the enormous variety and quantity of products, services and technologies, as well as the difficulty in getting around to the various venues in the often gridlocked Las Vegas traffic, there is not nearly enough time to see and do everything.

Lyft app requesting ride with self-driving car Jan Wagner

Added to the challenge this year was a massive power failure in the Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC), following two straight days of steady, relentless rain. Trash cans appeared throughout the LVCC, in an only partially successful effort to collect the rainwater leaking through its aging roof. Sufficient moisture found its way in by the next day to cause the power failure that led to the evacuation of the LVCCs Central Hall.

Several events provide opportunities for members of the media to meet with a variety of companies and their representatives, and see some of their products and services, gathered together at one time in large ballrooms around Las Vegas. These include CES Unveiled, Pepcoms Digital Experience! and ShowStoppers.

Aptiv-equipped self-driving BMW Lyft car Jan Wagner

I approached CES with two objectives: to try to get an overview of this years emerging trends, technologies, products and services, and to focus on a few of particular interest and importance, in part by requesting several products for review. These will be covered here in the coming weeks and months.

In recent years, autonomous vehicles and technology have been featured at CES. The major automakers have had an ever-increasing presence at CES, as have a myriad of tech companies that many consumers may never have even heard of. The sheer volume of computer code that must be written to process the massive amount of data required for autonomous vehicles and their infrastructure is truly mind-boggling.

Hey Google campaign for Google Assistant at CES Jan Wagner

One such company is Aptiv (spun off from Delphi), self-described as a global technology company that develops safer, greener and more connected solutions, which enable the future of mobility. For CES they built an entire (temporary) building, within which they presented and explained some of the key hardware, software and processes of their autonomous vehicle technologies.

Of particular interest was Aptivs partnership with BMW and Lyft  the ridesharing company. To showcase that collaboration, showgoers could choose a special choice in the Lyft app to request a ride in an Aptiv-modified BMW sedan to one of several destinations in Las Vegas. This required driving in real-world, heavy traffic, complete with unexpected events  such as a pedestrian crossing in front of the path of my BMW, which prompted it to stop suddenly. Thankfully it did so safely, with no drama. It was like having a professional driver at the wheel.

While at CES I had several opportunities to speak with showgoers about autonomous vehicles. It seemed like the younger people who I spoke to were less inclined to embrace this technology. Reflecting back, at one time I was not too keen about the thought of relegating driving to a vehicle either, but as I get older I realize that at some point my ability to drive will become more limited. Autonomous vehicles will provide an aging population with the ability to not become prisoners of their homes in the suburbs, or be forced to move. When I shared this thought with younger adults, many told me that they had not considered that, and that they could now see how it could be extremely beneficial. Of course autonomous vehicles offer much more, from driverless buses to shuttle people around college and business campuses, and urban centers; to the ability to be productive or rest while your vehicle safely and efficiently takes you where you want to go.

Google had a major presence at this years CES. Scattered throughout Las Vegas were opportunities for showgoers to experience the Google Assistant and try their luck at winning one of several prizes.

Check back again to find out more about what was at CES 2018.

Send your comments and suggestions to AutoMatters@gmail.com. To see many more photos go to www.drivetribe.com, search for AutoMatters & More and click on TRIBES.
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By ALEX VEIGA

AP Business Writer

Losses among Boeing, General Electric and other big industrial companies weighed on U.S. stocks Thursday, pulling the market below the record highs it set the day before.

Energy stocks contributed to the modest decline following a slide in crude oil prices. Technology companies accounted for the biggest gains. Bond yields climbed to their highest level since March as demand for bonds waned.





. . .
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By JOSH BOAK

AP Economics Writer

WASHINGTON  Groundbreakings on new homes fell 8.2 percent in December, with builders ending 2017 by slowing down their construction of single-family houses.

The Commerce Department said Thursday that the monthly decline put U.S. housing starts at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.19 million units. Almost all of the decrease came from builders beginning work on fewer single-family houses, a reversal from the robust gains reported in October and November.





. . .
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A witness in the Pilot Travel Centers fraud trial testified Thursday that former national sales director Scott Wombold told her that "if he was guilty of anything, it was sticking his head in the sand."

Lexie Holden told a jury at Federal Court in Chattanooga that the conversation took place after the FBI raided Pilot headquarters in Knoxville on April 15, 2013.

Wombold is on trial along with Mark Hazelwood, Heather Jones and Karen Mann.

Ms. Holden, who earlier pleaded guilty in the case as did many other Pilot employees, said she joined Pilot in 2008 just after graduating from UT Knoxville. She said she started as an administrative assistant and rose through the ranks to national account manager.

She said she was made aware of the ongoing cheating of trucking companies on promised discounts soon after joining the company.

The witness was asked about an email she sent in 2011 regarding a new employee, Kevin Hite, who had formerly worked for a trucking firm. She was inquiring if Hite should be told about the scheme, noting that he might still have some loyalty to his former industry.

She said a sales manager changed discounts on Hite's accounts to keep him from knowing what was going on.

She said she finally had a talk with Hite just before he was set to go on a plane trip with Hazelwood and John Freeman, another top Pilot sales leader at the time. She said she was afraid he would be asked about it on the trip and not know what was being said.

Ms. Holden said Hite told her he did know what was going on, but he just did not know the amounts customers were being cheated.

The witness said she helped Brian Mosher prepare for a lecture he gave at Pilot headquarters in November 2012 on how to cheat trucking companies.

Attorney Rusty Hardin was about to ask Ms. Holden more on that topic when the prosecution objected, saying it had not been a topic on direct examination.

Attorney Hardin then said he would have to call Ms. Holden as a defense witness later. He made the same statement when some of his questions to an FBI agent who is now stationed in Colorado were objected to.

The Houston attorney commented, "I guess we can try this thing in May."

The trial started in early November. Judge Curtis Collier said recently it may go into March at least.

The judge on Thursday dismissed a juror who has gotten a promotion to a position in Knoxville. Another juror dropped off earlier when she did not show up for court and it was learned she had gone on a pre-paid trip.

An FBI agent said it was his job to interview president Hazelwood on the day of the raid. He said Hazelwood was at the airport getting ready to board a plane, but he returned.

He said he willingly was interviewed by him for an hour or more.

The witness said he was "courteous and professional."

The agent said there were "way more" than 20 members of law enforcement poring through records at the Pilot headquarters and interviewing key personnel. He said many were armed and some had bullet-proof vests.

Asked about the mood, he said, "I would think it would be very different than a normal day at the office."

In a reference to the Pilot owners, he said, "I think everybody in Knoxville knows who the Haslams are."

Dan Peyton, a former Pilot salesman, said he learned that Smith Transportation had been cheated. He said he called Hazelwood about it.

He said Hazelwood told him the company would be repaid.
India admitted to Australia Group

India today formally became a member of the 42-member Australia Group, which is working to counter the threat of development and acquisition of chemical and biological weapons (CBW) and technologies, even as membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) continued to elude the country.

The Australia Group, an informal grouping, is the third multilateral export control group that has accepted India as a member after the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) and Wassenaar Arrangement that deals with conventional arms and duel technology products.

India's application to the NSG has been pending largely due to opposition from China.

Incidentally, China is not a member of neither the Australia Group, nor the MTCR.

''There was very strong support expressed for India's membership at the 26-30 June 2017 Australia Group Plenary, after which consensus was reached intersessionally. India then reaffirmed its intention to join the Group.

''In warmly welcoming India to the Group, the other Australia Group members recognised the Government of India's commitment to bring India's export control system into alignment with the Australia Group and India's determination to contribute to the global effort to prevent the proliferation of CBW in the security interests of all members of the international community,'' the Australia group stated in a release.

India's external affairs ministry said India's entry into the Group would be mutually beneficial and would contribute further to international security and non-proliferation objectives, adding ''India's law-based export control system enables the Government of India to implement the obligations arising from the Australia Group's Guidelines and Common Control Lists, including its reporting requirements, information exchange and principles.''

''With its admission into the AG, India has demonstrated the will to implement rigorous controls of high standards in international trade, and its capacity to adapt its national regulatory system to meet the necessities of its expanding economy. India is also aware of the need to constantly adapt its export controls in the face of rapidly evolving scientific and technological challenges, and in this regard, affirmed its readiness to act in close cooperation with all members towards the furtherance of Australia Group objectives.''

The other Australia Group members are, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Republic of Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, European Union, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Republic of Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom and United States.

Stating that India remains engaged with other countries over application to join the NSG, external affairs ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said, ''We hope that our credentials are taken into account as and when a decision is taken (on NSG application)''.

India's application to the NSG has been pending largely due to opposition from China, which wants the group to first draw up guidelines for all the candidates who have not signed the nuclear non-proliferation treaty. Pakistan has also applied to join the NSG, but has never been granted a waiver, unlike India, which was given one in 2008.

Indian ambassador to the United Nations conference on disarmament in Geneva, Amandeep Singh Gill, said that joining the Australia Group would also help in ''strengthening supply chain security in the dynamic industry fields of biotechnology and chemicals'', along with meeting non-proliferation objectives.
When John and Eliza Long came into view of the Ross's Landing wilderness in 1836, they "felt we were coming out of the world to come and live among the bears and Indians, yet we were full of hope and courage.'' John Pomfret Long floated down by flatboat from Rhea County, while Mrs. Long followed on horseback with an uncle. When Mrs. Long stood on the dividing line between white man and Indian, she "looked with delight on the beautiful landscape - Lookout Mountain and Cameron Hill - their sides and the valley beneath were covered with what seemed to me a vast unbroken forest.'' The Landing then included only a muddy winding road (Market Street) with a few "straggling log cabins.'' There were three small log stores. A cabin that was a little larger than the rest was a

tavern and inn kept by the widow Jane Henderson.

John P. Long said with an air of pride to his bride, "Your future home - right in the Indian nation.'' Then all the settlers (about a dozen families) came to a special supper to bid the newcomers a hearty welcome. Mrs. Long found "here and there settlements of Indians, who owned horses and cattle and a good many Negro slaves. They were kind masters. The nation owned the land and each Indian could have all the land he could cultivate. The Indian neighbors were kind and friendly. They were good customers who always paid their debts.''

The Longs occupied a two-room log cabin, with the front room filled with store goods. The back room was "a parlor, dining room, chamber and kitchen all in one.'' There was a big, wide chimney and board windows. In this simple residence, the Longs were "just as happy as if we had lived in a mansion.'' The Longs kept no lock on their door. Valuable goods were left lying on the wharf for weeks and "nobody touched them.''

John P. Long learned to talk with the Indians, and he asked them questions about the history of the area, including the origin of the name "Chattanooga.'' Soon the decree went out that the Indians were to be deported west, away from their beloved homeland. One of the stockades was by the river near Ross's Landing. A regiment of U.S. soldiers was stationed on the hill at East Fourth Street (Brabson Hill) to aid in the roundup and to help protect the white settlers in case there should be an uprising. Mrs. Long was distressed as she saw the soldiers leading her Indian friends into the stockade. She said of the "Trail of Tears,'' "A long and terrible journey it was, and hundreds died along the way.''

John P. Long was a native of Knoxville, the son of William and Jane Bennett Long, who were married in 1805. William Long, a carpenter, also moved to Ross's Landing. William Long was born Feb. 19, 1775, at Mecklenburg County, N.C. He moved to Knoxville in 1797 and resided there until 1813 when he moved to Washington in Rhea County. William Long arrived at Ross's Landing in November 1836. He was one of the organizers of the Presbyterian Church at Chattanooga in 1840 and he served as an elder. He was so uniformly upright that the saying arose "as honest as Billy Long.'' He died Nov. 1, 1844. Jane Bennett Long died at Chattanooga on Dec. 10, 1859. Their other children were Mary Long who married John A. Hooke, and James Shields Long, a physician who married Jane Caldwell of Monroe County, Ga. James Shields Long died in 1866, leaving daughters Mary and Virginia.

John P. Long's grandfather, John Long, was a native of County Antrim, Ireland, who went to Mecklenburg County. He came alone to America, leaving only a maiden sister in Ireland. During the Revolution, some Tories were captured and brought in to Charlotte. It was learned from them that an attack was to be made on Post Ninety Six, about 100 miles from Charlotte. John Long is said to have gone on foot to Ninety Six, leaving at sunrise and delivering the dispatch at sundown. It was said to be "a remarkable record, showing the patriotism of the man, the spirit of the times, and the pluck that is in the blood of the Longs.'' John Long was drowned in 1799 while returning in the night from a Masonic meeting.

Jane Bennett Long was the daughter of Major Peter Bennett and Elizabeth Pomfret Bennett. Elizabeth Pomfret was the daughter of John Pomfret of King William County, Va. He was the son of another John Pomfret who came from England to King William County and married a Miss Hunt. He died in Granville County, N.C., in 1802 at the age of 84. Major Bennett, a Virginia native, was sheriff of Granville County before moving to Knox County in 1802. Major Bennett died in 1822 at Knox County. Jane Bennett Long was born in Granville County Jan. 26, 1781, and moved with her father to Knox County in 1802. She was a Presbyterian.

John Pomfret Long was born in Knox County Nov. 25, 1807. He finished his schooling at Knoxville when he was 14, then the Longs moved to Washington at Rhea County. He worked for three years at a tannery, then clerked three years at Washington for Col. Thomas McCallie. John P. Long built a frame house there, but just after it was finished it was washed off its foundation and out into the street. Later, Long made it into a raft and floated down to Ross's Landing. He then rebuilt the house at his new home.

Eliza Smith Long was born on Jan. 25, 1813, near Hiwassee Garrison at the mouth of Richland Creek in Rhea County. She was the daughter of William Smith, a schoolteacher who moved down from Massachusetts to Knox County in 1808. He later established Smith's Crossroads (Dayton) in Rhea County. The wife of William Smith was Elizabeth Cozby, daughter of the physician and Indian fighter Dr. James Cozby. Dr. Cozby was married to Isabella Woods. Eliza Smith resided on her father's farm until she was 16, then she went away to the college operated at Knoxville by Dr. Esterbrook. Her marriage to John P. Long occurred on Nov. 6, 1834, at Smith's Crossroads.

It was John P. Long who suggested the name "Chattanooga'' when there was a town meeting to replace the old title of Ross's Landing. Along with Aaron M. Rawlings and George W. Williams, he was a commissioner at the time entries were made for lots at Chattanooga. He was the town's first postmaster and was city recorder for three years, until the city was evacuated by the Confederates. He joined the Presbyterian church in 1843 and was elected an elder in his father's place after his death. John P. Long cast his first vote in 1832 - for General Andrew Jackson. He next supported Hugh Lawson White, then he voted the Whig ticket "from Harrison to Bell.'' Afterwards, he was a Democrat. He attended the Whig state convention at Murfreesboro in 1841. He was "always a States' Rights man as was his father before him.'' He voted against secession in February of 1861, but, after Lincoln ordered out troops, he voted for it.

When the Civil War fighting began, John P. Long at first kept his family in town. In 1862, he was appointed provost-marshal of Chattanooga by General John Porter McCown. With the arrival of the Yankees, John P. Long went south to Griffin, Ga., to prepare a place for his family. However, Mrs. Long and her boys, John P. Long Jr., Milo Smith Long and Marcus Bearden Long, along with their servant Aunt Clary and her daughters, were caught up in the fierce fighting in 1863. At the time they lived on South Market Street where the Chattanooga Choo Choo is now located. Early the next morning after the fighting at Chickamauga, the Longs awoke to find the house covered with soldiers pulling shingles off in preparation for the imminent battle that was expected in Chattanooga. The Longs then joined the "strange, silent motley crowd all leaving their homes.'' There was "no weeping or lamentations'' as they looked back and one of the boys said, "Look, mother, there goes our house.''

Aunt Clary jerked the family Bible away from a Union soldier who was tearing out the leaves,

and it was said it was the only time in her life that Aunt Clary ever cursed. The Longs went to the home of Mrs. Long's brother, Dr. Milo Smith. The family suffered hunger in the months the town was under Confederate siege, and Mrs. Long once made a personal appeal to General James A. Garfield, a future president. He gave her part of his own food - a piece of hardtack and a piece of white meat. The Longs were finally able to join John P. Long at Griffin, Ga., where they remained for the duration of the war.

John P. Long Jr., who was barely old enough to enlist, had a leg blown off at the battle of Atlanta. Rheumatism developed in his other leg so that it was useless to him. In 1879. he died at age

33 of heart disease at his parents' home. John P. Long Jr., who served with the 19th Tennessee

Infantry, was born March 4, 1847.

An older brother, James Cozby Long, was in a number of naval fights, serving as a crew member of the Merrimac. Born in 1844, he was educated at the Naval Academy at Annapolis. He resigned and joined the Confederate Navy in 1861 and was attached to the fleet off the coast of North Carolina. He was in a fight at Roanoke Island prior to transferring to the Merrimac. He was in the famous naval fights at Hampton Roads and remained with the ship until it burned. He then transferred to Drury's Bluff and then to Plymouth, N.C. He was on the ironclad Plymouth when it was blown up by the U.S. Navy. Later, he served on a blockade runner. After the war, he was a civil engineer, having

charge of the government works at Muscle Shoals for a time. He later was a manufacturer of iron paint at Birmingham, Ala. He marred Frances Walker at Elyton, Ala., in 1872. Their children were William Walker, John Pomfret, James Cozby and Mary.

Milo Smith Long graduated in medicine at Nashville and moved to Dakota. Marcus Bearden Long was a civil engineer. He was at one time an engineer on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad. He was unmarried.

The Long home was at West Seventh and Cedar after the war. Always a Chattanooga booster, John P. Long gave a speech in March of 1880 outlining the city's history. He gained a law license in 1868 and he practiced mainly in the realty area. John P. Long lived until 1889, and Mrs. Long survived until March 30, 1900. It was said of John P. Long that he "has desired wealth and has been sometimes up and sometimes down, but has always made it a rule to pay his debts. With one exception he has always made a profit on whatever he has sold. He never swore an oath in his life, and was brought up to regard the Sabbath. He has never been dissipated, though not always strictly temperate. He is a self-assertive man, and of quick temper.''

Of the 11 children of John P. and Eliza Long, five died in infancy. Several did not marry. William Pomfret Long, the eldest, died when he was 19. Elizabeth Jane Long died when she was 16. John Pomfret Long IV, a descendant of James Cozby Long, resided at Tullahoma. He had two sons.
Turquoise Hill has declared force majeure at one of the worlds largest copper-gold mines, Oyu Tolgoi in Mongolia, following a protest by Chinese coal transporters in the area of the Ganqimaodu Border Zone. On January 8, protestors used a large number of vehicles to obstruct the main access road within China to the Chinese-Mongolian border. This has prevented any traffic from safely crossing the border. While the obstruction remains in place, Oyu Tolgoi convoys are unable to cross through the Chinese-Mongolian border to deliver concentrates to customers, the company said.

Oyu Tolgoi said it is actively monitoring the situation and engaging with relevant government authorities.

Safe and normal mine operations, including underground development, have been maintained and no production impact is expected at the copper-gold mine, the company said.

Earlier this week, the company was hit with a large tax bill from the Mongolian government. Oyu Tolgoi received a tax assessment of US$155 million from the Mongolian Tax Authority relating to an audit on taxes imposed between 2013 and 2015. Turquoise Hill said Oyu Tolgoi has paid all taxes and charges required under the Investment Agreement and Mongolian law.
Consistent cold temps are boosting EPB's bottom line, Chief Financial Officer Greg Eaves said.

The city utility had $1.1 million in revenues from kilowatt sales in December.

It wound up with a positive margin of over $3 million for the month.

Mr. Eaves said January "is looking real good as well with consistent cold temperatures."

He said the fact that the cold weather has been "consistent" has also prevented costly TVA demand charges to EPB.

David Wade, president, noted that during the recent frigid weather that TVA set a new record for electric output.

He said solar has made significant advances, but he said it still does not have the storage capacity to provide adequate heat at all hours during such a cold period.

Mr. Wade said experiments continue with battery storage of solar output. EPB is involved in a project with the Oak Ridge lab on such an experiment on one type battery and is trying lithium ion batteries at its solar array at the Chattanooga Airport.

He said some technical glitzes are being worked through on the battery installations.

He also cited the high cost of the batteries, but said in the future that may drop significantly.
Properly named, Brook Trout are primarily a mountain stream fish requiring anglers to seek them in the higher elevations, but there are other waterways in Tennessee where Brook Trout can be found.

Tennessees Brook Trout angling opportunities are more varied and plentiful than many anglers think. For some, it can be highly rewarding to head for high mountain streams to hook wild Brook Trout where they seldom exceed 10-inches in length, but bigger Brook Trout weighing up to four pounds can be caught in tailwater rivers. Region IV Rivers and Streams Biologist Jim Habera said, Exclusive of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, there are 110 streams in the mountains of east Tennessee from Johnson Co. to Monroe Co. that support wild Brook Trout populations, although many are small and would be difficult to fish. Mr. Habera goes on to say that there is even a high-elevation pond (4,000 feet) in the head of Birchfield Camp Branch in the Cherokee National Forest in Unicoi Co. that has a Brook Trout population. It does however require a five-mile walk to reach.



Having this range of opportunities benefits anglers who may not wish to venture into the mountains, but still want to hook up with Tennessees only native trout species. The even better news is that Habera says the options for Brook Trout angling extend from upper East Tennessee all the way into middle Tennessee. He offers these as the best choices for East Tennessee anglers:



 Left Prong Hampton Creek in Carter Co. (Hampton Creek Cove State Natural Area)



 Little Stony Creek and Upper Stony Creek (including tributaries) in Carter Co. (Cherokee National Forest)

 Gentry Creek and the northwest-flowing tributaries to Beaverdam Creek in Johnson Co. (Cherokee National Forest)

 Upper Rocky Fork and Squibb Creek in Greene Co. (Cherokee National Forest)

 Wolf Creek in Cocke Co. (Cherokee National Forest)

 Upper Bald River in Monroe Co. (Cherokee National Forest)

 Clinch River (Norris tailwater) - stocked annually with 9-inch Brook Trout

 Boone tailwater (S. Fork Holston River)  stocked with Brook Trout most years

Mr. Habera notes that Left Prong, near Roan Mountain, supports Tennessees highest-abundance of wild Brook Trout and also has some of the largest native (uninfluenced by historical stocking) Brook Trout specimens. He offers these choices for anglers wishing to seek stocked Brook Trout in the Cumberland Plateau area and middle Tennessee:



 Caney Fork (Center Hill tailwater),



 Hiwassee River (Appalachia tailwater)

 Obey River (Dale Hollow tailwater)

 Elk River (Tims Ford tailwater)
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,...
FRC Commends Senate Foreign Relations Committee for Approving Gov. Brownback's Nomination for Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom

Contact: J.P. Duffy or Alice Chao, 866-FRC-NEWS or 866-372-6397



WASHINGTON, Jan. 19, 2018 /Christian Newswire/ -- Family Research Council commended the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for approving the nomination of Governor Sam Brownback (R-Kans.) to be the Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom, a job then-Senator Brownback was pivotal in creating in 1998 to address religious persecution and genocide around the world.

Family Research Council President Tony Perkins released the following statement:

"I commend the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for moving Governor Brownback's nomination to the Senate floor. Now, it's time for the full U.S. Senate to act on Governor Brownback's confirmation, so that Americans can start giving the world's persecuted new hope  first, that they aren't alone, and secondly, that help is on the way.

"From the very beginning of his administration, President Trump has been intentional about his desire to pick up the torch for religious liberty, first trying to secure it for Americans here at home through executive order and other directives. But with his nomination of Sam Brownback to Ambassador at Large for Religious Freedom, the administration has shown its sincerity on restoring the United States' reputation as a voice for the voiceless.

"Today's committee approval comes on the eve of Vice President Pence's trip to the Middle East, a region of the world where religious liberty has an opportunity to advance with the retreat of ISIS and the rejection of the Muslim Brotherhood. The sooner Gov. Brownback is confirmed as ambassador, the sooner the U.S. will be able to expand its efforts to help the persecuted and those targeted for genocide," concluded Perkins.

Click here for Tony Perkins' Fox News Opinion column: Christians in the Middle East are suffering. When will aid promised by Team Trump arrive?
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Part One of this article was published in the Thursday, Jan. 11 Democrat and related the problems and recommended solutions of two of the four important priorities for the Iowa State Association of Counties (ISAC). Every year this group looks at issues from the past year as well as the concerns of residents of Iowa. They then develop legislative priorities to bring before the Iowa House of Representatives and the Iowa Senate.

Part one looked at problems and recommended solutions for Iowas Mental Health and Disability Services and Secondary Roads. In Part two looks at the last two issues, Tax Reform and Water Quality Management.

In 2013, Property Tax reform legislation has been providing property tax relief for several classifications and subsets of property; however, changing the assessment procedure for certain property has unduly reduced the future revenue of local governments. While the new business property tax credit and legislatively imposed rollbacks are funded in large part by state dollars, changes to the taxable value of multi-residential and telecommunications property will have a negative effect on future property tax revenues. Additionally, capping backfill funding and reducing the assessment growth limitation percentage will only further threaten the future revenue of local governments, and by extension, the services they provide to the taxpayers. In the absence of true reform, Iowas property tax system is still in need of equity among classes and stability for local governments.

ISACs solution is that comprehensive tax reform should continue to be a primary goal of the Legislature in 2018 and the years ahead. This legislation should include property tax reform that stabilizes the tax base, resolves unfair discrepancies within the current tax base, improves accountability in the budgeting process of local governments, and imposes a reasonable limitation on city and county property taxes while maintaining local control for citizens and their elected representatives. The legislation should fully fund the property tax credits and rollback replacement claims, and should consider an appropriation to help local governments deal with the reduction in revenue due to the changes to the assessment methodology for multi-residential and telecommunications property.

Numerous sources have well documented that there is a need to provide adequate, sustainable, dedicated state financial resources to address the statewide concerns related to Iowas water quality management issues. Specific concerns relate to the unacceptable high level of nitrates and phosphorus that are entering our water system. Additionally, there are on-going issues that must be addressed in our efforts to minimize future losses caused by flooding through effective flood mitigation programs.

ISAC recommends the following:

1) The passage of a statewide sales tax increase of at least 3/8s of a penny in support of the Natural Resources and Outdoor Recreation Trust Fund also known as I-WILL.

2) The maintaining of the distribution formula found in Iowa Code Chapter 461, outlined by the Iowa Legislature in support of the 2010 vote by Iowans on the Constitutional Amendment.

a) 23% allocated to a Natural Resources account, created in the Trust Fund to be used by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources

b) 20% to go to a soul conservation and protection account created in the Trust Fund to be used by the Department of Agriculture and Stewardship for soil conservation and water protection

c) 14% to be used for watershed protection

d) 13% to fund the Iowa Resources Enhancement and Protection (REAP) fund

e) 13% to be used for local conservation partnerships

f) 10% to be used for land-based trails

g) 7% to be used for lake restoration

3) The identification of additional financial resources to be used to address the water quality management issues. Specifically, ISAC would:

a) Encourage significant funding for, and, the aggressive implementation of a revolving loan program so that critical funds could be used for multiple projects throughout the years ahead

b) Encourage a significant amount of funding be utilized to assist cities and towns in their effort to upgrade their water treatment facilities.

4) The implementation of, and funding for, a network of statewide watershed authorities, through the effective use of 28E agreements. These watershed authorities could provide coordination of efforts in specific areas/regions of the state.

5) The passage of legislation that would support and encourage public sector entities, such as counties, to be directly involved in water mitigation projects that could involve county conservation boards, etc.

These two subjects including the two subjects from the Thursday, Jan. 11, Democrat show what counties and residents of Iowa find important. If you would like further information on ISAC you can go to their website at www.iowacounties.org.
The new nursing simulation lab at the Emmetsburg campus of Iowa Lakes Community College was officially revealed to the public Friday, Jan. 12 as the college hosted the Emmetsburg Chamber of Commerces weekly coffee event.

The new area provides space for todays latest technology to be incorporated into daily learning experiences for students studying in the health professions.

It includes two high-fidelity mannequins, with a third high-fidelity unit to arrive shortly. Space is also provided so multiple students can be working and learning at the same time. The equipment takes students through scenarios which replicate real life with patients. Instructors can observe from a separate room without standing over the student.

Its a safe environment for students to fine tune their critical thinking skills prior to graduating and going out into their career as a nurse, said Associate Professor Traci Hansen, who also serves as the coordinator of the nursing simulation lab.

Director of Nursing Education Kendra Lindloff expressed great appreciation to community partners.

Simulation is an excellent complement to the experiences that our community partners give our students, Lindloff said. Also, this project wouldnt be possible without the hard work and advocacy of our nursing faculty.

Funding for this upgrade is through a portion of the $1.68 million Title III Grant which was awarded to Iowa Lakes in September of 2016. The first step for upgrade included interactive classrooms. The nursing simulation lab features three hospital rooms and a nursing station. The lab also includes a camera system.

Students in the Associate Degree Nursing and Practical Nursing Diploma programs at Iowa Lakes will benefit the most from the new lab.

The next college program to benefit from the Title III grant will be the agriculture career program, which will receive a new planter with GPS equipment. In addition, the program will get a new tractor cab simulator and on-site soil analysis equipment.
Fifteen people were on hand for the discussion and vote on an additional full-time deputy in the Sheriffs Office during the Palo Alto County Board of Supervisors regular meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 16.

I came before the Board a year ago and again this year, not out of my own selfish desires as some would want to believe that I want a deputy, Palo Alto County Sheriff Lynn Schultes began. But I came before the Board because of statistics, because of the fact that I feel that we need another deputy. I know that this has created a lot of controversy and for the elected official controversy is never a good thing. Im not concerned about creating controversy. Im concerned about doing my job and doing it the best way that I can and I feel that it is worth every bit of controversy to bring this before the Board because I think it is really needed.

I brought this before the Board like I said because of statistics and not only the numbers but because of the severity of the crimes I feel have gotten worse. I think everybody would agree with me in looking at the press releases that this is true. I presented my stats to the Board and to my disbelief some people still think do we really need another deputy? I dont know how much worse things have to get.

Schultes continued to talk about traffic violations and the running of stop signs, which has been a major issue in the last two meetings with the Board. He reiterated that of the 895 traffic stops that we made, 516 of those people received warnings.

I dont feel that issuing one citation a day, we should be condemned for that. Were just doing our job, Schultes stated. People kind of got kind of set on that stop sign situation and the Board can rectify that real easy by pulling every stop sign in the county if thats what you think is needed. If you dont want us enforcing the stop sign and other traffic codes then you have in your power to remove those signs, but Im guessing they were put there for safety concerns and its okay it seems like for the Board to put stops signs at intersections for safety but then the Sheriffs Office should be criticized for issuing citations. I think thats wrong.

The other comment I have heard is Do you arrest too many people? I dont think that here is a magic number out there of people we should arrest. We arrest the people that the law dictates we should arrest and then they are prosecuted. The court evidently agrees with us because our jail time has doubled from just a couple of years ago and that is why we are holding inmates in Clay and Kossuth Counties and even sometimes up in Emmet. I dont know if you want the people who strangle their girlfriends to go free or the people that shoot at each other south of town or west of town. I guess if that is your request its not going to happen. We are going to continue to do our job and we are going to continue to do it well.

Schultes continued to say that the next item is about cost and that it was mentioned last week but no revenue amounts were forthcoming. When asked again an amount of at least 50 percent was given.

Now we got a figure. It took us a month and a half to almost two months to get to that, thank you, Schultes said.

One thing about it, Im tired of this saying stuff on social media you keep putting on, Supervisor chairman Ron Graettinger said. You put it on and then you say Everybody call the Supervisors. Well do you know how many calls I got from that, I never got a call? I did get an email.

Then why are you so upset about it Ron? Schultes asked.

What Im upset about is weve got it in the paper, why does it have to come out to get everything out like that on social media, Graettinger responded. It goes in the paper every week and if they want to come in, you keep telling them to call us. The only calls Ive gotten is one call from Ruthven and they were in favor of it and Ive talked to people on the street and they are not in favor it and we have to listen to our constituents.

There was some further discussion between the Board and the Sheriff regarding additional revenues that could potentially pay for an additional deputy before public comments were asked for.

Members of the Emergency Medical field directed comments telling the Board how important the deputies are when it comes to the safety of ambulance personnel and how important an increased wait time can be in a life or death situation.

We need this deputy for our safety, Graettinger EMT Ruth Petrich commented. Not for just EMS but for our small towns. I mean stuff happens. Im sorry but they know when the police officers are in town and when they are not and when they can get away with doing crap.

Is there a deputy on duty all the time? Supervisor Roger Faulstick questioned.

Yes, Schultes replied.

Will another deputy disperse the hours or how does that change what she is talking about? Faulstick asked.

Schultes explained that by having another deputy, there would be additional coverage especially overnight.

Another Graettinger EMT commented on the alleviation of a drug house and she saw the hours deputies put in when her bother committed suicide. She also raised the question about dollar amounts and that there is no way to put an amount on the life of her children or herself.

We work for the people, Supervisor Keith Wirtz responded. I received calls all weekend and Monday stating you guys do not need to spend the additional money.

I think the Sheriffs Department is doing a hell of a job, Dan Chism Emmetsburg resident began. I lost a son-in-law in July and my daughter said, what if a deputy wouldnt have been there? but he was and this was the middle of the night. I hear all these reasons, but the deputy has always been there. Maybe if you could give me examples of when someone has died, I could vote for another one but we havent seen that.

This town and this county itself, sits in a bubble, Deputy John King stated. Emmetsburg is the second safest city in Iowa; which is totally false. There is a lot of things that happen in Emmetsburg that go unreported. You guys sitting here probably have no clue about the meth [methamphetamine] problem and the heroin problem thats coming in, the cocaine problem and all these things because youre not part of law enforcement.

King went on to point out that when traffic stops are made; they become a valuable investigative tool to help put people in jail.

Mental health is huge. Im asking more of a proactive rather than reactive, Janet Lampe, wife of Deputy Travis Lampe. My husband is a night deputy who works by himself some nights. We have kids. I dont want him to get shot and killed by himself and explain why there is only one person and why no one could help him because we dont have enough staff.

I may have a target on my back when I leave, County resident Leon Wojahn said. We have a very good community. The sheriff and deputies do a great job. But at the same time we have to stop this spending. Our taxes are getting higher and higher. I am a landowner and I am a taxpayer so I do have meat in this game. I believe we are looking at this the wrong way. Yes, You cannot put a price on someones life, Im not even going to go there, but if you only have so much money in the budget, then maybe we are looking at this wrong. Maybe instead of getting more deputies, maybe we need to get a sheriff that can manage the resources that are available now. Nobody is holding a gun to his head say he has to have this job. If he cant manage the resources and people he has available, then maybe its time for him to move on and we elect a new sheriff.

Passions ran strong on both sides through more discussions. However, a decision not to hire an additional deputy was unanimous at this time. It was made clear that nothing is ever set in stone and that in the future a different decision may be possible.
Speech students from Emmetsburg and Graettinger-Terril/Ruthven-Ayrshire are preparing for speech contests this weekend. The Iowa High Schooll Speech Associations District Large Group contest will take place this Saturday, Jan. 20, at Spencer High School.

Emmetsburg High School students and the events they will be competing in are as follows.

Ensemble: Dear Diary

Alexis Louwagie

Linnea Ankeny

Aubrey Westfall

Ensemble: Organ Recital

Emily Fuller

Calvin Hart

Tatum Iverson

Kristen Kassel

Readers Theater: Death by Public Speaking

Aliza Woodford

Alemia Ort

Breanna Fitzgerald

Cassidie ORourke

Colton Johnson

Gabrielle Janssen

Rebecca Licht

Ensamble: Different Times

Haley Jackson

Hannah Joyce

Thomas Woodford

Parker Schulte

Improvisation:

Jacob Wickman

Jonah Hackbart-Morlock

Kristen Davis

Parker Schulte

Flavio Panci

Tatum Iverson

Thomas Woodford

Haley Jackson

Aliza Woodford

Breanna Fitzgerald

Colton Johnson

Calvin Hart

Students from Graettinger-Terril/Ruthven-Ayrshire who will be participating and their events are as follows.

Short Film: Truth

Sayde Weller and Joel So more

Short Film: Shoot

Grace Olesen, Cecelia Hersom and Anna Sorenson

Group Mime: The Portrait

Lauren Josephson and Fisher Morris-McEwan

Ensemble Acting: Basket Case

Grace Olesen and Cecelia Hersom

Musical Theater: Parade, The Factory Girls and Come Up to My Office

Tori Hampson, Sayde Weller, Lauren Josephson and Fisher Morris-McEwan
As if going to Manhattan wasnt expensive enough.

On Friday, the Fix NYC advisory panel, which was convened by Gov. Andrew Cuomo in October, released its long-awaited congestion pricing proposal for implementing tolls in Manhattans central business district. This would reduce traffic and create a dedicated revenue stream to repair the ailing subway system.

The cordon would exist below 60th Street and would be applied at street, bridge and tunnel crossings into the zone, but would not include the F.D.R. Drive above the Brooklyn Bridge. The $11.52 toll would be one-way, but the price is derived from the two-way charge of $5.76 that is the average toll rate for MTA and Port Authority tolled tunnels. The report proposes a credit for drivers using tolled tunnels, such as the Lincoln and Queens Midtown Tunnels, so that they would not be doubly charged. Buses

The first phase of the plan would improve public transportation alternatives, and implement the zone pricing technology, which would be similar to cashless tolling. This would allow the subway system and buses to have the capacity to support an increase of riders, as congestion pricing will mean that more people are using public transportation instead of driving. In the second phase, a congestion surcharge would be placed on taxis and app-based for-hire vehicles within the zone. The third phase would see the implementation of zone pricing in 2020, beginning first with trucks driving in the central business district.

A congestion pricing plan proposed by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg failed in 2008, and it still faces considerable odds in the state Legislature. But if Cuomo offered his support  which seems possible, given his positive statement on the report  perhaps it could be muscled past its opponents.

Here are the winners and losers of this congestion pricing plan  if legislation based on the Fix NYC report was proposed and passed:

WINNERS

Public transportation riders  Straphangers have suffered signal problems, derailments and increasingly bad service for years, but an injection of around $1 billion from this congestion pricing plan into the MTA, dedicated specifically for service improvements, could ease the pain. The revenue would also be used to improve bus service, which would be aided by decreased congestion and a crackdown on traffic violations such as driving in the bus lane that the report also proposes. Buses would be exempt from the toll.

Move NY Campaign  Alex Matthiessen, the director for Move NY campaign, which has long advocated for congestion pricing, led a conference call on Friday in support of the Fix NYC report. After years of struggling to get congestion pricing to be considered as a viable option for reducing traffic and funding the subway system, the Move NY campaign finally has a proposal to rally behind.

Low-income New Yorkers  An argument often made against congestion pricing is that low income New Yorkers who use cars to commute into Manhattan would be disproportionately burdened by adding a toll. However, Census data cited by the report suggests that fewer than 5,000 residents who use cars to commute into Manhattan could be considered the working poor, and Fix NYC recommends adding a tax benefit for low-income New Yorkers who must commute in a car. Meanwhile, the 190,000 working poor who use the subway and buses could benefit from repairs paid for by the congestion pricing plan.

People who breathe  Greater traffic leads to more exhaust polluting the air, which contributes to climate change and lower air quality. And New York could use the help: much of the city suffers from air pollution.

Commuters from the Brooklyn, Queens and Long Island who can avoid Midtown and Downtown Manhattan  If drivers going to Uptown Manhattan or other points north choose to take the Brooklyn Bridge or the Queensboro Bridge, they can avoid the $11.52 toll by going directly to the F.D.R. Drive, which is exempt from the charge, while still enjoying the benefit of less traffic on the bridges.

LOSERS

Truck drivers  After the congestion pricing technology is installed, there will be a period of time that the toll only applies to trucks before it affects all vehicles. This makes truck drivers guinea pigs, as it gives officials time to work out any issues. Truck drivers will also be paying $25.34 for each trip into the central business district, which is a big chunk of change, even by Manhattan standards.

Taxis and app-based for-hire vehicles  The good news: if youre a taxi or Uber driver, you dont have to pay the toll below 60th street. The bad news: there will be an extra charge for riding in a taxi or for-hire vehicle in the central business district and even further uptown. The report proposes options of $2 through $5 surcharges below 96th Street depending on the day of the week and the time. That may potential riders from taking a cab, car service, or rideshare when the subway will do  unless they consider a $5 surcharge reasonable. Taxi drivers, who are also generally known for flouting the rules of the road, may also be affected by the proposals phase one, which would entail a crackdown on traffic laws.

Placard abusers  The panel recommended an overhaul of the citys system of handing out placards that exempt the recipient from certain parking rules, with the creation of a review board to assess existing parking placards and the criteria for handing out new ones. Parking placard abuse increases congestion in the central business district, as many holders park illegally in bus lanes or loading zones. So if youre one of the 114,600 New York City employees with parking placards, your days of parking obnoxiously may be numbered.

Mayor Bill de Blasio  Congestion pricing is one of the many points of contention in the longstanding feud between de Blasio and Cuomo. The mayor has previously voiced his opposition to congestion pricing, but he could have his wishes overruled if the Legislature decides to pass a version of Fix NYCs proposals. Ultimately, the state  and not the city  controls all taxes and tolls. De Blasio has also been reluctant to pay the citys half of $836 million to fund emergency subway fixes, which is required for the first phase of the Fix NYC plan. In a Friday interview with The Brian Lehrer Show, de Blasio eased his opposition to congestion pricing, saying that the revenue would have to be used only to fix the subway and bus system to earn his support. Unfortunately for the mayor, his support, or lack thereof, may not matter very much.

INFRASTRUCTURE ISSUES

NYC Subway Action Plan

The Metropolitan Transportation Authoritys $836 million New York City Subway Action Plan was proposed last year to fix and improve the citys ailing subway system. It also marks the latest development in the long feud between Gov. Andrew Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. Cuomo is demanding the city pony up half of the plans cost after he allocated $429 million for the states portion in his budget proposal. But the de Blasio administration has said it already pays plenty toward the MTA, and shouldnt be asked to provide more funding for the state-run agency.

MTA payroll mobility tax

Cuomo proposed transferring the revenue from the metropolitan commuter transportation mobility tax straight to the MTA, rather than waiting for the state Legislature to appropriate the funds. The reason for the change, Cuomo said, is to allow money to be available more quickly. He said the change would result in a one-time benefit of $60 million to be used toward fixing the New York City subways. But critics said the proposal is a ploy to make it seem like the state is spending less money to meet a 2 percent growth cap.

Gateway rail tunnel

The proposed rail tunnel under the Hudson River between New York and New Jersey has hit a number of speed bumps. Earlier this year, the Trump administration backed out of covering half the cost of the $13 billion project. That decision came after New York and New Jersey had reached an agreement on funding the project. The plan suffered another blow when Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen announced he was stepping down. The New Jersey Republican chaired the House Appropriations Committee and has been a prominent voice in trying to win Trumps support. But transit officials remain hopeful the project will still come to fruition.

Capital funding

Last month, Cuomo touted a record state investment of $8.6 billion into the MTA capital plan. His budget also features downstate projects like the Gov. Mario M. Cuomo Bridge and the New York City Subway Action Plan. Downstate transit initiatives would receive many of the benefits from Cuomos transportation budget, while upstate was barely mentioned and some of its transit agencies face funding cuts. The Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority could lose $1.7 million in funding, while the budget includes $205 million in operating support for upstate transit systems.

Design-build

According to Cuomos budget, the state saved $31.8 million through design-build construction, a procurement method that bundles the designing and building phases of a construction project into one package to save money and streamline completion. Cuomo has proposed new legislation that would expand design-build authorization to a limited number of state agencies  but not to New York City. The biggest state design-build project is the replacement of the Tappan Zee Bridge with the Gov. Mario M. Cuomo Bridge. However, last year, Cuomo failed to persuade state lawmakers to authorize an expansion.
Selena Gomez's mother, Mandy Teefey, has reportedly been speaking out about her decisions in recent weeks, and online, she recently defended herself.

After facing backlash for commenting on Gomez's decision to work with Woody Allen, Teefey took to her Facebook page and shared an extremely detailed rant about her lack of past comments on Gomez's life and her current outlook on the rumors regarding their relationship.

"I have done one official interview in Selenas entire career about Selena for E! with her consent," Teefey wrote, according to a Jan. 16 report from Hollywood Life.

According to Teefey, she's done nothing put protect her child for her entire career. In her now-deleted post, which has been shared via screenshot by several fans and followers. Teefey claimed that she never did an interview with Gossip Cop but admitted to confirming and denying certain stories.

On Jan. 13, Gossip Cop shared a post that featured a number of quotes they reportedly received from Teefey, including a comment she made about not being happy about her daughter's recent reunion with on-again, off-again boyfriend, Justin Bieber.

Teefey went on to say that she had been drug through the mud in the media for the entire month of December and remained silent throughout the speculation into her daughter's relationship with Bieber and her. She also said that people around Gomez were lying to the press and to her before addressing her comments about Gomez's working relationship with Allen.

"I did nothing wrong by defending myself finally and I answered the Woody Allen question because they were attacking her team and telling me to make her apologize," Teefey said. "She does not have to apologize for her choices, but let it be known they are hers."

Teefey's comments about Allen were prompted after she was confronted by a fan on Instagram who demanded her daughter release a statement of apology for her recent work with the director.

Make Selena write an apology about the Woody Allen film, a fan wrote, according to a report by Hollywood Life.

In response, Teefey said that no one can make her daughter do something she doesn't want to do. She also confirmed that she had spoken to Gomez about not working with Allen, but their conversation "didn't click." Teefey also said she had unsuccessful talks with Gomez's team.
Sammi "Sweetheart" Giancola's fans are going to be highly disappointed by the upcoming return of Jersey Shore.

While the other members of the cast, including Ronnie Magro, Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino, Jenni "JWoww" Farley, Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi, Vinny Guadagnino, Paul "DJ Pauly D" Delvecchio, and Deena Nicole Cortese are filming a reboot of their MTV reality series, Giancola has opted out.

In a new interview, Giancola's former co-star and friend Farley is speaking out, saying that while Giancola isn't yet a part of the show, she hopes she visits her and the rest of the cast at some point during production.

In my head, in my dreams of dreams, I really hope that [Sammi] pops in, Farley told Us Weekly magazine on Jan. 15. I wish she would be on it but I understand why shes not going to be on it.

While rumors have swirled claiming that Giancola is refusing to do the show because she doesn't want to be around her former boyfriend, Magro, who is currently expecting a child with his new girlfriend, Farley said it isn't just that. Instead, she suspected Giancola also wanted to keep her private life, which includes new boyfriend Christian Biscardi, to herself.

She might be ready to start a family and get married, have babies. I dont know," Farley explained. "Shes just on to the next chapter in her life. Im still in shock thinking that the show is coming back too."

Farley said that she and her co-stars are thrilled to be returning to television in the upcoming reboot of Jersey Shore and never expected that the show would return. That said, she respects Giancola's decision to stay away from the cameras.

At the end of last year, a source told Us Weekly magazine that Giancola didn't want to return to Jersey Shore because she didn't want to be around Magro. As an insider explained at the time, Giancola has been enjoying her life off-screen and doesn't want to change how things have been.

Although a premiere date for the upcoming Jersey Shore reboot has not yet been confirmed, a number of the show's cast members took to Instagram and other social media earlier this week and revealed that they are together in Miami. As fans will recall, the show's second season was filmed in Miami.
Wall Street actor Michael Douglas's accuser of a sexual misconduct over 32 years ago is speaking on her story and on how Douglas allegedly assaulted her.

The actor came forward and admitted on Jan. 9 that he was being accused of sexual assault. He stated that he was being contacted by multiple outlets about a story from a former employee, a writer, claiming the allegation against him.

Though Douglas had denied the accusation, he said he wanted to shut down the story of the woman, now revealed as Susan Braudy, and "get ahead of it" before it came out.

Braudy's Story

Braudy recounted her story during an appearance on the Today Show where the writer stated that she was employed for Douglas in the late 1980s, when the incident occurred. Braudy stated that she was meeting Douglas for a script meeting when the actor unzipped his pants in front of her and began to touch himself.

"I realized to my horror that he was rubbing his private parts. Within seconds his voice cracked and it appeared to me he'd had an orgasm," Braudy stated.

Braudy claimed that after the incident occurred, her work relationship with Douglas changed and the actor asked her to sign a confidentially agreement, signifying he was going to terminate her. She never signed the agreement.

"I said nothing. I was surprised I wasn't falling to pieces even though I was humiliated. I realized he thought he could do anything he wanted because he was so much more powerful than I was. Michael ran barefoot after me to the elevator, zipping his fly and buckling his belt. 'Hey, thank you, you're good. You helped me, thank you, thank you," she continued.

Braudy elaborated that her family and friends were "concerned" for her which is why she did not come forward sooner. Braudy also claimed that she wasn't aware of any sexual harassment movements taking place currently.

Douglas Claims Innocence

Douglas denied the allegation through his lawyer claiming that he felt his accuser was "holding onto a grudge" because of her unsuccessful career.

The 73 year-old actor's wife, actress Catherine Zeta-Jones, defended her husband's decision to head off the allegation, claiming "there was no other way."

The two have stated that they fully support the #MeToo and Time's Up movements and remain optimistic about the change that is taking place in Hollywood.

"My reaction was that as two people who have been in this business -- him longer than me -- was that we support 'Me Too' and the movement more than anybody, anybody -- me as a woman, him as a man," Zeta-Jones stated.
2018 is set to be an action-packed year for Michael B. Jordan.

In February's issue of WSJ Magazine, the actor explained how he prepared for his role as Killmonger in Black Panther and why he's "technically" still single.

While this might be the actor's first role as a villain, Jordan told WSJ Magazine that he studied villain performances by Heath Ledger and Michael Fassbender.

The 30-year-old stated that he really wanted to build a performance that people will remember.

"Trying to find that controlled rage. The villains that are the most fun to watch for me are the ones that you can empathize with, you kind of know where they're coming from, you can see their point of view. I tried to bring that to Killmonger," Jordan said.

Fans know that Jordan will not disappoint especially since this is his third project with the film's director, Ryan Coogler. The two previously worked together on Creed and Fruitvale Station.

As he focused on making sure he delivered a remarkable performance, he also was willing to grow his hair out and gain weight if he needed to.

Jordan revealed that he grew his hair out for a year and gained 20 pounds of muscle to make sure he really embodied Killmonger's character.

Jordan Clears The Air

As previously reported, Twitter users had a conniption when rumors surfaced that Jordan was allegedly dating someone. However, it wasn't the fact that he was possibly in a new relationship, but rather that he was dating outside his race.

Jordan's female followers were so upset that they were willing to call for a boycott on his work.

One Twitter user, meanwhile, stated that she didn't really care that he had a girlfriend, she was upset that she isn't his girlfriend.

Well, the actor's female followers will be happy to know that Jordan is dating, but he hasn't officially committed to anyone yet.

Although he is dedicated to his craft, Jordan explained that he blames his current relationship status on his city of residence.

"L.A. isn't the best place to date," the actor stated.

Jordan's busy schedule might have some influence on his love life, as he is set to appear in HBO's movie version of Fahrenheit 451 this spring and the second installment of Creed, which will be releases in November. He has also launched his own production company, Outlier Society Productions.

In the meantime, Jordan's fans can catch him in Black Panther, which hits theatres Feb. 16.
It's no secret Black-ish is a hit for ABC, thanks to its amazing cast. Interestingly enough, it was revealed that actress Tracee Ellis Ross makes an overwhelmingly less amount than her TV husband, Anthony Anderson.

Inside the 'Black-ish' Wage Gap

The news came amid the Time's Up movement calling out unfair gender wage gaps and harassment in Hollywood. The show is currently in its fourth season and in talks of logistics for its fifth.

Word is Ellis is fully aware that she makes less than Anderson and wants to be paid equally, according to The Hollywood Reporter. She reportedly will decide to be in less episodes to make up for the difference.

While one insider with the network explained that Anderson makes more than Ross because he has been invested in the show longer than Ross (and serves as an executive producer), she is said to be getting a major pay boost for the firth season.

Ross was one of the many actresses at the forefront of the Time's Up movement. She along with several other men and women wore black to the Golden Globe Awards earlier this month to show their support for Time's Up.

Both Ross and Anderson have quite the resume with Ross starring in hit series like Girlfriends that ran for eight seasons on The CW and Anderson's long list of impressive acting moments from a recurring role in Law & Order and NBC's previous show Guys with Kids.

Not The Only One

Ross is among a few other actresses whose issues have been brought to light when it comes to how much they make compared to their male counterparts. It was revealed that Mark Wahlberg made ten times more than Michelle Williams for their roles in the upcoming film, All the Money in the World. He made $5 million while she brought in $625,000. Interestingly enough, they spent the same amount of time in front of the camera and Williams is the prediction for a possible Academy Award.

Melissa Silverstein, founder of the nonprofit Women and Hollywood and director of the Athena Film Festival, made that wage difference known via Twitter. Jessica Chastain also chimed in and said he was paid $1.5 million for the scenes they had to reshoot compared to Williams' $80 a day. Wahlberg ended up donating $1.5 million to the Time's Up cause shortly after USA Today confirmed the wage disparity.

Be sure to keep up with Enstars for the latest.
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2018-01-19

Maeci

Joint Statement from Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) Partners in Support of United Nations Security Council Resolutions 2375 and 2397 Enforcement

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 Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK). On December 22, 2017, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted UNSCR 2397 in response to the DPRKs 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 2375s provisions on maritime interdiction of cargo vessels and take note of how these provisions complement PSIs Statement of Interdiction Principles. We also note UNSCR 2397s provisions that include new maritime interdiction obligations and authorities to help shut down North Koreas 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:

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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
2018-01-19

Maeci

The Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Angelino Alfano, will go on a mission to Algiers to participate in the 14th Meeting of the Foreign Affairs Ministers of the 5+5 Dialogue (Algeria, France, Italy, Libya, Malta, Morocco, Mauritania, Portugal, Spain and Tunisia), to take place on Sunday, 21 January, in Algiers.

Italy has a strategic interest in the stability and development of the Mediterranean region. The 5+5 Dialogue is one of the major traditional fora for regional dialogue, which greatly contributes to enhancing cooperation and integration between the two shores of the Mediterranean Sea, with a view to consolidating the positive agenda for this region," said Minister Alfano ahead of his mission.

On the eve of the Meeting, in the evening of Saturday 20 January, the Minister will hold talks with his Algerian colleague, Abdelkader Messahel.

Following the family photo, the Plenary Session of the 5+5 Dialogue will take place at 10:40 a.m. on Sunday, at which Minister Alfano is also scheduled to speak.

The head of the Foreign Ministry will then represent Italy at the panel on local crises and regional security, which will focus on themes such as terrorism and deradicalisation, Libya, the Sahel, Syria, Iraq and the Middle East.
2018-01-18

Maeci

Minister Alfano received the leader of Syrian opposition, Nasser Hariri, at the Farnesina. Minister Alfano expressed his appreciation for the balanced and constructive attitude taken by the Hariri-led Syrian opposition. Both officials agreed on the key importance of preserving the UN-led Geneva political process as the only possible way of reaching a credible political solution to the Syrian conflict.

Minister Alfano encouraged Hariri to continue his negotiating efforts in view of the next round of talks scheduled in Vienna on 25 and 26 January, pointing to the need that Russia make every effort so that the regime to finally engage in good faith negotiations.

Italy, in close coordination with its European partners and with the United States, is now more committed than ever to supporting the efforts of UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura, which aim to create the conditions for a political transition in Damascus, in line with the UN Security Council Resolution 2254.
Preston DeBoer, Northwest Iowa union representative for AFSCME (Association of Federal, State, County and Municipal Employees) Council 61, dismissed all five complaints he filed May 31 with the Iowa Public Employee Relations Board against the city of Armstrong.

The dismissal comes on the heels of a special meeting held Tuesday in which the council held a special meeting to discuss and take possible action on the Collective Bargaining Agreement between the city and its employees. The agenda held the option of a closed session.

The Estherville News will have more information on this story as it unfolds.
Germany sold Jordan military equipment worth 18 million EUR to strengthen its border control with Syria and Iraq. German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen said the equipment would help the Middle Eastern country keep border surveillance in the turbulent region. She emphasized that not only Germany but also Europe as a whole has an interest in Jordans stability. The new equipment that was handed over in the Jordanian capital Amman includes two training airplanes worth 5 million, 70 trucks and 56 vans worth more than 13 million whose main aim, once deployed, will be to improve mobility at the border.

Germany is assisting refugee-burdened Jordan in many ways including the job initiative cash for work, which provides potable water to refugees and the host communities as well as helps fund school teachers salaries. Berlin has also assisted the country through a 2016 aid program aimed at helping Middle Eastern and African partners resolve and prevent local conflicts. The German authorities said that this should address the causes of migration to Europe.

Jordan has been at the forefront of the fight against the Islamic State (IS). The aid and military equipment provided by Germany comes on top of the extensive efforts by the European Union who has established the EU Regional Trust Fund in Response to the Syrian Crisis, whereby the so-called Madad Fund is designed to enable a more coherent EU response to the crisis. To date, the fund has reached a total of 932 million, out of which 815,2 million come from the EU budget, 92,6 million from 22 EU Member States and  24,6 million from Turkey.
France has renewed its support for the Moroccan initiative to offer large autonomy to the Sahara provinces in an attempt to settle the Western Sahara conflict. The support was once again voiced by French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Ie Drian, who is also Minister for Europe, insisting that this autonomy plan constitutes a serious and credible basis for a negotiated settlement of the Sahara issue.

Mr. le Drian also emphasized the importance of rekindling the UN-led political process for a fair, sustainable and mutually acceptable solution in line with the United Nations resolution of April 2017. France has also reaffirmed its commitment to full compliance with the ceasefire agreements, thus sending an indirect message to Polisario, which has recently deployed its militias in the demilitarized border crossing between Morocco and Mauritania.

The Western Sahara conflict has always been on the EUs agenda, as Morocco has been seeking a formal European recognition of its claimed rights over the disputed territory. The mutual ties between both sides have recently been tested again over the West Sahara issue in the EUs fisheries deal involving the disputed territory. An advisor to the EUs top court said earlier this week that the deal on fisheries should be declared invalid, in line with the United Nations stance that the region has the right to self-determination.

The fisheries exploitation by the EU of the waters adjacent to Western Sahara established and implemented by the contested acts does not respect the right of the people of Western Sahara to self-determination, said the European Union Court of Justices Advocate General Melchior Wathelet. Mr. Wathelet also added that his position was based on the condition in international law that any wealth gained from exploiting Western Saharas rich marine life should benefit its people. Most of the waters fished in the EU-Morocco fisheries deal are along Western Saharas coast and therefore it should be Western Sahara that is paid for the fish exported to the EU. The fisheries agreement does not contain the legal safeguards necessary for the fisheries exploitation to be for the benefit of the people of Western Sahara, he said.
Bulgarias EU Presidency is the start of a great opportunity for the Western Balkan countries to consolidate their relations with the European Union on their journey towards full membership. At least three successive EU presidencies  Bulgaria, Austria and Romania  are poised to make enlargement one of their main priorities.

Yet, the membership talks were overshadowed and jeopardized following the murder of a Serb leader in Kosovo on 16 January, which effectively stopped Belgrades EU-sponsored dialogue with Pristina seen as key to normalizing relations and flashing out EU prospects. Radko Vlaykov, Bulgarian Ambassador to Serbia, called on Serbian nationals to support their governments reform plans and European integration. He also described his countrys EU presidency as a unique chance to make progress towards the European future.

I am sure that when the politicians and citizens accept the EU as a common goal, membership will come quicker. Be united and strong, said Mr. Vlaykov. He also said that the Bulgarian government had invested a lot of effort in persuading European leaders of the need to re-emphasize the focus on the Western Balkans and would continue to do so. The EU delegation to Serbia was also aligned with these words and said that Bulgaria can act as a true bridge between both sides.

The EU first reached out towards the Western Balkans in 2003 after adopting a declaration in Thessaloniki that offered the region a prospect of full membership. The pace of accession was, however, set up to fit each countrys progress in implementing legal, political, and economic reforms. Since then, the only Balkan country to have joined the EU is Croatia, which became a member in 2013.
andy_in_america said: ...If I wait until I have my French Nationality to change my name, will this also be legal in the U.S.? Meaning, can I then legally change my name on American Passport too? Click to expand...

andy_in_america said: Secondly, I read that you are very limited in what names you can pick when doing so in France, so I was hoping to change my name in the U.S. beforehand to something I prefer. Click to expand...

andy_in_america said: I am still an American, so I would think that the U.S. laws would apply in this case. Click to expand...

birth name

You will face all manner of difficulty getting your citizenship in France if you have different last names on your various US documents. You will have to explain in excruciating detail when and why your name changed and there may be suspicion attached because changing ones name in France is not culturally acceptable (except when taking citizenship, which you will not have done at that time). Since changing ones name in the US is more a matter of course than in France, I have to think that it would easier to change it after youve changed your name in France. You could use the French name change as a reason for requesting the same change in the US. While youre at it, you can also get your US drivers license and passport re-issued in your new name, assuming youll continue to use them.

I dont know whether changing ones name in France means ones name is changed in the US. There would have to be a treaty between France and the US to provide that sort of reciprocity and its difficult for me to imagine that. Possible, but it seems unlikely.I dont know what your name choices are or if there are a limited number choices. Again, it sounds like something you should probably discuss with your counselor at the Prefecture when you begin the process so that you can select a name that you feel suits you.Your birth name, for the French, is and forever will be your real name. Changing your name in the US will not change your name in France. If someone marries in the US and then uses the spouses last name on all US documentation (e.g., drivers license, passport, etc.), that persons French documents (e.g., Carte de Sejour, Carte Vitale) will normally be in the personsAs a result, my first thought is you might want to wait to change your name in the US until you have your new name in France for two reasons:Best of luck.Ray (thinking of changing his name to Raymond when I apply for citizenship)
Once again I have run into a bit of a SNAFU. My NY Driver's license just expired and I would like to renew it, however, in order to do so by mail, you need to include eye exam test results, which mine are in French. Secondly, I need to have an NY address, which I am no longer a resident there. The issue here is that if I let it lapse for more than a year after the expiration, I will need to retake my road test, etc. all over again should I decide to return to the U.S.



Has anyone been able to successfully renew their license from abroad?


The Mayors of key locations in the UK want international students to feel welcome amid concerns that the numbers applying to study have slowed sharply.They want the British Government to rethink its policies on international students and see them as the asset that they are, not just for universities, but for the economy, trade and international relations in the future.The Mayors of Cambridgeshire, Greater Manchester, London, Liverpool, the West Midlands, and Tess Valley have sent a letter to the Migration Advisory Committee, the independent agency which advises the Government on migration issues.They point out that Britain is one of the most attractive destinations in the world for international students but number of overseas students coming to the UK to study rose by just under 1% to 442,755 in the 2016/2017 academic year compared with 2015/2016.Fewer students applied from countries such as India and Nigeria but there has also been a slowdown in applications from European Union countries and this is partly attributed to Brexit.Higher education leaders have pointed out that tough visa restrictions on overseas students are putting them off looking to Britain to study for a degree.As the UK prepares to leave the EU, it is important that any future immigration system acknowledges the vital contribution international students make to regional jobs and growth. This includes projecting a more open and welcoming message for international students, the letter says.New research from think tank the Higher Education Policy Institute says that each years intake of overseas students brought 22.6 billion of benefits to the economy while imposing only 2.3 billion costs on the public sector.It found many of the biggest economic beneficiaries of international students were cities such as Sheffield, Manchester and Liverpool.This report confirms the vital net contribution international students make to the UK. This is both in terms of their contribution to the economy, and their positive cultural and academic impact on campuses. It is clear that this positive impact extends to university towns and cities in all corners of the UK. It is estimated that international students support over 200,000 jobs in communities across the UK, said Alistair Jarvis, chief executive of Universities UK, the voice of universities across the country.Looking ahead, we need to see a new post-Brexit immigration policy that encourages all suitably qualified international students to choose to study in the UK. The UK excels in this area and has the potential to build on its status as one of the most popular destinations in the world for international students, he explained.This includes enhancing the post study work opportunities for qualified international graduates, as many of our international competitors have been doing to improve their student visa offer. This should be coupled with an expanded international communications campaign, backed by Government, to highlight that international students are welcomed and valued visitors to the UK, he added.
In a sense, San Antonios Mind Science Foundation is related to the Abominable Snowman, but the once-vital connection is getting ever more distant.

Founded in 1958 by oilman Tom Slick, the organization was intended to fund research into fields on the fringes of science  studies in cryptozoology (fantastic creatures), parapsychology (all things paranormal) and other seemingly inexplicable phenomena. Slick  son of King of the Wildcatters Tom Slick Sr.  inherited millions as a teenager, after his fathers death, and put his wealth and considerable energy into an impressive array of business ventures, philanthropic enterprises and explorations.

Born in Pennsylvania, brought up mostly in Oklahoma City and educated at Phillips Exeter Academy and Yale University, the young heir spent a lot of time in fast cars, on express trains and luxury liners. Travel was a way of life; as a youngster, he accompanied his grandfather on a tour of Latin America, and as a college student, he went with friends to Scotland to look for the Loch Ness Monster.

Although he established homes in San Antonio  an ONeil Ford-designed showplace in Olmos Park  the twice-divorced father of four continued to set off on glamorous or quirky adventures. There was the Brazilian diamond hunt that ended in a plane crash after which Slick, seemingly indestructible, walked out of the jungle unharmed. Most famously, he bankrolled and sometimes led multiple expeditions to Nepal in search of the Snowman or yeti, and another to the Pacific Northwest in search of Bigfoot/Sasquatch. He witnessed healing ceremonies in Guyana and had a private audience with the Dalai Lama in Lhasa, Tibet, about the powers of mindfulness.

Slick was curious and open-minded, two characteristics that are essential to science and discovery, said his niece, Catherine Nixon Cooke, a former executive director of the Mind Science Foundation and author of a 2005 biography, Tom Slick, Mystery Hunter. As a businessman, he was a founder of the Texstar energy corporation and the San Antonio-based Slick Airways; as a rancher, he owned one of the worlds largest Angus herds and helped develop the Brangus breed. It was as a philanthropist, though, that Slick left a lasting legacy, when he decided to build what he conceived of as a Science City, in San Antonio, far as it was from established research centers.

At age 27 in 1941, Slick founded the Foundation of Applied Research (later the Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research and now Texas Biomedical Research Institute). Often identified familiarly by San Antonians as the one with the monkeys for its primate colony, Slicks first nonprofit organization originally was located at his ESSAR Ranch, whose name was a kind of phonetic acronym for science and research (SR). Six years later, he started Southwest Research Institute as an applied-science facility; two more organizations  one for agricultural science and another supporting invention  were founded and eventually subsumed into the institute.

Both nonprofits had the same goal of improving human lives. So did Slicks last, the Mind Science Foundation, but its real-world applications werent always apparent. In its early days, for instance, the founder himself introduced an Indian lecturer in mental healing. Another presenter was J.B. Rhine, a Duke University researcher into extra-sensory perception (ESP) who told his audience that the most gifted extrasensory minds could be trained and the ability developed to spy on the nations enemies while the spy sat safely in the United States, said the San Antonio Express, Nov. 27, 1960.

In fairness to Slick, There were new species of animals discovered during his lifetime, says Cooke, so a creature (found) in the very remote wilds of the Himalaya mountains seemed possible. During his travels, Slick definitely witnessed firsthand lamas (Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leaders) who could raise and lower body temperature at will, Cooke says, as well as levitating monks who sort of jump, about 3 feet, from a lotus position.

A longer version of this story by Paula Allen ran in 2015.
Courtesy

President Donald Trump has nominated a federal appeals judge from San Antonio to be U.S. ambassador to Argentina.

In a news release, the White House said Edward C. Prado, 70, has been a jurist for nearly 35 years, serving 19 of them as a federal district judge for the Western District of Texas. He has served for the past 14 years as an appellate judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, the release said.
AUSTIN  The state of Texas on Friday will observe Confederate Heroes Day, despite numerous efforts in recent years to nix the holiday.

Confederate Heroes Day is considered a skeleton crew holiday, meaning state offices will remain open but some employees can choose to take the day off. They can also choose to work and take a different day off, such as Cesar Chavez Day or Rosh Hashanah.

Despite a revived public outcry against Confederate symbols, statutes and even schools named after Confederate leaders, Texas continues to celebrate the holiday, which is written into law.

First declared a Texas holiday in 1931, the day recognizes Confederate Army Gen. Robert E. Lees birthday and occasionally lands on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

A few other states, including Mississippi and Alabama, also observe the holiday this month. Virginia observes Lee-Jackson Day, celebrating Confederate generals Lee and Thomas Stonewall Jackson.

In Texas, there have been various efforts, mainly by Democrats, to change the holidays name. In 2015, after an attack on a Charleston church, Rep. Donna Howard, D-Austin, authored a bill to change the name of the holiday to Civil War Remembrance Day. Her bill was inspired by a 13-year-old who proposed the new name.

Howards bill failed to pass. In last years regular session, Rep. Helen Giddings, D-DeSoto, also tried to change the name to Civil War Remembrance Day. That too failed.

In the debate over Howards bill, state Rep. Garnet Coleman, D-Houston, said at the time that changing the name would help Texas move forward.

We do better by removing those, not only reminders, but those things that aggrandize and put a positive light on what most Americans agree was not a positive part of our history, Coleman said.

Alejandra Matos covers politics education and immigration policy. Follow her on Twitter. Send tips to alejandra.matos@chron.com.
HUNTSVILLE  Voice quavering as he held back tears, Anthony Shore offered an admission before his execution: There are no others.

The whispered words brought an end to the swirl of unanswered questions about possible other victims, just before the notorious Houston serial killer was put to death Thursday night in what was the nations first execution in 2018.

No amount of words or apology could ever undo what Ive done, Shore said while strapped to the death chamber gurney. I wish I could undo the past, but it is what it is, Shore added before he died quietly at 6:28 p.m., 13 minutes after the execution began.

It does burn, he said as the drugs began coursing through his veins. I can feel that.

The 55-year-old former wrecker driver who came to be known as the Tourniquet Killer was hit with the states harshest punishment in 2004 for the rape and murder of 21-year-old Maria del Carmen Estrada, one in a series of brutal slayings that terrorized the Bayou City in the 1980s and 1990s.

When police finally caught up with him  after a DNA breakthrough tied him to the last of the killings  he calmly confessed to three additional murders as well as a rape.

Anthony Allen Shores reign of terror is officially over, city of Houston victim advocate Andy Kahan told reporters Thursday night in Huntsville.

Previously, Shore was scheduled to die in October, but word of a bizarre death row confession plot with fellow prisoner Larry Swearingen derailed the states execution plans. Ultimately, despite fears of a possible confession in one case and apparently false confessions in two others, investigators declared him not a suspect in any other Texas slayings.

But with Shore, there are few certainties.

With a serial killer like Shore, there is always a possibility he has committed other crimes, left other unknown victims behind, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said earlier in the week.

Even though he begged for death during the punishment phase of his 2004 trial, hes spent more than a decade fighting his fate.

Id prefer to live a bit longer but am ready if its Gods will, he told his father in a letter last year.

Decades before he became the Tourniquet Killer, Shore was a talented little boy full of promise.

All my girlfriends were in love with him because he was so charismatic and cute, his youngest sister, Laurel Scheel, now 47, said last year.

But he also had a dark side, even at a young age.

One time, when he was 5 or 6, he stabbed a kitten to death. Another time, he pushed a screwdriver into his sisters head, according to court records.

As he grew older, his pastimes grew even darker. Repeatedly, he used his sister as bait to lure young girls outside. He once bragged that hed helped beat a homeless man to death behind a grocery store.

Though his family moved around frequently for his fathers jobs, as an adult Shore ultimately settled in the Houston area. He had two daughters. He got a job. He joined a band.

And then in 1986, he slaughtered 14-year-old Laurie Tremblay, snatching the girl up on her way to the bus stop. Her body was found outside a restaurant trash bin.

Six years later, he raped and murdered Estrada before dumping her naked body in the drive-through of a Spring Branch Dairy Queen, according to court records. In his confession, he said he used a pair of shears to aid in the rape. He also used a tourniquet to strangle her.

In 1994, he killed 9-year-old Diana Rebollar. When her battered body was found, she was wearing only a black Halloween T-shirt and a ligature twisted around her neck.

Less than a year later, he murdered 16-year-old Dana Sanchez, who was hitchhiking home to her boyfriends in Houston. Afterward, he reportedly called a local TV station to warn them of a serial killer on the loose.

He also raped a 14-year-old who survived the attack, though he threatened to kill her family if she reported it.

Years later, during his confession, Shore claimed that the rape proved he could beat the evilness by sexually assaulting a woman without killing her, according to court records.

Its not clear why he stopped, but he may have gotten away with it  if it werent for a later conviction that landed him on the sex offender registry in 1998 for sexually assaulting his own daughters.

Five years after handing over his DNA to the state, authorities matched it to cold-case evidence from the Estrada slaying.

When police brought him in for questioning, he calmly offered up a confession.

Later, during the punishment phase of his Harris County trial, he shocked the court by asking for death.

It is where he is and it is what he thinks should happen to him based upon how he has lived his life, his lawyers said at the time.

But in the years that followed, he fought his sentence tooth and nail, filing a flurry of appeals citing everything from bad lawyering to previously unrealized brain damage. The U.S. Supreme Court turned down his case last year and the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles rejected his plea for clemency.

Hours before he was scheduled to die in October, a judge agreed to push back the date in light of an alleged confession plot that would have seen him admit to another mans crime, threatening to muddy the waters in a Montgomery County case and save a death row friend from execution.

He later admitted he had nothing to do with the case, but offered apparently false confessions in two other cases in which hed once been a suspect. The Texas Rangers questioned him and ultimately determined he was no longer a suspect in the slayings.

He was playing, just probing around, said one source familiar with the case. With this guy, who knows what hes going to say. You know hes done more crimes than hes been caught doing. The question is what crimes and where.

None of his family attended the execution.

In 2017, 23 convicted killers were put to death in the U.S., seven of them in Texas, more than any another state. Five more inmates are scheduled to die in Texas this year.
WASHINGTON  The House approved on Thursday night a stopgap spending bill to keep the government open past Friday, but Senate Democrats  angered by President Donald Trumps vulgar aspersions and a lack of progress on a broader budget and immigration deal  appeared ready to block the measure.

The House approved the measure 230-197, despite conflicting signals by Trump sent throughout the day and a threatened rebellion from conservatives that failed to materialize. The bills chances had appeared in question until shortly before the vote, provided only a faint glimmer of hope that a crisis could be averted before much of the government exhausts its funds at midnight Friday. The bill would fund the government through Feb. 16.

Shortly after the stopgap bill cleared the House, Senate Republicans said they would hold a vote later Thursday night to proceed to the measure. In the Senate, at least a dozen Democratic votes will be needed to approve the measure, and there is little chance those will materialize. Democrats are intent on securing concessions that would, among other things, protect from deportation young immigrants brought to the country illegally as children, increase domestic spending, aid Puerto Rico and bolster the governments response to the opioid crisis.

In addition to keeping the government open, the bill would provide funding for the Childrens Health Insurance Program for six years, and it would delay or suspend a handful of taxes imposed by the Affordable Care Act.

The weeks-old standoff on immigration and spending only grew more charged last week after Trump referred to African nations as shithole countries. By Thursday, budget negotiations were making little progress even as prominent House Democrats were introducing a resolution to censure the president for his words.

In the Senate, Democrats were unifying around a no vote. If the stopgap bill passes, Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader, said, there will be no incentive to negotiate, and well be right back here in a month with the same problems at our feet.

Republicans were left seething.

Were either going to act like 13-year-olds or not, said Sen. John Kennedy, R-La. Our first job is to keep government going, and if youre going to shut her down, it better be for a damn good reason.

It is anything but clear which side would pay the steepest political price if the government does indeed run out of money a year to the day after Trump took office. But Trump is not making it easier for congressional Republicans.

At some point, Congress needs to do better than government-by-crisis, short-term fixes, and sidestepping difficult issues. That time is now, said Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del. I still believe we can keep the government open, solve the issues weve failed to address for several months and govern this country the way the American people expect us to, but the short-term bill that House Republicans passed tonight simply doesnt meet the test of basic governance.

The perilous day on Capitol Hill began with the president firing off a Twitter message that undermined his partys strategy to keep the government open. Republican leaders had spent Wednesday pressuring Democrats to vote for the spending bill, arguing that opposing it would effectively block a six-year extension of the Childrens Health Insurance Program, or CHIP, which they had included in the spending bill. Funding for the program lapsed at the end of September.

Yet on Thursday morning, Trump suggested that the funding should not be part of the stopgap bill, writing on Twitter: CHIP should be part of a long-term solution, not a 30 Day, or short term, extension!

Hours after Trumps message, the administration tried to walk it back. A White House spokesman, Raj Shah, said the president supported the Houses stopgap bill.

But Democrats pressed their advantage. Schumer brought up the tweet and questioned whether it meant that the president opposes the stopgap measure that congressional leaders from his own party are trying to pass.

Who knows? Schumer asked. Its a mess.

Trumps tweeting Thursday also took aim at his own chief of staff, John F. Kelly, who has been trying to reach a compromise on the issue. Kelly told lawmakers Wednesday that Trumps border wall campaign promise was uninformed and that Mexico was unlikely to pay for it.

Kelly repeated his comments during a Fox News interview Wednesday night, saying Trump had evolved and changed his views on a number of things since entering the White House.

Politicians take campaign positions that may or may not be fully informed Kelly told Fox News on Wednesday night.

Campaigning and governing are two different things and this president has been very, very flexible in terms of what is in the realm of the possible, Kelly said.

But Trump, in a note of discord with his top-ranking aide, denied hes evolved on building a wall across the U.S.-Mexico border.

The Wall is the Wall, it has never changed or evolved from the first day I conceived of it, Trump wrote on Twitter. Parts will be, of necessity, see through and it was never intended to be built in areas where there is natural protection such as mountains, wastelands or tough rivers or water.

For much of Thursday it remained unclear whether Republican leaders in the House could muster the votes to get the stopgap through that chamber.

Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California, the Democratic leader, made clear that she was unmoved by the inclusion of CHIP funding in the stopgap bill.

This is like giving you a bowl of doggy doo, put a cherry on top and call it a chocolate sundae, she said.

By Thursday night, the focus had turned to the Senate, with barely 24 hours left for lawmakers to find a way to keep the governments lights on.

Virginias two Democratic senators, Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, whose constituents include hundreds of thousands of federal workers, announced together that they, too, would oppose the temporary spending bill in the Senate.

If Senate Republicans were unified in support and continued to lack the vote of Sen. John McCain of Arizona, they would still have needed at least 10 Democrats to join them for the bill to succeed in that chamber. With several expected Republican defections, that number would grow even larger.

Congress should remain in session with no recess until we work out a long-term bipartisan budget deal that addresses all issues, Warner and Kaine said in a joint statement.

Against that darkening backdrop, House leaders pressed forward with a planned vote on the temporary spending bill.

Not only were Democrats opposed, but many members of the House Freedom Caucus, a group of hard-line conservatives, had reservations. Earlier in the day, Rep. Mark Meadows of North Carolina, the leader of the Freedom Caucus, expressed frustration that Congress was looking to pass its fourth stopgap spending measure for the 2018 fiscal year.

Three strikes, youre out, he said, adding, I guess the speaker has the best plan, and so well just see how that works out.

But shortly before the vote Thursday night, the Freedom Caucus announced that it had decided to support the stopgap bill.

Traveling in Pennsylvania, Trump accused Democrats of provoking a shutdown to drown out discussion of the Republican tax overhaul.

I think the Democrats would like to see a shutdown in order to get off that subject, Trump told reporters before delivering a speech.
Proud of his deep Texas roots and of the Texas A&M Corps of Cadets, John Edmiston was a longtime Texas journalist who twice worked for the San Antonio Light.

The first time, as he once wryly noted, he fared badly. The second time, he emerged as a respected wire, news and business editor.

John was a larger-than-life character and had a very, very dry sense of humor, recalled reporter Alan Turner, who worked with Edmiston at the Light in the 1980s.

He was very intelligent, and very well-read. He was very interested in history and was proud of his long Texas family history, he said.

One great-grandfather, James Edmiston, rode with Texas Rangers Jack Coffee Hays and Rip Ford. According to family lore, other Edmistons were bound for the Alamo when it fell in 1836.

Edmiston, 67, died Jan. 10, while recovering from knee surgery.

Born in San Antonio, he graduated from MacArthur High School in 1967 and went to Texas A&M, forming friendships that lasted a lifetime.

The tightest bond you have at the Corps are the guys in your outfit, and even more than that, the guys in your class. John and I were in the Class of 1971, recalled Bill Avant, 68, of Nacogdoches.

More Information John E. Edmiston Born: Jan. 13, 1950, in San Antonio Died: Jan 10, 2018, in San Antonio Survivors: Son Jason; grandsons Tristan and Conner Edmiston Services: Private family services. See More Collapse

Back in the old days it was pretty rough. We went through nine months of what could be called Marine boot camp. We started out with 44 guys, and three years later, only 11 of us made it to graduation, he said.

Over the decades, some kept in very close contact.

He just kind of became part of my family. For my kids, he was the crazy uncle, said Avant.

Edmistons newspaper career included stops in Taylor, Paris and Greenville, and culminated at the Houston Post.

He was very devoted to the truth, as most journalists are. He was very proud of what he did, recalled Jay Brakefield, who worked with him at The Light.

He returned home after his father died, and for a while taught journalism in the South San Antonio Independent School District.

Edmistons love of books and writing was equaled only by his fascination with Bob Dylan, John Lennon and other 1960s musicians.

I grew up in bookstores and vinyl stores. Right now Im going through a mountain of books in his home, recalled his son, Jason Edmiston, 38, an only child raised by a single parent.

He was kind of a strict dad, but we always got along. He was always there when I needed him, he said.

In their last telephone conversation a month or so ago, Avant and Edmiston joked about health problems and mortality.

I told him, You will not check out before I do. You will not leave me the last man standing, but Ill be goddamned if he didnt leave me at the checkout, Avant said of his friends sudden death.
WASHINGTON  As yet another final countdown on a government shutdown approaches, Connecticuts Democratic lawmakers are holding firm that no temporary budget deal should be reached without relief for DACA Dreamers and a host of other party priorities.

Passing another (temporary deal) is a shutdown in slow motion, said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, noting the so-called continuing resolution to keep the government funded would be the fourth one approved by Congress since September.

Connecticut already is feeling the impact, especially in the defense sector, Blumenthal added.

You cannot build a submarine in monthly chunks, he said. There has to be assurance that funding will be there.

Without congressional action, the government would close as of midnight Friday. The House appeared ready to pass an emergency resolution late Thursday to keep federal services up and running  with Connecticut members voting no.

It is staggering that yet again, we are punting one of our core obligations as a Congress: funding our government, said Rep. Rosa DeLauro. This bill heartlessly leaves behind the Dreamers who continue to live under the fear that they may be deported from the country they call home.

The plight of the Dreamers  youthful immigrants brought to the country illegally who earned legal status through then-President Barack Obamas Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals order  has been a primary concern of Connecticuts delegation.

President Donald Trump threw their future into doubt in September when he canceled DACA.

Nevertheless, in what may be an effort to broaden the rationale for a shutdown, lawmakers on Thursday stressed that extending legal protection for Dreamers was one of many items on their priority list. Other such items include federally funded community health centers, money for opioid treatment and post-hurricane rebuilding, as well as CHIP  the Childrens Health Insurance Program.

Of the 700,000 or more DACA recipients nationwide, more than 8,000 are in Connecticut. Groups organized by Connecticut Students for a Dream have traveled to Washington to demonstrate for passage of the DREAM Act, legislation dating back to 2001 that would legalize those brought as children illegally by family members.

It remains doubtful that the Senate will follow suit and pass a similar temporary budget extension. With Republicans holding a thin 51-49 majority, Democratic votes would be needed to pass a measure.

With less than 24 hours to go, party leaders already were pointing accusatory fingers at each other, with both sides trying to inoculate themselves against the inevitable recriminations that a shutdown would yield.

Connecticut Democrats expressed little doubt about who they would blame.

When Republicans hold both branches of Congress and the White House and cannot pass a budget, its not the Democrats at fault, said Rep. Jim Himes. Americans have common sense and will draw their own conclusions.

Blumenthal added: If a shutdown occurs, President Trump will own it.

To entice Democrats in the House, Republicans inserted a six-year-extension of CHIP  which serves children in families just above the poverty level. In Connecticut, about 17,000 get insurance under the states Husky B program.

CHIPs authorization expired at the end of September. State officials worried that Husky B would run out of money. But the state Department of Social Services most recent update says the program has enough money to last through March 31.

Democrats scoffed at the idea that Republicans who initially failed to reauthorize CHIP would now offer it up as a carrot to Democrats.

Im deeply aggravated that CHIP is being held hostage in this budget standoff, said Rep. Elizabeth Esty, D-Conn. CHIP actually saves money in the long run. So the great sweetener is actually a bonus for everyone. It should not be a bargaining chip.

dan@hearstdc.com
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 11)  Internal Revenue Commissioner Caesar Dulay said stores can raise prices even as the agency has yet to release the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of the tax reform law, which took effect on January 1.

"January 1, 2018. The law is the law. It has to be complied with," he said in a Thursday forum, where the agency consulted the public on the drafting the law's IRR.

Meanwhile, Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said on Thursday that stores can adjust prices, but warned that owners will be held liable should they engage in profiteering.

The tax reform law hikes taxes on coal, fuel, liquefied petroleum gas and sugary beverages.

Read: Lower income tax, higher taxes on sugar, petroleum, tobacco products by 2018

Lopez said on January 4 that the law will have "minimal" impact on food prices.

Read: Trade chief: Effect of tax reform on basic goods' prices 'minimal'

During the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) forum, employees and accountants expressed concern on computing income tax and exemptions, with some wondering if the lower income tax rates are now effective.

The measure exempts those earning up to 250,000 annually, including self-employed individuals, from paying income tax. The bill also exempts 13th month pay and bonuses amounting to 90,000 from taxation.

The new scheme will also lower income tax rates for those earning 2 million and below.

Dulay said the law is clear: incomes should be subject to the new tax rates or else employers risk facing penalties.

"We have published the RMC (Revised Memorandum Circular) and they should have checked that," he said. "They know the rates."

BIR Spokesperson Marissa Cabreros also asked employers to tell their employees about delays in carrying out the new tax rates and apply the adjustments accordingly.

The BIR will finalize the law's implementing rules and regulations (IRR) after consultations wrap up on Friday.

Dulay said they plan to submit the draft IRR to the Finance Department for approval by the end of the month.
FAIRFIELD  When the library board of trustees began a search for a new town librarian, it cast a wide net.

However, it ended up promoting someone who was already working at the Fairfield Public Library: Helene Murtha. Murtha, a Fairfield University graduate, had spent the previous year as the head of Childrens Services for the towns library before taking the helm in November.

Before returning to Fairfield, Murtha, 54, was the library media specialist for the Eastchester Union Free School District in Eastchester, N.Y., and prior to that, she was a childrens librarian in Yonkers, N.Y.

With a lifelong love of libraries and reading, it would only seem natural that Murtha has ended up in charge of a library. But it wasnt always her destiny. In fact, after graduating from college, Murtha spent the next 13 years in banking on Wall Street.

It was after that that Murtha turned to teaching, and while working as a teacher, she said she thought about what the favorite part of the school was  the library. And thats when her transition to librarian began.

With snow seemingly always on the horizon these days, there may be no better time to curl up with a good book. Murtha talks about what she likes to read and how to get kids interested in reading.

Q: Were you always a reader?

A: Yes.

Q: What were some of your favorite books growing up and why?

A: I loved everything by Judy Blume. I was the oldest of four and Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing spoke to me in regards to my feelings about my siblings. I also was a mystery fan  Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, Encyclopedia Brown.

Q: What are you reading right now?

A: The Immortalists, by Chloe Benjamin.

Q: What are some ways parents can encourage youngsters to read and nurture a love of reading?

A: Take your children to the library. We are here, ready to connect you to just the right reading material for you. Plus, there is so much more at the library than books.

Listening to books during a car ride is a great way to get children interested in a series or genre.

Some children prefer nonfiction; be willing to read about subjects your child is interested in.

Dont just see the movie  read the book. There are tons of family movies based upon books; explore together and see how the versions differ.

Magazines are reading too. Reluctant readers can find the prospect of a book daunting. Magazines can often provide them with some reading success.

Q: What is your preference  actual books you can hold in your hand or digital versions?

A: Actual books, but I always have an audio book on my phone and ebook on my iPad. It is great to have 24-hour access to Fairfield Public Librarys digital collections any time you want to read or watch.

GReilly@ctpost.com
GREENWICH  A man who allegedly tried to fraudulently gain access to $36,500 in funds is now facing four criminal charges.

Vincio Tavarez, 49, of Wadsworth Avenue, New York City, was apprehended at the Chase bank branch on Greenwich Avenue Wednesday afternoon. He was charged with criminal attempt at larceny, identity theft, forgery and criminal impersonation.
MARKETING of this years remarkable WA grains harvest of close to 14 million tonnes began long before the crops were out of the ground.

For CBH Groups marketing and trading team of 33, headed by Trevor Lucas and with offices in Japan and Hong Kong, marketing and trading grain and other commodity products is a never-ending process.

Team members are constantly liaising with almost 200 regular clients in more than 30 countries and always on the lookout for new opportunities to build long-term relationships with clients, according to Mr Lucas.

Since November 1, 2017, CBH has shipped more than 2.1m tonnes, a mix of old and new crop stock.

Canola has gone to Europe, wheat to Indonesia and the Philippines and barley to China.

It is definitely not a case of the headers have been put away, now the marketing phase begins.

We are constantly selling a combination of old crop grain and new crop grain and anything in between and around about, Mr Lucas said.

WA is just a part of the program that we do  our marketing and trading business  we trade roughly 50 per cent of WAs grain and 15pc of South Australias.

Mr Lucas pointed out his teams role was not just simply selling WA growers grain, but was trading grain procured from various sources on world markets, including keeping regular customers supplied, to generate a profit for the group.

Being able to trade non-Australian grains gave his team the flexibility to hedge risk from exposure on Australian grains on the futures exchange, he said, but building and maintaining trusting relationships with clients was its main priority.

The customers are key and the relationships with end users  we like them to be pure end users in terms of processors and that could be the malt house in China, or the flour miller in South East Asia or the feed miller in the Philippines or Vietnam or the shochu maker in Japan or the biodiesel refinery and fuel processor in Europe, we have relationships with all of them.

Essentially before (wheat export) deregulation 10 years ago we were a grain merchant by design and by virtue of the fact we were just selling growers grain on their behalf.

In the past 10 years weve evolved into a commercial trading business which takes risk on 90pc of the grain traded, he said.

Much of the market information the marketing and trading team relies on comes from customers.

Ultimately they provided those tangible market signals, the ones that you act upon, Mr Lucas said.

Its why we are so protective of our customers, because theyre where we get our most vital information.

You can look at a futures market, it doesnt represent exactly what you are selling and it doesnt represent the volume or the quality, its just a generic benchmark.

It doesnt mean a great deal unless you want to hedge a product.

If you are there to sell something, you need to know your competition and what those numbers are that you are competing against, and its only your customer who can give you that.

While wheat is now CBHs biggest volume product, it is also the most difficult to make money on because it carries the most risk and least margin, and is often the most difficult to sell.

Because of its volume it is easy to forget wheat was only bolted on, as Mr Lucas described it, to CBHs core business of barley, canola and lupins after the demise of Australian Wheat Boards monopoly on wheat exporting.

Its really amazing, to be honest, the degree of market penetration we have been able to achieve (with wheat), Mr Lucas said.

First year out of deregulation we were number one wheat exporter in WA, but it wasnt long (four years) after that we became the biggest wheat exporter in Australia.

But slow demand and increasing competition from Russian and Ukrainian wheat from the Black Sea area pushing prices down against a strengthening Australian dollar is expected to impact on returns from wheat this year.

Were competing against the Black Sea and to a lesser degree Argentina, so a lot of the buyers who typically rely on Australian wheat are just sitting there being hand-to-mouth with their requirements, watching the market, Mr Lucas said.

From an operational point of view, wed like to clear the decks and not have too much carryover into next season.

From a marketing perspective its not the end of the world, we can sell other commodities.

At the moment you have a Mexican standoff with our customers who see a particular value in Australian grain and growers who see a different value.

Growing competition from the Black Sea area was one of the reasons CBH opened an aggregation office there, as much to learn about what Russian and Ukrainian grain growers and marketers are doing as anything else.

If Russia continues to increase yield and to increase planting size, and they can do both, thats only going to mean one thing for Australian wheat prices, its going to add (downward) pressure, Mr Lucas said.

That was the catalyst for us going into Russia, to give us the information, giving us the ability and confidence to trade the global spreads.

In the past weve just not had that.

Youve got big competitors in the multis (multi-nationals) doing that, thats their bread and butter.

For us, we have to have the same level of information to compete.

It puts us in front of the (price) curve now, rather than just waiting for it to be beaten.

As an industry, and we need to lead it, the feedback enables us to determine where we need to be in five years time because we know where Russia is going to be, thats quite transparent.

His marketing team also faced increased competition from the Black Sea creating market access issues for canola early in the harvest season.

Prices which are down about $65 a tonne since early November look likely to remain under pressure with higher than anticipated production and yield.

In comparison to wheat and canola, barley looks like continuing its run as the standout performer.

Current WA feed barley values are about $70 higher, or 40pc, compared to January last year.

One of the biggest recent shifts in grain marketing, Mr Lucas said, was in barley with China now a major importer.

Five years ago they never imported feed barley but now theyre almost the biggest importer of feed barley on the planet, they are pushing Saudi Arabia as the biggest, he said.

China remains number two on the CBH client region list  its marketers and traders are divided into client regions, not by product types.

South East Asia is clearly number one, with the Middle East, Africa and Japan roughly equal third in terms on customer numbers.

CBH marketers and traders biggest competitors, according to Mr Lucas, are Glencore, Grain-Corp, Bunge and to a lesser degree Cargill.

But, he claims CBH has one advantage.

Our accumulation team is 27 strong and theyre an integral part of what we do.

Theres the sell side and theres the supply side as well.

Theyre located not just in WA, but in SA.

One of the strategic advantages we have is our brand, we manage that brand with a pretty close relationship with our growers and we couldnt do that without our on-the-ground team.

That sets us aside, a lot of our competition have gone away from having a higher number of regional accumulation people on the ground.

We havent, weve probably gone the other way, and for me as a trading manager, liquidity on the buy side is a key to success really.

If I cant buy it, how do I aggressively sell forward or go short?
BREDAL is back.

Those were the first words uttered by Burando Hill managing director Peter Coldwell when he spoke with Torque last week.

He was, of course, referring to the Danish-made Bredal fertiliser spreaders, which have captured a healthy share of the Australian spreader market, mainly through the efforts of York importer Jorn Ib.

Last year Jorn retired from the industry selling his business to Ben Nichols, Gunnedah, New South Wales.

And last week, Ben signed a deal with Burando Hill appointing the company as WA distributors.

An elated Peter said stock was available immediately from Burandos Katanning and Geraldton branches.

Were also in the process of appointing a specialist sales and service representative to ensure we meet customer expectations, Peter said.

Ben, who comes from a farming background, has worked at machinery dealerships and finally as a consultant and farm manager.

It was in this role he ordered a Bredal spreader and promoted the model to several other farmers, leading Jorn to offer him a position as sales and support in NSW for Bredal spreaders.

In WA, Ben has been busy scoping a distribution and service network and after speaking with Burando Hill director Simon Hill, decided to appoint the company WA distributors.

Burando Hill will also sell Bredal spreaders at its Wangaratta branch in Victoria.

According to Ben, Burando Hill shares his ethos in providing farmers with top products and after sales service.

I know as a farmer the importance of parts back-up and service and I want to ensure our customers have the best, he said.

Its a quality product and I want to provide quality service.

p More information: Call Burando Hill Katanning on 9821 4422, the Geraldton team on 9964 7822 and the

Wangaratta, Victoria, team on 0458 214 422.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 18)  President Rodrigo Duterte led the launching of the Overseas Filipino Bank (OFB), an institution that will cater to Filipinos abroad  overseas Filipino workers, immigrants, and those with resident visas.

It will provide financial services, including loans and investment tools, tailored to the requirements of Filipinos overseas.

The OFB will also offer remittance service with the cheapest, fastest, secure, and most convenient mobile credit-to-account system.

It will deploy foreign representatives inside Philippine embassies and consular offices. By the second quarter of 2018, representatives will be deployed to the Philippine embassy in Abu Dhabi and the Philippine Consular Office in Bahrain.

Duterte signed Executive Order (EO) 44 in September 2017, paving the way for the Land Bank of the Philippines to acquire Philippine Postal Savings Bank (PPSB). It stated PPSB will be converted to the OFB.

RELATED: Duterte creates special bank for overseas Filipinos

In October, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello said the OFB will have a nine-man board chaired by the Land Bank president.

RELATED: Overseas Filipino bank to open in Jan. 2018

The OFB was Duterte's campaign promise.

CNN Philippines Digital producers Eimor Santos and Chad de Guzman contributed to this report.
DORPER breeders across WA are expected to boost production after Landmark International managed to secure an export deal to Russia, with the first shipment to include 13,074 head.

The order will be the first into Russia in more than 30 years with additional orders expected to follow as the Russian importer Miratorg seeks to purchase 30,000 head for its large-scale meat production facility in the Kursk region.

Miratorg is establishing a whole supply chain production system, similar to what it has already achieved with beef cattle.

The development appears to be the first industrial lamb production project in Russia.

The Dorper order follows the work Landmark International has done with Angus cattle exports to Russia.

Landmark international general manager Andy Ingle said they had been in discussions with Miratorg for nearly two years, assisting with preparations for this first sheep export.

He commended Miratorg for its ongoing commitment to build opportunities in the Russian livestock sector.

Mr Ingle said the Miratorg facilities were all built to the highest modern standards and the initial project would house 30,000 breeding ewes, but he hoped its success would continue to provide opportunities to Australian farmers for the next few years.

Landmark Breeding representative Roy Addis said the Dorpers for this first order were sourced from across the State and were part of Miratorgs push to bolster its sheep meat production and genetics program.

Mr Addis said the fleece-shedding breed suited Miratorg perfectly due to a lack of suitable shearing industry in Russia, as well as its rapid growth rate.

He said due to the lateness of the order in 2017, there were not enough Dorpers on hand to fill the entire order from WA stocks so a few thousand black heads had to be secured from the Eastern States.

The sheep will be due for delivery at the quarantine depot mid-January.

This is a large-scale operation that the Landmark International team managed to secure, Mr Addis said.

He said the massive Russian company would be building a large scale undercover operation in the Kursk region  suitable to house 30,000 head of sheep.

Dorper Sheep Society of Australia president Tim Stevenson, Riverside White Dorper stud, Kojonup, said there was a lot of potential for Dorper breeders in WA with the Russian deal.

Miratorg is a massive company in Russia, Mr Stevenson said.

They own the whole supply chain from the farm through to the processors and to restaurants.

They are looking at duplicating their existing cattle operation with sheep.

Its very exciting for the industry and we just have to see how this first order goes.

Mr Stevenson said a contingency from Miratorg and Landmark visited his property and hand-picked the sheep they required.

The number of registered Dorper breeders in WA is steady at 44, which is no surprise to Mr Stevenson, due to the high wool prices.

We have a more wool-oriented industry, but with a deal like this it shows there is demand for our product, he said.

Kim Batten, Douwana Dorper stud, Yuna, north east of Geraldton, said they were able to supply 378 black head stud sheep for the order.

All the selection has been done, and blood tests done  they just need to be put on a truck and into quarantine, Mr Batten said.

We supplied 150 rams and the balance were ewes.

Mr Batten said there was a clear plan in place for selecting the breeding stock  with a focus on three to eight-month-old rams.

There is a good program happening, he said.

They are focussed on all the right areas.

They even took the production figures through LambPlan.

It has been great for our business but we are also pleased that many of our clients have been able to be involved with it.

Mr Batten said he was happy to be part of the first order into Russia in 30-40 years and Dorpers were suitable as they had the ability to hold up in the colder temperatures.

He said Miratorgs system of lambing in sheds would be a trial-and-error scenario as they sought to provide a continual supply of lamb to its own abattoir all-year round.

Douwana Dorper has been in operation since 1998, after embryos were purchased from South Africa.

The Battens run 1000 head of purebred black head Dorpers  as well as a commercial line of Merinos.

Mr Batten said Dorpers did well in the marginal areas and seemed to thrive in the summer months.

He said in 2017 they experienced a 170-175 per cent lambing rate  which they dont get every year.

In the past few years they have changed their operation to include sub-tropical perennial pastures on a few paddocks that struggled to produce crops  which were perfect for lambing in.

The Battens also crop wheat, canola, lupins and barley.

WA Dorper producers have previously exported to China, Mongolia and South America as those countries sought to establish their own flocks.
IF you cant make a profit out of sheep at the moment you shouldnt be farming, was the view of West Brookton woolgrower Len Simmons after the first trading day of the year at the Western Wool Centre (WWC).

Mr Simmons, who classes his own clip, sold 63 bales from an October shearing on the record-breaking opening trading day of the year for a sweep-the-floor average price of 1403 cents a kilogram greasy and to a top of 1533c/kg for his main line of 10 bales.

Yields for his 19-20 micron wool ranging from 71 to 75 per cent with very low vegetable matter (vm) contamination of 0.6pc or less.

Theyre the best prices Ive ever seen since Ive been back on the farm (47 years), theyre well above valuation, said a very happy Mr Simmons after all his wool sold and with no obvious penalty for a line of nine bales of weaner wool with a longer-than-usual staple measuring 111 millimetres.

I brought it (wool clip of 93 bales) down and got it tested straight after shearing so I knew what the results were, he said on Wednesday last week at the WWC.

We just keep a watch on the market and sold a few (bales) along the way.

Carl (Primaries of WA wool broker Carl Poingdestre) suggested we put the remainder of it up on the first day and if we didnt like how it (market) was looking we could always withdraw it.

Its been a really good season as far as were concerned.

Were all livestock, we dont grow any crop, we buy all our feed in  we had 90 tonnes of lupins delivered Monday  and I still shear half the sheep myself.

We shore 3800 sheep and lambs in October.

We had to hand feed fairly heavily, but we got through.

Mr Simmons said favourable sheep meat prices also helped profitability.

We had 1600 lambs last year which well have to offload so well probably get as much from our sheep sales as we did from our wool sales, he said.

We sold our cull ewe hoggets straight out of the shearing shed and got $130 a head for them from an on-farm private sale.

Old ewes were finished with, we got $90 a head on-farm bare shorn.

Recently retired long-serving WoolProducers Australia director Max Watts, Wandering, was a little more circumspect in his appraisal of the prices he received for his 156 bales, but just as pleased.

Its a just reward for what has been a tough season, Mr Watts said.

Weve had to hand feed a lot more, we bought lick feeders to feed them more regularly.

We shore cull ewes in October to try and ease the load (on feeding) and we shore wethers and off-loaded them for the same reason.

Theres not the feed value in the dry feed this season.

We purchase a lot of lupins, we bought early, paid top dollar for them but they were clean.

Weve been feeding a lot more barley too.

Mr Watts, who runs up to 13,000 sheep and lambs and this season mated 3500 to Merino rams and 2200 to White Suffolk, said he also brought his main shearing forward from January to November to ease pressure on feeding.

I was happy with the wool, he said.

All our dry sheep are rotational grazed and we had tensile strength in the 40s and good yield.

His wool, ranging from 17.7 to 19.5 micron with yields 68-75pc and staple lengths 86-111mm, sold to a top of 1665c/kg greasy.

Sweep-the-floor average price across his clip was 1418c/kg.

Mr Watts said one of the benefits for the industry of the high returns from wool was woolgrowers investing in sheep handling equipment like new yards.

If we want to retain young people in the industry we have to do that, we have to make the job easier to do, he said.

Ray and Denise Kowald, Beaufort River, were also very happy with their reward from a shocking season.

Weve been feeding sheep since January last year, Mr Kowald said.

I bought in quite a lot (of feed), we had a bit of crop in which I put into the silos then I bought in a heap of hay.

Weve sold off all our wethers this year to make our pasture last  its a long time until winter.

But were very happy with the wool prices, its the best average weve ever had.

The Kowalds sold 75 bales of 17.4-18.5 micron wool from an early December shearing for a sweep-the-floor average of 1386c/kg.

The top line of nine bales of their finer wool with specifications of 66.5pc yield, 2pc VM and 83mm staple length sold for 1700c/kg.
2020 was a year marked by hardships and challenges, but the Fauquier community has proven resilient. The Fauquier Times is honored to serve as your community companion. To say thank you for your continued support, wed like to offer all our subscribers -- new or returning --

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We understand the importance of working to keep our community strong and connected. As we move forward together into 2021, it will take commitment, communication, creativity, and a strong connection with those who are most affected by the stories we cover.

We are dedicated to providing the reliable, local journalism you have come to expect. We are committed to serving you with renewed energy and growing resources. Let the Fauquier Times be your community companion throughout 2021, and for many years to come.
In 2017, Brazil played a big role in global anti-corruption enforcement. During the year, the largest leniency agreement in Brazils history was signed, and the second largest was ratified by the Brazilian courts.

Despite enforcement progress, challenges to some of the leniency agreements have created uncertainty about what agencies have authority and jurisdiction to resolve big corruption cases. Some of those questions were resolved in 2017, but there are still many open issues related to leniency agreements, throwing some large-scale anti-corruption enforcement into limbo.

In this post, Ill summarize some of the largest resolutions.

JBS. At the end of May, J&F, the parent company of the worlds largest meatpacker, agreed to pay BRL 10.3 billion (about $3.2 billion) spread over 25 years to settle four graft probes. The company was investigated for fraud in connection with state-controlled pension funds investments, for payment of bribes to meat inspectors, and for other corrupt practices.

Odebrecht. Signed at the end of 2016, the companys leniency agreement was ratified by a judge in May. The construction company agreed to pay BRL 3.8 billion (almost $1.2 billion) spread over 23 years to settle charges related to the Petrobras scandal investigated by the Carwash Operation.

In August, the Federal Regional Court of the 4th Region annulled the agreement between the Federal Public Prosecutor Office (MPF) and Odebrecht on the grounds that the MPF does not have the competence or legitimacy to make leniency agreements involving acts of administrative misconduct. The decision was widely criticized by the Public Prosecution Service, Odebrecht and several Brazilian lawyers, arguing that it brings great legal uncertainty to companies seeking to sign agreements with Brazilian authorities. The company is now negotiating an agreement with the Attorney Generals Office (AGU).

During 2017, Odebrecht also entered into leniency agreements in at least six other states, both with MPF and states public prosecutors offices (MPE). As the Carwash prosecutors team has no jurisdiction over all the criminal facts revealed by the company, there are cases that need to be investigated by other authorities.

Rolls-Royce. In January, Rolls-Royce agreed to pay BRL 81 million ($25 million) to settle charges related to the Petrobras scandal investigated by the Carwash operation. The amount includes the net profits from six contracts with the oil company (about BRL 39 million or $12 million), added to the total paid as commission to intermediaries, which was more than BRL 20 million (about $6 million), and a fine equivalent the value of the commission.

In early 2015, Rolls-Royce delivered to the Federal Public Prosecutor Office the results of an internal investigation.

Keppel Fels. Keppel Fels Brasil agreed to pay BRL 1.4 billion ($433 million) to settle charges related to irregular business in the supply of drilling vessels to Petrobras. Under the agreement signed with the Federal Public Prosecutors Office, the company has committed to return double the amount of all bribes paid, due to the application of a fine provided for in the Administrative Misconduct Act.

SBM. Last year, SBM Offshore signed an agreement with the Ministry for Transparency  CGU to settle charges related to the Petrobras corruption probe. Netherlands-based SBM agreed to pay US$342 million through a combination of a cash penalty and discounts on future work.

But the Federal Public Prosecutors Office blocked the settlement in September, pointing out flaws in the clauses negotiated by the government and prosecutors. The authorities and SBM then returned to the negotiating table.

According to auditors from the Federal Court of Accounts or TCU, the leniency agreements value only took into account SBMs bribes and the profits, without considering any losses due to the overpricing of SBMs contracts, which could reach $861 million.

In December, the judges from the TCU approved the terms of the leniency agreement with SBM, but said that if the overpricing is proven in the future, the company may be charged by the court in other proceedings.

The Federal Public Prosecutor Offices prosecutors, however, were not part of the agreement and filed an action of administrative misconduct against SBM and some of its employees and Petrobrass executives, further hampering the progress of the leniency agreement.

____

Lucas Zanoni is an undergraduate student of history and law at the University of Sao Paulo, researcher in the fields of Fiscal History and Anti-corruption, and intern at ID Global, an institute of research and experimental development in social and human sciences.
Michael Douglas told Catherine Zeta-Jones she is "most terrifying" when she does nothing at all.

Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Dougas

The actress has asked her husband for advice as she prepared to shoot new Netflix crime drama 'Cocaine Godmother', and she was a little taken aback by her man's words of wisdom.

Speaking on SiriusXM, she said: "As I was leaving for the airport to go shoot, [my husband] said, 'Just think of one thing. I'm gonna give you one thing to think about, darling'.

"And he said, 'You don't need to do much.' And I went, 'What do you mean? This is probably the most multi-layered, multi-faceted character I've ever ... what do you mean I haven't got to do much?'

"He went, 'No you don't have to do much because you are at your most terrifying when you do absolutely nothing.' "

Thankfully, Catherine saw the funny side - and teased her man that he must have lived in fear for almost two decades of marriage.

She laughed: "I went, 'Wow, really, after 19 years, I just do nothing and I scare the bejeezus out of you. OK, good to know.'"

The 48-year-old actress - who has been married to the 73-year-old Hollywood star for nearly 18 years - has hit out at the allegations he had behaved inappropriately towards a female employee over 30 years ago, including touching himself in front of her, saying it was "very, very upsetting".

She said: "It was very, very upsetting. Anything like that, that is erroneous and false, would take anyone by surprise."

Catherine - who has children Dylan, 17, and 14-year-old Carys with Michael - also blasted the claims as a "non-story" and is "glad" he released a statement to deny them before they were made in public.

She is quoted by the Daily Mirror newspaper as saying: "I'm glad that the non-story was put straight. It was a looming accusation and I am very happy that Michael did a pre-emptive move.

"This was something that supposedly happened 30-odd years ago and was unfounded, so Michael needed to make that stance."

by Charlotte Hough for www.femalefirst.co.uk


Ryan Coogler said 'Black Panther' is the James Bond of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Ryan Coogler

The 31-year-old filmmaker helmed the latest instalment of the MCU - which sees Chadwick Boseman star as Prince T'Challa aka Black Panther - and when Coogler was approached by Marvel Studios to direct the project was left very excited when bosses told him their vision for the character was for him to be like a superhero 007.

Speaking to Total Film magazine, Coogler said: "When I first started talking to Marvel, one thing they were interested in was for Panther to be their version of James Bond, which I thought was incredibly interesting and exciting. It was a really outside-of-the-box way to look at T'Challa. There are some Bond films that I really, really like, and it gave me the opportunity to go watch some other ones."

The movie is based around the first ever black superhero in mainstream American comics who was created by legendary Marvel Comics writer Stan Lee and the equally iconic artist-and-writer Jack Kirby and first appeared in 'Fantastic Four #52' back in 1966.

The motion picture is expected to expand on the storyline that was first introduced in 'Captain America: Civil War' of how T'Challa becomes the superhero.

T'Challa's father T'Chaka is king of the African nation Wakanda and has the ceremonial title Black Panther as the chief of the Panther Tribe, but is killed when a bomb goes off at the UN making his son the Black Panther.

The film stars Lupita Nyong'o, Letitia Wright, Forest Whitaker, Danai Gurira, Martin Freeman and Andy Serkis - who are both reprising their roles as Everett K. Ross and Ulysses Klaue respectively in the new film.

When Total Film asked Wright if she thought the comparison between 'Black Panther' and author Ian Flemming's James Bond was a fit, she agreed saying her character Shuri is like "T'Challa's Q".

She said: "Yeah, why not? She's T'Challa's Q. She's by his side with the technology he needs. The way she helps him is really cool. I hope Shuri can help people. Maybe you're in school right now, and super smart and super intelligent, and people may be saying 'you're a geek' or whatever, making them feel bad. Maybe they can watch this film and be like 'man! Being smart or a scientist or super great at math is not a bad thing at all."

In the James Bond franchise, Q - whose initial stands for Quartermaster - is the head of Q Branch (later Division), the fictional research and development division of the British Secret Service and is responsible for equipping 007 with weapons and spy gadgets he could need in the field.

Q has appeared in 21 of the 24 Eon Productions movies - with the exceptions being 'Live and Let Die', 'Casino Royale' and 'Quantum of Solace'.

'Black Panther' is slated for release in February 2018.
Run DMC are set to return to the UK for the first time in three years for a rare headline concert.

Run DMC

The legendary hip-hop duo - comprised of Joseph 'Run' Simmons and Darryl 'D.M.C.' McDaniels - will perform at London's Eventim Apollo on July 5.

In 2016, the 'Walk This Way' stars co-headlined The Isle of Wight Festival.

Speaking about their love for playing in the country, Simmons said previously: "We absolutely love playing the UK, it's always been such a great reception. You guys rock!"

Since their split in 2002, following the murder of third member Jam Master Jay - real name Jason William Mizell - the pair reunited at Jay-Z's Made In America Festival in September 2012.

Simmons and McDaniels then reunited again for Fun Fun Fun Fest in Austin, Texas in November 2012, and again in June 2013 and August 2014 for a summer concerts in Atlanta, Georgia.

Though they haven't released new music since 2014's DJ Fresh remix of their classic hit song 'It's Tricky', McDaniels previously revealed details of a solo album he's working on with original songs.

He said last year, "I'm fulfilling my rock 'n' roll dream by collaborating with more of the artists who gave me a lot of music to rap over through sampling as a kid. Now I get to work with them.

"It's all original songs from scratch, 'cause that really doesn't happen anymore. It's cool when bands get together to do remakes, but why not do something new? It's brilliant. We're all going in there and starting from scratch, creating these songs."

Tickets start from 38 and will be available to purchase from January 24.
Meghan Markle would "love" to celebrate her hen party in Cardiff.

Meghan Markle

The 36-year-old American actress is set to marry Prince Harry in May this year, and has admitted she would be happy to spend her last night before her wedding exploring the night life of the Welsh city, which she visited alongside her husband-to-be on Thursday (18.01.18).

Royal fan Anne Daley got the chance to ask the former 'Suits' actress about sampling the Cardiff night life, and said: "I asked her if she would like to come on a hen night around the nightspots of Cardiff, and she said she'd love to."

Meghan was overheard saying a Cardiff night out would be "a lot of fun" as she spoke to the royal watcher, who came to meet the couple clutching a "Happy Engagement" balloon alongside her Cavalier King Charles Spaniel whom she named Camilla in honour of Prince Charles' wife the Duchess of Cornwall.

Anne added: "It was overwhelming. She was so beautiful and kind and she loved Camilla, she gave her a little squeeze."

It comes after it was recently reported that Meghan and Harry, 33, will likely have a small number of guests at their wedding on May 19, because the royal is not a "direct line of succession" like his elder brother Prince William, The Duke of Cambridge.

However, the final number of guests will ultimately be decided by the couple, who can invite up to 800 people to witness their nuptials at St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle.

Royal expert Alastair Bruce said: "It's very much a matter for the bride and the groom.

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."
Prince Harry is a feminist.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle

The 33-year-old royal has been praised for standing up for women's rights and promoting feminism by his fiancee Meghan Markle, who listed his views on equality as one of the many reasons she loves the flame-haired Prince.

During her visit to Cardiff alongside the Prince on Thursday (18.01.18), Meghan told royal fan Jessica Phillips: "He's a feminist too, so there's that."

Speaking after meeting the former 'Suits' actress, Jessica recalled how "lovely" the beauty was to talk to.

The 23-year-old fan said: "She was so lovely. I said it was really lovely to have a feminist in the royal family, and she said Harry is a feminist too."

Meghan has often been vocal about her stance as a feminist, and has previously worked as the ambassador for United Nations Women, as well as with organisations such as One World Vision, where she learned about the challenges women and girls living in Dubai and Mumbai.

More recently, during a visit alongside Harry to a radio station in London earlier this month, a discussion with the DJ turned to the topic of feminism, and Harry refused to answer, letting Meghan speak instead.

When station manager Adrian Newman told the prince that they had a question for him, Harry said: "She answers the questions!"

To which Meghan smiled as she quipped: "Yes, talking of gender equality!"

Meghan, 36, stepped down from her roles within the United Nations, World Vision Canada, and One Young World when she became engaged to Prince Harry, but insisted she didn't see the move - which also see her quit working as an actress - as "giving up".

When asked about her decision to give up acting, Meghan said: "I don't see it as giving anything up. I just see it as a change."

Meghan will tie the knot with Prince Harry on May 19 next year, at St. George's Chapel in Windsor Castle.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 19)  President Rodrigo Duterte said a bigger war in Mindanao may erupt if Moro rebel groups do not see any significant development in their fight for autonomy.

In his speech at the opening of the Overseas Foreign Bank in Manila Thursday, the President said Moros want to see either the passage of the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) or the shift to federalism.

If neither of these happen, Duterte said a war will erupt in the south, and it will affect civilians.

"Sa panahon na ito, kung walang mangyari nito sa BBL ngayon or we change the Constitution or do not change the Constitution at all, there will be war in Mindanao," said the President.

[Translation: Now, if nothing happens to the BBL, or whether or not we change the Constitution, there will be war.]

The President has often mentioned in his speeches about the "historical injustices" against the Moros, who have been pushing for full-blown independence.

Ghazali Jaafar  chair of the Bangsamoro Transition Commission, which drafted the BBL  said the proposed measure is the "best antidote to violent extremism" in the region.

READ: Duterte receives copy of new BBL draft

President Duterte said Moro rebel groups were promised a federal type of government as early as the time of former President Cory Aquino.

Duterte addressed the Moro National Liberation Front and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and vowed to make these changes happen.

He stressed however, that ultimately the decision will be up to Filipinos to make.

Discussions on the proposed BBL resumed in the House of Representatives on January 16.
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - January 18, 2018) - Metals Creek Resources Corp. (TSXV: MEK) (Metals Creek) is pleased to announce that they have been advised by their option partner, Sokoman Iron Corp (Sokoman) that The Clarks Brook Project will be the subject of a Phase 2 reconnaissance diamond drilling program, expected to start in 2 to 3 weeks. The program will focus on the coincidental magnetic and IP targets that host the known mineralization on the property, and where Phase 1 drilling in October 2017, confirmed the presence of locally robust gold mineralization in the first ever holes drilled on the property (SIC NR - December 22, 2017). Selected assays from hole CB-17-2 are as follows; 3.37 g/t Au/3.00 m (127.75m - 130.75m), including 4.63 g/t Au/1.65 m (127.75m - 129.40m), and 26.9 g/t Au/0.25 m (127.75m - 128.00m).The Phase 2 program will consist of approximately 500 meters of drilling in three or four holes and will test the strike extent of the zone, as well as possible parallel structures hosting mineralization. Additional holes and meterage will be added if results warrant.

To earn an initial 75% interest, Sokoman must make cash payments of $45,000 over three years (no cash on signing) and issue a total of 3,000,000 Sokoman common shares over three years (500,000 due upon regulatory approval) and incur work expenditures of $800,000 over three years ($100,000 by 1st anniversary). Sokoman will be the operator during the earn-in period. Once a 75% interest is earned by Sokoman, either a 75/25 joint venture will be formed, or Sokoman may elect to earn an additional 25% interest to bring its total property interest to 100%. The terms to increase its interest from 75% to 100% include payments of $100,000 and the issuance of an additional 2,000,000 Sokoman shares within 60 days of the 3rd anniversary date. This agreement is subject to regulatory approval.

About Metals Creek Resources Corp.

Metals Creek Resources Corp. is a junior exploration company incorporated under the laws of the Province of Ontario, is a reporting issuer in Alberta, British Columbia and Ontario, and has its common shares listed for trading on the Exchange under the symbol "MEK". Metals Creek has earned a 50% interest in the Ogden Gold Property, including the former Naybob Gold mine, located 6 km south of Timmins, Ontario and has a 8 km strike length of the prolific Porcupine-Destor Fault (P-DF) that stretches between Timmins, Ontario and Val d'Or, Quebec. Metals Creek also has an option agreement with Quadro Resources on Metals Creeks and Benton Resources Staghorn Gold Project in Newfoundland as well as two option agreements with Anaconda Mining Inc. on Metals Creek's Jacksons Arm and Tilt Cove Properties also in Newfoundland. The company have also signed a LOI on its Clarks Brook property with Sokoman Iron Corp. and is engaged in the identification, acquisition, exploration and development of other mineral resource properties, and presently has mining interests in Ontario, Yukon and Newfoundland and Labrador including the recently acquired Great Brehat project on the Great Northern Peninsula of Newfoundland. Additional information concerning the Corporation is contained in documents filed by the Corporation with securities regulators, available under its profile at www.sedar.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."

For further information, please contact:

Alexander (Sandy) Stares, President and CEO

Metals Creek Resources Corp

telephone: (709)-256-6060

fax: (709)-256-6061

email: astares@metalscreek.com

www.metalscreek.com




GUANGZHOU, China, Jan. 19, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The Spring edition of CIFF (China International Furniture Fair),the world's largest furniture exhibition and the most important business platform in Asia, will be held in Guangzhou, divided into 2 phases according to product sector: the first from 18 to 21 March, the second from 28 to 31 March.

Understanding the market in order to de-codify trends, providing solutions that are perfect in terms of style, quality and price. This approach has allowed CIFF to become an international reference point in the furniture sector, growing and modernising in order to offer both exhibitors and visitors the best possible services.

There is already great anticipation for this 41st edition of CIFF. In fact, one single event will provide the opportunity to visit 4,000 exhibitorscovering 750,000m2, will give their individual visions of Whole Home Decor, together with the most significant and current aspects of the sector. 190,000 visitors are expected.

The first phase of CIFF willintroduce a full range of solutions, both classic and modern in style; a vast selection of products of different styles and typologies: home furniture, home decor & home textiles, outdoor & leisure furniture.

Customisation + Interactivity + Design

This is how new products are created, designed not be part of a series, but to shape themselves in such a way as to provide what the client is looking for.

Products that can put themselves at the service of the user, exploiting the high-level Internet of Things technology, cloud computing and smart chips, masterfully concealed in a charming design.

Mild Luxury

Quality products, that can provide high-level comfort and luxurious design, but that at the same time reasonably priced, able to satisfy almost everyone, perhaps skilfully mixing together pieces that are different but easy to integrate.

Exports

According to the latest figures published by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of the People's Republic of China, the value of furniture manufacturing exports from January to August 2017 amounted to 12.64 billionRMB, an annual increase of 6.2%.

In order to assist international buyers, the living areas (dining rooms and living rooms) will be combined together, as will upholstered items and mattresses, ensuring that visits by operators from all over the world can be optimised and facilitated.



For further information:www.ciff-gz.com
Entrance to the engine plant at Mazda Powertrain Manufacturing (Thailand)



Corporate Communications Division Mazda Motor Corporation, Japan +81-3-3508-5056 [Tokyo] +81-82-282-5253 [Hiroshima] mailto: media@mazda.co.jp

TOKYO, Jan 19, 2018 - (JCN Newswire) - Mazda Motor Corporation today announced the opening of a new engine machining factory at its powertrain plant in Thailand's Chonburi Province, Mazda Powertrain Manufacturing (Thailand) Co., Ltd. (hereinafter, MPMT). Mazda's Representative Director, President and CEO, Masamichi Kogai, was among the attendees at an opening ceremony held at MPMT today."Congratulations on the opening of MPMT's engine machining factory," said Kogai in his remarks at the ceremony. "I'd like to express my sincere gratitude for the support we've received from the government, our suppliers and other parties. MPMT plays an essential role in Mazda's comprehensive vehicle production system in Thailand. Strengthening our production framework for engines, the most fundamental vehicle component of all, will help us to get our cars to customers without delay. Moving forward, we will continue our focus on high-quality vehicle production, and work to deliver cars that add color to their owners' lives while contributing to the development of Thailand's automotive industry at the same time.""We are delighted to open this new engine machining factory," said MPMT President and CEO Mitsunobu Mukaida. "MPMT's steady growth since its establishment through to today is largely thanks to the generous assistance we've received from various parties. Let me express my sincere gratitude to all concerned. I hope that the engines we make here at MPMT together with our suppliers will go into cars that become an indispensable part of the customer's life. We will contribute to the growth of manufacturing in Thailand by working with the local community to build high-quality cars and helping to nurture the next generation of industry leaders."http://www.acnnewswire.com/topimg/Low_MazdaPowertrainMfg.jpgEntrance to the engine plant at Mazda Powertrain Manufacturing (Thailand)Working to enhance its comprehensive production system in Thailand for engines, transmissions and complete vehicles, Mazda has invested an additional 22.1 billion yen to establish the machining factory and increase the capacity of the existing engine assembly line in order to raise engine production capacity at MPMT from 30,000 to 100,000 units per year. Moving forward, the plant will start production of the SKYACTIV-G 2.0, an engine that will be supplied to manufacturing facilities in Malaysia and Vietnam as well as Thailand.Aiming to help create a future in which people, the earth and society can coexist with cars, Mazda will keep working to enrich people's lives through a car ownership experience that celebrates driving and become a brand with which customers feel a strong emotional connection.About MazdaMazda Motor Corporation (TSE: 7261) started manufacturing tools in 1929 and soon branched out into production of trucks for commercial use. In the early 1960s, Mazda launched its first passenger car models and began developing rotary engines. Still headquartered in Hiroshima in western Japan, Mazda today ranks as one of Japan's leading automakers, and exports cars to the United States and Europe for over 30 years. For more information, please visit www.mazda.comSource: MazdaContact:Copyright 2018 JCN Newswire . All rights reserved.
WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Americold Realty Trust, an owner of temperature-controlled warehouses backed by investor Ron Burkle, announced late Thursday the pricing of its initial public offering of 45.3 million common shares at a public offering price of $16.00 per share, the high end of the range of $14 to $16. The company raised $725 million in the IPO. Americold is issuing and selling 29 million common shares and selling shareholders are selling an additional 16.3 million common shares. The common shares are expected to begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange on January 19 under the ticker symbol 'COLD.' The offering is expected to close on January 23, subject to customary closing conditions. In addition, Americold and the selling shareholders have granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 6.795 million common shares. This consists of 4.35 million shares from Americold and 2.445 million shares from the selling shareholders at the initial public offering price, less the underwriting discount. For the offering, BofA Merrill Lynch, J.P. Morgan and RBC Capital Markets are acting as the joint book-running managers. Georgia -based Americold is said to be the world's largest cold-storage REIT, backed by Yucaipa Companies. Americold owns and operates 160 temperature-controlled warehouses, with approximately 1 billion cubic feet of storage, in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Argentina. The company, which employs approximately 11,000 associates worldwide, serves over 2,600 customers. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - At 2.00 am ET Friday, Destatis is set to release Germany's producer price index for December. Index is forecast to rise 0.2 percent in December from 0.1 percent in November. Ahead of the data, the euro fell against its major rivals. The euro was worth 0.8815 against the pound, 1.1734 against the franc, 1.2258 against the greenback and 135.85 against the yen as of 1:55 am ET. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
HANGZHOU, China, Jan. 19, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Adlai Nortye Biopharma Co., Ltd. (NEEQ: 870946) ("Adlai Nortye" or "the Company"), a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to discovery and commercialization of new and effective drugs, announced today that it had entered into a Global Licensing Agreement ("the Agreement") with Eisai Co., Ltd. ("Eisai"), a global pharmaceutical company with a focus on serving patients with unmet medical needs. Under the terms of the Agreement, Adlai Nortye will have exclusive worldwide research, development, manufacture and commercialization rights to E7046, excluding Japan and part of Asia other than Mainland China ("Territory").

E7046 is an investigational, oral EP4 antagonist (potentially first in class) with high activity and high selectivity. Based on preliminary results, it is well tolerated in patients with solid tumors. Phase 1b combination studies with radiotherapy and chemoradiotherapy are in progress.

"With its proposed mechanism of action and impressive preclinical results, we believe that E7046 will become a key component in furthering development of our oncology pipeline," said Dr. Ruirong Yuan, CMO and President of Adlai Nortye. "In preclinical studies, E7046 combined with radiotherapy, chemoradiotherapy and with immune checkpoint inhibitors demonstrated antitumor activity in different malignancies, including colon rectal cancer, lung cancer and some PD-1 resistant tumor models. We believe that E7046 has great potential for future clinical application in cancer treatment."

"In recent years, immuno-oncology has become an important modality for the development of new cancer drugs worldwide. E7046 is believed to have a mechanism in regulating the tumor microenvironment and we hope that this different approach to the immunology of cancer will become an important contribution in the field of immuno-oncology. We hope that future global clinical studies conducted on E7046 will be an important step to potentially being able to offer new treatment options for cancer patients in the future," said Dr. Alton Kremer, Chief Clinical Officer and Chief Medical Officer in the Eisai Oncology Business Group.

About E7046

E7046 is an investigational, potentially first in class oral EP4 antagonist that is believed to prevent the binding of prostaglandin E2 to its EP4 to change the immunosuppressive character of the tumor microenvironment. Based on preliminary results, it is well tolerated in patients with solid tumors. A Phase 1b combination study with radiotherapy and chemoradiotherapy is ongoing .

About Eisai

Eisai is a global pharmaceutical company addressing unmet medical needs. Eisai is committed to making contributions to better healthcare for patients and their families around the world through its business activities. For further information about Eisai, please visit: http://www.eisai.com

About Adlai Nortye

Adlai Nortye is a science-led biopharmaceutical company dedicated to discovering, developing and commercializing new drugs. We focus on discovering and developing important new treatments for cancer and metabolic diseases. Our mission is to improve patient lives by identifying and acquiring differentiated innovative medicines that help people live better, live longer. Through close collaborations with global partners, we have successfully positioned ourselves in the fields of immuno-oncology and metabolic diseases and have several programs ongoing from early pre-clinical to phase 3 ready.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 19)  President Rodrigo Duterte wants to terminate the contract with MIASCOR Aviation Services following a case of theft by its personnel.

"I would demand that there will be justice instantly. Kung sino 'yung... service provider diyan [Whoever the service provider is], you terminate the contract and look for another one," Duterte said in a meeting with airport officials on Thursday.

On Friday, Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) General Manager Eddie Monreal informed the airline service provider that their agreement would not be renewed.

In a letter addressed to MIASCOR President Fidel Herman Reyes, Monreal said the agreement between MIAA and MIASCOR ran from July 8, 2014 to March 31, 2017.

"Please vacate and return all premises occupied by MIASCOR inside the airport complex and its terminals within 60 days from date," Monreal wrote.

MIASCOR has yet to comment on the incident following the President's remarks.

Six airport personnel from the service provider face charges of theft for stealing an overseas Filipino worker's luggage.

Related: Duterte warns airport officials against reports of passengers finding their luggage opened

The suspects were terminated from work, and their all-access passes to the airport were revoked. Miascor paid the OFW almost P83,000 in losses.

The victim, Jovenil Dela Cruz from Pandi, Bulacan, returned to the Philippines via Clark Airport in December 23. His luggage was not returned until January 10.

In a video posted online, Dela Cruz showed the luggage had zippers forcibly opened and a box he brought was empty. He added it was only half of the baggage he brought home.

Clark International Airport Corp. Acting President Alexander Cauguiran told Duterte on Thursday that the six personnel admitted to stealing the luggage during an investigation conducted by Miascor.

He added they had already been relieved and charged, but Duterte threatened to kill them instead.

"Patayin mo na lang," said Duterte. "Walang areglo diyan. 'Pag hindi, parusahan ko kayo. Kung hindi ninyo gawin, ako ang papatay diyan."

"Sabihin mo talaga 'yan sa MIASCOR na -- gusto niyo kayo ang pumatay niyan? Kay 'pag hindi, kayo ang bibirahin ko," he added.

[Translation: Kill them instead... No settlements. If not, I'll punish you. If you can't do it, I'll kill them myself... Tell MIASCOR -- do you want to kill them yourselves? If not, I'll turn on you instead.]

Duterte told airport officials to release a public apology and warned others not to make the same mistake.

"So for the other airports in the country, I do not want it repeated ever again... I would also demand that the airport authorities should call the complainant and make amends, maybe in public to apologize for the sloppy job that we are doing," he added.

Miascor also operates in the five major airports in the country: Manila, Clark, Cebu, Davao and Kalibo. The airline services provider specializes in ground handling, cargo handling and warehousing, and in-flight catering.

CNN Philippines stringer Justine Dizon and correspondent Rex Remitio contributed to this story.
Apple today announced 70 colleges and universities in Europe have adopted Everyone Can Code, a comprehensive program designed by Apple to help everyone learn to build mobile apps. These colleges and universities are adopting Apple's App Development with Swift curriculum, helping to create opportunities for all students and equipping them with the skills they need to pursue careers in the booming app economy.

Education institutions in the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Ireland, Luxembourg, Poland and Portugal will offer App Development with Swift to prepare their students for future careers in app development. The full-year course was designed by Apple engineers and educators to teach coding and app design to students of all levels and backgrounds.

Harlow College in the UK will offer App Development with Swift to its 3,000 students including adults seeking to regain employment in order to teach them coding skills and prepare them for app development careers.

The Chair for Applied Software Engineering at the Technical University of Munich in Germany focuses on using Swift and ARKit to teach hands-on software engineering and entrepreneurial business skills to its students. They work closely with local businesses, including BMW and Siemens to ensure learning is relevant to today's workplace.

Mercantec Vocational College in Denmark is a publicly funded vocational school, offering its 3,000 students the opportunity to learn coding before moving on to careers with local businesses.

Hogeschool van Arnhem en Nijmegen in the Netherlands attracts a range of students looking for both undergraduate degrees and short vocational courses. Its 34,000 students now have the ability to learn to code through App Development with Swift.

"Coding is an essential skill for today's workforce, and through Everyone Can Code, we're giving people around the world the power to learn, write and teach coding," said Tim Cook, Apple's CEO. "Since launching Everyone Can Code two years ago, we've seen growing excitement for the initiative from schools around the world, who are increasingly incorporating the curriculum into their classrooms."

"At Harlow College, we recognise that learning to code will help students prepare for a technological future. It develops their approach to problem solving, logic and reasoning, as well as reinforcing key mathematical skills," said Karen Spencer, Principal of Harlow College. "Everyone Can Code demonstrates how any student can code by providing a unique and innovative environment for learning."

Swift is Apple's powerful and intuitive programming language that gives developers the freedom and capabilities they need to create the next generation of cutting-edge software. Popular apps including Airbnb, KAYAK, TripAdvisor, Venmo and Yelp are all created with Swift.

The technology sector is one of the fastest-growing industries across Europe, and computing and informatics professionals are in high demand. The app economy has generated 1.36 million jobs in Europe. Since the launch of the App Store, Apple has paid out nearly $18 billion to developers across Europe.

Apple revolutionized personal technology with the introduction of the Macintosh in 1984. Today, Apple leads the world in innovation with iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and Apple TV. Apple's four software platforms iOS, macOS, watchOS and tvOS provide seamless experiences across all Apple devices and empower people with breakthrough services including the App Store, Apple Music, Apple Pay and iCloud. Apple's more than 100,000 employees are dedicated to making the best products on earth, and to leaving the world better than we found it.

NOTE TO EDITORS: For additional information visit Apple Newsroom (www.apple.com/newsroom), or call Apple's Media Helpline at (408) 974-2042.

2018 Apple Inc. All rights reserved. Apple, Swift, the App Store and the Apple logo are trademarks of Apple. Other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180119005208/en/

Contacts:

Apple

Ryan James, 408-862-5585

ryanj@apple.com

Laura Bonney, +44 203 284 6290

lbonney@apple.com
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - January 19, 2018) - Global UAV Technologies Ltd. (CSE: UAV) (OTC: YRLLF) (FSE: YAB2) (the "Company" or "Global UAV"), a leader in the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle ("UAV") industry, is pleased to report on the progress of each operating division, and provide an update on the corporate activities of the Company. A significant number of new contracts, sales and clients have been secured in Q4 2017 compared to the previous quarter. In addition, strategic transitions and expansion of our operating divisions continue to take place as the Company supports the rapid growth of its subsidiaries.

"2017 was a significant year for Global UAV, we completed all 4 acquisitions, restructured management and strengthened the Board of Directors to accommodate the rapid growth the Company is experiencing. Our divisions have been expanding both operationally and in terms of revenue, allowing us to reinvest cash to further accelerate growth. We have also restructured our news distribution, branding and marketing strategy. The Company is beginning to see the results of increased investor reach and awareness as a result of our transformation and management's efforts. We are pleased to see the recent market interest and look forward to a successful 2018" stated Michael Burns, CEO and Director of Global UAV.

Global UAV

Management has made significant advancements in news distribution, marketing and brand exposure of the Company, including regularly presenting and introducing the Company to key brokers and strategic investors. These changes are resulting in a fast-growing, strong market presence and better investor reach worldwide. In addition, significant reinvestment of operating cash-flow into our divisions has shown excellent growth results including increases in sales and revenue. Global UAV continues to expand using cash on hand, reducing investor dilution.

Upcoming Trade Shows:

Roundup 2018 - Vancouver

The Company has been invited to participate in the first ever Innovation Hub at the 2018 AME Roundup conference at the Vancouver Convention Centre West from January 22 to 25. AME Roundup is one of the largest resource investing and technical conferences in Canada. This is an excellent opportunity to showcase our UAV solutions to natural resource companies, service providers as well as government representatives. We will have a NOVAerial Robotics Procyon 800E helicopter UAV on display for conference participants to view up close and we encourage attending investors to take the opportunity to meet the Global UAV management.

WEST 2018 - San Diego

In addition, the Company is proud to announce that it has been invited by the Canadian Trade Commissioner Service to attend the WEST 2018 conference as a Canadian UAV technology and services provider. The conference will take place in San Diego, California from February 6-8. WEST is the premier Sea Service conference on the West Coast that brings military, government and industry leaders together. The conference is co-sponsored by AFCEA International (The Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association), and the U.S. Naval Institute. Global UAV will have several pre-conference meetings with the US Department of Defence, Industry and other stakeholders through introductions by the Canadian Trade Commissioner. For more information on the trade show please visit www.westconference.org

High Eye Aerial Surveys:

The Company would like to introduce Mr. Ramiro Cotarelo as the new President of High Eye Aerial Surveys ("High Eye"). Mr. Cotarelo has been active in the unmanned aerial vehicle sector since 2013. He draws on nearly 25 years of experience in management from manufacturing to mining. These insights allowed him to leverage the use of UAVs in commercial environments with a focus on safety and accurate data collection. A lifelong remote-control hobbyist, Mr. Cotarelo has built and enjoys remote controlled air, land and sea craft.

"I am excited to join High Eye Aerial," stated Mr. Cotarelo. "I will continue expanding High Eye's profile as I feel strongly that UAVs will be playing a greater role in commercial applications where an aerial perspective produces clean, seemingly objective data collection. We are just beginning to understand the potential as additional technology is tailored for UAVs."

Other changes at High Eye Aerial include moving its base of operations to a joint facility with NOVAerial Robotics. This move reduces overhead costs and increases the synergy between companies while giving High Eye a robust base of operations.

High Eye will continue to offer photogrammetry and video services, but is re-focusing its core business on Light Detection and Ranging ("LiDAR"), thermal and specialty survey and also inspection services. These changes will place High Eye as a professional UAV services company in several niche markets with a focus on large scale government and industrial clients.

High Eye Aerial has recently ordered both a Procyon 900E and a new multicopter from NOVAerial Robotics as they modernize their UAV fleet and increase operational capacity.

Pioneer Aerial Surveys:

Pioneer Aerial completed a record number of surveys and has expanded its client base significantly in 2017. New clients continue to request surveys while the company's scope of services is diversifying into infrastructure and UXO detection. Pioneer Aerial has successfully flown in excess of 12,000-line kilometres of surveys since its inception. This includes flights for resource exploration, infrastructure detection, and unexploded ordinance ("UXO").

Pioneer Aerial achieved many significant milestones in 2017, which include:

- 21 contracts completed world wide

- the largest survey completed to date consisting of 1300-line kilometres

- expansion of fleet and trained field crews

- two contracts completed in South America

- first contract completed for the detection of unexploded ordinance and buried infrastructure

- completion of contracts for multiple 'major' mining companies including Rio Tinto, New Gold, Osisko, SSR Mining and IAMGOLD.

- completion of surveys for different deposit types including lithium, diamonds, gold, nickel, copper, silver and base metals.

Pioneer Aerial has purchased several UAV's from NOVAerial Robotics and has commissioned the design and manufacture of a weather resistant multi-rotor UAV as it is in the process of modernizing its UAV fleet and increasing operational capacity.

NOVAerial Robotics:

With the move to a larger facility complete, NOVAerial Robotics has been expanding its operations. This has included the introduction of new staff, and a skilled worker hiring campaign to increase the manufacturing capacity and fulfill orders. NOVAerial has received multiple orders from 3rd parties and Global UAV subsidiaries for their UAVs including the new models, the Procyon 900E and the weather-proof multicopter.

About Global UAV Technologies Ltd.:

With its growing technical expertise and expanding reach globally, Global UAV Technologies is a leader within the commercial Unmanned Aerial Vehicle ("UAV") sector. Through its wholly owned divisions - Pioneer Aerial Surveys, High Eye Aerial Imaging, UAV Regulatory Services, and NOVAerial Robotics - Global UAV Technologies provides a full spectrum of UAV-based services and products. These opportunities include production, research and design of professional grade UAVs, geophysics and remote sensing survey services, as well as regulatory consulting and management.

Global UAV Technologies will continue its growth through expanding the business of its current subsidiaries and the continued evaluation of potential acquisitions with the goal of creating a consortium of businesses that, when fully integrated, will cover all aspects of the UAV industry.

On behalf of the Board of Directors,

"Michael Burns"

Michael Burns

CEO & Director

For additional information please contact:

Global UAV Technologies

Investor Information

Telephone: 1 888-905-7011

Email: ir@globaluavtech.com

www.globaluavtech.com

Neither Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE) nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward-Looking Statement

Statements in this press release, other than purely historical information, including statements relating to the Company's future plans and objectives or expected results, may include forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on numerous assumptions and are subject to all of the risks and uncertainties inherent in public markets, service industries, manufacturing and the UAV Sector. As a result, actual results may vary materially from those described in the forward-looking statements.
Fujitsu Limited Public and Investor Relations Tel: +81-3-6252-2176 URL: www.fujitsu.com/global/news/contacts/

TOKYO, Jan 19, 2018 - (JCN Newswire) - Fujitsu Limited today announced that Fujitsu has applied to the Dutch Data Protection Authority (DPA) to obtain approval for its Binding Corporate Rules for Processors (BCR-P), which are common rules established across the Fujitsu Group related to the handling of personal data that customers have entrusted to Fujitsu for processing. This application is part of the Company's effort to meet the legal requirements for the protection of personal data in Europe laid out in the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)(1).By obtaining this approval, Fujitsu will be able to provide customers with safer and more secure services that comply with the GDPR.Against the background of the rapid development of ICT around the globe, particularly in AI and IoT, personal data, as one part of big data, is used in a variety of forms, and the boundaries of such utilization continue to expand. The GDPR is planned to go into effect on May 25, 2018, in Europe, making it necessary for all members of corporate groups to protect and handle personal data more strictly.The Fujitsu Group, from a variety of locations, provides standardized, high-quality services, including the processing of data received from customers, to customers around the world. It operates Global Delivery Centers in eight countries, which undertake such tasks as offering multilingual service desks as well as application development and operations. Moreover, the Fujitsu Group is promoting efforts to strengthen appropriate personal data protections in accordance with international regulations, in order to respond to the diversification of the technology and information in contemporary society.Under the GDPR, customers who entrust personal data processing to other companies will be obliged to select data processors that meet the requirements of the GDPR, including the ability to process personal data using both appropriate technical and organizational measures. In light of this requirement, customers will be able to safely and securely entrust the processing of personal data to the Fujitsu Group once it has obtained approval from the DPA for its BCR-P.Going forward, the Fujitsu Group will continue to promote efforts to strengthen its personal data protections.(1) GDPRA European regulation obligating companies, organizations, and other bodies to protect personal data, controlling the movement of personal data outside the European Economic Area, and requiring the reporting of data leaks within 72 hours, among other requirements. Companies, organizations, or other bodies found to be in violation may be subject to administrative fines of up to 4% of the annual revenue of the entire corporate group, or 20 million euros, whichever is greater.About Fujitsu LtdFujitsu is the leading Japanese information and communication technology (ICT) company, offering a full range of technology products, solutions, and services. Approximately 155,000 Fujitsu people support customers in more than 100 countries. We use our experience and the power of ICT to shape the future of society with our customers. Fujitsu Limited (TSE: 6702) reported consolidated revenues of 4.5 trillion yen (US$40 billion) for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2017. For more information, please see http://www.fujitsu.com.* Please see this press release, with images, at:http://www.fujitsu.com/global/about/resources/news/press-releases/Source: Fujitsu LtdContact:Copyright 2018 JCN Newswire . All rights reserved.
19 January 2018

Clear Leisure Plc

("Clear Leisure" or "the Company")

Bitcoin Mining Investment Update

Clear Leisure (AIM: CLP) is pleased to announce that, following its notification on 27 December 2017 regarding the Company's investment in Miner One Limited, a blockchain data centre operator, it has completed the acquisition of the first batch of computer "miners", representing 20% of the planned final computing power, and has acquired the mobile unit in which the IT infrastructure will be housed.

Negotiations with an established power supply provider in Serbia, are at an advanced stage and it is expected that the first batch of miners will be operational by the second half of February 2018.

An order for additional miners has been placed with a leading manufacturer and will be dispatched as soon as practical, albeit that extremely high demand for Bitcoin mining ASIC computers is affecting delivery schedules worldwide.

As notified on 27 December 2017, Eufingest, the beneficial holder of 27.81 per cent of the ordinary share capital of the Company, agreed to lend Clear Leisure 200,000 to fund the Company's 50% share of the Miner One Limited joint-venture's mining blockchain data centre: the first tranche of 50,000 has now been released by Eufingest.

-ends-

For further information please contact:

Clear Leisure Plc +39 335 296573

Francesco Gardin, CEO and Executive Chairman

SP Angel Corporate Finance (Nominated Adviser & Joint Broker) +44 (0)20 3407 0470

Jeff Keating / John Mackay / Charlie Bouverat

Peterhouse Corporate Finance (Joint Broker) +44 (0) 20 7469 0935

Lucy Williams / Heena Karani

Leander (Financial PR) +44 (0) 7795 168 157

Christian Taylor-Wilkinson

About Clear Leisure Plc

Clear Leisure plc (AIM: CLP) is an AIM listed investment company with a portfolio of companies primarily encompassing the leisure and real estate sectors mainly in Italy. The focus of management is to pursue the monetisation of all of the Company's existing assets, through selected realisations, court-led recoveries of misappropriated assets and substantial debt-recovery processes. Under its existing investment policy the Company can seek new investment opportunities, in different sectors, including information technology. For further information, please visit, www.clearleisure.co.uk
MoneyTV with Donald Baillargeon television program, Copyright MMXVIII, all rights reserved. MoneyTV does not provide an analysis of companies' financial positions and is not soliciting to purchase or sell securities of the companies, nor are we offering a recommendation of featured companies or their stocks. Information discussed herein has been provided by the companies and should be verified independently with the companies and a securities analyst. MoneyTV provides companies a 3 to 4 month corporate profile with multiple appearances for a cash fee of $11,995.00 to $17,250.00, does not accept company stock as payment for services, does not hold any positions, options or warrants in featured companies. The information herein is not an endorsement by Donald Baillargeon, the producer, publisher or parent company of MoneyTV.

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.


MOSCOW (dpa-AFX) - Bitcoin has staged a strong recovery from the cryptocurrency market bloodbath witnessed over the past few days that was triggered by concerns over the possibility of stringent regulation in South Korea and China. The leading cryptocurrency moved above $11,000 Thursday morning amid a broad rebound in the market.



As of 3.02 am ET on Friday, Bitcoin was up 6.05 percent at $11,419.86 and Ethereum was higher by 7.77 percent at $1,033.00, on coinbase.



The cryptocurrency market volume was $577.24 billion versus $55.19 billion at the same time on Thursday, according to CoinMarketCap.



Here is a wrap up of the main cryptocurrency news over the past few hours:



1. South Korea Could Shutdown All Cryptocurrency Exchanges: Watchdog



Choi Jong-ku, chairman of South Korea's Financial Services Commission, told lawmakers on Thursday that the government is considering shutting down all cryptocurrency exchanges and not just those that violate law, the Yonhap news agency reported. The country will frame stringent law before it decides to shutdown these exchanges, the official added.



2. SEC Says Significant Investor Protection Issues Linked To Bitcoin ETFs



The Securities Exchange Commission has asked investment fund trade groups to address 'significant investor protection issues' linked to cryptocurrencies before exchange-traded-funds, that invest directly in bitcoin and its rivals or has significant exposure to them, can be launched. In a staff letter, the watchdog said, 'In addition, the innovative nature of cryptocurrencies and related products, as well as their expected use and utility in our financial markets, means that they are, in many ways, unlike the types of investments that registered funds currently hold in substantial amounts.'



3. Bitcoin Use Under Scanner In Indonesian Island, Bali



Indonesia's central bank, which issued a stern warning against the use of cryptocurrencies this month, have engaged a team to probe the trading in such currencies in the island of Bali, a popular tourist destination. The team includes central bank officials and members of the national police force, local media reported. Bank Indonesia has deemed cryptocurrency transactions 'illegal'.



4. NYSE Parent, Blockstream Partner To Launch Crypto Data Feed



Intercontinental Exchange, Inc., the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange, has partnered with Blockstream, which deals in blockchain technologies and financial cryptography, to launch the Cryptocurrency Data Feed. The feed will provide real-time cryptocurrency information and will initially include data from more than 15 cryptocurrency exchange venues globally.



5. LightInTheBox Establishes Blockchain Technology Research Lab



LightInTheBox Holding, a US-listed Chinese online retail firm, opened a blockchain technology research lab to develop blockchain technology platforms and applications. The company intends to explore the blockchain application in cross-border e-commerce transactions, Alan Guo, chairman and CEO, said.



6. Visa CEO Says Not To Process Cryotocurrency Transactions



Bitcoin is not real money, and Visa will not process any transactions that are cryptocurrency-based, the credit card giant's CEO Alfred Kelly told CNBC. Bitcoin is rather a speculative commodity to invest in, he said. Kelly added that he does not view bitcoin, the world's largest cryptocurrency, as a payment-system player.



7. Experts Say Bitcoin Bubble Is Bursting, Value To Fall Further



As Bitcoin suddenly reversed its path to downward from a peak, a leading team of economists predicted that the digital currency has all the hallmarks of a classic speculative bubble, and that it is bursting. The London-based independent economic research firm Capital Economics said that the most popular cryptocurrency, which lost half of its value within a month, has a lot further to fall yet.



8. Belarus Legalizes Cryptocurrency In A Special Economic Zone



Belarus has made cryptocurrency operations legal in a special economic zone in the country, which has a special tax and legal regime. A decree signed by President Alexander Lukashenko allows companies in the High Technology Park to use cryptocurrencies and tokens, offer services of crypto exchanges, and launch initial coin offerings to raise funds after March 28. The bill will make Belarus the first country in the world with comprehensive regulation of businesses on the basis of blockchain technology.



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BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - The pound weakened against its major opponents in early European deals on Friday, after a data showed that U.K. retail sales declined more than expected in December.



Data from the Office for National Statistics showed that retail sales volume dropped by more-than-expected 1.5 percent in December from November, when it grew 1 percent. Economists had forecast a 1 percent fall.



Similarly, sales excluding auto fuel decreased 1.6 percent, in contrast to November's 1.1 percent increase. Sales were expected to fall 1 percent.



Meanwhile, European shares rose as optimism about economic growth and corporate earnings helped investors shrug off concerns about a potential U.S. government shutdown.



The pound dropped against its major rivals in the Asian session, with the exception of the greenback.



Having advanced to 0.8802 against the euro at 5:00 pm ET, the pound reversed direction and edged down to 0.8827. The next possible support for the pound is seen around the 0.90 mark.



Data from the European Central Bank showed that the euro area current account surplus increased in November after falling for two straight months.



The current account surplus rose to EUR 32.5 billion from EUR 30.3 billion in October.



Pulling away from an early high of 1.3329 against the franc, the pound declined to a 2-day low of 1.3284. Continuation of the pound's downtrend may see it challenging support around the 1.28 area.



Figures from the Federal Statistical Office showed that Switzerland's producer and import prices increased at a steady pace in December.



Producer and import prices climbed 1.8 percent year-on-year, the same rate as seen in November.



The pound reversed from an early high of 154.41 against the yen, edging down to 153.79. If the pound falls further, 152.00 is likely seen as its next support level.



On the flip side, the pound extended rise to a 2-day high of 1.3945 against the greenback. On the upside, 1.44 is possibly seen as the next resistance for the pound.



Looking ahead, Canada manufacturing sales for November and University of Michigan's preliminary consumer sentiment index for January are set for release in the New York session.



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DUBLIN, Jan. 19, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

The "Global Flexible Shaft Couplings Market 2018-2022" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The global flexible shaft couplings market to grow at a CAGR of 4.71% during the period 2018-2022.

Global Flexible Shaft Couplings Market 2018-2022, 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.

According to the report, one driver in the market is increased demand from high speed and high torque applications. Flexible shaft couplings offer advantages, such as high torque density and torsional stiffness. In addition, they can handle slight misalignment in the shaft. As flexible shaft couplings offer torsional rigidity, they are mainly used in high-speed applications in oil and gas, mining and metals, and heavy machinery industries. The flexible parts, such as elastomeric sleeves and metal winding, in the shaft coupling allows for misalignment. However, the misalignment capacity is mainly dependent on the curve of the gear teeth.

Flexible shaft couplings are used in applications that require high torque transmission in the oil and gas industry. Non-lubricated coupling types, such as diaphragm, elastomeric, bellow, and disc couplings, are mostly adopted in the oil and gas industry. Flexible shaft couplings provide a combined torque capacity with vibration damping in pump applications in pipelines and oil refineries. This type of flexible shaft coupling can withstand extreme temperatures, pressure, and humidity. As a result, the probability of damages in the equipment is very less, reducing the overall machine life cycle cost.



One trend in the market is advances in coupling technology. Coupling manufacturers are using 3-D printing as it allows low-cost manufacturing, with short lead time and easy customization of end products. As the manufacturing process or assembly does not require significant changes foe each type of coupling, 3-D printing has gained attention from several manufacturers. 3-D printing can be done using metals, such as stainless steel and titanium, for industrial grade couplings.



Key vendors

Altra Industrial Motion

Rexnord

SKF

Timken

TSUBAKIMOTO CHAIN

Voith

Other prominent vendors

ABB

Cross+Morse

DieQua

Eide

Jakob Antriebstechnik

Mayr

MECVEL

Nabeya Bi-tech Kaisha (NBK)

Rathi

Regal Beloit

RINGFEDER POWER TRANSMISSION

Siemens

System Components

Tectos

Zero-Max

Key Topics Covered:



Part 01: Executive Summary



Part 02: Scope Of The Report



Part 03: Research Methodology



Part 04: Market Landscape



Part 05: Market Sizing



Part 06: Five Forces Analysis



Part 07: Market Segmentation By Product



Part 08: Customer Landscape



Part 09: Market Segmentation By End-User



Part 10: Regional Landscape



Part 11: Decision Framework



Part 12: Drivers And Challenges



Part 13: Market Trends



Part 14: Vendor Landscape



Part 15: Vendor Analysis



For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/kr8xvp/global_flexible?w=5





Media Contact:

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

press@researchandmarkets.com



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CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - The Canadian dollar declined against its key counterparts in the European session on Friday, as oil prices dropped after the International Energy Agency warned that the steep oil output growth in the U.S. could offset a plunge in Venezuela's production.



Crude for March delivery fell $0.32 to $63.57 per barrel.



In its monthly report, the IEA said that explosive growth in the U.S. and substantial gains in Canada and Brazil could far outweigh potentially steep declines in Venezuela and Mexico.



The output from non-OPEC countries could rise by 1.7 million barrels of oil per day this year, an increase of 0.1 mb/d estimated in last month's report, it said.



The IEA said it expects US crude production to rise to 10 mb/d in 2018, overtaking Saudi Arabia and rivalling Russia.



In the U.S., the House of Representatives passed a stop-gap funding measure late Thursday to avert a government shutdown.



But prospects appear gloomy in the Senate, where Democrats say they have the vote to block the spending bill in a bid to negotiate on budget and immigration deals.



The currency has been trading in a negative territory in the Asian session.



Reversing from an early high of 89.55 against the yen, the loonie weakened and was trading at 89.07. The next possible support for the loonie-yen pair is seen around the 88.5 area.



The loonie dropped to 1.5259 against the euro early in the session and held steady since then. The pair closed Thursday's trading at 1.5194.



Data from the European Central Bank showed that the euro area current account surplus increased in November after falling for two straight months.



The current account surplus rose to EUR 32.5 billion from EUR 30.3 billion in October.



Pulling away from an early high of 0.9923 against the aussie, the loonie edged down to 0.9972. The loonie is seen finding support around the 1.01 level.



The loonie fell back to 1.2429 against the greenback, off its early 2-day high of 1.2400. Continuation of the loonie's downtrend may see it challenging support around the 1.25 area.



Looking ahead, Canada manufacturing sales for November and University of Michigan's preliminary consumer sentiment index for January are set for release in the New York session.



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Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 19)  Members of the House of Representatives are divided over whether Congress should vote separately to revise the Constitution.

House constitutional amendments committee chair Roger Mercado believes the lower house may convene as a Constituent Assembly, even without the Senate.

"We can do that because it is our mandate in the Constitution that Congress, upon a vote of three-fourths, can already amend or revise our Constitution," Mercado said on Thursday. "But if the Senate will join us, much better."

The House of Representatives approved on Tuesday a resolution that will allow Congress to convene as a Constituent Assembly and to revise the charter to make way for a federal republic form of government.

READ: House OKs resolution to convene Con-Ass

Senators, however, want the voting on charter change done separately.

Sen. Ping Lacson on Wednesday warned that he will move for the expulsion of any of his colleagues who will join the House-led Constituent Assembly.

READ: Lacson wants to expel senators who attend House con-ass

But Mercado said charter change is too important to delay, despite the Senate's objection to joint voting.

He said the Senate may be given two weeks to concur with the House resolution.

"We cannot also be made hostage by the Senate," he said. "We already passed the concurrent resolution to the Senate for their concurrence. If they will not concur, then we will have to proceed."

Mercado also said the House may approve and refer the proposed changes to the charter directly to the people in a plebiscite, effectively bypassing the Senate.

Talk to Senate first

But for Senior Deputy Minority Leader Lito Atienza, voting on the proposed amendments must be done separately.

He said it would be best for House leaders to talk to the senators first and settle the issue on voting.

"Bicameral system tayo," he said on Thursday. "Gumagawa tayo ng batas, dalawang level ang kailangang approval. 'Di naman joint voting paggawa ng batas."

[Translation: We use a bicameral system. When we make laws, there must be two levels of approval. Lawmaking doesn't go through joint voting]

Meanwhile, Bayan Muna Party-List Rep. Carlos Zarate said on Thursday that he and his colleagues will oppose the move for a house-led constituent assembly if the issue is discussed in plenary.

"The proponents' reading on the role of Congress in the amendment of the Constitution is self-serving and compartmentalized, just to fit their agenda," he said. "We will definitely oppose this attempt to bastardize our democratic process."

Don't rush it

For Vice President Leni Robredo, changing the Constitution should be discussed thoroughly.

"Ang Saligang Batas, ang intensyon nito, ito ang permanenteng framework na ginagalawan nating lahat," she said in a Thursday statement. "Hindi siya puwedeng palitan nang basta-basta. Hindi siya puwedeng madaliin."

[Translation: The intention of the Constitution is to serve as the permanent framework that we follow. You can't just change it. You can't rush it.]

Robredo added that she would prefer a Constitutional Convention than a Constituent Assembly for charter change.

In a Constitutional Convention, delegates may be chosen by the people in a special election.

"[F]rom the very start, parating doon ako sa Constitutional (Convention) kasi binibigyan doon iyong mga tao ng pagkakataon na pumili kung sino iyong magre-represent sa kanila," she said. "Pangalawa, iyong mga Constitutional Commission members, nakatutok talaga sa pag-frame ng Saligang Batas, at hindi siya nakahalo sa ibang trabaho."

[Translation: From the very start, I've always supported Constitutional Convention because it gives the people the chance to choose who would represent them. Second, the Constitutional Commission members are focused on framing the Constitution and don't do other jobs.]

CNN Philippines Digital Producer VJ Bacungan contributed to this report.
LOS ANGELES, January 19, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

FN Media Group LLC Presents USA News Group News Commentary

USA News Group - Two major Canadian fertilizer companies, Agrium and Potash Corp of Saskatchewan have just merged to form Nutrien Ltd, which is now the biggest fertilizer producer in the world and according to the Province's Premiere, the new entity will keep its headquarters in Saskatchewan.

Companies on the move in the potash space include Compass Minerals International, Inc. (NYSE: CMP), Intrepid Potash, Inc. (NYSE: IPI), Nutrien Ltd. (TSX: POT) (NYSE: POT), and Potash Ridge Corporation (TSX: PRK) (OTC: POTRF).

About 95% of potash is used for fertilizer in agriculture and about 5% is used in commercial and industrial products. Potash fertilizers can correct the problem where soil is potassium deficient and boost crop yields and quality.

Potash companies have been watching the increase in global demand for potash this year, and believe that the merger by majors will benefit all players including Compass Minerals International, Inc. (NYSE: CMP), Intrepid Potash, Inc. (NYSE: IPI), and Nutrien Ltd. (TSX: POT) (NYSE: POT).

And while large producers of potash have benefited from stronger pricing over the last year, smaller potash focused companies are playing off of market strength. Potash Ridge (TSX: PRK) (OTC: POTRF), is a junior mining company getting attention for its North American interests, which are focused on near term production in Utah.

WHAT NUTRIEN PRODUCES

Potash is a naturally occurring mineral created during the evaporation of ancient sea beds. It is most often referred to as Muriate of Potash or Potassium Chloride (MOP) and Sulphate of Potash (SOP) or Potassium Sulphate.

Potassium serves as the "Regulator" of many essential processes within the plant and is one of the three primary crop nutrients required for plant growth.

MOP, also known as KCI, is widely used in all types of farming, but contains a chloride ion that can be detrimental towards plant growth, especially fruits and vegetables. If the chloride content isn't managed, it can lead to low quality crops and inhibit place growth in dry soils and saline areas.

MOP is the most widely used potassium fertilizer, especially in major areas of use, such as China and Brazil. It currently has a global market size of about 55 million tons per year.

SOP is a premium form of potassium fertilizer and has a smaller market of about 8 million tonnes per year, but commands a much higher price for its ability to improve crop yield without chloride build up associated with using MOP.

THE BIGGEST POTASH COMPANY MAKES ITS HOME

Nutrien is currently producing over 25 million tons of assorted agricultural products annually. The entirety of the company's potash mining executives are located in Canada despite having retail operations all over the region, including the largest network of farm retail stores in the US.

The company, which currently runs its executive operations from Chicago, plans to establish its head office in Saskatchewan. The move is expected to increase corporate office jobs to 300, reflecting a 15% jump.

According to Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall, Nutrien will have all the executives working in the Saskatchewan office live in the province.

That commitment is already in partial fulfillment, with the Nutrien CEO Chuck Magro living in Calgary, Alberta, which was the head office of Agrium.

Executive Chairman Jochen Tilk also resides within the province, in Saskatoon. Nutrien spokesman Richard Downey said that while Magro will continue to reside in Calgary for the meantime, he has plans to purchase a home in Saskatoon.

The company is not receiving any incentives from the current Saskatchewan government, but with Saskatchewan's Ruling Party set to pick a new leader following the impending resignation of Wall, that may be set to change.

THE WHOLE POTASH MARKET WILL BENEFIT

The analysts view the creation of Nutrien as a move to a more galvanized marketplace.

According to PotashCorp, the demand for potash and the strength in global demand will continue this year. It's pinned at about 62 million-65 million tons in 2017, which is up from ~60 million tons in 2016.

Potash prices have bounced back stronger too.

Granular potash prices in Brazil have risen as much as 17% YoY (year-over-year) to $274 as of the week ending October 6. In the US Corn belt region, prices have risen ~5% YoY. The standard grade of potash was also 5% higher YoY in the South East Asia region.

The global Potash Fertilizer Market is expanding with considerable growth potential during the next five years.

POTASH RIDGE IN GOOD COMPANY

While MOP pricing continues to hold value, higher premium SOP (potash) could be a source of excellent value for junior miners. Potash Ridge is one of these looking to vitalize the sector.

Potash Ridge has two highly de-risked and advanced development stage potassium sulphate (SOP) projects; 1) the Blawn Mountain assets in Utah and 2) the Valleyfield project in Quebec, Canada.

Both projects are well received in their respective jurisdictions and have earned strong support from the various levels of government, agencies, financial groups, and stakeholders in their individual locales under Potash Ridge's guidance.

Potash Ridge announced late last year its plans to spin-out the Valleyfield project into a new public company in order to create greater value. So now, the company plans to focus its efforts on the development of its proposed 255,000 ton per year project at Blawn Mountain, Utah.

A prime source for SOP, Blawn Mountain is in its final stages of completion with all major environmental and regulatory permits in place. Blawn Mountain has the potential to become a significant potash resource and make Potash Ridge the lowest cost producer SOP in North America.

NO GOOD DEED

In response to the merger announcement, Nutrien shares took a slight dive in Toronto, while moving slightly in the opposite direction in New York.

For the long term however, the merger seems to have positioned the company for some impressive growth numbers. Potash and various fertilizer products will be highly sought after commodities in the agricultural sector as the world's food demands grow with the rising global population.

Certainly the move to consolidate Nutrien Ltd. brings price strength and balance to supply levels. Increased market demand is expected to benefit junior miners and others looking to develop potash resources for the long term.

POTENTIAL COMPARABLES

Compass Minerals International, Inc. (NYSE: CMP)

Compass Minerals International, Inc., produces and sells salt, and specialty plant nutrition and chemical products in the United States, Canada, Brazil, the United Kingdom, and internationally. It operates in three segments: Salt, Plant Nutrition North America, and Plant Nutrition South America. Compass Minerals International, Inc., produces and sells salt, and specialty plant nutrition and chemical products in the United States, Canada, Brazil, the United Kingdom, and internationally. It operates in three segments: Salt, Plant Nutrition North America, and Plant Nutrition South America. The company was formerly known as Salt Holdings Corporation and changed its name to Compass Minerals International, Inc. in November 2003. Compass Minerals International, Inc. was incorporated in 1993 and is based in Overland Park, Kansas.

Intrepid Potash, Inc. (NYSE: IPI)

Intrepid Potash, Inc. produces and sells potash and langbeinite products in the United States and internationally. It operates in two segments, Potash and Trio. The Potash segment offers muriate of potash or potassium chloride for use as a fertilizer input in the agricultural market; as a component in drilling and fracturing fluids for oil and gas wells, as well as an input to other industrial processes in the industrial market; and as a nutrient supplement in the animal feed market. Intrepid Potash, Inc. was incorporated in 2007 and is based in Denver, Colorado.

Nutrien Ltd. (TSX: POT) (NYSE: POT)

Nutrien LTD, formally Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan Inc., together with its subsidiaries, produces and sells fertilizers, and related industrial and feed products worldwide. It operates in three segments: Potash, Nitrogen, and Phosphate. The company's products primarily include standard and granular potash; diammonium phosphate, monoammonium phosphate, and phosphoric acid; and ammonia, urea, nitric acid, ammonium nitrate, and nitrogen solutions, as well as purified acids and phosphate feed products. It owns and operates five potash mines in Saskatchewan and one potash mine in New Brunswick. The company was founded in 1953 and is headquartered in Saskatoon, Canada.

For a more in-depth look into PRK you can view the in-depth report at USA News Group:

http://usanewsgroup.com/2017/12/06/potash-supply-to-exceed-demand-by-2020-report/

Article Source:

USA News Group

http://usanewsgroup.com

info@usanewsgroup.com

Legal Disclaimer/Disclosure: This piece is an advertorial and has been paid for. This document is not and should not be construed as an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to purchase or subscribe for any investment. No information in this Report should be construed as individualized investment advice. A licensed financial advisor should be consulted prior to making any investment decision. We make no guarantee, representation or warranty and accept no responsibility or liability as to its accuracy or completeness. Expressions of opinion are those ofUSA News Group only and are subject to change without notice.USANews Group assumes no warranty, liability or guarantee for the current relevance, correctness or completeness of any information provided within this Report and will not be held liable for the consequence of reliance upon any opinion or statement contained herein or any omission. Furthermore, we assume no liability for any direct or indirect loss or damage or, in particular, for lost profit, which you may incur as a result of the use and existence of the information, provided within this Report.

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CALGARY, Alberta, 2018-01-19 15:00 CET (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Serinus Energy Inc. ("Serinus", "SEN" or the "Company") (TSX:SEN)(WARSAW:SEN), announces that Mr. Trevor Rath has tendered his resignation as VP, Operations of the Company to pursue other opportunities. The resignation is effective immediately. The Company thanks Mr. Rath for his service and wishes him success in his future endeavours. About Serinus Serinus is an international upstream oil and gas exploration and production company that owns and operates projects in Tunisia and Romania. For further information, please refer to the Serinus website (www.serinusenergy.com) or contact the following: Serinus Energy Inc. Serinus Energy Inc. Calvin Brackman Jeffrey Auld Vice President, External Relations & Strategy Chief Executive Officer Tel.: +1-403-264-8877 Tel.: +1-403-264-8877 cbrackman@serinusenergy.com jauld@serinusenergy.com Translation: This news release has been translated into Polish from the English original. Forward-looking Statements This release may contain forward-looking statements made as of the date of this announcement with respect to future activities that either are not or may not be historical facts. Although the Company believes that its expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable as of the date hereof, any potential results suggested by such statements involve risk and uncertainties and no assurance can be given that actual results will be consistent with these forward-looking statements. Various factors that could impair or prevent the Company from completing the expected activities on its projects include that the Company's projects experience technical and mechanical problems, there are changes in product prices, failure to obtain regulatory approvals, the state of the national or international monetary, oil and gas, financial , political and economic markets in the jurisdictions where the Company operates and other risks not anticipated by the Company or disclosed in the Company's published material. Since forward-looking statements address future events and conditions, by their very nature, they involve inherent risks and uncertainties and actual results may vary materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statement. The Company undertakes no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statements in this announcement to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this announcement, unless required by law.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, January 19, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

Professor Sir John M. Ball, the Sedleian Professor of Natural Philosophy at the University of Oxford, has been named the winner of the King Faisal Prize 2018 for Science for outstanding contributions in the field of Mathematics.

(Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/630981/His_Royal_Highness.jpg )



(Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/630985/KFP_Science_Prize_John_Ball.jpg )



Prof. Sir John Ball, who is also the Director of the Oxford Centre for Nonlinear Partial Differential Equations at the University of Oxford, has been honoured with the prestigious award for his vast research on nonlinear partial differential equations, the calculus of variations, and dynamical systems. He has published over 70 peer reviewed articles in reputable scientific journals.

His work applies deep mathematical insights to important real-life problems, pioneering applications in materials science. He has also introduced rigorous mathematical foundations for liquid crystals, phase transitions and nonlinear elasticity.

A member of the editorial board of reputable scientific journals, Prof. Sir John Ball has been recognized by over 26 other awards and honours, including the Sylvester Medal from the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 2006 and the John von Neumann Lecture and Prize, SIAM, 2012.

The King Faisal Prize awarded the first prize in the Science category in 1984. Since then it has recognized outstanding contributions in various fields of science, alternating between the subcategories of physics, chemistry, biology and mathematics. The King Faisal Prize winners in Science have so far included 19 physicists, 13 biologists, 13 chemists, 10 mathematicians and one bio-chemist, some of whom have gone on to win other prestigious awards, including the Nobel.

About King Faisal Prize

King Faisal Prize was established in 1977 by the King Faisal Foundation (KFF), a philanthropic organization founded in 1976 by the sons and daughters of the late King Faisal bin Abdulaziz, as a tribute to their father. The Prize was granted for the first time in 1979 in three categories: Service to Islam, Islamic Studies and Arabic Language and Literature. In 1981, a prize in Medicine and a prize in Science were added. The Medicine prize was awarded the following year, in 1982, whereas the Science prize was awarded in 1984.

Contacts:Nora Sankour, nora@hadathgroup.com, +971-568797444
PUNE, India, January 19, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

According to a new market research "Ventilator Marketby Mobility (Intensive Care, Portable), Type (Adult, Infant), Mode (Volume, Pressure, Combined), Interface (Invasive, Non-invasive), End User (Hospital, Home Care, Ambulatory Care Center, EMS) - Global Forecast to 2023", published by MarketsandMarkets', the global market is projected to reach USD 1,261.9 Million by 2023 from USD 859.9 Million in 2018, at a CAGR of 8.0%. Rising prevalence of respiratory diseases, increasing incidence of preterm births, urbanization and growing pollution levels, high prevalence of tobacco smoking, rapid growth in the geriatric population, and rising number of ICU beds are the major factors driving the growth of the Ventilators Market.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160303/792302 )



Browse 185 market data Tables and56 Figures spread through 212 Pages and in-depth TOC on"Ventilator Market"

https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/ventilators-market-11018337.html

Early buyers will receive 10% customization on this report

"By mobility, the intensive care ventilators segment accounted for the largest share of the Ventilators Market in 2017."

On the basis of mobility, the intensive case ventilators segment accounted for the largest share of the global Ventilators Market. The large share of this segment is attributed to the rising number of ICU beds and rising adoption of equipping the ICU beds with ventilators.

"By interface, the invasive ventilation segment accounted for the largest share of the Ventilators Market in 2017."

On the basis of interface, the invasive ventilation segment accounted for the largest share of the Ventilators Market. The large share of this segment is due to the high prevalence of tobacco smoking, increasing prevalence of chronic diseases such as COPD & asthma, rapid growth in the geriatric population, and improving healthcare affordability in developed countries.

Inquiry Before Buying @ https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Enquiry_Before_Buying.asp?id=11018337

"By end user, the hospitals and clinics segment of end user accounted for the largest share of Ventilators Market in 2017."

Based on end user, the hospitals & clinics segment accounted for the largest share of the Ventilators Market. The large share of this segment can be attributed to the increasing number of private and public hospitals, economic expansion and focus of government on broader healthcare policies, and increasing per capita income.

"By type, the adult/pediatric ventilators segment held the largest market share of Ventilators Market in 2017."

Based on type, the adult/pediatric ventilators segment held the largest market share of Ventilators Market. The large share of this segment can be attributed to the large patient population with severe COPD, asthma, and other chronic respiratory diseases; rising number of smokers; and rapid growth in the geriatric population.

Download PDF Brochure@ https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownload.asp?id=11018337

"North America dominated the market in 2017."

North America accounted for the largest share of the Ventilators Market in 2017, followed by Europe and Asia Pacific. The presence of major market players, the rising geriatric population, high prevalence of smoking, high prevalence of respiratory diseases, highly developed healthcare system, and high healthcare expenditure are the other factors responsible for the large share of North America in the Ventilators Market.

The prominent players in the global Ventilators Market are Philips Healthcare (Netherlands), ResMed (US), Medtronic (Ireland), Becton, Dickinson and Company (US), Getinge (Sweden), Drager (Germany), Smiths Group (UK), Hamilton Medical (Switzerland), GE Healthcare (US), Fisher & Paykel (New Zealand), Air Liquide (France), Zoll Medical (US), Allied Healthcare Products (US), Airon (US), Mindray (China), and Schiller (Switzerland).

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Sleep Apnea Devices Market by Product, Therapeutic (CPAP, APAP, BPAP, Masks, Oral Appliances (Mandibular Advancement Device), Diagnostic (PSG, Pulse Oximeter), End User (Home Care Settings, Hospitals) - Analysis & Global Forecast to 2021

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WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Poland's president Andrzej Duda has thanked his American counterpart for fighting 'fake news,' the day President Donald Trump announced his much awaited 'Fake News Awards.'



'President Trump just stressed again the power of fake news. Thank you,' Duda said after Trump announced that the winner is The New York Times.



An exclusive by Paul Krugman that was published in The New York Times on Trump's election victory said the US economy would never recover. But DOW hit record high, Team GOP said.



Other members of US media that were 'awarded' by Trump are ABC News, CNN, Washington Post, Time, and Newsweek.



Trump listed 10 news stories that rattled the presidency, from a range of mainstream outlets, which he claims were all fake. Some of them were reports in which the media outlets had admitted errors and issued corrections.



In his twitter message, the Polish President calls on Trump that both of them must continue to fight the 'Fake news' phenomenon. Poland experiences fake news power first hand, according to Duda.



'Many European and even US officials form their opinions of PL based on relentless flow of fake news,' he tweeted.



After publishing the 'fake news awards,' Trump said on Twitter that despite some 'very corrupt and dishonest' media coverage, there are many great reporters he respects, 'and lots of GOOD NEWS for the American people to be proud of.'



Duda's tweet comes as the European Union slammed the Government of Poland over new laws that would give the ruling party more power over the judiciary.



Duda is known for his criticism of Polish media outlets alleging them of spreading 'fake news'.



During a joint press conference with Trump in Poland in July, Duda railed against some of the domestic news networks, accusing one of refusing to cover his recent trip to Croatia.



Speaking alongside him, Trump unleashed a heavy attack on the US media, especially CNN.



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

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Turkcell (NYSE:TKC) (BIST:TCELL) has become a member of 3GPP, the most influential global organization in developing the standards in 5G, which is targeted for commercial launch in 2020. By becoming a member of 3GPP, Turkcell will assume an active role aiming at remarkable contributions in the development phases of 5G, viewed as the technology of the future. Turkcell's many years of experience will be instrumental in 5G standardization activities along with other global players.

Turkcell (NYSE:TKC) (BIST:TCELL) prepares to leave its mark on 2018 with a major and exciting step forward in the technology field. On its path to rapidly becoming the world's first global digital operator, Turkcell will be involved in the standardization work of 5G, which is the next generation wireless technology after 4G, together with other major global corporations in the field. Becoming a member of the most prominent global organization in the development of the 5G standards, Turkcell will join the efforts and leave its mark on the technologies that will be shaping the future.

We aim to be a pioneer in 5G

Pointing to the infrastructure preparation work on 5G that has been underway for a while, Turkcell CEO Kaan Terzioglu spoke as follows: "As Turkey's Turkcell we are proud to be a pioneer in several fields concerning 5G. We reached record speeds in one of the world's first 5G tests, which took place under the roof of Turkcell. To lay the groundwork for Turkey to be a major player in the field, we are engaged in scientific cooperation with universities and are continuing to support the leading efforts of BTK (Information and Communication Technologies Authority), all aimed at making Turkey one of the first countries to implement 5G. We have gained valuable experience in infrastructure and product deployment, service development, making network improvements, and offering the latest technologies, by cooperating with global players. In the field of 5G, as a corporation we desire not to be a mere consumer. Instead, we aspire to be a producer, a company involved in the development activities as a leader, and are continuing to work steadily towards that goal. In this scope, we are very happy to be a member of 3GPP, as part of the next step in these efforts, and looking forward to participating in this undertaking alongside the other leaders. With this crucial move, we, as Turkcell, have stepped further towards the 5G era. We believe that our unique approach, as the world's first digital operator, will contribute greatly to 5G technology, together with other 3GPP member companies".

The most important organization setting mobile communications standards

Established in 1998 to set the 3G-UMTS standards, under the name of the 3rd Generation Partnership Project, 3GPP has later become the most important organization developing the 4G and 5G mobile communications standards. 3GPP is the global organization that works not only on further improving the mobile technologies we currently use, but also on defining 5G technologies, establishing the new and advanced features, and their standardization activities.

ABOUT TURKCELL: Turkcell is a digital operator headquartered in Turkey, serving its customers with its unique portfolio of digital services along with voice, messaging, data and IPTV services on its mobile and fixed networks. Turkcell Group companies operate in 9 countries Turkey, Ukraine, Belarus, Northern Cyprus, Germany, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Georgia, Moldova. Having launched LTE services on April 1st, 2016 in Turkey, Turkcell reached 84.12% population coverage as of September 30, 2017 employing LTE-Advanced and 3 carrier aggregation technologies in 81 cities. In 2G and 3G, Turkcell's population coverage in Turkey is at 99.59% and 96.98%, respectively, as of September 30, 2017. Turkcell offers up to 1 Gbps fiber internet speed with its FTTH services. Turkcell Group reported TRY4.6 billion revenue in Q317 with total assets of TRY32.3 billion as of September 30, 2017. It has been listed on the NYSE and the BIST since July 2000, and is the only NYSE-listed company in Turkey. Read more at www.turkcell.com.tr

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180119005506/en/

Contacts:

Turkcell Corporate Communications

Burak Mergen

burak.mergen@turkcell.com.tr
HONG KONG, Jan. 19, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The rugged smartphone brand from Russia, Aermoo (https://www.aermoo.com/), has been growing in popularity among the outdoor enthusiasts recently. As an emerging brand, how does it receivesuch a warm response worldwide? Established on the concept of "Challenge Impossible.", Aermoo brings people closer to the marvels of nature with powerful electronic products and demonstrates a greater sense of social responsibility by sponsoring many social adventure groups. The company aims to makes the 'impossible be possible'.

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/630993/Aermoo_Challenge_Impossible.jpg

A video aboutAermoo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RaG5b9WRSOs

Brand Concept: Challenge Impossible

While the branch of Aermoo Mobile originated in Russia,Aermoo focuses its brand concept of "ChallengeImpossible ". Like outdoor adventurers who enjoychallengingthe limits of life, Aermoo challenges the impossible bycreating breathtaking rugged smartphones, as well. Designed by German designers, the rugged phones aremade from aircraft-grade aluminum alloyand engineered tothe military-grade precision, embracing both a charming appearance outside and strong collocation inside. Aermoo subverts the bulky image of the traditional rugged mobile phone completely.

Product Series: Rugged Smartphones and Accessories

Being obsessed with exploring nature, Aermoo has released several professional rugged smartphones. Among which two products have to be mentioned. They include IP68, the Ingress Protection (IP) rating system,with waterproof and dustproof specially designed for the outdoor adventure enthusiasts. Complete tools are installed to the device such as SOS, PTT, Compass, GPS, Glonass, Gyroscope etc.

Aermoo M1 --- Aermoo M1 equips 5.2'FHD screen, 21MP Sonycamera and 5580mAh large battery powered by the octa-core Helio P25 processor. The powerful performance is embraced by an elegance body made of aerospace grade aluminum alloy that's sturdy enough to crack the walnuts, let alone defensing falling. Meanwhile, 6GB RAM matching with 64GB ROM speeds up the operating as well as provides ample space for storage. Visit the link for more details about M1: http://bit.ly/2DOHrse

--- Aermoo M1 equips 5.2'FHD screen, 21MP Sonycamera and 5580mAh large battery powered by the octa-core Helio P25 processor. The powerful performance is embraced by an elegance body made of aerospace grade aluminum alloy that's sturdy enough to crack the walnuts, let alone defensing falling. Meanwhile, 6GB RAM matching with 64GB ROM speeds up the operating as well as provides ample space for storage. Visit the link for more details about M1: http://bit.ly/2DOHrse Aermoo M2 --- Different to M1, M2 is decorated with premium TPU material back cover and metal frame, empowering this phone with excellent shock resistance and a comfortable grip. M2 features a 5.7'IPS screen in 18:9 aspect ratio and quad cameras, which is the first rugged phone with 4 cameras in the world as of today. Additionally, the octa-core Helio P23 CPU is embedded together with strong 6GB RAM, 128GB massive storage, and big battery capacity of 5180mAh.

--- Different to M1, M2 is decorated with premium TPU material back cover and metal frame, empowering this phone with excellent shock resistance and a comfortable grip. M2 features a 5.7'IPS screen in 18:9 aspect ratio and quad cameras, which is the first rugged phone with 4 cameras in the world as of today. Additionally, the octa-core Helio P23 CPU is embedded together with strong 6GB RAM, 128GB massive storage, and big battery capacity of 5180mAh. Accessories--- Besides their line of rugged smartphones, Aermoo is also dedicated in providingpremium accessories like an outdoor speaker, car charger, bluetooth headset, wireless charger, bluetooth earphones and so on by offering the samequality found with their phones. Accessories' details: http://bit.ly/2mUeaVK

Custom Rugged Phone: Game of Thrones

Referring to the personalized phone, Aermoo believesit is the first manufacturer to offer custom-made rugged smartphone customization in the world. It pays a tribute to the classic teleplay, Game of Thrones, and provides a custom back shell service for the fandom. However, not only does Aermooprovidethe cover design of Game of Thrones, but also supports a DIY service that clients can print any text they want on the rear cover.

Sponsorship Events

"Where there's the hero, there is the Aermoo."is the principle of Aermoo. Aermoo pays respect to people who are crazy about adventure to challenge extreme life. Coinciding with this, many outdoor adventure teams have partnered with Aermoo to make a difference on the journey. Risk Weekend, Drift Racing, Highwaymonks and World Life are partnerswith them. They travel or race worldwide then share their joyful time with multifunctional Aermoo M1. What a meaningful sponsorship for Aermoo to witness brave men discovering the majestyof nature!

Videoabout the sponsorship events:

Risk Weekend: http://bit.ly/2Dv7EhK

Challenge impossible, make impossible be possible. Consumers can look forward to more powerful products from Aermooin the future.

For more information, please contactAermoo SNS:

Facebook (English): https://www.facebook.com/aermoomobile

Related Images

image1.jpg

Aermoo

image2.jpg

Aermoo Sponsors World Life

image3.jpg

Waterproof M1

image4.jpg

Aermoo Custom Rugged Phone

Related Links

Aermoo Website

Aermoo M1

Related Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RaG5b9WRSOs
Las Vegas, Nevada--(Newsfile Corp. - January 19, 2018) - American Paramount Gold Corp. (OTC Pink: APGA) today announces the appointment of Isaac Laboucan-Avirom to the Board of Directors of the Company effective immediately.

Mr. Laboucan-Avirom is Chief of the Woodland Cree and Deputy Grand Chief of Treaty 8. He has served the Woodland Cree First Nation for 7 years as a Counselor and as Chief and is the Grand Chief of the K.T.C Tribal Council. The Woodland Cree have been focusing their economic development in areas of self-sustaining energy, agriculture and forestry. The Woodland Cree Nation is planning to explore business opportunities in the Cannabis industry.

The Company also announces the resignation of Ronald Loudoun as a Director of the Company effective immediately.

This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities. There shall not be any offer, solicitation of an offer to buy, or sale of securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such an offering, solicitation, or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction.

Additional Information:

Statements made in this press release include forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, regarding, but not limited to, the amount and use of proceeds the Company expects to receive from the sale of the shares of common stock in the registered direct offering and the warrants and the closing of the transaction described in this press release, which is subject to customary conditions. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "may," "will," "plan," "should," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "continue," or comparable terminology. Such forward-looking statements are inherently subject to certain risks, trends and uncertainties, many of which the Company cannot predict with accuracy and some of which the Company might not even anticipate, and involve factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those projected or suggested. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements and are advised to consider the factors listed above together with the additional factors under the heading "Forward-Looking Statements" and "Risk Factors" in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K, dated August 31, 2016 and the most recent Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, dated May 31, 2017. The Company assumes no obligation to update or supplement forward-looking statements that become untrue because of subsequent events, new information or otherwise.

Investor Contact:

Robert D Kay, Director

1.855.462.8882

info@americanparamountgold.net
DRUMMONDVILLE, QUEBEC -- (Marketwired) -- 01/19/18 -- NAPEC Inc. ("NAPEC" or the "Corporation") (TSX: NPC) today announced the signing of an agreement to acquire the assets of H.T. Sweeney & Son, Inc. ("HTS"), a heavy civil construction business with customers in the commercial, industrial, environmental, utility and institutional sectors. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close on February 26, 2018.

HTS is based in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, and offers its services in several states, including New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Virginia. The company's customers include utility companies, refineries, engineering firms and construction contractors. Approximately 80% of its revenues come from the industrial and utility sectors, and approximately 20% are from commercial customers. HTS has a workforce of more than 150 employees. For the year ended on December 31, 2017, HTS generated revenues of approximately US$50.0 million.

The transaction provides for a purchase price of US$18 million, subject to certain adjustments. In addition, the transaction includes a sale price adjustment clause allowing for a maximum adjustment of US$2.4 million based on HTS's results during the fiscal year ending December 31, 2018. The transaction will be financed by new and existing credit facilities.

"The acquisition of H.T. Sweeney & Son, Inc. will allow us to vertically integrate our heavy civil construction services, which until now had been subcontracted out. HTS's activities are an excellent complement to Riggs Distler & Company's activities in terms of its geographical coverage, customers and service offering. This acquisition was anticipated and was an important driver of NAPEC's Board of Directors' valuation of the Corporation," said Pierre L. Gauthier, President and Chief Executive Officer of NAPEC.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This document contains forward-looking statements that reflect management's current expectations regarding future events. Forward-looking statements are based on a number of factors and include risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ from forecast results. Management assumes no obligation beyond what is required under the law to update or revise forward-looking statements pursuant to new information or future events.

OVERVIEW OF THE CORPORATION

NAPEC is a company operating in the energy sector. The Corporation is a leading provider of construction and maintenance services to the public utility and heavy industrial markets, mainly in Quebec, Ontario, and the eastern United States. NAPEC and its subsidiaries build and maintain electrical transmission and distribution systems and natural gas networks. The Corporation also installs gas-powered and electric-powered heavy equipment for utilities, gas-fired industrial power plants, petrochemical facilities, and solar panel farms in North America. The Corporation also offers environmental construction and road matting services.

Additional information on NAPEC can be found in the SEDAR database (www.sedar.com) and on the Corporation's website, at www.napec.ca.

Source: NAPEC Inc.

Contacts:

NAPEC Inc.

Pierre L. Gauthier

President and Chief Executive Officer

450-876-2106

p.gauthier@napec.ca



Mario Trahan, CPA, CMA

Chief Financial Officer

819-479-7771

m.trahan@napec.ca

www.napec.ca



MaisonBrison

Pierre Boucher

514-731-0000

pierre@maisonbrison.com




Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 19)  The House is drawing fast in calling for a constituent assembly, but senators are putting the brakes on it.

Speaking to CNN Philippines on Thursday, former Senate President Aquilino "Nene" Pimentel Jr., House Deputy Speaker Fredenil Castro, and 1986 Constitutional Commission member Ed Garcia, all agreed on one thing: meet jointly, but vote separately.

Pimentel said, "The ideal really is to have one session where both Houses are jointly discussing the issues. And after that, they should vote separately."

He added if the 24 senators voted with the over 250 member of the House, they would be "overwhelmed by a tsunami."

Ed Garcia, one of the members of the 1986 Constitutional Commission said he also believed a separate voting is preferrable.

Under the the Constitution, Congress is composed of both the Senate and the House of Representatives.

Castro said, "I think there is nothing definite on whether it will be constitutional convention or aonstitutional assembly. Because for us to amend the Constitution on the basis of a constituent assembly, it is necessary for the Senate to agree and join the House of Representatives as a Constituent Assembly to amend the Constitution."

Both chambers are preparing to tackle charter change, but don't see eye to eye on how to vote on the proposed amendments.

In an interview with CNN Philippines Thursday, House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez said he would want to talk to Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III and ask him to convince senators to agree not only to a joint session, but to a joint voting as well.

However, he said a date for the meeting has yet to be set.

Alvarez also expressed concern over Senator Ping Lacson' warning that senators who would attend the Lower House discussion would be expelled.

READ: Lacson wants to expel senators who attend House con-ass

Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon said no one objected to Lacson's proposal.

"Igagalang namin 'yun, 'yung kanilang minumungkahi. But hindi ko makita kung anong ground ng [We will respect their sggesion. But I do not see the grounds for] expulsion because this is a constitutional process," he said.

Charter change, or Cha-cha, is a means of revising the Constitution via two modes: a Constitutional assembly (con-ass) or a Constitutional convention (con-con).

A constituent assembly is a mode of changing the Constitution, where both Houses of Congress decide on proposed revisions which are then presented in a plebiscite.

A constitutional convention is a separate gathering of duly elected delegates for the purpose of revising the Constitution which is then voted upon by the people.
NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / January 19, 2018 / Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP, a leading national securities law firm, reminds investors in Kobe Steel, Ltd. ("Kobe" or the "Company") (OTC PINK: KBSTY) (OTC PINK: KBSTF) of the February 26, 2018 deadline to seek the role of lead plaintiff in a federal securities class action that has been filed against the Company.

If you invested in Kobe American Depositary Receipts ("ADRs") between May 29, 2013 and October 12, 2017 and would like to discuss your legal rights, click here : www.faruqilaw.com/KBSTY. There is no cost or obligation to you.

You can also contact us by calling Richard Gonnello toll free at 877-247-4292 or at 212-983-9330 or by sending an e-mail to rgonnello@faruqilaw.com.

CONTACT:

FARUQI & FARUQI, LLP

685 Third Avenue, 26th Floor

New York, NY 10017

Attn: Richard Gonnello, Esq.

rgonnello@faruqilaw.com

Telephone: (877) 247-4292 or (212) 983-9330

The lawsuit has been filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on behalf of all those who purchased Kobe ADRs between May 29, 2013 and October 12, 2017 (the "Class Period"). The case, Aude v. Kobe Steel, Ltd. et al, No. 1:17-cv-10085 was filed on December 26, 2017.

The lawsuit focuses on whether the Company and its executives violated federal securities laws by making materially false and/or misleading statements and/or failing to disclose that: (a) Kobe falsified data on many of its aluminum, copper and steel products sold to customers; (b) Kobe sold products that failed quality control tests in violation of laws and regulations; (c) Kobe's financial performance relied on selling products that did not meet quality standards in violation of laws and regulations; (d) Kobe would incur significant costs and lose customers if customers became aware of the aforementioned; (e) Kobe's compliance initiatives, corporate governance and risk management activities were ineffective and inadequate; (f) Kobe's internal reporting systems failed to foster employee participation and adequately address employee concerns; and (g) as a result, Kobe's statements about its business, operations and prospects were materially false and/or misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis.

Specifically, between October 8, 2017 and October 13, 2017, the Company admitted to falsifying inspection certificates on its core products in its aluminum and copper and iron and steel segments and not complying with customer standards. As a result, the price of Kobe ADRs significantly declined.

The court-appointed lead plaintiff is the investor with the largest financial interest in the relief sought by the class who is adequate and typical of class members who directs and oversees the litigation on behalf of the putative class. Any member of the putative class may move the Court to serve as lead plaintiff through counsel of their choice, or may choose to do nothing and remain an absent class member. Your ability to share in any recovery is not affected by the decision to serve as a lead plaintiff or not.

Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP also encourages anyone with information regarding Kobe's conduct to contact the firm, including whistleblowers, former employees, shareholders and others.

Attorney Advertising. The law firm responsible for this advertisement is Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP (www.faruqilaw.com). Prior results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome with respect to any future matter. We welcome the opportunity to discuss your particular case. All communications will be treated in a confidential manner.

SOURCE: Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP
eBlocker, a Hamburg, Germany-based data protection startup, has secured a seven-figure funding.

High-Tech Grunderfonds (HTGF) made an investment following Innovationsstarter Fonds Hamburg II and other private backers.

Founded by CEO Christian Bennefeld, eBlocker provides a multi-user solution which protects user data on all terminal devices. The eBlocker Base, eBlocker Pro and eBlocker Family products enable users to regain control of data that may otherwise be unintentionally disclosed while surfing the internet.

The recently launched eBlocker Base protects against data espionage by internet providers. eBlocker Pro effectively blocks online advertising that collects user data, and offers protection against browser-based attacks. In addition to the functions shared with eBlocker Pro, eBlocker Family enables users to select individual filter settings for each member of the household, offering protection against content considered unsuitable for children.

The company intends to use the funds to extend its product family. eBlocker plans to launch the new eBlocker Enterprise solution mid 2018 to protect public authorities, research institutions and businesses similarly.

FinSMEs

19/01/2018
HubBox, a London, UK-based retail tech startup, raised $1.6m in pre-Series A funding.

Backers included KM Capital, Angel Tech Investors, Nexus Investment Ventures and Alan Halsall.

The company intends to use the funds to continue to expand operations and its business reach.

Founded in 2015 by Sam Jarvis, CEO, HubBox courier-independent nationwide Click & Collect service which leverages a network of 3,500 collection points including high street shops like pharmacies, dry cleaners, and convenience stores.

The companys Click & Collect option technology can be installed seamlessly at the retailers checkout, branded to match the website and available on all the major ecommerce platforms, including Magento, Shopify, WooCommerce, and Demandware.

The platform is already used by more than 100 retailers, including Jack Wills, Warehouse and ThisWorks.

FinSMEs

19/01/2018
neotiv, a Magdeburg, Germany-based digital health startup, secured a seed funding from High-Tech Grunderfonds.

The amount of the deal was not disclosed.

Led by Chief Executive Officer Dr. Chris Rehse and dementia researcher Prof. Emrah Duzel, neotiv develops apps that are able to measure the psychological effects of Alzheimers disease in its early stage. In this way, the company brings the latest findings in the field of neurodegenerative disease research to mobile apps for private users, doctors and drug development.

The technology is based on memory tests that have been specially developed for this purpose in comprehensive scientific studies at national and international levels. The scores obtained in these tests indicate whether specific brain regions are functionally compromised. neotiv delivers a snapshot of a patients mental capacity and enables a long-term, high-frequency monitoring of memory. This type of monitoring enables a dynamic tailoring of possible preventative and therapeutic measures.

The app will help health-conscious individuals to optimize changes to their lifestyle in a preventative manner so as to reduce dementia-related risks in a targeted way. It will also enable doctors to detect changes brought on by Alzheimers and to monitor the course of treatment. Drug developers can also use the app to make a more efficient pre-selection of trial candidates according to the early stages of the disease.

The app also provides them with improved and high frequency monitoring of treatment effects.

A spin-off of the Otto von Guericke University in the German city of Magdeburg in close collaboration with the Magdeburg site of the German Centre for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), neotiv is being supported in the launch of the product on the e-health market by the Flying Health Incubator in Berlin. Research work is also being monitored and supported through the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energys (BMWi) EXIST Transfer of Research programme.

FinSMEs

19/01/2018
Ring Capital, a Paris, France-based venture capital firm, is launching with an initial investment capacity of over 140m.

Backers included:

 Tikehau Capital (Paris:TKO), which has acquired a 25% stake in the firm and will take part in its governance by serving on various committees.

 AG2R La Mondiale,

 BPI France, Bred, and

 Danone.

Founded by Geoffroy Bragadir and Nicolas Celier in 2017, Ring Capital will be investing in growth stage companies with the potential to become European tech leaders, working closely with entrepreneurs.

The fund plans to acquire minority interests by investing between 1 million and 15 million either on its own or with co-investors and to take part in operations such as capital increases and buy-backs from founders and initial shareholders.

The company aims to add around 15 companies to its portfolio by the end of 2021, and has already completed one investment in a company, whilst two other transactions are currently being finalized.

Headed by Celier, who has been investing in French start-ups for over 20 years, and by Bragadir, an entrepreneur turned investor, the investment team

also consists of venture capital experts who have extensive operating experience in the technology sector.

FinSMEs

19/01/2018
Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Arun Jaitley on Friday said online availability of data has opened corporate activities to public gaze and raised the possibility of detecting any impropriety

New Delhi: Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Arun Jaitley on Friday said online availability of data has opened corporate activities to public gaze and raised the possibility of detecting any impropriety.

He said the ease at which the data is available now and is open for dissection has put pressure on everyone to ensure that there is compliance and transparency.

"It's now all open to public gaze. And being open to public gaze has its own advantages. It has the advantage that there is a pressure on everyone to make sure that compliances do take place, everyone is on his feet and realised that if there is any impropriety the possibility of it being detected is going to be very high," said Jaitley, who also holds the charge of the Corporate Affairs Ministry (MCA).

The minister was speaking at the launch of National CSR Data Portal and Corporate Data Portal of the MCA.

He said because of online availability of data, it has become easier to dissect any impropriety, including that of funds being channeled through shell companies.

"Therefore this transparency is good for the system, good for corporate India, it's good that your details to the extent that are to be made public, are being made public," Jaitley said.

With regard to corporates undertaking CSR activities, Jaitley said the 2013 amendment in the Companies Act has almost "formalised corporate philanthropy" in India.

Under the Companies Act, 2013, certain class of profitable entities are required to shell out at least two percent of their three-year annual average net profit towards Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities.

Jaitley said philanthropy in India, unlike in the West, was more family and community centric, religious groups and caste groups, social groups did it.

"But corporate India didn't have a structured manner of doing it. Some did it on their own initiatives. Now even though the provisions have been incorporated persuade corporate India to move in that direction, so far I think there has been a fairly credible and positive response to it," he said.

Jaitley said a public gaze into the CSR activists through the MCA portal would further institutionalise and consolidate it.

As per the Companies Act, in case a company fails to spend the specified amount, then its board has to provide the specific reasons for the same in the board report.

A total of 5,870 companies shelled out Rs 9,553.72 crore towards CSR activities in 2014-15. In 2015-16, as many as 7,983 companies incurred CSR expenditure of Rs 13,625.24 crore, as per official data.
It was highly expected that GST Council would decide the fate of petroleum products under GST to remove cascading effect but unfortunately no decision has been taken yet.

New Delhi: The all-powerful GST Council cut tax rate on 29 goods, including second-hand vehicles, confectionery and bio-diesel, while veering around to simplifying return filing process for businesses. Also, tax rate on 54 categories of services, including certain job works, tailoring services and admission to theme parks, have been lowered.

The panel at its next meeting may also consider bringing under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) purview items like petroleum and real estate which are currently outside the new regime, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said.

The Council cut GST rate on second-hand medium and large cars and SUVs from 28 percent to 18 percent and on other old and used motor vehicles to 12 percent.

Tax on diamonds and precious stones was slashed to 0.25 percent from current 3 percent.

While tax rate for bio-diesel was slashed to 12 percent from 18 per cent, that for public transport buses run on environment-friendly bio-fuels has been reduced to 18 percent from 28 percent previously.

Tax rate on irrigation equipment, sugar boiled confectionery, drinking water packed in 20-litre bottles, fertiliser grade phosphoric acid, tamarind kernel power, mehendi paste in cones, LPG supplied by private distributors, articles of straw, velvet fabric and rice bran was also cut. The new rates would be effective from 25 January.

The Council, in its 25th meeting on Thursday, also discussed process to make return filing simpler with just one return to be filed every month.

Infosys non-executive chairman Nandan Nilekani made a presentation on simplification of the return filing process. The Council discussed the possibility of retaining only GSTR-3B or initial sales return, while mandating sellers to upload their invoices.

Jaitley said the GSTR-3B and the invoices can be matched by tax officers; and in case of difference, at a later stage businesses can be asked to explained.

"It was finally culminating into filing 3B returns and supplier invoice, which would be adequate," he said, adding that the Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi, GSTN chairman Ajay Bhusan Pandey and Nilekani would formalise the structure and a final decision would be taken at the next meeting of the Council. Asked if filing only one return is the way forward, he said "that seems to be the course".

Businesses at present have to file GSTR-3B as well as GSTR-1, which is the final invoice wise sales returns. Jaitley said the next meeting may also consider bringing items that are currently in GST within the new tax regime.

The Goods and Services Tax (GST) was rolled out from 1 July, 2017 by subsuming most of the Central and State indirect taxes into a single tax. But, crude oil, natural gas, diesel, petrol and ATF have not been included in the ambit of GST as of now. Also, real estate was kept out of the GST.

The minister further said that a nation-wide roll out of e-way bill will happen on 1 February for inter-state transportation of goods through roads. Additionally, 15 states have said they will also start off with e-way bill for intra-state movement of goods on the same day. "Therefore, the trade and transport industry have to comply with," he said, adding that the e-way bill would act as anti-evasion measure.

In view of declining GST revenues, the Council, chaired by Jaitley and comprising his state counterparts reviewed the collections in the new indirect tax regime.

Jaitley said so far the government was relying on unilateral declaration made by the business, and in view of declining collections, there was a need for anti-evasion measure.

"So far it was voluntary compliance without anti-evasion measures. With all anti-evasion measures put in place, the collections will pick up," he said.

The GST revenue mop-up has been steadily declining over the month as from over Rs 95,000 crore collected in July, it has come down to about Rs 81,000 crore in November.

Jaitley further said that tax revenues from businesses opting for composition scheme was a matter of "serious concern" as 17 lakh businesses who have opted for the scheme have paid a cumulative tax of Rs 307 crore in the first quarter. "There seem to be under declaration as far as collections from composition scheme are concerned," he said.

Some tweaking in the scheme is expected when the Council discusses amending the Central GST, State GST and Integrated GST Acts in its next meeting, which will be held through video conferencing.

The amendments to these laws would be placed before Parliament in the second leg of Budget session. The first phase of the session will be from 29 January to 9 February. After a recess, Parliament will meet again from 5 March to 6 April. Besides, in view of a hefty Rs 35,000 crore unclaimed credit lying in form of IGST collections, the Council also decided to provisionally divide the amount equally between the

Centre and states.

"It will ease indirect tax position of the Centre and states. In direct taxes, we are ahead of target... In last few months, direct tax has grown substantially," he said.

Besides, the Council also accepted the report of the CBEC Chairperson Vanaja Sarna headed committee on handicraft sector. Now the fitment committee will decide on which handicraft items the rates could be lowered.

Experts react

M S Mani, director, Deloitte India: It is expected that an announcement on the return simplification process in the next meeting in ten days would be good if the views of industry are also taken into account in the process as the taxpayers would have many useful suggestions to offer. It appears that the some anti evasion measures will be rolled out over a period of time starting with the e-way bill. - this seems to be influenced by the lower collections in the past two months.

It is clear that the e-way bill is only the first step in curbing GST leakages, several more steps such as reintroduction of reverse charge on transactions with unregistered dealers, scrutiny and audits should now be expected the reduction in rates on several services and goods which are highly employment oriented indicates that the government has considered the larger economic impact of GST the fact that 15 states are rolling out the e-way bill for transactions within the state from 1st February, although they had time till 1 June, indicates that there is significant concern on introducing anti evasion measures. We should expect more steps such as reintroduction of RCM to follow.

Pratik Jain, Leader-indirect Tax, PwC: Two most crucial decisions in terms of simplification of return process and most legislative changes have now been deferred to next meeting. While simplification and merging multiple monthly returns into a single return would be good in concept, it needs to be ensured that invoice level details are made available to the buyers on a real time basis so that remedial action can be taken without waiting for assessment or audit.

Rates have again been rationalized on few items, which is a step in the right direction. One would expect that over next few months, this process would continue, particularly with respect to 28 percent category, which should only be for select luxury and demerit products. In many cases like works contract services or used motor vehicles the reduction of rate might have been due to restriction of input credit. Therefore, there is a good case to further liberalize the input credit regime.

There are indications that reverse charge levy on purchase from unregistered businesses could come back for composition dealers, which is important to plug the possible tax leakage. The highlight of the meeting was focus on 'anti evasion' measures due to dip in revenue collection. This could mean tightening of tax administration over next few months, which industry would need to be prepared for.

Mahesh Jaising, partner, Deloitte India : The 25th GST Council meeting appears to primarily have been focussed on rate reduction in respect of handicrafts and agricultural products with the Council rationalising GST rates on 49 handicraft goods, 29 agricultural products and 54 category of services. The Finance Minister further clarified that there would be no deferment in implementation of e-way bill. The Council reaffirmed its decision on introduction of e-way bill system on inter-State movement of goods on trial basis w.e.f January 15, 2018. However, penalty in case of defaults in compliance with e-way bill requirement will be made applicable from March 1, 2018. The industry would need to gear up to put a system in place on an immediate basis to ensure compliance with this system to avoid any situations of goods getting stuck at check posts, penalties being imposed, etc.

The GST Council also expressed the concern that the response to composition scheme has not been satisfactory with a possibility of understatement of turnover. In order to encourage more taxpayers to register for composition scheme, the Council may recommend necessary amendments in the GST Act including amendments in the reverse charge mechanism to benefit the taxpayers.

Vishal Raheja, DGM, Taxmann: It was highly expected that GST Council would decide the fate of petroleum products under GST to remove cascading effect but unfortunately no decision has been taken yet. Also, all powerful GST Council has not finalized single form return under GST which was the main agenda of meeting. But it is important to note that GST on 29 handicrafts items have been reduced to zero percent which will increase competitiveness in international markets and exports will increase which in turn boost economy. One another major decision which is taken today is to implement mechanism of e-way bill from 1 February.

Abhishek Jain, tax partner, EY: Keeping in mind the revenue evasion concern, the Union Finance Minister reiterated introduction of E-way Bills w.e.f. February 1, 2018 for inter-state transactions. Further, 15 States have decided to implement E-way Bills for intra-state transaction as well w.e.f. February 1, 2018 even though they had an option to do it on or before June 1, 2018. Accordingly, it will be very critical for the industry to immediately set up processes around the entire E-way Bill requirement and also train their supply chain team and transporters in this area. Also it is important that the Government portal for issuing E-way bills works bug-free. If either the industry is not ready or the Government IT system is not smooth, it may result in a severe supply chain bottleneck.

Atul Gupta, senior director, Deloitte India: The GST Council decisions do exhibit the urgency on the part of the Government to implement the E-way bill to check the possible tax evasion. Again, the fact that GSTR 3B ( summary returns filing) is intended to be continued without any requirement to upload purchases data for availing input duty credit implies that the government may be rethinking the onerous GST law which mandates matching of input GST paid by the buyer against the output GST paid by the seller for availing input duty credit. The extension of 0 percent duty on 29 handicraft items is a welcome boost to manufacturers and exporters of handicrafts. The industry still awaits the extension of GST to real estate and petroleum sectors which form a sizable chunk of the revenues collected by the States and Centre and which would make for a more comprehensive GST.

Priyajit Ghosh, partner, Indirect Tax, KPMG in India: A lot of decisions were expected out of the 25th meeting while not many of them appears to be finally decided for implementation. However, it appears that progress has been made on a few relatively complex areas such as simplification of return filing system, tweaking the composition scheme, introduction of reverse charge on certain transaction.

Consensus appears to be in favour of continuance of summary level filing and invoice level supply filing, in some form, instead of detailed 3 return monthly filing system. E-way bill system to be implemented from 1 February is likely to see enhanced level of enforcement as the Government banks on the system to arrest the declining GST collections. No lesser expectation is from the next council meeting, ahead of the Union Budget by the end of this month, which is likely to finalize many aspects including first discussion on inclusion of real estate and petroleum products in GST.

Abhishek A Rastogi, partner, Khaitan & Co: With an object of generating employment and ease of doing business, certain key decisions have been made. As a corollary, rates were amended for 29 goods and 53 services. This is indeed a populist move including decision of 40 handicraft items. Another important measure is with respect to Form 3B which will continue but has been simplified. The suppliers invoices remain a basis for tax payment and credits claimed.

As an anti-evasion measure, E-way bill to be operative with effect from February 1 for inter-state transactions. 15 States have announced it even for infra-state transactions. This time the compliance starts after robust system testing. While the direct tax collections are well ahead of target, the indirect tax collections needs to be closely watched especially in light of huge IGST credit and transitional credits.

Vinay Sethi, head, market development, tax and accounting, Thomson Reuters, South Asia: The 25th meeting of the GST council held against the backdrop of falling GST collections resulted in some positives such as reduction of GST rates on handicraft goods as the higher rate of GST would have adversely impacted the large population employed in handicrafts industry; reduction in rates of multiple services; expediting of efforts towards simplification of return filing process and consolidation of GSTR-1,2 and 3; commitment to bring the petroleum products and real estate under the purview of GST sooner than later.

Mandatory Issuance of inter-state e-waybill from next month is an anti-evasion measure that the government has introduced and it is important that the platform provided to businesses is robust to provide hassle free compliance of the e-way bill process.

R Muralidharan, senior director, Deloitte India: The simplification of GST return filing process has got the required attention of the GST Council it deserves. Based on the presentations made to the Council, it is hoped that the Government will in its next meeting approve a simplified return which the industry is eagerly waiting for. The reduction of tax rates for 29 goods and 53 categories of services in today's GST Council meeting coupled with the reduction of tax rates on over 200 items in November will impact the already strained GST collections.

(With PTI inputs)
For the first time on Indian television, HistoryTV18 will be premiering a one-hour special show, titled Special Operations: India - Surgical Strikes, that will trace the planning and execution of the Indian Army's Surgical Strikes, which was held in September 2016.

For the first time on Indian television, HistoryTV18 will be premiering a one-hour special show, titled Special Operations: India - Surgical Strikes, that will trace the planning and execution of the Indian Army's Surgical Strikes, which was held in September 2016.

The show is expected to reveal new facts and operational details as Strike Team Leaders and other personnel working on the strikes will reveal anecdotes.

Special Operations: India - Surgical Strikes will use dramatic recreations and first person accounts of behind the scene actions, and the details of where and how the counter terrorist operation came to life.

The one hour program reconstructs the story of two Strike Teams in North Kashmir, in unprecedented visual detail.

The one-hour long special will feature National Security Advisor - Ajit Doval , Former Defence Minister - Manohar Parrikar, Former Chief of Army Staff - General Dalbir Singh Suhag among others. Special Operations: India - Surgical Strikes has also collaborated with Defence Analyst and author Nitin Gokhale, who will appear on the show to discuss the subject matter as an expert.

Special Operations: India - Surgical Strikes is the true story of India's mission in hostile territory, as never seen before.

In September 2016, Surgical Strikes were conducted by Indian Special Forces across the Line of Control, in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir. Their targets - Terrorist Launchpads tasked with mounting attacks on Indian soil. The Indian strikes came in the wake of the deadly Fidayeen attack on an Indian Military installation in Uri, Jammu & Kashmir. Nineteen Indian soldiers were martyred in the terrorist attack by Pakistan based terror network Jaish-e-Mohammad (JEM). The attack had caused nationwide outrage and demanded a suitable retributive response. All options were considered and a measured military response chosen. In a decisive move, India put boots on the ground behind enemy lines and hit the enemy when and where least expected.

Special Operations: India - Surgical Strikes premieres on 22 January at 9 pm on HistoryTV18
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 19)  The Justice Department filed murder charges against two Caloocan policemen involved in the deaths of two teenagers.

In the 35-page resolution obtained by CNN Philippines on Friday, the Department of Justice said PO1s Jeffrey Perez and Ricky Arquilita were charged with the murder of 19-year-old Carl Arnaiz and 14-year-old Reynaldo "Kulot" de Guzman before the Caloocan Regional Trial Court.

The two policemen from Caloocan City were also charged for torture and planting of evidence when they planted firearms, marijuana, and shabu in the crime scene.

The case against taxi driver Thomas Bagcal was dismissed for lack of probable cause.

Arnaiz was killed on August 18, 2017 in a shootout with police. The police officers from Caloocan City responded to a report of a taxi driver who was allegedly held up by Arnaiz.

Philippine National Police Chief Ronald Dela Rosa said Arnaiz fought with policemen during a legitimate operation, prompting the police to retaliate.

Related: Caloocan cops relieved as police investigates death of ex-UP student

PNP-Internal Affairs Service's report found Arnaiz was intentionally killed by the police.

His companion, Kulot, went missing. His body, which was stabbed 31 times, was found in a creek in Nueva Ecija weeks later.

Related: Carl Arnaiz's missing companion found dead in Nueva Ecija

If found guilty, murder is punishable with 20 to 40 years imprisonment.

CNN Philippines' Anjo Alimario contributed to this report.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is facing arguably its biggest electoral crisis over the office of profit controversy. However, this is not the first controversy of its kind.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is facing arguably its biggest electoral crisis ever as reports say the Election Commission has recommended to the president the disqualification of 20 of its MLAs for allegedly holding an office of profit. However, this is by no means the first controversy of its kind.

Perhaps the most prominent instance of a political imbroglio over an office of profit was regarding no less than former Congress president Sonia Gandhi. The former Congress president in March 2006 had resigned as a member of Parliament after the Opposition raised an outcry over her holding the post of chairperson of the National Advisory Council (NAC). In the aftermath of her resignation, two more members of ParliamentKaran Singh and Gurudas Kamatalso quit, according to a report by India Today.

The National Advisory Council was formed on 4 June, 2004 after the Congress-led UPA came to power, defeating the BJP-led NDA. Sonia Gandhi was the chairperson of the body until it was dissolved in May 2014. Later, the Parliament (Prevention of Disqualification) Act, 1959 was amended to add the post of the NAC chairperson to the list of exempted post.

The outcry against Sonia Gandhi was fuelled by the disqualification of Samajwadi Party Rajya Sabha MP Jaya Bachchan. Bachchan was disqualified as she held the office of the chairperson of the Uttar Pradesh Film Development Council, as reported by The Hindu Business Line. The action taken against Jaya Bachchan led Opposition parties launching an attack on Sonia Gandhi.

More recently, two Uttar Pradesh MLAsBajrang Bahadur Singh and Uma Shankar Singhwere disqualified from the state Assembly after they were found to be holding offices of profit, DNA reported. While the former was from the Bharatiya Janata Party, the latter was from the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). A Lokayukta probe against them had at the time held them guilty of having taken up government contracts worth several hundred crores of rupees.

While upholding their disqualification, the Supreme Court in April 2015 held that legislators will be disqualified not only if they have business contracts with the government at the time of filing of their nomination papers, but also if they have such contracts after being elected, The Indian Express reported.

Follow live updates here.
The horrific spate of sexual violence continues in Haryana as three more rapes were reported in the state in the last 24 hours.

The spate of sexual violence continued in Haryana as three more rapes were reported in the state in the last 24 hours. In the last six days, eight incidents of rapes have been reported from across the state. The latest incident is of a 20-year-old married woman who was allegedly gang-raped by two men at a village in Fatehabad district.

The woman, in her police complaint, alleged that she was raped by her neighbour and another person on Wednesday. She alleged that the two accused barged into her house when she was alone. The men allegedly threatened her with dire consequences if she reported the matter to anyone. The woman got married six months ago, police said.

"We have registered a case of rape against her neighbour and other co-accused. The accused have also been booked under other relevant provisions of the law. They will be arrested soon," Fatehabad's SP Deepak Saharan said on Thursday.

According to The Times of India, a Dalit student studying in Class XII was abducted in Mankawas village of Charkhi Dadri district and gang-raped by four men at knife-point. The report also said that a second-year BA student was gang-raped by two men in a moving car at Farrukhnagar in Gurgaon district in a separate incident.

On Tuesday, a 14-year-old boy had allegedly raped a three-year-old girl in a colony in Hisar.

In another case of brutal sexual assault in Haryana, a 50-year-old man was arrested for allegedly mutilating the private parts of a 10-year-old girl by inserting a wooden object, police said on Monday.

The incident, which took place on in an area near Pinjore, came barely days after two minor Dalit girls were allegedly raped and killed in separate incidents in the state.

Police said that one of the girls, a 15-year-old Class X student, had been brutally assaulted and her private parts mutilated. Her body was found near a canal at Budha Khera village in Jind district's Safidon town on Saturday.

The body of the other victim, an 11-year-old girl, was found in a village in Panipat district on Sunday morning, a police official said. The official said she was abducted by two men on Saturday evening when she had gone out of her house to throw garbage in the village dumpyard.

In Faridabad district, a 22-year-old woman, who was returning home from work on Sunday evening, was kidnapped and gang-raped by four men in a moving car for almost two hours, an NDTV report had said.

The Opposition Congress on Wednesday demanded the dismissal of the Manohar Lal Khattar government in Haryana, alleging a complete breakdown of law and order in the state.

A Congress delegation, led by former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, submitted a memorandum to the governor on Wednesday and sought the imposition of President's Rule in the state.

Alleging that lawlessness prevails in the state and there was a complete breakdown of the law and order machinery, the Congress urged the governor to recommend to the Centre to dismiss the Khattar government.

Besides Hooda and most of the party legislators from the state, the delegation comprised senior leaders Selja, state CLP leader Kiran Choudhary and Mahila Congress's national president Sushmita Dev.

With inputs from PTI
Gujarat's first woman Chief Minister Anandiben Patel has been appointed as Governor of Madhya Pradesh

Gandhinagar: Gujarat's first woman Chief Minister Anandiben Patel has been appointed as Governor of Madhya Pradesh, government sources have confirmed.

Gujarat BJP official spokesperson Bharat Pandya congratulated the former Chief Minister on her appointment as governor on his official Twitter account on Friday.

The post of Madhya Pradesh governor was vacant and Gujarat Governor OP Kohli was assigned the charge till now.

Anandiben Patel had stepped down as chief minister in August 2016 citing overage reasons. During the 2017 state assembly elections she had refused to contest, and it was believed the BJP would assign her a larger role in politics.

She will be the second Gujarat minister from BJP to have been made a Governor. Earlier, Vajubhai Vala, a former BJP MLA from Gujarat, was made Governor of Karnataka.

Madhya Pradesh will see state assembly elections this year and Patel might have been assigned the role by the saffron party high command, keeping the forthcoming polls in mind.
On the face of it, criminalising buying sex may sound like a good plan. But some sex workers rights activists working on the ground are extremely angry and concerned.

By Sharanya Gopinathan

So, it looks like Andhra Pradesh has become the first Indian state to decide to criminalise sex buying. This means that once the law is rolled out, those who buy sex from sex workers will be subject to punishment and arrest. This is aimed at tackling the problem of sex trafficking in the state.

On the face of it, it may sound like a good plan, especially to those of us who have no idea about the real conditions in which sex work takes place. But some sex workers rights activists working on the ground are extremely angry and concerned by the planned move, and believe it will alter the power dynamics against sex workers in a damaging, dangerous way.

Before we get into the specifics of what this law could mean, its important to remember that theres a difference between victims of sex trafficking and sex workers. The former category is coerced into sexual services against their will, and the latter comprises adults who choose to exchange consensual sexual services for money.

This is a difference that has been upheld by the State. The government-appointed Justice Varma commission, in a response to clarifications requested by the National Network of Sex Workers in 2013, spells out that theres a difference between voluntary sex workers and victims of sex trafficking.

Andhra Pradeshs new law will criminalise the customers of all people involved in the sex trade, including the customers of those who entered sex work of their own volition.

The states plan to criminalise sex buying attempts to follow the Nordic model. It was aimed at tackling sex trafficking and was first implemented in Sweden in 1995. It was later adopted in countries like France, Canada, Ireland and Iceland. The Nordic model attempts to put the onus of criminality on the buyer, rather than the victim or the seller.

Its proponents believe that prostitution is a form of violence against women by men. The Nordic model turns this belief into policy, by decriminalising selling sex, and criminalising buying sex instead. It has already faced opposition from groups like Amnesty International for failing its stated purpose and causing more harm to sex workers in the first place, by completely ignoring sex workers own choice and agency by painting them all with the brush of victimhood, and bringing the police into contact with their work in yet another way.

Meena Seshu, noted sex workers activist and founder of sex workers collective SANGRAM in Sangli, Maharashtra, explains the rationale behind the Nordic model, Its called penalising demand. The feminists in Sweden decided that if women in sex work are victims, then who is the perpetrator, who is the main cause for sex work? They decided that it is the client, because the demand is from the client, so if you penalise demand, then sex work will automatically stop.

Except, as Seshu goes on to explain, most Indian sex workers arent actually forced into the trade. Far from it. A pan-India study exploring the economics behind sex work by economists Rohini Sahni and Kalyan Shankar as well as anthropologist Hemant Apte from Pune University in 2008, shows that nearly 70 percent of female Indian sex workers enter the trade of their own will. The study also indicates that many women enter sex work purely for the rise in income compared to their previous professions.

Seshu says that she sees both sex workers and buyers as active parts of the demand model. Demand is something [sex workers] feel they create. This whole narrative of the helpless woman is not actually correct. The women have some level of control, and they exercise that control. What is going to happen [if this law is implemented] is that the client and the sex workers  who are actually also part of the demand model because they need to work for their livelihood  are going to find different kinds of spaces to continue doing this work.

Nearly every major sex workers collective in India, from the Veshya Anyay Mukti Parishad (VAMP) to the 65,000 strong Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee in Bengal, to the National Network of Sex Workers India, lays out that one of their primary stated purposes is to have sex work seen as actual work. They say they want to be able to carry out their work freely and want steps taken towards decriminalising sex work.

Instead of achieving what sex workers want, Andhra Pradeshs move adds further elements of criminality to their lives. Sex workers already live in a weird state of limbo where everything around their work  such as the running of brothels, or profiting from the earnings of sex workers  is criminalised, without voluntary sex work being explicitly criminalised itself. Instead of removing these legal strangleholds, which has been the demand of actual sex workers for decades, Andhra Pradeshs new law criminalises yet another aspect of their work.

Seshu says this new rule will simply take sex work underground, causing women to work in conditions of decreasing safety and even less transparency, and skew the balance of power completely out of their favour.

When she speaks to sex workers struggling in Sweden, they bring up the scary ways in which the law affects the women there. Earlier, when a car would come on the street, they would have time to gauge the man and if its safe. Now, the minute the car comes, they get into the car, because they're scared of the police, and so find themselves suddenly in totally unsafe hands. We don't have the jumping-into-car situation here, but sex workers in Gokul Nagar report a similar thing [because of excessive police scrutiny]. If police are monitoring street corners and brothels that house the women, men will look for places safe for them, and will take women only to those places.

This will gravely affect the livelihood of many sex workers, and lower the number of different customers each woman has, requiring her to depend on a smaller set of customers for her entire livelihood. This reduces her bargaining and negotiation power, and willingness or ability to say no, and again puts disproportionate power in the hands of a few men.

Its also been found in other countries that adopted the model, like Norway, that higher risk services (such as unprotected sex) are often offered due to lack of client choice, and needing to negotiate more quickly with clients who may fear arrest, which could do immense damage to the safe sex practices sex workers rights groups have been pushing for decades.

And given how immediately intriguing the plan seems on the surface, it could be the first step in a dangerous trend where other Indian states attempt to adopt the same model in an attempt to save women who need no saving.

One gets a clearer picture of how disconnected this proposed law will be from the reality of sex work when one looks at the panel entrusted with researching and submitting recommendations on the issue in Andhra Pradesh.

The panel will be comprised of activist Sunitha Krishnan, a known sex work abolitionist with problematic ideas, a member who will be nominated by the Chief Justice of the High Court of Andhra Pradesh, a Nalsar professor, a woman IPS officer to be designated by the home secretary and senior advocate M Bhaskara Lakshmi. The convenor of panel will be the special secretary of the women and child welfare department of the state. The panel entrusted with forming laws for sex workers doesnt have a single sex worker, or sex workers rights activist, on it.

Clearly, the way ahead for ensuring sex workers rights and safety doesnt lie in responding to recommendations made by people who are so far out of the field. The Andhra Pradesh government would do well to consult with the people who are actually affected by laws like this before embarking on legal crusades that could have violent consequences for the very women it dubiously intends to save.

The Ladies Finger is a leading online women's magazine
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday praised the Jewish community for helping strengthen ties between his country and India.

Mumbai: Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday praised the Jewish community for helping strengthen ties between his country and India.

Interacting with members of the community at the iconic Taj hotel overlooking the Arabia sea, Netanyahu praised their contribution in preserving Jewish culture.

He also thanked and acknowledged the community members of cementing India-Israel relations.

Several leaders from the community shared stories about their experiences in living in India, a participant in the interaction, held on Thursday evening, said.

Netanyahu was informed of how some Jewish people served in the Indian Army, he said.

Another community member shared how some Jews migrated to Pakistan when the Partition happened but had to move back to India from Karachi during the 1967 Palestine war and how they feel safe in India.

At Mumbais Magen David synagogue, worshippers were excited about the first visit to India by an Israeli leader in almost 15 years.

Netanyahu became only the second Israeli prime minister to visit India and the first since Ariel Sharon in 2003. His visit comes six months after his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi visited Israel.

Jonathan Solomon, chairman of the Indian Jewish Federation, said the reciprocal visits and warm ties between the two countries are significant to Jews in India.

Jewish community in Mumbai marked Netanyahu's visit with the launch of Namaste Shalom, a regular monthly magazine on bilateral relations between the two friendly nations.

The magazine was launched at the Magen David Synagogue at Byculla in south Mumbai, Ralphy Jhirad, the editorial board member of the magazine, said.

Jhirad, who is also the president and managing trustee of Bene Israel Heritage Museum and Genealogical Centre, said President Ram Nath Kovind, Modi and Israeli ambassador to India Daniel Carmon have welcomed the magazine and sent congratulatory messages.

"The magazine is planned to carry forward the great initiative of Modi and Netanyahu to strengthen India-Israel relations and provide a platform for exchanging views between Indians and Jews the world over," Jhirad said.

In his message to the magazine, Modi said, "The deep friendship of the Indian people with Israel is something worth celebrating. The bond between the two nations goes back centuries in time and will continue to grow stronger."

President Kovind in his message said, "India-Israel relations are weaved with threads of culture, civilisational values and mutual trust."

"This may be the first time that a magazine devoted to India-Israel relations was launched in a Jew synagogue, underlining the close ties between the two nations," Jhirad said.
The Supreme Court decided to hear on Monday the pleas seeking an independent probe into the alleged mysterious death of special CBI judge BH Loya

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday decided to hear on Monday the pleas seeking an independent probe into the alleged mysterious death of special CBI judge BH Loya.

The top court fixed 22 January for the hearing and directed listing of petitions before "an appropriate bench".

A bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud said an appropriate bench of the apex court would hear the petitions filed by Congress leader Tehseen Poonawalla and Maharashtra journalist BS Lone.

The counsel for the petitioners said they wanted clarification on the date of hearing of the petition in the wake of the order passed by a bench of Justices Arun Mishra and MM Shantanagoudar.

"List the matters on 22 January, 2018, before the appropriate bench as per the roster," the CJI's bench said.

A bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra had on 16 January, ordered the matters to be listed before an appropriate bench and had not fixed any specific date for the hearing.

It had left it to the Maharashtra government to decide which documents, relating to Loya's death, could be handed over to the petitioners.

The state government, which had filed documents in a sealed cover relating to Loya's death, had during the hearing opposed the petitioners' demand that the entire material should be handed over to them for perusal.

The apex court, in its 16 January order said, "Let the documents be placed on record within seven days and if it is considered appropriate, copies be furnished to the petitioners. Put up before the appropriate bench".

The case, whose assignment to the bench hearing the PILs was a bone of contention of the unprecedented press conference by four senior-most judges of the apex court on 12 January.

Loya, who was hearing the sensitive Sohrabuddin Sheikh encounter case, had allegedly died of cardiac arrest in Nagpur on 1 December, 2014, when he had gone to attend the wedding of a colleague's daughter.

In the encounter case, the BJP President along with Rajasthan Home Minister Gulabchand Kataria, Rajasthan-based businessman Vimal Patni, former Gujarat police chief PC Pande, Additional Director General of Police Geeta Johri and Gujarat police officers Abhay Chudasama and NK Amin, have already been discharged.

The issue of Loya's death had come under the spotlight in November last year after media reports quoting his sister had fuelled suspicion about the circumstances surrounding his death and its link to the Sohrabuddin case.

However, Loya's son had on 14 January said in Mumbai that his father died of natural causes and not under suspicious circumstances.

The court had earlier termed as "serious matter" the issue of Loya's death and had asked Maharashtra government to file certain documents, including the autopsy report.

Poonawalla's counsel had told the court that this was a case of alleged mysterious death of a judge, who was hearing a sensitive case, and an independent probe was required.

In his plea, he had claimed that circumstances revolving around the death of the judge were "questionable, mysterious and contradicting".

The other plea filed by the journalist has submitted that a fair probe was needed into the mysterious death of Loya, who was hearing the 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 was also filed before the Bombay High Court on 8 January by the Bombay Lawyers' Association.

The Indian judiciary was thrown into a turmoil on 12 January, when four senior apex court judges, Justices J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, MB Lokur and Kurian Joseph, had convened an unprecedented press conference raising some issues, including "selective" allocation of cases by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra. The cases indicated by them included this case.
In another shocking incident, a seven-year-old boy abducted for ransom was found dead on Friday in Bihar's West Champaran district, police said.

Patna: In another shocking incident, a seven-year-old boy abducted for ransom was found dead on Friday in Bihar's West Champaran district, police said.

Eve Kunwar Singh was abducted for ransom on Thursday. His body was found in a toilet tank of an under construction house in Jhilia locality in Bettiah, district headquarters of West Champaran, a district police official said.

According to police, the boy was killed after his father failed to pay the ransom demanded by the abductors.

Police have arrested two men in connection with the murder and abduction.

Earlier, the 16-year-old son of a property dealer was kidnapped for ransom on Thursday and was found murdered in Patna on Friday.

The body of Raunak Kumar, a Class 9 student and son of Sudhir Kumar, was found in a shuttered shop in Kadamkuan locality. His hands were tied with a rope.

"Raunak was kidnapped by motorcycle-borne criminals in broad daylight on Thursday morning when he was on way to school," Patna's Senior Superintendent of Police Manu Maharaj said.

According to a relative, the kidnappers demanded a ransom of Rs 25 lakh from his father. Sudhir Kumar received repeated phone calls from the abductors.

One of the kidnappers arrested on Friday revealed that the boy was killed after the father failed to cough up the money on time.

The opposition mounted fresh attacks on the government of Nitish Kumar over what they said was rising lawlessness in the state.

"Hardly a day passes without murder, kidnapping, extortion and robbery reported in the state but Nitish Kumar is more busy in his 'yatra'," RJD state President Ram Chander Purve said.
Two civilians and a BSF jawan were on Friday in unprovoked firing by Pakistan in Samba sector of the India-Pakistan International Border (IB) in Jammu and Kashmir

A Border Security Force (BSF) head constable and two civilians were killed after Pakistan resorted to ceasefire violation along the Line of Control (LoC) in Samba and Jammu districts on Friday.

The BSF head constable was injured in the incident in noon and later succumbed to his injuries, an official said.

"Pakistan Rangers resorted to heavy firing and shelling along the IB in several areas in RS Pura, Arnia and Ramgarh sectors since 0640 hours", a BSF officer said.

They targeted around 40 Border Out Posts (BoPs) in three sectors using 82 milimetres and 52 mortar bombs, automatic and small weapons, he said.

While a woman died in Sai Khurda, the man died in Korotona in RS Pura-Arnia belt. A civilian was injured in SaiKhurd village while two others were injured in Ramgarh.

In view of the heavy shelling, over 1,000 border dwellers have migrated from the area and schools along the borderline have been closed.

A Border Security Force (BSF) jawan, Head Constable A Suresh, was killed in similar firing on the border on Thursday night, following which the force had mounted heavy retaliation.

Calling the situation at the IB "tense", BSF Director General (DG) KK Sharma told reporters on Thursday that he has asked his field commanders to "retaliate with full force" and that the Pakistani forces must be taught a lesson.

With inputs from PTI
The Congress asked the government to come clear on allegations about fresh Chinese troops build-up in the Doka La region

It's been five months since the Doka La stand-off between India and China at the tri-border junction came to an end, but it appears that questions raised following the dispute are still far from being resolved.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) once again addressed media reports of a build-up of Chinese troops in the Doka La plateau on Thursday, and said that status quo has not been altered at the face-off site.

The ministry asserted that the status quo at Doka La, where Indian and Chinese troops were locked in a stand-off for over two months last year, was not altered and strongly rejected any suggestion to the contrary as "inaccurate and mischievous".

"Our attention has been drawn to some reports that question the accuracy of the position stated by the government in respect to the situation in Doka La," MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar was quoted as saying at the press conference on Thursday.

In response to repeated questions about any change in the status quo at the face-off site, the government has stated that there was no basis for such imputations. "The government would once again reiterate that status quo at the face-off site has not been altered. Any suggestion to the contrary is inaccurate and mischievous," he said.

Spike in Chinese military presence at Doka La

The MEA's response comes in the wake of reports about China carrying out infrastructure development in the disputed region. On Wednesday, NDTV reported that five months after the stand-off ended, recent satellite images showed a "massive, full-fledged Chinese military complex (is) being built within" Doka La. For years, the nearest road the Chinese have been building 10 kilometres east of the Indian position in Sikkim. The report also mentioned that trenches, two helipads, gun emplacements and other military structures were clearly visible in the satellite images.

Congress dissatisfied with MEA's response

Following the MEA statement on Doka La, the Congress on Thursday asked the government to come clear on allegations about fresh Chinese troops' build-up in the region and demanded it specifically state whether some helipads or bunkers have been established.

"MEA statement does not say a word about the alleged construction by Chinese army as depicted in satellite imagery. Please be specific if Chinese have constructed concrete posts, seven helipads, new trenches and placed several dozen armoured vehicles in Doka La," Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala said in a tweet.

MEA Statement does not say a word about the alleged construction by Chinese Army as depicted in satellite imagery. Plz be specific if Chinese have constructed concrete posts,seven helipads, new trenches & placed several dozen armoured vehicles in Doklam.https://t.co/1ujXT6LKXt  Randeep S Surjewala (@rssurjewala) January 18, 2018

Earlier in the day, the Congress had also accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj of misleading the nation over Chinese troops occupying Doka La plateau, saying that India's security and strategic interests have been compromised.

"It seems that the government was snoozing while the Chinese troops occupied the Doka La plateau as suggested by satellite images. And it seems China is planning a Doka La 2.0 like retreat near the Indian border," Surjewala said.

He further took a jibe at Modi and said, "The prime minister has mastered the art of electoral rhetoric as he has failed miserably to ensure the protection of our borders."

The Congress had earlier criticised the central government over reports of China's road building activities in Arunachal Pradesh and asked if New Delhi had "granted China a franchise" to construct roads.

Chinese incursion in Arunachal Pradesh

On 28 December, Chinese road-building teams entered around one kilometre inside Indian territory in Tuting area of Arunachal Pradesh along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) but returned after being confronted by Indian troops, government sources said. The sources added the Chinese civilian teams had come for track alignment activities and returned when confronted by the Indian troops, leaving behind various road building equipment including two excavators.

According to local villagers in Arunachal Pradesh, the Chinese team members included civilians as well as uniformed personnel. They also said that Indian security personnel intercepted them near Bising village under Tuting sub-division.

Indian border patrolling personnel (ITBP) maintained there was "no face-off" between the two sides and that the issue was resolved through an established mechanism.

Nyomin Tekseng of Zido village near the frontier and Pema Nyisir of Gelling village had said that two excavators were confiscated. "Indian and Chinese troops had pitched tents at the freshly cut road and had erected a boulder wall," Nyisir said.

China later approached the Indian side and requested that the equipment be returned, which includes a JCB and a water tanker.

A few days later, a National Security Council report stated that the recent Chinese intrusion into Arunachal Pradesh was an "inadvertent border crosswalk" by some labourers and did not involve Chinese troops. The report said the group was tasked with construction work and was unaware they were on Indian territory before they were confronted by the ITBP.

It added the group had no involvement with the Chinese People's Liberation Army.

Following reports of Chinese incursion into Indian territory, China said it had "never acknowledged" the existence of Arunachal Pradesh and kept mum over reports that its troops intruded into the Indian side of the border in the frontier state.

"First of all on the border issue, our position is clear and consistent. We never acknowledged the existence of 'so-called' Arunachal Pradesh," Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang told a media briefing.

"I want to mention that between China and India there is a well-developed mechanism for border related affairs. Through this mechanism, China and India could manage the border affairs. Maintaining peace and stability at the border suits both China and India," Geng had said, adding that the Doka La stand-off "which happened last year has been resolved properly".

China's plans to divert water from Brahmaputra river

Shortly after the Doka La stand-off ended, Chinese engineers began testing techniques that could be used to build a 1,000-kilometre long tunnel, the world's longest, to divert water from Brahmaputra river in Tibet close to Arunachal Pradesh to the parched Xinjiang region, according to Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported.

India, a riparian state, has already flagged its concerns to China about various dams being built by Beijing on the Brahmaputra, which is known as 'Yarlung Tsangpo' in China. Beijing has been assuring India and Bangladesh, which is also a recipient of the waters from the river, that its dams were of the run of river projects and not designed to storing water.

The proposed tunnel, which would drop down from the world's highest plateau in multiple sections connected by waterfalls, would provide water in China's largest administrative division, comprising vast swathes of deserts and dry grasslands.

India and China share a 4,000-kilometre long boundary, and except for a small portion in the middle, the borders have not been settled. In the East, China claims India's Arunachal Pradesh as its own while New Delhi lays claim to Aksai Chin in the West, which is now with Beijing.

Both defence and home ministries have on several occasions called the lack of a fixed boundary the reason behind incidents of transgression by Chinese troops.

With inputs from PTI and IANS
Senior IPS officer Sudeep Lakhtakia has been appointed as the new Director General (DG) of the 'black cats' commando force, the National Security Guard (NSG)

New Delhi: Senior IPS officer Sudeep Lakhtakia has been appointed as the new Director General (DG) of the 'black cats' commando force NSG.

An order appointing the 1984-batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer of the Telangana cadre was on Friday issued by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC), headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The officer is currently serving as a Special DG in the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) headquarters in New Delhi.

He will take over from incumbent SP Singh who will retire from the post of NSG DG on 31 January.

Lakhtakia will be at the top post of the elite counter-terror force till July next year, which is also his scheduled retirement.

The National Security Guard (NSG) was raised as the federal contingency force to counter terrorists and hijack-like incidents in 1984.

The commandos of the force are based in five hubs across the country, apart from their main garrison in Gurgaon's Manesar, and they also render personal security to some of the most high-profile VVIPs like Home Minister Rajnath Singh and some chief ministers.
Uh-oh! It could be you, or it could be us, but there's no page here.
Framing of provisions under Anand Marriage Act is in final stages and it will be notified soon, Delhi revenue minister Kailash Gahlot said on Wednesday.

New Delhi: Framing of provisions under the Anand Marriage Act is in the final stages and it will be notified soon, Delhi revenue minister Kailash Gahlot said on Wednesday.

The minister said that Sikh marriages will now be registered under the Anand Marriage Act in the national capital.

The Sikhs, whose marriages have been registered under this Act, are not required to get these registered under the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955.

"We have held several meetings in the last three months. We are in the final stages to implement provisions of the Anand Marriage Act in Delhi.

"New Sikh marriages will be registered under this act," Gahlot told the House.

The minister's assurance comes after BJP MLA MS Sirsa demanded that the Delhi government implement provisions of the act in order to give rights to the Sikh community.

On Sirsa's demand, Gahlot said that the BJP leader was doing politics over the issue as the Anand Marriage Act has already been notified by the Centre.

In December, a delegation of the Sikh community, led by AAP MLAs, had urged the Delhi government for early implementation of the provisions of the Anand Marriage Act in the city.
Devendra Fadnavis has expanded the scope of the committee probing allegations against industries minister Subhash Desai to include Congress and NCP leaders as well.

Maharashtra industries minister Subhash Desai has recently been in the eye of a storm involving denotification of Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) land. The opposition Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has termed the denotification a 'Rs 50,000 crore scam.' However, the state's chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has at the eleventh hour expanded the scope of the one-man committee probing the issue to include decisions taken by industries ministers from the Congress-NCP as well.

Thus, the panel, which was earlier examining charges only against him, is now examining his predecessor's actions as well. This could come as some relief to Desai.

After allegations regarding Subhash Desai's 'illegal' denotification of more than 3,000 acres of land surfaced, he offered his resignation to Fadnavis. However, the chief minister did not accept the resignation, instead ordering a one-member committee to probe the matter. The committee, which was formed in July 2017, comprises of former additional chief secretary (Home) KP Bakshi.

Sources confirmed that the scope of the committee has been changed from the original scope. Industries ministers since 2002 have have been asked to submit their explanations on decisions regarding denotifications in writing. These include Ashok Chavan, Rajendra Darda and Narayan Rane. During the investigation, it was revealed that the maximum amount of MIDC land was denotified during the tenure of Narayan Rane.

Speaking to Firstpost, KP Bakshi confirmed that the probe is in its final stages. The report will be submitted to the chief minister on 15 February.

However, the report is said to have desisted from indicting any individual person, and has stuck to factual details. After the report is submitted, the chief minister will take the final call on whether the policy on denotification of land is correct or not, a senior official from the industries department said on the condition of anonymity.

Responding to the allegations, Subhash Desai told Firstpost, "Whatever I want to say about the matter, I will place in front of the probe committee. I do not wish to discuss this issue with the media."

However, Desai also said that a large amount of land was denotified during the tenure of the Congress-NCP by then minister Rajendra Darda and Narayan Rane. He also said that under his tenure, land was denotified as per the rules to make way for development projects under Make in India.

Dhananjay Munde, Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Council, said, "We asked for a specific probe against the current industry minister Subhash Desai. Why is the chief minister expanding the scope of the probe and changing the time frame? If he doing so, then why not include the Sena-BJP tenure from 1995?"

Senior NCP leader Ajit Pawar said the denotification of about 3,000 acres of land has resulted in a loss of Rs 50,000 crore to the state government. "We demanded that industries minister Subhash Desai own up to the responsibility for this, and resign immediately. But there appears to be one rule for (senior BJP minister) Eknath Khadse and another rule for Subhash Desai."

The NCP's chief spokesperson Nawab Malik said to Firstpost, "Devendra Fadnavis is the first chief minister of Maharashtra who indulges in such petty politics. Desai is a Sena minister who is known to be close to Fadnavis. It appears that the chief minister intends to give a clean chit to him."

Dhananjay Munde has alleged that 3,000 acres of land, which was acquired by MIDC, was illegally returned to the original land owners. Munde has termed it a 'major scam' and has called for an independent inquiry.
As the Doka La temperatures rise once again, it may serve Indias purpose better if we refrain from alarmism or scaremongering over the dispute with China.

Doka La temperatures are rising again. Several reports in Indian media claim China is rapidly scaling up military infrastructure close to the faceoff site and now occupy almost the entire northern region of the disputed plateau.

Citing satellite imagery, the reports claim that the PLA has constructed permanent and semi-permanent structures along with helipads, trenches, observation tower and have moved several troop and equipment-transporting vehicles to the area that suggests heavy deployment.

"New satellite imagery accessed from 10 December, 2017, shows that the Chinese side is now well entrenched in the area, with heavy road building machinery still present close to the stand-off point," writes Colonel Vinayak Bhat (Retd) in The Print.

Vishnu Som of NDTV tells us that the "Chinese never stopped their infrastructure buildup in the region. Just 81 metres from an Indian post, the Chinese have constructed proper structures."

That these reports aren't inaccurate can be gauged by the fact that during a news briefing on Friday in Beijing, China's foreign ministry spokesperson defended the construction of roads and military infrastructure ostensibly to "patrol the border and improve the production and lives of border troops and residents", and even warned India against not to create too much noise over it.

"China is exercising its sovereignty in its own territory. It's legitimate and justified. Just as China will not make comments about Indian construction of infrastructure on India's territory, we hope other countries will not make comment on China's construction of infrastructure on its territory," thundered Lu Kang.

It is evident that China is militarising its position north of the Sinche-La ridgeline in a territory over which Bhutan also has a claim, and through the aggressive construction of roads and defence infrastructure, is seeking to alter the status quo. This is straight out of China's 'coercion playbook', as Arzan Tarapore and Oriana Skylar Mastro have argued in War on the Rocks.

This Chinese strategy, according to the authors, comprises four elements: building of infrastructure over an area where it has "de facto control", "coercive diplomacy" that involves issuing threats to the rival nation to change its "policies or behaviour", "legal rhetoric" to establish legitimacy and use of state-controlled media to push globally its narrative.

This leads us to Indias core concerns. If it is established that China is trying to alter the status quo in a disputed region through coercive strategies, how should India react? What are the implications of Chinese move? Do these developments pose a security threat? Or is it a strategic threat? And finally, what are our options?

The disengagement in Doka La had taken place when Chinese and Indian troops stepped back from the faceoff site after a 72-day standoff. India, which had created a stalemate by physically denying PLA the space to extend a dirt track southwards towards the strategically important Jampheri Ridge, relented only when China promised not to go ahead with the construction that would have threatened Indias narrow Siliguri Corridor. The troops had disengaged but neither did China desert the location nor did India lower its guard.

So what exactly was the resolution?

It is important to understand that though status quo ante was not restored in terms of military-strategic positions, the widening and extension of the dirt track (that had been in existence at least since 2003) had stopped. That was reason enough for India not to keep on occupying its position in the tri-junction area over which strictly it had no claim.

As Ankit Panda had written in The Diplomat, In New Delhis view, the threat at Doka La concerned the PLAs attempt to extend the turning point of a long-standing road just west of the river known as Torsa Nala, seeking an extension southward toward Jampheri Ridge... (and) both India and Bhutan have successfully attained their desired end-state: a return to the status quo in Doka La before 16 June.

In light of this information, let us now examine whether China has done anything (through its aggressive military build-up) to alter the status quo. Did it, for instance, try to extend the road again southwards towards Jampheri Ridge? Or did it occupy the faceoff site? In both cases, the answer is an unequivocal no.

The fortification of PLA positions is happening to the north of the face-off site in an area over which China has de facto control, even though technically these are unresolved and subject to bilateral and trilateral agreements. However, there is nothing that India can do as long as China does not violate the conditions that sparked off the stalemate on 16 June, 2017.

Not surprisingly, this is the exact position taken by the ministry of external affairs which, in a release, has reiterated that in response to repeated questions about any change in the status quo at the faceoff site, the government had stated that there was no basis for such imputations.The government would once again reiterate that the status quo at the faceoff site has not been altered. Any suggestion to the contrary is inaccurate and mischievous.''

It must be understood that the Doka La disengagement wasnt a political resolution, but the end of a military standoff. The disputes that govern the strategically important plateau still exist. Bhutan and China have not reached an agreement over it. China has not relinquished its claims. To argue, therefore, that a military buildup in that region by China suddenly involves a compromise of Indias security and strategic interests is wrong, misleading and alarmist.

It isnt surprising to see Congress take this position. Its spokesperson accused the Narendra Modi government of dereliction of duty and claimed that the government was snoozing while the Chinese troops occupied the Doka La plateau as suggested by satellite images. And it seems China is planning a Doka La 2.0 like retreat near the Indian border.

The partys president Rahul Gandhi, who is given to puerile wordplay even on issues of strategic importance, tweeted:

Dear @narendramodi, since you've requested some ideas for your #MannKiBaat monologue, tell us about how you plan to: 1. Get our youth JOBS

2. Get the Chinese out of DHOKA-LAM

3. Stop the RAPES in Haryana. pic.twitter.com/pwexqxKrTQ  Office of RG (@OfficeOfRG) January 19, 2018

Perhaps the Congress president is under the mistaken notion that India exercises sovereign control over Doka La plateau, which he terms Dhoka-Lam  an insinuation that the disengagement of the standoff was a lie. Rahul needs to be reminded that the Himalayan territory is the subject of a dispute between Bhutan and China and India has no right whatsoever to get the Chinese out of that area. The Congress jibe is little more than a misinformed piece of political rhetoric as should be treated as such.

The important question remains. What should be Indias response? What are our options?

This question needs a dispassionate answer taking into account our positional advantage. As Ajai Shukla had written on this subject, Sikkim is where India attacks China, not the other way around, quoting New Delhi strategists. Shuklas contention: If moving appropriate troops into the Chumbi Valley is a logistical challenge, shielding them from Indian artillery, air and ground attacks in that bottleneck would be even more difficult. Thereafter, the PLA would have to break through formidable Indian defences, attacking mainly uphill, and then advance southward to Siliguri across thickly forested hills, harried all the way by numerically superior Indian forces.

Even if we are to assume that China may overpower us through better planning and military might, it doesnt really make sense for Beijing to launch an attack on India over a barren piece of land that will bring dubious gains. The cost-benefit ratio is hopelessly skewed in favour of losses.

IPCS fellow Onkar Marwah writes in The Wire, a war for the paltry purpose of a disputed but unknown Himalayan ridge and plateau claimed by tiny, peaceful Bhutan  especially if the war is indecisive  will hugely puncture Chinas unbending and all-accomplishing image so assiduously built up.

Does that indicate India will admire the situation from afar and do nothing? Not quite. India must stay vigilant, build credible deterrence, upgrade capabilities and keep actively engaged through established channels.

Strategic analysts are of the opinion that building of deterrence-capability mechanism is underway on a war footing.

Whats Indian militarys China policy? Ideally would have liked to have written a longish piece, but time is finite so here goes: 1. Indian military has reoriented itself towards meeting the China challenge. The process began about 5 years ago but is now galloping and is focused.  Nitin A. Gokhale (@nitingokhale) January 18, 2018

We have pushed back against the Chinese whenever they have intruded along the nearly 3800-km long border, most recently in Arunachal Pradesh where a Chinese road-building crew was thwarted and forced back without even a whimper from Beijing.

It may serve Indias purpose better if we refrain from alarmism or scaremongering over Doka La.
India and China have established mechanisms which they use to resolve any 'misunderstanding', the external affairs ministry said on Friday and asserted that it was keeping a 'constant vigil' on the situation in Doka La.

New Delhi: India and China have established mechanisms which they use to resolve any "misunderstanding", the external affairs ministry said on Friday and asserted that it was keeping a "constant vigil" on the situation in Doka La.

Responding to questions on reports of Chinese military buildup in the area close to last year's standoff site, external affairs ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar referred to the ministry's reaction on Thursday that "the status quo at the faceoff site has not been altered. Any suggestion to the contrary is inaccurate and mischievous."

"We are of course keeping a constant vigil on developments which have a bearing on India's national security and take all necessary steps to safeguard it. The two sides do have, and have used established mechanisms to resolve any misunderstanding," Kumar said.

The spokesperson also refused to comment on the army chief's remarks. The army chief had said that Chinese have carried out some "temporary" infrastructure development in the area.

Earlier in Beijing, China justified its massive construction activities in the Doka La area, describing it as "legitimate" and which were aimed at improving the lives of its troops and the people living on its own territory.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang's also said, "China's position on the Donglong (Doka La) area is quite clear. Donglong always belonged to China and always under China's effective jurisdiction. There is no dispute in this regard."

Lu made these comments in response to reports that it was building a huge military complex close to the site of the Doka La standoff.

Indian and Chinese troops were engaged in a standoff for over two months last year in the Doka La area near Sikkim before "disengaging" on 28 August.
India successfully test-fired its nuclear capable Agni-V Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) from the Abdul Kalam island, off the coast of Odisha.

India successfully test-fired its nuclear capable Agni-V Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) from the Abdul Kalam island, off the coast of Odisha, on Thursday. This 17-metre-long ICBM, with a payload of 1.5 tonnes, can transport a fusion-boosted fission weapon  nuclear device. The Agni-V has been tested five times since 2012, the last one before the current launch taking place in December 2016. India did not undertake any ICBM test in 2017, though US, Russia, China and North Korea (despite UN sanctions) had all test-fired ballistic missiles last year. The launch on Thursday coincided with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus state visit to India and during the Raisina Dialogue 2018. In fact, confirmation of the successful test came during a panel titled Nuclear Unpredictability: Managing the Global Nuclear Framework of the Raisina Dialogue.

The first test of Agni-V by India was conducted on 19 April, 2012, the second on 15 September, 2013, the third on 31 January, 2015 and the fourth on 26 December, 2016 from the same base. The first two successful flights of Agni-V in 2012 and 2013 were in open configuration. The third, fourth and the Thursday launches from a canister, integrated with a mobile sophisticated launcher, were in its deliverable configuration that enables launch of the missile with a very short preparation time as compared to an open configuration. It also has advantages of higher reliability, longer shelf life, less maintenance and enhanced mobility.

India has in its weaponry Agni series, Agni-I with 700 km range, Agni-II with 2,000 km range, Agni-III and Agni-IV with 2,500 km to more than 3,500 km range. The 18 January user associate test-flight of the missile has further boosted indigenous missile capabilities and deterrence strength of the country. All radars, tracking systems and range stations monitored the flight performance. The missile travelled for 19 minutes and covered 4,900 km. After four successful developmental trials, this was the first user associate test of Agni-V missile, which is the most advanced missile in the Agni series with new technologies incorporated in it in terms of navigation and guidance, warhead and engine. It has a range of over 5,000 km. The high speed on board computer and fault tolerant software along with robust and reliable bus guided the missile flawlessly. The navigation systems, very high accuracy Ring Laser Gyro-based Inertial Navigation System (RINS) and the most modern and accurate Micro Navigation System (MINS), had ensured the missile reached the target point within few metres of accuracy.

Coming after four previous tests, the firing on Thursday of the Agni-V takes India closer to incorporating the missile into its Strategic Forces Command. Once the induction process is complete, India will join an elite group of countries possessing ICBMs, including US, Russia, China, France and Israel. Jericho III (YA-4) is believed to be Israels nuclear-armed ICBM which entered service in 2011. On 17 January, 2008, Israel had test-fired a multi-stage ballistic missile believed to be of the Jericho III type, reportedly capable of carrying conventional or nuclear warheads. According to the Federation of American Scientists, India is believed to have some 120-130 warheads compared to several thousands of the US. But then in March 2015, Israel already possessed 200 nuclear weapons.

China reportedly had 270 nuclear weapons in October last year. China's CSS-10 Mod 2 ICBM has a range in excess of 11,200 km and according to the US Department of Defence (DoD), the Peoples' Liberation Army Rocket Force (PLARF) is continuing to enhance its silo-based ICBMs and is adding more survivable, mobile delivery systems. China is estimated to possess 75-100 ICBMs and 50-75 launchers that can fire the missiles to a range of 5,400-13,000+ km. Development continues of the road-mobile DF-41 ICBM, which is multiple independently targeted re-entry (MIRV capable) that can attack multiple targets. DF-41 ICBM can carry up to ten manoeuvrable nuclear warheads, each weighing 100 to 200 KT to a megaton size. The expected range of the missile is between 12,000- 15,000 km, and thus, will be capable of reaching every corner of the Earth.

China made no official statement after Thursday's Agni-V test. However, after the December 2016 Agni-V test, China had stated it hoped India's testing of the nuclear-capable Agni-V ICBM complied with UN Security Council rules and safeguarded South Asia's strategic balance. Hua Chunying, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson, said without elaborating, "On whether India can develop this ballistic missile that can carry nuclear weapons, I think relevant resolutions of the UNSC have clear rules. We have always believed that safeguarding strategic balance and stability in South Asia is conducive for the peace and prosperity of countries in the region." Her reference to strategic balance in South Asia obviously referred to the military balance between India and Pakistan.

What Chunying failed to mention was that while India is part of the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), China is not, and this irks China tremendously.

Another Chinese apprehension came through Global Times, which  quoting Du Wenlong from the Chinese Academy of Military Science  stated that the Agni-V had a strike range of about 5,000 miles (8,000 km), rather than 3,000 miles (4,800 km), and that the Indian government had deliberately played down its range to avoid causing concern to other countries.

India is already working on enhancing the range of Agni-V and is also engaged in the development of Agni-VI. It does not matter whether China has longer range ICBMs because the Agni-V, on being commissioned, has entire Asia and almost 70 percent of Europe within its striking range. Chinas economic hubs are mostly along its east coast, even as it plans to develop Xinjiang as the start point for the CPEC.

China understands that the nuclear strategic balance is not only between India and Pakistan but Agni-V has provided strategic deterrence to India vis-a-vis China. This may not deter China from her tactics of salami-slicing of territory as being witnessed at Doka La and beyond Shaksgam, but will certainly make her think twice before indulging in major mischief against India. This should also negate thinking of some western scholars that China may use tactical nuclear weapons (TNWs) to force India in giving up territory.

The author is a retired lieutenant-general of the Indian Army.
Amid heavy shelling by Pakistani forces on the border, union minister Subhash Bhamre said on Friday said Indian forces know 'what to do' and are 'well prepared' to contain any ceasefire violation in Jammu and Kashmir.

New Delhi: Amid heavy shelling by Pakistani forces on the border, union minister Subhash Bhamre said on Friday said Indian forces know "what to do" and are "well prepared" to contain any ceasefire violation in Jammu and Kashmir.

The remarks came hours after two civilians were killed and three others injured as Pakistan Rangers heavily shelled civilian areas and Border Out Posts for the second consecutive day on Friday along the IB in Jammu and Samba districts.

"Our forces know what to do. Government is sensitive and our forces are well prepared. They have been giving a befitting reply," the minister of state for defence said.

Indian forces are able to "tackle any eventuality" and "safeguard the motherland", he said, adding that at the same time, they "stop cross border infiltration" that has been "unfortunately going on".

He said the end to the standoff in Doka la was the "victory of our leadership."
Jammu and Kashmir Minister for Law and Justice Abdul Haq reiterated that the government was 'forcefully defending' in the SC Article 35A of the Constitution.

Jammu: Jammu and Kashmir Minister for Law and Justice Abdul Haq on Thursday reiterated that the government was "forcefully defending" in the Supreme Court Article 35A of the Constitution, which empowers the state legislature to define its 'permanent residents' and bestow on them special rights and privileges.

Winding up the discussion on the Demand for Grants of law and allied departments in the Legislative Assembly, the minister said the department has hired the services of a battery of senior advocates of the country including Fali S Nariman, Shekhar Naphade, Rakesh Dwivedi and KV Viswanathan to vigorously pursue the case and other similar litigation and put across the state's position.

A civil society group has challenged the constitutional provision in the Supreme Court on grounds of violating the right to equality of people from other states. The provision bars outsiders from owning properties in the state.

While outlining the road map to fine-tune the justice system in the state, the minister said the government has constituted a committee to identify and weed out some of the frivolous litigations that will ensure timely deliverance of justice in the state. Enumerating the measures taken by the Law Department during the past three years to fine-tune the delivery of justice, the minister said that the government would shun the practice of carrying on law suits, which, due to lack of legal merit, have little to no chance of being won.

He said the committee has been mandated to review the state cases and the law departments have been directed to place the cases before the committee which are not worth contesting. This will decrease the burden of unnecessary litigation on the state so that focused attention is given to the cases which are worth contesting, he said.
Everybody who failed to notice there were safety violations in Mumbai's Kamala Mills fire case would be pulled up, the civic body said, and urged the government to amend the laws to make failure or refusal of self-attestation an illegal offence

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has submitted its report following its investigation into the fire at Lower Parel's Kamala Mills compound on 29 December, in which 14 persons were killed, and has held the owners of the restaurants, owners of the premises, and architects and interior decorators who were all involved in the project, responsible. Everybody who failed to notice there were safety violations would be pulled up, the civic body said, and urged the government to amend the laws to make failure or refusal of self-attestation an illegal offence.

The move follows Prime Minister Narendra Modi's diktat from 2014 which directed all government and private bodies to self-regulate in the larger interests of accountability.

Municipal commissioner Ajoy Mehta said a copy of the report has been presented to Mayor Vishwanath Mahadeshwar, police commissioner Dattatray Padsalgikar. The report has also been made public. He said the state government and police can take action accordingly.

The report recommended criminal action be initiated against owners of both restaurants that were gutted in the fire  Mojo's Bistro and 1Above  as also against owner of the premises and concerned architects and interior decorators.

A preliminary report by the Mumbai fire brigade had earlier suggested that flying embers from hookah at Mojo's Bistro may have started the fire. "The cause of fire was flying embers from the hookah being illegally served at Mojo's Bistro restaurant which had partially unauthorisedly covered their terrace and used combustible material for the construction of the same," Mehta's report said.

The "very flammable material" used to cover the terrace of 1Above pub then caught fire immediately from its common wall with Mojo's Bistro, and spread rapidly, it said. Its terrace too had been covered without permission, the report said.

The owner of the premises who gave permission for unauthorised use of terrace areas to these two restaurants was equally responsible for the fire and deaths, the report said. "It is therefore proposed to initiate criminal action against owner of the premises, owners of the restaurants, the architect and the interior decorator who carried out... these unauthorised works and illegal activities," the report said.

Here's a full copy of the report:

Outlined in Section 7.2.1 of the report is the proposed amendment to the MMC Act. Stringent punishments like "heavy penalties for running businesses without licence, and for violations in licenced premises", will be given to offenders.

Interestingly, the report mentions the law should be amended to "incentivise honest self-declaration" and punish "dishonest compliance". "This would ensure that entities who want to conduct honest businesses by ensuring compliances aren't harassed, and on the other hand, those who violate are suitably penalised," the report mentioned. "The core philosophy of ease of doing business is to encourage those who intend doing a regulatory compliant business," the report said.

It also calls for a need to enable the monitoring mechanism using upgraded IT softwares. "There is a need to develop a software calling for compulsory online submission of self-declaration by licensee that fire safety equipment and machinery is in working condition," the report further added.

The owners' responsibility will end not only at self-regulation and ensuring the commercial establishments meet with all required safety norms, but also in seeing to it that there are trained fire safety officers among the employees of these establishments. "His name and contact details must be submitted to the office of the chief fire officer. He should have a designated uniform easily identifiable by the citizens," it said.

It goes still further in putting the onus of ensuring fire safety on owners of commercial and residential establishments. "They must appoint compliance officers, who will be well aware of exit passages to guide people out during a crisis and shall also act as the first responder," it said.

Developing trend since Narendra Modi took charge at Centre

The Mumbai civic body pinning the blame on the owners of the commercial establishments, and urging others in the city to self-regulate is a trend being followed since 2014, when Narendra Modi took charge as the Prime Minister of India.

In August 2014, three months after assuming office, Modi asked all government departments to allow self-attestation of documents and to reduce the use of affidavits. The move was not only meant to bridge the governance deficit in the country, but would also go some way towards reforming the entire public service delivery system, as reported by India Today back in 2014.

Jitendra Singh, a Minister of State with the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), had said the move was envisaged as being part of a bigger symbolic message  that the Modi government had the capacity to trust the youth of this country.

Modi had also felt self-regulation would reduce the dependence on one regulatory authority and act as a system of checks and balances, reported The Quint in November last year. Emphasising that the balance between the executive, the legislature and the judiciary has been the backbone of the Constitution, Modi also pitched for self-regulation and a system of checks and balances for the good health of any institution and quoted BR Ambedkar to state that there should be a limit for any authority.
The primary responsibility of the Kamala Mills fire lies with the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), and as head of the civic body, with the municipal commissioner Ajoy Mehta.

The primary responsibility for the fire that burnt down two restaurants in Mumbai's Kamala Mills compound on 29 December lies with the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), and as the head of the civic body, with the city commissioner.

Although the BMC chief heads the authority which is at the centre of criticism, he was allowed to judge his own organisation. That makes this entire exercise a joke. Someone who is at the helm of affairs must have moral responsibility towards it, apart from the technical responsibility. But the language, the tone of the BMC's report, as also the comments that came before it was released seem to suggest that he hasn't taken any responsibility for what has happened.

The way I look at it is that there are two parties to it: One, the corporation, and second, the individual at the helm of this organisation, Ajoy Mehta. We need to call this out as a farce.

There was some blatant misuse of power, and even though things required by law were not fulfilled, conditional clearances were given by the BMC. This is a total infringement of the rule of law. If you're an agency required to uphold the rule of law, there is no question of giving such "conditional clearances".

Looking at the law itself, the rules we have to do business in are very cumbersome. They force people to undercut the law. We have policies and acts which aren't conducive to the environment we are in today. What we need is an overhaul of these, as also of the mindset of people. Businessmen know they can get away with corruption, which is an unfortunate reality. That can't be allowed to be the case. Rule of law needs to be implemented and followed.

The BMC has spoken about "ease of doing business", but I don't think even they understand what the term means. The way a citizen would understand "ease of doing business" is that the regulatory body becomes a "facilitator", not an impediment towards an activity. But given the archaic laws the BMC has, it doesn't even understand this. Moreover, these laws lead to corrupt practices; they force people to become corrupt, or create an atmosphere for this to be the case.

In fact, the laws are so archaic that forget the people, even the corporation itself doesn't understand what they mean. If officers are honest, they will do their best to be facilitators, but corrupt ones will use laws for their own benefit.

The report talks about getting the required permissions, but the documents regarding the clearances are all with the agency, with any of the hundreds of departments. A businessman basically has to run around, go to 20 different departments, put all the documents in a file together, then get this file to travel to dozens different desks. Is this ease of doing business? What they should ideally do is have one online portal where everything is listed out properly, which would save citizens the trouble of running around.

Ideas like self-assessment are great, but they are shifting the goalposts from the agency to the citizens, and are trying to set the main issue aside. Also, in order to have this in place, the civic body need to create the required backend at its end. But the BMC has instead just paid lip service to the cause. If it actually meant it, it could have done this years ago. Moreover, instead of using technology to save time, it's using terms like self-assessment without any meaning. The commissioner needs to realise he was appointed by the people to work for their benefit as a facilitator, not make them do his work for him.

Allowing the BMC to become its own judge is not correct. What the corporators should have done is to form an independent panel to probe the Kamala Mills fire. This panel could have included people from the industry, citizens' groups, senior officers, etc. It would have looked at the fire, but the suggestions it gave would have been all-encompassing, a thorough look at the BMC's functioning. Instead of that, what we have is this misleading report.

Having said that, we do have some good ideas in the report. Ideas like self-regulation and self-assessment and incentivising will help. But these are just that: Great ideas. The civic body doesn't have the backend currently to facilitate all this.

We are already in the age of social media. There is a lot of information about several issues online, and the civic body could do a far more effective job if it just scrutinised this.

And this is not all. The civic body has also recommended an employee be hired in charge of fire safety norms. I don't even know what they expect with this. They are actually giving rise to an extra level of bureaucracy, which gives yet another person the chance of harassing people. Not to mention that smaller organisations won't be able to afford hiring a person like this.

It's sad that the BMC has such good ideas, but the ideas are difficult to translate into reality.

Read the full report here:

The author is project director, Praja Foundation, an organisation which works on urban governance. As told to Aashray Hariharan
JKLF chairman Mohammad Yasin Malik was on Friday detained after he tried to take out a protest march here against a recent remark by the Army chief on Kashmir

Srinagar: JKLF chairman Mohammad Yasin Malik was on Friday detained after he tried to take out a protest march in Srinagar against a recent remark by the Army chief on Kashmir, police said.

The JKLF chief has been detained in connection with the march, a police officer said.

Malik was detained near the Maisuma area after he tried to take out a protest march towards Lal Chowk, a Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) spokesman said.

He said that the march was against the "intimidating statement" of Indian Army chief General Bipin Rawat.

Rawat on Wednesday had said that people in Kashmir have realised that it was very difficult to secede from India and they were also getting tired of militancy.

The spokesman said Malik was later shifted to the central jail in Srinagar on judicial remand.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 19)  Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chair Teresita Herbosa challenged critics to prove that the body's decision to cancel Rappler's business registration was politically motivated.

Speaking publicly for the first time since the decision was issued, Herbosa said late on Thursday: "If they have proof that's the case then they have to present it. It's so unfair to us. Because without fear or favor, we just come out with whatever the law requires us to do."

Herbosa also hinted Rappler could only be pointing the finger at the SEC to cover up the fact it had violated foreign ownership restrictions in the Constitution.

"Whoever didn't get what they wanted from us, maybe they wanted us to say the PDRs were legal, then maybe they have their own agenda," Herbosa said on Thursday. "They have to resort to things like that in order to divert people's attention to what is the real issue."

READ: SEC cancels Rappler's license to do business

The SEC revoked Rappler's business registration in a Jan. 11 decision, saying the news outlet had engaged in fraud and circumvented foreign ownership rules by accepting over $1 million (around P50 million) from a foreign investor, Omidyar Network, in PDRs.

A PDR is a financial instrument that foreign entities can buy into for financial returns in a local company, though not in the form of dividends.

Rappler maintains that the PDRs do not grant Omidyar Network - an offshore fund set up by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar - any control over the company. It also alleged the Palace had a hand in the SEC ruling, with Rappler being highly critical of the Duterte administration.

Herbosa said that PDRs of media giants ABS-CBN and GMA had been approved by the agency before these were offered to the public. However, the case was different with online news agency Rappler.

READ: Rappler sees Malacanang hand in license revocation

President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday denied involvement in the SEC decision, insisting that Rappler had foreign owners.

READ: Duterte: I had nothing to do with SEC's ruling on Rappler

According to Herbosa, what actually triggered the SEC's investigation was Rappler's own public statements about its ownership.

This caught the eye of the Office of the Solicitor General, which then referred the issue to the SEC for review.

Nevertheless, Herbosa said the SEC did not make its Rappler ruling immediately executory.

Rappler will have until January 27 to appeal the decision. Should it appeal, it will still be allowed to operate unless the courts dismiss the petition and uphold the SEC's ruling.

READ: SEC won't go after other media firms with depositary receipts
An Islamic State recruit from Kannur district of Kerala has been killed in Syria, police said on Friday.

Kannur: An Islamic State recruit from Kannur has been killed in Syria, police said on Friday.

Confirming the death of Abdul Manaf (30), a native of Valapattinam in the district in November last year, a senior police official said the news was received by his relatives on 17 January from his friend, who is also in Syria, through Telegram messenger app.

"The news about the death of Abdul Manaf in a fight in November, 2017 in Syria is correct. It was sent by his friend Kayyum, who is also fighting for the Islamic State in Syria", Deputy Superintendent of Police PP Sadanandan said.

Manaf was a local leader of the Kerala based Popular Front India. He had also worked as the office secretary of the outfit in Delhi for some time before joining the Islamic State, he said.

Manaf was also involved in the murder of a CPM worker in 2009, he said.

About 15 persons from Kannur district have joined the terrorist outfit over a period of time.

Of them, six, including Manaf, have been killed in Syria while another five were arrested and handed over to NIA for investigation, Sadanandan said, adding, the remaining four are in Syria fighting for the Islamic State.
Maharashtra continued to record a high number (2,917) of farmer suicides in 2017. About 60 percent of the cases were reported after the announcement of the farm loan waiver.

Maharashtra continued to record a high number (2,917) of farmer suicides in 2017, a report by The Times of India stated. According to the report, about 60 percent of the cases of farmers ending their own life were reported after the government announced a historic farm loan waiver scheme in June.

However, Kishor Tiwari, who heads a state government task force on agrarian distress, said the scheme was not to be blamed for the farmers' suicides. "The rise in the number of farmer suicides after June cannot be said to have a correlation with the farm loan waiver. It took place because crops began to fail in August, which in turn was due to a variety of factors  such as irregular rainfall and pest attacks. The broader conditions which lead to despair among farmers continue to prevail. The task force is working with the government to address various issues, such as high input costs and the absence of adequate credit mechanisms," he said.

Nitin Khadse, a farmer-activist from Yavatmal district, said, "This year too, there has been a high incidence of farmer suicides. Pest attacks such as the pink bollworm (which affected cotton) had a huge negative impact on yields. Furthermore, many farmers have not received their loan waivers and are still in the dark about whether or not they will receive fresh loans."

Activist Vijay Jawandhia blamed low minimum support prices as a possible reason for the agriculture sector's lack of profitability. As a report in The Indian Express pointed out, the minimum support prices of major crops only partially match the criteria laid down by the MS Swaminathan Commission, which recommended that they should be 'at least 50 percent more than the weighted average cost of production. The recommendations with regard to prices are not met if the cost of production takes into account paid-out expenses like seeds, fertilisers and labour, unpaid family labour and land and other fixed assets.

Speaking about the reason why governments are reluctant to increase MSPs, Jawandhia said, "In an ideal scenario, MSPs should increase every year similar to how salaries in government jobs increase. However, if the government begins to do this, then it will set a precedent and will have to do it every year. That is why the government prefers to announce loan waivers rather than make farming profitable in the long run."

Read more articles from Firstpost's coverage of the farm loan waiver scheme:

Farm loan waivers, Aadhaar linking and the role of MahaOnline: Maharashtra IT secretary's claims debunked

Fadnavis govt junks Aadhaar, dines with the devil (banks), gets loan waiver Assembly-ready, but crisis far from over

Senior bureaucrat VK Gautam shunted to finance in fallout over Maharashtra government's bungled loan waiver scheme

Maharashtra loan waiver: How banks undid Fadnavis' pet plan, forcing him to delink Aadhaar from disbursal

Maharashtra farm loan waiver: One month after scheme's implementation, 77 lakh farmers still in the dark
A major fire broke out on the fourth floor of an industrial complex at Lower Parel in Central Mumbai shortly after midnight

Mumbai: A major fire broke out on the fourth floor of an industrial complex at Lower Parel in Central Mumbai shortly after midnight, an official said on Friday.

The fire broke out around 1 am at a dilapidated 'Navrang Studio' - which was shut years ago - in Todi Mill Compound at Senapari Bapat Marg, he said.

So far, no casualty has been reported, the official said, adding that fire fighters are trying to contain the blaze.

Eight fire engines, seven tankers and an ambulance have been rushed to the spot.

"The studio building is old, unoccupied and precious," the official said, adding that the exact reason of the fire is not yet known.

On 29 December, a fire broke out in the Kamala Mills Compound in same locality of Central Mumbai in which 14 people were killed and more than 21 injured.
There are no 'plans' of a bilateral meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting at Davos next week, the external affairs ministry said

New Delhi: There are no "plans" of a bilateral meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting at Davos next week, the external affairs ministry said on Friday.

The annual meet of the WEF would be beginning on 22 January. Modi would address the opening plenary on 23 January.

"As far as I am concerned there are no plans for meeting with the Pakistan prime minister," Secretary (Economic Relations) at the External Affairs Ministry Vijay Gokhale told reporters in New Delhi.

He was responding to a query on whether Modi would be meeting his Pakistani counterpart as the latter would also be there at WEF on the same day.

The relations between India and Pakistan are strained following series of attacks by Pakistan-based terror groups and incidents of ceasefire violations, causing casualties on both sides.

When asked whether Modi would be meeting US president Donald Trump, he said the two will not be there on the same day.

This would be Modi's first Davos visit and also the first by an Indian prime minister since the one by HD Deve Gowda in 1997. In case of Trump, he would be the first US President to attend since Bill Clinton in 2000.

To a question on whether Modi is sending a message by not meeting Trump at the event, which has the theme of 'Creating a Shared Future in a Fractured World', Gokhale said there were never any plans for the two leaders to meet.

"Besides, this is a multilateral event and the prime minister's central message will be that we are an economy that can be an engine of global growth. We want others to participate in our growth and we also want to participate in others' growth," he said.

There were never any plans for the two leaders to meet and therefore whether they are present at the same event and are not meeting is not important, he said, adding, "Our focus has always been in a global economy that is open and inclusive".
Our general demeanour towards China has been one of steady disengagement, and were only hurting our country and the economy in the process, writes former Union minister Milind Deora.

This week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi made headlines by breaking protocol and welcoming Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Palam airport in New Delhi. Meanwhile, Nepal has chosen to reduce its reliance on telecom bandwidth from India, essentially ending Indias monopoly of internet services in the country, by collaborating with China Telecom Global to provide connectivity to its citizens. A juxtaposition of these developments warrants a reflection on the trajectory of foreign policy in India.

Atal Bihari Vajpayees NDA initiated strategic ties with Israel and the US and nurtured those relationships, which were further strengthened by Manmohan Singh. However, both governments also ensured that ties with traditional allies such as Russia, the Middle East, or GCC countries, werent neglected, and were simultaneously deepened as well. In doing so, both Vajpayees NDA as well as UPA 1 and UPA 2, in a sense, were practising Nehruvian foreign policy and its principle of non-alignment.

I personally welcome and support India developing stronger ties with Israel, particularly because we collaborate on a host of policy issues  including strategic areas such as counterterrorism and intelligence sharing, trade, cultural exchanges, and economic cooperation in technology and innovation. I believe it is essential for us to enrich our relationship with the US as well, for much of the same reasons and a whole lot more, such as our mutual commitment to democratic values.

Having said that, I also believe that India cannot and should not neglect its immediate and close neighbours. India imports about 60 percent of its crude oil from the Middle East, a large percentage of which comes from GCC countries. An estimated seven million Indians live and work across the Middle East. China, with whom we share a border, is Indias largest trading partner. The Economic Times reported in December 2017 that trade between India and China jumped 13.56 percent year-on-year totalling $6.33 billion while Indian exports to China jumped over 53 percent year-on-year.

With countries like Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Pakistan, not only does India share commercial and economic engagements, but also strong historical, linguistic and cultural ties, with large diaspora communities running both ways. It is therefore paramount that India continues to nurture and enrich its relationships with these countries as well.

This is all the more pertinent in light of Nepals distancing from India in the telecom space. It chose, instead, to partner with China in providing internet services to its citizens.

Our general demeanour towards China has been one of steady disengagement, and were only hurting the country and the economy in the process. For instance, after the resolution of the Doka La standoff, China has practically taken over North Doka La with about 1,600-1,800 troops permanently stationed there. The situation may have resolved so to speak, but China has clearly established itself as a force to reckon with.

My friend Sudheendra Kulkarni at Observer Research Foundation argues very convincingly that if China and India can collaborate on assuaging Indias sovereignty concerns stemming from CPEC, then India must, in its own interest, partner with Chinas Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). He argues that nothing like this has ever been conceptualised or implemented in the modern world, and the scale of connectivity that it envisages is unprecedented. Based on this connectivity, we can hope to usher in a new paradigm of economic cooperation and integration. China has also emphasised that the objectives of BRI are not simply economic in nature, theyre also cultural and civilizational. In that sense, it envisions a revival of the Silk Route that facilitated mutual discovery and interaction as well as cross-border exchanges of knowledge and culture.

In that context, Kulkarni believes that Indias hard-line position on BRI is myopic. He believes that there is no reason for India to lose out on an economic and cultural renaissance if it can find a way to turn this into an opportunity where all parties stand to benefit. He proposes renaming CPEC to the China-India-Pakistan corridor to assuage sovereignty concerns and postulates India-China cooperation on bringing in a corridor from Kashgar in Western China to Gwadar in Baluchistan, through Jammu and Kashmir and North India. This would open up land access from India to China which today does not exist. Furthermore, he proposes that India should establish land access through Pakistan to Afghanistan, which would open up new opportunities in India-Pakistan trade and cooperation, ushering in prosperity for both countries.

Even though we have the Chabahar port in Iran, he argues, it is much more economically viable and efficient for us to go through Afghanistan, instead of all the way around through Chabahar, to get access to Central Asia.

I believe that since tensions have cooled off between China and India, it might be a good time to sit across the table with China and discuss the possibility of being re-plugged into the modern-day Silk Route. India is an important aspect of BRIs success, and we must strive to work with it in our own interest. Projects such as CPEC, Nepals partnership with China Telecom Global, the take-over of Sri Lankas Hambantota port on a 99-year lease by China, and the recent China-Maldives FTA might lead to disengagement and isolation for India and is a lesson in why we must not neglect our traditional allies and immediate neighbours.

In the light of all the political grandstanding and jingoism that accompanies anti-Pakistan and anti-China rhetoric, while we must continue to put pressure on Pakistan to further our counterterrorism efforts, I believe that we also need to introspect and assess whether we are forfeiting larger long-term economic and strategic benefits in a region where we could potentially be in position to hold all the cards.

The author is a former member of Parliament and has served as minister for communication and IT, and shipping and ports.
Maharashtra Swabhiman Party (MSP) President Narayan Rane on Friday accused the Shiv Sena of threatening farmers and leaders opposing the upcoming mega-refinery project at Nanar in Konkan.

Mumbai: Maharashtra Swabhiman Party (MSP) president Narayan Rane on Friday accused the Shiv Sena of threatening farmers and leaders opposing the upcoming mega-refinery project at Nanar in Konkan.

"Despite strong opposition from the local villages, the state government has initiated forcible land acquisition process for the project. An activist, Ashok Walam, his wife Ashwini Walam and another crusader Mangesh Chavan were threatened in Matoshri," Rane told media persons.

The MSP chief claimed that in Matoshri  the residence of Shiv Sena President Uddhav Thackeray  these activists and villagers were warned against opposing the project and even lured with money to back off, but they refused.

"The police arrested them and filed cases for opposing the project and finally they were granted bail by the court. The people who are trying to grab the villagers' land are agents of Shiv Sena," said Rane, whose party is part of the ruling NDA.

He said people of at least 16 villages in Nanar area have not given their consent for the project and have refused to accept the government's compensation package.

The former chief minister, who hails from the picturesque coastal Konkan region of Maharashtra, listed the major environmental hazards if the government pushes ahead with the project, besides destroying the world-renowned Devgad Alphonso mango unique to this region.

"The Shiv Sena is playing a dual role in the matter. On one hand, Uddhav Thackeray says the party is opposed to the project, but its ministers in the state and the Centre are giving various clearances for it.

"Why haven't Union Minister for Heavy Industries Anant Geete and state Industries Minister Subhash Desai stopped it," Rane asked.

Even Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis is on record that the project was being taken in Konkan at the insistence of the Shiv Sena, which is the ruling NDA's ally at the Centre as well as in the state.

The mega-refinery project of the three oil marketing companies  Indian Oil Corporation Ltd, with 50 percent share, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd  both with 25 percent share each, is known as West Coast Refinery & Petrochemical Project (WCRPP), planned in Babulwadi, Ratnagiri district.

With a total capacity of 60 million tonnes per annum, it will be constructed on around 14,000 acres land in two phases  40 million tonner per annum and 20 million tonner per annum  at a cost of around Rs 1.5 trillion, with possibility of a foreign collaborator.

The project is intended to cater to the growing demand for Indian petrochemical products in the world market.

Incidentally, this is the second major project that the people of Konkan are strongly opposing  the other being the Jaitapur Nuclear Power Project.

The JNPP is billed as the world's biggest, coming up on 950 hectares of land with French collaboration near Madhban village in Ratnagiri, at a cost of Rs 1.12 trillion.
An opportunity has presented itself which can open the doors of dialogue with Kashmir. But New Delhi must not misread the deceptive calm in the Valley.

After nearly eight months of investigations spanning six states during which over 300 witnesses were examined, 950 incriminating documents and 600 electronic devices were seized, the National Investigation Agency has finally filed the chargesheet in the terror funding case that shook Kashmir in 2017.

The chargesheet is the culmination of a targeted investigation by the agency against the separatists. These findings came about after a senior Hurriyat leader and chief of Jammu Kashmir National Front, Nayeem Khan, was caught on camera purportedly boasting about how Hurriyat organises protests in Kashmir for cash. He spoke of a network of foot-soldiers and how they sometimes resort to violence and arson.

Filed at the NIA's special court in New Delhi on Thursday, the chargesheet names 12 people. It names Kamran Yusuf, a photo journalist working with a local daily, as an accused in the case filed on 30 May, 2017. Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief Hafiz Sayeed and chairman of United Jihad Council Syed Salahuddin, the handlers and conspirators of protests in Kashmir, are among the dozen booked in the case.

The threadbare scrutiny and analysis of the documents and digital devices established that the accused are carrying out terrorist attacks and orchestrating violence, stone-pelting and other subversive and secessionist activities in Jammu & Kashmir as a part of their well-planned conspiracy hatched with the active support, connivance and funding from terrorist organisations based in Pakistan and its agencies to achieve their objective of secession of the State of Jammu & Kashmir by waging war against the Government of India, the chargesheet claims.

Waging war or pulling strings?

When the NIA made its first arrests in the case, there was a sense of disquiet and shock in the Valley. Initially when Nayeem Khan was arrested, the Hurriyat trio of Syed Ali Geelani, Yasin Malik and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq did not make any statements on the arrest. Khan at point had already made startling disclosures about the modus operandi of the separatists. However, when the investigations widened and the close aides of the trio were arrested, they resorted to hartal politics by issuing shutdown calls.

The arrests also coincided with the appointment of Dineshwar Sharma as a special interlocutor for Jammu and Kashmir. While the Hurriyat announced that they would not talk to Sharma, it also alleged that the Centre was using the NIA as a tool to force Hurriyat to meet its special representative. Sharma later met a key Hurriyat leader, Abdul Ghani Bhat and a middle-rung separatist, but without much success.

The Hurriyat repeated the charges in a press conference, hours after the NIA filed the chargesheet at Patiala House Courts on Thursday. We (Hurriyat Conference) will not surrender no matter how much pressure New Delhi builds on us by using its military policies. The chargesheet against Kashmiri separatist leaders and a businessman is baseless and a concoction of falsehoods. Our leaders have been kidnapped by the Centre and lodged in Tihar jail where they are being subjected to bad treatment in order to break their resolve, Geelani said over phone while addressing reporters at Mirwaizs Srinagar residence.

Changing Kashmir narrative

While the arrest of any Hurriyat leader was unimaginable just a few years back, the NIA raids have changed the narrative. It has disregarded the 'sacrosanct' image of the separatists who were considered holier-than-thou in Kashmirs turbulent politics. The events in the case also raised significant questions on the absence of a meaningful political roadmap with the Hurriyat for resolving the Kashmir problem and the lack of moral character in some of the separatists.

While the Hurriyat's influence has shrunk, all has not been rosy for the mainstream players like the ruling Peoples Democratic Party and the National Conference either. Their leaders are still unable to venture into their constituencies in parts of south Kashmir due to the fear of militants. This is where an opportunity has presented itself which can open the doors of dialogue with the people of Kashmir. But New Delhi must not misread the deceptive calm in the Valley as the return of peace.

This (military) approach by the government of India and the entire manner in which the NIA chargesheet is being projected to give the impression that all the kingpins are behind the bars, that a major breakthrough has been made, and that is why there is silence . what is silent in Kashmir, moderate Hurriyat chief Mirwaiz told reporters. Religious rights, political rights, social rights, civil rights have been usurped. We are not even allowed to meet. We are not even allowed to go to the mosque. We are not even allowed to offer prayers. We are not even allowed to have closed door meetings and seminars, he said.

It wont be an exaggeration to say the separatists lost a lot of ground after the NIA raids. But it is fallacious to see these arrests as some kind of miracle that will take care of the Kashmir problem. The last two years in Kashmir were drenched in blood. This must end. Violence cant be a substitute for dialogue, Professor Noor A Baba, a political scientist and policy analyst who teaches at the Central University of Kashmir, said.
Two civilians were killed and three others injured as Pakistan Rangers heavily shelled civilian areas and Border Out Posts for the second consecutive day on Friday along the IB in Jammu and Samba districts

Jammu: Two civilians were killed and three others injured as Pakistan Rangers heavily shelled civilian areas and Border Out Posts for the second consecutive day on Friday along the IB in Jammu and Samba districts. BSF troops effectively retaliated.

"Pakistan Rangers resorted to heavy firing and shelling along the IB in several areas in RS Pura, Arnia and Ramgarh sectors since 0640 hours", a BSF officer said. They targeted around 40 Border Out Posts (BoPs) in three sectors using 82 milimetres and 52 mortar bombs, automatic and small weapons, he said.

"The exchange of fire is going on when the reports last came in", he said adding they have targeted BoPs and villages in over 35 kilometres of IB.

A police officer said Pakistani troops have targeted over 40 civilian villages in Arnia, RS Pura and Ramgarh sectors

along the IB till now. Two civilians, including a woman, were killed and three civilians were injured in the shelling, they said.

While the woman died in Sai Khurda, the man died in Korotona in RS Pura-Arnia belt. A civilian was injured in SaiKhurd village while two others were injured in Ramgarh.

In view of the heavy shelling, over 1000 border dwellers have migrated from the area and schools along the borderline have been closed.

On Thursday,a 17-years old girl and a BSF jawan were killed and six persons injured when Pakistan Rangers violated

the ceasefire and heavily shelled BoPs and villages along IB in three sectors of Jammu and Samba districts.

BSF Director General KK Sharma visited Jammu to pay homage to Suresh on Thursday and directed his field commanders to retaliate with full force and teach Pakistan Rangers a lesson.

He said the situation along the IB and LoC was tense
The rise of China, behaviour of the US on world platform, challenge of terrorism, and the implication of non-market economics were four major disruptions at the global level, Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar said on Thursday.

New Delhi: The rise of China, behaviour of the US on world platform, challenge of terrorism, and the implication of non-market economics were four major disruptions at the global level, Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar said on Thursday.

He said the transition being observed at the global level was not limited to the western world alone.

"One, of course, is the rise of China. The second is the choices, posturing and behaviour by the United States. Third is the challenge of terrorism, particularly, from the ungoverned spaces and fourth is the implication of non-market economics," Jaishankar said talking about the major disruptions at the global level in recent times.

Speaking at the multilateral 'Raisina Dialogue', Jaishankar, who will hang his boots on 28 January, said the rise of China, although disruptive, is also positive. "We need to have a balanced view. Certainly, for India, in some ways China has been a motivator and an example," he said referring to China's growth.

He said that to some extent China has also "opened up the international order". Jaishankar's comments on terrorism from ungoverned spaces is seen as an apparent reference to Pakistan. In her address at the Raisina Dialogue on Wednesday, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had termed "terrorism as the mother of all disruptions".

Responding to a question on India's alleged involvement in terrorist activities and the arrest of Kulbhushan Jadhav, who has sentenced to death by a Pakistani court for allegedly spying, Jaishankar dubbed the accusation as farce.

With regards to the US as a disruptor, Jaishankar said "it has been disrupting" for sometime. "Iraq was a disruption, in a sense Pakistan has, was, is, will be a disruptor. The Obama administration's choices on Russia were disruptions to the international politics," he said.

The US administration had imposed sanctions on Moscow in connection with Russia's annexation of the Crimean Peninsula in Ukraine. He said the barriers in the trade and services are coming down.

"A lot of market economies are also practising non-market economics," the foreign secretary said. Non-market economy is the economy in which the government seeks to determine economic activity largely through a mechanism of central planning, as in the erstwhile Soviet Union.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 19)  Senators will investigate the controversial deal to acquire P15.74 billion worth of frigates for the Philippine Navy in the wake of allegations Special Assistant to the President Bong Go was involved in the process.

Opposition senators Kiko Pangilinan, Franklin Drilon, Antonio Trillanes, Bam Aquino, Risa Hontiveros, and Leila de Lima filed a resolution calling for two committees to conduct an inquiry on the acquisition of two missile-capable frigates as part of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP)'s modernization program.

The probe seeks "to determine whether or not such acquisition promotes the goals of the modernization program and complies with pertinent laws," according to the resolution dated January 16 and released Friday.

The resolution is calling for the committee on national defense and security and congressional oversight committee on the AFP Modernization Act to conduct the investigation.

It was filed in the wake of allegations that Go, President Rodrigo Duterte's right-hand man, intervened by backing a South Korean firm as supplier, although the resolution made no mention of Go's supposed role.

Go said he will attend the hearing if invited by the senators.

"Anywhere, anytime I'm willing to face the accusers. Wala akong tinatago, wala akong tinataguan, at wala po akong alam tungkol sa issue na 'yan... I will cooperate and face the false and malicious accusations against me," he said.

Go earlier denied any hand in the project. Malacanang said it has not found any evidence against Go, adding that the warships' suppliers were chosen by the past administration and it would have been useless for him to intervene.

Related: Roque: Palace done 'investigating' SAP Bong Go, no evidence seen in 24 hours

In a statement on Friday, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said the probe is a "welcome move to determine if (the) Aquino government committed any anomalies in the bidding."

The Senate resolution, however, said the contract with winning bidder Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) was signed under the Duterte administration, though it was initiated by former President Benigno Aquino III in 2015. The warships were meant to beef up the country's territorial defense and disaster response capabilities.

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana and sacked Navy Flag-Officer-In-Command Vice Admiral Ronald Joseph Mercado said they had a row over which combat management system (CMS) will install in the two frigates being built by HHI.

Mercado and the Philippine Navy supposedly preferred Tacticos Thales of Netherlands, but HHI wanted its subcontractor, Hanwha Tales, also a South Korean company, to do the job. In the end, Lorenzana directed AFP to proceed with what HHI wants.

But opposition lawmaker Gary Alejano questioned Go's supposed meeting with Hanwha Tales in January 2017.

"According to the information I received, a Korean Hanhwa official, accompanied by a Filipino national, visited Bong Go to lobby for their CMS to be chosen despite Navy's different preference," Alejano said.

The Defense department welcomed the Senate investigation, saying they "have long been waiting for the opportunity to shed light on this issue so that the truth will finally be known."

CNN Philippines' Cecille Lardizabal contributed to this report.
A forceful argument that the State cannot compel a citizen to part with personal information to a private entity, prompted the Supreme Court on Thursday to point out that people voluntarily gave such inputs to private insurance or mobile companies.

New Delhi: A forceful argument that the State cannot compel a citizen to part with personal information to a private entity, prompted the Supreme Court on Thursday to point out that people voluntarily gave such inputs to private insurance or mobile companies.

The argument was made during the hearing on the Aadhaar issue by senior advocate Shyam Divan before a five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra. The bench said "You want insurance policy, you go to a private company. You want mobile connection, you go to private entities and part with personal information...

"Here the government has multiplied the options... the moment the government asks you to give proof of address and other details, you have a problem and you say 'sorry'."

To this, Divan responded saying "There is no problem per se with an individual parting with private information on his own. The point here is that you are being asked to part with information to someone you do not know and have no contractual relation with."

The bench, also comprising Justice A K Sikri, Justice A M Khanwilkar, Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justice Ashok Bhushan, is hearing a clutch of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the government's flagship Aadhaar programme and its enabling Act of 2016.

Divan, who is representing petitioners like former Karnataka High Court judge Justice K S Puttaswamy, several activists Aruna Roy, Shantha Sinha and veteran CPI(M) leader V S Achuthanandan, submitted that the State cannot compel its citizens to give personal information, that too to a private company, as it violated their fundamental rights.

Referring to the legal position with regard to the national population census, he said it has been made clear that the personal and demographic details of citizens collected during census were being protected, but in case of Aadhaar, there was no such safeguard.

Divan said the private party was "so much outside the control of the Unique Identification Authority of India" that they can use it for their own commercial purposes. "Moreover, there is no binding contract between the UIDAI and private agencies employed to collect biometric and other details for granting Aadhaar numbers," Divan said.

"What are the nature of safeguards to ensure that the information was not purloined," the bench asked, adding the government is needed to ensure that the information collected is not sold. During the day-long hearing, Divan referred to the contents of the Aadhaar enrolment form which said that people, getting enrolled, were parting with information voluntarily.

However, if a person refuses to part with certain details while getting enrolled, the software simply refuses to register the person, he said, adding that word 'voluntary' was "meaningless".

Terming the scheme as "unconstitutional from beginning to end", Divan said that initially the State was not authorised to compel the citizens to part with personal information and moreover, it became more troublesome when people were asked to share them with private firms.

At the time of enrolment when persons are asked to share details like bank accounts and mobile numbers besides the biometric details, no government officials are there to guide the citizens whose details are being secured by private entities, the senior lawyer said.

Divan referred to recent sting operations by some TV channels showing certain private firms engaged in Aadhaar enrolments, were willing to share personal information of citizens in lieu of money. In a digitised world, the government has to be "an ally of the citizens and not their adversary" and it must ensure that the privacy interests of citizens are protected against national and overseas corporations, Divan said.

Highlighting the alleged malady of the Aadhaar system, he said it would lead to profiling and surveillance of citizens from birth to death.

He also referred to the recent nine-judge bench judgement holding privacy as the fundamental right and said it was delivered in the Aadhaar case and said the procedure for deprivation of this right must be "just, fair, and reasonable."

Divan said the judgement grounded privacy in ideas of "dignity and autonomy" and it made the preamble to the Indian Constitution central to the concept of fundamental rights. "A constitutional democracy survives when citizens have confidence that the rule of law will prevail," he said.

The advancing of arguments remained inconclusive and would resume on 23 January.

Earlier, Divan had termed Aadhaar as "an electronic leash" and said the government could completely destroy an individual by "switching off" the 12-digit unique identifier number.

However, the bench had asked whether the state "cannot say that it has every right to find out the number of schools, children or the real beneficiaries of a welfare scheme and verify the real beneficiaries of huge funds which it is spending, it needs Aadhaar number. This is a valid argument."

The apex court had on December 15 last year extended till March 31 the deadline for mandatory linking of Aadhaar with various services and welfare schemes of all ministries and departments of the Centre, states and union territories.
The Supreme Court on Friday upheld the acquittal of Peepli Live co-director Mahmood Farooqui in a rape case by the Delhi High Court

The Supreme Court on Friday upheld the acquittal of Peepli Live co-director Mahmood Farooqui in a rape case by the Delhi High Court, after hearing a plea by a US research scholar challenging the high court verdict.

During the hearing before the apex court, the woman's counsel told the bench that a new argument of alleged consensual relation was advanced by Farooqui's lawyer before the high court and claimed that this issue was not raised before the lower court during the trial.

In September 2017, the Delhi High Court had acquitted Farooqui, saying he was entitled to benefit of the doubt as the testimony of the victim was not reliable.

Here's a timeline of the case so far:

With inputs from PTI
At least two women were shifted to a hospital and hundreds of residents in Goa's Chicalim village evacuated from their homes after a tanker carrying ammonia overturned on the highway connecting Vasco City to Panaji

Panaji: At least two women were shifted to a hospital and hundreds of residents in Goa's Chicalim village evacuated from their homes after a tanker carrying ammonia overturned on the highway connecting Vasco City to Panaji.

The incident occurred around 2.45 am when the tanker carrying ammonia from Mormugao Port Trust to Zuari Industries Limited, both located in Vasco, overturned at the highway and gas started leaking from it.

"The disaster response teams were sent to the site immediately while police and fire and emergency service personnels were asked to wake up the people and evacuate the entire area," deputy collector Mahadev Arondekar told PTI.

"Two women had to be shifted to a nearby hospital as they complained of breathlessness," a senior district administration official said, adding that they were sleeping inside their house which is close to the accident spot.

Vasco police inspector Nolasco Raposo said he contacted the safety officer at Zuari Industries factory after receiving the information about the leak. "A rescue team was sent to the site to tackle the situation," said Raposo.

The highway crossing through Chicalim village has been blocked and the traffic diverted through other roads. "We have stopped the motorists from using the road. Also we have informed the public in the vicinity to evacuate and to cover their mouth with masks or wet clothes," he said.

Nearly 300 houses are located in the area, a few kilometers from Goa's Dabolim Airport, where the incident took place.
Ahead of his first visit to Davos for the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said the world wants to hear 'directly from the horse's mouth' about India's policies and growth potential.

Ahead of his first visit to Davos for the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said the world wants to hear "directly from the horse's mouth" about India's policies and growth potential.

In an interview, Modi told Zee News that India has made a mark globally and there is a need to reap the benefits.

"The country is seeing the biggest jump in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). It is natural that the world wants to talk directly to India and hear its development story directly from the horse's mouth. It matters if you hear it from the leader," Modi said.

While terming the Davos meet as the biggest congregation of businessmen, financial institutions and policymakers, the prime minister said he has not been able to go there so far.

Modi called India an "attraction" for the world.

"Everyone knows what was happening in India before 2014. After 30 years, a government with a clear mandate has come in India. This is something which has attracted attention of the world and changed the nature of interaction," the prime minister told Zee News.

The prime minister also praised India's progress rate. "When world sees that a country has entered top 100 rank of World Bank's ease of doing business, they know it is a big thing. The change is visible in their relation with the country."

The prime minister explained how his lack of understanding of standard "protocols" worked in his favour. "When I became the prime minister, there was criticism that Modi has no knowledge about the foreign land. It was right, because I had no experience. But that worked in my favour, I had no baggage. I would tell the world leaders that I have no understanding of protocol; I am a social man and I am going to behave as such. It turned out to be a plus and I could make friends world over," he said.

"Every time I stand next to the biggest leaders, I don't think that I am Modi. No matter who stands next to me, I only remember that I am the representative of 125 crore Indians and I empower myself with the strength of these 125 crore Indians and stand shoulder to shoulder with world leaders," he told Zee News.

On national politics, Modi said that criticism was good for the democracy, and everything good should be praised open-heartedly, while bad things should be denounced and criticised by all. But we have faced more allegations than criticism.

Modi spoke on the importance of being proactive. "The world was divided into two camps earlier. People had to choose sides. Today, its an open field. Today, everyone is friend with everyone and everyone differs with someone at some point," he said.

The prime minister then talked about his economic policies. He said that his government ensured construction of toilets in over a lakh schools, provided LPG connection to 3 crore 30 lakh families. He further mentioned the Centre's efforts in ensuring electricity reached villages and providing insurance to poor.

About the Goods and Services Tax (GST), Modi said that discussions began during the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government but the successive UPA governments failed to convince the states. "I would talk about Gujarat to them (UPA), but the Centre then would not listen to us. After we came to power, we addressed states' concerns. This is how GST was construed. We have, in true spirit, respected the federal structure."

Modi explained his conviction that "the country votes you to power" so that "you work for janata janardan, not to win another elections." He said, "Election should be a by-product, when a person doesn't think about polls, then its easier to take decisions."

The prime minister then raised the issue of elections being held throughout the year. "So much manpower and money is lost. Security forces leave the protection of common man and look after the elections. If Lok Sabha, Vidhan Sabha elections are held together, this loss can be avoided. In 30-50 days for 5 years, everything is done," he said.

He further stressed that the issues surrounding elections can be fixed if everybody intended to solve them. "This cannot be one man or one party's agenda. Everyone should debate and arrive at a solution," he said.

Modi also addressed the concerns regarding employment under his governance, an issue the Opposition has raised several times. He said, "This nation should be proud that 10 crore people have benefited from MUDRA yojana. The truth is, if someone opens a pakoda shop, and earns Rs 200, will you consider this employment? Three crore people took loan for the first time through the scheme. It is clear that these people have got employment."

Speaking on politics, Modi said, "It is unfortunate that we have been using religion and caste in our politics for the longest time. Politics should be based on integrity."

When asked if the upcoming Union Budget, being his government's last full Budget, would be any different from previous ones, he said that irrespective of Budgets or elections, "Modi and BJP has one mantra: development, development, development. Sabka sath sabka vikas."

With inputs from PTI
UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday said closing madrassas was not a solution and pitched for providing modern education.

Lucknow: UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday said closing madrassas was not a solution and pitched for providing modern education not only in Islamic institutions but also in Sanskrit schools to face competition.

Adityanath said the country was not able to utilise energy of those "misguided" in 'rashtra nirman' (nation building) and stressed that quality education was the solution.

"We can think about modernisation of madrassas. Closing them down is not a solution but timely improvements should be considered. I also ask Sanskrit schools that besides imparting traditional education they should give computer, English, Science and Mathematics education to face competition," he said.

He was addressing a coordination meeting of minority welfare ministers of nine states including Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttrakahand, Jammu and Kashmir, Bihar, Delhi and Punjab here in presence of Union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi.

Uttar Pradesh Shia Waqf Board chief Wasim Rizvi had recently written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the chief minister demanding that the madrassas be shut down.

"How many madrassas have produced engineers, doctors, IAS officers? Yes, but some madrassas have produced terrorists," Rizvi had said in his letter last week, prompting the Jamiat Ulama-I-Hind to serve a legal notice on him.

Shia and Sunni clerics have unitedly filed an FIR against Rizvi, who also received a phone call from a man, claiming to be an aide of fugitive mafia don Dawood Ibrahim, threatening to blow up him and his family.

The chief minister said, "We are not able to utilise energy of those who are misguided in 'Rashtra Nirman'. Only quality education is the solution. Our government is committed to development without any discrimination."

Noting that after Narendra Modi became Prime Minister, transparency has been ensured in government schemes, Adityanath said, "We should try to make such a society where no one feels neglected."

The chief minister was of the view that rather than providing loans to SC/ST women, efforts should be made to identify their skills and nurture their talents.
In her book, Gurmehar Kaur presents small, intimate stories of her father, which make accusations of anti-nationalism seem hollow | #FirstCulture

By Taruni Kumar

On 26 February 2017, I was on NDTVs We The People. As a journalist for The Quint, I had been at the 22 February anti-ABVP protest at Ramjas College in Delhi Universitys North campus and had been beaten up by a woman from ABVP. At the studio, sitting beside and in front of me in the audience were some students of Ramjas College. When asked why they had covered their faces with dupattas, they said they were afraid because theyd received death threats after the protest.

Gurmehar Kaur, a 19-year-old student of English Literature at Delhis Lady Shri Ram College for Women, became involved after the episode. The death and rape threats she was receiving after she had voiced support for the protest had scared her mother to the point that she didnt want her present in the studio. Sarah Jacob, the anchor of the episode which was focused on the state of freedom of speech in India, pointed out the irony that Kaurs voice  that of the daughter of a Kargil soldier who sacrificed his life for the country  was being stifled in the name of nationalism.

This backlash for her opinions on freedom and speech, as well as her support for the Ramjas protests, was what I assumed Gurmehar Kaurs new book Small Acts of Freedom would be about. After all, her rise to fame  or infamy  depending on who you ask, began because she posted the now-famous picture of her holding a sign that reads, I am a student from Delhi University. I am not afraid of ABVP. I am not alone. Every student of India is with me. #StudentsAgainstABVP. The headlines spoke of the daughter of Kargil soldier Captain Mandeep Singh taking on the ABVP, the student wing of the RSS, which claims to be the ultimate guardian of nationalism in the country. A previously posted peace campaign video in which Kaur had participated was dug up, and screenshots of her holding a placard that read, Pakistan did not kill my father, war killed him, were circulated in an odd sort of attempt to dissociate her from her father, and in the process, discredit her. But the online hatred  it was too vicious to be simply labelled trolling  and the fact that despite not being a Ramjas College student herself, she still took a stand in solidarity, made her one of the faces of the protest. While I didnt dismiss the book, I did expect it to be limited in its scope. But I was proved wrong pretty early on.

Kaur begins with the story of the Ramjas protests and explains her motivations, despite being a regular college kid with regular college kid concerns, to raise her voice in defence of freedom of speech. But her explanations for how she became 'the girl with the sign', who made the right-wing foam at the mouth, don't end in the introduction. They span the pages of the entire book as she describes the values she imbibed from the books other protagonists  her mother, her grandmother, and interweaved through it all, her late father.

The book is about tragedies, written by a young girl, the third in a line of women from a family that has seen too much death. Theres a pattern that emerges and not a happy one at that. Her grandmother, whose family had to flee Pakistan after Partition, lost her husband when Gurmehars mother was just a child and Gurmehar lost her father at the young age of two. While Gurmehars grandmother faced prejudice for being a widow  she and her daughters were labelled bad luck  Gurmehars mother brought up her two daughters on her own after the death of her husband.

Kaurs story-telling is simple but taps into a rich vein of emotionality. As a two-year-old (we presume that this is one of many stories that was told in the family keeping alive the memory of her father), Kaur is on a road-trip with her parents. She feels nauseous, tries to be stoic about it and then throws up. She writes, As we walk back to the car, he asks me to promise him that I will tell him about anything that makes me uncomfortable without thinking twice. Your papa is here to fix everything, he says. We make our promises.

When juxtaposed with these small, intimate stories of Kaurs father, accusations of anti-nationalism seem like from they are from another planet afflicted by grandiosity and long words. But on the other hand, hers fathers death while fighting in Kargil, her grandmothers flight from Pakistan, her mothers constant reminder of her fathers sacrifice and her own emphasis on freedom and patriotism all fit squarely into a nationalistic space.

Kaur tells the story of how her parents took her at the age of three months to the Mehrangarh fort in Jodhpur for Independence Day fireworks at midnight and how a reporter from Rajasthan Patrika was intrigued by the couple with a young baby.

The next mornings local newspaper read, Months-old Gulgul at Mehrangarh Fort, celebrating freedom. Harry was overjoyed. He couldnt believe that his babys name was in the headline of a newspaper. He called his family back in Jalandhar on his landline and read out the headline and the article excitedly. He cut out the article and put it in a file. We will show it to her when she grows up. We will tell her that her parents taught her the value of freedom from an early age.

On more than one occasion, where I wished I felt dismissive of the hokey-ness of what I was reading, I found myself moved instead. Kaur is not a veteran storyteller but she doesnt try to be either. Instead the stories are told with the simplicity, sensitivity and empathy of the child she was not so long ago. A great example of this is when Kaur talks of a time when she was six years old and, on a hunt for chocolates, she discovers her nanis passport which says Pakistan. Having associated Muslims with Pakistan and Pakistan with the death of her father, she becomes enraged and begins to cry till her mother explains to her that neither Pakistan nor Muslims are bad. After she apologises to her nani for her behaviour, the story ends with her achieving what she had initially set out to do  eat a chocolate.

And whatever you feel about nationalism or other long words, you are likely to enjoy the book which is, in short, about women. About a woman who chose to not work because she could. A woman who did work and brought up her two daughters alone. And now, a young woman whos standing up for what she believes in.

I recently met someone in Bangalore who recognised me as the reporter whose glasses they smashed at the Ramjas protest. I assumed she had seen me in the short period of time that the incident made the news. But no, that wasnt it all. When I was beaten up I also lost my glasses. Walking around blindly looking for my glasses after being assaulted, I ran into a blur of a young woman, who asked me where the protest was and what I was looking for. I told her where the march was headed but as soon as she heard I needed my glasses she helped me look for them. In a few moments she arrived with a pair of glasses. Astonishingly they were not mine.

As Kaur tells the story of herself and who she is now through the stories of her family, I did have the odd moment of thinking about my own childhood in newsrooms, my journalist mother and so many things that led me to that day at Ramjas. What led the boys and girls who later needed to cover their faces with dupattas, the girl who helped me look for my glasses, the girl who had lost her glasses, and the girl who eventually wrote this book? Its only those who will not ask us how we got there who will assume that we were there because we are anti-nationals.

The Ladies Finger is a leading online women's magazine.
The office of profit case may just be what Arvind Kejriwal needs to rally AAP cadre and volunteers around his leadership in the fight against this selective targeting by government institutions

As per news reports, Election Commission has recommended disqualification of 20 MLAs belonging to Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in an alleged 'office of profit' case. The Opposition in Delhi Assembly is demanding Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwals resignation. All this has come at a time when rift inside the party became apparent due to Kapil Mishras exit and denial of Rajya Sabha ticket to Kumar Vishwas. Some TV news channels are already predicting snap polls in Delhi. Is the situation as grim for AAP as some reports have projected?

Some facts. AAP has 66 MLAs in the 70-member Delhi Assembly with BJP at 4. Even after the disqualification of these 20 MLAs, the party will have a brutal majority in the Assembly with 46 MLAs in a reduced house strength of 50. Even after assuming that AAP loses all the 20 seats in the re-elections (very low probability in my opinion), the party will enjoy a comfortable majority with 10 more MLAs than the required 36.

Actually, this crisis couldn't have come at a better time for Kejriwal. He has been accused of selling Rajya Sabha seats and giving it to outsiders who just joined the party. This crisis will help Kejriwal unify the party around him. The Delhi chief minister will now claim to be the victim, and the party cadre and volunteers will rally around his leadership to fight against this selective targeting by government institutions. It will also gain sympathy from voters of Delhi and help it in recovering some of the lost ground.

Delhi voters have been witness to the constant meddling from the Lieutenant Governor in AAPs attempts in managing the affairs of the state. The party has been fined for carrying advertisements in other states when most governments also give ads in papers outside their states. The ED has filed cases against AAP for receiving foreign funding when BJP has already been convicted for receiving foreign funds from a high court. All this will give credence to AAPs theory that the central government is trying to destabilise the Kejriwal government and Narendra Modi-Amit Shah have still not recovered from the massive loss in Delhi.

Most ruling parties in states have appointed parliamentary secretaries and other posts like the president and vice president of government boards and institutions. This is done to keep MLAs happy as the number of ministers cannot be more than 15 percent of the house strength (by the way, for Delhi it is 10 percent only). The 'office of profit' positions are also given to shift the expenditure of senior MLAs who could not be accommodated in the government, from individual/party to the state exchequer. So how is it that what AAP did was wrong? The Opposition alleges AAP is on the wrong side because it claimed to be a 'party with a difference'. This argument proves that the Opposition accepts that they regularly do these type of wrong things and it is perfectly okay for them to do so.

For example, in Meghalaya, Congress leader and Chief Minister Mukul Sangma appointed 18 MLAs as parliamentary secretaries. Congress won 29 seats in a house of 60. As per rules, it could have only nine ministers. So, it placated almost all its MLAs by appointing them as secretaries. These MLAs had to resign after a high court quashed their appointment. The court has also recommended to the state governor to disqualify these MLAs.

The ECs order is not the final word and there is likely to be a big legal battle ahead. Even in the case of a re-election, AAP would win a few seats back in a worst-case scenario and still enjoy the majority. This will allow AAP to have a debate in public court on the subject of office of profit. Approaching the 2019 Lok Sabha elections with this incident will help AAP position itself back and improve its tally in the Lower House of the Parliament. AAP thrives on politics of confrontation and this will help rejuvenate the party.

AAP, however, has to be wary of Kapil Mishra and the Kumar Vishwas gang. The ruling party at the Centre could reinitiate attempts to poach AAP MLAs and bring the government down. However, that is not easy because of the party's sheer big size and anti-defection laws. Any such attempts will only bolster Kejriwals prospects in the upcoming elections.
A member of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad was on Friday hacked to death by a three-member gang in the district, the police said

Kannur(Kerala): A member of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad was on Friday hacked to death by a three-member gang in the district, the police said.

Shyam Prasad, an ITI student, was going to his house at Koothuparamba on his motorcycle when the unidentified gang came in a car and attacked him at Kommeri around 5.30 pm, they said.

The student tried to flee but the gang chased and hacked him with machetes, seriously injuring him.

Though locals rushed him to the government hospital at Koothuparamba, he died on the way, the police said.

No arrests have been made in connection with the incident, they added.

Meanwhile, ABVP alleged that Popular Front of India was behind the killing and demanded that the outfit should be banned.

ABVP State Secretary Shyam Raj said the 'terror' face of PFI has come out in open once again with the killing of Shyam Prasad.

In a statement, said ABVP would ask the Centre to ban the PFI by pointing to its activities, including alleged recruitment to the IS.

BJP has called for a hartal in the district from six am to six pm on Saturday.
The Election Commission is learnt to have recommended to the President the disqualification of 20 AAP MLAs for allegedly holding an office of profit.

The Election Commission is learnt to have recommended to the president the disqualification of 20 AAP MLAs for allegedly holding an office of profit.

In its opinion sent to President Ram Nath Kovind, the Election Commission said that by being parliamentary secretaries, they held an office of profit and were liable to be disqualified as MLAs of the Delhi Assembly, highly placed sources said.

The president is bound to go by the recommendation of the Commission. In cases where petitions are made seeking disqualification of lawmakers, the president sends a reference to the EC which decides on the case by sending back its opinion.

According to a News18 report, sources said if the president accepts the recommendation, Delhi will see a mini-Assembly election, with 20 seats up for grabs in the 70-member House.

The EC's recommendation serves as a major jolt to the ruling party in Delhi. The election body was hearing a plea against the party's nearly two dozen MLAs. They were accused of allegedly holding an office of profit despite the Delhi High Court setting aside their appointment as parliamentary secretaries.

The decision comes days before Achal Kumar Joti retires as the Chief Election Commissioner. Election Commissioner OP Rawat, who recused himself from the case after Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had questioned his impartiality, has not signed the order.

When contacted by PTI, Joti said that since the matter is sub-judice, he would not offer any comment on the issue.

What is an office of profit?

An office of profit means a position that brings to the person holding it some financial gain, or advantage, or benefit. It may be an office or place of profit if it carries some remuneration, financial advantage, benefit etc. The amount of such profit is immaterial.

How the controversy started

The "office of profit" controversy was sparked off after a 30-year old lawyer, Prashant Patel, filed an application in 2015 to the president's office, questioning the appointment of AAP MLAs as parliamentary secretaries.

In 2015, soon after AAP swept the Delhi elections, Kejriwal had appointed 21 legislators as parliamentary secretaries. The petition filed in the high court had sought their disqualification saying the Constitution does not allow elected representatives to hold offices of profit. The Election Commission was asked to give its opinion, according to an NDTV report.

The AAP had said the recommendation was based on false allegations, alleging that the "BJP through its agents seriously compromises the prestige of the EC just to divert the attention of the nation from its all-around failures.

"What (the) Modi government appointed Election Commission is leaking to the media is a recommendation made without hearing the arguments of MLAs on the false allegation of office of profit. Such a blatantly biased recommendation will not stand scrutiny in the court of law.

"This must be the first ever recommendation in EC history where a recommendation has been sent without even hearing the main matter on merits. No hearing took place in the EC on the point of office of profit," AAP spokesperson Nagendra Sharma had tweeted.

According to a Hindustan Times report, the poll panel, in June last year, had said that the AAP MLAs "did hold de facto the office of parliamentary secretaries".

The panel last year in October issued a notice to the AAP MLAs seeking an explanation after rejecting their pleas to drop the 'office of profit' case against them.

In March 2015, the AAP government passed an amendment to the Delhi Members of Legislative Assembly (Removal of Disqualification) Act, 1997, to exempt the posts of parliamentary secretary from the definition of office of profit with retrospective effect.

But then president Pranab Mukherjee refused to give assent, following which the appointments were set aside by the Delhi High Court in September 2016, declaring them illegal since the order had been passed "without concurrence/approval of the Lt Governor".

Political implications

According to the News18 report, the AAP has an option to challenge the Election Commission ruling in the higher court.

The move will pave the way for bypolls in Delhi for 20 constituencies of the 70-member Assembly after presidential assent. The AAP at present has officially 66 members in the House although some have since turned dissidents. The other four seats are held by the BJP.

Even if 20 MLAs are disqualified, the ruling party will still have a comfortable majority in the Delhi Assembly.

The MLAs who face axe are Alka Lamba, Adarsh Shastri, Sanjeev Jha, Rajesh Gupta, Kailash Gehlot, Vijendra Garg, Praveen Kumar, Sharad Kumar, Madan Lal Khufiya, Shiv Charan Goyal, Sarita Singh, Naresh Yadav, Rajesh Rishi, Anil Kumar, Som Dutt, Avtar Singh, Sukhvir Singh Dala, Manoj Kumar, Nitin Tyagi and Jarnail Singh (Tilak Nagar).

With inputs from agencies
The Election Commission has reportedly recommended that 20 Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAs embroiled in the office of profit case be disqualified.

The Election Commission has reportedly recommended that 20 Aam Aadmi Party MLAs embroiled in the office of profit case be disqualified. While this has given the Opposition a weapon to attack the Delhi government with the Congress saying that Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has lost the right to rule Delhi and BJP questioning the party's moral right to continue in government, the AAP will still remain the party with the maximum seats in the Delhi Assembly even after disqualification.

AAP has 66 MLAs in the 70-member Delhi Assembly and even if the 20 MLAs are disqualified, the party will not lose its majority. The other four seats are held by the BJP. The party will still stay above the half-way mark of 35. This will however, pave way for a by-election in Delhi. This will be a mini Assembly election of sorts and will be seen as a test for the Kejriwal government.

The challenge for the party however, as some senior AAP leaders told The Indian Express, is that some of the disqualified MLAs such as Alka Lamba and Adarsh Shastri, along with transport minister Kailash Gehlot, are some of their best performers and among the prominent political faces.

The entire issue came into existence when the Arvind Kejriwal government passed an order appointing 21 MLAs as Parliamentary Secretaries. This was challenged by Advocate Prashant Patel who petitioned President Pranab Mukherjee on 19 June, 2015, that these MLAs were holding 'office of profit' and should be disqualified.

The Delhi Legislative Assembly then passed the Delhi Member of Legislative Assembly (Removal of Disqualification) (Amendment Bill ), 2015 excluding Parliamentary Secretaries from "office of profit" with retrospective effect, reported News18.

However, the president withheld assent to the amendment bill and referred the matter to the Election Commission.

With inputs from IANS
The brouhaha around the AAP controversy has brought 'office of profit' law back on to the centre stage of Indian politics, but what does it entail exactly?

The decision of the Election Commission to recommend the disqualification of 20 AAP MLAs for holding an 'office of profit' serves as a major jolt to the ruling party in Delhi.

The decision, if approved by the president, will see the party's formidable strength in the Delhi Assembly (67 of 70 seats) cut down to 47. Delhi will most likely also see a mini-Assembly election, with 20 seats up for grabs in the 70-member House.

But the brouhaha around the controversy has brought the "office of profit" law back on to the centre stage of Indian politics. The last time around, in 2006, this law had forced the then Congress chief Sonia Gandhi to resign from her Lok Sabha seat.

This raises a pertinent question:

Just what is an office of profit?

An office of profit means a position that brings to the person holding it some financial gain, or advantage, or benefit. It may be an office or place of profit if it carries some remuneration, financial advantage, benefit etc. The amount of such profit is immaterial.

The idea behind the concept of office of profit, as per a report in Hindustan Times, is to preserve the independence of the Legislature by keeping the members away from any temptations from the Executive that can come in the way of independent discharge of their duties.

It also seeks to enforce the principle of separation of power between the Legislative, the Judiciary and the Executive  a basic feature of the Constitution.

The object of the provision is to secure the independence of the MPs and to ensure that Parliament does not contain persons who have received favours or benefits from the executive and who consequently might be amenable to its influence.

The provision thus protects democracy of the country from being corrupted by executive patronage and also secures the independence of MPs from the influence of the government so that they discharge their functions without fear or favour.

Office of profit under Indian Constitution

As per the Indian Constitution, the term office of profit has not been defined. Articles 102(1) and 191(1), however, give effect to the concept of office of profit.

Article 102(1) (a) states that: "A person shall be disqualified for being chosen as, and for being, a member of either House of Parliament if he holds any office of profit under the Government of India or the Government of any State, other than an office declared by Parliament by law not to disqualify its holder." Article 191 (1) (a) also has a similar provision for the members of state Assemblies.

However, there are certain exemptions. Articles 102 and 191 also clarify that "a person shall not be deemed to hold an office of profit under the Government of India or the government of any state by reason only that he is a minister". Further, the last part of the two provisions protects a lawmaker holding a government position if the office has been made immune to disqualification by law.

An office of profit does not necessarily mean financial benefits. Even administrative positions offered without any additional financial entitlements can be considered as a violation of this law.

Thus it is clear that the law is open to interpretation. Hence, to determine whether a person holds an office of profit has to be interpreted based on the facts and circumstances of each case.

The Supreme Court, in Ashok Kumar Bhattacharya vs Ajoy Biswas (AIR 1985 SC 211), had held that to determine whether a person holds an office under the government, each case must be measured and judged in the light of the relevant provisions and sections.

Office of profit and Delhi law

Section 15(1)(a) of the government of national capital territory of Delhi Act, 1991 states: "A person shall be disqualified for being chosen as, and for being, a member of the legislative assembly if he holds any office of profit under the government of India, a state or a union territory other than an office protected by law."

According to the Hindustan Times report, Section 15(2) of the NCT act also protects ministers at the Centre, in states or union territories from disqualification. Section 15(3) of the NCT act says in case of a dispute over the disqualification of an MLA, the matter would be referred to the president, whose decision would be final.

But, before deciding on a petition seeking disqualification, the president, says the NCT act, has to get the opinion of the Election Commission which is binding on him.

This is exactly how the case has progressed in the current imbroglio. The president will now decide on the fate of the 21 MLAs after the EC's recommendations.

Disqualification

According to a report in The Hindu, there are generally two tests in deciding whether a member of a body ought to be exempted from disqualification: (1) the emoluments and allowances attached to the members; and (2) the nature and function of the body.

If a member of a body gets only compensatory allowance and the body exercises merely an advisory function, then no disqualification would arise. But if the allowances given are more than compensatory allowance and/or the body exercises executive and financial powers and is in a position to wield influence and patronage, then its membership would not be excluded from disqualification, the report said.

Past cases

In 2006, a question was raised under the ambit of this law over Sonia's National Advisory Council post, which she held apart from being the MP from Rae Bareilly.

The Opposition parties at the time had argued that since as NAC chairperson, she enjoyed the rank and status of a Union Cabinet minister, the office of profit law applied. They had petitioned the then president APJ Abdul Kalam, asking him to disqualify Sonia as an MP.

Congress leaders, meanwhile, had argued that the post of NAC chairperson was not an office of profit as Sonia received no salary or perks, and she had a purely advisory role.

According to Rediff, the Election Commission had also sent a notice to Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh, Rajya Sabha member and chairperson of the Uttar Pradesh Industrial Development Council, on a similar petition against him.

Jaya Bachchan was also disqualified from the Rajya Sabha, while she was also chairperson of the Uttar Pradesh Film Development Federation. Similarly, two Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly members, Bajrang Bahadur Singh and Uma Shankar Singh, were disqualified in January 2015 due to holding government contracts.

With inputs from agencies
Nagaland's lone Lok Sabha member Neiphiu Rio on Thursday said that he quit the ruling Naga People's Front (NPF) after it decided to severe ties with the BJP ahead of the 27 February assembly elections

Dimapur: Nagaland's lone Lok Sabha member Neiphiu Rio on Thursday said that he quit the ruling Naga People's Front (NPF) after it decided to severe ties with the BJP ahead of the 27 February assembly elections.

Rio said that he joined the newly-floated Nagaland Democratic People's Party (NDPP) after its leaders declared that the party was committed towards supporting the peace process and contributed towards realisation of early solution to the vexed Naga insurgency problem.

His joining the new political party is significant amid the power struggle within the recently "reconciled" ruling NPF.

Rio said that he has always been a supporter of peace process between the Naga rebels and the Indian government and have tirelessly worked for early realization of a political solution that is honourable, sustainable and acceptable to the people.

On 3 August, 2015, the central government and the separatist group, the National Socialist Council of Nagaland Issac-Muivah (NSCN-IM) signed the Framework Agreement to end the insurgency. Last year, the government had also signed an agreement with a Working Committee comprising six Naga National Political Groups.

"The signing of the Framework Agreement under the present NDA government was an important milestone in the peace process and I have joined all sections in welcoming the initiatives while giving my best efforts for further strengthening the peace process in an inclusive manner," Rio said.

"The political decision of the NPF (to snap ties with the BJP) was in contravention of the NPF party's stand of supporting the peace process to play the role of facilitator between the Naga rebels and the Indian government.

"It is under such political circumstances that I have been left with no option but to resign from the NPF in accordance of the wishes of the people and in the greater interest of the masses in collective endeavor to bring early political solution," he said.
Congress alleged that Haryana had become a 'crime hub' under the BJP government, and said Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar had no right to continue in office

New Delhi: The Congress on Thursday alleged that Haryana had become a "crime hub" under the BJP government, and said Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar had no right to continue in office if he was unable to check rising crime.

Congress communications in-charge Randeep Surjewala said Haryana had become a crime hub under the BJP Government led by Manohar Lal Khattar.

"We again reiterate that if Manohar Lal Khattar is unable to check the sexual predators as also the crimes against the daughters and women of Haryana, he has no right to continue even for a day," he told reporters.

"Merely paying lip-service will not do. If the chief minister and the BJP government cannot control the spate of gangrapes and rapes, he should quit office immediately," he said.

Haryana has recently witnessed many cases of rape.

Among the recent incidents, a 15-year-old girl's half-naked body was found on Saturday from near the bank of a canal in a village in Jind district after she had gone missing last Tuesday from her village in Kurukshetra district.

The girl was brutally assaulted, her private parts mutilated and some of the vital organs ruptured, police said.

In a separate incident, an 11-year-old girl was raped and killed in Panipat last week.

"The truth also remains that the state which said that we will start the movement of 'Beti Bachao', the most number of gangrape and rape cases are happening in that very state and it is all happening on account of ignorance, apathy of an incompetent government, which has failed to check crime," Surjewala told reporters.

"The prime minister and the BJP government at the Centre cannot shirk responsibility for the border of Haryana and Delhi is porous and criminals tend to travel across the two states freely and without any checks and balances," he said.
Talk of elections in Karnataka and the most recent imagery that pops up is the public bickering between Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his Uttar Pradesh counterpart Yogi Adityanath.

Talk of elections in Karnataka and the most recent imagery that pops up is the public bickering between Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his Uttar Pradesh counterpart Yogi Adityanath. The two chief ministers were seen, obliging each other with lessons on administration over Twitter, lest you forget it's poll time in the state.

However, what the pre-election exchange on the microblogging site did is clarify to the uninitiated that the election discourse is going to be the usual brew of religion, caste, regionalism, and development (strictly in that order). For the southern Indian state has notoriously been in news over the activities of fringe groups, murders of political activists, a spike in anti-Hindi sentiment, and at last about the state of infrastructure, and a host of everyday problems the people of the state deal with.

Karnataka is Congress' last big bastion from the bouquet of major states it once ruled and the party will try all its might to retain it.

Karnataka, the seventh largest Indian state by area and the eighth largest by population, has a bicameral legislature. Like the Union legislature, some of the states in India follow a bicameral system wherein the legislature is divided into two separate Houses. A bicameral legislature comprises a Lower House and an Upper House. The former is known as the Legislative Assembly (Vidhan Sabha) and the latter is called the Legislative Council (Vidhan Parishad).

The southern state is divided into 224 Assembly constituencies. The state has 30 districts and 33 election districts. In 1986, a resolution was passed in the Legislative Assembly and approved by the Parliament, which increased the strength of the Legislative Council to 75.

As this politically-crucial state heads to the poll, here is a rundown of everything you need to know.

Karnataka demographics

According to 2011 Census, Karnataka has a population of 6.11 crore which is an increase from 2001 Census when the population was 5.29 crore. The total population of Karnataka as per 2011 Census is 61,095,297 of which male and female are 30,966,657 and 30,128,640 respectively.

The election in the politically charged Karnataka is expected to be held between the last week of April and the first week of May. Out of total Assembly constituencies, 36 are reserved for Scheduled Castes and 15 for Scheduled Tribes. The total number of voters in the state as of now is 4.90 crore, and the number of polling stations is 56,694. The state is regionally divided into three sections: North, South and Coastal Karnataka, the latter emerging as a communally sensitive area inclined towards the BJP, while the Congress maintained a stronghold in the first two, in the last Assembly election.

The total population growth in this decade was 15.60 percent while it was 17.25 percent in the previous decade. The population of Karnataka formed 5.05 percent of India in 2011.

Sex ratio in Karnataka is 973 females against 1,000 males, which is below the national average of 940 as per Census 2011. In 2001, the sex ratio of female was 965 per 1,000 males in the southern state.

Karnataka is a Hindu-majority state with 84 percent population following Hinduism while 12.92 percent of the state's population are Muslims.

Political history

In the ring are three major contestants. While the ruling Congress, bolstered by the results of pre-poll surveys, would hope to gain a second term in power, BS Yeddyurappa, now rejoined with the BJP, will hope to secure a second term as chief minister with the saffron party. However, a strong third force in Karnataka politics, Janata Dal (Secular) is hopeful of becoming the silent kingmaker in the state.

The first chief minister of Karnataka, before the reorganisation of the state, was K Chengalaraya Reddy (from 25 October 1947 to 30 March 1952). After reorganisation, S Nijalingappa of the Congress became the first chief minister of Mysore (then Karnataka). From 1956 to 1968, Congress was a formidable force in the state. In March 1971, President's Rule was imposed for the very first time in the state when Congress leader Veerendra Patil was the chief minister. He ruled the state between 29 May, 1968 and 18 March, 1971 before his government was reduced to a minority. As there was no other option before the then governor GS Pathak, he recommended the imposition of President's Rule. The Assembly remained dissolved between 19 March, 1971 and 20 March, 1972.

Karnataka has a chequered past as far as President's Rule is concerned. In fact, 2007 was the sixth time that President's Rule was imposed in the state. In the past, President's Rule was imposed four times when the Congress was in power (1977, 1989 and 1990 apart from 1971) and twice later when the Janata Party and the BJP were in power.

In the year 1990, the rule was imposed for a very short period after the Veerendra Patil was removed from the post of chief minister by the Congress high command. The then governor, P Venakatasubbaiah, had recommended the imposition of President's Rule. This pattern of governance remained in force between 10 October, 1990 and 17 October, 1990 before S Bangarappa took over as chief minister of Karnataka.

Electoral history

The state, which has seen a recent uptick in the anti-Hindi politics and a completely fresh phenomenon, the rise of Hindutva politics, has defied national voting trends in the past. According to this Firstpost article, Karnataka has a history of voting for one party at the Centre and another in the state or backing a party in the state different from the one ruling at the Centre. While this statement may seem to impress Congress' claims on a victory, especially with its newly-appointed president Rahul Gandhi's promise of a new, transformed, Grand Old Party, another trend points in the opposite direction: The ruling party has always lost in Karnataka since 1985. Peruse a short summary of elections held since.

1989: The Congress lost the Lok Sabha elections after a sustained campaign by the Opposition against, among other things, the Bofors scandal, and VP Singh of the Janata Dal became the prime minister. However, Karnataka surprised many as the Congress won 27 of the 28 Lok Sabha seats, and the ruling Janata Dal suffered a rout winning only one seat. In the simultaneously held Assembly elections too, the Congress came to power with a whopping majority by winning 178 of the 224 seats, replacing the previous Janata Dal government which could bag only 24 seats. The BJP, still a nascent phenomena in the state at the time, could win four seats.

1994: The Congress government headed by PV Narasimha Rao was in power at the Centre. But the 1994 Assembly elections in Karnataka not only saw the return of the Janata Dal government headed by HD Deve Gowda with 115 seats but also the fall of the Congress to the number-three position of the BJP, with just 34 seats. The saffron party bagged 40 seats and for the first time took the position of the official Opposition party with BS Yeddyurappa as its leader.

1999: In the Lok Sabha elections, the BJP-led NDA won a majority in the Lok Sabha. But in Karnataka, the Congress won most of the Lok Sabha seats (18 of the 28) and the Assembly seats (132 of the 224 seats). The Congress government of SM Krishna replaced the Janata Dal government and the BJP came a poor second with 44 Assembly seats. The Janata Dal's rout was widely attributed to the party's split at the national level. While the JH Patel-led Janata Dal (United) allied with Yeddyurappa-led BJP, Deve Gowda-led JD(S) decided to go solo. The two factions, together, could manage only 29 seats. Their loss was Congress' win, and the BJP once again was the Opposition party with 44 seats.

2004: In Lok Sabha polls, the UPA trounced the NDA and formed its first government, but the BJP got the largest number of 18 Lok Sabha seats in Karnataka. In the state Assembly elections too, the BJP emerged as the single largest party with 78 seats, though the Congress formed a government in alliance with the Janata Dal (Secular), the first ever coalition. However, it is noteworthy here that what happened henceforth started another trend, in the state's electoral outcomes. A coalition government has never survived a full five-year-term in the state. In 2006, just two years after the new government, Deve Gowda's own son, HD Kumaraswamy rebelled against his father, marshalled a majority of the JD(S) legislators and went to ally with the erstwhile arch enemy, BJP, India Today reported at the time. The second coalition experiment, formed on the basis of a power-sharing agreement, once again came apart as Kumaraswamy formally ended the alliance in October 2006, Frontline reported.

2008: Merely four years since previous elections, the state saw Assembly elections. However, this time around, with the bitter coalition experience with JD(S) still fresh in its mind, BJP was clear it will not enter into any alliance, saying it would prefer to sit in Opposition rather than forge an awkward alliance to retain power. The caution exercised by the saffron party turned out to be needless, as the state gave it a clear majority with 110 seats, and led by Yeddyurappa, BJP came to power for the first time in a southern Indian state. The Congress, of course, was once again in power at Centre, and Karnataka again chose a different government in the state from the one at the Centre.

2013: Once again in 2013, while Karnataka brought back the Congress to power in the state, the BJP won 17 of the 28 seats in the Lok Sabha elections a year later and the GOP [WHAT IS GOP] was ousted from power at Centre after 10 years of UPA rule. This year's Congress win was attributed to the rather tumultuous previous term of the BJP. Yeddyurappa, facing corruption charges, was forced to resign as chief minister and fell out repeatedly with his two successors. In the end, miffed with the national leadership for sidelining him after the corruption charges surfaced, Yeddyurappa walked out of BJP in November 2012 and formed his own party, the Karnataka Janata Paksha (KJP). This, in effect, divided BJP's votes and saw Congress' return to power. The politically powerful Lingayats, Yeddyurappa's community, split between BJP and KJP among other Hindu castes, and Siddaramaiah rode to power on a consolidation of Dalit and minority votes.

Key players

Just like the recently-concluded election in Gujarat, all hopes are pinned on the star campaigner of the party Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The proverbial Modi magic is still running strong, some may say, as the saffron party in this southern state of India hopes that "magic" will get them across the winning line in a state considered to be BJP's gateway to the South.

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath is increasingly being called upon by the BJP to campaign far and wide, outside his home turf. The head of the Gorakhnath Peeth in eastern Uttar Pradesh has been present at major events organised by the BJP and the RSS in the last nine months he has been in power  from the "killing fields" of Kannur (where BJP launched a high decibel campaign this year to find a firm hold on Kerala politics) to RSS coordination committee meetings in Mathura.

Strong network and deep-rooted presence of the Sangh Parivar, however, will probably make the climb easier for the BJP. Karnataka is the only state in the South which had a BJP government from 2008-13, led by Yeddyurappa, DV Sadananda Gowda and Jagadish Shettar. BJP, currently the principal opposition party with 44 seats, has four more than Janata Dal (S) in the 224-member House.

Here are a few leaders from Karnataka who are expected to make a difference and drive their parties to victory:

BS Yeddyurappa

"Lingayats are the decision makers in many constituencies in north Karnataka. We are hoping that they would vote en masse for Yeddyurappa this time too," a BJP leader was quoted as saying by The News Minute.

Yeddyurappa, a Lingayat leader, was 15 when he joined the Sangh Parivar. His political career began in Shikaripura, which would later send him to the Karnataka Assembly six times. It began at the taluk level of the Jansangh and he diligently worked his way up, even being jailed during Emergency.

Indicted by Lokayukta over illegal mining issue, BJP top brass had forced a reluctant Yeddyurappa to quit as chief minister in July 2011. A bitter Yeddyurappa left the party to form Karnataka Janata Paksha. He was, however, welcomed back after almost a year and given the primary leadership of the party.

Now, he is the chief ministerial candidate for this years election.

The saffron party is banking on his strong appeal in the Lingayat community and likely wants him to contest from north Karnataka, where the BJP won fewer seats than the Congress in the 2013 elections.

With anti-Lingayat accusations against Siddaramaiah, the BJP hopes to benefit from the Lingayats loyalty to Yeddyurappa.

Siddaramaiah

Confident of a waning Modi magic in the country after Congress managed to win 77 seats in the Gujarat election last year, Siddaramaiah is sure of a victory again. A smiling chief minister, according to News18, told his aides that if Congress manages around 80 seats in Gujarat, he can once again win Karnataka.

He joined Congress about 12 years ago after leaving former prime minister Deve Gowdas Janata Dal (Secular) and was largely looked at as an outsider by the party cadre. However, as this Firstpost article points out, he has now become a local mascot.

He was made the chief minister in 2013 by Rahul. It is reported that both the leaders share a good personal rapport and with Rahul becoming the Congress president, Siddaramaiah has emerged as an unchallenged party leader in Karnataka.

Despite allegations of corruption against him and his son, Siddaramaiahs popularity has only grown. By opposing the imposition of Hindi by the Centre, he has been appealing to the Kannada pride.

His popularity seems to be Congress best bet to counter BJPs Yeddyurappa. The fight is seen as a direct battle between the two after Congress named Siddaramaiah as its chief ministerial candidate.

G Parameshwara: Asked to devote all his time to the upcoming polls by the Congress leadership, G Parameshwara resigned as Karnatakas home minister in June, 2017. According to Livemint, many dissidents backed Parameshwara for the post of chief minister in 2018 but, the party put any such speculation to rest when it backed Siddaramaiah to continue in the post.

He will contest the upcoming polls from his home constituency of Koratagere. By keeping a Dalit leader as the state Congress chief, the Congress is hoping to keep his Dalit support base.

The Congress decision, as News18 reported, came after caste surveys indicated a bigger population of scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and other backward castes in Karnataka as compared to Lingayat and Vokkaliga.

Major poll issues

Apart from development, which became the major poll issue in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh last year and was raked by BJP leaders in every rally, Karnataka also has its own problems.

With the state facing a severe drought and farmers committing suicide from the resulting crop loss, the water sharing issue with other states is expected to capture the attention of every political leader campaigning in the state.

Here are a few major issues which are expected to be raised during the campaigning:

Water: With the Cauvery water issue still fresh in people's minds and now Mahadayi taking centre stage, water politics will be an important issue in the upcoming Karnataka polls.

The Mahadayi dispute affects the North Karnataka region, where the farmers are demanding their fair share of water. It has the states of Goa, Maharashtra and Karnataka vying for water from the Mahadayi or Mandovi river, which flows through the three states.

Karnataka is seeking release of 7.56 tmcft water by Goa from the river for the Kalasa-Banduri Nala project.

The issue is now being raised by both the BJP and the Congress to score brownie points. BJP chief Amit Shah told leaders of Karnataka BJP to aggressively take up the Mahadayi issue and "launch a multi-pronged campaign to channelise the anger of the people", as The Indian Express reported.

In a strange series of events, Goa chief minister Manohar Parrikar wrote to Yeddyurappa saying Goa could share the river water with Karnataka for drinking purposes and expressed his willingness for bilateral talks.

Later, Siddaramaiah termed it a 'drama' for the sake of elections and a 'political gimmick'.

This is not the first time there have been violent protests in Karnataka over the sharing of river water with its neighbours.

Karnataka has a decades old dispute going on with Tamil Nadu over the sharing of Cauvery river water. Protests and violence paralysed the state after the Supreme Court order to release 15,000 cusec of Cauvery river water to Tamil Nadu for a period of ten days.

"Both Cauvery and Mahadayi have the potential to be election issues. While the Mahadayi controversy is already raging, a lot depends on how the Cauvery verdict (likely next month) plays out. It's likely to be exploited by all parties to the hilt," The Times of India quoted Sandeep Shastri, a political analyst, as saying.

Siddaramaiah is hoping to gain from the farmers protest against Yeddyurappa for claiming a breakthrough in the Mahadayi issue.

Communal tension: Terming Congress a 'secular' party, Siddaramaiah said the upcoming polls would be a fight between two ideologies -- communalism and secularism. He also reiterated his stand that his government would take stringent action against organisations instigating communal sentiments in the state.

The coastal regions of the state, specifically Dakshina Kannada, has continued to remain tense. In the latest incident, 28-year-old Deepak Rao, who was associated with the Bajrang Dal and the VHP, was hacked to death by a four-member gang, following which simmering tension prevailed in Dakshina Kannada district.

The protests in the wake of the incident turned violent and RSS leader Kalladka Prabhakar Bhat accused the government of adopting an "anti-Hindu policy".

Following the murders in Dakshina Kannada, Kalladka emerged at the forefront as a controversial figure and his rise also fanned speculations that the Sangh Parivar is also trying to reinforce the Hindu identity to regain the region in the polls.

The BJP, as a party strategist told The Citizen, will make Hindutva the plank for the state elections. "Hindutva will be our main poll plank in Karnataka and we will win 150 of the total 224 seat under the leadership of Yeddyurappa," he said.

Development: Modi, while addressing a gathering in the state, expressed confidence that the BJP will win the Karnataka polls and then the state would be on the "path of development."

Development, which was a major issue in last year's elections to Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh Assemblies, is becoming a major issue for Karnataka as well.

Siddaramaiah recently said that Karnataka's development can be a model for other states. He was quoted as saying by The New Indian Express, "A unique development model based on the principle of social inclusiveness to make Karnataka hunger-free and ensure health and housing for all would be a reality soon." [LINK]

Parameshwara reiterated Congress' commitment to development by saying that the party is not playing the politics of divisiveness based on caste and religion, but politics of development.

While the BJP is making development its core issue in every election, Congress is also not far behind in the state of Karnataka. The various development projects launched by Siddaramaiah and his insistence on completion of government projects have ensured that the party can get development points in the state.
Rahul Gandhi would lead from the front for the Congress in poll-bound Karnataka, launching the campaign with a three-day tour from 10 February

Hyderabad: Rahul Gandhi would lead from the front for the Congress in poll-bound Karnataka, launching the campaign with a three-day tour from 10 February, a key state party leader said on Friday.

Working President of Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee, Dinesh Gundu Rao, also indicated that party MLAs facing anti-incumbency in their constituencies, may not get tickets in polls, due in May.

He added that joining hands with the JD(S) in case Congress fails to get majority is not being looked at as an option as his party is confident of coming to power on its own, and also that the HD Deve Gowda-led outfit is "not dependable".

Speaking to PTI in Hyderabad Gundu Rao said Gandhi is going to be a "very key" campaigner for the Congress in the state where, he noted, it also has "very powerful" state leaders like chief minister Siddaramaiah, M Mallikarjuna Kharge, G Parameshwara and DK Shivakumar.

"At the same time, I think Rahulji is getting resonance amongst people, and he is leading the campaign for us," Gundu Rao, who was here to attend an event, said. The Congress president is starting his campaign with a three-day tour of the state from 10 February. He might visit again later next month and also in March.

"In the run-up to the elections, he will be spending lot more time, and he is definitely going to lead from the

front for us", he said. "We have started our campaign from KPCC and the chief minister has also toured the state", he said. "Gandhi would be intensively campaigning and you can say more or less launch of the campaign for the Congress (with his February tour)," the Congress leader added.

He claimed there is no anti-incumbency on the government because out of 165 promises made in the election

manifesto, it has implemented 155-156. In fact, Gundu Rao said the Congress is seeing pro-incumbency wave creeping in, adding, it would win more number of seats than the last time.

Gundu Rao, however, said that some Congress MLAs might have "built-up" anti-incumbency in their constituencies.

"That's what we need to look out for. If they have not done well, we have to change then, that's going to be the key

thing," he said.

Congress MLAs facing anti-incumbency will be "definitely changed", as the party's aim is to field "best

available candidates", he said. On whether the Congress would look for an understanding with JD(S) in case it falls short on numbers in post-poll scenario, he said, "There is no question of us wanting an alliance because we are clearly in the race to get absolute majority."

"But post-poll, what happens, who knows? I can't predict right now. JD(S) is not dependable. They have been

with BJP, they have formed government with us, they are not people who can be trusted because they don't have ideology, don't have fixed agenda, they can play anything, they are not dependable at all. So, I will not look at that option," he added.
Former Union minister Mani Shankar Aiyar, suspended from the Congress for his controversial remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Friday expressed confidence that he will be re-inducted

Hyderabad: Former Union minister Mani Shankar Aiyar, suspended from the Congress for his controversial remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Friday expressed confidence that he will be re-inducted.

He said he was hopeful that the party would do so anytime.

"It (revocation of suspension) may happen either in the next six hours, or in the next six days, or in the next six weeks or in the next six years," Aiyar said.

"I would know that one day, I think they (will) take me back. Because however much they might feel that they have alienated me from the Congress, I am a Congressman and I shall remain absolutely loyal to the party," he said at the "India Today Conclave South 2018" in Hyderabad.

Aiyar was suspended from the primary membership of the Congress on 7 December amid speculation that his remarks against Modi had undone the gains made by party president Rahul Gandhi during campaigning in the Gujarat elections.

Modi had used Aiyar's remark that he (the prime minister) was a vile sort of person to the hilt at the hustings to whip up a sense of Gujarati pride. The Congress had also issued him a show cause notice over the remarks.

Explaining the sequence of events that led to his suspension from the party, Aiyar said he was reacting to the prime minister's reference to BR Ambedkar and said "neech kism ka aadmi".

He asserted that he never spoke of "neech jaati" or low caste.

Aiyar said he regrets missing Rahul Gandhi's election as Congress president as he was with the Gandhi scion during the filing of nominations for the post.

To a query on Tamil film superstar Rajinikanth's political debut, he said, "Cinema would never translate into politics, but politicians have leveraged their film background for politics."
The Meghalaya Election office asked all the banks in the state to monitor and submit report on 'unusual' and 'suspicious' cash transactions exceeding Rs 1 lakh by candidates and their spouse to check cash flow in the 27 February poll

Shillong: The Meghalaya Election office on Friday asked all the banks in the state to monitor and submit report on "unusual" and "suspicious" cash transactions exceeding Rs 1 lakh by candidates and their spouse to check cash flow in the 27 February poll.

Direction in this regard was given after a meeting held by state Chief Electoral Officer FR Kharkongor with banks operating in Meghalaya.

As many as 36 banks are operating in Meghalaya including the State Bank of India (SBI), Meghalaya Rural Bank (MRB) and Meghalaya Cooperative Apex Bank (MCAB).

Election Commission of India had on Thursday announced poll for 60-member Meghalaya Assembly on 27 February. Result would be announced on 3 March with Tripura and Nagaland. Model code of conduct has come in action after announcement of the poll.

The term of the present House expires on 6 March.

We have brought to their notice that the banks need to share information with respective deputy commissioners or district election officers regarding suspicious cash transaction through banks exceeding Rs one lakh," chief electoral officer told reporters.

Banks have been told to also monitor transaction from account of candidate's spouse or his dependents, as mentioned in the affidavit filed by them which is available on CEOs website.

SLBC convener Bimal Deb Roy informed that these banks are having over 395 branches spread in 11 istricts of the state.

In the Garo Hills region alone, SBI is having 41 branches while MRB is having 30 branches and MCAB 25 branches, he said.

The Chief Electoral Officer said that the banks will keep a close watch on the unusual and suspicious cash withdrawal or deposit of cash in a bank account exceeding Rs 1 lakh during the process of election, without any such instance of deposit or withdrawal during the last two months.

He said the banks will also look into the unusual transfer of amount by RTGS from one bank account to the accounts of several persons in a district/constituency during the election process without any precedent of such transfer.

Besides, the banks have also been instructed to open dedicated counters for election purpose to facilitate prompt service to the candidates in opening of bank accounts and will be allowed for withdrawals and deposits on priority.

"There is also a standing provision if withdrawal is more than Rs 10 lakh, such information should be passed on to the nodal officer of the income tax department for taking necessary actions under the income tax laws," he said.

Kharkongor further said district election officers (DEOs) have also activated 180 flying squads who will be acting on tip offs on the movement of cash and take necessary actions.

He also said that the Election Commission will also be deploying Expenditure Observers in all the 60 constituencies. They will be deployed in expenditure sensitive areas, he added.

Reacting to a query, the CEO said that money above Rs 50,000 will be seized and the person from whom it is found will be called for explanation.
RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav on Friday said that Chief Minister Nitish Kumar should undertake 'paschatap yatra' (penitence) instead of 'Vikash Samiksha Yatra'.

Patna: RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav on Friday held administration and intelligence agencies responsible to prevent stoning incident on Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's cavalcade few days ago and said that he should undertake "paschatap yatra" (penitence) instead of "Vikash Samiksha Yatra".

"RJD's fact finding team found both the administration and intelligence agencies responsible for the incident (stone pelting on chief minister's convoy)... Had the chief minister heard people's grievances, such an incident would not have occurred...It was the administration which resorted to lathi charge on the people who wanted to meet the chief minister," Tejashwi told reporters.

On 12 January, the chief minister's convoy was pelted with stones during his tour of Nandan village in Dumraon block as part of his state-wide Vikas Samiksha Yatra.

Five FIRs have been registered in connection with the incident against 99 named persons and 500-700 unnamed ones, Buxar superintendent of police Rakesh Kumar had said adding that at least 28 persons, including 10 women, have so far been arrested in connection with the incident.

"I don't think that there is any district left where the chief minister's ongoing yatra is not marked by protest. In Begusarai, police had to resort to firing in the open. People especially women  Anganwaid Sevikas, contractual women teachers  are protesting everywhere. The chief minister should dwell deep about reasons for protest and undertake 'paschatap yatra' instead of 'Vikas Samiksha Yatra'," Yadav said.

Tejashwi, Leader of Opposition in Bihar Assembly, was accompanied by party's state unit chief Ramchandra Purbe, former minister Shiv Chandra Ram who led the party's team that visited Nandan village and submitted its report to Tejashwi.

Even pregnant women were arrested besides handicapped persons were beaten apart from police naming those in the FIRs who live in foreign countries, the RJD leader said while announcing that the party would launch movement until the names of innocent people named in the FIR are withdrawn.

Stating that he would visit Nandan village on Saturday, Tejashwi said that he has sought time from governor's office for a meeting on 23 January to apprise him of the incident, apart from prevailing law and order situation, corruption cases etc.

In reply to a query, he said that this (incident) was not a pre-planned incident rather it was spontaneous incident "which was nothing but a sheer outburst of people's anger."

He termed as "ridiculous" dragging his name into the incident by JD(U) spokespersons and dared to "put me behind the bar if I was behind the incident."
Pakistan summoned Indian Deputy High Commissioner JP Singh on Friday for the second time in two days over the alleged 'unprovoked ceasefire violations' by the Indian forces that killed Pakistani citizens

Islamabad: Pakistan summoned Indian Deputy High Commissioner JP Singh on Friday for the second time in two days over the alleged "unprovoked ceasefire violations" by the Indian forces that killed Pakistani citizens.

Director General (South Asia & SAARC) Mohammad Faisal summoned Singh for "unprovoked ceasefire violations by the Indian occupation forces along the Working Boundary on 19th January in Sialkot Sector," the Foreign Office said.

He said the firing resulted in the death of a 24-year-old civilian and injured nine others in village Harpal.

On Thursday, Singh was summoned after two women died in the alleged unprovoked ceasefire violations.

"The Indian forces along the Working Boundary are continuously engaged in indiscriminate and unprovoked firing with heavy mortars and automatic weapons on the civilian populated villages, since the last two days," Faisal said.

He said despite calls for restraint, India continues to indulge in ceasefire violations.

In 2018, the Indian forces have carried out more than 125 ceasefire violations along the Line of Control and the Working Boundary in just 19 days, resulting in the killing of 4 innocent civilians, while injuring 20 others.

"This unprecedented escalation in ceasefire violations by India is continuing from the year 2017 when the Indian forces committed more than 1900 ceasefire violations," he said.

Faisal also said that the deliberate targeting of civilian populated areas is indeed deplorable and contrary to human dignity, international human rights and humanitarian laws.

"The ceasefire violations by India are a threat to regional peace and security and may lead to a strategic miscalculation," he asserted.

Faisal urged India to respect the 2003 Ceasefire arrangement, investigate the ceasefire violations and instruct the forces to respect the ceasefire in the letter to the spirit and maintain peace on the LoC and the Working Boundary.

He urged that the Indian side should permit UN Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) to play its mandated role as per the UN Security Council resolutions.
Of the three Northeastern states going to polls in February, it seems that the BJP views Tripura as the big prize.

The 2018 election season is officially underway in the country after the Election Commission announced the election dates for three northeastern states  Meghalaya, Tripura and Nagaland  on Thursday. Elections in Tripura will be held on 18 February, while Meghalaya and Nagaland will vote on 27 February.

In the last couple of years, BJP has been trying to gain further ground in the northeastern states. And after its spectacular win in Assam, it has been able to form government in Nagaland, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim. As three more northeastern states go to polls, the party will once again look build on its earlier gains in the region.

Of the three states, the party views Tripura as the big prize. This was acknowledged by BJP general secretary Ram Madhav who told The Indian Express, "The Tripura election will be the battle royale for us in this round of elections." Taking aim at the CPM government in the state, he said, "We firmly believe that Tripura deserves better and needs to throw out this government. Thats why we have given the slogan Chalo, paltai (Come, let us change)."

Tripura has been ruled by the CPM for the last 25 years. The current chief minister Manik Sarkar, has held onto his chair for an impressive 20 years. However, the BJP is now trying to disrupt the Left's influence in the state.

Himanta Biswa Sarma, who is a heavyweight Assam minister, has been chosen for major responsibilities by the party ahead of the upcoming elections. Sarma is also the chairperson of North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA). As Sarma has a strong grip on the volatile politics of the northeast, the BJP has reposed much trust in him.

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) is also putting in a lot of work in this direction which is seen from the regular visits to the area by RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and other office-bearers. The BJP feels that it will succeed in defeating the CPM this time. It is nearly certain that the fight this time will be between the CPM and the BJP.

While the Left government has been credited with reducing militancy and getting the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) withdrawn from the state by investing heavily in a local police force, it has lately come under attack. The tribal-based Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT) has repeatedly brought up the demand for a separate state called Tipraland (also spelt Twipraland). The party has demanded that a separate state be carved out for the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) areas, which constitute two-third of the state territory and is the home to the tribals, who form one-third of the population.

In July, the IPFT blocked the vital NH8, the state's lifeline, and the lone railway line for more than 10 days to demand a separate homeland, causing an acute shortage of essential items and much hardship to the people. It withdrew the blockade after the Union home ministry agreed to hold discussions to resolve the issue.

The large tribal population has also ensured that a third of Tripura's Assembly is reserved for its tribal population. These areas have traditionally supported the Left party, according to DailyO. To counter this support, the BJP is looking at a a possible alliance with the IPFT. However this alliance causes an ideological dilemma as IPFT's ideological bent might not sit well with BJP's larger plans. However, reports state that the alliance might be imminent.

According to Scroll, two other parties have sought to take advantage of CPM's weakening in the state. However all three seem unlikely to mount a substantial challenge. The Congress had won 10 seats in the last election but has lost ground after tying up with the Left in West Bengal. The Trinamool Congress has showed eagerness to expand to Tripura but has suffered heavily from defections of top leaders. This leaves the BJP to take the challenge to the Left as it has made steady gains in vote share in the state's elections.

Furthermore, the BJP will also look at the Assembly election as a way to gain the two Lok Sabha seats Tripura possesses, Hindustan Times reported. This is relevant because even with the "Modi Wave" in 2014, the Northeast gave the Congress eight Lok Sabha seats while giving none to the BJP. The saffron party is aiming for 20 seats in the 2019 General Election and has worked towards it by forming the North-East Democratic Alliance with regional players as well as getting its tallest leaders to visit the region.

The report also gives another reason for the BJP to invest in Tripura. A defeat to the incumbent government will marginalise the Left nationally. It will also deal a severe blow to the Left's efforts of putting up an opposition to the Narendra Modi government in the 2019 General election.

BJP leaders also feel that success in Tripura would provide huge impetus to its poll preparations in West Bengal.

With inputs from agencies.
tech2 News Staff

In the on-going Aadhaar hearing in the Supreme Court, the critics of Aadhaar have argued against the collection of biometric information.

The bone of contention is the parting of sensitive biometric data with third parties, over which the government or even the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) have little control.

According to senior advocate, Shyam Divan, who is arguing on the side of the Aadhaar opponents, the government does not have a contract with the third parties who collect your biometric information. This increases the possibility of the misuse of this sensitive data by these entities, said the lawyer, who questioned the integrity of this data.

Divan also told the five-judge bench that according to a government statement in the Parliament, the UIDAI had blacklisted 34,000 operators for issuing false Aadhaar cards.

The five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra said, "You want an insurance policy, you go to a private company. You want mobile connection, you go to private entities and part with personal information... Here the government has multiplied the options... the moment the government asks you to give proof of address and other details, you have a problem and you say 'sorry'."

To this Divan responded by saying that there is no issue with an individual parting with information out of his or her own accord. "The point here is that you are being asked to part with information to someone you do not know and have no contractual relation with," said Divan.

The bench, also comprising Justice A K Sikri, Justice A M Khanwilkar, Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justice Ashok Bhushan, is hearing a clutch of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the government's flagship Aadhaar programme and its enabling Act of 2016.

Divan, who is representing petitioners like former Karnataka High Court judge Justice K S Puttaswamy, several activists Aruna Roy, Shantha Sinha and veteran CPI(M) leader V S Achuthanandan, submitted that the State cannot compel its citizens to give personal information, that too to a private company, as it violated their fundamental rights.

Terming the scheme as "unconstitutional from beginning to end", Divan said that initially the State was not authorised to compel the citizens to part with personal information and moreover, it became more troublesome when people were asked to share them with private firms.

(With inputs from PTI)
tech2 News Staff

In this digital age when privacy is at stake on a daily basis, it is particularly worrying to lets kids have uncontrolled access to the internet. Trolls, cyberbullying, violent games are rampant. It becomes imperative for adults to maintain a safe and protected cyberspace for children.

In a bid to provide a safe environment for children to surf the internet, Google has come with an app called Family Link. This app helps parents monitor their children who are below 13 years of age, while they surf the internet. Here parents can make their own digital ground rules when the child would be using their Android device.

For this, a Google account for the child is created along with the parents. There is no minimum age for a child to have a Google account which will be connected with the Family Link. It is up to the parents when they want to introduce their child to an Android device. Besides, this is unlike Gmail where a child has to be at least 13 years of age to access it.

The key features of the Family Link app include managing apps which the child frequently uses, monitoring the screen time, and lastly, remotely locking the device for bedtime or when they have to take breaks.

Now access to inappropriate content concerns parents. In this case Family Link says it does not filter inappropriate content but some apps may have their own filtering options. Therefore, parents would have to review apps and their settings.

Also, the child cannot have more than one Google account linked to Family Link.

When your child starts using their first Android device, Family Link helps you manage their screen time, app usage and more  https://t.co/FTpUWTLO1n pic.twitter.com/s41mtu8Gen  Google (@Google) 18 January 2018

To get started with this, it is necessary that the child is using an Android device (Android Nougat 7.0), or Android Marshmallow in only select devices. It is not available for children on iOS.

But parents can use this on either iOS 9 and higher or KitKat (4.4) or higher. Parents can also access it through a web browser.

This is not available in India.

Currently, it is available in select countries such as Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, and the United States. However, if this comes to India, children below 13 years of age can access the app.

According to the Family Link website, to gather verifiable parental consent, the app requires a credit card charge as a proof of consent.

Other than Google, Facebook had brought Facebook Messenger for Kids for parents to monitor over their children's activities even if they are not physically together.
Reuters

A South Korean consumer group has filed a criminal complaint against Apple Inc CEO Tim Cook over slower iPhone devices, after probes in Europe into allegations the firm had deliberately shortened the life of its handsets.

Apple is already facing lawsuits in the United States and elsewhere over accusations of having defrauded iPhone users by slowing down devices without warning to compensate for poor battery performance and to push clients into buying new phones.

The South Korean advocacy group, Citizens United for Consumer Sovereignty, in its complaint submitted on 18 January, accused Apple of destruction of property and fraud.

For the sake of its loyal fans, Apple has to take responsibility over the slowing iPhones, Park Soon-jang, an official at the advocacy group told Reuters by phone on 19 January.

The group also represents about 120 plaintiffs in a civil damage suit against Apple filed earlier this month.

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office declined to comment when asked if it would launch an investigation into Apple following the complaint from the consumer group.

Apple Korea, the US tech firms South Korean subsidiary, was not immediately available for comment.

The California-based company acknowledged in December that iPhone software can slow down some phones with battery problems and apologized for the issue. However, it said it would never do anything to intentionally shorten the life of any Apple product.

Apple will release a software update that will allow users to turn off a feature that slows down iPhones when batteries are low on charge, CEO Cook told ABC News on 17 January.

Italys antitrust body said on 18 January that it had opened a probe into allegations that Apple and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd used software updates to slow their mobile phones and push clients into buying new handsets.

A French prosecutor has also launched a preliminary investigation into Apples alleged deception and planned obsolescence of its products.
Rupali Pangtey and Ankit Vengurlekar

When it comes to moments of personal safety, the instinct to feel secure is as natural as the need to have a smartphone around oneself, always.

Therefore in moments of emergency, or being cornered while walking in an unsafe space; we have listed three safety apps which can help you during such crisis.

Himmat

Developed by the Delhi Police, this app has a very simple interface. You can simply feed contact details of your trusted circle of friends and family. Following this, in case of an emergency situation, you can press the very intuitive SOS button. If you are in Delhi, this app informs the Delhi Police for you.

Smart 24x7

Today we live such an upwardly mobile lifestyle, anywhere at any time of the day. Therefore, in such a situation an app like Smart 24x7 can be handy. If you think that you are being followed or cornered, then you can always hit the panic button and you will get a call.

Shake2Safety

More often than not we might not be in a frame of mind or may not have the response time to hit a particular button for rescue or help. The Shake2Safety app can help, if you are stuck in any untoward situation or you need to shake your phone vigorously. A preconfigured number is called for your rescue. If you are connected to a data network, pressing down the power button five to six times in succession, automatically sends audio, video, and the location of your whereabouts to a trusted person.

Though we hope not, emergencies and risks to safety mostly come uncalled. Whether you are a man or woman, these apps can be useful to rescue yourself or your loved ones from untoward situations.
Pope Francis arrived in Peru on the final leg of his South American trip, where he will meet indigenous people.

Iquique: Pope Francis arrived on Thursday in Peru on the final leg of his South American trip, where he will meet indigenous people and hear firsthand how the country's gold rush is destroying large areas of their Amazon homeland.

Earlier, the pontiff highlighted the plight of vulnerable immigrants and robustly defended a bishop accused of covering up sexual abuse at the end of a visit to Chile overshadowed by controversy.

In the northern border region of Iquique  which he said was "the land of dreams" for so many  the pope hit out at human traffickers and others who seek to take advantage of helpless immigrants. "Let us be attentive to those who profit from the irregular status of many immigrants who don't know the language or who don't have their papers 'in order,'" Francis told a colourful congregation of some 50,000 people at an open-air mass on Iquique's sprawling Lobito beach.

Francis' Latam plane touched down at 4.30 pm (2130 GMT) in Peru's capital where he was greeted by President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski and his American wife Nancy Lange.

The second and final leg of his weeklong South American trip will include stops in Puerto Maldonado  where he will be welcomed by some 3,500 indigenous people, from Peru as well as neighbouring Brazil and Bolivia  as well as Trujillo and Lima.

The 81-year-old pontiff has confronted sensitive issues at every turn since he began his visit Monday, offering an apology to victims of priestly sexual abuse, praying with survivors of Augusto Pinochet's brutal dictatorship, and calling for protection of the rights of Chile's persecuted indigenous communities.

The sex abuse issue dogged him almost to the altar as he prepared to celebrate mass on Wednesday.

Chatting with journalists as he stepped down from his Popemobile, Francis' mood turned serious when prodded over his support for a controversial bishop, Juan Barros, who he appointed in 2015 although he stands accused of covering up another priest's abuse of boys. "The day they bring me proof against Bishop Barros, then I will speak," the pope said in response to a journalist's question about the 61-year-old. "There is not a single piece of proof against him. Everything is slander. Is this clear?" the pope said before walking off to prepare for the mass.

Barros was attending the ceremony along with hundreds of other bishops and clergy  and had been a conspicuous presence at both the pope's previous open-air masses and his meeting with clergy in Santiago.

Ahead of the pope's visit, the US-based NGO Bishop Accountability said almost 80 members of the Roman Catholic clergy had been accused of sexually abusing children in Chile since 2000.

Local Catholic groups in Barros' southern diocese of Osorno are demanding that Francis remove him for his ties to one of the highest-profile abusers, disgraced paedophile priest Fernando Karadima.

A Mexican former priest turned activist, Alberto Athie, said victims who accuse Barros of a cover-up have wanted to give their testimony before the Vatican, but have never been summoned. "It's not enough for the pope to ask forgiveness in Chile, if he's not going to listen to the victims," said Athie, an activist with the Network for the Rights of the Victims of Sexual Abuse.

During his trip the pope has met privately with a small group of people sexually abused by priests, after he publicly asked for forgiveness.

Demonstrations against Church sex abuse scandals and attacks on churches marked the opening days of Francis' visit to Chile.

On Wednesday, he celebrated mass in a restive southern region, denouncing the use of violence in the struggle for indigenous rights, only hours after assailants firebombed churches and other targets.

The state has long been accused of persecuting the Mapuche people, who centuries ago controlled vast areas of Chile but have since been marginalised. But in Iquique, some 1,800 kilometres north of the capital Santiago, eager worshippers camped out on the sand overnight, waiting for the pope's final mass in Chile.

In his homily, Francis urged people not to be afraid to speak out over injustice against immigrants when they come across it. "This land is a land of dreams, but let us work to ensure that it also continues to be a land of hospitality," said Francis in his homily.

Iquique has been a huge draw for unauthorised immigrants from Chile's poorer neighbours, helping to drive an economic boom. "Francis' words in favor of the foreigners who live here are needed, differences must be respected," said 22-year-old Monserrat Caballero, from Ecuador. "It is wonderful to be here to find, in Francis, strength to cope. It is difficult when I feel indifference or when doors are closed because I am Bolivian," agreed Claudia Escalera, 31.
The 'Iran Freedom Policy and Sanctions Act' was introduced by Peter Roskam and backed by Liz Cheney, two Republicans in the US House of Representatives.

Washington: A bill was introduced in the US House of Representatives on Thursday aimed at tightening the terms of the Iran nuclear deal, despite Tehran's rejection of changes to the accord.

US president Donald Trump has repeatedly criticized the agreement aimed at curbing Tehran's nuclear program, which was agreed under his predecessor Barack Obama's administration.

The "Iran Freedom Policy and Sanctions Act" was introduced by Peter Roskam and backed by Liz Cheney, two Republicans in the US House of Representatives.

The proposed legislation "makes clear what any effective agreement would have to contain," Cheney said in a statement.

A deal with Iran would need to "at a minimum, authorise anywhere, anytime inspections including inspections of military facilities; disclosure of all past and present, military and civilian nuclear activity; a ban on weapons-grade enrichment; and a restriction on ballistic missile development," said Cheney.

The legislation "will ensure that sanctions on Iran will only be relaxed if Iran meets these crucial requirements," said Cheney, criticizing the current agreement for allegedly delivering "sanctions relief and cash payments to the Iranian regime in exchange for unverifiable promises."

A parallel bill aimed at toughening the nuclear deal is under consideration in the Senate.

Trump again waived nuclear-related sanctions last week  as required every few months to stay in the agreement  but demanded European partners work with Washington to "fix the deal's disastrous flaws, or the United States will withdraw."

Iran's foreign ministry has said it "will not accept any amendments in this agreement" - and the International Atomic Energy Agency has confirmed Tehran's compliance with the current agreement.

The other parties to the deal  Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the European Union  have all said it is working and that Iran is complying fully with its commitments.
Chelsea Manning has officially filed to run for the US Senate in the 2018 Maryland Democratic primary.

Bethesda: Chelsea Manning has officially filed to run for the US Senate in the 2018 Maryland Democratic primary.

The state elections board website says Manning filed Thursday in Montgomery County. Manning also tweeted a photo Thursday evening saying she is officially on the ballot.

The transgender woman, known as Bradley Manning when she was convicted in 2013 of leaking more than 700,000 classified documents, was released from military prison in May after a 35-year sentence was commuted. Then-US president Barack Obama commuted her sentence to time served plus 120 days in the final days of his administration.

US Senator Ben Cardin told AP on Tuesday that he looks forward to a "strong campaign" against Manning or any other contenders. Cardin won his seat in an open race in 2006.
Democracy in 2017 was faced with its most serious crisis in decades as its basic tenets, freedom came under attack around the world.

Democracy in 2017 was faced with its most serious crisis in decades as its basic tenets came under attack around the world. Seventy-one countries suffered net declines in political rights and civil liberties, with only 35 registering gains. The guarantees of free and fair elections, the rights of minorities, freedom of the press, and the rule of law all came under attack as the countries suffered democratic setbacks.

For the 12th consecutive year, according to the Freedom in the World 2018 report, countries that suffered democratic setbacks outnumbered those that registered gains.

"Political rights and civil liberties around the world deteriorated to their lowest point in more than a decade in 2017, extending a period characterised by emboldened autocrats, beleaguered democracies, and the United States' withdrawal from its leadership role in the global struggle for human freedom," the report said.

According to the report, 45 percent of countries in the world are free (democratic freedom, with 0=least free, 100=most free); 30 percent are partly free and 25 percent are not free.

As per population, 39 percent of the world is free, 24 percent are partly free and 37 percent are not free.

Twelve years of decline

Over the period since the 12-year global slide began in 2006, 113 countries have seen a net decline, and only 62 have experienced a net improvement. The report added:

"States that a decade ago seemed like promising success storiesTurkey and Hungary, for exampleare sliding into authoritarian rule. The military in Myanmar, which began a limited democratic opening in 2010, executed a shocking campaign of ethnic cleansing in 2017 and rebuffed international criticism of its actions. Meanwhile, the worlds most powerful democracies are mired in seemingly intractable problems at home, including social and economic disparities, partisan fragmentation, terrorist attacks, and an influx of refugees that has strained alliances and increased fears of the 'other'."

Dramatic declines in freedom have been observed in almost every region of the world. This, according to the report, portends bad signs not just for the countries that have seen a decline but for the entire world.

"The spread of anti-democratic practices around the world is not merely a setback for fundamental freedoms. It poses economic and security risks. When more countries are free, all countriesincluding the United Statesare safer and more prosperous. When more countries are autocratic and repressive, treaties and alliances crumble, nations and entire regions become unstable, and violent extremists have greater room to operate," the report said.

In 2017, freedom declined in a staggering 71 counties as compared to 35 countries that saw an improvement. Compared to last year, the situation has deteriorated further.

Countries with net declines have continued to outnumber those with an improvement in freedom.

Worst of the worst

The past year provided ample evidence that undemocratic rule itself can be catastrophic for regional and global stability, with or without active interference from major powers like Russia and China, the report said.

The Rohingya crisis in Myanmar; Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan's crackdown on his perceived opponents; the instability in West Asia, with authoritarian rulers in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Egypt asserting their interests in reckless ways; conflicts in Libya and Yemen; the blockade in Qatar; the humanitarian crisis produced in Venezuela; Brazils sprawling corruption investigations against its leaders; topped off with North Korea aggressively building up its nuclear arsenal, all show how 2017 was not a good year for global freedom.

India among 'free' countries

India got an aggregate score of 77 out of 100 on the freedom scale. It received a freedom rating of 2.5 out of seven (with one being most free and seven being least free).

On political rights, India got a rating of two, whereas, for civil rights, India got a rating of three. Overall, the press and net freedom status of the country was 'partly free', whereas the freedom status was registered as 'free'.





Key countries to watch

The following key countries, according to the report, are among those that may be approaching important turning points in their democratic trajectory and deserve special scrutiny during the coming year.

Afghanistan: Opposition alliances are crystallising ahead of long-overdue parliamentary elections, but preparations for the polls have been lacking, and it is uncertain whether they will be held as planned in 2018.

Iraq: Improved security has helped create space for competition among newly registered parties and candidates ahead of the 2018 elections, which will test the resilience of the countrys political system.

Mexico: The July 2018 general elections will serve as a referendum on an administration that has failed to curb rampant violence and corruption, and has become increasingly hostile toward independent media and civil society activists.

Saudi Arabia: Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salmans controversial reform program is likely to cause even more upheaval in Saudi government and society, as small gains in social freedoms and efforts to attract foreign investors go hand in hand with attempts to quash dissent and fight off perceived opponents.

United States: The media and the judiciaryboth of which have a long history of independenceface acute pressure from the Trump administration, whose smears threaten to undermine their legitimacy.

Read the full report here

Freedom in the World is an annual global report on political rights and civil liberties, composed of numerical ratings and descriptive texts for each country and a select group of territories. The 2018 edition covers developments in 195 countries and 14 territories.
US President Donald Trump is 'frustrated' with the media coverage of an interview given by his Chief of Staff John Kelly on issues like border wall

Washington: US President Donald Trump is "frustrated" with the media coverage of an interview given by his Chief of Staff John Kelly on issues like border wall, the White House has said.

Trump on Thursday vented out frustration at Kelly that he told lawmakers and a news channel that his campaign promise to build a wall along the Mexican border was "not fully informed" and his view on immigration was "evolving", The Wall Street Journal reported.

The White House denied such an impression and said that Trump has full confidence in Kelly.

"The president is frustrated with the media coverage over the last 24 hours of that interview and of the meeting. The President's position on border security has been very clear since day one, since the summer of 2015 when he jumped into this race," White House Deputy Press Secretary Raj Shah said abroad Air Force One.

Shah, said Trump wants to see increased personnel, technology, and infrastructure, including the wall.

He always said throughout the campaign that he would be listening to the folks on the front lines.

"That's what the Chief of Staff was talking about in his interview on Fox News. And that's what, actually, the president talked about in an interview with you guys at the (Wall Street) Journal pretty extensively. He talked about listening to the Border Patrol agents. They've influenced his views," he said in response to a question.

"His only frustration is with the media, and that's what that tweet was about. But what Kelly is talking about is him listening to experts and folks on the front lines, which is something he said he would do throughout the campaign," Shah said.

However, The Wall Street Journal reported that in a late evening phone call with Kelly, Trump said he was upset when he learned that he had told some lawmakers that his campaign promise to build a wall along the Mexican border was "not fully informed" and his view on immigration was evolving.

"He has complete confidence in Gen Kelly," White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said, according to Wall Street Journal, when asked about the phone call.

Trump told reporters in Pennsylvania that his views on wall has been consistent over the past three years and defended Kelly.

"I think he's doing a great job. I think General Kelly has done a really great job. He is a very special guy," he said when asked about Kellys remarks a day earlier.

According to Trump Kelly did not tell lawmakers that he was uninformed about immigration.

"No, he didn't say that. I don't think - he didn't say it the way you would like him to say it. No, he didn't say that. He's doing a terrific job, said the US president.
The H4 EAD trail hasnt gone cold, its a tense and muted countdown to a rule change the Trump administration is likely to put out as early as February which may seek to overturn an Obama era regulation that allowed dependants of H1B workers to pursue employment in the USA.

The H4 EAD trail hasnt gone cold, its a tense and muted countdown to a proposed rule change the Trump administration is likely to put out as early as February which may seek to overturn an Obama era regulation that allowed dependants of H1B workers to pursue employment in the USA.

The spoiler arrived well in advance in the form of an agenda item in the federal register. The Department of Homeland Security minced no words: Removing H-4 Dependent Spouses from the Class of Aliens Eligible for Employment Authorization is how the intent was worded in its Fall 2017 Regulatory agenda.

Link: A taste of whats to come? Agenda item on H4 EAD published last Fall

Unless theres some esoteric wordplay here, it seems to say clearly that the DHS wants to amend the original rule published for H4 EAD in 2015.

Two separate themes exist here - one is the legal case itself which is Save Jobs USA versus DHS and the other is the Trump governments pet method of dealing with these issues.

There isnt much the Trump administration can do about the court case which has a life of its own but the government has certainly made no secret of the fact that it is not going to aggressively defend the existing rule either.

As in the case of the Dreamers Act, the government is simply allowing the programme to fade away rather than tamper with it on a retrospective scale. The attendant chaos and disruption fit neatly into the broader theme of economic nationalism that put Trump into the White House in 2016.

In the case of the H4 EAD too, the government may end up using the same method - whenever the H4 EAD expires is where the road ends - if the intention is to end the programme and that's what it seems like so far.

What happens to those who have an EAD now? Nothing changes, really. All talk of an H4 EAD repeal is still in the realm of conjecture although the threat is real and will probably stay that way in the name of Trumpism.

What about those whose H4 EADs are up for extension? Again, on the face of it, the same logic applies, say most legal shops. Nothing has changed and even if it does, thats still a few months away at the very minimum so why not renew?

In any case, almost all the questions coming to law firms are now circling around how to deal with the consequences of a rule change.

The H4 EAD was born out of regulation in May 2015 that allows certain H4 spouses who have an ongoing green card case on to pursue employment in the US.

Heres what ace immigration attorney Cyrus Mehta has to say on the state of play of the H4 EAD as it stands today: "The spouses on H-4 visas who receive work authorization are a small subsection of the entire H-4 population. It is confined to those H-4s who are eligible to receive a green card except for the priority date not being current. If they would any way have a green card ultimately, why not issue a work authorization to this deserving group of people while they are endlessly waiting for the green card? The wait could be more than a decade long, and the only reason for this wait is that they were born in India, which is oversubscribed as a result of the unfair per country limit in the employment second and third preferences. There is ample legal authority in the Immigration and Nationality Act to support the issuance of work cards to discrete groups of foreign nationals. The H-4 work permit rule was upheld by the lower court, and if the Trump administration were to hold their ground, they would win on appeal. Unfortunately, the Trump administration is motivated by its America First doctrine to provide jobs to Americans. But in a full employment economy, there are enough jobs available for everyone and so the move to take away work permits from a narrow class of H-4 spouses - mainly women who are in the workforce - is driven less by economics and more by prejudice."

Whenever the rule change does get posted, you can expect a surge of action during the comment period. This is a high decibel issue among the expat community here in the US and thousands of H4 visa holders are just waiting to storm the comment section with their outpouring.

Link: How the rulemaking process works

In its 27 years of existence, the H4 visa has never been under such sharp glare except when the H4 EAD rule came into being in 2015. Now, in less than 3 years since then, that temporary relief is under threat.

If the administration pushes for recission of existing H4 EADs which are say, valid for a couple more years too, expect lawsuits to be filed in plenty.

Although employment based visas account for a small portion of total non immigrant influx into the US, the slower pace of approvals seen together with the sudden spike in challenges to applications and the clutch of immigration related hearings in Congress all reflect a shift in how the White House views the non-white outsider.

This will go down to the wire.
Former CIA director David H Petraeus said on Thursday that in his entire career he 'never once heard the term Indian state-sponsored terrorism'.

Former CIA director and a retired United States Army official David H Petraeus said on Thursday that in his entire career he "never once heard the term Indian state-sponsored terrorism".

Petraeus was answering a question from an audience member during the Raisina 2018 session titled 'A Disruptive World: Solutions for Tomorrow'. The panel discussion examined the strategies, formats and ideas to respond to the dramatic transitions in the New World Order in 2018.

He said, "As director of the CIA, and commander of ISAF in Afghanistan, I never once heard the term 'Indian State-sponsored terrorism'," as The Times of India reported. Meanwhile, Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar, who was sharing the dais, said that he was asked to stick to facts and not fantasy scenarios.

In a previous session, Minister of State for External Affairs General VK Singh and Afghanistan's former president Hamid Karzai hoped that US president Donald Trump would "walk the talk" on his position on Pakistan's support to terrorists, as The Indian Express said in a report.

The Raisina Dialogue was kicked off on Tuesday at 6 pm in New Delhi. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is on a six-day visit to India, delivered the inaugural speech at the third edition of the geo-political conference. This year's theme of the Raisina Dialogue (16 to 18 January) was 'Managing Disruptive Transitions: Ideas, Institutions and Idioms.'
Australia's Victoria opposition leader Matthew Guy has promised to establish a sister-state relationship with an Indian state if elected.

Melbourne: Australia's Victoria opposition leader Matthew Guy has promised to establish a sister-state relationship with an Indian state if elected, underling that maintaining good ties with India is one of the country's top priorities.

"As the world's second largest country, India is an economic superpower and one of Victoria's most important markets for food and fibre exports, international students and tourism," Guy, who visited India in 2015, said on Thursday.

"A sister-state relationship with an Indian state will promote Victoria as a desirable destination to live, study, do business and visit, allowing all Victorians to benefit from the social, economic and business opportunities created by our diaspora communities," he said.

Guy's statement has come during the ongoing visit of state premier Daniel Andrews who before leaving for his first official visit to India launched the state government's strategy document aimed towards doubling exports with India in next 10 years.

On Victoria's India Strategy document, Guy said the latest strategy document was broad but has missed out on the specifics of how to achieve the targets set by the current ruling government. "It's fine to have broad goal but broad goals across the whole country (India) does not make sense. You need to focus your relationship," Guy commented.

Explaining his strategy towards India if elected to power, Guy said that the establishment of a sister-state relationship will further strengthen Victoria's existing relationship with India, providing a strong foundation for professional and business relationships to form and flourish, while recognising the immense contribution of our Indian community to Victoria.

In a bid to identify a sister state, the politician said, that Indian community as well business living in Victoria would be playing a crucial role in helping select which Indian state Victoria should partner with. "This will be done through wide consultation with the Indian community and a formal submission process," he said.

"We need to engage India on education, health and we understand that but we need to hone where we want to be," Guy said stressing on the need to establish a sister state relation which will be more targeted in terms of building partnership.

Victoria, a popular tourist destination, is Australia's second-most populous state and is home to a large number of Indian-origin people. The 2016 distribution by state and territory showed Victoria had the largest number of Indians with 169,802 followed by New South Wales at 143,459, according to a local media report.
Rex Tillerson said he hopes to visit the new US embassy in London next week, shortly after President Donald Trump refused to attend its opening ceremony

Washington: Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said he hopes to visit the new US embassy in London next week, shortly after President Donald Trump refused to attend its opening ceremony.

Tillerson will be in Britain on Monday at the start of a sweep through Europe that will take him on to Paris, Warsaw, and the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

His meetings in each city have not been finalised, State Department officials said, but the secretary himself told reporters on Thursday that he hopes to see the embassy.

Tillerson told reporters that his British host, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, was preparing a packed agenda for him "but I hope to get by the embassy."

Washington's new mission in London opened with little fanfare on Tuesday after a 10-year moving process, with a total price tag of around one billion dollars.

Some reports had suggested that Trump would attend the opening, but the president angrily dismissed that idea last week in one of his trademark Twitter outbursts.

"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," Trump wrote.

"Bad deal. Wanted me to cut ribbon - NO!"

The US embassy said the project had been developed in 2007, before Barack Obama took office, and executed "within the established budget."

For many, Trump's alleged concern about the embassy's cost and site was a cover for the real reason he was again delaying his first trip to Britain as president.

British press reports suggest that Trump knows that any visit could generate protests against him in London.

Announcing Tillerson's voyage, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert defended the cost and the time frame of the embassy move - which she said is still ongoing.

"We still have ... quite a few people, who are in the old location," Nauert said.

"We pushed to get this embassy opened pretty quickly. So it's almost a miracle that it's open on time," she said, adding there was no ribbon-cutting ceremony on Tillerson's schedule.

In London, Tillerson will meet Johnson and national security adviser Mark Sedwill to discuss cooperation in resolving the crises in Iran, Syria, Libya, North Korea and

Ukraine.

On Tuesday, in Paris he will meet senior French officials on the same issues, then spend two days in Davos shadowing Trump at his first visit to the global elite's business forum.

By Friday, he will be in Poland for more talks with senior officials on security and economic issues.
Sadly, pedantically, the four-way Venn in the diagram is broken, from a technical POV. If you look closely, two sectors  love & paid for, good at & world needs  dont intersect uniquely.

So I fixed that and theorised what those missing sectors might contain, while making a few other tweaks.

Got stuck a bit with what the world needs category which has a touch of entrepreneurial zeal about it. Not everyone can impact the world. But couldnt come up with a variation that worked.

Whats interesting is that two intersections make something positive  passion, mission etc. But three intersections create a discomforting pinch point i.e. if you good at something, its what you love and what the world needs, but doesnt earn you money, youre struggling.
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Given the downfall of Sonys smartphone business it would be no surprise if the company suddenly decides to pull the plug, but interestingly the company recently confirmed its presence at the MWC 2018 event that is scheduled to happen in February.

Though Sony phones were a range back in the day, the firm got pushed away very soon by Apple, Samsung, and other Chinese brands. Given the age-old design of its smartphones, it is no wonder why Sony is struggling. Most of the design blame might be because of the philosophy of Sony president and CEO Hirai. Hirai took the position of CEO just when the WOW factor of Sony phones started phasing out.

He is being credited for turning around the sinking ship, and in addition to his hands-on approach, his principles regarding design or other departments reflected Sonys culture. He says that his aim is for an emotional response rather than a technical one and not to change the award-winning design every year for the sake of changing it.

Despite the fact that Sony smartphone business is not doing so well, Hira currently has no intentions to let go. Instead, he sees the smartphone business as their ticket in the communications space. Which explains why Sony doesnt bother how bad the phones fare in the market. Since Sony supplies components, like image sensors, for other smartphone makers, it has no issues until its phones are there in the market.

Sony will be holding a press conference at the MWC 2018 in Barcelona on 26th February, Monday at 8.30AM CET (1PM IST), where it is expected to announce the new Xperia XZ Pro and Xperia XZ2 among other devices.

Source
Reliance Jio today reported Rs. 6879.42 crore revenue, up 12.7% QoQ and a net profit of 504.38 crore for its second quarterly financial performance for the period that ended 31st December, 2017. This comes after the company reported a net loss of 270.59 crore in the previous quarter. Jios rival Airtel earlier this week reported over 39% decline in profits for Q3 2018.

It reported Standalone earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of 2,628 crore, up 82.1% QoQ and EBITDA margin of 38.2%, and Standalone earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) of 1,436 crore, up 453.1% QoQ . Consolidated value of services stood at 8,136 crore, up 12.8% over trailing quarter) and consolidated EBIT of 1,441 crore, up 452.1% over trailing quarter.

It crossed 138.6 million subscribers in the July to September quarter, it has 160.1 million as of December 31st, by adding 21.5 million net subscribers during the quarter.

Average revenue per user (ARPU) during the quarter  154 per subscriber per month compared to 156.4 in the previous quarter

Total wireless data traffic  431 crore GB (9.6 GB per subscriber per month)

Average voice traffic -31,113 crore minutes per day

Video consumption per subscriber per month  200 crore hours (13.4 hours of video consumption per subscriber per month)

Commenting on the results, Mukesh D. Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director, Reliance Industries Limited said:

I would like to thank all our customers for partnering with us in this revolution which has made India a global digital powerhouse. I congratulate all our employees and partners for the strong performance. Our commitment is to keep pushing newer innovative products which would radically transform customer lives and generate huge societal value. Jios strong financial result reflects the fundamental strength of the business, significant efficiencies and right strategic initiatives. Jio has demonstrated that it can sustain its strong financial performance.
Fort Myers Beach resident Scott Safford encountered a strange guest in his driveway Thursday morning.

The Wednesday to Thursday overnight temperatures in the mid-30s had put one unfortunate iguana in a stupor.

Iguanas are an invasive species in Florida. Native to central America and Mexico, these cold-blooded reptiles cant handle anything besides tropical weather.

Most of our native species are able to handle that (short cold). Its only for a few hours, said Chris Lechowicz, Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundations herpetologist and wildlife and habitat management program director.

Lechowicz warns that just because an iguana seems dead doesnt mean it is. The cold temperatures cause them to get into a stupor since their bodies cold-blooded.

Leave it there. It might not be dead, he said. A lot of times theyre not dead, theyre crawling out to warm up.

Once the sun warms their body temperatures, they can wake back up. Extended cold temperatures, however, can kill the iguanas  and other tropical invasives.

Lechowicz said in 2010, a cold spell hit for several days that kept temperatures in the 30s and 40s. Several days of cold can kill iguanas.

Long-term periods of cold can effect some native species as well, such as the American Crocodile, Lechowicz said. But this weeks cold isnt predicted to last past Friday. According to the forecast from the National Weather Service, Fort Myers Beach should see a low of 41 degrees Thursday evening and a high of 66 degrees Friday, with temperatures returning to the mid-70s over the weekend.

If someone feels compelled to help out a frozen iguana, our local experts say dont.

Brian Bohlman, spokesman for CROW Wildlife Rehabilitation on Sanibel, said if someone were to bring in a sick or injured iguana, CROW wouldnt be allowed to release them because of their invasive status.

Lechowicz concurred  its illegal to release an invasive species into Floridas habitats.

Its best to leave it alone, he said.
P&Gs (NYSE:PG) product nightmare is back in the news as fresh new social media memes and videos of teens eating colorful Tide detergent pods because they resemble candy have re-emerged, creating nearly six years of turmoil for the company since the product launched in 2012.

To address the deep concerns, we have taken a number of actions, a P&G spokesperson told FOX Business.

Watch the latest video at foxnews.com

Last week, the company collaborated with Tide spokesperson and Patriots tight end, Rob Gronkowski, to create a digital safety PSA that appeals to a younger audience urging them to not eat the pods. P&G also said it has been working with leading social media networks to remove harmful content from the web. Both YouTube and Facebook released statements this week vowing to remove the content.

Still, many experts say that since the Tide Pod Challenge has emerged in 2012, P&G hasnt done enough, and that it may be time for the company to change the look of its candy-like detergent pods.

Tide should reformulate its tide pods, if only for the reason that they've created a potentially lethal product that looks like candy to young children. Consumers are demanding safer, greener items for their households, and this is an opportune time for Tide to follow suit, Titania Jordan, chief parenting officer of Bark.us, an app that monitors safety concerns for parents, told FOX Business.

But, Jordan added that for children who are old enough to know better -- like the majority of the teens participating in the Tide Pod Challenge -- this backlash should not be the fault of the manufacturer.

Deb Gabor, CEO of Sol Marketing, a brand strategy consultancy, agrees, saying that concerns about people eating Tide Pods is nothing new, and P&Gs packaging is similar to many other detergent products on the market today.

Take a look under any average American kitchen or bathroom sink today, and youll see colorful packaging, engaging marketing slogans, cartoon characters (think Mr. Clean and Scrubbing Bubbles) that could be attractive to children, Gabor told FOX Business.

Gabor adds that Tide has a strong brand legacy among American consumers and this current crisis only makes the company look stronger, especially with all the proactive measures its taking to stop the trend.

Thats why I dont think the brand is in danger, as long as it continues to face this challenge head-on. From what I can see, the spokespeople at P&G have been managing their own communication around this brand crisis in an effective way. They are being truthful, thoughtful, and consistent, she said, adding that as long as the brand continues to do that it will emerge unscathed.

A spokesperson for P&G did immediately respond to FOX Business requests for comments regarding the Tide Pod Challenge with details of its actions since it first debuted in 2012.

Each year laundry pacs have been on the market, we've taken meaningful steps to reduce accidental exposure. We have co-led the development of industry standard since its initiation and taken actions including adding child resistant closures to the bags and tubs and adding bittering substances to the packets to deter accidental ingestion. We've also worked with organizations like Safe Kids Worldwide to educate parents and caregivers on safe use and storage, a P&G spokesperson said.

In fact, data from the American Association of Poison Control Centers (AAPCC), which compiles numbers on poison control calls, said the amount of detergent pod poisoning have decreased since 2015. In 2017, there were an estimated 12,299 calls to U.S. poison control centers due to laundry pods, which is down 14% since 2015, when there were over 14,000 calls.
This years flu season has been one of the worst on record with reports that 85 adults and 20 children have died from the virus across the country. Last week, the CDC reported that 32 states across the country as well as Puerto Rico were experiencing high flu activity due to the flu vaccines ineffectiveness.

Worst in years, 2012 and 2014 are similar but whats even worse here is its peaking very early, Fox News medical correspondent Dr. Marc Siegel told FOX Business Stuart Varney on Varney & Co.

According to Siegel, the issue isnt just the flu directly but that it makes patients more susceptible to other infections as well.

Flu is an enabler, once you have the flu it knocks down your immune system, you can have another infection come in that we need to treat with antibiotics. A lot of times I use Tamiflu for the flu and I add on an antibiotic for bronchitis or pneumonia or a urinary, ear infection is very common.

But according to Siegel, a universal flu vaccine is close to becoming a reality that would end the need for annual shots.

Now theres a universal flu vaccine in the works Stuart thats, Im going to make you take that. I talked to Tony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases yesterday, theyre starting clinical trials, it sounds very promising to me, a year or two away.

One shot, youre good for life? Varney asked.

At least ten years, Siegel responded.
Boston and neighboring Somerville remained in contention Thursday to serve as host city for Amazon's second North American headquarters, but a number of other prospective sites in Massachusetts were eliminated.

Amazon included Boston on a list of 20 finalists for the $5 billion project that the e-commerce giant says will generate up to 50,000 new jobs.

A company spokesman later clarified it was referring to the metropolitan Boston area and that proposals from both the city of Boston itself and from Somerville would move on to the next phase of the selection process.

"As a thriving city with a talented and diverse workforce, culture of innovation and opportunity for all, I see no better city ... for Amazon to call their second home," Boston Mayor Marty Walsh said in a statement.

John Barros, Boston's chief of economic development, said city officials still consider Suffolk Downs, a former race track near Logan International Airport, to be the location that best aligns with Amazon's stated preferences. But he added the city was open to other potential sites as well.

Somerville's proposal did not name a specific site but rather what it called a "regional solution," one which would incorporate development sites along the MBTA's Orange Line and soon-to-be-expanded Green Line.

Republican Gov. Charlie Baker's administration submitted 26 prospective locations, including Somerville and four different sites in Boston.

"This is a great statement about the quality of life, about the quality of the workforce, the quality of the people and the institutions that make up Massachusetts," Baker said of Amazon's announcement Thursday. He told reporters it was too early to speculate on any proposals his administration might offer during the next round of discussions with the Seattle-based company.

The state has not dangled any specific tax breaks or other financial incentives before Amazon, but has touted existing state programs that offer tax credits and infrastructure investment to spur economic development and job growth.

Worcester, New Bedford and Lawrence were among other Massachusetts cities that also made proposals but were not among the finalists.

George Proakis, Somerville's director of planning, said his city's proposal was focused less on creating a single campus for Amazon, but instead emphasizing "smart growth" development and proximity to several prestigious universities.

"We wanted them to consider Somerville based on who we are and what we are, our diversity and our knowledge-based workforce," Proakis said.

Boston's bid for Amazon referenced the city's efforts to increase the supply of affordable housing, provide workforce training and improve transportation.

"Whether it's the MBTA, or roads and bridges, we think infrastructure and infrastructure investments are critical," Barros said.

The city might also weigh property tax breaks of the type provided to General Electric when that company moved its corporate headquarters to Boston in 2016, he added.
YouTube and Facebook are cracking down on content related to the viral Tide Pod Challenge this week as experts warn of severe health risks associated with eating the laundry detergent packets.

The challenge, which has become a fixture on social media platforms in recent weeks, involves teenagers challenging each other to film themselves eating a Tide pod. The viral trends origins are unclear.

YouTubes Community Guidelines prohibit content that's intended to encourage dangerous activities that have an inherent risk of physical harm. We work to quickly remove flagged videos that violate our policies, a YouTube spokesperson said in a statement.

The Tide pod videos constitute a violation of the Google-owned (NASDAQ:GOOGL) video platforms longstanding policy, which prohibits potentially harmful or dangerous content. Facebook, the social media giant that also owns Instagram, is also taking action to combat the trend.

"Our community standards dont allow encouragement of physical harm or content that is promoting or encouraging behavior that could lead to self-injury or death. We have and will continue to remove any of this material as soon as were aware of it," a Facebook spokesperson said.

Tide pods can cause severe internal damage or death in severe cases, authorities said. The American Association of Poison Control Centers issued a formal alert about the challenge earlier this week.

Ive partnered with @Tide to make sure you know, Tide PODs are for doing laundry. Nothing else! https://t.co/Oo7n7ZZpbG  Rob Gronkowski (@RobGronkowski) January 13, 2018

Nothing is more important to us than the safety of people who use our products. We are deeply concerned about conversations related to intentional and improper use of liquid laundry pacs and have been working with leading social media networks to remove harmful content that is not consistent with their policies, a Procter & Gamble spokesperson said in a statement.

Procter & Gamble enlisted New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski, a Tide endorser, to deliver a public service announcement last week via his personal Twitter page.

This story has been updated.
Though your Social Security benefits are calculated based on how much you earned during your working years, the age at which you first claim them can cause them to go up, down, or stay the same. That's why it's crucial to choose the right age to sign up for them initially.

Eligible workers get an eight-year window to file for Social Security that begins at age 62 and ends at age 70. (Technically speaking, no one will force you to take benefits at 70, but there's no reason not to). And with 66 landing exactly in the middle, it might seem like a good age for you to sign up. But before you do, here are a few things you should know.

1. It may not be your full retirement age

You may have heard that it's best to wait until your full retirement age to file for Social Security, because if you do, you'll get to collect the full monthly benefit you're entitled to based on your earnings record. And that's most certainly true. If your full retirement age is 66 and you file for benefits at 62, you'll reduce each monthly payment by 25%. For example, if your full monthly benefit amount is $1,500, you'll wind up with just $1,125 instead. But if you file at 66 exactly, you'll get your full $1,500.

That said, while 66 is considered full retirement age for some workers, it may not be your full retirement age. Full retirement age is actually determined based on a person's year of birth, as follows:

What this means is that if you have a friend or colleague who was born in 1954, their full retirement age might be 66. But if you're a bit younger and weren't born until 1960, you'll need to wait an entire year longer before getting to collect your monthly benefits in full. Keep the above table in mind when deciding when to file, or you'll risk losing out on some of the money you may have been expecting.

2. It pays to take benefits if you need the cash

Perhaps 66 isn't your full retirement age -- maybe yours comes a year later. But what happens if you find yourself out of work and desperate for money at 66? If that's the case, then you may want to consider taking benefits then, even though you will face a reduction in benefits.

The reason? You're better off losing roughly 6.67% of your benefits -- which is what will happen if you file a year early -- than racking up credit card debt that will wind up costing you 20% a year in interest charges. While any reduction in Social Security benefits could end up hurting you if you're counting on that money in retirement, filing at 66 instead of 67 isn't nearly the same thing as filing at 62 and taking what amounts to a 30% benefits cut. In other words, if you're relatively close to full retirement age and have a reason to claim benefits immediately, you shouldn't necessarily beat yourself up over it.

3. It may be a good choice if your health is so-so

One interesting thing about Social Security is that it's designed to pay you the same lifetime benefit regardless of when you initially file. Here's the logic: If you sign up at age 62 and slash your benefits by either 25%, 30%, or somewhere in the middle (depending on your full retirement age), you'll get less money each month, but you'll also get more payments than you would by waiting until full retirement age. And it works the other way, too: Sign up at full retirement age, and you won't face a benefits reduction, but you also won't collect those extra payments.

This formula, however, makes one key assumption, and it's that you'll live an average life expectancy. So what if your health is OK, but not stellar? In that case, it might pay to pull the trigger on benefits at 66, even if it means doing so a year prior to full retirement age. As a general rule, the shorter your anticipated lifespan, the sooner you should start collecting benefits. If you have reason to doubt your own longevity, you might avoid losing out on Social Security income in your lifetime by filing a little early.

Another point we haven't yet touched on is that, if you delay Social Security past full retirement age, you'll snag an 8% boost in benefits for each year you hold off, up until age 70. If your health is fantastic, that's an option you'll want to consider, even if your full retirement is 66 and you're already there. But if your health is iffy, you're better off not waiting longer than necessary.

Though 66 is a fairly common age to claim Social Security, be sure to keep the above factors in mind when making your personal decision. This way, you'll make the most of the benefits you've worked for all your life.

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.
Retailers are in the throes of adapting to a shopping environment completely revolutionized by e-commerce giant Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), but restaurants are now facing the same challenge thanks to what has become known as the Amazon effect.

Delivery apps, including Amazon Restaurants, Uber Eats and Grubhub (NYSE:GRUB) are transforming the dining experience for consumers, and participation isnt usually a choice for those restaurants hoping to survive.

You have to be where the eyeballs are, Peter Riggs, president and CEO of quick-service restaurant franchise Pita Pit, told FOX Business. You have to be where the customers are looking for you.

Consumer partialities toward delivery are only expected to strengthen throughout the years to come. A Cowen analyst predicts delivery will grow to $76 billion by 2022, up from $43 billion in 2017. That breaks down to a 12% annual increase.

While engaging third-party delivery services can increase brand awareness for some restaurants, it often carries some negative financial consequences at a time when the hospitality industry is battling existing obstacles.

Big tech companies are making a lot of money off of our back, Willie Degel, founder and CEO of Uncle Jack's Steakhouse and host of Restaurant Stakeout, told FOX Business. [Theyre] taking, from some restaurants, 30% off the top.

Mike Wior, co-founder and CEO of Omnivore, reiterated the 30% figure, saying thats a big, big margin for this industry. Its very difficult for many restaurants  to survive that kind of margin hit.

Another new cost, according to Degel, essentially stems from extortion by tech companies for advertising placement. Big companies such as Grubhub have a stronghold in major metropolitan markets, forming what Degel referred to as a monopolies.

They basically tell you 'if you want to come up on our search engine more, [pay more]'  [theyre] jacking up your fees and holding people hostage, he said.

Restaurants are also losing money in the form of tips, Wior noted. Instead of servers receiving gratuities from meals, mobile ordering passes that cash off to the third party.

These technologically-driven changes come at a time when restaurants are also struggling to keep pace with rising labor costs. As previously reported by FOX Business, 18 states lifted their minimum wage at the start of January, with three more expected to do the same throughout the course of this year.

But in an age where consumer convenience is becoming a top priority, a trend promulgated by Americas largest generation  the millennials, restaurateurs know they need to find a way to make it work.

The reality is its our responsibility to be there for the guest, Riggs said. Its not about just what we want to do  it may be more difficult and there may be some unusual costs associated with doing business with some of these third parties [but] ... we have to participate.

And it may not necessarily be all doom and gloom for restaurants. Wior sees tremendous opportunity for the industry to leverage what made Amazon so successful and apply it themselves. That would likely result in a more individualized dining experience, where consumer tastes and preferences are known and accounted for.

Riggs, for one, is already concentrating on the need to cater to the customer and her rapidly changing preferences.

Imagine if somebody like Amazon had said were only going to focus on grocery delivery  Amazon wouldnt be the behemoth that it is, he said. [Pita Pit wants] to be flexible enough to say hey, if your preferences change, we want to change with you.

Just like in retail, however, some restaurants have not been able to change with the times. Last year a number of restaurant chains made the difficult decision to close locations, including Bloomin Brands (NASDAQ:BLMN), the parent company of Outback Steakhouse and Carrabbas Italian Grill, which closed 43 restaurants; Howard Johnsons, which closed for good; and Pollo Tropical, which shuttered 30 stores.
Something extremely rare is happening in the typically volatile cryptocurrency markets on Friday. The three largest cryptocurrencies, bitcoin (BTC-USD), Ethereum (ETH-USD), and Ripple (XRP-USD) have all changed by less than 2% over the past 24 hours. Just to give you an idea of how volatile they usually are, I've been writing daily updates on cryptocurrencies for about a month, and this is the first time that has happened.

After a massive crash early in the week, cryptocurrencies rebounded with a vengeance on Thursday, and now seem to have stabilized. Here's the latest price action from the cryptocurrency markets, and a recap of the week's wild ride.

Today's cryptocurrency prices

Here's a look at the five largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, and how much each has changed over the past 24 hours, as well as the weekly highs and lows.

As you can see, although the major cryptocurrencies are rather quiet today, there have been some big swings. Bitcoin (BTC-USD) traded in a roughly $4,800 range throughout the week, and Ripple's (XRP-USD) weekly high was more than double its low. Ethereum (ETH-USD), which recently hit its all-time high, spent much of the week below the key $1,000 level.

In a nutshell, the cause of the volatility was the prospect of new government regulations on cryptocurrencies. Specifically, it was reported that major cryptocurrency hotspot South Korea was considering a bill that would ban cryptocurrency trading, and China expressed its intention to further crack down on centralized trading activities.

A major cryptocurrency crashed this week -- but investors were warned

One other major cryptocurrency story that may have added to the volatility was the closing of the BitConnect (BCC-USD) exchange.

BitConnect is a cryptocurrency lending service. The short version of the concept is that users could convert bitcoin into BitConnect's currency (BCC-USD), which would then be lent out and would earn the lenders enormous returns  up to 40% per month. As a result, the BCC currency shot up to a high of $479.30 on Dec. 28, 2017 and was more recently trading in the $300 ballpark.

Well, on Tuesday BitConnect (BCC-USD) announced that it was shutting down its lending service immediately and would also close its exchange service within five days. As you might expect, the currency fell off a cliff, bottoming out below $7. It has slightly rebounded to $29 in the days since, but it's safe to assume that many BitConnect investors are sitting on massive losses.

To be fair, BitConnect had been accused of running a Ponzi scheme on several occasions, and by several highly regarded industry experts.

Even so, this incident reinforces the importance of doing due diligence before investing in any "up-and-coming" cryptocurrency, blockchain-focused business, or initial coin offering (ICO). And it's also important to realize that no matter how much research you do about a cryptocurrency investment, the cryptocurrency industry is still very much in its "Wild West" phase, and it's entirely possible that you could lose your entire investment.

Bitcoin is overhyped: 10 better buys for you nowWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*

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Matt Frankel has no position in any cryptocurrencies mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any cryptocurrencies mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
New utility-backed legislation in Virginia would mean lower monthly bills in the short term but would still allow electric monopolies to charge rates that currently produce excessive yearly profits of hundreds of millions of dollars.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers introduced a series of bills Friday they said would help customers by providing a refund, expanding solar power and improving the electric grid.

But the proposals were quickly panned by critics as a massive giveaway to the state's biggest electric utility and most politically powerful corporation, Dominion Energy.

The legislation largely undoes a 2015 Dominion-backed overhaul that suspended regulatory reviews of base rates, which make up a majority of a customer's bill. That law led to bigger profits for the utilities and prevents them from having to pass on any savings from recent federal tax cuts.

Under the new proposals, Dominion would refund customers $133 million for overpayments in 2015 and 2016. The state's second largest utility, Appalachian Power, would forgo $10 million of incurred fuel costs. Lawmakers said both companies would also pass on the federal tax cut savings.

Dominion would also forgo $25 million a year for 20 plus years for converting coal plants into biomass plants, which the company said would eventually add up to $1 billion in "customer benefits" when added with the tax pass-through and the $133 million rebate, according to company spokesman David Botkins.

"Customer bills would drop 6 percent immediately," Botkins said.

But the company stands to gain far more from how the legislation structures future rate reviews, which severely constricts regulators' ability to lower rates in the future.

As a regulated monopoly, Dominion is allowed to earn a fair profit on its expenses and currently regulators say the company's base rates are currently overearning by $400 million a year. The company said the figure is lower.

Such overearnings likely won't likely be an issue in future rate cases under the proposed legislation. The proposals would allow Dominion to count certain costs that are typically covered in separate kinds of rates  like a large increase solar energy development and electric grid upgrades  in its base rates.

And even if lawmakers did find overearning, the new legislation would limit their ability to order lower base rates until six years from now. The legislation lengths review periods to three years, and regulators would have to find that Dominion had earned excessive profits in 2021 and 2024 before it could order rates to be lowered.

Steve Haner, a lobbyist for the Virginia Poverty Law Center, said the proposed legislation would worsen, not improve, the effects of the 2015 law.

"This is a major step backwards for consumers," he said.

Dominion's push to overhaul electric rates comes amid a political shift in Virginia that's seen an increased focus on the company's influence by a growing number of Democrats and Republicans.

Virginia's regulatory environment is viewed as one of the most shareholder-friendly in the country.

But Del. Terry Kilgore, a Dominion ally and sponsor of one of the bill's introduced Friday, said that doesn't mean ratepayers aren't being served well, either.

"We want them to make money," Kilgore said, adding that a strong electric utility can help in recruiting other businesses to the state. "We don't want them teetering on the edge."
An undocumented immigrant charged with murdering two deputy police officers in cold blood was caught laughing in the courtroom of California, a sanctuary state.

Luis Bracamontes appeared to show no remorse in the Sacramento courtroom, threatening to kill more people, according to court transcripts.

I will break out soon and I will kill more, kill whoever gets in front of me, Bracamontes said, according to The Sacramento Bee.

Former Milwaukee County sheriff David Clarke said on Thursday that Democrats just want to protect Bracamontes with their immigration-first policies.

Pelosi, Schumer and the Democrats in Washington, they want to protect that guy. I dont get this illegal-first strategy that theyre employing, he told FOX Business Liz MacDonald on Risk & Reward.

Clarke then emphasized the importance of building a wall along the southern border between the U.S. and Mexico.

Not a week goes by that you hear of some story where some guy who is deported six, seven, eight times comes back into the country. That means the border is not sealed. We need a wall. Donald Trump is right on this, he said.

Last November, Senate Bill 54 was created to limit California law enforcement agencies from working with federal officials for immigration enforcement. On Wednesday, a report by the San Francisco Chronicle said that law enforcement officials from Northern California will refuse to assist federal authorities in the upcoming ICE raids.

The former Milwaukee County sheriff believes that there is an ethical issue on the part of state law enforcement in California.

Theres always been this cooperation between local law enforcement and their colleagues at the federal level with something simple as sharing information. So I think its an ethical issue on the part of local law enforcement because it is a tenant of the law enforcement officer code of ethics that says We will cooperate with other law enforcement agencies in the pursuit of justice, he said.
Legislation to avoid a U.S. government shutdown at midnight on Friday advanced in Congress, as the House of Representatives on Thursday night approved an extension of federal funds through Feb. 16, although the bill faced uncertain prospects in the Senate.

On a mostly partisan vote of 230-197, the Republican-controlled House approved the stopgap funds, sending the bill to the Senate for consideration before the looming deadline and as President Donald Trump pushed hard for a measure he can sign.

But a mix of Democratic and Republican senators who oppose the House bill for varying reasons left the measure in a precarious spot.

House passage came only after conservatives secured a promise from House Speaker Paul Ryan that he would soon advance some type of legislation to bolster U.S. military readiness, said Republican Representative Mark Meadows.

Besides a long fight over military versus non-military funding, Republicans and Democrats were battling over a measure to protect from deportation young immigrants known as "Dreamers" brought to the country illegally as children.

In September, Trump said he was ending former President Barack Obama's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program that has been shielding around 700,000 of the immigrants, who are mostly from Mexico and Central America.

As of late on Thursday, there was no visible sign that Republicans who control Congress would meet Democrats' demands for including a plan for the "Dreamers" in the temporary spending bill.

Early on Thursday, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said the House bill to fund the government was very likely to be unacceptable to the Senate."

With the fate of the spending bill uncertain, federal agencies were being instructed to prepare for partial government shutdowns throughout the country on Saturday.

(Reporting by Amanda Becker and Richard Cowan; Editing by Peter Cooney)
The New York office of Newsweek and its parent company, IBT Media, were raided by law enforcement on Thursday.

Sources told the New York Post that agents were photographing servers in the offices, tracking the serial numbers on the machines but not downloading files.

Representatives of the New York County (Manhattan) District Attorney's Office visited the New York City offices of Newsweek Media Group today to conduct a search of the company's computer servers to obtain technical information about the servers. The company provided the DA's representatives with access to the computer servers on location to allow for a technical inspection within the law, Newsweek Media Group said Thursday night. No information regarding the company's content, stories, personnel, or sources was given and Newsweek Media Group has been assured by the DA's office that the investigation is not about any content-related issues.

The law enforcement visit is "related to a DA investigation" that has been going on for over a year, The Outline reported, citing several sources.

The New York Police Department said it was not involved.

IBT Media was founded by Jonathan Davis and Etienne Uzac in 2006, and the IRS placed a $1.2 million federal tax lien against Uzac in December 2017, according to the Post. IBT has also been linked to a Christian college founded by a mysterious South Korea pastor who is not believed to be an investor.

The news came on the heels of a story published by Newsweek that has been mocked across social media. The story inferred that President Trump could be suffering from erectile dysfunction because it was revealed as part of his recent physical that he takes the hair-loss drug Propecia.

TheWrap media editor Jon Levine spoke with a Newsweek insider who criticized the once-proud publication with a vicious statement.

Newsweek was once a premier media organization and an incredible springboard for young journalists hoping to grow a name for themselves," the source told Levine. "The company culture has turned the newsroom into a toxic work environment, while the publication has descended into a content farm for last-resort clickbait."

Newsweek sold for only $1 back in 2010 when the buyer was forced to assume the magazines financial liabilities. The magazine issued at least 20 corrections in 2017 and even has a page on its website dedicated to its mistakes  though it has not been updated since September. The magazine admitted to more than 50 mistakes in 2016 and recently issued an embarrassing retraction about a story that falsely detailed the life of the Las Vegas shooter's girlfriend with salacious information that turned out to be fake news.

The Manhattan district attorneys office declined Fox News request for comment.
Prince Charles may be gearing up to welcome the birth of his third grandchild and participate in the highly-publicized wedding of his youngest son, but a new tell-all could put a damper on the festivities.

Journalist Tom Bower is publishing "an explosive" unauthorized book about the 69-year-old British royal in March, Fox News has learned. The account, titled Rebel Prince, will reportedly include testimony from more than 120 people employed or welcomed into the inner sanctum of Clarence House, "revealing a royal household rife with intrigue and misconduct."

Im afraid we have no comment to make on the book as we havent seen it, a rep for the palace told Fox News.

Bower, a former reporter of BBCs "Panorama" who is based in London, has previously written unauthorized biographies on famous British personalities, including Tony Blair, Simon Cowell and Richard Branson.

We are delighted to be working with the great Tom Bower once again, Arabella Pike of Harper Collins UK told Fox News in a statement.

With his unparalleled skills as an investigative writer and biographer, Rebel Prince is the first to examine Prince Charles battle for rehabilitation since the death of [ex-wife] Princess Diana, his refusal to conform and his frequent meddling in areas that interests him." she added. "It strips away the magic and mystery of his court and offers an unprecedented insight into Britains privileged class.

Bower also revealed in an official release sent to Fox News that Prince Charles, who is poised to be the future king of England, has struggled over the years to overcome his unpopularity after Princess Dianas 1997 passing. And while he reportedly earned a boost in his approval rating after his marriage to Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall in 2005, he still has a long way to go.

Fortunate to not been destroyed by the various scandals, my story about Charles is a thriller which both his admirers and critics will find unremittingly revealing," wrote Bower.

A source told the UKs Mirror Wednesday the book would allegedly cover the heirs political views, how he truly feels about his famous family and how he attempted to rehabilitate his image after Princess Diana's sudden death from a car crash in Paris.

Until now all the books about Charles have been pretty reverential, claimed the source. They have all sought to get his approval. This treats him as a story, not as an object to be glorified.

Rebel Prince is scheduled to hit bookshelves March 22nd.

This isnt the only tell-all the royal family will be faced with this year.

Princess Dianas biographer Andrew Morton will be publishing a book on the life of Prince Harrys bride-to-be Meghan Markle in April, just one month before the couples wedding in May.

The biography, titled Meghan, will aim to tell the life story of the 36-year-old American actress, including the challenges she faced growing up biracial, her rise to fame in Hollywood, her fractured love life and the date that led to a royal engagement.

Morton stirred headlines in 1992 when he penned the biography Diana: Her Story, which was based on the secretly-recorded conversations between the late princess and her friend, James Colthurst.

The British writer told Fox News he was eager to explore the life of what would have been Dianas daughter-in-law.

I was a fan of Meghans long before she met Prince Harry, explained Morton. She has star quality, what some have called The Markle Sparkle.

Markles half-sister Samantha Grant also stirred headlines in 2017 when Vanity Fair reported she was writing a memoir titled The Diary of Princess Pushys Sister.

My relationship with my sister for a while was really hurt because of the perceptions out there, Grant told Fox News. And I have to say, my books not what all of these people are saying it is Just because it has the word pushy doesnt mean its a slamming tell-all I was making fun of the tabloids.
Fans tuning into "Jimmy Kimmel Live" on Thursday night for some lighthearted comedy may have been disappointed as Kimmel got political on the show once again, using his platform to discuss the Childrens Health Insurance Program.

Were on the brink of a government shutdown right now, and Congress are trying to hammer out some kind of agreement to keep the country open, he told viewers. Republicans have been trying all week to blame Democrats for a possible shutdown. Theyre saying the Democrats are shutting the government down, even though Republicans are in control of the House, the Senate and the White House.

He continued, The Republicans have done something that I think is bad: Theyve lumped CHIP into their spending bill. CHIP is the Childrens Health Insurance Program, which covers about 9 million low income kids and has yet to be reauthorized. Its been 100 days since it expired. Its very scary for parents. The funding for CHIP should have never been allowed to run out in the first place.

Kimmel then slammed House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, saying the pair decided to use it as a bargaining tool.

Kimmels speech included a bit with a Starbucks barista that mocked the government for the looming shutdown. He later added President Trump was 100 percent correct when he tweeted that CHIP should be part of a long term solution, not a 30 Day, or short term, extension!

However, he still took aim at Trump for the message that appeared to undermine the GOP's strategy.

I think Donald Trump actually wants a government shutdown, Kimmel said as the audience laughed. I think he think it would be like a snow day for him to take off.

One issue with the late night hosts monologue was that he failed to mention that the House passed a bill Thursday night that extends CHIP for six years.

This is far from the first time Kimmel has spoken out about health care on his show.

After his son Billy was born with a heart condition, Kimmel delivered an emotional monologue in favor of the Affordable Care Act.

It definitely has changed my approach in general, not only to the show, but how I conduct myself, he recently told reporters at the Television Critics Associations Winter Press Tour. I happened into a situation at a very specific time in American history in which I was able to say something that hopefully at least made people pay attention if not anything else. It hopefully got them to pick up their telephones and tell their leaders what they expect.

He continued, People give me credit for saving Obamacare and I reject that I think if anything its such a no-brainer that Americans react. You see a guy you think you know, and his baby has had a serious health issue and I dont think its particularly remarkable that Americans reacted that way because I think whatever side were on we agree on that  that we have to help children.

Kimmel is aware that his show has gotten more political in recent months, but he doesn't plan to shy away from covering the headlines.

Some nights you wish you could balance it out a little bit so that you can cover a variety of subjects, but its relentless, he said of the influx of political headlines. "Its like the difference between working in a doctors office to the ER. Every day is a mad scramble to stay alive.
Kim Kardashian and Kanye West announced the name of their baby girl on Friday.

Kardashian posted their daughter's name on Twitter with a simple tweet that read, "Chicago West."

While the celebrity couple did not offer an explanation for the unique name, Kanye West grew up in the Windy City.

Chicago joins the couple's daughter North, 4, and son Saint, 2.

West and Kardashian welcomed Chicago via surrogate on Monday.

"Kanye and I are happy to announce the arrival of our healthy, beautiful baby girl," Kardashian said on her app on Tuesday. "We are incredibly grateful to our surrogate who made our dreams come true with the greatest gift one could give and to our wonderful doctors and nurses for their special care. North and Saint are especially thrilled to welcome their baby sister."

The reality star celebrated the birth of her daughter by wearing her birthday suit. Kardashian shared an image of herself lying in bed sans clothing on Friday before announcing her newborn's name.

Kardashian shared the racy image with her 106 million Instagram followers.

According to People magazine, the image was snapped by fashion photographers Mert and Marcus.
Meghan Markle and Prince Harrys whirlwind tour continues.

On Thursday morning the couple received a royal welcome in Cardiff, Wales, outside of the historic Cardiff Castle. The newly engaged pair were hand in hand and were greeted by excited fans as they made their way into the 2,000-year-old castle.

The visit marked the couples third public outing since the news of their engagement was made in November. Visiting Cardiff was Markles next venture as part of her introduction to British culture and her tour of her fiances country.

Markle turned heads yet again for her classically styled ensemble. In a nod to British designers, Markle wore a black Stella McCartney coat, tailored pants by Welsh brand Hiut Denim. She paired the look with a green bag by DeMellier London. Markle topped off her look once again with her effortless and now iconic messy bun.

In the sea of Welsh flags, held up by citizens and fans outside of the castle, Markle was able to spot a familiar American symbol. According to People, an on-looker by the name of Julie Hoefer caught Meghans eye with her American flag.

We dont have a royal family in America, and the whole idea is amazing, she said. And now we have one who joined the family  finally. It is super exciting.

Hoefer was one of the lucky few in the crowd who got the chance to carry on a short conversation with the Suits star.

Meghan was lovely, Hoefer said. She came over and was talking and showed us her ring. It was gorgeous. She said she was super lucky, a very lucky woman.

Hoefer finished her conversation with Markle by telling her where in the States she was from.

She asked me where I was from  I said Virginia, and she said it was very nice. She was really stunning up close.

Another fan, 10-year-old Megan McAuley, caught Markles eye with a sign that said: My name is Megan too!

McAuley said Markle approached her and said, Your names Meghan too! and Its very nice to meet you. Can I call you Meg?

McAuley then presented Markle with a nice flowery necklace and she thanked her for the gift.

After wooing the crowds, Markle and Harry got their fill of Welsh culture as the pair enjoyed musical performances, poetry and met with some of the local famous athletes.

Following their visit to the castle, the couple had their second outing at Star Hub, a local community with the goal of helping youth excel through sports. At the event, the pair met with children in the Star Hub street dance program and watched them perform. The visit also coincided with Harrys involvement with the StreetGames charity.

According to People, Markle and Harry are scheduled for a slew of public appearances before their May 19 nuptials at Windsor Castle.
Michael Douglas former employee has accused the actor of sexually harassing her and masturbating in front of her when she worked for the star in the late 1980s.

Susan Braudy, a journalist who worked for Douglas production company Stonebridge Productions, told The Hollywood Reporter the Fatal Attraction star sexually harassed her on multiple occasions.

Before Braudys account was published, Douglas told Deadline more than a week ago that he vehemently denied Braudys claims. He did not name Braudy to Deadline, but confirmed a woman accusing him of sexual misconduct was a former employee of his from 32 years ago.

Im bewildered why, after 32 years, this is coming out, now, Douglas told Deadline.

Braudy claims the Academy Award-winning actor, who was at the prime of his career in the 1980s, commented on her appearance and openly spoke about his affairs with actress Kathleen Turner and a European heiress.

Braudy claims Douglas said inappropriate things to her.

MICHAEL DOUGLAS PREEMPTIVELY DENIES MASTURBATION ALLEGATIONS

One screenwriter I hired asked if he could bring his daughter to meet Michael," Braudy stated. "She asked Michael for a banana. Michael strode to me and said so that only I could hear, 'Yes. And then you can tell your friends you licked Michael Douglas' banana.' I was appalled."

The journalist said she began wearing loose, black clothing to work.

"He (Douglas) asked a producer, 'Why does Susan dress like a pregnant nun?' Another time I laughed loudly and he shouted to a group of agents, 'Oh yeah, she's a screamer! I bet she screams in the sack.' I protested, 'Please, don't talk like that. It's inappropriate.' This made him laugh until he got pink splotches on his cheeks, Braudy stated.

Braudy said things changed after she was at Douglas apartment in 1989 trading ideas for a script. She claims the actor began masturbating in front of her.

I peered at him (Douglas) and saw he'd inserted both hands into his unzipped pants, Braudy wrote. I realized to my horror that he was rubbing his private parts. Within seconds his voice cracked and it appeared to me he'd had an orgasm."

Braudy said she ran home and vowed to never be alone with the Wall Street actor again. Following the alleged incident, Braudy said her relationship with Douglas soured and she was let go in late 1989. Douglas reportedly asked Braudy to sign a confidentiality agreement, but she did not.

CATHERINE ZETA-JONES SUPORTS MICHAEL DOUGLAS AMID SEXUAL HARASSMENT CLAIMS

Braudy said she told Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House author Michael Wolff and Lynn Povich, a former Newsweek journalist about the alleged harassment she endured. Wolff and Povich both told Braudy they could use their names in her account.

Douglas responded to the allegations by telling The Hollywood Reporter Braudys allegations were an unfortunate and complete fabrication.

However, Douglas acknowledged inappropriate discussions but refuted her claim of a hostile workplace."

Coarse language or overheard private conversations with my friends that may have troubled her are a far cry from harassment," Douglas said. "Suggesting so does a true disservice to those who have actually endured sexual harassment and intimidation."

Braudy told The Hollywood Reporter she was not surprised Douglas came out swinging against her.

"I believe this is part of the problem, as is his pretext of victimization," Braudy said. "These are some reasons why so many women don't come forward with their stories  Lord knows it's taken 30 years and a movement for me to gather my courage."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
If youre planning on a quick caffeine-fix at Starbucks, better leave your cash at home.

The ubiquitous coffee chain has started testing the cashless system at a location in its hometown of Seattle, WA. The store will now only accept card and phone payments.

STARBUCKS BARISTA GETS HELP FROM STATE TROOPER WHEN SHE COULDN'T FIND CHILDCARE

The testing site  located inside the Russell Investment Center, Food & Wine reports  converted to cashless on Tuesday. The coffee giant has not commented on how long the test will last, but has confirmed that this is the only location currently testing the new system.

The test will help us understand how cashless forms of payment may impact our customer experience, a Starbucks spokeswoman told the Seattle Times.

The reason behind the move is to speed-up the transaction time, which as anyone who has ever been to a Starbucks Monday morning knows can get a little bit long.

The new method also reduces the risk of thefts by getting rid of physical exchange of money, and eliminates bank runs.

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The company has continued to see growth in its mobile app, which allows customers to order and pay ahead. Starbucks has reportedly encouraged patrons to use the app over paying at the store, with a posted sign referencing credit cards, instructing people to Skip the Chip.

Starbucks is just the latest to jump on the growing trend of cash-free spots. American Airlines recently transition to the system at Miami Airport.
A man in England was so upset by his wifes night out, he called in a false bomb threat to the pub she was at in order to end her fun.

Mo Ahmed admitted to making the two hoax calls to The Duke of Wellington pub located inside the Wetherspoon hotel in Minehead, BBC reported.

Twenty-five hotel guests and 130 customers at the pub had to be evacuated at approximately 1 a.m.

MAN TRIES TO ORDER TACO BELL FROM DRIVE-THRU BANK TELLER, GETS ARRESTED FOR DUI

In his court appearance, Ahmed admitted he was angry his partner was going out while he worked two jobs to make ends meet.

The couple opened a gift shop last year that was struggling to survive, so Ahmed was forced to take another job at a restaurant to pay the rent and bills.

He felt annoyed she was spending money while he was having to work away to pay the bills. When he learned she was going to Wetherspoons, he was angry and frustrated and wanted to ruin her night, the probation report read.

Ahmed was sentenced to six months in prison, a one year suspension, 120 hours of community service and ordered to pay $1,500 in compensation.

The judge told Ahmed he should be ashamed and that the calls were bound to be traced because he made them from his cell phone.

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This isnt the first incidence of someone calling in a bomb threat for trivial reasons.

Last October, a Pittsburg man wanted to get out of paying his tab at a local sandwich shop, so he called in the bomb threat at a nearby restaurant in order to cause a distraction. The man faced charges for threatening to use weapons of mass destruction, public intoxication, false identification to police, terroristic threats and escape.
Aetna has reached a $17 million settlement after a class action lawsuit argued the health insurer breached the privacy of thousands of customers who take HIV medications.

Court documents state the company sent patients envelopes with large, clear display windows that revealed they were prescribed HIV medications.

AETNA REVEALED HIV PATIENTS' PERSONAL DATA, LEGAL GROUPS ALLEGE

The mailing, sent on July 28, was sent to about 12,000 customers in at least 23 states.

Aetna agreed in the settlement, which requires court approval, to pay at least $500 to customers whose privacy was breached through the revealing envelopes. The company also agreed to pay $75 to customers whose names were improperly disclosed to a mail vendor.

Aetna said in a statement the company is working to remedy the situation.

Through our outreach efforts, immediate relief program and this settlement, we have worked to address the potential impact on members following this unfortunate incident, the statement read.

In addition, we are implementing measures designed to ensure something like this does not happen again as part of our commitment to best practices in protecting sensitive health information, the company stated, noting its taking steps to prevent other mishaps.

CVS TO BUY AETNA FOR $69 BILLION

The lawsuit originated in Pennsylvania with a 52-year-old Bucks County man whose sister learned he was taking HIV medications when she saw the Aetna letter mailed to him.

Aetnas July mailing, according to a Legal Action Center press release, was an attempt to address privacy concerns raised in two lawsuits filed against the insurer in 2014 and 2015.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
A five-year-old British boy is coming to his brothers rescue. Finley Cripps will undergo a bone marrow transplant for his little 3-year-old brother, Ollie, who was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia.

Following months of chemotherapy, the cancer-stricken toddler has relapsed and is in desperate need of a transplant.

Doctors tested all of Ollie's siblings, Finley and twin sisters Ellie and Evie, to see if they were bone marrow matches, according to news service SWNS.

We were very nervous to say the least, as they had informed us that there was a one-in-four chance that one of the siblings would be a match, said Fiona Cripps, the boys' mother.

US CLEARS FIRST 'LIVING DRUG' FOR TOUGH CHILDHOOD LEUKEMIA

Surprisingly, results showed that all three siblings were a match.

The 26-year-old mother described the relief as unreal.

"Ollies consultant and the doctors were astonished, as it doesnt happen."

Big brother Finley was the doctors first choice over his sisters because he is the oldest and of the same sex.

Before the transplant, Ollie must go through two more rounds of chemotherapy.

CANCER RETURNS IN TODDLER WHO OVERCAME DISEASE WITH

IDENTICAL TWIN AS INFANT

In support of his older brother, Finley asked his hairdresser to shave his hair off, like Ollie  but his parents said he should first help raise money for the Royal Marsden Hospital in London, through a fundraising page they have set up.
Two iron rods impaled Mumbai construction worker Rajendra Pal when he slipped and fell onto them at a building site, with one of the rods going straight through his liver.

Somehow, Pal survived.

Once on the scene, emergency crews had to saw the two rods off the pillar they were attached to just to get the 21-year old worker to the hospital.

"The patient was conscious when he was brought to the hospital. Dr Jitendra Sankpal, senior surgeon at GT hospital told India news agency Newslion.

Sankpal said the two iron rods measuring two-and-a-half feet each pierced his abdomen and chest.

"However, the man was lucky as the rods did not puncture his lungs or other vital organs," he said.

The doctor added that "It was a very difficult operation. The first rod that came out though his chest barely missed the patient's heart by one inch.

The surgeon said his patient is out of danger now following a three-hour surgery.

Rajendra had arrived in Mumbai from West Bengal just two days before the accident. His cousin Dhan Parmar told Newslion, He wanted to take up the job. So, we permitted him to come to Mumbai.

We are scared this has happen only in two days. Luckily, my relative has survived.
A woman in Australia is being sued by the clinic who performed her eyebrow tattooing after she shared photos of the horrible reaction she had to the procedure.

Amanda Coates posted the graphic photos on Facebook last July after having a terrible reaction to the eyebrow feathering she received from Skincare Laser Clinic in Melbourne.

She said the short procedure left her skin swollen and irritated.

DELTA TIGHTENS REQUIREMENTS ON SERVICE AND SUPPORT ANIMALS AMID INCREASED INCIDENTS

The next day I woke up, and my skin had come off onto the pillow, she said. I went to the doctor immediately because of the pain and severe swelling.

It felt like something was eating away at my skin; I was in so much pain, she said, according to Yahoo Lifestyle.

Coates said she wanted to share about the painful experience so no one else would have to endure it, Yahoo reports.

But now the tattoo artist and clinic are seeking $150,000 in compensation from Coates, citing ridicule and the loss of 11 clients at the cost of $5,600 over her viral post.

The owner of the clinic, Iain Cleveland, said Coates was delighted after her procedure and that she didnt contact them until two and a half weeks later about the reaction she was having.

Theres no way we could possibly be responsible for the infection at that stage, two and a half weeks after the procedure, the owner told the Daily Mail.

Cleveland also issued a statement after Coates initial claim, saying the company follows strict industry best practice, standards, and regulations.

At the beginning of the procedure, the client was shown the microblade and dressing pack contained in a sterilized environment, he said.

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These packs were opened in front of the client using sterilized gloves that remained in the room the entire procedure, he added. The client left the procedure satisfied. Based off feedback from industry experts, SLC believes the adverse reaction was due to an allergy to one of the supplementary products used.
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At first glance, the posters displayed inside classrooms at El Camino del Rio/River Road Elementary School seemed innocuous.

"Immigrants Welcome," the posters read.

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But there was more. There was a drawing that included wire cutters and a barbed-wire fence. And there was more writing:

"The border is not a wall - it's a system of control. It doesn't protect people; it pits them against each other. It doesn't foster togetherness; it breeds resentment. It doesn't keep out predators; it gives them badges and guns," the posters read. "The border does not divide one world from another. There is only one world, and the border is tearing it apart."

Eugene, Ore. radio station KLCC reports there was also a website address on the posters -- directing readers to a pro-anarchist website called, "Crimethinc.com.

Crimethinc describes itself as a "rebel alliance" and an "international network of aspiring revolutionaries extending from Kansas to Kuala Lumpur."

The organization is a "secret society pledged to the propagation of crimethink."

So why would teachers at an elementary school expose children to a self-proclaimed "international network of aspiring revolutionaries?"

Continue reading at ToddStarnes.com.
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The new world order espoused by Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama assumed that if the worlds major powers welcomed China as a major player in global affairs it would become a well-behaved member of the international community. Unfortunately, the assumption was wrong.

China has made clear that it has its own agenda and will pursue its objectives aggressively, regardless of what others think. So much for all the post-Cold War optimism about changing Chinas behavior.

Chinas immediate goal is regional mastery, achieved by driving the U.S. out of the western Pacific. Chinese ships and planes have harassed American ships and planes operating in international waters and airspace to achieve this goal  despite the risk of a collision and a possible military confrontation.

And despite its dubious territorial claims in the South China Sea  including some rejected by the United Nations International Court of Justice  China has continued to dominate its region and infringed on territorial claims of some of its neighbors, including Vietnam and the Philippines.

In addition, China has applied its self-righteous policies with muscle-flexing to advance its Silk Road Initiative and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.

The Silk Road Initiative (also known as the One Belt, One Road Initiative) is an ambitious plan to build a $1.4 trillion network of modern trading routes connecting China and parts of Asia, Europe, the Middle East and North Africa with new high-speed trains, roads, ports, airports, pipelines and telecommunications.

The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, headquartered in Beijing and led by China, opened in 2016 and has made $4.4 billion in loans for infrastructure projects in the region. The bank fosters closer financial ties between China and neighboring countries, making them less reliant on financing from America and the West.

All this is possible because China has rejected its long-professed principle of noninterference in the policies of other nations. Clearly, the government has a plan for a sphere of influence. There are even reports that the Chinese government has offered payoffs to politicians outside China to buy their support.

How should the U.S. respond to Chinas actions? We could throw up our hands, accept a wide Chinese sphere of influence and back away from international involvement. But such a radical step is not likely to yield stability. Moreover, a Chinese sphere of influence would threaten U.S. interests and traditions.

Instead, the U.S. could and should compete with a plan for uniting the Anglosphere, those English-speaking nations once part of the British Commonwealth. This could be the American answer to the Silk Road  an alternative trade association of nations with generally consistent legal codes.

Most significantly, the key to successful U.S. competition with China is innovation  a word now employed as a cliche. But aside from Facebook and other social media advances, which have a value that exists only as an abstraction, the U.S. has fallen behind the scientific vanguard.

As I see it, America needs a Sputnik moment  a wakeup call like we had in 1957, when the Soviet Union launched the first satellite to orbit the Earth, named Sputnik.

Determined to catch up with the Soviets, U.S. schools put an increased emphasis on science, technology engineering and math (now abbreviated as STEM) education, and the federal government began offering loans to help students go to college. All that catapulted America into world leadership in science and technology.

We can do this again. If we can get at least 10 percent of our population to be well-educated and working in the STEM fields we can pass by China just as we passed by Russia in the late 1950s and 1960s. If Americans can make scientific breakthroughs  like customized medical care based on genome mapping, high-speed maglev rail travel, and new types of communication networks  we can change the economic calculus.

Today China regards its neighbors as peripheral. In time, this will draw hostility. A United States that bestrides the globe as a cultural hegemon is still seen as benign by most people. That is an advantage. The significant disadvantage is a lack of American vision, an uneven game plan shaped by the unpredictable features of the free market.

In the course of competition lies a potential for war that both nations want to avoid. Competition could spill over into conflict, despite caution exercised by the parties. Assertive powers can sometimes push the limits of acceptable influence.

It remains to be seen whether the unilaterally created air perimeter zone in the South China Sea represents that kind of action. So far the move is an annoyance leading to regional repudiation, but it is not a cause for war. Managing expectation may not be easy, but it will become the linchpin for international equilibrium.

Several recent books on this U.S.-China theme have concluded with varying arguments. One side argues the rising power will see the value in war as justifiable; another contends an uneasy truce is the likely end point.

Clearly, nuclear weapons enter the calculus as the colossus that impedes escalation. My crystal ball remains hazy, but I do believe cool heads will prevail and the facile claims about war just over the horizon have a distinctly hollow ring to them.
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WASHINGTON -- Nuns in white habits and kids cuddling rabbits.

A president, riled up, whose words really mattered. Though virtually present, a precedent shattered.

The 45th annual Right to Life March was the antithesis of the recent spate of Antifa quasi-riots to protest against, well, almost everything, but especially Donald Trump. The marchers on the National Mall had only one enemy -- legalized abortion.

And while thousands of school kids were bused in to the event, giddy with joy at their sanctioned day off from school, there were many, many more here who came because they cared, or maybe, were scared.

"There were so many young people, " exulted David McGettigan, a Lutheran pastor from Ocean City, N.J. "They are part of a new generation that has been -- ironic, isn't it? -- born that see the empines of the culture of death that their parents and grandparents created."

Exuberant and with no noteworthy conflicts or incidents, the throng came to a near-reverential hush as an image of Trump appeared on a Jumbotron. Once an avowed pro-choicer, Trump, not for the first time, changed his mind.

He also became the first sitting president to address the March live, albeit via satellite. Typically, he wasted no time trashing the Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion.

"As all of you know, Roe v. Wade has resulted in some of the most permissive abortion laws in the world," Trump said. "It is wrong. It has to change."

For Pastor McGettigan, it was a transformative moment. "There was a sense of momentum here today, that progress has been made."

Trump probably wonders why all this speeches -- and tweets -- aren't met with equal rapture.
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In 10 years, you may be heading to Amazon.com for a lot more than shopping. You may be able to pick up your prescriptions at the Amazon Pharmacy and get that nasty rash checked out by a non-human  Amazons Alexa voice-controlled intelligent personal assistant system.

Paired with the Amazon Echo smart speakers and other devices, Alexa allows the user to interact by speaking to handle tasks like playing songs, podcasts and audio books; getting news, weather and traffic reports; setting alarms; making to-do lists; and more.

Over the past few months, Ive heard rumblings and seen growing speculation online that Amazon is planning a big move into the health-care space.

In late July, CNBC ran a series of stories detailing a secret operation at the online retail giant, with the assembly of a research and development team called 1492 tasked with creating digital health-care applications. These applications could be targeted at streamlining electronic health records and telemedicine to more easily connect doctors with their patients.

Technological advancements are exciting, but they dont come without their caveats. This trend of excessive computerization of medicine is not necessarily improving outcomes, and may in fact create more administrative work for medical staff.

The online retail giant began to dip its toe in the proverbial waters of health-care in 2016 when it acquired wholesale pharmacy licenses in at least a dozen states in order to sell medical supplies to businesses.

So whats next? Will we one day be triaged by Alexa before we even get to see a nurse?

Some hospitals, like Boston Childrens have already started experimenting with virtual assistants, using Amazons voice-recognition software system to aid in everything from answering questions and pulling up medical records to snapping photos in the operating room, according to a report from STATNews.com.

While theres no doubt voice-recognition software may be helpful in some scenarios at a hospital, lets leave the medicine to the professionals.

Technological advancements are exciting, but they dont come without their caveats. This trend of excessive computerization of medicine is not necessarily improving outcomes, and may in fact create more administrative work for medical staff.

Take, for example electronic medical records (EMRs). I would argue that EMRs are essentially the gateway for tech companies looking to get involved in health care. But over the years, studies have shown the reviews are mixed on whether or not EMRs actually improve outcomes. As it turns out, they may not be the cost-cutting cure-all the health-care industry so desperately needs.

As a practicing physician, the thought of one day working for the department obstetrics and gynecology for the Amazon Medical Center is a bitter pill to swallow.

I know, I know, Im not as hip as the millennials  the ones we have to thank for this new age of tech visionaries putting the future in our hands at the touch of a button. And by doing so, feeding the growing online retail behemoth that continues to crush competition and put small businesses out of business.

Believe it or not, I still like to talk to people, read hardcover books, play records and go to my local drug store to have a conversation with my pharmacist. All crazy, outdated ideas, I know.

But allowing Amazon to get between doctors and their patients may not necessarily improve health care, and it will spell the end of private practice as we know it.
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One year ago, I began my first day as chairwoman of the Republican National Committee by watching a powerful moment in history: President Donald Trumps inauguration. I saw the president be sworn into office, and heard him dedicate his day to the American heartland.

Our new president promised an administration that would put the American people first, driven by our nations forgotten voices. Inauguration Day, he said, will be remembered as the day the people became the rulers of this nation again.

President Trumps words have defined our purpose at the RNC every single day since.

Weve reached new heights over the past year, defending the presidents winning agenda and making sure Americans know how his policies will make their lives easier. Weve highlighted his remarkable impact on our nations economy, particularly the more than 1.5 million jobs and 17-year low in unemployment his policies have created.

Weve promoted President Trumps rapid deregulation to spur American innovation, his strong America First approach to foreign affairs, and his commitment to our military and national security. We still have so much more ahead.

At the core of the RNCs approach is a permanent, far-reaching ground game that connects us with our grassroots and builds support for our party.

At the core of the RNCs approach is a permanent, far-reaching ground game that connects us with our grassroots and builds support for our party.

Our Political Department has expanded our presence nationwide, bringing field staff and 22 state directors to key states in preparation for this years midterm elections. Under their leadership, field staff have knocked on nearly 4 million doors and made nearly 8 million phone calls to engage Americans across the country on the issues that matter most to them.

Most recently, our field team built strong public support for the Republican tax cut plan, making nearly 600,000 contacts in target states and holding more than 11,000 one-on-one meetings on the benefits of the bill. President Trump kept his promise to these people when he signed into law tax cuts for the middle-class just before Christmas.

Part of our engagement on the ground is done through our Republican Leadership Initiative (RLI) program, which recruits and trains thousands of volunteers to help us spread our partys message of empowerment in their communities. Weve held more than 600 RLI trainings for nearly 5,000 fellows nationwide. These activists will be critical for our victories this year, in 2020 and beyond.

The RNC has also invested $200 million in digital, tech, and data programs since 2013. Our data analytics program allows us to identify voter behavior and predict results with an unprecedented level of accuracy. Weve modeled 72 billion voter predictions to date, and this is a key part of what helped us win special elections last year in Georgia, Montana, South Carolina, Kansas and Utah.

Winning elections is something we know how to do very well, but our work goes beyond that. We keep our finger on the pulse of America, connecting with the voters President Trump acknowledged throughout his campaign, on Inauguration Day, and from the Oval Office. These Americans finally have a president who hears them, and they know the RNC will stand with him, making sure their concerns are front and center in Washington.

As part of our commitment at the RNC, Ive traveled nearly 100,000 miles across the country to meet supporters and hard-working Americans. The grassroots hope and enthusiasm is palpable; they feel the impact of a healthier economy and stronger borders. They are more empowered than ever to build businesses, care for their families, and get involved in their communities.

Americans are encouraged by the role the RNC plays in supporting the president and his policies. In turn, enthusiasm for President Trumps agenda has fueled the RNCs fundraising in 2017, much of which has come from our small-dollar donors. We raised more than $132 million last year, breaking records in nine months of 2017 along the way. Clearly, the grassroots has spoken in support of our partys message.

This is great news for the Republican Party in rest of this year. As we approach the November midterm elections, we are more prepared than ever to defend our majorities in Congress. Our great candidates, dedicated supporters, and winning message will help us keep tackling the challenges Americans face.

One year ago, as President Trump addressed a joyful crowd gathered on the National Mall, he said: No challenge can match the heart and fight and spirit of America. We at the RNC keep this in mind each day. Were ready for this years elections.
Bob Dole, the longest-serving Republican leader in the Senate, received the Congressional Gold Medal on Wednesday.

"I want to thank all of those who said such kind words about me, they probably weren't true but they were nice, Dole joked. I am extremely honored to accept this great honor and I thank you for presenting it to me."

The award recognized Doles decades of service as a soldier, lawmaker and statesman.

House Speaker Paul Ryan, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi took part in the event. President Trump also spoke on Doles political legacy.

Dole, who first represented Kansas in the House of Representatives and then in the Senate, has a long-spanning career that goes beyond his 35 years in Congress. Known for his sense of humor, he also landed a spot on the Daily Show as a commentator during the 2000 presidential election.

I remember his career as one of being a gentleman, supportive of the military and causes championing democracy. He has an honorable record and it must be extremely satisfying for him to have his old chamber recognize his career of service in this way, Dakota Wood, a senior research fellow for defense programs at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank in Washington, D.C., told Fox News.

Heres what you need to know about former Sen. Bob Dole.

Who is Bob Dole?

Dole was born in Russell, Kansas, in July 1923. After surviving both the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl, he attended the University of Kansas in the fall of 1941. But after just three semesters, he left to serve in the U.S. Army during World War II.

The 94-year-old is also an attorney and former Congressman who was elected to the House in 1960. He was later elected to the Senate in 1968, serving in that role until 1996.

Additionally, Dole was the chairman of the Republican National Committee in the early 1970s.

Before he was elected Senate majority leader and Finance Committee chairman in the early 1980s, former President Gerald Ford tapped Dole to be his vice presidential running mate in 1976. The duo lost to former President Jimmy Carter and his running mate, Walter Mondale.

After leaving the Senate, he faced off against former President Bill Clinton as the Republican Presidential nominee during the 1996 election. He lost with 159 electoral votes compared to Clintons 379.

His service during WWII

After graduating from officer school, Dole was assigned to the 10th Mountain Division, according to the Robert J. Dole Institute for Politics at the University of Kansas, a nonpartisan institute at the University thats more commonly known as the Dole Institute.

In the spring of 1945, Doles life and physical mobility would be changed forever when he was critically injured during a mission against German soldiers in Northern Italy. The goal of the mission, which Dole helped to lead, was to overtake a hill near the Apennine Mountains.

But the hill was located across a mine-laden field covered by snipers in the hills above and machine gunners in a stone farmhouse on the right, according to the Dole Institute. While crossing the field, Dole was hit by exploding shrapnel. He was permanently crippled as a result.

Dole has tried to hide his disability over the years, using shoulder pads in his T-shirts, suits and coats to hide his nearly-missing right shoulder, according to a New York Times article from 1996. In addition to his spinal injuries, Dole cannot use his right hand and his left hand is partially numb.

If I rub my fingers together, its like rubbing sandpaper, he recalled during the 1996 interview. Ive lost the sensory -- and thats from the spinal injuries.

For his service, Dole received two Purple Hearts and a Bronze Star.

Some of his most notable work

Dole was a vital supporter of the American With Disabilities Act (ADA), which was signed into law in 1990. The legislation protects individuals with disabilities from discrimination. The former senator also founded the Dole Foundation in the 1980s, a nonprofit organization that helps people with disabilities to find work.

Advocating for those with disabilities was a constant in his legislative agenda, said Burdett Loomis, a political science professor at the University of Kansas who has written extensively about Dole.

The ADA, which has had a large impact on architecture, access to services, among other things, is a true landmark piece of legislation, Loomis added.

Dole is also known for his work to end childhood famine.

Indeed, Dole and former Sen. George McGovern, D-S.D., co-founded the McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program, which helps to fight childhood hunger in poverty-stricken areas around the globe, among other things. The two lobbied Congress in 2002 to fund the program.

Prior to this, the two former senators worked together on the Select Committee on Nutrition and Human Need, a bipartisan panel that found ways to tackle malnutrition and hunger in the U.S. The Food Stamp Act of 1977 came from this panel, a piece of legislation that expanded and simplified the food stamp program.

But perhaps one of Doles most notable accomplishments came in 1983 during Ronald Reagan's presidency. Dole helped to save Social Security by leading a bipartisan effort to end a stalemate over the legislation, which was facing a financial crisis at the time.

Social Security was in a crisis -- there was no question that it would not be fully funded, Loomis said.

But fixing the monetary assistance program was a two part dilemma: A math problem as well as a political problem, Loomis said. Cutting back on recipients social security payments would have been a terrible political problem for members of Congress, Loomis said, adding: In essence, they knew they needed a deal [to save Social Security].

Cue Dole and other leaders from the House, Senate and Reagan administration who all got together and came up with a deal that they were able to pass through both chambers, Loomis said.

Dole was central here and it reflects his desire to pass legislation and make a deal, Loomis said, adding that helping to save Social Security also exemplified what he did day in and day out as [Senate] Majority Leader, in the Finance Committee and during the rest his career.

Again under former President Reagan, Dole, along with other key Congressman of the time such as former Senators Bob Packwood and Russell Long, along with former Rep. Jack Kemp and others, worked to finalize a mammoth tax reform package, said Loomis.

Dole was right in the middle of that -- it was not a dissimilar operation [to Social Security]. Again, he recognized a deal could be made.

And making deals across party lines is perhaps what Dole will be remembered for the most.

I think as we get farther away from the Dole-era what becomes more and more evident is that he was a fierce partisan, a Republican leader. But heres a guy whos partisan but can walk across the aisle and make deals with other fierce partisans, Loomis said.

In other words, Dole represents that you can be a strong partisan and yet support the Congress as a whole and work with people with whom you have fundamental disagreements, Loomis added.

Who has received the Congressional Gold Medal in the past?

When accepting the medal on Wednesday, Dole joined a long list of famous recipients.

Former President George Washington first received the Congressional Gold Medal in 1776. And former President Andrew Jackson was awarded the medal in 1815. Cornelius Vanderbilt, the American business tycoon, was also a recipient: He received the Congressional Gold Medal in 1864.

Other notable recipients include Thomas Edison, Charles Lindbergh, Robert Frost, Walt Disney, Robert F. Kennedy, Harry Truman, Rosa Parks, Ronald and Nancy Reagan. A full list of receipts can be found here.

Since he was a man of the Congress, a legislator, I think getting this award from the Congress is extraordinarily important -- thats who he was, he was someone who wanted to pass laws, legislate and support the congressional branch of government, which he did admirably, Loomis said.

In that sense, to be rewarded by your peers with this award is especially significant.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
A four-page memo circulating in Congress that reveals alleged United States government surveillance abuses is being described by lawmakers as shocking, troubling and alarming, with one congressman likening the details to KGB activity in Russia.

Speaking with Fox News, the lawmakers said they could not yet discuss the contents of the memo they reviewed on Thursday after it was released to members by the House Intelligence Committee. But they say the memo should be immediately made public.

It is so alarming the American people have to see this, Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan said.

It's troubling. It is shocking, North Carolina Rep. Mark Meadows said. Part of me wishes that I didn't read it because I dont want to believe that those kinds of things could be happening in this country that I call home and love so much.

Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz said he believed people could lose their jobs after the memo is released.

I believe the consequence of its release will be major changes in people currently working at the FBI and the Department of Justice, he said, referencing DOJ officials Rod Rosenstein and Bruce Ohr.

You think about, is this happening in America or is this the KGB? That's how alarming it is, Pennsylvania Rep. Scott Perry said.

The House Intelligence Committee on Thursday approved a motion by New York Rep. Pete King to release the memo on abuses of FISA, or the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, to all House members.

HEAD OF HOUSE INTELLIGENCE PANEL FINDS EVIDENCE OF ABUSE IN US GOVERNMENT SURVEILLANCE

A source close to the matter said the memo details the Intelligence Committees oversight work for the FBI and Justice, including the controversy over unmasking and FISA surveillance.

The vote Thursday morning on releasing the memo to lawmakers was along party lines, with Democrats voting against making it available for all members.

The process for releasing it to the public involves a committee vote, a source said. If approved, it could be released as long as there are no objections from the White House within five days.

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, R-Calif., told Fox News in December that his investigators have already uncovered evidence of abuse in the U.S. government's surveillance practices.

I believe there's evidence that abuses have occurred," Nunes said at the time.

Nunes pointed to the leaked conversation of former national security adviser, Gen. Mike Flynn with the Russian ambassador.

On Thursday, the Senate voted 65-34 to reauthorize a FISA provision that allows U.S. spy agencies to conduct surveillance on foreign targets abroad for six years. The bill, which already has been passed by the House, now heads to the White House,where President Donald Trump has said he will sign it into law.

Fox News Alex Pappas, Anne Marie Riha and Chad Pergram and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
A temporary spending bill passed in the House of Representatives Thursday evening, but its prospects in the Senate are unclear as Congress fights to avoid a government shutdown set for Friday night.

The final House vote in favor of the bill was 230-197, with 11 Republicans voting no and six Democrats voting yes. Republicans hold a slim 51-49 majority in the Senate.

Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, R-Wis., spoke to reporters just after the vote and directed his comments to Senate Democrats and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.

Senator Schumer, do not shut down the federal government. Do not jeopardize funding for our military and for our national security. Do not jeopardize funding for the childrens health insurance program.

He added that not passing the bill is risky, reckless and it is wrong.

Immplying that Republicans have done their part, Ryan put the possibility of a government shutdown solely on the shoulders of Democrats.

I ask the American people to understand this. The only people standing the way of keeping the government open are Senate Democrats, he said.

The Senate opened the floor for debate on the measure late Thursday, but adjourned for the evening after a contentious back-and-forth erupted as to whether members should go home for the night.

President Donald Trump urged lawmakers Thursday evening, in a last-ditch effort, to pass the short-term spending bill. Trump took to Twitter to express his concerns over the looming deadline and again stressed its importance for the U.S. military.

House of Representatives needs to pass Government Funding Bill tonight. So important for our country - our Military needs it!

The bill would keep the government afloat through Feb. 16.

It includes a multi-year extension of the Childrens Health Insurance Plan (CHIP), but there is no language to legalize the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA) for illegal immigrants brought to the country as children -- something Democrats and even some Republicans had wanted in any spending bill.

President Trump has said that he wants DACA, which is set to expire in March, to be formalized as part of a separate deal that includes significant border security measures, including funding for a border wall.

The political calculation from Republicans appears to be to stare down Democrats and see if they are prepared to vote against extending children's health insurance over the issue of illegal immigrants.

If the Senate Democrats want to shut the government down, if they want to shut down the military, if they want to shut down CHIP, thats their decision to make, House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., told reporters.

The split is not entirely along party lines, with some Republicans opposed to extending a long line of emergency bills to fund the government. Congress approved a continuing resolution in September, with two more in December.

President Trump, taking to Twitter early Thursday, urged a long-term solution and warned about the effects a shutdown would have on the military. He also demanded a long-term solution to CHIP.

Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn, R-Texas, quickly tweeted to clarify that the short-term resolution did indeed include a multi-year CHIP extension.

In remarks to reporters outside the Pentagon Thursday, Trump focused on the military again.

The group that loses big would be the military and were never letting our military lose at any point, he said.

Asked if there was going to be a shutdown, he said "it could happen, its up to the Democrats.

Bipartisan talks took place Wednesday, including talks between members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and White House Chief of Staff John Kelly but appear not to have been fruitful, with Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., saying there was good will but no progress.

Some Republicans are unhappy that an increase in military spending has not been secured, while others like Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., and Carlos Curbelo, R-Fla., are aligning with Democrats in complaining that the bill lacks a DACA fix.

The Senate needs 60 votes in order to avoid a filibuster. With Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., recovering from the side effects of cancer treatment, it means that Republicans need 10 Democrats to get to 60. But Democrats say they are very opposed to the bill.

"The overwhelming number in our caucus have said they don't like this deal and they believe if we kick the can down the road this time we'll be back where we started from next time," Schumer, D-N.Y., said. "So there's very, very strong support not to go along with their deal."

However, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., wavered somewhat when asked if she would vote for a short term CR.

If we have to, yes," she said. "I hope not. So its just that difficult, precipitous time before you know whats gonna happen.

When the Senate approved a similar bill in December, 17 Democrats voted to keep the government open, seven of those coming from states Trump won in November 2016.

The need for 10 Democrats presumes full Republican support, but as of yet, the bill does not have that.

Im not going to vote for a CR. Youre destroying the military here, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said.

"If we say were fiscally conservative, we ought to be fiscally conservative, so I'm not voting for raising the spending caps and I'm not voting for $700 billion deficits," Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said on Fox News.

Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said Thursday morning that he didnt know if they had enough votes to pass the CR.

We dont know if theyll come to their senses or not, he said about holdout Republicans.

Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., meanwhile admitted that it will take a little whip work to get to 60 votes.

Predicating a shutdown, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said This will be the first shutdown in recent history when one party had the White House, the Senate, and the House of Representatives.

Fox News Chad Pergram, John Roberts, Jason Donner and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday delayed a lower-court order that would have forced North Carolina Republican lawmakers to redraw the state's congressional districts by next week because of excessive partisan bias in current lines.



The justices announced the stay after legal briefs were filed for and against the GOP legislators' request for a delay. Their lawyers successfully argued that a three-judge panel's ruling last week declaring the state congressional map an illegal partisan gerrymander should be on hold while similar cases involving Wisconsin legislative districts and one Maryland congressional district before the Supreme Court are considered. The court has never declared that the inherently political process of redistricting can be too partisan.



Voter advocacy groups and Democratic voters who sued over the map -- heavily weighted toward Republicans in a closely divided state -- argued no delay was necessary because it would be struck down however the justices rule in the other cases.



The Supreme Court's order said the delay remains in place while the case is appealed. The request was considered by the entire court, and Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor would have denied the request for the delay, according to the order.



GOP Rep. David Lewis and Sen. Ralph Hise, redistricting leaders at the state General Assembly, praised the intervention in a release. "We are grateful that a bipartisan U.S. Supreme Court has overwhelmingly halted the lower court's 11th-hour attempt to intervene in election outcomes" and restored certainty to voters about their districts, they said.

The ruling means North Carolina's case probably won't be resolved until summer or later, increasing the odds that the current boundaries, where Republicans hold 10 of the state's 13 congressional seats, will be used in the November election. Candidate filing begins next month for the May primaries. Republican attorneys had argued that requiring a new map -- the third since 2011 -- would have confused voters and candidates. GOP legislators are planning a formal appeal.

A lawyer representing the League of Women Voters of North Carolina -- one of the plaintiffs -- said that although disappointed with the decision, she was optimistic that the Supreme Court would rule during its term that partisan gerrymandering was unconstitutional.



"North Carolinians deserve to participate in fair elections in 2018," Allison Riggs with the Southern Coalition for Social Justice said in a release. "We still believe the day is coming soon for the General Assembly to be held to account for this madness."



Common Cause, another plaintiff, said it planned to ask the Supreme Court to affirm the lower court decision striking down the lines or to hear more arguments.



The case now could be affected by decisions involving the other states during a Supreme Court term in which redistricting already figures prominently. Earlier this month, the justices agreed to hear Texas' appeal to preserve two congressional districts and statehouse districts affecting four counties that a lower court struck down as racially discriminatory.



North Carolina GOP mapmakers approved criteria for the February 2016 map that stated one of their goals was to retain their 10-3 advantage. They did retain it in the elections that November. They also approved the use of past election results in helping them determine boundary decisions.



The plaintiffs jumped on Lewis' comments during the 2016 legislative debate in which he said he proposed the 10-3 map "because I do not believe it's possible to draw a map with 11 Republicans and two Democrats."



The three-judge panel ruled last week that emphasis on partisan outcomes resulted in "invidious partisan discrimination" whereby lines illegally benefited Republicans and their candidates at the expense of Democrats and their supporters.



The judges unanimously agreed that the map violated the U.S. Constitution's equal protection clause and its direction to the state to hold congressional elections. A majority of the panel also decided First Amendment rights to free speech and association were violated for Democrats in each district where their favored candidate had little chance to win.



Still, Republicans have said the map is the least gerrymandered with the most compact districts in modern state history and judges should be skeptical about methods to calculate partisan gerrymandering as illegal.
Members of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) left Washington, D.C., last night following several days of meetings with a White House official, members of Congress and State Department officials. Their message for President Trump was clear: Stop Iran and Al Qaeda in Syria, and they will work with his administration to bring peace to the war-torn nation.

"We are hopeful that Mr. Trump will take great steps to promote a unified Syria living in peace, freedom, and democracy," said Saad Fahd Al-Shweish, the former head of the Raqqa Provincial Council.

The Free Syrian Army is the military wing of the opposition to Syrian President Bashar Assad. They claim to have approximately 60,000 troops and say the U.S. wont find a better partner in the fight to free Syria.

Some of their meetings coincided with Secretary of State Rex Tillersons major policy speech Wednesday on a new way forward on Syria. Tillerson spoke of five points that included an enduring defeat of ISIS and Al Qaeda, denying Iranian influence and a unified Syria under a post-Assad leadership.

Osama Abu Zaid, one of the FSA's leaders, told Fox News the Tillerson speech was in line with a lot of what the group are seeking, but he still wants more details. "

"It's positive because the U.S. is still against Bashar Assad and supporting the political process about a democratic Syria and that is important," Zaid said, "but we still need clarification of the details and how to stop Iranian influence on the ground.

While the FSA members would not go into the specifics of their White House meeting one member of the delegation, Khalid Aba, told Fox News that officials there "listened carefully to our points."

Aba is the political chief of the Levant Front, also known as Jabhat al-Shamiyah. He said his group was CIA-vetted and had spearheaded anti-ISIS forces in the city of Aleppo.

"I believe that the U.S. has shared interests with the Free Syrian Army because we are the best force to fight Iran," Aba said. "There is a dire need to defend [the] besieged East Ghouta [area] because it is the last bastion preventing Iran from turning south Damascus into another stronghold, like Hezbollah has in southern Beirut.

"Iran and Assad contributed to the creation of Al Qaeda and other extremist groups," Aba added.

Some have claimed the FSA is too close to Turkey and Qatar and even an ally of the Muslim Brotherhood, but members of the delegation say such accusations are not true.

"The Free Syrian Army is interested only in defending the Syrian people," said Mustafa Sejari, the founder of the Motassem Brigade, which he says was supported by the Pentagon. "We do not support the Brotherhood or any other political party; we only support the Syrian people in their aspirations for freedom and dignity."

"The global jihadist organizations are to me the same as the Iranian, Iraqi, or Hezbollah militias," added Zaid. "We must eliminate all of them."

Tony Badran, a Syria analyst at the nonpartisan Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) research institute, told Fox News that the U.S. should not have much of an issue trusting the FSA.

"Depending on the region, they have either been targeted by more radical groups, or they have maintained a coexistence of sorts in order to avoid infighting which would only benefit the Iranians and the regime," he said.

Badran also agreed with Aba that the FSA is all that stands between Iran and its partners establishing domination over key parts of Syria.

"When it comes to southwestern Syria, on the borders with Israel and Jordan, they are the only local partners standing in the way of the [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps] and Hezbollah setting up shop on our two allies borders," Badran said. "If the administration is serious about carving out areas of U.S. influence geared at countering Irans position in Syria, then, aside from the [Syrian Democratic Forces] in the north and east, the FSA and other local formations are the assets for the U.S. and its allies to work with toward that goal.

Aba told Fox News his message to President Trump was simple: "If you genuinely believe in fighting Iran, you won't find a better partner than the FSA."
An impromptu visit to London this month for Secretary of State Rex Tillerson may or may not include a visit to the new embassy, the State Department said on Thursday.

Tillerson told reporters Wednesday that he would be making a one-day stop in London while on his trip but didnt respond to questions about whether he would formally open the new building, Reuters reported.

He did, however, say that British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson was putting together a packed agenda for his visit, "but I hope to get by the embassy."

President Donald Trump tweeted last week that he would not come for the formal opening ceremony because the gleaming new embassy in a former industrial neighborhood represented a poor investment under the Obama administration. Tillerson could take Trump's place.

The State Department said Thursday that no ribbon-cutting ceremony by Tillerson was currently on his schedule, but did not necessarily rule out a visit.

State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said at a news briefing Thursday that the bulk of staff had moved from the old building into the new building, which opened this week.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
More than eight months since President Trump signed an executive order instructing agencies to expand religious liberty under federal law, his administration on Thursday delivered some results.

The Department of Health and Human Services announced the creation of its Conscience and Religious Freedom Division.

"HHS is the next area where the issues of conscience and the issues of life and death are coming to the fore," said Roger Severino, the new head of HHS's Office of Civil Rights in a ceremony marking the occasion.

The announcement comes as a backlash to several Obama-regulations  including the Obamacare requirement that non-church employers had to provide contraceptive coverage or face fines, an absurd demand, conservative critics said, for organizations like the Little Sisters of the Poor.

Though the Supreme Court ultimately overturned the contraceptive mandate, there were countless other alleged civil rights abuses.

Sara Hellwege, a certified midwife who spoke at Thursday's ceremony, claims she was rejected for a job at a health care center because of her pro-life views.

"I was told that because of these convictions, I wouldn't be allowed to interview and proceed with the hiring process," she said.

HHS maintains the new Conscience Division will make it easier for doctors, nurses and other health providers to opt out of services that violate their moral or religious beliefs. And it will ensure hospitals, clinics and other health centers accommodate religious beliefs.

That may be problematic in such a polarized country where one citizen's civil right is often seen as another's injustice. "They say it's for religious liberty. What we know is it discriminates against LGBT people and women," says Mara Kiesling of the National Center for Transgender Equality. "Religious freedom is so important, but thats not what this is about.This is about pediatricians refusing to treat children with gay parents. This is about transgender people turned away from emergency rooms and doctors offices," she told Fox News.

The National Abortion Rights Action League mirrored that view in a statement Thursday, calling the Trump Administration's HHS a place, "where science, ethics, and concern for the well-being of all Americans are non-existent."

But the decision may only energize Trump's base, especially evangelicals. About 63 percent of them approve of the job he's doing, down only 3 percent from October.

How the new Division of Conscience and Religious Freedom plays out in the long run remains to be seen. Religious accommodations and health services were not as complex in the days when the First Amendment was written as they are in today's multi-cultural patchwork of many religions and numerous health services.
The deadline arrived without a deal. The U.S. government shut down at midnight Friday after Congress failed to overcome a partisan divide over immigration and spending.

In a late-night vote, Senate Democrats joined to block a bill that would have kept the government running until mid-February. A flurry of last-minute negotiations failed to produce an agreement.

Democrats tried to use the Friday night funding deadline to win concessions from Republicans, including an extension of DACA, an Obama-era program protecting some young immigrants from deportation. The program is set to expire in March. Republicans sought more time for talks, but Democrats refused.

The shutdown is only the fourth government closure in a quarter-century. It will only partially curb government operations.

Uniformed service members, health inspectors, and law enforcement officers are set to work without pay. But Social Security and most other safety net programs are unaffected.

If no deal is brokered by Monday, hundreds of thousands of federal employees are set to be furloughed.

The White House and Capitol Hill will be working with skeleton staffs, but some government agencies, like the Environmental Protection Agency, have said they were able to shift funding around to keep most workers on the job. National parks and federal museums will be open, but with potentially reduced services.

Earlier Friday night, President Donald Trump seemed pessimistic that a deal could be reached in time.

"Not looking good for our great Military or Safety & Security on the very dangerous Southern Border," the president tweeted. "Dems want a Shutdown in order to help diminish the great success of the Tax Cuts, and what they are doing for our booming economy."

Negotiations, however, continued through the evening, with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., working to pass a resolution to keep the government open, White House sources said.

Earlier in the day, demonstrators were seen protesting in support of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program in the Russell Senate Office Building. Democrats refused to back a short-term spending bill unless it includes protections for illegal immigrants brought to the country as children.

"Republicans  who control the House, Senate, and WH  are on the verge of making #TrumpShutdown a reality because they refuse to protect DREAMers and provide long-term certainty for our military, the opioid crisis, CHIP, and other key issues," House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi tweeted late Friday night.

During the day Friday, Schumer met with President Trump at the White House as part of an effort to avert the imminent shutdown.

That meeting came as the White House coined a decidedly Trumpian phrase in the battle to assign blame for the standoff, branding it the "Schumer Shutdown."

A senior White House official told Fox News that the Trump-Schumer meeting was productive, but there was no deal yet. Still, the president labeled the meeting "excellent" in a tweet.

"Making progress," Trump wrote, adding that a "four week extension would be best!"

We had a long and detailed meeting," Schumer said in a statement. "We discussed all of the major outstanding issues, we made some progress, but we still have a good number of disagreements. The discussions will continue.

According to a White House source, Schumer arrived in the Oval Office and presented the president with a list of demands on domestic issues that went well beyond just DACA. The president listened to Schumer and appeared perplexed as Schumer rattled off his agenda items, the source said. The president told Schumer he wasnt going to get all of those demands in a spending bill.

Schumer, the source said, did appear open to considering a continuing resolution that would keep the government funded for five days. The official White House position is still a 30-day extension.

Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney on Friday accused the Democrats of opposing a bill that contains nothing they are against.

They dont oppose anything in the bill, but they are opposing the bill, Mulvaney said, pointing to popular measures in the bill such as funding for the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP).

Democrats seemed to be aware of the importance of messaging, with Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., taking to the Senate floor with an image declaring the logjam a "Trump Shutdown," quoting a tweet from President Trump from May saying "our country needs a good 'shutdown.'"

Markey blasted Republicans complaining about the threat of a shutdown, telling them to "spare me your crocodile tears."

The Republican-dominated House of Representatives passed a one-month bill Thursday night by a vote of 230-197 that broke down largely along party lines, with 11 Republicans voting no and six Democrats voting yes.

Senate Democrats have said that Democrats want any spending bill to include a fix for DACA. Trump repealed the order in September, and gave Congress a deadline of March to come up with a legislative fix.

Unless we pass the #DreamAct, I wont support another short-term funding bill, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., tweeted Thursday. Our Dreamers have waited far too long for a chance to be a part of this countrys future.

Republicans had hoped to back Democrats into a corner by attaching a six-year CHIP extension to the bill. But Democrats have so far refused to budge.

Republicans have repeatedly put the blame firmly on Democrats positioning on DACA as the reason for the looming shutdown.

Apparently they believe the issue of illegal immigration is more important than anything else, than the government services the American people depend on, McConnell said.

President Trump has repeatedly urged Congress to keep the government open, warning that a shutdown will harm the U.S. military. The White House announced that Trump would not travel to Florida, as previously scheduled, until the continuing resolution is signed.

Should Congress miss the Friday night deadline, it is far from clear if the government will actually shut down immediately. Fox News is told that the Trump administration will not weaponize the shutdown, closing various monuments and national parks, to create a "show" as critics say the Obama administration did in a 2013 closure.

Fox News Chad Pergram, Peter Doocy, Mike Emanuel, Kristin Brown, Serafin Gomez, John Roberts and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
Its billions of dollars over budget and seven years behind schedule, and appears to have no plausible way of living up to its goal of getting riders across the state in three hours or less.

Welcome to whats arguably the nations largest infrastructure project and Californias biggest boondoggle.

The highly hyped bullet train has been a challenge from the start. No one thought it would be technically, financially and politically easy, but the way the project has been mishandled has some Californians fed up and demanding answers.

Just this week, the California High-Speed Rail Authority, the organization charged with overseeing construction, reported that the cost of the first segment had dramatically risen  again.

The worst-case scenario has happened, admitted Roy Hill, lead consultant on the project.

Since its start, this hot-mess express of a project has been plagued by delays and has blown through every single budget estimate imaginable. And itll likely cost the state and taxpayers more in the coming months and years.

Much more.

The so-called bullet train is a solution in search of a problem that is plagued by billions of dollars in cost overruns and fiscal mismanagement, San Diego City Councilman Mark Kersey told Fox News. The billions being wasted on this boondoggle could have been invested in our current infrastructure needs, such as water storage, flood control, highways and bridges.

This weeks updated cost estimate -- to complete just the first phase - a 119-mile segment in the Central Valley - has ballooned to $10.6 billion. Thats a jaw-dropping 77 percent increase from initial estimates, 36 percent higher than forecasts from a year ago.

When California voters in 2008 narrowly approved $10 billion in bond as seed money for the high-speed rail development, they were told the total cost would be about $43 billion.

Fresh estimates put it now at $67 billion.

Brian Kelly, head of the State Transportation Agency, was appointed this week to run the High-Speed Rail Authority. He told The New York Times that even though the project has mammoth opposition, he has never seen a single project that would have such a transformative impact as this one.

Other supporters reason that the project should continue because billions of dollars have already been spent.

Critics, however, say the state should cut its losses and call it a day.

The money is already wasted. Theres no way to unwaste it, James Moore, director of the transportation engineering program at the University of Southern California, told Fox News.

He added that Californians have only scratched the surface when it comes to expenses, and said that estimates were overtly deceptive.

He described ridership forecasts as fictional and said the idea behind the state bullet train lacks logic.

If you build a mode that is slower than an aircraft and costlier than gas, people arent going to ride it, he said.

Kersey agrees.

Its far from certain that Californians would even utilize the proposed high-speed rail given the ease of air travel among Californias major cities, he said. Its so easy to get in an airplane and fly anywhere you want to, (to) any of the big cities around the state.

He also said that by the time the train is up and running  sometime around 2025 - it will be outdated.

The high-speed rail debacle is the technology of yesteryear and has no feasible plan for success, he said, adding that Californians shouldnt be forced to foot the bill for pet projects for politicians.

The four leading Democratic candidates for governor in California have offered various levels of support for the rail project.

The Los Angeles Times says current Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom -- the frontrunner in the gubernatorial race -- has dodged repeated requests for interviews on the bullet train for more than two years.

Newsoms office also did not return multiple calls from Fox News seeking comment.

This reticence to speak about a deeply troubled project might seem like smart political strategy, given its support by the governor and construction trade unions, a valued Democratic constituency, The San Diego Union-Tribune wrote in a scathing editorial. If the Democratic candidates dont detail how they would salvage the most expensive public project in California history, theres a better adjective: cowardly.

Last February, Californias House asked the administration to block a pending federal grant until an audit of the projects finances is completed.

The letter was signed by all 14 members of the states Republican delegation and was sent to Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao.

As of now, there's been no movement on the request.
Funding for a health insurance program for children became front and center as lawmakers struggled to reach deals to keep the government funded in 2018.

The federal funds for the Childrens Health Insurance Program (CHIP) expired at the end of September, and a permanent solution had not been passed by the beginning of this year.

However, the Senate reached a budget agreement Wednesday that reportedly funds the program for 10 years.

Heres a look at the CHIP program and what it does.

What is it?

Created in 1997, the Childrens Health Insurance Program (CHIP) is low-cost insurance for families with incomes too high for Medicaid but potentially too low to afford private insurance plans.

CHIP covers routine check-ups, doctor visits, prescriptions, emergency services and hospital care, among other things, according to HealthCare.gov.

Every state has a CHIP program, but the rules and qualifications vary state by state.

Nearly 9 million children in the U.S. were enrolled in the CHIP program for the fiscal year 2016, according to research from the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF).

Whats going on with its funding?

The program expired on Sept. 30, and a short-term funding extension was passed by Congress shortly before Christmas.

Many states have nearly exhausted their funds.

Some families have already been informed or received notice that their childrens coverage could be reduced in the future, Samantha Artiga, an analyst at KFF, told Fox News earlier this year. Already families are feeling a lot of worry, concern and stress right now  particularly families with children who have ongoing health conditions who rely on insurance for treatments to keep them healthy and give them the care that they need.

Artiga added that the earlier uncertainty around CHIP funding presented administrative and economic headaches for states that try to plan for the programs future in an uncertain environment.

What have healthcare experts said about it?

"Without this program, these children are caught in a dangerous gap that would deny them access to needed care," the Council for Affordable Health Coverage President Joel White told Fox News. "Every day that CHIP remains without a long-term reauthorization is a day that access to health care is threatened for the most deserving and vulnerable among us."

During the budget talks, White urged lawmakers to vote for a spending bill that included the funding.

Every day that CHIP remains without a long-term reauthorization is a day that access to health care is threatened for the most deserving and vulnerable among us.  Joel White, president of the Council for Affordable Health Coverage

"Senate Democrats have rightfully advocated for CHIP funding in recent months, and it would be the height of hypocrisy for them to oppose a spending bill with this included now."

Joan Alker, the executive director of Georgetown Universitys Center for Children & Families, argued that Congress should pass CHIP reauthorization as a standalone bill so its future is not in limbo every few years.

Whats especially frustrating is that theres no disagreement on the policy, Alker told Fox News, adding that lawmakers on both sides of the aisle support funding CHIP. Its become a bargaining chip.

The right thing to do would be to take CHIP out of [the] political fight and pass it by itself, she said.

What has Trump said?

Trump urged lawmakers to make CHIP part of a long-term solution, not a 30-day, or short-term, extension, in a tweet last month.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, has multiple times brought articles to impeach President Trump to the House floor.

Each effort to impeach the president has failed, and he hasnt garnered support from some top lawmakers in his party, including House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi. But Green said he isnt giving up, contending that Trump is the quintessential person that impeachment was designed for.

The House overwhelmingly rejected Greens impeachment resolutions in December and January.

What does impeachment mean?

Congress has the ability to remove a sitting president from office before his term is finished  an authority granted by the Constitution.

Along with the president and vice president, all civil officers in the U.S. can be removed from office if they are impeached and convicted of bribery, treason or other high crimes and misdemeanors, according to the Constitution.

How does impeachment work?

Article One of the Constitution grants the House of Representatives the sole power of impeachment; the Senate has the sole authority to try all impeachments. If the president is being tried, the Chief Justice should preside over the trial.

The House must vote, requiring a simple majority, to adopt the articles of impeachment. Before a vote, the House Judiciary Committee  or another special committee  may investigate the articles.

The House is able to vote to impeach even if the committee does not recommend doing so.

Should that vote be reached, then the House will appoint members  called managers  to act as prosecutors as the proceedings then go to trial in the Senate. The president is able to have defense attorneys.

The Senate would need a two-thirds majority in order to find the president guilty. Should that happen, the president would be removed from office and the vice president would take the president's place.

Have other presidents been impeached?

Only two U.S. presidents have been impeached  and neither were removed from office.

Andrew Johnson was impeached in 1868 and Bill Clinton in 1998.

While the proceeding began against former President Richard Nixon, he was not actually impeached. Nixon was the only president to resign from office.

Fox News' Brooke Singman and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Rep. Al Green presented articles of impeachment on the House floor - yet again - Friday morning calling President Trump unfit for office, just one month after the House overwhelmingly rejected his last proposal, and just one day before Trumps one year anniversary as commander-in-chief.

Green, D-Texas, has repeatedly called for the presidents removal from office. Friday's articles were introduced due to his "sh--hole" comment regarding Latin American and some African countries, according to Green.

[The president] is unfit to defend the ideals that made America great, unfit to defend liberty and justice for all, unfit to defend the American ideals of all people created equal, Green said on the House floor Friday morning. Donald J. Trump is unfit to represent American values of decency and morality.

Green accused Trump of casting contempt among Muslims and sowing discord amongst the people of the United States, before calling for his impeachment.

Green said the president should be impeached for high misdemeanors, and urged the Senate to accept the motion.

HOUSE REJECTS TRUMP IMPEACHMENT RESOLUTION AFTER DEM REP. AL GREEN FORCES VOTE

Impeachment resolutions are privileged, and must be considered right away or within two days.

The House elected Friday to postpone consideration of the impeachment resolution for now.

Last month, lawmakers overwhelmingly voted to kill Greens resolution, with a group of 364 bipartisan lawmakers voting against it, and only 58 Democrats voting to move ahead.

In October of last year, Green filed impeachment articles that nearly forced a vote  until House Democratic leaders persuaded him to abandon the effort.

The White House has repeatedly called Greens efforts pathetic.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has insisted that any impeachment effort be put on hold until evidence of an impeachable offense is found.

Fox News Chad Pergram, Alex Pappas and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
The Democratic Party appears willing to assign blame for this weekends looming government shutdown over failure to agree on the fate of Dreamers, but members might be called out for hypocrisy after fiery comments made about Republicans during 2013s shutdown.

In 2013, Democrats called Republicans who refused to get on board with the Obama administration's agenda anarchists," and arsonists with a bomb strapped to their chest."

"I call them 'legislative arsonists'," House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said at the time.

Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said at the time that he has never seen such an extreme group of people adopt such an insane policy.

Does Speaker (John) Boehner need to engage in something like the ancient practice of sacrifice, this time to the right-wing gods? Do we have to sacrifice the economy and help for millions of middle class people? he said during a TV appearance.

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., called Republicans unhinged.

Would you, if you didn't like the redesign of your kitchen, would you burn the whole house down or would you try to make modifications to the kitchen? These people have come unhinged, the former Democratic National Committee said on CNN.

This week, however, the top Democrats were depicting themselves as bystanders in a tough situation. Schumer, the Senate minority leader, was among the first to fault Republicans for the deadlock.

The leader is looking to deflect blame, but it just wont work," he said. "We all know what the problem is: Its complete disarray on the Republican side.

Pelosi, the House minority leader, warned that the voters will blame Republicans because they control Congress and the White House.

Even after a few concessions to the Democrats, Pelosi compared the GOP's stop-gap bill to fund the government to having a bowl of doggy-doo and adding a cherry on top and calling it a chocolate sundae.

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., tweeted Wednesday that she will oppose any spending bill that does not address the Dreamers issue.

Protecting Dreamers is a moral imperative. I will not vote for a spending bill that doesnt treat Dreamers fairly, the possible 2020 hopeful said.

Gillibrand, in 2013, compared Republicans to her 5-year-old son.

This is much more like what I deal with Henry in the morning when he says he wants to say, I want candy for breakfast. Its really a tantrum; its a tea party tantrum. You either give me my way, or were going to shut down government.

Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., another potential 2020 hopeful, said he will not be voting for a spending bill that does not fix DACA.

In 2013, Booker called his Senate-seat challenger a tea-party extremist when it comes to government shutdowns, and said the Senate needs people that will not play this shutdown politics that plays with the full faith and credit of the United States of America.

Former members of the Obama administration may also find it hard to reconcile their past statements.

Jon Favreau, former Obama administration speechwriter wrote a 2013 Daily Beast article that read, Obama will not  he cannot  negotiate with a roving band of anarchists who say, 'Build our oil pipeline or the troops dont get paid.'"

Dan Pfeiffer, a top adviser to President Barack Obama, said Republicans have a bomb strapped to their chest, during the negotiations.

After the 17-day-long government shutdown in 2013 was over, Obama advised Republicans to win the elections and argue for their positions rather than breaking the process of the how the government makes policy.

You don't like a particular policy or a particular president? Then argue for your position. Go out there and win an election. Push to change it. But don't break it. Don't break what our predecessors spent over two centuries building. That's not being faithful to what this country's about, Obama said.

Fast forward to 2018, the Republican Party now controls all three branches of government  with a slim majority of 51-49 in the Senate, but a government shutdown remains a real possibility.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
The Department of Homeland Security was caught by surprise by the signing of President Trumps executive order temporarily banning immigrants from terror hotspots into the U.S., a government report released Friday concluded.

The report by DHS Office of Inspector General found that Customs and Border Protection (CBP), assigned to implement the Jan 27 order, had practically no advance notice that the order would issue, or that it would be effective upon signature.



It also found that DHS had no chance to offer input into the drafting of the document, which banned those coming in from Iraq, Yemen, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Sudan for 90 days. The consequence appeared to be chaos and agents were acting with a distinct lack of information.



Answers to critical questions necessary for implementation were undefined when the EO issued. No policies, procedures, and guidance to the field were developed. Nevertheless, the EO took effect immediately, while travelers from the affected countries were in the air and thousands more were preparing to travel, the report found.



It was not just at the offices of the DHS and CBP where the executive order hit hard. Activists and politicians rushed to airports to protest the ban and world leaders lined up in condemnation of the move, which was blasted by critics as Islamophobic as it targeted a number of Muslim-majority countries.



The ban would be stayed by a federal court a day later, and the legal fight would lead to a number of court cases, and multiple redraftings of the ban. Now, nearly a year later, the modified ban is in effect and will be taken up by the Supreme Court later this year amid a number of continued challenges to its constitutionality.

The report found that after legal guidance was given, particularly after a stay was granted for certain travelers, CBP implemented that guidance quickly and consistently across all ports.



It did, however, conclude that there were two instances in which court orders were not followed. One order from a Boston federal court told CBP to notify airlines with Boston-bound flights that provisions were stayed, yet the report found that the agency told airports not to board passengers heading to Boston. Days later, an L.A. court told CBP not to block any related passengers, but the agency continued to issue no board instructions, backed by the threat of fines.



The report also pointed to reports in the media of inhumane conditions, lengthy detentions, abuse and other mistreatment. The Office of the Inspector General found that some of those allegations were simply untrue while others resulted from factspecific circumstances.



Responding to the OIG, DHS blasted the report for a number of legal and factual inaccuracies and described it as methodologically flawed.

It claimed the alleged violations of the court orders that the OIG found came from a double obligation to comply with both the courts order and the executive order at the same time.

The department also said the report failed to acknowledge the "extraordinary" work done by many DHS agents during those first days after the executive order.

The Department of Homeland Security offers no apology for lawfully implementing the Presidents and Congress mandates, the DHS response reads.


The Department of Justice announced Friday it intends to retry New Jersey Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez, two months after a federal judge declared a mistrial in the high-profile bribery case.

Today, the United States filed a notice of intent to retry Sen. Robert Menendez and Dr. Salomon Melgen and requested that the court set the case for retrial at the earliest possible date, Department of Justice spokesperson Wyn Hornbuckle said in a statement. The conduct alleged in the indictment is serious and warrants retrial before a jury of citizens in the District of New Jersey. 

Hornbuckle said the decision to retry the case was based on the facts and the law, following a careful review.

We regret that the DOJ, after spending millions and millions of taxpayer dollars, and failing to prove a single allegation in a court of law, has decided to double down on an unjust prosecution," according to a statement release by Menendez' office. "Evidently, they did not hear the overwhelming voices of the New Jerseyans who served on the jury this fall. Senator Menendez fully intends to be vindicated -- again.

In November, a federal judge declared a mistrial after jurors twice reported they were hopelessly deadlocked.

Theres no alternative to declaring a mistrial, U.S. District Court Judge William Walls said at the time.

The mistrial was seen as a major victory for Menendez and a blow to the Justice Department whose efforts to go after politicians in recent years have not been successful.

Outside the courthouse after the mistrial, an emotional Menendez made clear that he would be out for political vengeance.

"Certain elements of the FBI and of our state cannot stand, or even worse, accept that the Latino kid from Union City and Hudson County could grow up to be a United States senator and be honest," said the 63-year-old son of Cuban immigrants.

Juror Edward Norris, a 49-year-old equipment operator, told reporters he didnt think the government proved anything.

Norris told reporters that 10 people on the jury wanted to acquit Menendez of all charges while two held out for conviction.

The mistrial brought an inconclusive end to the two-and-a-half month trial.

But Former federal and state corruption prosecutor Daniel Alonzo told Fox News he isn't surprised by the DOJ announcement.

This decision is not surprising. The government believed in its case when it brought the charges, believed in it when it went to the jury, and obviously believes in it now. Although its not always the case, retrials usually favor the prosecution, which uses the experience of the first trial to try to fix weaknesses in the case and anticipate defense arguments the second time around.

Menendez is up for re-election to the U.S. Senate this year.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has called on the Ethics Committee to investigate Menendez for possible violations of the public trust and the Senate code of conduct.

The case against Menendez marked the first time in almost a decade that a sitting U.S. senator faced a federal bribery charge.

According to the criminal complaint, Menendez greased wheels for Salomon Melgen, a Florida ophthalmologist.

Among other things, Menendez was accused of helping obtain visas for several of Melgens girlfriends as well as lobby the State Department on his behalf regarding a $500 million port security contract in the Dominican Republic.

Melgen, in turn, paid for private jets, hotel rooms and forked over nearly $75,000 in campaign contributions to Menendez.

The defense argued that the gifts were not bribes but tokens of friendship between two men who were "like brothers."

In Menendez attorney Abbe Lowell's closing argument, he used the words "friend," "friends" or "friendship" more than 80 times.

The Menendez case was the first major federal bribery trial since the U.S. Supreme Court in 2016 threw out the conviction of Republican former Gov. Bob McDonnell of Virginia and narrowed the definition of bribery.
A program that allows for U.S. spy agencies to collect information on foreigners outside the country was reauthorized by both chambers of Congress in 2018.

The House renewed the controversial program  that lets the U.S. spy on foreign targets abroad  with a 256 to 164 vote in Jan. 2018. The Senate voted 65 to 34 to approve the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act section 702 program later that month.

In the end, President Trump took to Twitter to announce that he signed the measure. "Just signed 702 Bill to reauthorize foreign intelligence collection," Trump tweeted.

Heres a look at Section 702  controversial because Americans information can oftentimes be swept up in this collection  and what privacy advocates have to say about it.

What is FISA Section 702?

Section 702 of FISA allows intelligence officials to oversee communications of foreigners outside the U.S. without a warrant. Its an amendment added to FISA in 2008.

The House Intelligence Committee stated that Section 702 is critical" to the "understanding of terrorists, cyber criminals, and foreign intelligence services."

Section 702 cannot be used to target Americans or people in the U.S., the committee said. However, the FISA Amendments Act allows the government to collect the data from American firms, such as Google or Microsoft, according to the nonprofit Center for Democracy & Technology.

Supporters of Section 702, including intelligence agencies and House Republican leadership, argued that access to the database is essential to keeping Americans safe.

What is so controversial about Section 702?

Critics of Section 702 say that the law is so broad that Americans communications can become easily swept up in this data collection.

The FISA Act is supposed to be used to spy on foreigners on foreign lands, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., told Fox News in 2018.

But millions of Americans are accidentally or incidentally collected in this database, and we dont want people just willy-nilly looking into this database without a warrant.

Millions of Americans are accidentally or incidentally collected in this database, and we dont want people just willy-nilly looking into this database without a warrant.  Sen. Rand Paul

Neema Singh Guliani, a legislative counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union, said there are two major misconceptions with Section 702: that the program only involves people overseas and that its about foreign terrorists.

Like Paul, she also criticized the governments access to Americans information collected through Section 702.

If youre going to search through Section 702 data, you ought to get a warrant because thats the standard that would apply if you wanted that data to begin with, she told Fox News.

What has the administration said?

Ahead of the House vote, President Trump suggested in a tweet that the surveillance program could have been used to badly surveil and abuse his own presidential 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? Trump tweeted.

His tweet seemingly stood in opposition to a previous White House statement opposing any changes to the program, and he published a second tweet soon after.

With that being said, I have personally directed the fix to the unmasking process since taking office and todays vote is about foreign surveillance of foreign bad guys on foreign land. We need it! Get smart!

But when he signed the measure on Friday, the president said that the measure was "NOT the same FISA law that was so wrongly abused during the election."

"I will always do the right thing for our country and put the safety of the American people first," Trump said.

Anything else?

Republican lawmakers are demanding the release of an alarming and troubling memo regarding surveillance abuses.

It's troubling. It is shocking, North Carolina Rep. Mark Meadows, R, said. Part of me wishes that I didn't read it because I dont want to believe that those kinds of things could be happening in this country that I call home and love so much.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
From its connection to Hillary Clintons campaign to the publication of a graphic dossier about President Trump, Fusion GPS has become something of a major player in the Russia investigation.

The political firm was behind the controversial dossier that contained numerous colorful but unverifiable allegations about Trumps connections to Russia. And that dossier got somebody killed, according to an attorney for Fusion GPS.

"Somebodys already been killed as a result of the publication of this dossier and no harm should come to anybody related to this honest work, said attorney Joshua Levy in an Aug. 22 deposition made public.

Fusion GPS has been linked to a conservative website as well as the Clintons. Heres what to know about the firm.

What is Fusion GPS?

Founded by veteran journalists, Fusion GPS provides premium research, strategic intelligence, and due diligence services to corporations, law firms and investors worldwide, according to its sparse website.

The Washington, D.C.-based group says it offers a cross-disciplinary approach with expertise in media, politics, regulation, national security, and global markets.

Fusion GPS was started in 2009 by former Wall Street Journal reporters Peter Fritsch and Glenn Simpson.

How is Fusion GPS linked to the Russia investigation?

The political firm was behind the controversial dossier that contained a number of colorful but unverifiable claims about Trump. The company retained British intelligence officer Christopher Steele, who produced the 35-page dossier.

While it has not been verified, the dossier, which included explicit sexual and financial allegations against Trump, created further speculation about any Trump connection to Russian officials  a question that has dogged his campaign and presidency.

Simpson told the House Intelligence Committee in November that some information the firm obtained raised questions about the campaigns involvement with Russians during the election.

"I think that the evidence that has developed over the last year, since President Trump took office, is that there is a well-established pattern of surreptitious contacts that occurred last year that supports the broad allegation of some sort of an undisclosed political or financial relationship between the Trump Organization and people in Russia," Simpson said.

The dossier was also the catalyst for a surveillance warrant the FBI and Justice Department obtained to spy on Carter Page, a former Trump foreign policy adviser, according to a controversial memo from the House Intelligence Committee. The memo alleges that officials did not reveal who paid for the dossier when requesting the warrant.

So who funded the dossier?

The firm was originally retained during the election by the conservative website Washington Free Beacon which wanted opposition research on Trump and other GOP candidates.

After Trump became the Republican nominee, Clinton and the Democratic National Committee retained Fusion GPS through lawyer Marc Elias and his firm, Perkins Coie.

Clinton reportedly did not know about the dossier until BuzzFeed News published it in January 2017. Democrats have defended it as simply opposition research.

TRUMP AND THE RUSSIA INVESTIGATION: WHAT TO KNOW

It's unclear what Fusion GPS had dug up by the time Perkins Coie hired it or how much money was involved in the transaction. The Clinton campaign and the DNC paid Perkins Coie more than $9 million  although its uncertain how much of that money, if any, went toward the dossier.

The Clinton campaign and the DNC funded the project until October 2016  right before the election.

Trump has suggested that the dossier was funded by Russia, Democrats or the FBI.

Anything else?

Simpson has done substantial investigative work on the case of Sergei Magnitsky, a Russian lawyer who was imprisoned after reporting a massive tax fraud scheme. Magnitsky died in prison, and the U.S. enacted the Magnitsky Act, which imposes sanctions on certain Russian officials.

During the campaign, Donald Trump Jr., the presidents oldest son, took a controversial meeting with Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya, who was supposed to have damning information about Clinton. Instead, those who went to the meeting said she just wanted to talk about the Magnitsky Act.

In his investigative work on Magnitsky, Simpson may have found evidence that contradicts details of the case accepted by the U.S., NBC News reported.

Fusion GPS also did work as a firm related to the Magnitsky Act.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
A Harvard Law School professor and Newsweek magazine were recently mocked after uncritically suggesting a scenario in which Hillary Clinton could still become the president.

Lawrence Lessig, the Roy L. Furman professor of law and leadership at Harvard Law School, outlined a scenario in which the former senator could take the reins of power in the event of a series of impeachments of the Trump administration.

If President Trump resigns or gets impeached, Vice President Mike Pence resigns or is impeached and House Speaker Paul Ryan  who would legally become the heir to the top job  appoints Clinton as his deputy and then resigns, Clinton would become the president, the professor said.

This is one way that it could happen, Lessig told Newsweek magazine on Wednesday.

Lessig first envisioned this scenario in a blog post back in October.

If Ryan became President because the Trump/Pence campaign committed treason, who should he nominate as his Vice President? he wrote. The answer seems unavoidable: He should nominate the person defeated by the treason of his own party, and then step aside, and let her become the President.

The hypothetical scenario was mocked on social media, with some pointing out that the U.S. Constitution and the existing laws clearly define the line of succession  leaving no actual legal avenue for Clinton to take office, contrary to the professors claims.

Others have taken an issue with the magazine for pushing the theory without scrutiny.

What's left of Newsweek is actively making people dumber and less informed and honestly should be unfollowed and shunned for this kind of behavior, wrote Wall Street Journal journalist Byron Tau.

The professor reiterated in the interview with the magazine that such scenario remains a possibility despite not seeing solid evidence confirming whether there was some conspiracy to steal the election.

But thats very different from saying I think it will happen, or should happen, or [that] the evidence is there for it to happen, he told Newsweek.

If the Trump administration is found to have colluded with a foreign government, Lessig said Trump should be removed from power.

Absolutely, hes got to resign, and if he doesnt resign, then absolutely Congress needs to impeach him, he said.
Lawmakers were hoping to prevent another government shutdown in 2018  but failed to reach a deal by midnight on Dec. 22. As a result, the federal government witnessed its longest shutdown in history.

The government has now shut down a total of 21 times since Congress introduced the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act, which established the federal budget process in 1976. Half of those shutdowns occurred over a weekend.

"I call them 'fake shutdowns,'" 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  told Fox News. Most shutdowns occur over the course of a weekend. Were talking days or weeks  not months.

WHAT HAPPENS DURING A GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN? 7 THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

But there have been a handful of lengthy U.S. government shutdowns. According to data from the Congressional Research Service (CRS), seven shutdowns in the past four decades lasted more than 10 days.

On Jan. 12, the government reached its 22-day mark, breaking the record for the longest shutdown in U.S. history. The previous record-holder occurred during the Clinton administration in the winter of 1995 to 1996 when former President Bill Clinton and the Republican Congress were at odds and shut the government down for a total of 21 days. The third occurred during the Obama administration in 2013. A stalemate between the House and Senate led to a 16-day hiatus.

Here is a look back at every government shutdown in the history of the U.S.

President Gerald Ford

When: Thursday, Sept. 30 to Monday, Oct. 10, 1976

Duration (full days): 10 days

The first partial shutdown occurred under Gerald Fords presidency when Ford vetoed a $56 billion spending bill for the Departments of Labor and Health, Education and Welfare, according to a 1976 report from The New York Times.

This was the year the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act became law, allowing Congress to take an extension, known as a continuing resolution (CR).

President Jimmy Carter

When: Friday, Sept. 30 to Thursday, Oct. 13, 1977

Duration (full days): 12 days

When: Monday, Oct. 31 to Wednesday, Nov. 9, 1977

Duration (full days): 8 days

When: Wednesday, Nov. 30 to Friday, Dec. 9, 1977

Duration (full days): 8 days

There were three shutdowns, referred to as the "abortion shutdowns," in the late 1970s under the presidency of Jimmy Carter. The Democratic party may have dominated both the House and the Senate, but they couldn't get Republicans on board when it came to using Medicaid to pay for abortions.

When: Saturday, Sept. 30 to Wednesday, Oct. 18, 1978

Duration (full days): 17 days

In 1978, Carter vetoed a $37 billion defense authorization bill, which included a $2 billion nuclear-powered Nimitz-class aircraft carrier -- equipment he didn't consider essential to national security, The Washington Post reported. This led to the second largest shutdown in the history of the nation.

When: Sunday, Sept. 30 to Friday, Oct. 12, 1979

Duration (full days): 11 days

Another funding gap took place a year later when the House and Senate disagreed over raising pay by 5.5 percent for members of Congress and senior civil servants, The Washington Post reported. And there was yet again another debate over abortion funding.

President Ronald Reagan

When: Friday, Nov. 20 to Monday, Nov. 23, 1981

Duration (full days): 2 days

President Ronald Reagan vetoed a spending bill because it didn't make enough cuts.

When: Thursday, Sept. 30 to Saturday, Oct. 2, 1982

Duration (full days): 1 day

The government shut down for one day when Congress failed to pass the spending bill on time.

When: Friday, Dec. 17 to Tuesday, Dec., 21, 1982

Duration (full days): 3 days

Both the House and Senate wanted to increase public works spending in order to create more jobs -- a move Reagan opposed. The House also opposed MX missile funding, which, The Washington Post noted, was a "major defense priority" of Reagan's.

When: Thursday, Nov. 10 to Monday, Nov. 14, 1983

Duration (full days): 3 days

Reagan argued over the Democratic-controlled House's proposed foreign aid and spending cuts and their plea for an increase in funding for education. At the same time, Reagan was pushing for more funding for the MX missile.

Eventually, both parties reached an agreement.

When: Sunday, Sept. 30 to Wednesday, Oct. 3, 1984

Duration (full days): 2 days

In short, Reagan agreed to the House's proposed crime-fighting package, but he opposed their water projects package.

"Reagan offered to forgo his crime bill in exchange for junking the water package...but a deal wasn't reached in time to avoid a brief shutdown," The Washington Post reported.

When: Wednesday, Oct. 3 to Friday, Oct. 5, 1984

Duration (full days): 1 day

Lawmakers reportedly needed another day to discuss the spending bill.

When: Thursday, Oct. 16 to Saturday, Oct. 18, 1986

Duration (full days): 1 day

The Democratic-controlled House was once again in disagreement with Reagan and the Republican-controlled Senate. This time, over a welfare package deal.

When: Friday, Dec. 18 to Sunday, Dec. 20, 1987

Duration (full days): 1 day

Reagan and Democrats couldn't agree on funding for Nicaraguan "Contra" militants. Democrats also pushed to reinstate the "Fairness Doctrine," which required licensed broadcasters to give equal air time for people with competing political points of view.

President George H.W. Bush

When: Friday, Oct. 5 to Tuesday, Oct. 9, 1990

Duration (full days): 3 days

Only one shutdown took place during George H.W. Bushs presidency. It occurred in October 1990 after Bush vetoed a stopgap spending bill, The New York Times reported at the time.

But the timing was right. The shutdown happened over Columbus Day weekend and most federal workers were already off for the holiday.

President Bill Clinton

When: Monday, Nov. 13 to Sunday, Nov. 19, 1995

Duration (full days): 5 days

President Bill Clinton vetoed a continuing resolution in November 1995 over Medicare premium increases.

"The government is partially shutting down because Congress has failed to pass the straightforward legislation necessary to keep the government running without imposing sharp hikes in Medicare premiums and deep cuts in education and the environment," Clinton said during an address on Nov. 14, 1995.

When: Friday, Dec. 15, 1995, to Saturday, Jan. 6, 1996

Duration (full days): 21 days

It's the second longest shutdown in U.S. history: 21 days.

The government shut down after Clinton vetoed the spending bill proposed by the Republican-controlled Congress.

After a long three weeks, the president and Congress agreed to a seven-year budget plan, which included "modest spending cuts and tax increases," according to research by the Regional Oral History Office at the University of California, Berkeley.

President Barack Obama

When: Monday, Sept. 30 to Thursday, Oct. 17, 2013

Duration (full days): 16 days

Seventeen years later, the government shut down once again. Lawmakers couldn't come to an agreement on the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, in 2013.

The House passed several versions of the bill to fund the government. But each time, the Senate sent it back.

This is an unnecessary blow to America, Harry Reid, the Senate Democratic leader at the time, said of the shutdown.

John Boehner, the House speaker during the shutdown, said Republicans were fighting to keep the government open, but the Senate "continued to reject our offers.

President Donald Trump

When: Saturday, Jan. 20 to Monday, Jan. 22, 2018

Duration (full days): 3 days

When it comes to immigration and spending, President Donald Trump and Republican lawmakers and Democrats were divided.

Republicans controlled the Senate but they still needed 60 votes to break a filibuster.

"When you only have 51 votes in the Senate, then you have to have Democrat support in order to keep the government  to fund the government," OMB Director Mick Mulvaney told reporters during a White House press briefing Friday.

Democrats said from the beginning that they'd reject any deal that didn't include a legislative fix for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, an Obama-era program, which offers protection for immigrants  also known as "Dreamers"  who came into the U.S. illegally as minors.

I'm proud of the House and Senate Democrats' unity in insisting on a budget that supports our military and the domestic investments that keep our nation strong and honors the values by protecting our DREAMers," House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said in a statement as the government shut down.

Trump, on the other hand, said Democrats only had themselves to blame when it came to both shutting down the government and failing to make a deal on DACA.

PARTIAL GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN TIMELINE: FROM TRUMP'S DEMANDS TO DEMOCRATS' PROPOSALS

"Deals cant get made when there is no trust! Durbin blew DACA and is hurting our Military," Trump tweeted. "DACA is probably dead because the Democrats dont really want it, they just want to talk and take desperately needed money away from our Military."

In the end, Democrats reached a compromise to reopen the government through Feb. 8  with one condition.

After several discussions, offers, counter-offers, the Republican leader and I have come to an arrangement," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-NY, said on the Senate floor. "We will vote today to reopen the government to continue negotiating a global agreement, with the commitment that, if an agreement isnt reached by February 8, the Senate will immediately proceed to consideration of legislation dealing with DACA.

When: Friday, Feb. 9, 2018

Duration: 9 hours

Republican and Democratic senators announced a two-year budget agreement on Feb. 7 that included an increase in military spending, an extension for the Childrens Health Insurance Program and additional funds for disaster relief, among other issues.

"I am pleased to announce that our bipartisan, bicameral negotiations on defense spending and other priorities have yielded a significant agreement," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said in a speech on the House floor.

It's a deal "neither side loves, but both sides can be proud of," Senate Minority Leader Schumer, D-N.Y., added.

But not everyone was a fan of the deal.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., slammed the plan for not addressing immigration.

"[The] package does nothing to advance bipartisan legislation to protect Dreamers in the House," said Pelosi, as she shared the stories of "Dreamers" on the House floor for more than eight hours. "Without a commitment from Speaker Ryan comparable to the commitment from Leader McConnell, this package does not have my support."

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., also voiced his frustration with the deal, which he said irresponsibly busted through budget caps and increased the country's deficit even more.

"I ran for office because I was very critical of President Obama's trillion-dollar deficits," Paul said. "Now we have Republicans hand in hand with Democrats offering us trillion-dollar deficits. I can't in all honesty look the other way."

A last-minute maneuver by Paul led to an hours-long shutdown.

In the end, Congress agreed to pass the $400 billion deal and it was on Trump's desks within hours. He announced that he had signed the bill at 8:40 a.m. ET.

When: Saturday, Dec. 22, 2018

Duration: Friday, Jan. 25, 2019

Democrats and President Trump were at an impasse over a spending bill  particularly in regards to funding for border security. As a result, and just ahead of Christmas, the government partially shuttered at midnight on Dec. 22.

Trump had urged Senate Republicans to use the so-called nuclear option to pass a spending bill that included enough funding for a border wall. The House scrambled to put together a package that included the $5.7 billion the president wanted but was unable to agree on a deal to fund the government by the deadline.

Trump has warned a closure could drag on for a very long time. When it surpassed the 22-day mark on Jan. 12, it became the longest government shutdown in U.S. history.

Fox News' Kaitlyn Schallhorn contributed to this report.
The U.S. military's advantage over Russia and China is "eroding," according to an unclassified summary of the Pentagon's new National Defense Strategy unveiled Friday by Defense Secretary Jim Mattis in Washington. The document also says that ISIS no longer remains a top threat.

Great power competition, not terrorism, is now the primary focus of U.S. national security, Mattis said. We face growing threats from revisionist powers as different as China and Russia, nations that seek to create a world consistent with their authoritarian models.

Mattis named the rogue regimes in North Korea and Iran as top threats as well. But the strategy does not ignore the ability of terrorist groups to persist and evolve. ISIS has largely been defeated in Iraq and Syria, but Mattis warned the group will keep trying to reestablish itself and make a comeback like Hezbollah and Al Qaeda.

He warned that America's ability to respond to threats has diminished.

"Our competitive edge has eroded in every domain of warfare - air, land, sea, space, and cyberspace - and is continually eroding, Mattis warned, adding at one point: America has no pre-ordained right to victory on the battlefield."

He also said, We will modernize key capabilities, recognizing we cannot expect success fighting tomorrow's conflicts with yesterday's weapons or equipment.

Mattis said the modernization of China's military over the past two decades as well as Russia's advantages coupled with the U.S fighting its longest war in the nation's history have led to loss of a competitive advantage.

Mattis went on to say the goal of this strategy is to send a message to anyone that wants to take on the U.S.

To those who would threaten Americas experiment in democracy: if you challenge us, it will be your longest and worst day, he warned.

This is the first national defense strategy in 10 years. The classified version of the strategy is five times bigger than the 11-page unclassified report released today.

"The erosion of our military advantage is the problem," said Elbridge Colby, deputy assistant secretary of defense for strategy and force development in a briefing to reporters Thursday ahead of the strategy's release. "That is the fundamental concern. That is what is driving this [new strategy]."

He added: "The secretary also believes that we've been in strategy free environment for a long time."
Sen. Bob Menendez will not face a new bribery and corruption trial after all, federal prosecutors said last month.

The Department of Justice had announced earlier this year that it intended to retry the New Jersey Democrat after a federal judge declared a mistrial in the case in November, but ultimately walked away from the pursuit.

Menendez was accused of accepting a plethora of donations and gifts from a wealthy friend in exchange for political influence. Both Menendez and the doctor, Salomon Melgen, maintained their innocence.

From the very beginning, I never wavered in my innocence and my belief that justice would prevail. I am grateful that the Department of Justice has taken the time to reevaluate its case and come to the appropriate conclusion, Menendez said on social media following the announcement.

Menendez is up for re-election this year. He was selected to replace former Gov. Jon Corzine, D-N.J., in the Senate in 2005. He rejoined the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee as its ranking member on Feb. 6, after stepping down from the post when he was indicted in 2015.

Read on for a look at what Menendez was accused of and what happened in the trial.

What was Menendez accused of?

Menendez, 64, accepted an abundance of campaign donations, gifts and vacations from Salomon Melgen, a Florida ophthalmologist, prosecutors alleged when Menendez faced trial in 2017. In return, prosecutors claimed, he used his position to lobby on behalf of Melgens business interests.

Melgen allegedly directed more than $750,000 in campaign contributions to entities that supported Menendez, according to the indictment, which prosecutors said were inducements to get Menendez to use his influence on Melgen's behalf. Prosecutors have also accused Menendez of trying to hide the gifts.

Melgen paid for Menendez and his girlfriend to stay for three nights at a Parisian hotel where rooms typically cost about $1,500 per night and allowed the senator the use of his private jet, according to prosecutors.

Federal prosecutors said that Menendez sold his office for a lifestyle that he couldnt afford.

The indictment also alleged that Menendez pressured State Department officials to give visas to three young women described as Melgen's girlfriends.

What was the senators defense?

Both Menendez and Melgen pleaded not guilty  and Menendez has vehemently denied the accusations against him.

Throughout the original trial, defense attorneys sought to prove that Menendez and Melgen have been friends since before the former became a senator, and the trips were nothing more than friends traveling together.

Is there anything else to know about Salomon Melgen?

Melgen, 63, was convicted of 67 counts of health care fraud in April 2017 in what the Palm Beach Post called one of the biggest Medicare fraud cases in the U.S.

Melgen was sentenced to 17 years in prison on Feb. 22 for Medicare fraud, as he persuaded patients to undergo treatments they did not necessarily need.

Aside from Menendez, Melgen has given significant amounts of money to a variety of Democratic lawmakers, according to public records.

How did the trial end?

After the jury again informed the judge they could not reach a decision, U.S. District Court Judge William H. Walls declared a mistrial, saying he found no alternative.

The mistrial was declared on Nov. 16.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
A conservative watchdog group on Friday released 78 pages of new Hillary Clinton emails three of which contained classified information and others that revealed the former secretary of state knew about potential security issues with her private email server.

The State Department turned over the new emails to Judicial Watch as part of the groups Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, which is on an accelerated schedule of production ordered by U.S. District Court Judge James Boasberg.

Boasberg ordered the State Department to complete processing of the remaining 72,000 pages recovered by the FBI in its investigation into Clintons private email server by Sept. 28, 2018.

Judicial Watch said the new emails appear to be among those that Clinton had attempted to delete or had otherwise failed to disclose.

The fact that Hillary Clinton and her agents tried to destroy or hide emails shows how she flagrantly and knowingly violated the laws that protect classified information and government records, Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said in a statement. And these new emails refute Hillary Clintons repeated claims of having little or no knowledge about her email system. She clearly was fully in charge of setting up her outlaw email system and overseeing its use.

The new emails reveal Clintons apparent knowledge of system vulnerabilities with her non-state.gov email address.

One email on June 6, 2011 from Clinton aide Justin Cooper, who asked State Department IT aide Bryan Pagliano to set up Clintons private email server, warned about overseas security issues with her emails and BlackBerry devices.

All of your older messages will remain on the server. There is a way for me to move everything onto the new device, but the security whizzes have convinced me that this is a horrible thing to do because you also transfer any viruses, spyware and junk overseas providers hide on there, Cooper wrote in the email. We also have some new security features and policies [sic] that I would like to add to any new berry you have the most noticeable difference will require a more complex password. It is a constant fight to keep up with the security measures and unfortunately we keep seeing reminders of why we need to.

Throughout the FBI investigation, and congressional probes into the private email server, Clinton claimed she wasnt involved in issues involving the email system.

But new emails show exchanges between Clinton and top aides, like Pagliano and Cooper, who helped to set up the servers, discussing backups of emails and the setting up of Clintons ipad.

Cooper reportedly had no security clearance.
President Trumps former spotlight-seeking staffer Omarosa Manigault-Newman might have secretly recorded private conversations in the White House, The New York Daily News reported Friday.

Manigault-Newman, who abruptly left the White House last year, purportedly loves to record meetings and has been lawyering up. Shes held several exploratory meetings with high profile attorneys in recent weeks, including Harvey Weinsteins former attorney Lisa Bloom and former Bill Cosby lawyer Monique Pressley, the paper reported.

Everyone knows Omarosa loves to record people and meetings using the voice notes app on her iPhone, a source told the Daily News. Dont be surprised if she has secret audio files on everyone in that White House, past and present staffers included.

Though White house Chief of Staff John Kelly personally told the former Apprentice star that her stint in the White House had come to a close last month, her official last day is Saturday.

Rumors immediately surfaced at the time that Manigault-Newman was dragged out of the White House by Secret Service in a dramatic reality-tv kind of way though the Secret Service has denied those claims.

Our only involvement in this matter was to deactivate the individuals pass which grants access to the complex, the U.S. Secret Service said in a statement.

Fox News sources said Manigault-Newman was given the news of her termination in the White House Situation Room, a subterranean space under the West Wing where electronic and recording devices must be surrendered at the door.

Where are the pictures or videos? Manigault-Newman questioned at the time. If I had confronted John Kelly, who is a very formidable person, it would garner someone to take a photo or a video.

However, the nature of the Situation Rooms restrictions mean that neither Manigault-Newman nor anyone else would have been able to record her conversation with Kelly even if they had wanted to.

However, a recent ban on personal cell phones in the White House, which came after Michael Wolfs tell-all book about Trump, was related to Manigault-Newmans habit of recording conversations, the paper reported.

The Daily News also says the 43-year-old believes she may become a fixture in FBI special counsel Robert Muellers investigation into allegations of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. Several Trump staffers have already been questioned or subpoenaed on the matter.

During her stint at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Manigault-Newman worked as an assistant to the president and director of communications for the White House Office of Public Liaison, working on outreach to various constituency groups. In that role, she enjoyed a close relationship with Trump and even held her April wedding at Trumps D.C. hotel.

She purportedly drew the ire of Kelly and other senior staffers when she brought a 39-person bridal party to the White House for a photo shoot.

Certainly I had more access than most, and people had problems with that, she said on Good Morning America. People have problems with my 14-year relationship with him.
Republican congressional candidate Rick Saccone conceded the special election to Democrat Conor Lamb more than a week after the close election ended.

Lamb, who had already declared victory in the race, revealed Saccones call in a tweet on March 21. Lamb offered congratulations to his opponent for a close, hard-fought race and said he wished him the best.

Lamb won the seat by a margin of about 750 votes. Republicans considered seeking a recount request or a lawsuit to contest the result, even as vote-counting over the past week continued to pad Lamb's lead. But officials said those efforts have been dropped since Saccone conceded.

Ahead of the election, Democrats had hoped to stir up enough enthusiasm  especially among union members  to increase voter turnout and change the party representing a district that has recently been red.

The one fact that has remained the same this year  whether Democrats have won or lost [recent special elections]  is Democrats are doing better in terms of turnout and enthusiasm, Kevan Yenerall, a social sciences professor at Clarion University, told Fox News before the election.

The congressional seat opened after Republican Rep. Tim Murphy, who in public was staunchly anti-abortion, resigned in 2017 amid reports that he asked his mistress to get an abortion when he believed she was pregnant.

Here's a look at the candidates and what is unique about Pennsylvania's 18th district.

Conor Lamb

A Marine Corps captain, Conor Lamb, 33, said on his campaign website the biggest issues facing the 18th congressional district arent partisan.

My only bias is the one they taught us in the Marines: a bias for action, Lamb said on his website.

His congressional to-do list includes: battling the nations heroin epidemic, modern energy development and creating jobs.

In Pennsylvania, Lamb already worked towards ending the growing heroin crisis; as an assistant U.S. attorney, Lamb worked to make the Justice Departments Pittsburgh office a national leader in the fight, according to his campaign website.

Lamb has advocated for new leadership in the House and said he would not vote for Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., as Minority Leader again  a politically astute move that could garner him the support of more moderate or independent voters, said Yenerall.

Most Democrats in the district may not dislike Pelosi, per se, but would like to shake up the status quo, Yenerall explained.

He added that Lambs background as a veteran and U.S. attorney as well as his temperament does fit the district more so than other Democrats have.

Lamb spoke out about gun control in the wake of the Parkland, Fla., high school massacre. He said he doesnt believe additional gun laws are needed to prevent mass shootings.

"The broad agreement already is that we're not doing a good enough job keeping guns out of the hands of people with mental health conditions and with criminals," Lamb said at a campaign event.

He told the Weekly Standard he would not have voted for legislation that would have prohibited abortions after 20 weeks, adding that he doesnt label himself as pro-life because its a political term.

Former Vice President Joe Biden campaigned for Lamb a week ahead of the election, comparing the candidate to his late son Beau and praising him for his dedication to unions.

Lamb will never ever stop, will never ever play a game, Biden said, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Thats this guy. This guy gets it.

Rick Saccone

A longtime state representative, Rick Saccone, 60, is a conservative Republican who more embodies the policies of President Trump.

Saccone is more known for his religious conservatism as opposed to Murphy, who is a more mainstream Republican, Robert Speel, an associate professor of political science at Pennsylvania State University in Erie, told Fox News.

He was one of the lawmakers who championed Pennsylvanias Castle Doctrine, or stand your ground law, which allows law-abiding people to protect themselves, their families and others from intruders and attackers without fear of prosecution or civil action for acting in defense of themselves and others.

Saccone also sponsored a bill that would require public school buildings to bear the motto In God We Trust. Additionally, he pushed for a National Fast Day in the state to mirror President Lincolns proclamation of a national day of humiliation, fasting and prayer.

PARTY LEADERS SENDING BIG MONEY, TOP STARS TO RIGHT PENNSYLVANIA HOUSE RACE

Saccone is a retired Air Force officer with vast experience in counter-terrorism efforts, including working on task forces for two Olympic Games, according to his campaign website.

Ive got a resume that my opponent doesnt have, Saccone told Fox News.

Trump often tweeted his support of Saccone, including ahead of a January visit to the Keystone state.

Rick is a great guy. We need more Republicans to continue our already successful agenda, the president said.

Trump again traveled to western Pennsylvania the weekend before the election, urging voters to elect Saccone to advance the White House agenda.

We need our Congressman Saccone, Trump said.

Aside from Trump, Saccone also received support from Vice President Mike Pence and Ivanka, the president's daughter and adviser.

But not all Republicans were happy with Saccone, Politico reported just before the election. Strategists and national GOP officials described Saccone to the publication as deeply underwhelming as a candidate and complained about his fundraising ability. Saccone told Fox News the reported friction was nonsense peddled by his opponents.

Saccone is married with two sons. He studied in Africa, visited 75 countries, authored multiple books on North Korea and earned a Ph.D. in international affairs.

The district

Pennsylvanias 18th congressional district is located in the western part of the state near Pittsburgh. It includes parts of Allegheny, Greene, Washington and Westmoreland Counties and is made up of many rural, blue-collar voters.

There are actually more registered Democrats than Republicans in the district  a result of strong organized labor in the area.

Union workers are a key demographic for the special election, although Trump made inroads with the more than 80,000 members in the district with his candidacy, Yenerall said.

But Saccones anti-union voting record in the state legislature ultimately hurt him.

Due to redistricting in the state, both Lamb and Saccone are expected to run again later this year  in what will now be separate districts.

What shaped the election

Bellwether election: Pennsylvanias 18th district overwhelmingly voted for Trump over Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election. The election shaped up as the next test of Democrats enthusiasm and GOP resilience in the Trump era and an early indicator of whether a midterm wave could be coming later this year.

Political activists are certainly looking at this race as an indicator of Pennsylvania and national trends, Speel said.

Lambs win could spell major trouble for Republicans in similar districts across the country, Yenerall said ahead of the election.

Both parties have a great deal at stake here. If a Democrat can win this type of district with the right type of candidate  it would mean the Democrats would do better than expected in the midterms," he had predicted.

Spending: This race was expensive. Lamb raised more than $3.3 million this year, compared to just $703,000 for Saccone, according to FEC records.

Ending Spending Inc., a super PAC founded by billionaire Joe Ricketts, was the first to hit the airwaves with a $1 million ad buy in support of Saccone.

The Congressional Leadership Fund, a super PAC tied to Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan, announced earlier this year that it would open two field offices in the district with 50 full-time canvassers.

In Lambs first television spot, he noted that he has refused corporate PAC money.

Tim Murphy fallout: The reasoning behind Murphys decision to leave office could have an effect on voters, some politicos in the state warned ahead of election night.

Itll be interesting to see if voters turn against the Republican Party, seeing them as hypocritical, Speel said.

Lamb has already painted Republicans as the party of hypocrisy. When he was selected as the Democrats nominee, Lamb said he planned to expose Republicans public hypocrisy fully equal to the private hypocrisy of Tim Murphy, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported in November.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
The Supreme Court announced Friday it will take up the case against the latest version of President Trumps travel ban, which bars entry in to the United States for residents of six majority-Muslim countries.

The court will hear arguments in April and is expected to issue a ruling by June.

The issue pits an administration that considers the restrictions necessary for Americans' security against challengers who claim it is illegally aimed at Muslims and stems from Trump's campaign call for a "complete shutdown of Muslims" entering the U.S.

The announcement was celebrated by opponents of the ban.

We have always known this case would ultimately be decided by the United States Supreme Court, said Hawaii Attorney General Doug Chin, who has challenged the ban. This will be an important day for justice and the rule of law. We look forward to the court hearing the case.

The presidents travel ban has been repeatedly blocked and struck down in the lower courts since last year.

The latest of those rulings came last month when the federal appeals court in San Francisco ruled that the travel ban Trump announced in September violates federal immigration law.

The federal appeals court in Richmond, Virginia, also is considering a challenge to the ban.

Last month, the high court said the ban could be fully enforced while appeals made their way through the courts.

The policy applies to travelers from Chad, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen. It also affects two non-Muslim countries: blocking travelers from North Korea and some Venezuelan government officials and their families.

The Supreme Court has never ruled on whether any of the three versions of the travel ban is legal. The court agreed last June to take up the second version until it expired in the early fall.

Trump's first travel ban was issued almost a year ago, almost immediately after he took office, and was aimed at seven countries. It triggered chaos and protests across the U.S. as travelers were stopped from boarding international flights and detained at airports for hours. Trump tweaked the order after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit refused to reinstate the ban.

The next version, unveiled in March, dropped Iraq from the list of covered countries and made it clear the 90-day ban covering Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen didn't apply to those travelers who already had valid visas. It also got rid of language that would give priority to religious minorities. Critics said the changes didn't erase the legal problems with the ban.

The same appeals courts that are evaluating the current policy agreed with the challengers. The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond said the ban "drips with religious intolerance, animus and discrimination." The San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Trump violated immigration law.

The Supreme Court allowed the ban to take partial effect, but said those with a claim of a "bona fide" relationship with someone in the United States could not be kept out of the country. Grandparents, cousins and other relatives were among those who could not be excluded.

But the high court said lower courts were wrong to apply the same limits to the new policy, at least while it is being appealed. The justices did not explain their brief order.

The third version is permanent, unlike the other two, and the administration said it is the product of a thorough review by several agencies of how other countries' screen their own citizens and share information with the U.S.

Solicitor General Noel Francisco said in court papers that the policy is well within the president's "broad authority to suspend or restrict the entry of aliens outside the United States when he deems it in the Nation's interest."

In response, the challengers said the policy violates the Constitution because it is biased against Muslims and also violates immigration law. The new version continues "the same unlawful policy" that was struck down by lower courts last year, lawyer Neal Katyal said in his brief on behalf of the challengers.

Fox News Shannon Bream and Ross Lee and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
President Trump warned early Friday there could be a shutdown coming if Senate Democrats block the vote to pass the short-term spending bill that would keep the government funded.

The House of Representatives passed the stop-gap spending bill that would avert a full government shutdown late Thursday. The bill, also known as a continuing resolution (CR), was sent to the Senate for a vote following its approval.

Government Funding Bill past [sic] last night in the House of Representatives. Now Democrats are needed if it is to pass in the Senate but they want illegal immigration and weak borders. Shutdown coming? We need more Republican victories in 2018! Trump tweeted early Friday.

The large majority of Democrats oppose the bill, but Sen. Joe Manchin, D-WV, has said he will cross the aisle and vote yes.

However, a senior senate source told Fox News to "expect a shutdown over the weekend," perhaps lasting two to three days.

At least three Republican senators have said they will vote against the bill  Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., and Rand Paul, R-Ky. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., is not in Washington for the vote.

Im not going to vote for a CR. Youre destroying the military here, Graham said.

If we say were fiscally conservative, we ought to be fiscally conservative, so Im not voting for raising the spending caps and Im not voting for $700 billion deficits, Paul said on Fox News Thursday.

This means a maximum of 47 Republicans and 1 Democrat are set to vote yes to keep the government running. A simple majority is needed to pass the bill.

Republicans have a narrow majority in the Senate  51 versus the 49 senators who caucus with the Democrats. But without full Republican support, the funding of the government through 11:59:59 p.m. Friday is unclear.

HOUSE OKS TEMPORARY SPENDING BILL TO AVOID SHUTDOWN, BUT FUTURE IN SENATE IS UNCLEAR

Democrats will filibuster the bill, a move that could delay or even prevent entirely, a vote to keep the government running.

Republican leadership needs 60 yea votes to break a filibuster  meaning they need the help of at least 13 Democratic senators, which, at this point, seems unlikely.

If Republicans manage to garner the votes to break that filibuster, another 30 hours of debate are available for opponents of the bill, which means a vote in the Senate to keep the government open may not happen until Sunday.

Unless there is bipartisan support and cooperation, the government will shut down.

DEMOCRATS READY TO BLOCK BILL TO AVERT SHUTDOWN SANG A DIFFERENT TUNE IN 2013

Democrats have no place to hide here, a source close to Republican leadership told Fox News.

"Democrats have no place to hide here,"  a source close to Republican leadership told Fox News

The blame game continued, as Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., warned that the short-term fix wasnt sufficient.

We cant keep kicking the can down the road, Schumer said. In another month, well be right back here, at this moment, with the same web of problems at our feet, in no better position to solve them.

The bill would keep the government funded through Feb. 16, and includes a six-year extension for the Childrens Health Insurance Plan (CHIP), but there is nothing in the bill bringing Democrats to the table.

For weeks, Democrats have pushed for language in a spending package that would protect some 700,000 immigrants who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children from deportation. That language would move to be a renewal of the Obama-era Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which the Trump administration ended in September.

Republicans, on the other hand, are pushing for an increase in defense funding, with guidance from the White House for language that would apply stronger border security and begin construction of Trumps paramount campaign promise  a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Democratic senators fixation on illegal immigration has already blocked us from making progress on long-term spending talks, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said. That same fixation has them threatening to filibuster funding for the government.

And Republican sources said Schumers push to block the vote doesnt make sense.

Theyre not going to vote to fund the government with a short-term CR just to put pressure on an issue that is already being negotiated, and that is not a real issue until March, a source told Fox News.

According to the Department of Homeland Security, no current beneficiaries of the DACA program will be impacted before March 5, 2018.

White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders on Friday urged Democrats to do whats right.

Last night House Republicans votes for a bipartisan deal to keep the government open and protect our military, seniors, & childrens healthcare. Today Senate Democrats can join Republicans and do whats right or shut down the government and hurt Americans who need it most, Sanders tweeted early Friday.

The government shutdown looms on the eve of Trumps one year anniversary as president of the United States.

A White House official told Fox News that the president will not go to Mar-a-Lago, as initially scheduled.

The President will not be going to Florida until the CR passes.

Fox News Chad Pergram, John Roberts, Kristin Brown, Mike Emmanuel and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
It was red meat without the red carpet.

With no fanfare and no opening of envelopes, President Trump finally unveiled his so-called fake news awardson an RNC website that promptly crashed.

Perhaps it was done without the usual Trumpian flair, but the 10 cases are basically accurate, though I have a couple of quibbles. CNN walked off with four of the not-so-coveted prizes, with the New York Times securing two and one apiece for ABC, Time, the Washington Post and Newsweek.

The president has every right to criticize news organizations, and the awards gimmick has already succeeded in generating coverage by the MSM.

But whats striking is that in most of these cases, the news outlets ran corrections or retractions or apologized. And in some instances, severe disciplinary action was taken.

That means there has been some accountability. It doesnt let the news organizations and journalists off the hook for bad judgment or a reckless rush to publish, and its fair to suggest that antipathy toward the president may have played a role, but it mean the stories werent deliberately fabricated.

So lets run through the winners:

--New York Times columnist Paul Krugman said the day after the election the stock markets would never recover from Trumps victory. That was a spectacularly wrong forecast by the Nobel Prize-winning economistthe Dow is up 8,000 points since thenbut it was a prediction by a pundit, not a news story.

--ABCs Brian Ross erroneously reported that Trump ordered Mike Flynn to make contact with the Russians during the campaign, but it actually occurred during the transition, which is routine. The false story was at least partially responsible for a 350-point drop in the Dow. ABC corrected the story and suspended Ross for a month.

--CNN reported that Donald Trump Jr. had special, early access to hacked Democratic emails through Wikileaks. The network admitted it had the date wrong and the material was already public by the time that Wikileaks contacted the presidents son.

--Time falsely reported on Jan. 20, 2017 that Trump had removed the Martin Luther King bust from the Oval Office. Reporter Zeke Miller didnt see it and apologized for the erroneous report hours later.

--The Washington Post, as a newspaper, did not erroneously report that Trumps packed rally in Pensacola was half-empty. Post reporter Dave Weigel said that in a tweet with a picture of the arena that had been taken hours earlier. He apologized for the blunder, which underscored the dangers of tweeting on the run.

--CNN did not misleadingly edit a video to show Trump overfeeding fish in a koi pond with Japanese Prime Minister Abe, but did needlessly mock him along with other news outlets. CNN used pool video that was shot in a misleading way, because it didnt show Trump following Abes lead in dumping the rest of his box of food into the pond. A very fishy story.

--CNN falsely accused Trump adviser Anthony Scaramucci of a secret meeting with a Russian. This is probably the worst mistake in the bunch, and the network retracted the online story after a legal threat from the Mooch. But CNN also forced the resignations of three top journalists who had worked on the piece, an admission of the severity of the error.

--Newsweek did falsely report that Polish First Lady Agata Kornhauser-Duda did not shake Trumps hand, awkwardly bypassing him for Melania Trump. But video shows the president did shake her hand soon afterward. Newsweek merely posted an update to the discredited story.

--CNN did falsely report that James Comey, in Hill testimony, would dispute the claim that the former FBI chief had told him he wasnt under investigation in the Russia probe. Comey backed up Trumps account. That was an inexcusable error, especially since we would all find out anyway once the hearing was held.

--The New York Times did erroneously report in a front-page story that the administration was hiding a report on climate change. The Times ran a correction saying that the report was available online, though it had not been widely publicizeda very different situation.

These mistakes vary in magnitude, but they reflect a tendency to overreach or underreport when it comes to covering Trump, and always in a negative direction. There are, of course, many other stories that the president criticized last year that were accurate and legitimate. But the blunders help give the business a black eye.
A day after President Trump appeared noncommittal as to when the US embassy would be relocated to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv, it was reported his administration has redoubled its efforts to make the move by 2019.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told reporters on Wednesday that the US embassy would be moved in the course of a year, Trump appeared to reject the idea later in the day.

By the end of the year? Trump told Reuters in an exclusive interview. Were talking about different scenarios. I mean obviously that would be on a temporary basis. Were not really looking at that. Thats a no.

But Thursday, senior U.S. officials told The New York Times that the administration is moving faster than expected to locate the embassy in Jerusalem sometime in 2018.

Rather than construct an entirely new complex, the State Department has decided to repurpose an existing consular building in West Jerusalem to be the new embassy, the Times reported.

U.S. officials said Trump was hesitant to commit to a one-year timetable because he may have been referring to an initial plan to build an embassy compound from scratch.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Thursday successfully petitioned Trump for additional time to ensure the security of the West Jerusalem complex, which is located in the Arnona neighborhood, the Times reported.

What youll see from the secretary is that we will do this at the pace of security, not at the pace of politics, the under secretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs, Steven Goldstein, told the paper.
Excavation work on the uninhabited Greek island of Keros has unveiled a stunning look at the start of the Cycladic Bronze Age, showing off technological sophistication, impressive masonry work and precision detail well before its time.

Researchers uncovered a series of structures near the settlement of Dhaskalio, including one of the most impressive sites of the Aegean during the Early Bronze Age, or the 3rd millennium B.C., according to a press release detailing the findings. Dhaskalio is adjacent to the prehistoric sanctuary on Keros, which is part of the Cyclades group of islands in the the Aegean Sea.

Until recently, Keros was best known for ritualistic activities that occurred approximately 4,500 years ago, some of which included broken marble figurines. But due to the recent exacavations, researchers have found that builders carved out the entire surface of the promontory of Dhaskalio, importing 1,000 tons of white stone to make it look like a pyramid rising from the Aegean Sea.

DNA DISCOVERY UNRAVELS MYSTERY OF EARLY GREEK CIVILIZATIONS

University of Cambridge Professor Colin Renfrew, who is the co-director of the excavation, suggested that the promontory, with its narrow causeway to the main island, may have become a focus because it formed the best natural harbour on Keros, and had an excellent view of the north, south and west Aegean."

Because of its natural appearance, the promontory was already shaped like a pyramid, but with the introduction of the builders, a number of terrace walls were created to give it a stepped pyramid appearance. Stone was imported from Naxos, the largest island in the Cyclades, to build "impressive, gleaming structures."

The research team, which included archaeologists from the University of Cambridge, the Ephorate of the Cyclades and the Cyprus Institute, noted that almost the entire island was built on, to give it the appearance of one large structure. It was the largest known structure in the Cyclades at the time.

Renfrow added that investigations at multiple points throughout the site have given unique insight into how the architecture was organised and how people moved about the built environment.

Beneath the surface of the terraces, the archaeolgists also found extraordinary technological advancements, such as drainage tunnels, in addition to complex metalworking. The tunnels are particularly noteworthy because they were built well before the Bronze Age palace of Knossos, part of the Minoan civilization and the famous palaces of the Mycenaean civilization.

ARCHAEOLOGISTS DISCOVER MASTERPIECE SEALSTONE IN GREEK TOMB

Because of its location in the Aegean Sea, it could not have been self-sufficient, meaning nearly everything from food to stone to metal had to be imported.

Of the metal work that has been unearthed, new finds include a lead axe, numerous ceramic fragments and a mold used for copper daggers. Dr. Michael Boyd of the University of Cambridge, who was also a co-director of the excavation, highlighted the importance of the findings.

At a time when access to raw materials and skills was very limited, metalworking expertise seems to have been very much concentrated at Dhaskalio," Dr. Boyd said in the release. "What we are seeing here with the metalworking and in other ways is the beginnings of urbanisation: centralisation, meaning the drawing of far-flung communities into networks centred on the site, intensification in craft or agricultural production, aggrandisement in architecture, and the gradual subsuming of the ritual aspects of the sanctuary within the operation of the site."

He added that it gives researchers "a clear insight into social change at Dhaskalio," all the way from the earliest part, where rituals took place in the santcuary, "to the growing power of Dhaskalio itself in its middle years.

Archaeologists also found food traces embedded in the soil, including pulses, grapes, olives, figs, almonds and cereals, which include both emmer wheat and barley.

LARGEST KNOWN UNDERWATER CAVE ON EARTH DISCOVERED IN MEXICO; HOLDS CLUES TO MAYAN CIVILIZATION

Keros was probably not self-sustaining, meaning that much of this food was imported: in the light of this evidence we need to reconsider what we know about existing networks to include food exchange," said Dr. Evi Margaritis of the Cyprus Institute, who is studying the the use of new agricultural practices at Dhaskalio.

The excavations are being recorded digitally, with data being put on an iPad app known as iDig. The iDig app allows excavators and everyone involved to see the data in real-time, as well as providing 3D models using a technique known as photogrammetry.

Follow Chris Ciaccia on Twitter @Chris_Ciaccia
Meteorite hunters have found the first pieces of the fireball that streaked across the sky in Michigan this week.

Accompanied by a flash and a sound like thunder, the space rock entered Earths atmosphere northwest of Detroit on Tuesday night. Based on information from NASA, researchers are now looking for rare pieces of meteorite in the area of Hamburg Township in the southeastern part of the state.

Some fragments of the 6-foot-wide rock have already been spotted, according to reports.

We are happy and excited to report, two meteorites from the Jan 16th fall have been found in Michigan today. Congratulations to Robert Ward and Larry Atkins on the first two reported finds, the American Meteor Society tweeted Thursday.

The Detroit Free Press reports that Ward found three meteorites in less than four hours on a frozen lake at Hamburg Township. The first meteorite found was reportedly the size of a pecan, with the third about the size of a walnut.

'POTENTIALLY HAZARDOUS ASTEROID' BIGGER THAN EARTH'S TALLEST BUILDING WILL ZOOM PAST US NEXT MONTH

NASA reports that the meteoroid entered Earths atmosphere above the southeastern part of Michigan, just to the northwest of Detroit. The fireball was so bright that it was seen through clouds by our meteor camera located at Oberlin college in Ohio, about 120 miles away, explained NASAs Meteor Watch, in a Facebook post.

A meteoroid is a small chunk of asteroid or comet. When it enters Earth's atmosphere it becomes a meteor or fireball or shooting star. The pieces of rock that hit the ground, valuable to collectors, are meteorites. The Michigan meteor has been defined as a "superbolide," or particularly bright meteor.

NASA estimates that the meteor was travelling at 36,000 mph. "We have discovered that this meteor travelled almost straight down through the atmosphere, which is unusual for a meteorite dropper - the entry angle was only 21 degrees from the vertical," it explained, on Facebook. "The peak brightness of the fireball has been measured to be magnitude -17, which is the lower limit for a superbolide (Full Moon is magnitude -12 and the Sun is magnitude -27)."

The Michigan rock was too small to be tracked. It exploded in the air with the power of 100 tons of TNT, said Bill Cooke of NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office.

NASA TEST FIRES ROCKET ENGINE WITH 3D-PRINTED 'SHOCK ABSORBER' FOR DEEP SPACE MISSIONS

Such was the power of the meteor that it measured 2.0 on the U.S. Geological Surveys seismic monitors.

The American Meteor Society received hundreds of reports of a fireball Tuesday night over the state, including many in the Detroit area. Reports also came in from several other states and Ontario, Canada.

Depending on their size and material, meteorites can be lucrative finds. Because meteorites are so scarce, they are priced and sold by the gram, explains the Meteorlab website.

Common iron meteorite prices are generally between 50 cents and $5 per gram, according to Meteorlab. Stone meteorites, however, are much scarcer and priced between $2 and $20 per gram. A type of stony-iron meteorite called a pallasite is of the greatest interest to private collectors, according to Geology.com.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.

Follow James Rogers on Twitter @jamesjrogers
Hoping to help agents in the field, the Border Patrol is testing a fleet of personal drones, giving agents in remote areas eyes where they are currently blind.

This drone could be deployed to assist agents on the ground, moving to a target or moving in on a group it detects, said Border Patrol Agent Jason Weatherby.

The program is still in a testing phase, but Fox News joined a special operations team out of Tucson in the west Arizona desert, an 80-mile stretch of cactus, mesquite bushes and Palo Verde trees  and no fence at all.

This could be their eyes in the sky and keep the agent from having to walk so far when their vehicles can no longer get them where they need to be, said Weatherby.

The US-Mexican border stretches almost 2,000 miles, but less than 20 percent is defended by a pedestrian fence. Most fencing exists in urban areas, stretching out 10 or 20 miles in each direction. High-tech cameras allow agents to see illegal immigrants approach and intercept them.

But in rural areas, there is no fence and no cameras, only underground seismic sensors that detect when something or someone crosses the border. But trying to check out every sensor hit over bad roads can take an agent off station for hours. By the time they arrive, the illegal immigrant can be miles away.

A drone closes the gap, confirming the sensor hit as a person or animal, how many illegal immigrants are in a group and if any are armed.

It saves us time. It is a lot quicker to deploy this and fly it down two miles to the border, than us trying to drive it, Weatherby said.

Agents took Fox News to an area that stretches 80 miles in between the border towns of Nogales and Lukeville. There is no fence and few roads. The area is flat but the line of sight is limited by cows and heavy brush. A sensor hit 10 miles away along the border could take an hour or more to reach. A test drone was overhead in minutes.

Something like this in orbit can cover a large swath of desert area, as opposed to our fixed camera systems that are focalized into what they can see, said Weatherby.

The drone program is in its testing phase in Arizona, Vermont and Texas. Three drones are being tested  two fixed wing and one quad copter. Whatever platform is chosen, will likely be equipped with a day and night camera and possibly a radar.
Snapchat parent company Snap has threatened its employees with jail time should they leak any confidential company information.

The warning was sent to all employees last week by Snaps general counsel Michael OSullivan in a memo obtained by the tech Web site Cheddar Scoops.

In the memo, OSullivan stressed that Snap has a zero-tolerance policy towards any and all leakers.

If you leak Snap Inc. information, you will lose your job and we will pursue any and all legal remedies against you, he said. And thats just the start. You can face personal financial liability even if you yourself did not benefit from the leaked information.

OSullivan continued on to warn that the US government and Snaps investors are also able to seek their own remedies against any leakers, and that the government can even put you in jail.

Snap has been dealing with a deluge of leaks of late, including a story published last week by The Daily Beast that included confidential metrics about Snapchats key features.

This story originally appeared in the New York Post.
The U.S. military is partnering with Silicon Valley to step up its game on the battlefield.

The Defense Innovation Unit Experimental (DIUX), which is part of the Department of Defense, is connecting the U.S. military with companies developing leading-edge technology that would help it carry out missions quicker and cheaper.

"It's all about decision making faster than the enemy, Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Harrigian told Fox News.

As the commander of the air war in Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan, Harrigian knows that on todays complex battlefields, winning often comes down to timing and efficiency.

We can't do what we need to do every day without software that's the leading edge, he said.

Harrigian said it was time the military worked with an industry that could bring it to the forefront of technology  and bring greater efficiency on the battlefield.

[Silicon Valley is] getting out in front of the world to develop software that is now integral to war fighting, he said. If you can imagine, there's a target out there that we see, that we want to get after quickly and put ordnance on it."

Private industry is on the same page.

Keith Salisbury represents Pivotal Software, one of the companies trying to help the military work smarter and faster.

The war fighter needs a decision: Do I engage or not? Salisbury said. The process in general is a bunch of chat windows open on a computer screenabout 20 or moreand then a bunch of people start looking into systems to find out, Where is that target? What are the surrounding facilities? Are there schools? Are there hospitals? Are there civilian populations? What munition would be appropriate? Do we engage or not?"

As part of a Defense Innovation Advisory Board, leaders from technology companies like Pivotal Software went to the Combined Air Operations Center (CAOC) at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar to see how they could help.

What they encountered was startling.

"They saw lots of whiteboards, Salisbury said. They saw lots of Excel spreadsheets, lots of different systems, lots in writing, lots of erasing and a very manually intensive process."

Even planning where and when to have refueling tankers was cumbersome and dated, he said.

It's about 60 air refueling tankers and then you tag onto that another 150 to 200 fighters that are out there every day and we're war fighting so you can't have a fighter show up and not have a tanker there, said Harrigian. It would literally take us 8 to 10 hours to do that every day."

The solution? Make an app for that.

Experts were able to do that by putting software experts next to airmen.

"We paired with them and we taught them this new way of building software and we built the software application side by side with them, Salisbury said.

The Air Force says it takes half the manpower half the time and saves nearly a million dollars of fuel per week.

They have also developed a program to quickly answer that warfighter question: To engage or not to engage?

Think about using Microsoft Word, Excel, Google Earth and then a tool that manages all our targets for us, said Harrigian. So all those are now combined into one tool that allows then the decision maker to see all the information at once and then we can immediately get after the target. It allows us to stay in front of the enemy.
Thanks to a pair of doctors on a recent Air France flight from Paris to New York, a woman gave birth to a healthy baby boy somewhere in the skies above the eastern coast of North America.

Sij Hemal and Susan Shepherd  a urology resident from Cleveland and a pediatrician from France, respectively  just happened to be seated next to each other on the Dec. 17 Air France flight when fellow passenger Toyin Ogundipe started experiencing contractions while passing over Greenland, the Cleveland Clinic reports.

CHILD BORN ON JET AIRWAYS FLIGHT EARNS FREE TICKETS FOR LIFE

Her contractions were about 10 minutes apart, so [Shepherd] and I began to monitor her vital signs and keep her comfortable, Hemal said.

Hemal recommended that the flight crew continue on to JFK International Airport while the doctors monitored Ogundipes progress, rather than divert the entire plane to a military base.

Within an hour, however, Hemal observed that the contractions grew close enough that he and Shepherd knew we were going to deliver on the plane.

The group was transferred to first class, and Ogundipe delivered a healthy baby boy, Jake, just a half-hour later. The doctors assessed Jakes vitals, removed Ogundipes placenta, and tied off the umbilical cord with the aid of a shoestring.

THESE ARE THE WORST DAYS TO FLY IN 2018

Ogundipe, meanwhile, told the Cleveland Clinic she remained calm thanks to Hemals and Shepherds bedside manners.

I was relaxed because I knew I was in safe hands, said Ogundipe, 41, who resides in both the U.K. and Nigeria. They did everything a doctor or midwife would have done if I was in the labor room in the hospital. Even better, if you ask me.

Hemal added that it was pure destiny that he and Shepherd happened to be on the flight. Thanks to God, everything worked out, he said.

FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK FOR MORE FOX LIFESTYLE NEWS

Upon landing, Ogundipe was transferred to a New York City hospital, and Hemal caught a connecting (and less exhilarating) flight to Cleveland, where he finally had the chance to relax and enjoy some Champagne, just like he had originally planned for the first leg of his trip.

I thought Id just have a drink and fall asleep, Hemal remembered of his Paris-New York flight. "As it turned out, Im glad I didnt drink anything."
Police in Oklahoma say a 72-year-old woman was fatally shot after she fired a high-powered pellet gun at officers during a drug raid.

Bartlesville Police Capt. Jay Hastings says Geraldine Townsend died after officers returned fire while executing a search warrant Wednesday night.

Hastings says officers were arresting her 50-year-old son at a local home when they heard shots. Two officers were struck by projectiles.

Hastings says one officer returned fire and struck Townsend in the upper body. She later died at a local hospital.

One officer was hit by a pellet in the leg. The other officer was struck in the face and was hospitalized.

Townsend's son, Mike Anthony Livingston, was arrested on drug and weapons charges. Hastings says the Oklahoma Bureau of Investigation is looking into the incident.
Three people in Calhoun County, Alabama were reportedly killed Thursday by a family member who fatally shot them before turning the gun on himself.

Emergency responders were dispatched to a home in White Plains just before 1 p.m. on Thursday, The Anniston Star reported.

A man identified by Calhoun County Coroner Pat Brown as Tony Parker had reportedly called police to confess to his crimes.

ALABAMA WOMAN ATTACKS BOYFRIEND WITH HATCHET, BILLIARD BALL: POLICE

We received a call to 911 and the man said hed killed some people and that he was going to kill himself, Calhoun County Sheriff Matthew Wade said.

A deputy arrived to the home and found three bodies in the front yard, none of which were the man that called, Wade added.

The bodies were identified as Parkers 19-year-old daughter, Heather, her fiance, 20-year-old Brandon Roberts, and Parkers 12-year-old son.

The 911 call reportedly was traced back to a store in Rabbittown, where Parkers body was found with a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

ALABAMA MAN ACCUSED OF SEXUALLY MOLESTING HORSE

The children didnt regularly live with their father, and according to WIAT, their mother was out of town during the alleged murders.

Police are investigating why the children were at the home.
The Los Angeles college student who sued his school after they curbed his free speech right to pass out copies of the Constitution was vindicated in a California court this week after a judge ruled that he was well within the boundaries of the First Amendment.

Pierce College student Kevin Shaw, 27, filed a lawsuit in March against the Los Angeles Community College District after he was barred from passing out copies of the historic document because he wasnt within the schools designated free speech zone  a tiny parcel about the size of three parking spaces. Officials for the school maintained that the minuscule area provided was constitutional.

But the judge rejected that argument and said the open spaces of public colleges like Pierce are traditional public forums  regardless of the school system's regulations.

Shaw said he was excited over the decision. I feel vindicated, he told Fox News. I had faith in the courts, but the process was long. I started to worry about what the outcome may have been.

"We do not comment on pending litigation, Yusef Robb, spokesman for the Los Angeles Community College District said in a statement to Fox News. We are fully committed to free expression on our campuses. As a community college district, promoting the free exchange of ideas and knowledge is at the core of what we do, every day."

It was just before the general election in November 2016 when Shaw attempted to distribute Spanish-language copies of the Constitution during a recruiting drive for his student group, a campus chapter of Young Americans for Liberty, on the main quad. A Pierce administrator told him he could not distribute literature outside the designated zone.

Shaw says he was also told that he would have to fill out a permit application to use the zone and would be asked to leave campus if he refused to comply.

When I attempted to hand out copies of the Constitution that day, my only intention was to get students thinking about our founding principles and to inspire discussion of liberty and free speech, Shaw said in a statement to Fox News last March. I had no idea I would be called upon to defend those very ideals against Pierces unconstitutional campus policies.

He added, This fight is about a students right to engage in free thinking and debate while attending college in America.

Shaw said that since the lawsuit was filed, he has refrained from handing out more copies of the Constitution but was supporting his group's chapter in other ways. He also said that the original incident had inspired him to pursue political office. Hes currently campaigning for assemblyman in the 38th District of Los Angeles County  while still attending Pierce.

This lawsuit got me more interested in protecting peoples rights, he said. So I decided to run for office.

Elections will be held this coming June.
The cremated remains of Las Vegas shooter Stephen Paddock were received by a family member on Thursday, the coroner said.

The ashes of the lone gunman, who killed 58 people and wounded more than 500 others during a deadly shooting spree on Oct. 1, were given to his brother Eric Paddock, according to a statement from Clark County Coroner John Fudenberg.

VEGAS GUNMANS GIRLFRIEND DELETED FACEBOOK ACCOUNT SOON AFTER SHOOTING, DATA SHOW

Eric Paddock, who told the Las Vegas Review-Journal Wednesday that he had difficulty retrieving his brothers remains, said he plans to keep them at the bank instead of his home in Florida.

Im putting the ashes in a safe deposit box in a bank in order to make sure that theres no hoopla around Steves remains, Eric Paddock told the outlet. I dont want someone to do something stupid.

During a country music festival on the Las Vegas strip, Stephen Paddock shot a stream of bullets down at a crowd of people from his hotel room on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. The massacre is considered the worst mass shooting in modern American history.

NEW CHARGES COULD BE COMING IN VEGAS MASSACRE, POLICE ATTORNEY SAYS

In December, the coroner announced that all of those killed during the incident, including the shooter, died of gunshot wounds  meaning that none of them died from injuries related to their attempts to escape.

Paddock, who killed himself before police reached his hotel room, died of a single self-inflicted gunshot to the mouth and his death was deemed a suicide by the coroners.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
The Russian spy ship first spotted near American waters last year is making its way back in the direction of the U.S., Fox News confirmed on Thursday.

The Victor Leonov is still in the Caribbean, according to officials, but heading north off the coast of Florida, home to a U.S. Navy base located in North Florida, east of Jacksonville.

The ship could be off the Florida coast by Friday if the ship maintains present course and speed, according to officials.

There is also a ballistic missile submarine base located in southern Georgia known as Kings Bay, which is another likely destination for the spy ship to loiter and watch U.S. boomers  as the ballistic missile subs are called  enter and leave port.

The Washington Free Beacon was the first to report on this story.

Fox News previously reported that last year, during a White House press conference, President Donald Trump weighed in on the story first reported by Fox News.

Hey, the greatest thing I could do is shoot that ship thats 30 miles offshore right out of the water, Trump said. Everyone in this country is going to say, Oh, its so great. Thats not great. Thats not great. I would love to be able to get along with Russia.

Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said in a tweet the day before Trumps comments in February 2017 that Russia was trying to expand influence.

Russia is acting like it has a permission slip to expand influence, test limits of reach., Murphy wrote. Questions are obvious: does it, and if so, why?
Officials announced the identity of the man believed to have fatally shot a U.S. marshal and wounded a York City police officer early Thursday in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

The U.S. attorney's office said Kevin Sturgis, 31, of Philadelphia, shot at law enforcement who arrived at the house to arrest a woman. Sturgis was wanted by authorities for not appearing for a gun charge sentencing and not appearing for a probation violation hearing, they said. He was also reportedly found guilty of rape as a minor, according to the York Daily Record.

A Harrisburg police officer was also struck during the incident, but he was not wounded due to protective body armor, authorities said in a news conference. His name was not released.

Christopher D. Hill, 45, an Army veteran who was part of the U.S. Marshals Service for 11 years, was killed after being shot while serving a warrant at the Harrisburg house around 6:10 a.m., the agency said. Members of the U.S. Marshals fugitive task force were serving an arrest warrant to Shayla Lynette Towles Pierce, who was wanted for allegedly making terroristic threats, U.S. Attorney David Freed said.

While Pierce was being handcuffed, a man who was in the house fired his gun, striking Hill and York City Police Officer Kyle Pitts, officials said. Hill was taken to the hospital and pronounced dead about 20 minutes later.

The shooting suspect fled through the front of the home while he continued to fire at law enforcement, officials said. He was killed by return fire during the incident.

[Hill] was a devoted public servant who dedicated his life to making his community and this nation safer. We will never forget his commitment and courage, David J. Anderson, Acting Deputy Director of the U.S. Marshals Service, said. The nation lost a hero today.

Hill served in Afghanistan from 1993 to 1996. He joined the U.S. marshals in 2006 in Washington D.C., and transferred to Harrisburg in 2008. He was also part of the agencys Special Operations Group. He's survived by his wife and two children.

United States Marshal Martin Pane, who appeared emotional while speaking at the afternoon news conference, said Hill "made the ultimate sacrifice."

"Deputy Hill served the American people and the citizens of this community with courage," Pane said. "He will be missed and words cannot say how much."

Pitts, a fugitive task force member and a 10-year veteran of the York City police department, was taken to the hospital for injuries and is expected to survive, officials said.

Mayor Eric Papenfuse said in an earlier statement: Harrisburg mourns the loss this morning of a U.S. marshal who died protecting our residents.

The mayor added a Harrisburg officer "bravely returned fire and critically injured the gunman," who ultimately died. The mayor had initially said the Harrisburg officer was wounded, but authorities said Thursday afternoon that he was struck, but not injured.

"No words can adequately express the sadness we feel at this moment as we contemplate the loss of yet another law enforcement officer in the line of duty," Papenfuse added. I extend my sincerest condolences to the family of the slain U.S. marshal, to his colleagues and to all law enforcement officers who risk their lives each day to protect and to serve our city and our nation.

The shooting occurred at a home less than two miles from the State Capitol, in a working-class neighborhood of duplexes, single-family homes and commercial buildings.

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf said he was saddened to hear this tragic news.

Praying for the officers involved and their families. I am in constant contact with law enforcement, and grateful for their swift action, he added.

Pennsylvania Republican Rep. Lou Barletta tweeted: "Please pray for the police officers injured in Harrisburg this morning. Our police are tough and put their lives on the line everyday to keep communities safe. I am praying for a speedy recovery!"

Just before Christmas, a gunman identified as Ahmed Aminamin El-Mofty was shot and killed by police after firing at them near the location of Monday's encounter, according to PennLive. El-Mofty wounded a state trooper and shot another officer near the Capitol.

Fox News Michelle Chavez, Shira Bush and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
High-crime Baltimores top cop was fired Friday after failing to halt the surge in killings that have turned Marylands largest city into one of the deadliest in the country.

Police Commissioner Kevin Davis was relieved of his command by Mayor Catherine Pugh, who said it was time for new leadership to deal with the murders.

"As I have made clear, reducing violence and restoring the confidence of our citizens in their police officers is my highest priority, said Pugh. The fact is, we are not achieving the pace of progress that our residents have every right to expect in the weeks since we ended what was nearly a record year for homicides in the City of Baltimore."

Davis had a contract that ran until 2020.

Pugh named Baltimores No. 2 cop as Daviss successor effective immediately.

Deputy Commissioner Darryl DeSousa, a 30-year veteran of the force, will be made permanent following "appropriate approvals," Pugh said.

DeSousa, 53, said he was honored by the mayors confidence in him at this critical time for the city.

"Baltimore has long been my home and I've spent my career on its streets and in its neighborhoods to address problems and bring about solutions that are meaningful for the people we serve," he said.

Violent crime rates in Baltimore have been notoriously high for decades and the city has recently been dealing with increasing homicides fueled by drugs and other problems, the Associated Press reported.

Baltimore ended 2017 with 343 killings, bringing the annual homicide rate to its highest ever - roughly 56 killings per 100,000 people. Baltimore, which has shrunk over decades, currently has about 615,000 inhabitants.

The city recorded 353 homicides in 1993, the most ever in the citys history when the city had 100,000 more residents.

Maryland enacted one of the nations toughest gun laws in 2013 but that hasnt stopped Baltimores criminals from obtaining and using guns, especially lethal weapons with high-capacity magazines.

The murder rate has soared as some critics have accused Baltimore cops of taking a hands-off approach to fighting crime since six officers were charged in connection with the 2015 death of Freddie Gray, a black man whose fatal spinal cord injury in police custody triggered massive protests that year and the city's worst riots in decades.

"The conventional wisdom, or widely agreed upon speculation, suggests that the great increase in murders is happening partly because the police have withdrawn from aggressively addressing crime in the city's many poor, crime-ridden neighborhoods," said Donald Norris, professor emeritus of public policy at the University of Maryland Baltimore County.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra warned employers Thursday of legal repercussions if they assist federal immigration officials in an impending crackdown in the sanctuary state, The Sacramento Bee reported.

Under a new state law  the Immigration Worker Protection Act  employers and businesses could face fines of up to $10,000 if they provide employee information to U.S. Immigration Customs, Becerra said.

If employers start giving up information about their employees or access to their employees in ways that contradict our new California laws, they subject themselves to actions by my office. We will prosecute those who violate the law, he said at a news conference.

The law prevents workers of any immigration status from being detained at workplaces. Among other stipulations, federal officials must obtain a warrant before searching a worksite and employers are required to notify their workers before a federal audit of employee records.

Becerra said the Department of Justice and the Labor Commissions office  which hold exclusive authority over enforcement  will give guidance to public and private employers on their responsibilities under the new law.

The warning comes amid rumors of mass sweeps that will target illegal immigrants in Northern California. Under Californias sanctuary laws, local police are restricted from cooperating with federal immigration authorities.

Upon hearing the rumors, local jurisdictions in Northern California said they hadnt been notified by federal officials of any impending raids.

ICEs acting director, Thomas Homan told Fox News earlier this month, If the politicians in California dont want to protect their communities, then ICE will.
A California man who authorities say was arrested in South Dakota with his mother's body found in the vehicle he was driving is fighting extradition.

Tosten Walsh Lommen, 30, appeared in court in Rapid City on Friday and declined to waive extradition to California, KEVN-TV reported. A hearing on the matter is scheduled for Feb. 20.

Authorities allege Lommen killed his mother, Michelle Walsh, 58, sometime around Dec. 30 while the two were living in her home in Palm Springs, California.

Lommen was arrested on New Year's Day on suspicion of drunk driving and eluding police following a 50-mile (80-kilometer) chase on Interstate 90 in South Dakota that reached speeds surpassing 100 mph. Authorities said they found his mother's body wrapped in a blanket in the back of his sport utility vehicle, and that an autopsy concluded Walsh had died from head and neck injuries.

He was charged with murder in California's Riverside County on Jan. 8.

Lommen had been scheduled to enter pleas Wednesday to South Dakota state charges of felony aggravated eluding and misdemeanor drunken driving, reckless driving and resisting arrest. Assistant Attorney General Scott Roetzel dropped those charges early in the week, and the hearing was canceled.

"We dismissed our file so (Lommen) could go back to (California)," attorney general spokeswoman Sara Rabern told the Capital Journal . "The much more serious charges he is facing (are) out west."

Lommen remains jailed in Rapid City in lieu of $2.5 million bond.
A Colorado nurse has filed a lawsuit saying she was fired over her support for Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign.

Lizzy Mathews, 65, of Lakewood, filed a suit in U.S. District Court Denver on Jan. 11 against Kelly Torres, nursing manager, and Marc Fedo, director of acute nursing, at the Denver Health Medical Center. The suit calls for Mathews to get her job back, along with back pay and punitive damages for the emotional pain she has suffered since losing her job.

The lawsuit alleges Mathews' firing stems from a Sept. 10, 2016 incident, when she was attending to a patient who had once been a high-ranking employee at the hospital.

After the patient questioned Mathews on who she thought would win the presidential election, the suit claims, Mathews said she wanted Trump, and added that she was praying for him. The patient replied, Oh no, I dont want him.

Mathews said she then received a call from Torres three days later, and was told that the patient had complained about her conversation about the election. Mathews was also questioned whether she asked the patient to read the Bible  a charge which she denied.

The suit says Torres then fired Mathews, claiming she did not work enough hours, even though her supervisors had approved them. Fedo approved the firing and said the nurse was ineligible to be rehired, the suit said.

The Defendants act of terminating Mrs. Mathews from her employment without eligibility for rehire was motivated by Mrs. Mathews exercise of constitutionally protected conduct of association with her political views, said the lawsuit, filed by Denver attorneys Francis Culkin and Karen Larson. [These] actions caused Mrs. Mathews to suffer injuries that would chill a person of ordinary firmness from continuing to engage in such constitutionally protected activity.

The lawsuit also states the only document addressing the termination says Mathews was fired for other reasons  something Mathews did not see until Jan 24, 2017. Mathews made a complaint to the Equal Employment Occupation Commission, where the case is still pending.

Mathews, who is Asian-Indian, also claims discrimination based on ethnicity.

[Mathews supervisors] treated non-Asian/Indian employees more favorably, including but not limited to disparate discipline and with less scrutiny then that applied to Ms. Mathews that led to termination of her employment without eligibility for rehire based on race and national origin, the lawsuit states.

In a statement sent to Fox News, Denver Health said it does not comment on pending litigation, but added it does not discriminate against any employee based on their race or ethnicity.

As a public hospital, Denver Health has a proud history of diversity and inclusiveness and is welcoming to all, the statement said. We have staff members from a variety of backgrounds with a variety of beliefs and work diligently to ensure Denver Health continues to provide an environment in which everyone can feel comfortable delivering or receiving our world-class care.
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Developing now, Friday, Jan. 19, 2018

A potential government shutdown looms Friday night as the House approves a temporary spending bill. However, its passage in the Senate is uncertain.

GOP lawmakers demand that a memo on U.S. government surveillance abuses be made public

House panel votes to release transcript of interview with co-founder of the firm behind the anti-Trump dossier

A Russian spy ship that was first spotted near American shores last year has returned to the region

'Scandalous,' Fox News' seven-part, documentary-style new series, will premiere this Sunday with a look at the Bill Clinton scandals of the 1990s

THE LEAD STORY - WILL THERE BE A SHUTDOWN?: Congressional lawmakers are in a staredown over a potential government shutdown as a temporary spending bill has passed in the House of Representatives. But its future in the Senate remains unclear, setting the stage for a showdown Friday night ... The final House vote in favor of the spending bill to keep the government open was 230-197, with 11 Republicans voting no and six Democrats voting yes. In the Senate, Republicans hold a slim 51-49 majority for its passage. However, Democrats in the Senate have served notice they will filibuster the funding bill, seeking to shape a subsequent measure but exposing themselves to charges they are responsible for shutting down the government. Republicans argue that Democrats are trying to hold the entire government hostage over demands to save the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program that protects "Dreamer" immigrants brought to the country illegally as children.

The temporary bill would keep the government afloat through Feb. 16. It includes a multi-year extension of the Childrens Health Insurance Plan (CHIP), but there is no language to legalize DACA. President Trump has said that he wants DACA, which is set to expire in March, to be formalized as part of a separate deal that includes significant border security measures, including funding for a border wall. In a game of political chess, Republicans seem to be daring Democrats to choose between children's health insurance and illegal immigrants. They want to see Democrats are prepared to vote against extending children's health insurance - and shut down the government - over DACA.

ALLEGED FISA ABUSE ... KGB-LIKE SURVEILLANCE IN AMERICA: A four-page memo circulating in Congress that reveals alleged United States government surveillance abuses is being described by lawmakers as shocking, troubling and alarming, with one congressman likening the details to KGB activity in Russia ... Speaking with Fox News, the lawmakers said they could not yet discuss the contents of the memo they reviewed on Thursday after it was released to members by the House Intelligence Committee. But they say the memo should be immediately made public.

TALES FROM THE TRANSCRIPT: The House Intelligence Committee voted unanimously Thursday to release the transcript of Fusion GPS co-founder's six-hour Nov. 14 appearance before the committee ... Glenn Simpson, the co-founder of Fusion GPS, the firm behind the infamous anti-Trump dossier, told the committee that he and former British agent Christopher Steele (who compiled the dossier) began shopping the documents to media outlets in late October of 2016, after then-FBI Director James Comey announced that the Bureau was re-opening the investigation into Hillary Clinton's private email server. Simpson told the committee he was "angry" that Comey had "violated the sort of one of the more sacrosanct policies, which is not announcing law enforcement activity in the closing days of an election." However, Simpson denied that Fusion GPS leaked the dossier to BuzzFeed and told the committee he was "not happy" when it was published.

Fusion GPS's ties to Clinton campaign, Russia investigation: What to know

I'LL BE WATCHING YOU: The Russian spy ship first spotted near American waters last year is making its way back in the direction of the U.S., Fox News confirmed ... The Victor Leonov is still in the Caribbean, according to officials, but heading north off the coast of Florida, home to a U.S. Navy base located in North Florida, east of Jacksonville. The ship could be off the Florida coast by Friday if the ship maintains present course and speed, according to officials.

TUNE IN: "Scandalous," Fox News Channel's new addition to its weekend lineup for the next seven weeks, will premiere this Sunday, Jan. 21 at 8 p.m. ET ... The first installment of the documentary-style series will chronicle the sequence of events that led to the impeachment of President Bill Clinton during the 1990s with one-hour episodes to coincide with the 20-year anniversary of the scandal. The debut of Scandalous will be narrated by actor Bruce McGill and features interviews with more than 45 people who were involved on both sides of the Clinton investigation and subsequent impeachment trial.

AS SEEN ON FOX NEWS

RAND - WHY I VOTED 'NO': "I think government spends too much money. For decades now, you've heard of Congress putting spending caps in place, self-imposed rules to try to get spending under control. Well, this spending bill will exceed those caps ... I'm just not voting to exceed the spending caps, and I'm not voting for $700 billion deficits annually."  Sen. Rand Paul, on "Your World with Neil Cavuto," explaining why he was a "no" vote on a short-term spending bill. WATCH

THE CASE AGAINST A MUELLER-TRUMP MEETING: "Never, never, never -- I can't say never enough -- let your client sit down with the prosecutors who are trying to develop a case against him. Never expect them to be fair, never expect them to tell everything that they know. You will never know, and your client -- the president -- will never know everything that they know about him. It's a recipe for disaster." Judge Andrew Napolitano, on "Special Report," explaining why President Trump should never agree to meet with Russia Special Counsel Robert Mueller. WATCH

ACROSS THE NATION

California house of horrors parents face life in prison on torture, abuse charges.



'Possible terrorist nexus' in Las Vegas Massacre?

Arizona serial killer suspect linked to nine killings in three weeks.

MAINSTREAM MEDIA MADNESS

MSNBC's Joy Reid walks back comments on conservative David French after bipartisan Twitter beatdown.

Law enforcement raids Newsweek and IBT Media offices.

Liberal HuffPost scraps contributor network amid 'tsunami of false information.'

MINDING YOUR BUSINESS

Markets will continue to climb until it stops: Dennis Gartman.

Amazon effect steamrolling the restaurant industry.

Should your digital assets be included in your will?

NEW IN FOX NEWS OPINION

Liz Peek: Do Democrats really care about Dreamers? No, they will do anything to score political points.

13 California kids locked in a house of horrors -- Just one hero could have saved them so much sooner.

Hey, #MeToo: Isn't female genital mutilation the cruelest cut?

HOLLYWOOD SQUARED

Executive producer gives the inside story of '12 Strong.'

Dolly Parton wins two Guinness World Records for her successful career.

'The Walking Dead' ex-showrunner files second lawsuit against AMC.

DID YOU HEAR ABOUT THIS?

Five-foot long tapeworm came 'wiggling out' of man's body after he ate sushi.



Scientists unravel bizarre mystery of mass antelope deaths.

'Crazy cat lady' shares hilarious 'birth' announcement that goes viral.

STAY TUNED

On Fox News:

Fox & Friends, 6 a.m. ET: Rep. Ron DeSantis on why he is calling for a vote to make Russia collusion investigation report public; Corey Lewandowski and David Bossie and Kellyanne Conway on the looming government shutdown; and a performance by Phillip Phillips.

The Story with Martha MacCallum, 7 p.m. ET: Martha will be live in Washington, D.C. with a powerful look back at President Trumps first year in office, including insight from Sean Spicer.

Stay will Fox News for team coverage of the latest updates on negotiations to avoid a government shutdown with Tucker Carlson Tonight, at 8 p.m. ET, Hannity at 9 p.m., The Ingraham Angle, 10 p.m., and Fox News @ Night at 11 p.m.

On Fox Business:

Mornings with Maria, 6 a.m. ET: Guests include: Rep. Chris Collins; Kellyanne Conway, counselor to President Trump; Todd Buchholz, former economic adviser President George W. Bush; Francis Suarez, Miami mayor and Ras Baraka, Newark, N.J. mayor.

Varney & Company, 9 a.m. ET: Rick Saccone, Pennsylvania congressional candidate and Ariz. Rep. Martha McSally.

Risk & Reward, 5 p.m. ET: Rep. Marsha Blackburn

On Fox News Radio:

The Fox News Rundown podcast: Next Monday marks 45 years of legal abortion in the U.S., and President Trump will be addressing the pro-life rally in Washington D.C. The president of the National Organization for Women of New York and president of March for Life discuss the fight to keep, restrict or end abortions. Apple employees will be seeing the benefits of the new tax reform plan. Fox News' Hillary Vaughn explains why more companies may follow suit. Plus, commentary by Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace.

Want the Fox News Rundown sent straight to your mobile device? Subscribe through Apple Podcasts, Google Play, and Stitcher.

The Brian Kilmeade Show, 9 a.m. ET: Sen. James Lankford on immigration talks and the fight to avoid a government shutdown; columnist Gene Marks on how the closing of 63 Sam's Club stores has big implications for small business and more.

#OnThisDay

1977: President Gerald R. Ford pardons Iva Toguri D'Aquino, an American convicted of treason for making radio broadcasts aimed at demoralizing Allied troops in the Pacific Theater during World War II. (Although she was popularly referred to as "Tokyo Rose," D'Aquino never used that name.)

1955: A presidential news conference is filmed for television and newsreels for the first time, with the permission of President Dwight D. Eisenhower.

1953: CBS-TV airs the widely watched episode of "I Love Lucy" in which Lucy Ricardo, played by Lucille Ball, gave birth to Little Ricky. (By coincidence, Ball gives birth the same day to her son, Desi Arnaz Jr.)

Thank you for joining us on Fox News First! Enjoy your Friday and weekend! We'll see you in your inbox first thing Monday morning.
Investigators scanning computers belonging to Las Vegas shooter Stephen Paddock found numerous child pornography photos, the citys sheriff revealed Friday, adding that the FBI is looking into a person of interest in the case.



Sheriff Joe Lombardo, in his first press conference since Oct. 13, 2017, released an 81-page preliminary investigative report on the shooting Friday that contains new photographs of Paddock's hotel suite and online searches he conducted before the attack, such as for SWAT tactics and other potential public venue targets.

Lombardo said the unnamed person of interest the FBI is looking into is not Paddocks girlfriend, Marilou Danley, and he reiterated that authorities believe Paddock was a lone shooter.

I realize its been three months since you have received an update on the 1 Oct. shooting, Lombardo told reporters Friday. We have done a lot of work trying to piece together what happened.

The sheriff said investigators have gone over 2,000 leads and looked at 21,560 hours of video.

This report wont answer every question, or even the biggest question as to why he did what he did, Lombardo said. We are all going to have to be patient and let the investigation run its course.

Paddock gunned down 58 people in the Oct. 1, 2017, massacre, firing at a music festival crowd from the confines of his Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino suite.

Bruce, his brother, was arrested last year by Los Angeles police and accused of possessing child pornography, as part of a separate investigation that began months before the Vegas attack.

Fridays report said Stephen Paddock bought nearly double the number of firearms in the year leading up to the attack that he'd bought in the 24 years after his first gun purchase in 1982.

From 1982 through September of 2016, Paddock purchased 29 firearms. These purchases consisted of handguns, shotguns and one rifle, it read. From October 2016 through September 2017, Paddock purchased over 55 firearms."

It continued: "Most of the firearms purchased from 2016 through 2017 were rifles in various calibers along with over 100 firearm related items through numerous retailers. The firearm-related items included scopes, cases, bump stocks and ammunition."

Police said all the weapons were purchased legally, in-store and online.

"Paddock did not commit a crime until he fired the first round into the crowd at the Las Vegas Village," the report said.

A timeline in the report also said that on Sept. 26, 2017, "Paddock completed a wire transfer in Mesquite, Nevada, of $50,000 from his Wells Fargo account to an account in the Philippines."

Two days later, he "made a $14,000 deposit at Wells Fargo and transferred $50,000 to a bank in the Philippines," the report added.

During his stay at Mandalay Bay, Paddock was "seen" and "observed" numerous times entering and exiting the property with suitcases and bags, on different days.

"Paddock was described as 'germaphobic' and had strong reactions to smells."  Police report on Las Vegas shooting investigation

On one trip away from the resort, the gunman stopped at a Walmart in Mesquite and "purchased luggage, razor blades, fake flowers, a vase, and a Styrofoam ball," the report stated.

His girlfriend, Danley, who was in the Philippines at the time of the attack, told investigators that Paddock's behavior started to change in the year leading up to the shooting.

"Paddock had become 'distant' and their relationship was no longer intimate," the report stated. "Paddock was described as 'germaphobic' and had strong reactions to smells."

Danley said the pair stayed at Mandalay Bay in September 2017, and he was "behaving strangely."

"The two were staying in room 60-235 and she observed Paddock constantly looking out the windows of the room which overlooked the Las Vegas Village venue," the report stated.

The village was the site of the Route 91 Harvest music festival, which Paddock targeted.

"Paddock would move from window to window looking at the site from different angles," the report said, describing the visit.
Defense attorneys say video, photos and other evidence from the Pulse nightclub attack should not be shown to jurors during the upcoming federal trial of the shooter's widow.

Noor Salman faces charges of aiding a terrorist organization and obstruction of justice.

During a hearing Thursday in Orlando, attorneys for the 31-year-old Salman objected to showing the jury graphic evidence from the June 12, 2016, shooting that killed 49. Attorney Charles Swift said the police body camera footage would be prejudicial to the jury.

The Orlando Sentinel reports prosecutors must prove Salman aided the terrorist organization that her husband pledged allegiance to during phone conversations with police as the nightclub attack was underway.

Judge Paul Byron said he'll make a ruling before the trial, scheduled for March 1.
A mother in Florida was charged with manslaughter Thursday for allegedly failing to take her 1-year-old son to the hospital after he was severely burned in a bath  injuries for which he eventually died, the Miami Herald reported.

As a neighbor performed CPR on the child, the mother reportedly pleaded Please save my baby, I dont want to go back to jail.

Christina Hurt, 35, has reportedly been investigated by the Department of Children and Families for child neglect in the past.

She allegedly told police she didn't call for help because she didnt want to lose custody of her children, having already had a history of child neglect, the report said.

Hurt allegedly told police that she put the boy in a high-chair Wednesday night before taking out the trash. When she came back inside, she said her 10-year-old daughter was screaming.

She said her daughter tried to give the boy a bath but her other son, 4, made the water extremely hot, which caused the victim to sustain severe burns from his mid torso to the toes, the police report said, according to the paper.

The baby vomited several times throughout the night and was given Tylenol and juice, the report said.

Police responded to a call before noon the next day of a 1-year-old boy in respiratory arrest south of Miami. Upon arrival, police and a rescue crew found the baby unresponsive on a mattress.

A police report detailed severe burns from his mid torso, to the toes.
A 21-year-old man is behind bars in Pennsylvania after being accused of performing what he said was a satanic ritual on a passed-out female friend with a razor blade, according to a report Friday.

I sold your soul to the devil, Kyle Parker allegedly told the victim following the Jan. 10 incident at his home in Larimer, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported, citing a police affidavit.

Parker was charged with cutting the woman with a razor blade during a heated argument. He sliced her in the palm of her hand and she passed out, according to the paper.

When she woke she saw she had repeated razor cuts around the calf of one leg, the paper reported. She called a friend to drive her home.

The next day she went back to Parkers house to pick up her car, the paper reported. She told police that when she saw him he told her he had sold her soul to the devil.

The newspaper reported that police did not say if the victim needed medical treatment for the razor cuts.

Parker was arrested on simple assault and harassment charges.

He was ordered held on $75,000 bail by a Westmoreland County judge and is due back in court Jan. 24.

This is not the first time Parker has had a run-in with the law.

In 2016, Parker pleaded gulity and was sentenced to prison for shooting his roommate in the chest with a sawed-off .22-caliber rifle and stealing money and Christmas gifts from eight other victims, the Tribune-Review reported.

Parker told the sentencing judge the shooting was an accident.

As part of the sentence, Parker was ordered to get drug and alcohol treatment and to make restitution, the paper reported.

Police said Parker was showing off his altered .22-caliber rifle when it accidently fired Dec. 29, 2014, critically injuring his then-roommate, Anthony Venturella, 23, in Parker's mother's home, according the paper.
The Pentagon says that countering China's rapidly expanding military and an increasingly aggressive Russia are now the U.S. military's top national security priorities, outpacing the threat of terrorism.

A new national defense strategy says that competition with China and Russia has threatened America's military advantage around the world. And it will require increased investment to make U.S. forces more lethal, agile and ready for war.

The document reflects persistent U.S. worries about China's military build-up in the South China Sea and its moves to expand its political and economic influence around the globe. It underscores concerns about Russia's aggressive military moves, including the invasion of Ukraine and involvement in the Syria war.

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis is unveiling the strategy Friday morning.
More than 100 people who protested the inauguration of President Donald Trump last year are getting their charges dropped by prosecutors, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia said.

The announcement Thursday came as the office said it would proceed in cases against 59 others who are facing felony charges such as rioting and destruction of property in relation to the protests.

"The U.S. Attorneys Office for the District of Columbia has filed notice with the Court that it is exercising its discretion and moving forward with the prosecution of 59 defendants indicted on felony charges related to the rioting that took place on January 20, 2017, in Washington D.C.," the office said in a statement obtained by Fox 5 DC.

"The government will be filing motions to dismiss without prejudice the indictment against the other remaining 129 defendants so that it can focus its efforts on this smaller, core group that we believe is most responsible for the destruction and violence that took place on Inauguration Day, it added.

Six protesters who went to trial were acquitted by D.C. Superior court last month, and on Wednesday, authorities released more than 200 videos used by the prosecution as evidence in the case, Fox 5 DC reported.

The defense attorneys in that case said their clients were not involved with the violence and were exercising their First Amendment rights.

"For a full year, the governments abusive prosecution has upended the lives of these defendants, whove endured the anxiety of multiple court hearings and suffered disruptions to their educations or careers while facing the prospect of more than 60 years in prison, said Scott Michelman, senior staff attorney for the ACLU of the District of Columbia.

We hope the government continues to carefully examine the evidence it has against the remaining 59 defendants, at least some of whom we continue to believe are innocent.
American leadership is polling low among world citizens, but that doesn't exactly worry supporters of President Donald Trump.

According to a Gallup poll, the country's rating among respondents fell from 48 percent approval in 2016 to 30 percent approval in 2018.

The last time the U.S. approval rating was so low was in 2008, when U.S. leadership under former President George W. Bush clocked in at 34 percent amid the economic wreckage of the Great Recession.

Trump supporters brushed off the poll results, saying it is time the world realized the "free ride" from the United States -- on trade, on defense spending and more -- is over.

"What a relief that @realDonaldTrump is not polling well in the world. Phew. Was worried he might resign to head the UN!" tweeted Ed Martin, a CNN contributor and a Missouri politico. "Out here in MAGAmerica, we're happy he's putting us first: economy, jobs, killing ISIS, judges."

Jason Miller, Trump's former campaign spokesman, said the Gallup poll shows Trump is not a pushover, and is, as he promised he would, demanding that America be listened to by the rest of the world.

"Of course certain countries upset America's no longer a pushover," Miller tweeted on Thursday. "(Trump) is cutting off funding for terrorists, making allies pay their fair share and putting American jobs first -- exactly what we elected him to do!"

And Laura Ingraham, former Reagan speechwriter, LifeZette co-founder, Talk Radio star and host of "The Ingraham Angle" on Fox News, said Trump's priority is to succeed -- for America.

"He didn't run to be liked by the world but to MAGA," Ingraham tweeted, referring to the acronym for Make America Great Again. "They said similar abt Reagan."

But Reagan biographer Craig Shirley had some worries because, he said, Trump needs allies in Asia and Europe to be more positive if he wants to build coalitions to handle North Korea and foes in the Middle East.

"There's strength in numbers," Shirley told LifeZette. "It's always better to be liked. Usually if you're not liked, you're not very well respected."

Predictably, Trump critics pounced on the poll, claiming it demonstrates that Trump has generated hatred against the U.S. overseas and diminished the traditional American role of strength in global affairs.

Critics also noted that Germany has replaced the United States as the nation drawing the highest approval rating, 41 percent, which is essentially the same level maintained by that country's leaders for a decade.

China drew a 31 percent approval rating and Russia only got 27 percent.

Overall, approval of U.S. leadership plunged in Latin America, Western Europe, Japan, Australia, South Korea and India.

Not was bad for Trump. Gallup found that approval for U.S. leadership increased 10 points or more in four countries: Liberia (+17), Macedonia (+15), Israel (+14), and Belarus (+11), as well as by smaller numbers in Poland, the Ukraine, Nigeria and Iraq.

Gallup did not poll in China, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and a number of smaller nations.

PoliZette White House writer Jim Stinson can be reached at . Follow him on .

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A woman whose German shepherds died in fires at her New Hampshire property has pleaded not guilty to animal cruelty charges.

A lawyer filed the plea to five misdemeanor charges for Jennifer Choate on Friday.

Authorities say a number of dogs died in two fires at Choate's property in Bristol last year.

One charge alleges Choate left 29 dogs unattended inside a structure with heat lamps attached, which resulted in a fire.

Two charges allege seven dogs weren't kept in proper kennels and were left in temperatures as low as 12 degrees. Another two charges allege Choate didn't properly care for dogs with infections.

Separately, Choate faces multiple charges about the care of 22 German shepherds in a case in Alexandria. Those dogs were seized by authorities.
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Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has opened an exhibition on the Holocaust in the former Soviet Union, saying the world has "a sacred duty" not only to commemorate the millions of victims "but to do everything in our power to prevent such tragedies in the future."

He called the Holocaust "one of the worst crimes against humanity" and said it was troubling "that recently we see the creeping rehabilitation of Nazis."

The exhibition, entitled "The Holocaust: Annihilation, Liberation, Rescue," includes documentary evidence and photographs of prisoners of Nazi death camps and their liberators  soldiers of the Red Army.

The opening by Lavrov on Friday came before International Holocaust Remembrance Day on Jan. 27, the anniversary of the Soviet Army's liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland in 1945.
Belarus has mocked Kazakhstan's suggestion that it could serve as a new venue for Ukraine peace talks previously hosted by Minsk.

Belarusian Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei said in a statement released to The Associated Press Friday that the ex-Soviet nation "isn't seeking peacemaker's laurels unlike some others." He added that moving the talks to another venue wouldn't change anything.

Belarus has hosted a series of negotiations to try to settle the separatist conflict in eastern Ukraine. The 2015 agreement signed in Minsk that was brokered by France and Germany helped reduce hostilities that have killed over 10,000 since April 2014, but attempts at political settlement have stalled and clashes have continued.

Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev said the Minsk talks were deadlocked and suggested that his country could host them.
British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has suggested that Britain and France should build a bridge across the English Channel to bolster links between the two nations after Brexit.

At a U.K.-France summit, Johnson said the idea of a bridge was worth considering. He said it's ridiculous that countries 20 miles (32 kilometers) apart are linked only by a single railway tunnel.

Johnson neglected to mention that there are also sea and air links between Britain and France.

Ian Firth, past president of the Institution of Structural Engineers, said Friday that a bridge was "entirely feasible." But shipping firms warn it could disrupt one of the world's busiest shipping lanes.

At Thursday's summit the two countries pledged to set up a panel of "eminent and qualified persons" to examine "significant projects."
At least six cargo ships linked to China furtively violated U.N. sanctions by taking on North Korean coal late last year, potentially providing a significant boost to the rogue regime's coffers, the U.S. alleges.

The U.N. Security Council in August hit North Korea with sanctions that were projected to cut nearly $1 billion from its annual exports revenue of roughly $3 billion, banning exports of coal, iron ore, and other products.

The move, which China ultimately endorsed, came after the isolated country fired two intercontinental ballistic missiles that raised international tensions.

But the six vessels, which the U.S. tracked by satellite and formally reported to the U.N. as sanctions violators in December, defied the sanctions by bringing North Korean coal to Vietnam, Russia, or other ships in mid-sea transfers, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing U.S. officials.

The paper found that the six ships are either managed or owned by Chinese companies or firms registered in Hong Kong. The U.S. also sought to have four other ships that have no apparent connections to China labeled as sanctions violators.

One of the Chinese-linked cargo ships, the Glory Hope 1, began violating the sanctions just days after they were passed in August, U.S. officials said, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The Chinese-owned ship flew a Panamanian flag and turned off its automatic identifying transmitter as it headed into a North Korean port on Aug. 7, the Journal reported.

Meanwhile, the U.S. was watching from above, using spy satellites to observe the ship that officials estimate could hold up to $1.5M worth of black-market coal.

The Glory Hope 1 loitered for an extended period at a Chinese port after arriving from North Korea, U.S. officials told the U.N.

U.S. officials suspect the unusual maneuver was a ruse to make it appear that the crew was taking on Chinese cargo, according to the Wall Street Journal.

All U.N. members would have to ban the Glory Hope 1 and the other five ships from their ports in order to formally designate them as sanctions violators.

Chinas foreign ministry told the Journal that it fully complies with U.N. resolutions. Several of the ship-owners and managers linked to the ships have reportedly been questioned by Chinese authorities.

U.S. National security advisor H.R. McMaster last month threatened harsh consequences for ships that continue to defy the sanctions.

A company whose ships would engage in that activity ought to be on notice that that might be the last delivery of anything they do for a long time, anywhere, McMaster said.
A German rapper dubbed a gangsta jihadi for joining the Islamic State -- where he eventually seduced an FBI translator -- appears to have been killed in Syria after a pro-ISIS media group released pictures purportedly showing his bloody corpse.

Denis Cuspert, who found modest fame a decade ago as Deso Dogg, a rapper who once toured with American rapper DMX, was killed Wednesday in clashes in eastern Syrias Deir ez-Zour province, The Guardian reported, citing a watchdog that monitors terrorist media.

The SITE Intelligence Group said Cusperts death was announced by the Wafa Media Foundation, a pro-ISIS organization. Cuspert, who went by the name Abu Talha al-Almani, has been announced as dead in the past, but then has appeared in numerous ISIS propaganda videos, including one where he triumphantly hoisted the severed head of an infidel.

There was this whole subculture that these guys were buying into: a macho world of clandestine behavior beyond social norms, Shiraz Maher, the deputy director of the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence at Kings College London, told The Guardian.

A lot of the appeal to these people was based on masculinity and bravado rather than something ideological or religious, he added.

Cuspert previously dubbed the black-clad terror armys top recruiter, trading on his credibility with a generation of young, disaffected loners.

In 2014, Cuspert seduced a turncoat translator who had been part of a Detroit-based FBI team that set out to track him down. Daniela Greene fell in love with her quarry online and left for the small northern Syrian city of al-Rai armed with an AK-47. She eventually left, returned to the U.S. and served two years in prison before her story got out.

Long before Cuspert became an ISIS leader, he was a petty criminal whose rap lyrics revealed a dark and twisted mind. The son of a Ghanian father who left Cusperts German mother, he recorded three albums for a Berlin-based gangsta rap label and scored a minor hit with "Willkommen in meiner Welt" (Welcome to my World) in 2010.

Welcome to my world full of hate and blood, went part of the song. Childrens souls weep softly when the black angels sing.

Cuspert reportedly converted to Islam in 2010 following a near-fatal car accident. In 2012, he left Germany for Egypt, before eventually making his way to Syria where he joined Al Qaeda. When Islamic State broke away from the terror group behind 9/11, Cuspert pledged his loyalty to ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

Fox News Benjamin Weinthal contributed to this report.
New Zealands newly elected prime minister announced Friday she is expecting her first child.

Jacinda Ardern, 37, who took office in October, will be the second elected world leader to give birth in office in recent world history.

I am not the first woman to multitask, she told reporters. Im not the first woman to work and have a baby. I know these are special circumstances, but there are many women who will have done this well before I have.

Ardern said she and her partner, Clarke Gayford, are expecting their first child in June.

In October she became New Zealands youngest prime minister since 1856. Soon after, speculation swirled around whether she would start a family after taking over the leadership of her then-opposition Labour Party last year.

On Friday, Ardern took to Twitter to make the announcement, adding that Gayford would become a stay-at-home dad.

We thought 2017 was a big year! This year well join the many parents who wear two hats. Ill be PM & a mum while Clarke will be first man of fishing & stay at home dad, she tweeted.

In an additional statement, Ardern said she had asked Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters on Thursday to act as prime minister for six weeks after the birth.

I fully intend to be contactable and available throughout the six-week period when needed, she added. I will make arrangements for appropriate ministers to act in my other portfolios over the six weeks I am away from Parliament.

After the six weeks, she will resume her prime ministerial duties.

"Clarke and I are privileged to be in the position where Clarke can stay home to be our primary caregiver. Knowing that so many parents juggle the care of their new babies, we consider ourselves to be very lucky," she said.

"Clarke and I have always been clear we wanted to be parents but had been told we would need help for that to happen. That's made this news a fantastic surprise," she added.

The couple discovered they were expecting a child on Oct. 13  two weeks before Ardern was sworn in as national leader.

Within a day of her becoming Labour Party leader last year, Ardern was asked twice by television hosts about her plans for children. One host, Mark Richardson, questioned whether it was acceptable for the countrys leader to take maternity leave while in office, and said most employers would want to know the maternity plans of their workers.

Ardern, who has previously talked about the difficulties of juggling political life while also wanting to start a family, said she was happy to answer such questions, but others shouldn't feel compelled.

"For other women, it is totally unacceptable in 2017 to say that women should have to answer that question in the workplace," she responded, while pointing her finger at Richardson. "That is unacceptable."

Ardern will be one of the few elected leaders to hold office while pregnant. The most recent example was Pakistans Benazir Bhutto, who gave birth in 1990 while she was prime minister.

The Associated Press contributed on this report.
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French player Alize Cornet has called for the extreme heat policy at the Australian Open to be re-evaluated after she said she nearly fainted in the broiling temperatures during her third-round match Friday at Melbourne Park.

The tournament's extreme heat policy calls for the roofs to be closed on the main show courts and play to be suspended on outer courts when the temperature reaches 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) and the wet-bulb globe temperature (WBGT), which takes into account humidity and wind speed, reaches 32.5 Celsius (90.5 Fahrenheit).

The high temperature Friday marginally topped 40 Celsius, but the WBGT remained below the threshold, so play was not halted.

Cornet said she began feeling dizzy at the beginning of the second set against Belgium's Elise Mertens and, at one point, fell to her back on the court in obvious distress. She received a medical timeout so a trainer could check her pulse and blood pressure and wrap her in an ice vest before she returned to the court.

Cornet was able to finish the match, losing 7-5, 6-4. But she later said it was "dangerous" to play in that kind of heat.

"The (official) limit of not playing the match is really high. I think this limit should be a little bit lower because playing in this condition is not nice for anyone," she said. "I would never give up because of (the heat), that's for sure. But you push your body so hard, you almost feel like you're on the edge."

Tournament director Craig Tiley defended the response of officials to the extreme heat on both Thursday and Friday, saying "we start the event with this set of rules and policies in place, and in the interest of fairness, can't change them halfway through."

"Protecting our players and the fairness of the competition is paramount in these conditions, which we acknowledge can be challenging," he said.

Petra Martic, who won a two-hour, third-round match against Luksika Kumkhum in the heat of the day on Friday, said she got blisters on her feet from the sizzling court and had to take painkillers after the second set.

"It's really tough on your feet to play in these conditions," she said. "I was hoping they would close (the roof), but the temperature was not high enough. ... So unfortunately it stayed this way."

French player Gael Monfils struggled in the heat during his second-round loss to Novak Djokovic on Thursday and described the conditions as a risk to players.

Roger Federer, who requested to play at night to avoid the blistering heat on Thursday, said he believed the officials were doing the best they could under the circumstances.

"What do you do ... stop all matches? The lucky guys on the big courts, they get to play under the roof. The other guys get postponed till the next day? Is that great?" he said. "Is everybody going to finish at 3 in the morning, like a rainy day in New York. I've had that, too. Is that better? I'm not sure, honestly."
What began as a trip to help mend the scars of a sex-abuse scandal that cost the Catholic Church some of its credibility in Chile, took a surprising twist on Thursday after Pope Francis accused the victims of slander.

Francis addressed the accusations against Bishop Juan Barros that claim he was complicit in covering up the alleged sex crimes committed by Rev. Frenando Karadima.

There is not one shred of proof against him. Its all calumny, Francis said in defense of Barros.

The popes comment drew criticism from Chileans across the South American country that has seen protests and a level of hostility unheard of in modern times for a papal visit, even though he was greeted by large crowds and cried with sex abuse victims.

Anti-pope protests had to be broken up with tear gas, attackers burned at least 11 Roman Catholic Churches and pamphlets were found threatening Francis that the "next bomb would be in your cassock."

"This kind of violence during a papal visit is absolutely unprecedented. And Chile is historically a very solidly Catholic nation," said Andrew Chesnut, the Catholic Studies chair at Virginia Commonwealth University.

The comments about Barros appeared toat least in part-- undermine Francis initial intent of the trip, which was to ask for forgiveness from abuse victims for the crimes of church pastors.

Victims advocates said the accusations were credible enough for the Vatican to sentence Karadima to a lifetime of penance and prayer in 2011, as well as a Chilean judge to determine that the accusations were credible. She had to drop criminal charges against Karadima because too much time had passed.

"As if I could have taken a selfie or a photo while Karadima abused me and others and Juan Barros stood by watching it all," tweeted Barros' most vocal accuser, Juan Carlos Cruz. "These people are truly crazy, and the pontiff talks about atonement to the victims. Nothing has changed, and his plea for forgiveness is empty."

Karadima's victims reported to church authorities as early as 2002 that he would kiss and fondle them in the swank Santiago parish he ran, but officials refused to believe them. Only when the victims went public with their accusations in 2010 did the Vatican launch an investigation that led to Karadima being removed from ministry.

The emeritus archbishop of Santiago subsequently apologized for having refused to believe the victims from the start.

Francis reopened the wounds of the scandal in 2015 when he named Barros, a protege of Karadima, as bishop of the southern diocese of Osorno. Karadima's victims say Barros knew of the abuse, having seen it, but did nothing. Barros has denied the allegations.

His appointment outraged Chileans, badly divided the Osorno diocese and further undermined the church's already shaky credibility in the country.

And on Thursday, he struck a defiant tone when asked by a Chilean journalist about Barros.

"The day they bring me proof against Bishop Barros, I'll speak," Francis said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report
Random thoughts and observations As I couldnt settle on one particular topic for this column, I decided to just roll with a few things...

Protect the children, mask up In response to Hundreds of Parents join Republican Party to Protest Mask Mandate, Aug. 26. I remember holding my newborn...

GETTING IT RIGHT To clarify, in a story Aug. 26 regarding an anti-mask rally held outside the Genesee County Health Department recently, organizers...

Remember When  In some countries they had places known as work houses up until the 20th century but starting in ancient times...
These awards are a testament to how hard all three of these fellows have worked since coming to the Hutch; how much progress theyve been able to make on their projects and how creatively theyve approached them, said Ghajar of the researchers. It also shows how the field is starting to recognize how important tumor dormancy is. We need new strategies to target metastasis and well do that by developing an understanding about dormant disseminated tumor cells.

Ghajar said his postdocs will be pursuing work that will shed light on the conversations DTCs are having with their microenvironments, or tissues of residence, as well as how those conversations change upon therapy.

I feel comfortable saying were going to make substantial progress in the next two to three years and these three individuals will be a big reason why, he said.

Dr. David Dai, who came to the Hutch after receiving a Ph.D. in cell and developmental biology from the University of Colorado, received a prestigious Breast Cancer Research Program Breakthrough Postdoctoral Fellowship Award from the Department of Defense.

The $300,000 award will fund three years of research into the cellular and molecular mechanisms of disseminated tumor cell dormancy in brain metastasis. Dai will be co-mentored by Fred Hutch molecular biologist and neurosurgeon Dr. Eric Holland.

Were trying to discover the mechanism of how disseminated tumor cells interact with the brains microenvironment, Dai said. Were trying to see how they survive, how they wake up and once they wake up, how they grow bigger  the cascade of colonization in the brain as a specific, unique environment.

Thanks to improvements in treatment, metastatic breast cancer patients are living longer, but a longer life also means a higher chance of developing metastasis to the brain. While treatments are often successful at targeting common metastasis sites like the liver, the lungs and the bones, the blood-brain-barrier prevents most therapies from reaching tumor sites in the brain.

They can cure the other relapsing organs but somehow the brain mets arise and become resistant to these treatments, Dai said. Its a big factor now, more than in years past.

Dai believes the brains microenvironment, and its innate immune system, may hold the key to eventually destroying these tumor cells.

The brain is considered immune-privileged tissue  its believed that T cells and B cells [cells of the immune system] dont get there  but they actually get there when a tumor cell is there, Dai said. Were looking for disseminated tumor cells that are there. These cells often stop dividing, but a long time later, [they] wake up and start creating tumors. We believe the unique microenvironment in the brain provides a protective niche environment for the DTCs. Were looking for systems to provoke these innate cells to their supposed function: kill the tumor.

Dr. Arko Dasgupta came to the Hutch two years ago after receiving his Ph.D. in genetics and biochemistry at Dartmouth College. He is the recipient of a two-year 2018 Terri Brodeur Breast Cancer Foundation grant totaling $100,000.

His research will also focus on the process that renders dormant DTCs resistant to chemotherapy. Previous research has shown that the microenvironment protects dormant prostate cancer cells; preliminary work by Dasgupta suggests that it protects dormant breast cancer cells from chemotherapy, as well.

Its like the tumor cell is hijacking the stabilizing aspects of the blood vessels, he said. The blood vessel is trying to protect itself from the chemo and the dormant tumor cell hijacks it by being in that area. But if we can target factors generated by the microenvironment and then block them, maybe we can make the dormant cells more sensitive to the chemotherapy. Maybe we can figure out how to destroy them before they wake up. 

Dasgupta will use mouse models and 3-D model systems to recreate the microenvironment and study how it reacts to chemotherapy. He will also use throughput technologies to find potential targets that result from the dormant cells response to the chemotherapy.

Something in the microenvironment at the distant sites keeps them asleep and keeps them chemo- resistant, he said. Were trying to figure out the cross talk of the microenvironment and the breast cancer DTCs. If we can actually eradicate these cells before they grow out in the patient  we prevent metastatic breast cancer-associated mortality and give these patients peace of mind.

Dr. Laura Pisarsky, who joined the Hutch in 2016 after receiving a Ph.D. in cell biology from the University of Basel in Switzerland, received her second Postdoc.Mobility fellowship from the Swiss National Science Foundation, allowing her to continue with her research at the Hutch for another 18 months. The award comes with approximately $79,000 (she previously received $90,000).

Reactivation of disseminated tumor cells directly transforms breast cancer from remission into an incurable, metastatic disease, she said. Understanding the molecular mechanisms implicated in DTC dormancy and/or reactivation is therefore essential to design therapies able to maintain dormancy and avoid patient relapse.

To do this, Pisarsky will look at anti-angiogenic therapies, which are drugs designed to stop cancers from growing new blood vessels. She believes these drugs disrupt microvascular homeostasis, or equilibrium, shutting down the tumor-suppressive nature of the tissues surrounding the blood vessels and allowing the dormant cells to start actively multiplying, leading to the development of metastatic tumors.

My aims are to analyze the response of DTCs to blood vessel disruption following anti-angiogenic therapy, characterize the molecular changes within the perivascular niche that occur upon treatment with these therapies and then design combination therapies that target angiogenesis and dormant tumor cell reactivation, she said. A better understanding of this mechanism will help us prevent recurrence.

Pisarsky will use animal models to validate her findings. Once validated, she will attempt to optimize therapy regimens by combining current anti-angiogenics with new Food and Drug Administration-approved inhibitors.

Understanding the reason underlying anti-angiogenic therapeutic failure will help us uncover the biology of tumor dormancy and the mechanisms involved in reactivation of DTCs in response to vascular damage, she said. It will allow us to design more efficient regimens that will hopefully offer durable remission to breast cancer patients.

All three postdocs expressed gratitude to mentor Ghajar, referring to him as a creative thinker with bold ideas.

Cyrus is a great mentor, Dai said. Hes very open to discussing all the possibilities of whats going on in the science realm. And hes open to challenging assumptions.

Ghajar said he was thrilled regarding his postdocs success and emphasized the importance of a collaborative approach to science.

Its worth emphasizing that each of these fellows has come from outside the U.S. to study here in our country and to ultimately conduct cancer research at the Hutch, he said. Its a testament to cancer being a world problem. We need to expand beyond borders to solve it. And I think its great that there are organizations in the U.S. willing to fund the best and the brightest minds.

 Diane Mapes / Fred Hutch News Service
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Tell me how releasing the "Collateral Murder" video of US troops commiting warcrimes in Baghdad was 'treason?' Next, what kind of nation makes it a crime to post evidence of crimes, but NOT committing the actual crimes themselves? So much for democracy!



When Queen Hillary declared that Manning should "have went through proper channels," she and other surveillance state leaders never addressed the problem as to why whistleblowers who did run through the hoops of internal investigation(like Thomas Drake) were also targeted: fired from their jobs and presented with bogus criminal charges that were later dropped and never went to court..but in Drake's case, not before costing him more than $200,000 in legal fees.



William Binney..who was one of the NSA's top IT managers was subject to harassment(including a home invasion by the FBI) all because he alerted his superiors that the proposed and very expensive NSA surveillance tool-Trailblazer would violate constitutional rights to privacy. He went through the trouble of designing a different program in-house with NSA staff called Thinthread, that would not violate the law, and was subject of retribution...obviously by highly placed Pentagon officials who were looking to cash in from Trailblazer and put it to use and didn't want their little project jeopardized for any reasons.



And, there are many other whistleblowers prosecuted for frivolous reasons, like CIA agents-John Kirakou and the recently released Jeffrey Sterling...who was prosecuted and sent to prison for confirming/NOT releasing confidential information about CIA torture of prisoners at Guantanamo to NYTimes correspondent - James Rison.



The takeaway is obvious: America is a police surveillance state today...where violating laws including all that blather about the Constitution goes unpunished but rewarded if it is in service of the state/while those who inform other..especially the public are prosecuted, and the message to any would-be whistleblowers is keep your mouth shut or you will be targeted also!



Further confirmation came in this past week with 19 Democratic Senators and 55 House members of the laughable "Resistance" all voting to give the most dangerous president in US history that they proclaim on a daily basis they want impeached...increased and permanent surveillance powers..case closed! You live in a autocracy today and most of you are too dumb to realize it, let alone protest against it!
Libertarian Guy said: The CEO isnn't ignoring legal requests from ICE to hold a convicted felon, and instead letting him go so he can shoot the Kate Steinle's of the world. Click to expand...

So now tell me this, WHO'S more guilty ?? The person that let him go ?? Or the person or persons that GAVE HIM A JOB that let him live here for months or even years ??I'm no lawyer but in certain circumstances, especially under the RICO laws, if two or more people are engaged in some sort of on going criminal activity, and if that on going activity in any way promotes, furthers, aids or assists any of the parties in the commission of a separate crime, ALL of the parties to the original conspiracy can be held equally guilty under the law.You and a friend decide to sell illegal drugs. So there you are working your corner when the cops roll up. Your friend pulls a gun and starts shooting at the cops. He is now guilty of attempted murder of a police officer.Now, you had NO idea your friend had a gun. He may have never expressed an extreme reluctance to go to jail, but because you were dealing together, YOU can be charged with the same crime. If the cops shoot back and kill your friend, YOU can be charged with his murder even though it was the cops that shot him.So here's my theory. If an employer hires an illegal immigrant, then they ARE now engaged in a criminal conspiracy. That criminal activity will be ongoing as long as that employer keeps the illegal on the pay roll. If that illegal goes out and commits another crime, ANY CRIME, then I think the employer is just as guilty.
Manufacturing beef from the UK is to be exported to Canada, described by AHDB as a lucrative market.

An initial agreement was reached in 2015 for primal cuts and manufacturing beef, but UK inspectors have had to find a way to test manufacturing beef to meet the microbiological standards required by the Canadian authorities.

This work has been ongoing and approval by inspectors has just been given, allowing shipments to start immediately.

Dr Phil Hadley, AHDB international market development director, said: This is a great opportunity for processors and producers in the UK and is another outlet for our product, which in turn helps underpin farmgate prices.

It comes after a lot of hard work by all parties involved. We already have market access for sheepmeat into Canada and beef primals have been going over since 2015. To have reached a stage where we have all the testing in place to satisfy inspectors with regards to ecoli is brilliant.

See also: EU-Canada trade deal could harm British beef sector

Reaching the initial agreement with Canada took years of work by AHDB, Defra, the Food Standards Agency, UK Export Certification Partnership (UKECP), Quality Meat Scotland and HCC Meat Promotion Wales.

In 2016, Canada imported 147,000 tonnes of fresh and frozen beef. Of this, 55% came from the US. The UK sent 412 tonnes of primal cuts.
Check out the schedule for this week's matchups and for updates from the Press-Telegram on any changes.
First, the amount returning to the US is, despite the Republican President's hype isn't a huge amount. The change in employment is a logical consequence of Obama's great recovery being carried along nicely by the recovery of essentially the whole world. Employment is very much a lagging indicator of the economy.



Secondly, even with these shifts, the US is still in a strong negative in balance of trade and no one sees that changing for a long time.



Thirdly, as conditions in other countries improve, their costs also increase somewhat decreasing the advantages of offshoring. I had to laugh about a year ago when I read an article in the business section of the BBC detailing how some Chinese manufacturers were offshoring to Indonesia.



Things look rosy now, but it is based on very low taxes and high deficits and debt and easy money supply. There is a day of reckoning coming.



If the USD loses more status as the world's reserve currency, big troubles lay ahead and the more isolationist the Republican President takes the country, the more likely that is.
Activists at Amnesty International have catalogued 100 ways Donald Trumps administration has threatened human rights at home and abroad during the first 100 days of his presidency. Assembling the list, according to the groups U.S. head, didnt take long.Amnesty USA executive director Margaret Huang said the new list of Trump threats highlights a level of abuse and fear thats unprecedented in the grassroots organizations 55-year history. It stands in stark contrast to a White House tally of claimed accomplishments since Trumps inauguration in January.Unlike his predecessors, who have at least rhetorically talked about the importance of human rights as a U.S. national interest, this president has been dismissive of human rights, dismissive of communities whove been subjected to some of the worst violations, and has rejected efforts to hold other governments or his own appointments accountable for protecting human rights, Huang told HuffPost on Thursday.It took Amnesty staffers just a few days in a really easy effort to assemble 100 human rights threats by the Trump administration, Huang said. In fact, we had to pare it down, she added.Trump has armed, emboldened and repeatedly failed to condemn human rights abusers. He has downplayed hate crimes and proposes potentially devastating funding cuts to foreign aid. He also has issued direct threats to some demographics, including those within the U.S.
bohlah at 19-01-2018 06:30 AM (3 years ago) (m)

A Nigerian identified as Jonathan Asemota has received encomium by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, for his sincerity and honesty in returning QR1,502,000 ($441,127.99) about N150 million wrongfully posted into his account in Qatar.

A Nigerian identified as Jonathan Asemota has received encomium by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, for his sincerity and honesty in returning QR1,502,000 ($441,127.99) about N150 million wrongfully posted into his account in Qatar.

Hon Abike commended him for a rare display of honesty and sincerity for given the country a facelift as well as other Nigerians living in Qatar. She further encouraged Asemota to continue to be a good ambassador of the country, not only in Qatar, but anywhere he finds himself. She also implored other Nigerians in the Diaspora to emulate the positive image he has given to Nigeria in Qatar.



She said

With this exceptional act of honesty, you have become a positive image for Nigerians and Nigeria in Qatar in the midst of bad news tag against Nigerians in the Diaspora.

We are truly proud of you and urge you to continue to extol the virtues and strength of the Nigerian heritage of honesty, integrity and honour. Your shinning beacon serves as inspiration to the Youth of Nigeria, Dabiri-Erewa stated in a letter of commendation personally signed by her and given to Asemota.



Michael Asemota, a native of Edo state but based in Doha, Qatar, had opened an account with a cheque of QR150, 200 with an undisclosed commercial bank, where he is the sole signatory of the account.



Speaking while narrating his experience to the SSA during the courtesy call in Abuja, he said; as i got back home, I received an alert showing that a QR1,502,000 had been credited into my account by mistake instead of QR150,200.



I went to see the manager to report the error of QR1,502,000 deposited into my account. After checking for confirmation, the manager gave me a warm handshake in appreciation.

Asked why he alerted the bank about the error, Jonathan Asemota said: I knew the money did not belong to me and shouldnt be in my account in the first place, so there were no motives and temptations to keep it.



He advised people faced with similar situations to immediately notify their bank to avoid any potential problems as the bank will eventually trace their mistake back to your account and withdraw the mistakenly deposited money.



He said that act displayed by Jonathan Asemota has given Nigeria and Nigerians a positive image in Qatar despite the wide publicity of the vices that abound in the country.

Asemota is an official of Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation-Qatar (NIDO-Qatar), the umbrella body of Nigerian residents in the country.



Abike Kafayat Oluwatoyin Dabiri-Erewa, born in Jos, Plateau State is a Nigerian politician and former member of the Nigeria Federal House of Representatives representing Ikorodu Constituency in Lagos State. Hon Abike commended him for a rare display of honesty and sincerity for given the country a facelift as well as other Nigerians living in Qatar. She further encouraged Asemota to continue to be a good ambassador of the country, not only in Qatar, but anywhere he finds himself. She also implored other Nigerians in the Diaspora to emulate the positive image he has given to Nigeria in Qatar.She saidWith this exceptional act of honesty, you have become a positive image for Nigerians and Nigeria in Qatar in the midst of bad news tag against Nigerians in the Diaspora.We are truly proud of you and urge you to continue to extol the virtues and strength of the Nigerian heritage of honesty, integrity and honour. Your shinning beacon serves as inspiration to the Youth of Nigeria, Dabiri-Erewa stated in a letter of commendation personally signed by her and given to Asemota.Michael Asemota, a native of Edo state but based in Doha, Qatar, had opened an account with a cheque of QR150, 200 with an undisclosed commercial bank, where he is the sole signatory of the account.Speaking while narrating his experience to the SSA during the courtesy call in Abuja, he said; as i got back home, I received an alert showing that a QR1,502,000 had been credited into my account by mistake instead of QR150,200.I went to see the manager to report the error of QR1,502,000 deposited into my account. After checking for confirmation, the manager gave me a warm handshake in appreciation.Asked why he alerted the bank about the error, Jonathan Asemota said: I knew the money did not belong to me and shouldnt be in my account in the first place, so there were no motives and temptations to keep it.He advised people faced with similar situations to immediately notify their bank to avoid any potential problems as the bank will eventually trace their mistake back to your account and withdraw the mistakenly deposited money.He said that act displayed by Jonathan Asemota has given Nigeria and Nigerians a positive image in Qatar despite the wide publicity of the vices that abound in the country.Asemota is an official of Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation-Qatar (NIDO-Qatar), the umbrella body of Nigerian residents in the country.Abike Kafayat Oluwatoyin Dabiri-Erewa, born in Jos, Plateau State is a Nigerian politician and former member of the Nigeria Federal House of Representatives representing Ikorodu Constituency in Lagos State.

Post Reply I have been reporting on latest news from Nigeria for almost 10 years now. I report on every possible news area I come across, but always ensure my reports are compiled with dignity and fact to uphold my personal values and duty as a journalist Posted: at 19-01-2018 06:30 AM (3 years ago) | Addicted Hero
kacylee at 19-01-2018 07:02 AM (3 years ago) (f)

The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) has disclosed on Wednesday, January 17, 2017, during commissioning of 11 young pilots that the two female combatants among the pilots are the first in Nigerian history.

The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) has disclosed on Wednesday, January 17, 2017, during commissioning of 11 young pilots that the two female combatants among the pilots are the first in Nigerian history. The names of the history-making duo are Flying Officers OS Ijelu and GC Nwaogwgwu.



NIGERIAN AIR FORCE PRODUCES 72 PILOTS IN 2 YEARS, WINGS ADDITIONAL FEMALE PILOTShttps://t.co/VrqKjC4vLD pic.twitter.com/M2cD8pxH4i  Nigerian Air Force (@NigAirForce) January 18, 2018

Nigerias Chief of Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar said both officers are the first female combatant pilots since Nigerias independence. Hence, their achievements made the event a unique one for the country.



It is the first time in the history of the NAF that female Regular Combatant officers would be decorated with wings as qualified pilots, CAS said.











By the end of February therefore, the NAF would have successfully winged 72 pilots. Furthermore, there are an additional 74 pilots that are training to qualify for awards of NAF wings. Out of this number, 64 are training in Nigeria while the remaining 10 are training outside Nigeria, the CAS said.



All the 11 young combatant pilots just completed a one-year training programme at the Westline Aviation, South Africa. And most importantly, they are expected to be deployed to major theatres of war where the Air Force is actively involved in the fight against terrorism. The names of the history-making duo are Flying Officers OS Ijelu and GC Nwaogwgwu.Nigerias Chief of Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar said both officers are the first female combatant pilots since Nigerias independence. Hence, their achievements made the event a unique one for the country.CAS said.the CAS said.All the 11 young combatant pilots just completed a one-year training programme at the Westline Aviation, South Africa. And most importantly, they are expected to be deployed to major theatres of war where the Air Force is actively involved in the fight against terrorism.

Post Reply I have been reporting for several years now and I am very interested in visual news reportage with strong inclusion of photos and video multimedia. Posted: at 19-01-2018 07:02 AM (3 years ago) | Addicted Hero
Aisha Buhari Publicly Attacks Her Husband Again! Asks Who Are The Cabals Ruling Nigeria On Twitter

nametalkam at 19-01-2018 05:49 PM (3 years ago) (m)

A series of videos posted by wife of the president Aisha Buhari is sparking a discussion on social media.

A series of videos posted by wife of the president Aisha Buhari is sparking a discussion on social media.

In one video, Senator Isah Misau, representing Bauchi Central district is seen saying that its as if (president Buhari) is not in charge. Its as if some people are the ones in charge of this country. Even the DG NIA that we are talking about, they said some people in the cabal are the ones that appointed that person to be there.



In another video the wife of the president reposted, Senator Ben Murray Bruce (Bayelsa East) lamented the lawlessness in Nigeria, saying Nigeria is becoming a country where there is no consequences for bad behaviour. We either have a government or we dont, he said.



In a third video, Senator Misau is seen asking if the new director general of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) Ahmed Abubakar is qualified to be there, saying that he failed two exams.



Repost : @OakTVOnline pic.twitter.com/rYGFBLSMuM  Aisha M. Buhari (@aishambuhari) January 19, 2018 Repost : @OakTVOnline pic.twitter.com/5FdEUVcxSr  Aisha M. Buhari (@aishambuhari) January 19, 2018 Repost : @OakTVOnline pic.twitter.com/eRxR7JdpIE  Aisha M. Buhari (@aishambuhari) January 19, 2018



In one video, Senator Isah Misau, representing Bauchi Central district is seen saying that its as if (president Buhari) is not in charge. Its as if some people are the ones in charge of this country. Even the DG NIA that we are talking about, they said some people in the cabal are the ones that appointed that person to be there.In another video the wife of the president reposted, Senator Ben Murray Bruce (Bayelsa East) lamented the lawlessness in Nigeria, saying Nigeria is becoming a country where there is no consequences for bad behaviour. We either have a government or we dont, he said.In a third video, Senator Misau is seen asking if the new director general of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) Ahmed Abubakar is qualified to be there, saying that he failed two exams.

Post Reply I specialize in investigative reportage across several subject matter and sectors but mainly focus on metro events and investigation. Do leave your thoughts and opinion on my reports to let me know what you think about them. Thank you Posted: at 19-01-2018 05:49 PM (3 years ago) | Hero

osarobo62 at 19-01-2018 06:00 PM (3 years ago)

(m) APC should anoint Aisha Buhari to replace her husband in 2019.....the country would be in a better place.

it has become so unfortunate that the past glory of Buhari has dimmed liked the evening sun. Posted: at 19-01-2018 06:00 PM (3 years ago) | Hero Reply

ruthie at 19-01-2018 07:23 PM (3 years ago)

(f) oh Buhari, you have disappointed many of your supporters...even your wife Posted: at 19-01-2018 07:23 PM (3 years ago) | Hero oh Buhari, you have disappointed many of your supporters...even your wife Reply

nametalkam at 19-01-2018 07:34 PM (3 years ago)

(m) Quote from: osarobo62 on 19-01-2018 06:00 PM APC should anoint Aisha Buhari to replace her husband in 2019.....the country would be in a better place.

it has become so unfortunate that the past glory of Buhari has dimmed liked the evening sun.



Aisha Buhari for president!!!! 2019 I specialize in investigative reportage across several subject matter and sectors but mainly focus on metro events and investigation. Do leave your thoughts and opinion on my reports to let me know what you think about them. Thank you Posted: at 19-01-2018 07:34 PM (3 years ago) | Hero Aisha Buhari for president!!!! 2019 Reply

slimber at 19-01-2018 07:40 PM (3 years ago)

(f) Hmmmm nah you 're only attacking your hubby very good Posted: at 19-01-2018 07:40 PM (3 years ago) | Hero Hmmmm nah you 're only attacking your hubby very good Reply

kacylee at 19-01-2018 07:41 PM (3 years ago)

(f) honestly i smell fire on the mountain, even if APC wants buhari to re-contest agin, i dont see Aisha supporting him I have been reporting for several years now and I am very interested in visual news reportage with strong inclusion of photos and video multimedia. Posted: at 19-01-2018 07:41 PM (3 years ago) | Addicted Hero honestly i smell fire on the mountain, even if APC wants buhari to re-contest agin, i dont see Aisha supporting him Reply

chukkychukky at 19-01-2018 09:34 PM (3 years ago)

(m) i love dis woman she is sincere Joramentity aka chukkychukky Posted: at 19-01-2018 09:34 PM (3 years ago) | Gistmaniac i love dis woman she is sincere Reply

Twise400 at 19-01-2018 11:06 PM (3 years ago)

(m) Yinmu. all what she's doing are political games abeg. una no know anything. lol Posted: at 19-01-2018 11:06 PM (3 years ago) | Newbie Yinmu. all what she's doing are political games abeg. una no know anything. lol Reply

Mykie010 at 19-01-2018 11:16 PM (3 years ago)

(m) I will still not support una.ur husband has killed Nigeria Posted: at 19-01-2018 11:16 PM (3 years ago) | Gistmaniac I will still not support una.ur husband has killed Nigeria Reply

Asterimou at 20-01-2018 01:15 AM (3 years ago)

(m) Quote from: Mykie010 on 19-01-2018 11:16 PM I will still not support una.ur husband has killed Nigeria

Is she asking for your support? Agbaya! Posted: at 20-01-2018 01:15 AM (3 years ago) | Gistmaniac Is she asking for your support? Agbaya! Reply

Asterimou at 20-01-2018 01:16 AM (3 years ago)

(m) Quote from: Twise400 on 19-01-2018 11:06 PM Yinmu. all what she's doing are political games abeg. una no know anything. lol

She has said something like that in the past. This great woman should be respected for standing up for us all. Wise up! Posted: at 20-01-2018 01:16 AM (3 years ago) | Gistmaniac She has said something like that in the past. This great woman should be respected for standing up for us all. Wise up! Reply

johnnychuks2 at 20-01-2018 07:22 AM (3 years ago)

(m) FOOLS, from fire to frying pan.. naija fools. Posted: at 20-01-2018 07:22 AM (3 years ago) | Upcoming FOOLS, from fire to frying pan.. naija fools. Reply

Bebold at 20-01-2018 12:37 PM (3 years ago)

(m) Noooooooo Buhari nut rule that will be my pay back to those who hated Jonathan and voted buhari I must pray that Buhari wins Posted: at 20-01-2018 12:37 PM (3 years ago) | Gistmaniac Noooooooo Buhari nut rule that will be my pay back to those who hated Jonathan and voted buhari I must pray that Buhari wins Reply

benosky4 at 21-01-2018 06:06 PM (3 years ago)

(m) this Madam got guts to dare speak against the cabals of aso rock.

I pray God will bless and protect her. #MyVerdict. Posted: at 21-01-2018 06:06 PM (3 years ago) | Gistmaniac this Madam got guts to dare speak against the cabals of aso rock.I pray God will bless and protect her. Reply
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Jan. 18, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Klondex Mines Ltd. (TSX:KDX) (NYSE American:KLDX) (Klondex or the Company) is pleased to provide the final results from the 2017 surface exploration drill program at the Hatter Graben target near its Hollister Mine (Hollister). Initial results for the first five holes of the drill program were published on November 20, 2017. Hollister is located in northern Nevada, USA.



Hatter Graben - Drill Results From Last Five Holes



Hatter Graben Drilling Highlights





Hatter Graben Surface Drilling Highlights from Last Five Holes: (TABLE 1)

H17-010: 4.12 opt AuEq over 1.2 ft, or 141.30 g/t over 0.4 m

and 2.63 opt AuEq over 1.1 ft, or 90.13 g/t over 0.3 m

and 2.63 opt AuEq over 1.1 ft, or 90.13 g/t over 0.3 m H17-007: 0.89 opt AuEq over 2.4 ft, or 30.46 g/t over 0.7 m

H17-008: 0.79 opt AuEq over 2.9 ft, or 26.98 g/t over 0.9 m

KEY POINTS:

The final phase of the Hatter Graben exploration program was completed in December 2017 with ten surface core holes totaling 26,714.5 ft (8,142.6 m). Nine drill holes successfully tested the Hatter Graben vein system while one drill hole (H17-009) was lost short of the designed targets due to poor ground conditions. This program was designed to infill drilling completed during 2008 with the intent to develop an initial inferred resource at Hatter Graben, which is anticipated to be released during the first quarter of this year. (Figure 1)

Drilling from the most recent five holes continued to intersect multiple sub-parallel veins that extend mineralization along strike by approximately 800 ft (243.8 m) and down dip approximately 200 ft (61.0 m), bringing the known extent of the multiple sub-parallel mineralized veins to approximately 1,400 ft (426.7 m) of vertical height and 2,000 ft (609.6 m) of strike length. Mineralization remains open in all directions. (Figure 2)

In addition, the drill data suggests that mineralization appears to be strengthening to the east and is hosted in more competent rock compared to the Hollister mine. The preferable ground conditions at Hatter Graben should allow for better vein development, superior dilution control and provides the option for the more efficient long-hole stoping mining method.

Mr. Brian Morris, Senior Vice President, Exploration, said, Drilling from the more desirable drill sites that were permitted later in the drill season returned significant results. These preferred drill locations allowed us to target the vein system at optimal elevations and extend mineralization to the east. The drill data indicates that the vein system becomes more robust to the east in grade and vein concentrations. Mr. Morris continued, Moreover, analysis of the drill data shows the evidence of mineralization above the unconformity in the older Eocene-age volcanic rocks. This favorable stratigraphic horizon thickens to the west and offers the possibility to extend mineralization several hundred feet up dip in this area.

Assays were performed by American Assay Laboratories of Sparks, Nevada, as directed under the supervision of Klondex staff. This organization is an ISO 17025 accredited independent laboratory.

A description of the data verification methods, quality assurance program and quality control measures applied can be found in the technical report titled Technical Report and Pre-Feasibility Study for the Hollister Underground Mine, as amended on August 9, 2017 with an effective date of May 31, 2017, which is available under the Companys issuer profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and on EDGAR at www.sec.gov.

Qualified Person

Scientific and technical information in this press release has been reviewed and approved by Brian Morris (AIPG CPG-11786), a "qualified person" within the meaning of NI 43-101.

About Klondex Mines Ltd. (www.klondexmines.com)

Klondex is a junior-tier gold and silver mining company focused on exploration, development, and production in a safe, environmentally responsible, and cost-effective manner. The Company has 100% interests in four producing mineral properties: the Fire Creek Mine, the Midas Mine and ore milling facility, the Hollister Mine, all of which are located in the state of Nevada, USA, and the True North Mine and mill in Manitoba, Canada. The Company also has a 100% interest in the Aurora mine and ore milling facility, also located in Nevada, USA.

Contact:

Mike Beckstead

Director, Investor Relations

O: 775-284-5757

M: 406-290-4165

mbeckstead@klondexmines.com

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-looking Information

This news release contains certain information that may constitute forward-looking information or forward-looking statements under applicable Canadian and United States securities legislation (collectively, forward-looking information), including but not limited to the exploration potential at Hatter Graben or the Hollister Mine, expected gold recoveries, the potential of the drilling to increase resources, the timing of an updated mineral resource update and future exploration and production plans of Klondex. This forward-looking information entails various risks and uncertainties that are based on current expectations, and actual results may differ materially from those contained in such information. These uncertainties and risks include, but are not limited to, the strength of the global economy; the price of gold; operational, funding and liquidity risks; the degree to which mineral resource estimates are reflective of actual mineral resources; the degree to which mineral reserve estimates are reflective of actual mineral reserves; the degree to which factors which would make a mineral deposit commercially viable are present; the risks and hazards associated with underground operations; and the ability of Klondex to fund its substantial capital requirements and operations. Risks and uncertainties about the Companys business are more fully discussed in the Companys disclosure materials filed with the securities regulatory authorities in Canada and United States available at www.sedar.com and www.sec.gov, respectively. Readers are urged to read these materials. Klondex assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking information or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from such information unless required by law.

Cautionary note to U.S. investors regarding estimates of measured, indicated and inferred resources and proven and probable reserves

The terms mineral reserve, proven mineral reserve and probable mineral reserve are Canadian mining terms as defined in accordance with Canadian National Instrument 43-101-Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (NI 43-101) and the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM)-CIM Definition Standards on Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves, adopted by the CIM Council, as amended (CIM Definition Standards) These definitions differ from the definitions in the SEC Industry Guide 7 (SEC Industry Guide 7) under the Securities Act.

The terms mineral resource, measured mineral resource, indicated mineral resource and inferred mineral resource are defined in, and required to be disclosed by NI 43-101; however, these terms are not defined terms under SEC Industry Guide 7 and are normally not permitted to be used in reports and registration statements filed with the SEC. Investors are cautioned not to assume that all or any part of a mineral deposit in these categories will ever be converted into reserves. Inferred mineral resources have a great amount of uncertainty as to their existence, and great uncertainty as to their economic and legal feasibility. It cannot be assumed that all, or any part, of an inferred mineral resource will ever be upgraded to a higher category. Under Canadian rules, estimates of inferred mineral resources may not form the basis of feasibility or pre-feasibility studies, except in rare cases. Investors are cautioned not to assume that all or any part of an inferred mineral resource exists or is economically or legally mineable.

Photos accompanying this announcement are available at

http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/591d54a6-7ae9-462f-9be1-9d56dfbe83c7

http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/4adbf12e-452f-44e3-8417-a57868197870



A PDF accompanying this announcement is available at

http://resource.globenewswire.com/Resource/Download/fb2d15bc-1cbd-46ff-b491-7a23b549d2ff
Toronto, Jan. 18, 2018 - Metals Creek Resources Corp. (TSXV: MEK) (Metals Creek) is pleased to announce that they have been advised by their option partner, Sokoman Iron Corp. (Sokoman) that The Clarks Brook Project will be the subject of a Phase 2 reconnaissance diamond drilling program, expected to start in 2 to 3 weeks. The program will focus on the coincidental magnetic and IP targets that host the known mineralization on the property, and where Phase 1 drilling in October 2017, confirmed the presence of locally robust gold mineralization in the first ever holes drilled on the property (SIC NR - December 22, 2017). Selected assays from hole CB-17-2 are as follows; 3.37 g/t Au/3.00 m (127.75m - 130.75m), including 4.63 g/t Au/1.65 m (127.75m - 129.40m), and 26.9 g/t Au/0.25 m (127.75m - 128.00m). The Phase 2 program will consist of approximately 500 meters of drilling in three or four holes and will test the strike extent of the zone, as well as possible parallel structures hosting mineralization. Additional holes and meterage will be added if results warrant.

To earn an initial 75% interest, Sokoman must make cash payments of $45,000 over three years (no cash on signing) and issue a total of 3,000,000 Sokoman common shares over three years (500,000 due upon regulatory approval) and incur work expenditures of $800,000 over three years ($100,000 by 1st anniversary). Sokoman will be the operator during the earn-in period. Once a 75% interest is earned by Sokoman, either a 75/25 joint venture will be formed, or Sokoman may elect to earn an additional 25% interest to bring its total property interest to 100%. The terms to increase its interest from 75% to 100% include payments of $100,000 and the issuance of an additional 2,000,000 Sokoman shares within 60 days of the 3rd anniversary date. This agreement is subject to regulatory approval.

About Metals Creek Resources Corp.

Metals Creek Resources Corp. is a junior exploration company incorporated under the laws of the Province of Ontario, is a reporting issuer in Alberta, British Columbia and Ontario, and has its common shares listed for trading on the Exchange under the symbol "MEK". Metals Creek has earned a 50% interest in the Ogden Gold Property, including the former Naybob Gold mine, located 6 km south of Timmins, Ontario and has a 8 km strike length of the prolific Porcupine-Destor Fault (P-DF) that stretches between Timmins, Ontario and Val d'Or, Quebec. Metals Creek also has an option agreement with Quadro Resources on Metals Creeks and Benton Resources Staghorn Gold Project in Newfoundland as well as two option agreements with Anaconda Mining Inc. on Metals Creek's Jacksons Arm and Tilt Cove Properties also in Newfoundland. The company have also signed a LOI on its Clarks Brook property with Sokoman Iron Corp. and is engaged in the identification, acquisition, exploration and development of other mineral resource properties, and presently has mining interests in Ontario, Yukon and Newfoundland and Labrador including the recently acquired Great Brehat project on the Great Northern Peninsula of Newfoundland. Additional information concerning the Corporation is contained in documents filed by the Corporation with securities regulators, available under its profile at www.sedar.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."

For further information, please contact:

Alexander (Sandy) Stares, President and CEO

Metals Creek Resources Corp.

telephone: (709)-256-6060

fax: (709)-256-6061

email: astares@metalscreek.com

www.metalscreek.com


BRISBANE, Australia, Jan. 18, 2018 /CNW/ -- Orocobre Ltd. (ASX: ORE, TSX: ORL) ("Orocobre" or "the Company"), is pleased to announce the successful completion of the institutional component ("Institutional Entitlement Offer") of its approximately A$79 million fully underwritten 1 for 20 accelerated pro rata renounceable entitlement offer with retail entitlements trading on the ASX ("Entitlement Offer").

The Entitlement Offer was announced to the market on 16 January 2018, in conjunction with a A$282 million strategic placement to Toyota Tsusho Corporation ("Toyota Tsusho") at a price of A$7.50 per share ("Strategic Placement"). The first tranche of the Strategic Placement settled on 18 January 2018 and raised A$234 million. The second tranche will raise a further A$47 million and is subject to shareholder approval at the General Meeting to be held on Monday, 26 February 2018.

SUMMARY OF THE INSTITUTIONAL ENTITLEMENT OFFER

The Institutional Entitlement Offer raised gross proceeds of approximately A$34 million and will result in the issue of approximately 5.2 million new Orocobre ordinary shares ("New Shares").

The Institutional Entitlement Offer was very strongly supported by Orocobre's institutional shareholders, with approximately 97% of entitlements available to accelerated institutional shareholders taken up.

The bookbuild for the ~140,000 renounced entitlements ("Institutional Shortfall Bookbuild") saw strong demand, pricing at A$7.25 per New Share, a $0.70 per share premium over the offer price of A$6.55 ("Offer Price") and A$0.11 above the theoretical ex-rights price ("TERP")1 of A$7.14 per share.

Orocobre Managing Director and CEO Richard Seville said: "We are delighted to welcome Toyota Tsusho to the Orocobre register. This transaction reflects the strength of the relationship that has developed since the first funding and partnership agreement in January 2010, and will be the cornerstone of a much longer relationship as we jointly develop the Olaroz lithium facility for supply into the rapidly growing electric vehicle market.

We are also extremely pleased with the strong level of take up under the Institutional Entitlement Offer and would like to thank our institutional shareholders for their ongoing support.

The larger phase 2 expansion at Olaroz is now fully funded and we are happy to provide our existing shareholders an opportunity to participate in this step-change transaction through the Entitlement Offer."

The Institutional Shortfall Bookbuild was completed on 18 January 2018. Eligible institutional shareholders who elected not to take up their entitlements will receive A$0.70 for each entitlement sold for their benefit in the Institutional Shortfall Bookbuild, less any applicable withholding tax.

Settlement of the New Shares to be issued as part of the Institutional Entitlement Offer will occur on 29 January 2018, and New Shares will be allotted and commence trading on 30 January 2018. The New Shares will rank equally with existing ordinary Orocobre shares.

COMMENCEMENT OF RETAIL OFFER

The retail component of the Entitlement Offer ("Retail Entitlement Offer") will open on 23 January 2018, and is expected to raise approximately A$45 million. Eligible retail shareholders in Australia and New Zealand will have the opportunity to participate in the Retail Entitlement Offer at the same Offer Price as the Institutional Entitlement Offer, being A$6.55.

Eligible retail shareholders will be entitled to subscribe for 1 New Share for every 20 existing Orocobre ordinary shares held at 7.00pm (AEDT) on 19 January 2018. Eligible retail shareholders may also sell their entitlements on the ASX, with trading to commence on 19 January 2018 (on a deferred settlement basis) and conclude on 25 January 2018.

The Retail Entitlement Offer will close at 5.00pm (AEDT) on 2 February 2018. Retail entitlements that are not exercised by eligible retail shareholders by the close of the Retail Entitlement Offer, and entitlements that would otherwise have been offered to ineligible retail shareholders, will be sold through the retail shortfall bookbuild which will open on 7 February 2018.

Any proceeds of sale in excess of the Offer Price (net of any withholding tax) will be paid to renouncing and ineligible shareholders. There is no guarantee that there will be any proceeds. The ability to sell entitlements under the bookbuild process and the ability to obtain any premium will be dependent upon various factors, including market conditions.

FURTHER INFORMATION

Further details on the Strategic Placement and the Entitlement Offer are set out in the Investor Presentation lodged with the ASX on 16 January 2018. This includes important information on the Entitlement Offer, including key risks involved in an investment in Orocobre and the selling restrictions in respect of the Institutional Entitlement Offer. Eligible retail shareholders wishing to participate in the Retail Entitlement Offer should carefully read the Retail Information Booklet and the accompanying personalised entitlement and acceptance form, which are expected to be despatched to eligible retail shareholders on 23 January 2018.

Retail shareholders who have any questions about the Retail Entitlement Offer should speak with their broker or advisor and/or call the Orocobre Offer Information Line on 1300 117 912 (within Australia) or +61 3 9415 4337 (outside Australia) from 8.30am to 5.00pm (AEDT) Monday to Friday during the Retail Entitlement Offer.

About Orocobre Limited



Orocobre Ltd. (Orocobre) is a dynamic global lithium carbonate supplier and an established producer of boron.

Orocobre is dual listed on the Australia and Toronto Stock Exchanges (ASX: ORE), (TSE: ORL). Orocobre's operations include its Olaroz Lithium Facility in Northern Argentina, Borax Argentina, an established Argentine boron minerals and refined chemicals producer and a 33% interest in Advantage Lithium.

For further information, please visit www.orocobre.com

Restriction on distribution of this announcement

This announcement has been prepared for publication in Australia and may not be released to US wire services or distributed in the United States. This announcement does not constitute an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, securities in the United States or any other jurisdiction. Any securities described in this announcement have not been, and will not be, registered under the US Securities Act of 1933 and may not be offered or sold in the United States except in transactions exempt from, or not subject to, the registration of the US Securities Act and applicable US state securities laws.

1 The TERP is a theoretical price at which Orocobre shares trade immediately after the ex-date for the Entitlement Offer assuming 100% take-up of the Entitlement Offer. The TERP is a theoretical calculation only and the actual price at which Orobobre shares trade immediately after the ex-date for the Entitlement Offer will depend on many factors and may not be equal to TERP. TERP is calculated by reference to Orocobre's closing price of A$7.17 on Monday, 15 January 2018

CONTACT: Orocobre Ltd., Telephone: +61 7 3871 3985, Email mail@orocobre.com.au

SOURCE Orocobre Ltd.
Vancouver, British Columbia (FSCwire) - Great Atlantic Resources Corp. (TSXV.GR) (the Company or Great Atlantic) is pleased to announce it has received a diamond drilling permit for its Porcupine Base Metal - Precious Metal - Rare Earth Element (REE) Property, located in central New Brunswick. The drilling permit is for up to 10 holes. Drilling is planned in the spring of 2018, the focus being an area of zinc, lead, copper and silver mineralization. Additional mineral claims have been staked, expanding the Porcupine Property of the north to cover an area of reported lead mineralization associated with Ordovician volcanic rocks.

To view the graphic in its original size, please click here

The Porcupine Property occurs within the Miramichi terrane which trends northeast-southwest through New Brunswick. The Miramichi terrane hosts numerous volcanogenic massive sulfide deposits in northeast New Brunswick in the famous Bathurst Camp. Many of these deposits were mined, including the historic Heath Steele mine, located approximately 40km northeast of the Porcupine Property. Volcanic rocks are reported locally within the Porcupine Property.

Lead, zinc, copper and silver mineralization occurs in both boulders and bedrock in the central region of the Porcupine Property. Great Atlantic Resources Corp. discovered a mineralized zone in a trench (Line 4W Trench) in this region during 2012. A one meter channel sample across this zone returned 5.48% zinc and 1.08% lead. This zone was reported to be within sheared volcanic rocks. A qualified person has not verified this data as the sample location is no longer evident in the trench. A qualified person has verified lead, zinc and copper sulfide mineralization in stringers / veins in altered and sheared volcanic rocks within this approximately 25m long east-west trench. Great Atlantic collected grab samples of mineralized boulders during 2012 from another trench (Line 3W Trench), located 50 metres east of the Line 4W Trench. One grab sample returned 20.7% lead, 6.89% zinc, 2.04% copper and 122 grams / tonne (g/t) silver. A qualified person has not verified these boulders / data as the trench has been reclaimed. The 2012 trench samples and lab inserted blank, duplicate and standard samples were analyzed by Activation Laboratories Ltd. (Ancaster, Ontario) by Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis (INAA) and Four Acid Inductively Coupled Plasma  Optical Emission Spectrometry (ICP-OES). (Activation Laboratories is independent of Great Atlantic Resources Corp. and option Partner Fort St. James Nickel Corp.).

Planned diamond drilling in 2018 will focus on the central region of the property in the area of the Line 3W and Line 4W Trenches including the area in the reported up-ice direction.

2012 Line 4W Trench (channel sample of 5.48% Zn & 1.08% Pb / 1m)

To view the graphic in its original size, please click here

Lead and zinc sulfide mineralization in Line 4W Trench

To view the graphic in its original size, please click here

Soil geochemical anomalies are reported locally in the southern region of the property including cobalt, lead, tungsten and REE anomalies. A qualified person has verified the soil geochemical data. A qualified person managed the 2015 soil geochemical survey and verified associated data including sample locations and analytical data. The 2015 soil samples (and lab inserted blank, standard and duplicate samples) were analyzed by ALS Minerals in Sudbury, Ontario by Fire Assay  Atomic Absorption (AA) for gold and for 33 elements by four acid  Inductively Coupled Plasma  Atomic Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-AES). The sources of these anomalies have not been located. The Company is planning additional work in this region during 2018 to establish drill targets. ALS Minerals is independent of Great Atlantic Resources Corp. and Fort St. James Nickel Corp.

The Porcupine Property has been recently expanded further north through staking of additional claims. The new claims cover an area of reported lead sulfide mineralization (galena), reported to occur at the contact of Ordovician felsic volcanic rocks and interbedded sedimentary rocks (source: New Brunswick Department of Energy and Resource Development Mineral Occurrence Database). A qualified person has not verified this reported mineralization due to winter conditions. The property currently covers an area of approximately 2,830 hectares.

The Porcupine Property is located in central New Brunswick approximately 50 kilometres west of the city of Miramichi. Access is excellent with logging roads transecting the property.

David Martin, P.Geo., a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101, is responsible for the technical information contained in this News Release. Mr. Martin is the VP Exploration for Great Atlantic Resources Corp.

About Great Atlantic Resources Corp.: Great Atlantic Resources Corp. is a Canadian exploration company focused on the discovery and development of mineral assets in the resource-rich and sovereign risk-free realm of Atlantic Canada, one of the number one mining regions of the world. Great Atlantic is currently surging forward building the company utilizing a Project Generation model, with a special focus on the most critical elements on the planet that are prominent in Atlantic Canada, Antimony, Tungsten and Gold.

On Behalf of the board of directors

Christopher R Anderson

Mr. Christopher R Anderson "Always be positive, strive for solutions, and never give up"

President CEO Director

604-488-3900  Dir

Investor Relations:

Kaye Wynn Consulting Inc.: 604-558-2630, Toll Free 888-280-8128

E-mail: info@kayewynn.com

This press release includes certain statements that may be deemed forward-looking statements. All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts, that address future exploration drilling, exploration activities and events or developments that the Company expects, are forward looking statements. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include exploitation and exploration successes, continued availability of financing, and general economic, market or business conditions.

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.

Great Atlantic Resource Corp

888 Dunsmuir Street - Suite 888, Vancouver, B.C., V6C 3K4

To view this press release as a PDF file, click onto the following link:public://news_release_pdf/GreatAtlantic01192018.pdfSource: Great Atlantic Resources Corp. (TSX Venture:GR, FWB:PH01)

To follow Great Atlantic Resources Corp. on your favorite social media platform or financial websites, please click on the icons below.

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Copyright  2018 FSCwire
BRISBANE, Australia, Jan. 19, 2018 /CNW/ --

NOTIFICATION TO INELIGIBLE RETAIL SHAREHOLDERS

Dear Shareholder

On Tuesday, 16 January 2018, Orocobre Ltd. ("Orocobre") announced a fully underwritten pro rata renounceable entitlement offer of new Orocobre ordinary shares ("New Shares") (with retail entitlements trading) to raise approximately A$79 million ("Entitlement Offer"). The offer price is A$6.55 per New Share ("Offer Price").

This letter is to inform you about the Entitlement Offer, and to explain why you will not be able to subscribe for New Shares under the Entitlement Offer. This letter is not an offer to issue New Shares to you, nor an invitation for you to apply for New Shares. You are not required to do anything in response to this letter but there may be financial implications for you as a result of the Entitlement Offer that you should be aware of.

The Entitlement Offer and use of proceeds

The Entitlement Offer comprises an institutional entitlement offer and an offer to eligible retail shareholders to participate at the same Offer Price and offer ratio ("Retail Entitlement Offer"). The Entitlement Offer is being made in accordance with section 708AA of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) ("Act") (as modified by Australian Securities and Investments Commission Corporations (Non-Traditional Rights Issues) Instrument 2016/84), meaning that the Entitlement Offer is not being conducted by way of a prospectus.

UBS AG, Australia Branch is acting as underwriter to the Entitlement Offer ("Underwriter").

In addition to the Entitlement Offer, Orocobre is also undertaking a 15% placement to Toyota Tsusho Corporation ("TTC") (on a fully expanded basis) for A$282 million, at a price of A$7.50, representing a 17% premium to Orocobre's 30 day volume weighted average price as at close on Monday, 15 January 2018 of A$6.43. Proceeds from the Entitlement Offer and the placement to TTC will be used to provide Orocobre with an appropriate level of cash liquidity to support development of the Phase 2 expansion of the Olaroz Lithium Project.

Details of the Retail Entitlement Offer

The Retail Entitlement Offer is being made to eligible shareholders on the basis of 1 New Share for every 20 existing Orocobre ordinary shares held as at 7.00 pm (Sydney time) on 19 January 2018 ("Record Date") ("Entitlement"). An offer booklet in relation to the Retail Entitlement Offer ("Retail Information Booklet") will be despatched to Eligible Retail Shareholders (as defined below) on or around 23 January 2018.

Eligibility criteria

"Eligible Retail Shareholders" are those persons who are a holder of existing Orocobre ordinary shares as at 7.00pm (Sydney time) on the Record Date and who:

have a registered address on the Orocobre share register in Australia or New Zealand;

are not in the United States and are not acting for the account or benefit of a person in the United States (to the extent they are holding Orocobre ordinary shares for the account or benefit of such person in the United States);

were not invited to participate (other than as nominee, in respect of other underlying holdings) in the institutional entitlement offer and were not treated as ineligible institutional investors under the institutional entitlement offer; and

are eligible under all applicable securities laws to receive an offer under the Retail Entitlement Offer without any requirement for a prospectus or offer document to be lodged or registered.

Shareholders who are not Eligible Retail Shareholders and who did not participate in the institutional entitlement offer are "Ineligible Shareholders" and are consequently unable to participate in the Retail Entitlement Offer.

The restrictions upon eligibility to participate in the Retail Entitlement Offer arise because of the legal and regulatory requirements in countries other than Australia or New Zealand and the potential costs of complying with these legal and regulatory requirements compared with the relatively small number of shareholders in those countries, the relatively small number of existing Orocobre ordinary shares they hold and the relatively low value of New Shares to which they would otherwise be entitled.

Orocobre has determined, pursuant to Listing Rule 7.7.1(a) of the ASX Listing Rules and section 9A(3)(a) of the Act (as modified by Australian Securities and Investments Commission Corporations (Non-Traditional Rights Issues) Instrument 2016/84), that it would be unreasonable to make offers to shareholders in certain countries under the Retail Entitlement Offer.

Determination of eligibility of investors for the purposes of the Retail Entitlement Offer is determined by Orocobre with reference to a number of matters. The Underwriter, its affiliates and related bodies corporate and each of their respective directors, officers, partners, employees, advisers and agents disclaim any liability in respect of any determination as to eligibility, to the maximum extent permitted by law.

Unfortunately, according to our records, you do not satisfy the eligibility criteria for an Eligible Retail Shareholder stated above. Accordingly, in compliance with ASX Listing Rule 7.7.1(b) and section 9A(3)(b) of the Act, Orocobre wishes to advise you that it will not be extending the Retail Entitlement Offer to you and you will not be able to subscribe for New Shares under the Retail Entitlement Offer. You will not be sent the documents relating to the Entitlement Offer.

However, as the Entitlement Offer is renounceable, you may receive value for entitlements you would have received had you been eligible to participate in the Retail Entitlement Offer. Arrangements have been made for the New Shares that would have represented the entitlements of Ineligible Shareholders to be sold via a retail shortfall bookbuild on 7 February 2018, which is to be undertaken by the Underwriter. You will receive any proceeds in excess of the Offer Price in respect of each entitlement to subscribe for New Shares sold in the retail shortfall bookbuild that you would have received under the Retail Entitlement Offer if you were eligible to participate, net of any applicable withholding tax. However, there is no guarantee that you will receive any value as a result of the retail shortfall bookbuild.

The retail entitlements of Eligible Retail Shareholders will be tradeable on ASX. The assignment, transfer and exercise of retail entitlements trading on ASX will be restricted to persons meeting certain eligibility criteria. In particular, persons in the United States and persons acting for the account or benefit of persons in the United States will not be eligible to purchase or trade retail entitlements or to exercise retail entitlements they acquire. If you buy retail entitlements during the trading period, but you do not meet the eligibility criteria, you will not be able to take up or exercise those entitlements and, as a result, you may receive no value for them.

You are not required to do anything in response to this letter.

For further information on the Entitlement Offer or if you believe that you are an Eligible Retail Shareholder, you can call the Orocobre Offer Information Line on 1300 117 912 (Australia) or +61 3 9415 4337 (International callers) from 8.30am to 5.00pm (Sydney time) Monday to Friday during the Retail Entitlement Offer period. If you have any further questions, you should contact your stockbroker, accountant or other professional adviser.

On behalf of the Board of Orocobre, I thank you for your continued support.

Yours faithfully

Orocobre Limited

Important Information:

This letter is issued by Orocobre Ltd. (ABN 31 112 589 910). This letter is not a prospectus or offering document under Australian law or under any other law. It is for information purposes only and does not constitute an offer, invitation or recommendation to subscribe for, retain or purchase any securities in Orocobre in any jurisdiction. This letter does not constitute financial product advice and does not and will not form part of any contract for the acquisition of Orocobre ordinary shares.

This letter does not constitute an offer to sell, or the solicitation of an offer to buy, any securities in the United States. No action has been or will be taken to register, qualify or otherwise permit a public offering of the Entitlements or New Shares in any jurisdiction outside Australia and New Zealand. In particular, neither the Entitlements nor the New Shares have been, or will be, registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), or under the securities laws of any state or other jurisdiction of the United States. Accordingly, the Entitlements may not be exercised or taken up by, and the New Shares may not be offered or sold directly or indirectly, to, persons in the United States unless they have been registered under the Securities Act (which Orocobre has no obligation to do) or are offered and sold in a transaction exempt from, or not subject to, the registration requirements of the Securities Act and applicable U.S. state securities laws. The Entitlements and New Shares to be offered and sold in the Retail Entitlement Offer will only be offered and sold outside the United States in "offshore transactions" (as defined in Rule 902(h) of the Securities Act) in reliance on Regulation S under the Securities Act.

The provision of this letter is not, and should not be considered as, financial product advice. The information in this letter is general information only, and does not take into account your individual objectives, taxation position, financial situation or needs. Please read the Retail Information Booklet, and if you are unsure of your position, please contact your accountant, tax advisor, stockbroker or other professional advisor.

IMPORTANT NOTICE TO NOMINEES: Because of legal restrictions, you must not send copies of this letter nor any material relating to the Entitlement Offer to any of your clients (or any other person) in the United States or any other person acting for the account or benefit of persons in the United States or to any person in any other jurisdiction outside of Australia and New Zealand. Failure to comply with these restrictions may result in violations of applicable securities laws. The provision of this document is not, and should not be considered as, financial product advice. The information in this document is general information only, and does not take into account your individual objectives, taxation position, financial situation or needs. If you are unsure of your position, please contact your accountant, tax advisor, stockbroker or other professional advisor.

NOTIFICATION TO ELIGIBLE RETAIL SHAREHOLDERS

Dear Shareholder

On Tuesday, 16 January 2018, Orocobre Ltd. ("Orocobre") announced a fully underwritten pro rata renounceable entitlement offer of new Orocobre ordinary shares ("New Shares") (with retail entitlements trading) to raise approximately A$79 million ("Entitlement Offer"). The offer price of A$6.55 per New Share ("Offer Price") represents a discount of:

8.3% to the theoretical ex-rights price ("TERP") 1 of A$7.14;

of A$7.14; 8.6% to the last trade price of Orocobre shares on 15 January 2018 (the day prior to announcement of the Entitlement Offer) of A$7.17; and

12.7% to the price per share paid by Toyota Tsusho Corporation (TTC) under its strategic placement of A$282 million at a share price of A$7.50.

1 The theoretical ex-rights price of A$7.14 is calculated using Orocobre's closing price on 15 January 2018 assuming proceeds from the Entitlement Offer are approximately A$79 million. TERP is the theoretical price at which shares should trade immediately after the exdate for the Entitlement Offer assuming 100% take-up of the Entitlement Offer. TERP is a theoretical calculation only and the actual price at which shares trade immediately after the ex-date for the Entitlement Offer will depend on many factors and may not be equal to the TERP. The TERP does not include New Shares to be issued under the placement to TTC.

The Entitlement Offer and use of proceeds

The Entitlement Offer comprises an institutional entitlement offer and an offer to eligible retail shareholders to participate at the same Offer Price and offer ratio ("Retail Entitlement Offer"). The Entitlement Offer is being made in accordance with section 708AA of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) ("Act") (as modified by Australian Securities and Investments Commission Corporations (Non-Traditional Rights Issues) Instrument 2016/84), meaning that the Entitlement Offer is not being conducted by way of a prospectus.

New Shares issued under the Entitlement Offer will be fully paid and rank equally in all respects with existing Orocobre ordinary shares from issue and will be entitled to dividends on the same basis as existing Orocobre ordinary shares. Fractional entitlements will be rounded up to the nearest whole number of shares.

In addition to the Entitlement Offer, Orocobre is also undertaking a 15% placement to TTC (on a fully expanded basis) for A$282 million, at a price of A$7.50, representing a 17% premium to Orocobre's 30 day volume weighted average price as at close on Monday, 15 January 2018 of A$6.43.

Proceeds from the Entitlement Offer and the placement to TTC will be used to provide Orocobre with an appropriate level of cash liquidity to support development of the Phase 2 expansion of the Olaroz Lithium Project.

UBS AG, Australia Branch is acting as underwriter to the Entitlement Offer ("Underwriter").

Details of the Retail Entitlement Offer

The Retail Entitlement Offer is being made to eligible shareholders on the basis of 1 New Share for every 20 existing Orocobre ordinary shares held as at 7.00 pm (Sydney time) on 19 January 2018 ("Record Date") ("Entitlement"). An offer booklet in relation to the Retail Entitlement Offer ("Retail Information Booklet") will be despatched to Eligible Retail Shareholders (as defined below) on or around 23 January 2018.

Eligibility criteria

"Eligible Retail Shareholders" are those persons who are a holder of existing Orocobre ordinary shares as at 7.00pm (Sydney time) on the Record Date and who:

have a registered address on the Orocobre share register in Australia or New Zealand;

are not in the United States and are not acting for the account or benefit of a person in the United States (to the extent they are holding Orocobre ordinary shares for the account or benefit of such person in the United States);

were not invited to participate (other than as nominee, in respect of other underlying holdings) in the institutional entitlement offer and were not treated as ineligible institutional investors under the institutional entitlement offer; and

are eligible under all applicable securities laws to receive an offer under the Retail Entitlement Offer without any requirement for a prospectus or offer document to be lodged or registered.

Shareholders who are not Eligible Retail Shareholders and who did not participate in the institutional entitlement offer are ineligible to participate in the Retail Entitlement Offer. In particular, persons in the United States and persons acting for the account or benefit of persons in the United States will not be eligible to purchase or trade retail entitlements or to exercise retail entitlements they acquire. If you buy retail entitlements during the trading period, but you do not meet the eligibility criteria, you will not be able to take up or exercise those entitlements and, as a result, you may receive no value for them.

According to our records, you satisfy the eligibility criteria for an Eligible Retail Shareholder.

Retail Information Booklet

This letter is not an offer document but rather an advance notice of some key terms and conditions of the Retail Entitlement Offer. Full details of the Retail Entitlement Offer are set out in the Retail Information Booklet, a copy of which will be available on the Australian Securities Exchange ("ASX") website www.asx.com.au and Orocobre's website at www.orocobre.com/investor-centre/announcements on or about 19 January 2018.

Eligible Retail Shareholders will be mailed or emailed a Retail Information Booklet, together with a personalised Entitlement and Acceptance Form which contains details of your Entitlement, on or around 23 January 2018. You should read the Retail Information Booklet carefully and in its entirety before deciding whether to participate in the Retail Entitlement Offer.

Key dates for the Retail Entitlement Offer

Activity Date Announcement of the Entitlement Offer Tuesday, 16 January 2018 Entitlements commence trading on ASX on a deferred settlement basis Friday, 19 January 2018 Record Date (7.00pm AEDT) Friday, 19 January 2018 Retail Information Booklet and personalised Entitlement and

Acceptance Form despatched Tuesday, 23 January 2018 Retail Entitlement Offer opens Tuesday, 23 January 2018 Entitlements commence trading on ASX on a normal settlement basis Wednesday, 24 January 2018 Entitlements ceases trading on ASX Thursday, 25 January 2018 Closing date for Retail Entitlement Offer (5.00pm AEDT) Friday, 2 February 2018 Retail shortfall bookbuild Wednesday, 7 February 2018 Settlement of the Retail Entitlement Offer Monday, 12 February 2018 Issue of New Shares under the Retail Entitlement Offer Tuesday, 13 February 2018 New Shares under the Retail Entitlement Offer commence trading

on ASX on a normal settlement basis Wednesday, 14 February 2018 Despatch of holding statements for New Shares Thursday, 15 February 2018 Retail Premium (if any) despatched Tuesday, 20 February 2018

This timetable is indicative only and subject to change. The Orocobre Board may, with the consent of the Underwriter, vary these dates subject to the Corporations Act and the Listing Rules. An extension of the closing date will delay the anticipated date for issue of the New Shares. The Orocobre Board also reserves the right not to proceed with the whole or part of the Retail Entitlement Offer any time prior to allotment and issue of the New Shares. In that event, the relevant application monies (without interest) will be returned in full to applicants.

For further information on the Entitlement Offer, you can call the Orocobre Offer Information Line on 1300 117 912 (Australia) or +61 3 9415 4337 (International callers) from 8.30am to 5.00pm (Sydney time) Monday to Friday during the Retail Entitlement Offer period. If you have any further questions, you should contact your stockbroker, accountant or other professional adviser.

On behalf of the Board of Orocobre, I thank you for your continued support.

Yours faithfully

Orocobre Limited

Important Information:

This letter is issued by Orocobre Ltd. (ABN 31 112 589 910). This letter is not a prospectus or offering document under Australian law or under any other law. It is for information purposes only and does not constitute an offer, invitation or recommendation to subscribe for, retain or purchase any securities in Orocobre in any jurisdiction. This letter does not constitute financial product advice and does not and will not form part of any contract for the acquisition of Orocobre ordinary shares.

This letter does not constitute an offer to sell, or the solicitation of an offer to buy, any securities in the United States. No action has been or will be taken to register, qualify or otherwise permit a public offering of the Entitlements or New Shares in any jurisdiction outside Australia and New Zealand. In particular, neither the Entitlements nor the New Shares have been, or will be, registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), or under the securities laws of any state or other jurisdiction of the United States. Accordingly, the Entitlements may not be exercised or taken up by, and the New Shares may not be offered or sold directly or indirectly, to, persons in the United States unless they have been registered under the Securities Act (which Orocobre has no obligation to do) or are offered and sold in a transaction exempt from, or not subject to, the registration requirements of the Securities Act and applicable U.S. state securities laws. The Entitlements and New Shares to be offered and sold in the Retail Entitlement Offer will only be offered and sold outside the United States in "offshore transactions" (as defined in Rule 902(h) of the Securities Act) in reliance on Regulation S under the Securities Act.

The provision of this letter is not, and should not be considered as, financial product advice. The information in this letter is general information only, and does not take into account your individual objectives, taxation position, financial situation or needs. Please read the Retail Information Booklet, and if you are unsure of your position, please contact your accountant, tax advisor, stockbroker or other professional advisor.

IMPORTANT NOTICE TO NOMINEES: Because of legal restrictions, you must not send copies of this letter nor any material relating to the Entitlement Offer to any of your clients (or any other person) in the United States or any other person acting for the account or benefit of persons in the United States or to any person in any other jurisdiction outside of Australia and New Zealand. Failure to comply with these restrictions may result in violations of applicable securities laws. The provision of this document is not, and should not be considered as, financial product advice. The information in this document is general information only, and does not take into account your individual objectives, taxation position, financial situation or needs. If you are unsure of your position, please contact your accountant, tax advisor, stockbroker or other professional advisor.

CONTACT: Phone: +61 7 3871 3985, Fax: +61 7 3720 8988, Email: mail@orocobre.com, Website: orocobre.com.au

SOURCE Orocobre Ltd.
The state Supreme Court has overturned a Superior Court judge's controversial ruling that would have upended the state's educational-funding scheme and mandated a vast overhaul of teacher evaluations, educational standards and special-education services.Fourteen months after Judge Thomas Moukawsher released his blockbuster decision in a case brought by the Connecticut Coalition for Justice in Education Funding, the high court put the brakes on his far-reaching order, declaring that the state had met its minimal constitutional obligations and beyond that, it is up the legislature to set educational policy.A minority of justices favored sending the case back to Moukawsher for a new trial, but were outvoted, meaning the ruling likely brings an end to more than a decade of litigation.The high court acknowledged many of the educational inequities highlighted by the coalition, known as CCJEF, saying the plaintiffs had "painted a vivid picture of an imperfect public educational system in this state that is straining to serve many students who, because their basic needs for, among other things, adequate parenting, financial resources, housing, nutrition and care for their physical and psychological health are not being met, cannot take advantage of the educational opportunities that the state is offering."But the justices ruled that the judiciary's power is limited to determining whether the state has met the constitutional mandate to provide a minimally adequate education, including paying for minimally adequate facilities, materials, curricula and teachers."Courts simply are not in a position to determine whether schools in poorer districts would be better off expending scarce additional resources on more teachers, more computers, more books, more technical staff, more meals, more guidance counselors, more health care, more English instruction, greater preschool availability, or some other resource," Chief Justice Chase T. Rogers wrote for a majority of four justices. "Such judgments are quintessentially legislative in nature."The suit, first brought in 2005 against then-Gov. M. Jodi Rell, had long been seen primarily as a challenge to Connecticut's formula for funding education, which relies on a combination of local property taxes and state aid. But in a 90-page ruling released in September 2016, Moukawsher waded into some of the thorniest issues in public education, including grade-level standards, hiring practices and the high cost of specialized services for students with significant intellectual disabilities.On the funding question, Moukawsher ruled that the state spent enough on education overall to satisfy the state constitution, but said a policy "that allows rich towns to raid money desperately needed by poor towns makes a mockery of the state's constitutional duty to provide adequate educational opportunities to all students.""To be constitutional," Moukawsher ruled, "the state's chief educational policies do not have to be richly funded, but they must at least be rational, sustainable, and verifiable."But the justices rejected that analysis as "constitutionally irrelevant," writing that Moukawsher correctly described the elements of a constitutionally adequate education and correctly ruled that the state met those requirements -- and should have stopped there.In a separate opinion, Justice Richard N. Palmer, joined by two other justices, agreed with the majority that Moukawsher had exceeded his mandate in ordering broad educational reforms. But he also wrote that Moukawsher applied too narrow a standard in his threshold finding that state spending on education was constitutionally adequate.Palmer wrote that Moukawsher should have considered the specific plight of individual, poor school districts and their students before concluding that state spending overall met the constitutional minimum."The trial court's factual findings indicate that some of our state's most disadvantaged students may not be receiving a minimally adequate education, which is their constitutional right," Palmer wrote. And for that reason, he would have ordered a new trial, with instructions to consider more than desks and pencils and teachers."It is not enough to satisfy constitutional requirements for the state simply to set up and equip school buildings and then hire teachers to teach therein," Palmer wrote. "Reasonable efforts must be made to ensure that those students who would avail themselves of the educational opportunity have a means of getting themselves to school and, once there, are not so preoccupied by hunger, fear for their personal safety, or other serious distractions as to render learning effectively impossible."Attorney General George Jepsen praised the ruling, while calling on state officials not to lose sight of educational inequalities in the state."The court correctly determined that Connecticut's public education system and its public education funding do not violate constitutional standards and that -- absent such a constitutional deficiency -- education policy decisions rest with the representative branches of government," Jepsen said in a statement. "That said, the trial court's ruling in this case did identify profound educational challenges that deserve continuing significant and sustained action on the part of our state's policymakers. Nothing about today's ruling should alleviate any urgency on the part of state lawmakers to address these challenges."Jim Finley, principal consultant with CCJEF, said the coalition was "deeply disappointed" with the court's ruling."The Supreme Court decision appeared to agree with CCJEF's contention that many of our public school students have not been given an adequate and equitable education opportunity, but the court declined to assert themselves in trying to correct that," he said. "The reason CCJEF has been in the court system since 2005 is because the legislative and executive branches of government in Connecticut have not protected the constitutional rights of all of our public school students and those students were looking to the state courts to protect their right."Finley said the coalition would likely file a motion asking the court to reconsider its ruling. Such motions, however, are rarely successful.Moukawsher's ruling rocked educational leaders and advocates with its unexpectedly broad scope and its simultaneous finding that the state spent enough money on education, but spent it so haphazardly as to violate the constitution."Considering the fundamental right of a child to an education in Connecticut, the state cannot meet its educational duties under the constitution without adhering to a reasoned and discernible formula for distributing state education aid," Moukawsher wrote. "Beyond a reasonable doubt, Connecticut is defaulting on its constitutional duty to provide adequate public school opportunities because it has no rational, substantial and verifiable plan to distribute money for education aid."He then took aim at other areas of what he considered irrational educational policy that failed to "rationally, substantially, and verifiably connect an education degree with an education" -- measured in part by whether all students were meeting objective standards of achievement at third, eighth and 12th grade. Among the forceful findings in Moukawsher's ruling:* "The lack of a substantial and rational high-school graduation standard has resulted in unready children being sent along to high school, handed degrees, and left -- if they can scrape together the money -- to buy basic skills at a community college."* "The way educators are hired, fired, paid and evaluated isn't sensibly linked to its value in teaching children."* "With the state requiring expensive services but doing nothing to see they're going to the right people in the right way, special education spending is also adrift."Moukawsher called for revamping all of those areas, but left it to the other branches of government -- with a 180-day deadline -- to bring him a remedy. Instead, both sides in the suit sought review by the Supreme Court, with the state seeking to have the entire ruling thrown out, and the coalition objecting to Moukawsher's call to rewrite the rules on providing special-education services.Attorneys for the state told the Supreme Court justices that Moukawsher's broad order had no legal basis because he did not find that the state's public schools fail to provide adequate educational opportunities. And they noted that the state's Education Cost Sharing grants redirect vast amounts of public dollars from wealthier towns to poorer towns.Lawyers for the plaintiffs disputed Moukawsher's finding that state spending on education was constitutionally adequate, saying the judge should have ruled that the state must devote sufficient resources to allow a "meaningful opportunity" for all students to become responsible citizens and succeed in college or the workforce.Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said in a statement that despite the ruling, there was still an urgent need to "distribute greater educational dollars where there is the greatest need.""While we made some progress last session in establishing a more predictable and transparent funding formula, we haven't gone far enough," Malloy wrote. "The truth is that no court can mandate political courage, and it is my hope that current and future policymakers continue to make progress with a more fair distribution of educational aid."State Rep. Andy Fleischmann, a West Hartford Democrat and co-chair of the legislature's education committee, said a ruling upholding Moukawsher's decision "would have put a single, unelected judge in charge of virtually all state education policy, so that was a grave concern.""Just to be clear, I believe there is still a lot of work for us to do to ensure that every child in Connecticut gets a top quality education," Fleischmann said. "Under this ruling, that responsibility rests where it ought to: with the General Assembly and the executive branch."Jennifer Alexander, chief executive officer of the Connecticut Coalition for Achievement Now, an education advocacy group, said the outcome of the CCJEF case should not distract from the need to improve educational opportunity in the state."This case centered around a state constitutional question, but no matter what the court ruled about the constitution, we have a moral obligation to make sure that we provide every kid with an excellent education," Alexander said. "At the end of the day, families and voters expect their leaders to make sure that all Connecticut kids have a world class education and we have a lot of work to do to meet that goal."
ABC RadioChris Jansons February 5 show at Nashvilles historic Ryman Auditorium is a sell-out.

That accomplishment is especially sweet for the Fix a Drink hitmaker, since he started his career playing across the alley from the Ryman, at the famed Tootsies Orchid Lounge.

I could not be more grateful and excited to headline this sold-out show in town, Chris says. This is a highlight night in my career. I remember playing nights in the bar, seeing stars walk up the back steps and just thinking, Will I ever get there? It means a lot.

Following his show at the Mother Church of Country Music, Chris will hit the road with Lauren Alaina and his label mate Cole Swindell on the Reasons to Drink tour.

The second single from Chriss Everybody album, Drunk Girl, is currently climbing the chart.

Copyright  2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
Some Chattanooga rental hosts and local officials say an agreement allowing Airbnb to collect state and local sales taxes on short-term rentals in Tennessee is a good thing, but it doesn't go far enough.The home-sharing company said Thursday it has reached an agreement with the Tennessee Department of Revenue to collect and remit the 7 percent state sales tax, plus local sales taxes in varying rates, on rentals rather than relying on its 7,700 Tennessee hosts to do so.Airbnb spokesman Benjamin Breit said in a news release taxes generated from Tennessee bookings last year were worth $13 million. The revenue department can't say how much of that was actually remitted, spokeswoman Kelly Cortesi said, because the state doesn't break out and track taxes collected on home-sharing.Breit said that with the tax agreement in place, "the state will be able to fully capitalize on people visiting Tennessee and staying longer through home sharing. This agreement will ensure all of this revenue is collected in a way that is easy for the hosts and state."But the agreement doesn't cover city or county hotel-motel tax, which totals another 6 percent.A couple of local hosts said it only makes sense for Airbnb to collect all the taxes.Presenting a bill with 9.25 percent in sales taxes listed and then asking the guest for 6 percent more looks bad, said John Queen, whose North Chattanooga property stays busy with bookings."That kind of screws up the plan a little. It makes us look greedy," Queen said."How can you say, 'This tax doesn't include the hotel, and you pay me and I'll pay the city.' They're going to say, 'Right.'"Otherwise, hosts will have to raise rates or just eat the 6 percent hotel-motel tax, he said. "They need to do the whole thing."Host Phil Cross said having Airbnb collect taxes would be a help to him and also might help assure a level playing field by identifying hosts who don't have business licenses.That's a big problem in the fast-growing home-sharing market.Hamilton County Trustee Bill Hullander's office collects hotel-motel taxes for the county and its municipalities. He said "maybe 45 or 50 [home-share hosts] are participating like they're supposed to. In my opinion, there's probably that many more out there that aren't."He said his office has been working with Airbnb on a separate agreement to collect the local hotel-motel tax for Chattanooga and the other municipalities that have home-sharing."We're probably months away from that happening, if we can get it worked out," Hullander said.Cross said he got his business license and paid his taxes from the start, but it's hard to compete with under-the-table operators."That's a big tax burden to do this. If somebody's not doing that, they're putting 17.25 percent in their pocket, or they're reducing their nightly rate."Queen said the same thing."I am perfectly fine with paying the taxes, Chattanooga invested a lot in the city to make it attractive, I just don't want to be the only one among five houses [used for home-sharing in his neighborhood] to do it," he said.Chattanooga has taken its own steps to regulate short-term rentals, setting up a district where they're welcome and creating rules for operation. In December the city council voted to contract with Host Compliance LLC to monitor the industry. The company will use computer algorithms to track rentals and the city will match those with business-license lists. If caught without a license, operators will have 30 days to get legal.Kerry Hayes, deputy chief of staff for Mayor Andy Berke, said Host Compliance is just now getting started in the city and it's too early to see results.Hullander and the local hosts noted the agreement announced Thursday doesn't apply to other home-sharing companies such as HomeAway and VRBO.Cortesi said taxpayer confidentiality rules prevent her from saying whether the state is negotiating for similar agreements with other home-sharing companies.
A government shutdown appeared likely after Congress deadlocked over a proposed four-week stopgap spending bill to keep federal offices open past Friday's deadline.After the House late Thursday passed the measure, 230-197, with strong Republican support, the bill was headed for probable defeat in the Senate amid opposition from most Democrats and a few Republicans.The setback sends the White House and congressional leaders back to the negotiating table in a frantic search for a compromise.Democrats are rejecting the package because it lacks an immigration deal to protect so-called "Dreamers" from deportation.Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., criticized Democrats for playing politics with the nation's stability and security. He said they were putting the needs of the young immigrants ahead of the rest of the country."That's apparently how our Democratic colleagues rank their priorities," McConnell said. "It's not how I would rank mine."But Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., the Senate minority leader, blamed Republicans' internal divisions and a lack of leadership from the White House, particularly amid the president's shifting views in immigration talks."The leader is looking to deflect blame, but it just won't work," Schumer said. "We all now what the problem is: It's complete disarray on the Republican side."Schumer called upon Congress to pass a short-term resolution to extend the funding deadline for two or three days to allow for some breathing space in which congressional leaders and the White House could try to arrive at a compromise.But both sides were already working to blame each other for what would be the first shutdown since 2013, when Republicans closed the government in an unsuccessful bid to kill Obamacare.House Republicans pushed through the stopgap spending bill Thursday evening, brushing off President Donald Trump's last-minute ambiguity about the deal. After teetering most of the day, the measure won a pivotal endorsement from conservative lawmakers in the House Freedom Caucus.Eleven House Republicans defied GOP leaders by joining most Democrats to oppose the bill. Six Democrats voted in favor.But it seemed clear the bill lacked the needed support in the Senate, which began voting on the measure later Thursday night.Among those GOP senators who said they wouldn't vote for the short-term measure were Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who has been trying to negotiate an immigration deal, and Rand Paul of Kentucky. Other Republicans are thought to be on the fence, and Sen. John McCain of Arizona is not expected to vote because he has not returned to Washington since going home to battle brain cancer.The current spending authority for government operations ends after midnight Friday. If not extended, hundreds of thousands of federal workers would be furloughed and many _ but not all _ government offices would be shut down.GOP leaders had been racing to cobble together what would be their fourth short-term funding bill since last fall.The proposed extension to Feb. 16 included six years of additional funding authorization for the Children's Health Insurance Program for working-class kids, a provision added to help attract Democratic votes.But most Democrats panned the measure. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., called the GOP bill a "bowl of doggy doo."Democrats are angry that the GOP bill lacks protections for Dreamers, young immigrants brought to the country illegally by their parents. Trump has said he will end the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which offered the immigrants protection from deportation and work permits.Though Trump has said he wants to help Dreamers, he is also trying to get funding for his border wall with Mexico along with other immigration law changes in return. Talks on immigration continued Thursday behind closed doors.Trump and GOP leaders in Congress have worked hard to blame Democrats for any potential shutdown, but Pelosi said Republicans bear responsibility because they control the government."This is one of the only times ever there's been a shutdown when one party controlled the House, the Senate, the White House," she said, noting that Trump has previously said a shutdown might not be a bad thing. "It's really almost like an amateur hour."Even some Republicans are unconvinced about the GOP plan, either because it does not include increased funding for the Pentagon or because they want to reduce government spending on principle. Others also want help for Dreamers or additional disaster aid for victims of the recent hurricanes and fires.Republicans, with their slim 51-seat majority in the Senate, will probably need about a dozen Democrats to reach the 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster, assuming some GOP senators object or miss the vote as expected.Trump didn't help matters early Thursday when he suddenly tweeted against including the extension of the children's insurance program. In a tweet, Trump said funding for the program should be part of "a long term solution," not the stopgap measure.Some speculated that perhaps the president was not aware that the CHIP funding would be extended for six years, rather than the four weeks of the spending bill. The president had similarly undermined a House vote last week reauthorizing a federal surveillance program until Ryan intervened and Trump reversed course.By lunchtime, the administration tried to clarify the confusion, insisting that the president supports the current measure in the House. That was only after Ryan again spoke to the president by phone and the GOP whip, Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, tweeted a rebuttal."I've spoken with the president," Ryan told reporters. "He does understand."In the final hour of negotiations before the House vote, Ryan met with the chairman of the Freedom Caucus, Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C. Most of the group's members agreed to back the spending bill in exchange for future votes _ including on a "conservative" immigration bill that would probably include even tougher border security and other provisions, aides said. They also won a promise for an eventual House vote on increased military spending.In remarks at the Pentagon Thursday morning, Trump seemed resigned to a federal shutdown."It could happen," he said. "We'll see what happens. It's up to the Democrats."Later in the day, as negotiations continued, Trump left Washington to attend a rally in Pennsylvania to offer his support for a GOP congressional candidate.Trump and other Republicans stressed the negative impact a shutdown would have on the U.S. military.But prospects in the Senate dimmed as leading Democrats _ including some who supported the last stopgap measure _ said they would withhold support without a resolution for Dreamers.The top Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, Sen. Patrick J. Leahy of Vermont, said he would vote against the bill, as did the Virginia Democrats, Sen. Tim Kaine and Sen. Mark R. Warner, who represent large numbers of federal employees, and the New Mexico Democrats, Sens. Martin Heinrich and Tom Udall, who represent large numbers of immigrants and their advocates.Senate Democrats are under great pressure from Dreamers to use their leverage to stop the bill and get an immigration deal.Trump's tweeting Thursday also took aim at his own chief of staff, John F. Kelly, who has been trying to reach a compromise on the issue. Kelly told lawmakers Wednesday that Trump's border wall campaign promise was "uninformed" and that Mexico was unlikely to pay for it.Kelly repeated his comments during a Fox News interview Wednesday night, saying Trump had "evolved" and changed his views on "a number of things" since entering the White House.Politicians take campaign positions that "may or may not be fully informed" Kelly told Fox News on Wednesday night."Campaigning and governing are two different things and this president has been very, very flexible in terms of what is in the realm of the possible," Kelly said.But Trump, in a note of discord with his top-ranking aide, denied he's "evolved" on building a wall across the U.S.-Mexico border."The Wall is the Wall, it has never changed or evolved from the first day I conceived of it," Trump wrote on Twitter. "Parts will be, of necessity, see through and it was never intended to be built in areas where there is natural protection such as mountains, wastelands or tough rivers or water."
Gov. Paul LePage announced Thursday that the U.S. Department of Agriculture has denied him on a second try in his long-standing battle to ban soft drink and candy purchases with federal food stamp benefits.The Republican governor called it "extremely disappointing" in a radio address. A LePage spokeswoman said that the federal agency handed down the decision this week and that Maine plans to revise and resubmit the request.It's a sign that the administration of President Donald Trump may follow past precedent on the issue. A USDA spokesman said in a statement that the agency doesn't want to "pick winners and losers" in the food marketplace or judge "the relative benefits of individual food products."In 2016, the USDA -- under former Democratic President Barack Obama -- rejected Maine's last attempt to ban these purchases under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Benefits are paid for by the federal government, which splits administrative costs with states.In response, LePage threatened to stop administering SNAP, but he never followed through. That year, Trump, a Republican who was endorsed by LePage, won the presidency and in February, Maine submitted another waiver request to the more friendly administration.The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation placed Maine's adult obesity rate at 26th among states in 2016 at 30 percent, but LePage has cited its near-tripling since 1990 as a key reason for the proposed change, which has never been granted to any state or city.The issue doesn't easily break down along party lines in Maine. Most Republicans and some Democrats agree with LePage's health arguments, but other Democrats and anti-poverty advocates have said it's not an effective solution to the obesity issue and that it stigmatizes people who rely on SNAP to augment their income for food purchases.
Amazon on Thursday narrowed the field in its search for a second headquarters city, plucking 20 finalists from among the 238 proposals the retail giant received in October.The list included several cities widely seen as favorites, including Atlanta, Austin, Texas, and Boston.Also included in Amazon's shortlist were dark horse candidates including Nashville and Montgomery County, Maryland.In a news release disclosing the list, Amazon didn't outline its rationale behind its selections.The company has said it plans to make a final decision on its so-called HQ2 sometime this year, and could occupy the first portion of a new campus as soon as 2019.Amazon surprised the world, and its hometown of Seattle, in September when it announced it was looking for a second headquarters city somewhere in North America, which Chief Executive Jeff Bezos said would be a "full equal" to its massive existing campus. The online retail giant said it could spend $5 billion, and hire as many as 50,000 employees, at the new campus over an up to 17-year build out.Many observers viewed Amazon's search as a sign that the company's ambitions had outgrown Seattle, and would most likely seek a different labor force outside the Pacific Northwest. But a handful of municipalities in the area, including Tacoma, Spokane, Portland, and a consortium of King and Snohomish County cities, raised their hands anyway. None made it through the first round of cuts; Los Angeles is the only West Coast representative.The 20 finalists are Atlanta; Austin, Texas; Boston; Chicago; Columbus, Ohio; Dallas; Denver; Indianapolis; Los Angeles; Miami; Montgomery County, Maryland; Nashville; Newark; New York; Northern Virginia; Philadelphia; Pittsburgh; Raleigh, North Carolina; Toronto; and Washington, D.C.The initial announcement of the HQ2 search set off a frenzy among elected officials and corporate recruitment shops across the continent, with dozens of municipalities immediately announcing their interest. Some would jockey for position with gifts, publicity stunts and earnest appeals on how unique their home was.The company's public wish list for its second home included proximity to a population center of more than one million people, a nearby international airport, access to mass transit, and a business-friendly environment and tax structure.A request for tax breaks or other incentives, detailed in the company's request for proposals, spurred criticism from watchdog and labor groups critical of what they see as unnecessary giveaways of public money to private corporations. Newark, N.J., appeared to set the high water mark among those who have disclosed their offers to Amazon, promising $7 billion in state and local tax credits.Many cities that decided to apply didn't meet Amazon's criteria. The company didn't appear to discourage anyone from bidding, however. Representatives of several cities that approached Amazon said the company's message was to submit a bid, regardless of their assessment of their own odds.Inside Amazon's South Lake Union campus, meanwhile, some whiteboards in common spaces became office pools on the outcome, and included at least a few pleas ("Anywhere but Phoenix," opined one Amazonian whose wish was granted on Thursday).Bids were due Oct. 19, and subsequently stacked up in the company's headquarters building. A team of Amazon employees representing business units and corporate functions, such as legal and human resources, got to work compiling data to help evaluate the bids.Meanwhile, the company has continued to grow in Seattle. Amazon is Seattle's largest employer, with more than 40,000 employees.Amazon's pace of hiring in its hometown appears to have slowed substantially from the heights of recent years, with scattered talk of hiring freezes and budget cuts, but the company continues to scoop up office space around town.The 238 bids for Amazon's headquarters came from 43 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, as well as cities in seven Canadian provinces and three Mexican states.
Description

GIS  19 January, 2018: Mauritius will host the 3rd round of discussions on the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation and Partnership Agreement (CECPA) from 22 to 24 January 2018. In this context, a thirteen-member delegation from India, comprising officials from the Indian Department of Commerce, the Department of Revenue, and the Indian Research and Information System is expected for the negotiations to be held at Le Meridien Hotel, in Pointe aux Piments.

The Mauritian delegation will be led by the Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Mrs U. C. Dwarka Canabady, and comprise the Director, Trade Policy, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade, Mr N. Boodhoo, as well as representatives from both the public and private sectors.

The objective of the 3rd round Meeting is to finalise the Joint Study Report which will serve as basis for negotiations on the CECPA. Discussions will also focus on the four pillars of the CECPA which are namely: Trade in Goods, Services, Investment and Economic Cooperation.

Spanning over three days, this 3rd round of discussions will take stock of the 2nd Meeting which was held in India and final discussions on the Joint Study Report. Trade in Goods and Services on sanitary-phytosanitary measures, technical barriers to trade and rules of origin are issues to be discussed during the Meeting.

In September 2016, Mauritius and India agreed to resume negotiations on the CECPA. The conclusion of the CECPA will move the commercial relations between both countries to a higher level and provide a platform to address any barriers in trade.
Description

GIS  19 January, 2018: Government has agreed to Mauritius acceding to the Agreement establishing the International Anti-Corruption Academy, an international organisation based in Austria.

The objective of the organisation is to promote effective and efficient prevention and combating of corruption by providing anti-corruption education and professional training and by undertaking and facilitating research into all aspects of corruption.

It also attains this objective by providing other relevant forms of technical assistance in the fight against corruption and by fostering international cooperation and networking in the fight against corruption.

The organisation was initiated by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Interpol, the European Anti-Fraud Office, the Republic of Austria, and other stakeholders. It became an international organisation on 8 March 2011 and currently has a constituency of 72 parties. The International Anti-Corruption Academy is an observer to the UN General Assembly, the Council of Europes Group of States against Corruption, the United Nations Economic and Social Council, and the International Organisation for Migration, and has explicitly been welcomed by an array of international resolutions.
Description

GIS  19 January 2018 : The new Ambassador of the United States of America to Mauritius, Mr David Dale Reimer, paid a courtesy call on the Prime Minister, Minister of Home Affairs, External Communications and National Development Unit, Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Mr Pravind Kumar Jugnauth, this afternoon at the Treasury Building in Port Louis.

Stepping up collaboration, mainly in the economic sphere, by potentially raising more investment to Mauritius featured among issues discussed by Prime Minister Jugnauth and Ambassador Reimer. The conversation also focused on the level of development of Mauritius, as well as various infrastructure development projects. Moreover, Mr Jugnauth voiced his concerns on the Chagos Archipelago issue.

In a statement following the courtesy call, the U.S. Ambassador said that he had a very good and productive meeting with the Prime Minister. He also expressed his appreciation for the warm welcome extended by the Prime Minister, he said that he looked forward to working closely with the Government as well as the people of Mauritius. We will work together to try to find ways to increase the collaboration between our two countries, he pointed out.

The newly appointed U.S. Ambassador is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, class of Counsellor, and has been, since 2015, the Director of the Office of West African Affairs, Bureau of African Affairs, Department of State. A former Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Mauritania from 2012 to 2014, Mr Reimer served as Assessor, Board of Examiners, Bureau of Human Resources, Department of State (2014-2015) and was previously Senior Refugee Coordinator at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq, between 2011 and 2012.
GIS - 19 January, 2018: Mauritius has obtained a concessional loan to the tune of Rs 350 million (USD 10 million) from the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD), the leading national entity for development aid, and the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), the global platform for international cooperation on renewable energy, for the implementation of solar photovoltaic (PV) projects. Mauritius has obtained a concessional loan to the tune of Rs 350 million (USD 10 million) from the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD), the leading national entity for development aid, and the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), the global platform for international cooperation on renewable energy, for the implementation of solar photovoltaic (PV) projects.

The announcement was made on 13 January 2017 during the Eighth Session of the IRENA Assembly held in Abu Dhabi in the United Arabs Emirates. In Mauritius, the ADFD loan of USD 10 million will help the Central Electricity Board install solar PV systems on rooftops of 10,000 households as part of the governments efforts to alleviate poverty whilst contributing to the national target of achieving 35% of renewable electricity in the energy mix by 2025.

An estimated 35,000 people in low income communities will benefit from significant electricity bill savings. The project will bring 10 megawatts of new renewable energy capacity online, resulting in savings of over USD 35 million in fossil fuel imports over the project lifetime and improvements in the energy security of the country.

In Rwanda, the ADFD loan of USD 15 million will contribute to the installation of 500,000 off-grid solar PV home systems across the country, providing clean electricity for lighting, mobile phone and radio charging. The project is a major part of the governments rural electrification strategy and is one of the most affordable payment schemes in Africa. It has a flexible mobile payment platform, essential in areas poorly served by banking and transportation infrastructure. 2.5 million people in rural communities are expected to benefit from improved electricity access, and more than 2,000 local jobs will be created.

ADFD-IRENA partnership: Focus on renewable energy as a catalyst for economic and social development

In his address, IRENA Director-General Mr Adnan Z. Amin stated that for developing countries, renewable energy is a triple win. It provides a cost-effective means of providing electricity to families, fuels economic growth, and supports energy independence and security. Many developing countries have trouble accessing financing for renewable energy investment. We are delighted that our continued partnership with ADFD will provide a stable, low-cost source of financing to help Mauritius and Rwanda achieve a sustainable energy future, he said.

For his part, the Director General of ADFD, Mr Mohammed Saif Al Suwaidi pointed out that their collaboration with IRENA articulates ADFD's core mandate to support sustainable economic and social progress across developing countries through financing development projects that serve vital economic sectors. ADFD, he added, prioritises renewable energy as a catalyst for inclusive economic and social development.

At ADFD, we believe that through the widespread promotion of sustainable energy projects in countries with immense clean energy potentials, we can contribute to the long term economic prosperity of communities across the word. We are confident that the latest projects selected for funding in Mauritius and Rwanda will deliver sizeable benefits for the economies of local communities, he said.

The projects have the potential to significantly transform the lives of over 2.5 million people and alleviate poverty by bringing affordable energy to low-income communities. Renewable energy can positively impact the whole sustainable development spectrum in terms of improved health and education outcomes, better livelihoods and working conditions, and lower air pollution. The loans cover up to 50% of project costs, leveraging additional funding from other sources. Since 2014, ADFD has allocated USD 214 million to 21 projects, attracting over USD 420 million in additional co-financing from governments and development funds.
Test the Language

Find the Friction

Reconsider the End User

Last week, the government of Hawaii accidentally sent a massive alert to citizens warning of an impending ballistic missile attack. The message ended with the ominous warning this is not a drill, only to alert Hawaiians some 40 minutes later that the original missive had been sent in error. Point being: sometimes governmentssend the wrong message.This is of course a highly egregious and literal example of government messaging gone awry. But misarticulated or misunderstood government communications, even in more figurative circumstances with far less disastrous implications, can erode trust and derail well-intended initiatives.The key to designing effective government-constituent interactions, according to a group of behavioral scientists and government leaders gathered at the Summit on Data-Smart Government, is understanding the behavior of the end users. Infusing behavioral science methods into government is distinct from traditional policy-making, often grounded on the rational thinking assumptions of traditional economics. These innovators outlined three key considerations for creating policies and strategies grounded in a robust understanding of user behavior.Lindsay Moore from the Behavioral Insights Team (BIT), a UK-founded consultancy committed to using behavioral science to inform policy, started by sharing the language of a recruitment letter sent by a police department eager to increase and diversify its force. Eligible recruits read the following based on their education and professional competencies: You appear to meet the minimum standard. Message intended: You could be a fit for a new career. Message received: You are not very good.BIT worked with the police department to test messages that would more effectively invite potential recruits to learn more about the opportunity, distributing postcards that focused variously on personal service and impact, a sense of ambition and drive, and a long-term career. Ultimately, contrary to the departments intuitionwhich had favored language more oriented towards making an impactthe messaging focused on career longevity proved far more effective in recruitment efforts.In addition to accessible language, sometimes a simple human touch is enough to nudge engagement, even at a cost to the constituent. Moore detailed how sending a postcard along with an overdue water bill markedly increased return payment. Its amazing what a little delight can do.In identifying opportunities to optimize solutions backed by behavioral science, South Bend, Indianas Chief Innovation Officer Santiago Garces had simple but effective advice: find the friction points, especially under-utilization of resources.South Bend, for instance, analyzed where its citizens were taking tax exemptions, and found a cluster of neighborhoods not taking advantage of the savings opportunity. The intervention was a simple mailer notifying residents of the exemption.Low-cost solutions that can significantly shift constituent actions, Garces noted, foster greater understanding across departments about the potential of behavioral design to approach complex social issues, and greater willingness to consider systems-wide, novel solutions. He also added that behavioral design isnt the single solution for any question of service optimization; instead, its a powerful tool that sits alongside solutions of human-centered design, lean process improvement, and advanced analytics. For small teams, however, it can be a powerful solution for testing and iterating solutions to most effectively meet constituents needs.Points of friction arent solely experienced by citizens, noted Andres Lazo, Director of Citizen-Centered Design in the City of Gainesville, Florida. Citizen behavior is of course essential to designing effective government solutions, but, Lazo emphasized, government innovators must empathize with employees before trying to empathize with residents. By understanding the experience of the people implementing at the ground level, governments can build a more comprehensive vision of a systems gaps and friction points, for both providers and recipients, and ultimately harness the wisdom of its own workforce in designing behavior-driven interventions.In Gainesville, city employees struggled to provide citizens with the resources required to start a small business. In response, based on the experiences of both employees and citizens, the city led a user-centered design process engaging both employee and resident stakeholders, resulting in an online portal with a variety of resources that reduced inefficiencies and promoted transparency.Ultimately, behavior-driven solutions begin with a willingness to question assumptions, to listen to constituents, and invest in relationship-building across stakeholder groups. Each leader emphasized that without champions who evangelize the power of analyzing behavior and designing towards lived experience, these initiatives would stand little chance in the face of the status quo. When departments can show the results behind shifts in language, policy, and services based on behavioral analysis, governments increase their own capacity to engage in self-examination and experimentation  not simply for the purpose of avoiding disaster, but to improve services and reach new constituents.
Rewording RFPs

Rethinking the City-Startup Relationship

Trying to Be Third

How Startups Should Think about Their First Customers

Startups arent evenly distributed. But solutions can be.The number of gov tech startups founded and funded since 2007 has grown by more than 10 times over the last 10 years. More than 4 billion private dollars (mostly venture capital) have helped fuel this growth. The geographic distribution of that growth mirrors, with some variance, the patterns of most of the startup ecosystem with a large percentage located in cities like San Francisco, Boston and New York. This means that although great founders can come from anywhere, startup investing is not distributed equally. Startups in a few cities benefit from network effects, power laws and geographic luck.Nonetheless, this shouldnt correlate with how and where solutions can be distributed. Here are a few ideas for correcting this problem, which is ultimately an inefficiency in matching the best solutions to needs.Local officials are often the first to admit that the RFP process in most cities is weak, not only because its complicated and takes a long time, but also because typically, the people who should know about startup solutions are not even finding out about them. Startups offer a fairly cheap and low-risk way to explore new ways of doing things, but most cities have no guidelines or framework in place on how to work with startups, how to evaluate their viability, etc. As a result, few city leaders  and importantly other staff  get exposed to startups or know how to handle them.One solution thats helping is to change the wording of RFPs. As my partner Shaun Abrahamson puts it, There is a difference between asking for mobility solutions versus buying buses.For many cities, trying out new technology is a top priority. But theres a better way to think about relationships with startups.The National League of Cities surveys the priorities of mayors annually, and economic growth consistently gets the No. 1 spot. Its not that other priorities like affordable housing, mobility, crime and pollution dont matter; theyre high on the list too. But when measuring startup activity or seeking startup engagement, most policy stops at that first economic priority. But theres more that cities should consider.Cities need to understand that involving startups is not just about economic development, but a fairly cheap and low-risk way to explore new ways of doing things, said Sascha Haselmayer, founder and CEO of Citymart , who added that most cities dont have processes in place to evaluate and work with startup companies. As a result, things get stuck on the economic development side, because they feel a certain degree of ownership.Government is slow-moving for a reason. Its resources are limited, and it needs to make sure taxpayer money is spent responsibly. So, government isnt always jumping to try new things.Perhaps if they aimed to try solutions early, but not first, they could move forward more effectively.I honestly think that being first is not what cities are after, and never will be, Haselmayer said. Our goal should be a world where cities have the realistic ambition to be third adopters: Buy something that is proven elsewhere, but dont let 40-plus years go past before you get it.This approach would result in communities seeing the quality of services and effectiveness grow much faster. It would also dramatically affect the vendor ecosystem and stimulate perhaps trillions of dollars worth of private investment and competition.There are problems in the way startups think about their relationships with cities too.Startups, young and resource-strapped, cant be everywhere and must be very deliberate about their early growth strategies. This includes picking their first customers. In other words, cities must compete for opportunities to work with startups too.Our 2017 Business-to-Government SaaS Global Survey found that more startups are selling to medium-sized cities (populations of 100,000 to 1 million) than large cities (populations greater than 1 million). Of the respondents working with large cities, more than half indicated they are also interested in working with small cities. Less than 30 percent are solely focused on large cities.Depending on the business model, the lifetime value of a customer (small versus large city) varies massively, Haselmayer said. For example, if your business model is to onboard users in government across departments, New York City would have at least 20 times the value of Syracuse, N.Y.But theres value in smaller customers too.We also pay attention to the reputation of the customer as a reference. As an ambassador, how can they contribute to our brand? That has worked well for us, since it meets an aspirational need in smaller cities, for example, to deploy tools validated in well-run cities, he added.In the end, startups have something to gain from working with a blend of small and larger jurisdictions, despite the challenges presented by city RFP processes. It can be easier to build relationships with smaller cities as they often dont have as many stakeholders involved. Second, the aggregate speed of acquiring new customers can help a startup signal growth, making it easier to raise money. Finally, larger cities have the advantage of room for meaningful growth within the same organization.
Over the weekend, the news was full of headlines about an erroneous alert that went out suggesting a ballistic missile was approaching Hawaii. In the aftermath of this false alarm, it was determined that a public servant clicked the wrong link, with a media outlet in Honolulu later posting a photograph of the screen.

On the screen there are a number of blue hyperlinks that seemingly run together. State officials in Hawaii said the screen was just an example of the type of interface used by the employee responsible for the false alarm. Upon viewing this example, however, somewhat of a chain reaction ignited within the gov tech and civic tech community, as prominent leaders noted that a cleaner, easier-to-use design would have likely averted the false alarm from ever happening.

I'm pretty astounded by how many people are coming up with convoluted explanations for the Hawaii mistake based on highly optimistic assumptions about how well-designed a govt system would be.  Cyd Harrell (@cydharrell) January 14, 2018

Many pointed to a thread of tweets by Cyd Harrell, an alum of the civic tech group Code for America. Harrell pointed out that its not surprising that a government system would not have better design.

Our public servants work with software that is bad to the point of abusiveness every single day, Harrell wrote, and do the best they can. This is a HUGE mistake.

This seemed to be a popular sentiment among those who work with technology from government, a sector in which designing tools with employees in mind has become an increasingly urgent area of concern.

Why does #CivicTech matter?  https://t.co/26u69V0cmT  Code for Philly (@CodeForPhilly) January 14, 2018

Perhaps the tweet that summed it up came from Code for Americas brigade in Philadelphia, which simply wrote, Why does #CivicTech matter? with an arrow point down at Harrells thoughts.

Bloombergs What Works Cities program hits 100-city milestone

What Works Cities recently added five new participants, bringing its total number of participating cities up to 100, thereby satisfying a milestone goal for the initiative.

What Works Cities was founded by Bloomberg Philanthropies in order to help cities with between 100,000 and 1 million residents do a better job using data and evidence-based practices to deliver high quality local services that improve peoples lives. The five newest cities to join are Columbia, S.C.; Grand Rapids, Mich.; Irving, Texas; Long Beach, Calif.; and Honolulu.

Now that What Works Cities is partnered with 100 participants, it includes jurisdictions that are home to more than 31 million residents across 39 states. The annual budgets for the members total more than $104 million.

The future of what works is becoming a reality today in cities across the nation, said Simone Brody, executive director of What Works Cities at Results for America in a press release. Over the last three years, working with our partners and learning from each other, our cities have adopted sustainable practices for using data to meaningfully improve how they serve residents.

What Works Cities was launched in April 2015, and at the time it included eight cities: Chattanooga, Tenn.; Jackson, Miss.; Kansas City, Mo.; Louisville, Ky.; Mesa, Ariz.; Tulsa, Ariz.; Seattle; and New Orleans. It is one of the largest-ever philanthropic efforts to enhance the ways that cities use data and evidence. The work that the program seeks to support has become increasingly prevalent as more city halls across the country add data-centric positions and programs specifically designed to make government more efficient.

CivTech St. Louis expands YourSTLCourts to include all of St. Louis

Eight months after CivTech St. Louis piloted a site that puts municipal court records online for free, the group is expanding the reach of the program.

The site, which is YourSTLCourts.com , was originally only available for unincorporated St. Louis County. Now, however, CivTech St. Louis is partnering with another local nonprofit, Rise Community development, and with Regional Justice Information Service (REJIS) to expand the easy access to personal traffic ticket info via a free, digital tool. As a result, YourSTLCourts now provides information from 30 municipalities within St. Louis and St. Louis County, encompassing nearly 75 percent of residents in the metropolitan area.

In a press release announcing the expansion, developers described this as bringing together more independent municipal court databases than any other system in the country.

We are glad to see more-and-more municipal courts in St. Louis County working with YourSTLCourts to get more information to those who are involved with their municipal court, Douglas R. Beach, St. Louis County 21st Circuit presiding judge, said in the release.

YourSTLCourts puts records from the municipal courts into a centralized, no-cost online portal that is designed to be mobile friendly. With this portal, users can access ticket information, outstanding warrants, court contracts, information and procedures. It also features a text message notification system to remind residents of upcoming court cases.The reason for creating this is to benefit both local governments and the people. Users get a better understanding of the judicial process and their rights, while municipal courts get the tools they need to increase transparency and access. The team is currently working to bring access to 100 percent of area residents.

NASA tool allows users to estimate population size of any area they choose

NASA has created a new tool that allows users to estimate the population size of any area of the world that they choose.

Now, admittedly, this might not fit strict definitions of civic tech, because its not directly concerned with state or local government, but its an example of a intuitive map that does great things with data. Plus, its really, really cool.

NASAs new tool looks like a map of the world, and all users have to do is open it up, draw a circle on the map, and wait as it estimates the total land area as well as the population there in 2015. In other words, users can quickly get an estimate of how many people live in a certain place without having to download or analyze a ton of spatial data. The new tool is called the Population Estimation Service, and its available to use for free.

CincyInsights lets users check out past winter storms

Do you ever find yourself waxing nostalgic about the bygone snow and ice that was dumped on you while you were trying to get to work on some awful morning in the past?

Well, now you can relive those days with a new tool from CincyInsights  provided, of course, that you live in Cincinnati. With the Snow Plow Tracker , residents of that city can check out past winter weather events from the winter season, using it to visualize where the streets were covered in ice or snow and when.The tool is young, as is the winter, and so currently the only winter storm available is the one that happened earlier this week, but the tool has the capacity to catalog all storms moving forward.
(TNS) - With temperatures on the rise and rain in the weekend forecast, officials in Meadville, Pa., and surrounding municipalities are working to be one step ahead of a possible repeat of widespread flooding that wreaked havoc just about a week ago.Officials from the City of Meadville, West Mead, Vernon and Union townships, the Crawford County Emergency Management Agency along with State Representative Brad Roae met at noon Thursday to tackle a growing cause for concern  a three-to-four-mile ice jam that encompasses four different municipalities and has grown in length this week, according to Andy Walker, Meadville city manager.The group reviewed the location of the jam as well as a document recently acquired from the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA). The seven-page document is titled "Standard Operating Procedure  Ice Jams in Pennsylvania Streams/Rivers."In Section IV, titled Ice Jam Removal, the document addresses when removal should be considered and cautions of the possible consequences of doing so. The need to free or remove an ice jam exists when flooding is present or when the potential for flooding exists. The likelihood for the jam to move downstream must also be considered, according to the document.In deciding a course of action, officials must weigh the benefits of removing the jam while considering the possible financial responsibility for downstream damage, or accept the possible damages caused by the jam as it exists.The methods of ice jam removal in the document include: mechanical removal by cutting a channel along the bank, drilling holes in the ice cover to weaken it, dusting with material that absorbs solar energy and accelerates decay and blasting.Blasting is not recommended by PEMA. It is ineffective for small streams and should only be considered as a last resort, according to PEMA. If blasting is chosen, close coordination with downstream municipalities is imperative, the document states.PEMA cautions that at least 20 feet of water is needed under the ice before considering blasting as an option.That said, local officials are meeting with a contractor that does blasting in order to get their take on the situation, according to Walker."It's still very early in the decision process," Walker said.In the meantime, the National Weather Service in Cleveland predicts high temperatures of 35 degrees today, 40 on Saturday, 43 on Sunday and 49 on Monday. There is a chance of rain extending from Saturday night through Monday.On Thursday, public works crews were clearing catch basins in the city that had been frozen in order to improve drainage, according to Walker. The city was also preparing notices for residents and businesses in flood-prone areas, advising them of precautions to take in the event of a repeat performance from French Creek.Lorri Drumm can be reached at 724-6370 or by email at lorrid@meadvilletribune.com.2018 The Meadville Tribune (Meadville, Pa.)Visit The Meadville Tribune (Meadville, Pa.) at meadvilletribune.comDistributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
(TNS)  High-speed internet often leaves rural communities behind, but Port of Whitman County, Idaho, Chief Operating Officer Kara Riebold said her organization is working to change that.In a presentation to the Pullman League of Women Voters on Thursday, Riebold said the Washington Legislature in 2001 gave rural port districts the authority to build telecommunications infrastructure. The move was made partially to bring fiber-optic capabilities to areas that big internet service providers may overlook, Riebold said."One study identified that there's a $2 billion need in investment just to make broadband available to all of the United States," Riebold said. "The rate that this could happen is not a rate that businesses can sit around and wait for."Riebold said ports can build this infrastructure within and outside the district for the purposes of serving the district and to lease its use to ISPs."The Port of Whitman County is not an internet provider, we don't sell to an end user," Riebold said. "What we have done is built this kind of highway of fiber-optic cables that the larger telecommunications companies can lease from us."Riebold said the port chose to get into the fiber-optic internet business for three reasons, including to promote economic development in Whitman County, to support community infrastructure and to increase competition between ISPs. She said without the cost of physically building the network, smaller ISPs will have a more level playing field with larger providers. This benefits local businesses by supplying them with more options, she said."If they're not getting the service they need from one company, then another company can provide that same service over a fiber network," Riebold said.Riebold said PWC initially set out to provide internet to libraries, schools and hospitals."We started out with a line that connected Washington State University to the University of Idaho," Riebold said.After this initial project, Riebold said, PWC took over stewardship of WSU's existing fiber network and built out infrastructure within its own industrial park."Then, over the next 10 years, we built out through the Pullman community," Riebold said. "These builds were based on business needs as well as community needs."Next, Riebold said, they began working with cell towers and built redundancies in Pullman to help mitigate against outages. By 2008, she said, they began building a line stretching from Colfax to Spokane."We connected all the way to Spokane so that we could bring in the bigger carriers," Riebold said. "Just having the fiber from my home to your home wouldn't do anything, it has to connect back to somewhere else."Riebold said PWC has a variety of projects in motion, and one compelling step forward will be making fiber available for homes. She said currently smaller ISPs like St. John Cable are engaged in projects to connect residences in smaller communities like Colfax, but it will be a significant undertaking for PWC to provide home service in places like Pullman."When we build fiber to home, we will not make back that money. It will be an investment," Riebold said. "But we can push that out and wait that long for it to pay itself off."
(TNS)  A California congressman wants to meet with the Top 3 microchip makers to better understand the implications of two security flaws that affect almost all computing devices in the world.Rep. Jerry McNerney, D-Stockton, wrote a letter Tuesday to the CEOs of Intel, ARM and AMD to request a briefing. A member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, McNerney wrote he is concerned about the state of cybersecurity in the United States and that the recently discovered Meltdown and Spectre flaws add to his concern.The Spectre and Meltdown vulnerabilities are glaring warning signs that we must take cybersecurity more seriously, wrote McNerny. In recent years, we witnessed the largest global ransomware attack in history and the largest distributed-denial-of-service attack of its kind in history. The warning signs keep piling on, yet cybersecurity practices continue to lag far behind.The flaws were discovered earlier this month by a group of cybersecurity researchers led by Google Project Zero. The flaws, which are not known to have been used by hackers so far, can allow hackers to steal data from the memory of running apps, including password managers, browsers and emails.Meltdown and Spectre, however, are different in scale of impact and methodology. Meltdown, which is found on Intel and ARM chips, allows hackers to bypass the hardware barrier between running applications and the computers memory, thereby making it possible to enter the latter from the formerSpectre is found in Intel, ARM and AMD chips and allows hackers to trick applications into handing over secret information. Meltdown is considered the more dangerous in the short term as it is easier to exploit, but Spectre is considered to have a much longer shelf life and may be more disastrous, according to researchers.Meltdown and Spectres disclosures prompted technology companies such as Apple, Google, Microsoft and Amazon to race around the clock to issue security patches to their products.McNerney wrote to the three CEOs  Brian Krzanich of Intel, Simon Segars of ARM and Lisa Su of AMD  that he would like to know the scale of the flaws, the timeframe from when the companies knew of the flaws and what the companies have done to mitigate them.Krzanich has been under heavy criticism after he reportedly sold nearly 900,000 of his 1.1 million-plus company shares in November  after Intel knew of the two flaws.Krzanichs sale prompted Sens. John Kennedy, R-Louisiana, and Jack Reed, D-Rhode Island, to call for an SEC investigation.These reports are troubling not only because of the risk to nearly all phones and computers, but also because these reports raise concerns of potential insider trading, wrote Kennedy and Reed.
Going forward, the brand will be focusing in particular on new app-based mobility services such as car sharing and ride hailing in Rwanda. This year sees the launch of a car sharing service in the capital city of Kigali with around 150 vehicles from the Volkswagen brand.

The Volkswagen brand has founded Volkswagen Mobility Solutions Rwanda, a company based in Rwanda. The objective is to provide modern integrated mobility services in Africa in future. As part of its worldwide regionalization strategy, Volkswagen is planning to expand its business presence significantly in Sub-Saharan Africa.

In addition, a ride hailing service with some 150 vehicles is scheduled to start during the course of the year. These figures are derived from expected market acceptance of these innovative mobility services that are completely new to Rwanda. Further services of this kind are planned for the coming months.

The vehicle fleet required for the planned mobility solutions is to be taken entirely from local production. For this purpose, an environmentally-compatible local vehicle assembly facility is to be established in the capital Kigali. Volkswagen and CFAO, a long-standing partner in Africa for the distribution and assembly of vehicles, signed a letter of intent to this effect.

Production will start with several hundred vehicles in mid-2018, and capacity will gradually be expanded to up to 5,000 vehicles per year. It is planned to initially build the Volkswagen Polo and Passat models.

Furthermore, a local start-up is developing the programming for the mobility app. Overall, Volkswagen and its partner companies will create up to 1,000 jobs in Rwanda. The financial engagement amounts to approx. US$20 million (approx. 16 million).

With the integrated mobility concept, Volkswagen intends to provide a new impetus for the development of individual mobility. Rwanda does not currently have an established vehicle industry. The population has an average age of less than 20 years and Rwandans are among the early adopters of new technologies.

In addition to Rwanda, the Volkswagen brand is also active at three other locations in the Sub-Sahara region: the company has been manufacturing vehicles in South Africa since 1951. Vehicle assembly began in Nigeria in 2015, and in Kenya in December 2016.
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was signed into law by President Donald Trump on Dec. 22, 2017, and it's being put into action starting with the 2018 tax year.

On the personal side, the final bill cuts income tax rates in almost every tax bracket, doubles the standard deduction, eliminates personal exemptions, doubles the child tax credit, expands medical expense deductions, repeals the Obamacare tax and doubles the estate tax exemption.

On the business side of things, the tax bill lowers the corporate tax rate from 35 to 21 percent -- which is the lowest rate since 1939. For pass-through businesses -- which many small businesses are -- the standard deduction gets boosted to 20 percent. Theres a long list of other deductions and tax changes, but its the corporate tax rate cut thats the kicker here.

Related: The Impact of the Senate and House Tax Bills on the Small Business Owner

Ways to spend your savings.

In response to the lower corporate tax rate that the new tax bill will bring, a number of large American corporations and businesses have already made it clear how they plan to put their savings to work.

AT&T says it will give a $1,000 bonus to 200,000 employees. Wells Fargo is actually going to boost its minimum wage to $15 an hour and donate $400 million to nonprofit organizations in the community. Fifth Third Bancorp will be giving a $1,000 bonus to 13,500 employees, as well as raising the minimum wage for roughly 3,000 employees to $15 an hour. Boeing will reportedly provide an additional $300 million in charitable giving, job training and facility upgrades.

While you might not have the same resources as massive organizations like AT&T, Wells Fargo, Fifth Third Bancorp and Boeing, you will benefit from a 14 percent tax cut, which will certainly lead to some major savings within your own company. The question is, how will you spend it?

Related: 7 Tips to Save More Money in 2018

While lawmakers on the opposite side of the bill like to claim businesses will only use these savings to pad their stocks and attract more investors, businesses are already showing their willingness to pass on the savings. Here are a few specific ways you can do the same:

1. Give out bonuses.

You can follow the lead of a handful of major corporations and give bonuses to some of your most loyal and deserving employees. A one-time bonus is obviously a short-term, isolated benefit, but it could enhance employee satisfaction and benefit the personal lives of the people who put it all on the line for you every single day.

2. Raise wages.

If you stand to save a substantial amount from the tax bill, you might want to invest in a more permanent benefit for your employees. Incresing wages -- particularly of those on the lower end of the pay scale -- could produce major rewards in terms of employee engagement and satisfaction.

3. Hire new employees.

Does your organization feel a little strained? Do you need some help? Hiring a couple of new employees could help you regain control and get back on track.

4. Buy much-needed equipment.

One of the less-cited benefits of the new tax bill is the ability for businesses to write off the entire cost of a depreciable asset in the year its purchased, as opposed to amortizing over a number of years. If you need to purchase equipment, this could give the opportunity to do so without breaking the bank.

5. Increase giving and philanthropy.

Finally, another good option is to increase your philanthropic giving and/or start a charitable organization. If your company stands to benefit, why not pass the savings on to others in the community?

Related: What to Do Each Month for a Financially Successful 2018

Push your business to the next level.

The tax bill isnt some godsend thats going to drastically change the way you do business and make everything easy from here on out. People on the left like to claim its nothing more than corporate greed. People on the right are overblowing the bill and saying its the greatest thing to happen in this country in three decades. Both groups of people are out of line. Its a tax bill -- nothing more and nothing less.

At the end of the day, you still have to show up at work every morning and focus on how you can make your business better. While the tax savings will help your bottom line, its up to you to push your business to the next level. No bill drafted in Washington will do that for you.

Related:

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Travis Kalanick's Downfall Shows How Necessary Accountability Is to Strong Leadership

5 Times Pop Culture Has Celebrated Bitcoin and Other Cryptocurrencies



Copyright 2018 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved



This article originally appeared on entrepreneur.com


Special Counsel Robert Mueller is one federal official who doesn't have to worry about a threatened government shutdown.

All the employees working on his probe of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential campaign -- and whether anyone close to President Donald Trump colluded in it -- are exempt from mandatory furloughs, Justice Department spokesman Ian Prior said in an email.

The prospect of Mueller soldiering on through a shutdown might be a mixed blessing for the White House. While Trump has denounced the allegations of collusion with Russia as a "witch hunt," his attorneys have repeatedly assured him that they expect Mueller to wrap up his work soon and resolve the issue.

Temporary government funding runs out at midnight Friday, with House and Senate leaders trying to pull together the votes for a temporary extension. If not, government workers who aren't deemed essential would be sent home.

The House was pressing ahead with plans for a vote Thursday evening on temporary funding until Feb. 16 , providing time to work out a broad deal on military and domestic spending as well as agreement on other issues including immigration legislation. But the stopgap spending proposal was running into obstacles in the Senate, as some members sought temporary funding for only a few days while the other issues are hammered out.

Mueller's staff wouldn't be the only federal investigators and prosecutors staying on the job. About 83 percent of the Justice Department's 115,000 employees would continue to report to work if the government shuts down, according to the department's contingency plan. That includes those doing jobs necessary to protect life and property and employees whose compensation is financed by a resource other than an annual appropriation.

While criminal litigation would continue without interruption, non-essential civil litigation would be curtailed or postponed, according to the department's plan.
Employees say Hallowells continued ownership implicitly condones his past misbehavior. Photo: Boot & Shoe Service via Facebook

Employees at Charlie Hallowells Oakland restaurants warn of both mass resignations and a boycott if their disgraced chef-owner doesnt step away entirely from the business. Just before New Years, Hallowell was accused of sexual harassment and abuse by 17 former employees, who compared working under him to being around somebody with sexual Tourettes disorder. Since the allegations broke, hes removed himself from day-to-day operations, and the company has hired an attorney to conduct an internal investigation.

Still, according to the latest San Francisco Chronicle report, employees feel that the companys response has been weak, and theyre becoming increasingly indignant as a result. Seven of Boot & Shoe Services managers now say theyll quit in protest on Saturday if Hallowell doesnt agree to fully divest from the company, similar to whats happening at Four Barrel following the sexual-misconduct lawsuit filed against founder Jeremy Tooker. Other employees are threatening to boycott.

Per a spokesperson, the company hopes that both sides can come to an agreement that protects 150 workers jobs without destructive actions like a boycott, but the embittered employees  who have formed a group called We Are More Than 17  sent Hallowell a letter that upbraids him for continuing to profit off of their work. Your continued ownership, they write, tarnishes the reputations of your employees and our standing in the community.

Hallowell doesnt deny the allegations. Hes apologized and promised to get therapy. Hes also stopped receiving a salary, but the Chronicle says he still remains a primary stakeholder in the company, which, as luck would have it, is about to open its fourth restaurant on February 1, in Berkeley.

This situation has angered some employees, who argue that he doesnt deserve a second chance because hes had thousands already. What we are looking for, they say, is a promise that hes going to step away permanently and completely.

Thats certainly a much-needed catharsis for them, but people who understand the industry acknowledge that sort of exit could get complicated (see also: the mess surrounding Mario Batali, John Besh, and Ken Friedmans restaurants right now). None of Hallowells spots are public, so hed have to be bought out  arguably an imperfect arrangement, as several have pointed out:

Putting the harasser on leave just seems essential if the workplace is going to be safe, productive, legally compliant, etc.  Pete Wells (@pete_wells) January 18, 2018

Divestiture is something else entirely. Batali, Besh, Friedman own big chunks of those companies. What's the argument for their selling out? How would it work?  Pete Wells (@pete_wells) January 18, 2018

And divest to who? These aren't public companies where you can just sell your stock and move along pretty painlessly.  Raffi Melkonian (@RMFifthCircuit) January 18, 2018
Probably prepare yourself for an ode to potato chips and caviar. Photo: Netflix

Next month, the Momofuku emperor returns to Netflix, for his first food show in six long years. This morning, the streaming service dropped the trailer for Ugly Delicious, a new series debuting February 23 that is somehow only David Changs second. (PBS got the first: the 2012 season of The Mind of a Chef.) Its being described as a sort of Bourdain-style exploration of food as a bridge between cultures, and will star Chang as a host who chats with chefs, writers, artists, and entertainers about the shared experience of comfort food while globe-trotting to different restaurants  presumably spots specializing in patty melts, Korean street food, and other dishes Chang has been known to hashtag #uglydelicious on Instagram.

Take a peak at the trailer here:

Netflix has also tapped the Oscar winner behind 2014s 20 Feet From Stardom, Morgan Neville, to direct and produce the eight-episode docuseries. Chang adds they wanted to show that food is something we all have in common and an essential part of who we are and how we create connections across cultures. Joining him in said quest is Changs usual crew (chefs like Rene Redzepi) plus big industry names like fellow Korean-food fanatic Roy Choi and food critic Ruth Reichl. Chang says to expect strong opinions and honest conversations about food.
Bastianich in Milan. Photo: Francesco Prandoni/Getty Images

Its hard to keep track of the biggest problems facing the restaurant industry right now, but its clear that there are many. In the midst of a national reckoning over the sexism and abuse that remain pervasive, the problem of racism was bound to come up again (see Paula Deen). This issue has never really gone away, of course, but this week, it alighted on us in the form of an Italian reality-TV-show episode depicting restaurateur Joe Bastianich  operator of restaurants such as Babbo and Del Posto  spewing racial stereotypes as female Chinese beauty-parlor workers gave him a mani-pedi.

The video shows Bastianich asking the women a bizarre series of intrusive and insensitive questions. He notes the defects of Chinese men when asking if theyve ever dated Italian men, and wonders aloud what Chinese people do with their dead, because he hasnt seen a dead Chinese body. When Grub Street asked Bastianich to comment on the video, he wrote a terse explanation, saying that the segment was scripted, and that he knew the women at the beauty parlor because he went there often. (Presumably he was suggesting that he couldnt or didnt offend them because he patronized their business?) Finally, he states that some of what was spoken in the segment does not represent his views and he apologizes for it.

Its hard to imagine Bastianich taking part in anything like this for American TV, and whether or not it was scripted by someone else entirely, the restaurateurs participation in the episode and tepid explanation shows him to be a person who clearly doesnt grasp how disgusting and harmful this clip is.

As a founding partner of B&B Hospitality Group, Bastianich is an outsize figure in the food industry. In the wake of investigations that exposed the behavior of Bastianichs fallen business partner Mario Batali and fellow restaurateur Ken Friedman, there are multiple accounts of Bastianichs use of crude, sexist, and racist language over the years. From all accounts, these men have been overtly offensive throughout their careers, allegedly caressing a hostesss breasts (in the case of Batali), and as for Bastianich, expressing misogynist views about women in his own memoir.

The TV episode in question, however, takes the current debate in a very upsetting direction, showcasing Bastianichs arrogance toward obvious racist stereotyping. His agreeing to be on the show and reading the script in the first place is a slap in the face to entire ethnic groups, women, and people with any sense of cultural awareness and respect.

Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of Bastianichs comments in the video is his sheer ignorance about other cultures. Questioning the existence of Chinese dead bodies might seem like an absurd thought  but it falls cleanly into the age-old racist trope of not seeing people of other races as actual people. The defects comment is a clear reference to the stereotype of Chinese male emasculation that has roots in exclusion acts that prevented Chinese workers from doing traditionally male work in America, and is something that some of Bastianichs peers have sought vehemently to debunk. Furthermore, the entire scene  on a supposed food show, called MasterChef Italia  depicts an uncomfortable scenario where two young Chinese beauty-parlor workers are fastidiously buffing the feet and hands of the sunglasses-clad Bastianich while he repeatedly corrects their pronunciation of things. The stereotype of the submissive Asian female responding to such treatment with glee is a male fantasy that does great disservice to working women in the hospitality industry.

One would hope that a restaurateur of Bastianichs stature would understand that food is only a reflection of unique cultures, histories, and stories, and that food professionals around the world work to explore those connections, especially since he is a man who has built his career in the shadow of his mothers own food celebrity.

Through her PBS cooking show, Lidia Bastianich exuded maternal authority on cooking from ones heritage. She rose to prominence at a time when Italian home cooking was more esoteric to Americans, when flamboyant, mustachioed Italian chefs like Chef Boyardee provided a cartoonish stereotype for the cuisine. That most Americans now appreciate the depth and variety of Italian food is due in no small part to Lidia herself. Her show and subsequent books gave viewers a window into an Italian-American kitchen with the sincerity that comes from someone who doesnt take herself too seriously. (At least, thats how it may look on the surface. In 2011, she was served a lawsuit by a household employee who described her working conditions as slavelike. The following year, both Bastianichs and Batali settled a class-action labor lawsuit from employees of their restaurants.)

Its a shame if Bastianich doesnt understand or care about the racism and deep cultural offense he served up in this MasterChef Italia episode. And its too bad that his apology fell far short when he had the opportunity to respond. As a direct descendant and beneficiary of someone who successfully challenged Italian stereotypes and brought people together through food, Bastianich seems to now be telling a story of snide exclusivity and repugnant cultural ignorance instead.

Cathy Erway is the author of The Food of Taiwan and The Art of Eating In. She hosts the podcasts Why We Eat What We Eat from Gimlet Creative and Blue Apron as well as Eat Your Words on Heritage Radio Network, and blogs at Not Eating Out in New York.




Haiti - Politic : Official reaction of the Haitian Senate on the words of Trump





In reaction to the allegedly insulting remarks of President Trump at a meeting of the White House on immigration which, according to the American press, would have described Haiti, El Salvador and several African nations as "shitty countries"; The Haitian Senate as announced has made an official statement this week on this deplorable incident.



Statement by the Senate :



"The Senate of the Republic of Haiti, in all its components and tendencies, vehemently denounces and condemns the xenophobic remarks made by the President of the United States of America, Mr. Donald Trump during a meeting of work on the situation migrants in this country.



The declaration of the American President, reported by the national and international press and confirmed by counterparts senators and American deputies, informs on the great deficit of its author as for the history of this great American Nation which, since the XVIIe century, does not has never ceased to be a land of immigrants.



The Senate believes that the remarks of the American President are ignoble, insulting, contemptuous and racist as they inflict severe outrage on the universal values of human dignity.



The Senate recalls that the Republic of Haiti is the expression of the refusal of humiliation since the founding fathers fought an epic fight against slavery, colonialism and racism, and then told the oppressed peoples of the world how to freedom.



The Senate of the Republic of Haiti is deeply indignated of this drift of the American President who caused deep wounds to the Haitian Nation and severe pain to the sister nations of America and the African Alma Mater.



Finally, the Senate of the Republic urges President Donald Trump to treat with respect all peoples forming the concert of nations.



Port-au-Prince, January 16, 2018"



See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-23263-haiti-flash-trump-chancellor-rodrigue-convenes-the-american-diplomat-diallo.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-23259-haiti-flash-haitian-government-s-reaction-to-president-trump-s-remarks.html



HL/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - Politic : All CASEC of the country gathered at the Palace, for a shower of promises





Thursday, at the National Palace, President Jovenel Moise, accompanied by the Prime Minister, Jack Guy Lafontant, received the members of the Councils of Administration of the Communal Sections (CASEC) of the country.



This working session took place around 35 workshop tables in the presence of Senator Joseph Lambert, President of the Senate, and the Deputy Gary Bodeau, President of the Lower House, Max Rodolphe Saint Albin the Minister of the Interior and Territorial Communities and some other members of the ministerial cabinet, aimed at consolidating the proximity relations between the Head of State and the members of the Territorial Collectivities to provide concrete solutions to the CASEC grievances.



In one of his speeches, President Moise emphasized, "There is no superior CASEC to anothers. They are all at the service of the same country, they are all elected, regardless of their political group," promising that his various trips in the communal sections, the CASEC are and will be its main interlocutors.



Moise took the opportunity to deplore the conflicts between CASEC, between CASEC and town halls. While advocating for autonomy of these structures, he has among others, announced that before the end of January, 570 motorcycles will be available for 570 CASEC to facilitate their travel on the ground. Other promises were also made, such as the resolution as soon as possible of the problem of 4 months of salary arrears, the provision of CASEC funds for the realization of a "project gateway", the establishment of the Rural Police, the deployment of the Border Police (PoliFront) on all official crossing points of the border.



During this session, the Fund for Economic and Social Assistance (FAES) announced that it had planned the delivery of 171,000 food kits to the CASEC and that of 10 vehicles for departmental coordinators.



Regarding social housing, the Head of State announced that the Public Enterprise for Social Housing Promotion (EPPLS) already has a budget necessary to build thousands of social housing, not to mention the construction of the CASEC house. Moreover, he insisted on the need to facilitate, everywhere on the national territory, the renewal of the CIN...



HL/ HaitiLibre
























Haiti - Petit-Goave : Mayor Limongy assaults a guardian of EFACAP





Thursday, a deplorable incident occurred before the School of Application and Pedagogical Support Center (EFACAP), while one of the security guards was physically assaulted in front of students by the Mayor of Petit-Goave, Jean Samson Limongy.



The incident occurred as several late arriving students massed in front of the gate. Mayor Limongy, who was passing through the neighborhood, seeing the students in front of the gate after school time, approached and demanded that the guard let enter these students in late on the school yard. The Guardian Maxo Joseph flatly opposed it, explaining that he had not received any order from the Direction. The tone quickly rose between the Mayor and the guard before coming to blows.*



"I was brutally beaten by Mayor Limongy, who was furious with me after he tried, unsuccessfully, to open the barrier," Maxo Joseph told Radio Preference FM, facts confirmed by another guardian, Wilner Dejean who was on the scene.



Meeting urgently, the members of the Direction of EFACAP Yvener Desrosiers (Director of ETA), the three educational advisers: Mathieu Guyto, Gerald Cadet, Demero Maguin and the parents denounced and strongly condemned the mayor for this act and informed the Ministry of National Education of this case.



See also :

https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-23069-icihaiti-petit-goave-the-mayor-forbids-his-deputies-to-speak.html



HL/ HaitiLibre / Guyto Mathieu (Correspondant Petit-Goave)


















No Christmas cheer for restaurant and pub groups

By Lisa Riley

Restaurant and pub groups across the UK recorded a marginal decline in sales during the festive season, with drink-led businesses claiming the best of the festive trade.

Managed pub and restaurant groups saw collective like-for-like sales decline nationally by a slight 0.1% in the six weeks to 7 January compared to the same period the previous year, according to the latest figures from the Coffer Peach Business Tracker released today.

Managed pub groups did better than casual dining restaurants, delivering a small 0.6% increase, while restaurant chains recorded a 1% decline.

Across the managed pub market, drink sales were up 1.8% compared to a 1.4% drop for food.

In general, food-led operations, both pubs and restaurants, had a worse Christmas than 2016, said Peter Martin, vice president of CGA, which provides the Tracker in partnership with Coffer Group and RSM.

With drink-led pubs and bars having the best trade, it looked like people were more willing to go out to drink than eat this festive season, he added.

The public still went out to eat and drink, but essentially it was a repeat of last Christmas with better trading in the second half of the festive season, when people were mainly off work, but this failed to provide enough of a boost to beat 2016s overall numbers, said Martin.

Although London and the rest of the country both overall turned out flat, the capital saw a bigger contrast in fortunes between restaurants and pubs, with casual dining down 2.6% inside the M25 and pubs up 1.5%.

Looking across the six week period, the run-up to the holidays saw generally poor trading, with the snow in particular hitting sales. Trading picked up in the last three weeks either side of the core holidays. Every year the Christmas period seems to become more concentrated, said Martin.

Although the sector would be disappointed it didnt beat 2016s numbers, the results did reflect the flat trading seen in the market over the past year, and also came on the back of increases for the past two Christmases, he added.

Total sales growth among the 37 companies in the Tracker cohort was 3.4%, compared to the festive period last year, reflecting the continuing if much more subdued effect of new openings, according to the Tracker, which collects and analyses performance data from 37 operating restaurant and pub groups.
Rise of German cool climate wine leads to UK's first German Pinot Noir tasting

By Barnaby Eales

Britains first ever German Pinot Noir tasting is to take place in London, in March this year, Harpers can reveal.

German wine distributor, Howard Ripley has teamed up with distributor ABS (Awin Barratt Siegel) to jointly host the tasting.

The two distributors have decided to bring their German Pinot Noir producers together at the event to showcase a broad range of Spatburgunder production.

The launch of the tasting comes amid strong demand for German Pinot Noir, (from entry level to top end), which has evolved into a highly competitive alternative to Burgundy reds.

With the rise in prices in Burgundy reds in recent years, lower-priced German Pinot Noir has filled the price gap, but now this trend has moved on: there has been an explosion of interest in higher-end German wines including Pinot Noir, which is very gratifying, said Sebastian Thomas, director and German wine buyer at Howard Ripley.

The on-trade used to spend no more than 14 on German wine, but customers are now forking out between 20 and 30 on reds and in the future, they will be spending 60 to 70 on German Pinot Noir, Thomas told Harpers.

Meanwhile, Iris Ellmann, MD at German wine distributor, The Wine Barn, said German cru Pinot Noirs were more affordable and at least, equal in quality to their counterparts in Burgundy.

A run of small vintages in Burgundy and increasing prices in the French region have been one of the three key factors driving the surge in interest in German Pinot Noir, according to Kate Dowdeswell, senior national account manager at wine distributor, ABS.

The other two factors were, Excellent value for money for entry level wine at around the 10 price and outstanding wines at the top end made by world-class producers such as Furst (Franken) and Stodden (AHR), said Dowdeswell.

In 2017, ABS saw a huge growth in demand for German Pinot Noir.

Germany is the worlds third largest producer of Pinot Noir and its reds are known for their low alcohol and purity of fruit.

The growth of Germanys biggest red grape variety, has come about due to a combination of clonal selection and global warming (ripeness), said David Hunter, a German wine expert, consultant and former WSET educator.

Wine merchant Justerini & Brooks said the growth of German cool climate wines had continued across the trade spectrum in 2017, having taken off in 2015.

Today Germanys cool climate wines, be they completely dry, off dry, very sweet, or even Pinot Noir, offer a refreshing combination of low alcohol, longevity and flavour intensity - it really is no wonder they are finding such favour with the serious wine drinkers around the world, said Julian Campbell, German wine buyer at Justerini & Brooks.

Our German 2015 campaign was the biggest in our companys history. For a number of years, sales of the traditional core German range of Kabinetts, Spatlesen and Auslesen wines have been bolstered by an increasing interest in both Spatburgunder (Pinot Noir) and Germanys great trocken, dry wines, Campbell told Harpers.

In 2015 wines that had been of interest to a fringe group of committed German wine drinkers were suddenly cropping up in wish-lists of some of the worlds greatest collectors. Within two days of release of the 2015 vintage, we had sold 90% of our available Grosses Gewachs, our Grand Cru dry Rieslings, a phenomenon wed never seen before, he explained.

Despite some difficulties surrounding the understanding of German wine labelling, overall, UK distributors of German wines say there is a steady, but growing strength of the category in Britain, which one leading distributor has described as the new golden age of German wines.

Germany has not reported poor quality vintage since 1984 and despite a much smaller vintage in the country in 2017, distributors believe growth in the category, overall, will remain steady.

I think the growth will be steady as winemakers will try to keep prices more or less the same, even though some of them lost between 30-40% of the 2017 harvest, said Ellmann.

She added: There was a minute price increase in 2018.

Dry Rieslings and the Pinot Noir, which are driving the German category have helped fuel, over the past two years, new listings of Pinot Blanc and Pinot Gris in UK supermarkets and independent wine shops; a phenomenon which Wines of Germany calls the rise of the Pinot Trio.

Weissburgunder (Pinot Blanc) and Grauburgunder (Pinot Gris) are rapidly gaining greater acceptance as buyers appreciate both the quality and price that regions such as the Pfalz and Rheinhessen can offer, said Dowdeswell.

The fact that these are always dry makes them less of a minefield for consumers to navigate than the panoply of styles from across the Rhein in Alsace, she said.

And now the growth of the Germany category has encouraged UK distributors to move further beyond dry Riesling and the Pinot Trio.

Sekt, the German sparkling wine, is starting to make headway in the London on-trade.

Among new additions presented this week at the Wine Barns prestigious annual portfolio tasting, was Griesels premium bottled low-intervention fermented sparkling wines range made by Nico Brandner, a new-wave sparkling wine producer from the Hessische Bergstasse region.

German publication Meininger Verlag awarded Brandner, who is known for his dry Pinot Noir sparkling wines, Best German Sekt prize in 2017.

There is been a big surge in Sekt. Last year we sold hundreds of cases of Sekt (traditional method) which has grown on the back of Prosecco, Howard Ripleys Sebastian Thomas said.

He added that, in terms of white wines, there had been a resurgence of Silvaner in region of Franken, where a new generation of producers are making Grosses Gewach Silvaner wines.

The German Pinot Noir tasting takes place at Chandos House, in Marylebone, London, on March 26 this year.








Hawaii: Trigger Modification Ban Introduced in the Senate

From NRA-ILA, JANUARY 18, 2018

Today, Senator Karl Rhoads (D-13) introduced legislation that would ban modifications commonly made to firearms by law-abiding citizens. SB 2046 is currently pending a committee referral.

Please contact your Senator today and urge them to OPPOSE this legislation. Click the Take Action button below to contact your Senator.

Senate Bill 2046 is similar to federal legislation proposed by anti-gun California U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA). SB 2046 would make it a crime to own, manufacture, possess, sell, barter, trade, gift, transfer or acquire a firearm accessory or any other device, part or combination of parts that is designed to or functions to accelerate the rate of fire of a semi-automatic firearm. In addition, SB 2046 would also criminalize installing, removing, or altering parts of a firearm with the intent to accelerate the rate of fire. The broad and overreaching provisions of SB 2046 could criminalize firearm modifications such as competition triggers, muzzle brakes, and ergonomic changes that are commonly done by law-abiding gun owners to make their firearms more suitable for self-defense, competition, hunting, or even overcoming disability.

Please contact your Senator and urge them to OPPOSE this legislation.

Continue to check your inbox and www.NRAILA.org  for the latest updates on issues impacting your Second Amendment rights and hunting heritage in Hawaii.

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Which States Rely the Most on Federal Aid?

by Morgan Scarboro, Tax Foundation, January 18, 2018

State-level taxes may be the most visible source of state government revenues for most taxpayers, but its important to remember thats not the only source of state revenue. State governments also receive a significant amount of assistance from the federal government in the form of federal grants-in-aid. Federal aid is given to states for Medicaid, transportation, education, and other means-tested entitlement programs administered by the states.

States differ in the amount of federal aid they receive. The top recipient of federal aid in FY 2015 was Louisiana, which relied on federal assistance for 42.2 percent of its revenue. Other states heavily reliant on federal assistance include Mississippi (42.1 percent), Arizona (39.8 percent), Kentucky (39.5 percent), and New Mexico (39.3 percent). As we have previously noted, these states, and others that rely heavily on federal assistance, tend to have modest tax collections and a relatively large low-income population.

Other states have comparatively low reliance on federal aid. North Dakota relies on federal assistance for only 18.4 percent of its general revenue. Other less-reliant states include Virginia (21.5 percent), Hawaii (22.8 percent), Kansas (24.1 percent), and Delaware (25.2 percent). Trends in these states are opposite those in federal aid-heavy states; they typically have higher tax revenues and a smaller low-income population. North Dakota is also able to export much of its tax burden, through severance taxes.
Press Statement by the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group

KRAKOW, 18 January 2018 - The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group (Igor Popov of the Russian Federation, Stephane Visconti of France, and Andrew Schofer of the United States of America), together with the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Andrzej Kasprzyk, met with Foreign Minister of Armenia Edward Nalbandian on 17 January and Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan Elmar Mammadyarov on 18 January. The Co- Chairs met jointly with the two Foreign Ministers on 18 January. The Ministers and the Co-Chairs discussed next steps for facilitating realization of the agreements reached at previous summits dedicated to the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement. The Foreign Ministers agreed in principle to the Co-Chairs' revised concept paper for implementing the expansion of the Office of the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office with a view toward finalizing it as soon as possible. During the meetings, the parties and Co-Chairs exchanged views on core sensitive issues contained in the working proposals currently on the table. The Co-Chairs also called for pursuing trust-building measures as an important contribution to the negotiation process. The Ministers and the Co-Chairs acknowledged the relative calm on the Line of Contact, and the Co-Chairs urged the parties to reinforce this positive trend. The Co-Chairs indicated to the Ministers their interest in further discussing the possibility of conducting a follow up to the 2010 assessment mission to the territories affected by the conflict. The Co-Chairs plan to travel to the region in early February.
UK tanker confirmed taken by pirates off West Africa - Updated

UK-based tanker owner and operator Union Maritime confirmed on January 17 one of its vessels, MT Barrett, had been the subject of a pirate attack. The vessel was last reported to be at anchor off Benin, West Africa, on January 9. The company said it had alerted the local authorities and was now exploring all possible options to ensure the safety and recovery of the 22 crew members.

MT Barratt - Image: Union Maritime

Seafarers in the region are frequently targeted by local pirate groups, despite efforts by local navies, led by the Nigerian Navy, to curb attacks. Tankers are often hijacked in order for their cargo to be stolen.



Union Maritime said it regularly operates from ports in this region and has a rigorous safety and security protocol, with crews repeatedly drilled in all safety and emergency procedures.



The Barrett is a 12,000 dwt tanker built in 2005 and registered in the Marshall Islands.



A recent International Maritime Bureau report said that a total of 20 piracy reports against all vessel types were received for Nigeria, in 2017, 16 of which occurred off the coast of Brass, Bonny and Bayelsa.



Guns were reportedly used in 18 of the incidents and vessels were underway in 17 of 20 reports. 39 of the 49 crewmembers kidnapped globally occurred off Nigerian waters in seven separate incidents. Other crew kidnappings in 2017 have been reported 60 nautical miles off the coast of Nigeria.



Update: On January 18, Union Maritime confirmed the MT Barratt and its crew were safe. In a statement, the company said:



"Union Maritime can confirm that the MT Barrett has been released after a Gulf of Guinea piracy incident lasting six days. All crew are safe. We are extremely grateful to the many parties that assisted in achieving the successful resolution of this incident.



"We are focused now on supporting the crew and their families. The crew are safely back in Lagos, Nigeria and were met by senior representatives from Union Maritime and the technical managers.



"The MT Barrett was at anchor off Benin, West Africa when communications were lost on the morning of Wednesday 10th January. Union Maritimes emergency response plan was immediately activated and regional maritime authorities and other vessels in the area were alerted.



"The exact nature of the incident only became clear late on 12th January when those holding the vessel made contact with the company. A resolution process began, which ultimately led to the release of the vessel and all crew on board on 16th January.



"We sincerely appreciate the support and efforts of all involved, including the authorities in Benin, Togo, Nigeria and India."
Due to the Nokia legacy, Helsinki is well known as a digital hub and for its innovations, explains Marja-Liisa Niinikoski , CEO of Helsinki Business Hub. This view has been strengthened through the worlds leading high-tech startup event, Slush.

If you ask anyone around the world what they know about Helsinki you are likely to hear a few common themes. You might hear about Santa, hockey or quality of life, but you are almost certain to receive an answer about high technology.

THE HELSINKI AREA IS ONE OF THE BEST PLACES TO ESTABLISH A COMPANYS REGIONAL HEADQUARTERS FOR NORDIC AND EUROPEAN MARKETS.

There is a good reason for Helsinkis reputation as a haven for innovation. It is a home for companies specialising in everything from mobile games and robotics to the IoT and healthtech. The Helsinki area hosts many corporate or regional headquarters of multinational companies, all forming a rich ecosystem.

Yet there is more to the greater Helsinki area than just technology. In fact, it has quite a few well-kept secrets.

I wish more people knew that Helsinki functions as a city with no hiccups. Everything just works, Niinikoski continues. The city is one of the most liveable cities in the world according to various indices. It offers many advantages for companies that wish to invest in R&D. We have an ecosystem that supports innovation. Helsinki is the place that future solutions are born.

Small world, big talent

A number of organisations are dedicated to assisting companies set up shop in Finland. Helsinki Business Hub helps investors to invest in the Helsinki region and accelerate business growth in the area, as well as assisting potential companies with data, analysis, networking and advice, among other things. In addition, Finpro provides similar services in other parts of Finland. Huber Hu knows these services well.

Hu has plenty of experience getting businesses up and running. In Finland, he set up Huaweis operations as well as initiated the Huawei R&D centre in Helsinki. He worked as a tech entrepreneur in the area and is now the CEO of Powervision Robot Europe in Helsinki.

Finland is a small world, Hu says. If someone wants to set up a business in Finland I recommend they contact Helsinki Business Hub and Finpro at the earliest opportunity to get familiar with the Finnish business and tech system. Compared with a big country like China, this process is super efficient and transparent.

Hu points out that the labour market is flush with high-quality talent, thanks to veterans of major companies like Supercell and Rovio, as well as the famous Finnish education system. Getting the right people is extremely important. He stresses to find a team leader who fits your working culture, has deep experience and connections to get the team in place.

Helsinki as a place for regional HQs

The Helsinki region is increasingly the place for multinational companies to set up their R&D operations, thanks in part to Aalto University, which is eager for corporate research partnerships. For instance, Finland is the ninth top European destination for Chinese R&D and is even higher in the ICT and electronics category.

Bayer, a global company best known for its healthcare expertise, decided to put its Nordic headquarters in Espoo in 2011. Espoo is Finlands second largest city attached to Helsinki. Together with Vantaa, these three form the Greater Helsinki Region. One of the reasons they chose Finland was the talent available  not only medical know-how but also procurement, legal and communications expertise. According to newspaper reports, Bayer invests around 60 million euros annually in research activities in Finland.

The booming start-up bubs in the Helsinki region are fascinating to me, says Bayers Miriam Holstein. Even at the darkest time of the year, there is a lot of inspiring things happening, like Digital Silver Forum and Slush. Events like these provide excellent platforms to answer the needs of the future, being it ageing societies or digital solutions megatrends, and bringing the global players to Finland.

Nissan is another major corporation which has chosen the Helsinki area to host its regional headquarters.

Nissan has been present in the Nordics for 55 years. As a result, there is a tremendous sense of pride having our regional headquarters in Finland, says Robert Lujan, managing director of Nissan Nordic Europe. Our location allows us to tap a diverse talent pool when looking for new associates. When you factor in stable, local growth, a growing tech industry and the affluence of the area, Espoo is a very attractive location.

Some companies have decided to move their entire headquarters to Helsinki, such as Nordea, the Nordic regions largest financial group. Nordea was attracted by Finlands membership in the European Unions banking union as well as its stable and predictable regulatory environment.

Safe and international

The outward-looking nature of the Helsinki economy has made it extremely internationalised in recent years. Niinikoski points out that during the first half of 2017 ten percent of open jobs were English-speaking.

Lujan, an expat himself, claims that out of all the places around the world he has lived  including France, the UK, the Netherlands and Japan  moving to Helsinki has been the easiest. Getting necessities like residence permits, housing and mobile phones has been painless.

I find the work-life balance in Helsinki has played a large role in my easy transition to the area, Lujan continues. Its perfectly acceptable to work hard and then take time for yourself and your family. Frankly, its refreshing and I enjoy seeing our associates take advantage of the balance. It makes for a happier and engaged workforce. This philosophy has also allowed me to personally experience the local surroundings more than in previous roles Ive had worldwide.

Niinikoski hopes that any company looking for a European base will give her a call to see what Helsinki has to offer. After all, she says, Helsinki is not just a great place to work. Its also a great place to live.

Helsinki deserves the image of a metropolis, but in a fun and functional way, she says. The city is safe enough to let your children go to school alone. Think about that! 

Text: David J. Cord

Photos by

Kari Palsila / Visit Finland

HBH

Nissan
Lars closed for all types of vehicles

The Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Republic of Armenia informs that on January 19, at 10:30, there were hard-passable roads in the territory of Armenia. On January 19 and 20, in some regions, occasional precipitations are expected, in some places wind intensification may reach up to 15-20 m/s. On January 20-23, no precipitation is expected. Vardeniyats Pass and Yerizak-Zaryshat highway are closed. Sotk-Karvachar and Lanjik-Maralik highways are hard-passable. Roads of Kotayk region and Aparan-Tsilkar highway are covered with ice. There is snow in Ashotsk, Shirak region. We urge all the drivers to travel only with the winter tires. According to information from the Georgian Interior Ministry's Emergency Situations Ministry and the North Ossetian General Department of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, Stepantsminda-Lars highway is closed for all types of vehicles. According to information received from the North Ossetian Crisis Center of the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations, on January 18, at 18:00, there were 124 accumulated trucks on the Russian side.
Serzh Sargsyan meets with RA presidential candidate

Minutes ago, Armen Sargsyan, the RA presidential candidate, the RA Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the UK and Northern Ireland, left the Presidential Resiidence. It turned out that Armen Sargsyan went to Baghramyan 26 alone. There was not a wide range of participants at the meeting. Both Armen Sargsyan and Serzh Sargsyan made a speech. In the following one hour, the presidential office will officially publish the information on the meeting, as well as the videos of the speeches. To remind, after the meeting of the HHK (Republican Party of Armenia) Executive Body yesterday evening, the HHK Spokesman Eduard Sharmazanov stated that the issue of nomination of the 4th President of the Republic of Armenia was discussed at the session. "We have discussed a question of a candidate who can best represent the country and has work experience both in the country and in the international instances. Candidate was nominated by the HHK leader Serzh Sargsyan, and, generally, everyone is for the nominee. Tomorrow Serzh Sargsyan will propose to nominate our candidate as the fourth presidential candidate," Eduard Sharmazanov told reporters. Details are available here
Generation A 13  your chance to be the change

President of the Artsakh Republic Arayik Harutyunyan met with Russian Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group Igor Khovayev

"uDays" special offer at Ucom: discounts for all smartphones and accessories for 2 days only

For more than 3 hours, 50 or more Azerbaijani servicemen have blocked the interstate road

Call on the international community for an adequate response against azerbaijani aggresssion

Transformation and trust are important for success in modern banking. Artak Hanesyan

UCOMS LEVEL UP 1700 REGIONAL TARIFF PLAN USERS TO RECEIVE MORE THAN THOSE IN YEREVAN

Joint statement

Statement by the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group

Covid-19: 163 new cases in Armenia

Armenia: Remarks by Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi at the press point with Acting Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan

The United States Welcomes Azerbaijans Release of Armenian Detainees and Armenias Actions to Facilitate Demining

The Coronavirus-Related Situation in Armenia

International aviation: Council greenlights signing of major agreements with four countries

With UCOMs level up tariff plans subscribers have unlimited access to Netflix, Duolingo and Zoom

Armenia: Statement by the Spokesperson on the early parliamentary elections

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Armenias Parliamentary Elections PRESS STATEMENT

COVID19:77 new cases

Armenias early parliamentary elections were competitive and well run, but polarized and marred by aggressive rhetoric, international observers say

International election observers to Armenias early parliamentary elections held press conference

Drop Charges Against Rights Defender Sashik Sultanyan

The Coronavirus-Related Situation in Armenia

The European Union in Armenia calls all parties to contribute to a peaceful Election Day to celebrate democracy

22 ventilators to Armenia

PACE to observe the early parliamentary elections in Armenia

With Ucom's level up tariff plans subscribers have unlimited access to Tiktok, Spotify and Coursera

PACE rapporteur welcomes Azerbaijans release of Armenian captives and Armenias handing over of mine-maps to Azerbaijan

Armenia/Azerbaijan: Statement by High Representative Josep Borrell on the latest developments

Pashinyan to publicly apology to Khachatryans
1 / 2 Freeway 2 / 2 Freeway  

Meet Freeway. This fabulous kitten was thrown from a car on Interstate 15 between Payson and Santaquin. A couple traveling from Idaho to Las Vegas on Thanksgiving Day somehow managed to pick him up from the traveling lane. Mountain West Animal Hospital and Dr. Isaac Bott did surgery on his leg the next morning and he has made a full recovery.

He is now ready for adoption! We are still in need of donations to help cover the cost of his care: poundwishes.com/donate/2399808/Freeway

Interested in adopting? Please visit www.uvar.us/forms to submit an adoption application. An adoption coordinator will contact you to answer any questions and if approved, schedule your appointment.

All pets adopted through Utah Valley Animal Rescue are vaccinated, microchipped and fixed. Visit our website for Monthly Pet Adoption Specials and check us out on Facebook for a complete list of fuzzy antidepressants.
MARTINSBURG, West Virginia  Five men and one woman were selected Thursday morning to hear a case accusing The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and local church officials of covering up allegations that Michael Jensen sexually abused several children over a period of more than five years.

Jury selection began Thursday morning at the Berkeley County Sheriffs Department due to the size of the jury pool. Around 100 potential jurors were pulled for the civil case due to the nature of the case and the estimation that the trial could last six to eight weeks.

An order was signed by 23rd Judicial Court Judge Christopher C. Wilkes on Tuesday to name the Sheriffs Department as an annex of the courthouse to allow the jury selection to take place there. Six individuals and four alternates were sworn in at 12:50 p.m. Thursday, quicker than anticipated, Wilkes said.

The case against the church was initially investigated after Jensen, now 26, was found guilty and sentenced on July 29, 2013, to 35 to 75 years in prison for sexually abusing two minors  ages 4 and 3 at the time of the abuse.

The LDS Church has denied the claims, and all attempts to reach a settlement have been unsuccessful, according to the court.

On Thursday afternoon, court proceeded with the jury hearing opening statements from the plaintiffs on behalf of the nine families in the suit and from the defendants on behalf of the church, Jensens parents, Chris and Sandra Lee, and church officials, Steven Grow and Don Fishel.

The jury was instructed ultimately to make its decision based upon the evidence including witness testimony, exhibits and facts that both parties have agreed on. The opening statements are meant to tell the jurors what they will be hearing in the case.

The plaintiffs alleged that the church had been repeatedly made aware of and had knowledge of abuse Jensen was convicted of and other alleged incidents, and did nothing to warn and protect their children.

The beginning of the alleged abuse dates back to 2004 in Provo. The plaintiffs took the jury through a timeline of events beginning in 2004 during which the alleged abuse occurred. At the age of 13, Jensen was arrested at his middle school and charged with two felony counts of sexual abuse for pinning two 12- and 13-year-old females against a wall and fondling them inappropriately and without consent, according to court documents.

During opening statements, the plaintiffs also alleged that Jensens grandfather, an LDS Church leader in Utah, influenced Jensens criminal hearing in that case, which resulted in the charges being reduced to two misdemeanor counts of lewdness. They allege that Jensens grandfather was present for Jensens court proceedings.

The defense denied those claims in their opening statements saying his name did not appear on the list of those who attended and there is no evidence that he had any influence.

Plaintiffs alleged the church knew a sexual behavior risk assessment was done on Jensen and indicated that he was highly likely to reoffend, however, the defense said the church was legally unable to view the report.

In the summer of 2005, the Jensens moved to Martinsburg, according to opening statements, and both of Jensens parents accepted leadership roles in the church. While maintaining a role as church leader, Jensens mother allegedly recommended Jensen as a babysitter for families with young children within the church in 2007, according to the suit.

According to the defense, the church is not responsible for Michael Jensen, does not control its members lives and does not run a babysitting service. The defense also stated that the abuse never occurred at the church or at a church function.

The lawsuit alleges no one in the church in Martinsburg nor his family disclosed Jensens previous sex offenses, which allowed the abuse to occur. In April and June of 2007, Jensen was accused of forcing a 4-year-old girl to touch him inappropriately and fondling a 14-year-old girl outside of a movie theater. Jensens mother allegedly knew about the movie theater incident and asked the girl if she was OK and if there was a problem.

Following the movie theater incident, Jensens mother once again recommended Jensen as a babysitter for young children without disclosing his prior sexual convictions or other allegations. The two children assaulted in 2007 later reported the sexual abuse to their parents, and it resulted in Jensens subsequent conviction and sentence.

In 2008, Jensen allegedly abused three more children under the age of 8, and the parents of the children confronted Jensens parents. Jensens mother allegedly told the child victim to just ignore it. Jensens father allegedly appeared at the familys home to aggressively deny the abuse as well.

The family allegedly told the former church bishop about the abuse, and he said he spoke to Jensen and did not believe Jensen had abused the minor. The former bishop later denied having a conversation about Jensens alleged abuse, and he promoted Jensen in church leadership.

Jensen allegedly assaulted a family member in 2010, and the family held a meeting with Bishop Chris Vincent about the incident. Vincent said he told no one else in the church about the alleged instances of abuse, and he gave Jensen keys to the church so he had a place to sleep.

Jensen continued to hold esteem within the church, and was on a church mission in June 2011 when the parents of two victims reported Jensen to the West Virginia State Police.

The defense told the jury that the church cooperated by flying Jensen back to West Virginia early from his mission.

In addition, the defense said in its opening statements that abuse cannot be tolerated in any form as written in the churchs handbook of instructions. The defense also said the church is a leader in child abuse prevention among religious organizations and took appropriate actions in 2012 when it was made aware of the abuse claims.

The attorney representing Chris and Sandra Lee Jensen said any mistakes they made with Michael were made as his parents and not as church leaders. The Jensens allegedly no longer held their roles when made aware of the abuse.

The defense closed by saying Michael Jensen fooled everyone, and repeatedly lied to church officials.
The Utah Valley University Board of Trustees approved a contract Thursday evening that would give free Utah Transit Authority premium passes to the universitys students, employees and dependents for the next decade.

We see this as a sustainable option for the campus, Val Peterson, UVUs vice president of finance and administration, told the trustees Thursday.

Brigham Young University, UVU and UTA announced a partnership in December to provide free premium passes to BYU and UVUs students, faculty, staff and dependents for the next 10 years. Premium passes allow for free rides on any UTA service and typically cost $198 a month.

UVU had entered into an agreement with the UTA in 2014 to provide UTA passes and student for employees at a discounted rate of $90 in exchange for UVU paying the UTA $1 million a year.

The new contract will keep the annual $1 million price tag for three years and is expected to increase by $100,000 every three years due to projected enrollment. The program is anticipated to cost $11.2 million over 10 years.

UVU has previously said it will reallocate existing revenue and raise the cost of an annual parking pass from $90 to $115 to cover the costs of the passes. Student fees will not be increased to cover the cost.

An estimated 57,000 passes will be given out in 2018 to students, employees and employee dependents. In 2027, 72,117 passes will be given out.

Peterson told the trustees theres 6,800 rider passes that have been purchased under the existing contract. He estimates ridership among the UVU community will increase as the passes become available to the campus.

Its also expected that students who live in Provo will take advantage of bus rapid transit when it becomes available.

The university saves thousands of dollars for every car that isnt on campus.

Just do the math and you start to realize this is a great idea, Duff Thompson, the first vice chair for the trustees, said at the meeting.
A Utah cowboy poetry group is looking to celebrate the West and its heritage with a night of music and poetry.

The Cowboy Poets of Utah will be hosting their annual symposium, which includes a 6:30 p.m. performance Saturday at the Central Utah Veterans Home in Payson.

There may be some people who say thats not their thing or are skeptical about it. They would find out they enjoy it if they came out they would enjoy it very much but we get that comment a lot, Cowboy Poets of Utah President Chris Mortensen said.

Mortensen said cowboy poetry is unique from other types of poetry and music because of the subject matter, which is sometimes humorous.

I think what sets cowboy poetry apart from other forms of poetry is that its just down-to-earth everyday rural type of experiences that people write about, he said. Many of those have to do with the cowboy lifestyle, livestock and Western or rural type things.

Bill Wright, Payson mayor, is a member of the Cowboy Poets of Utah and said he became involved with cowboy poetry after going to an event in Heber.

Its our heritage, especially here in the West, Wright said. Cowboy poetry has its roots in other types of poetry as well and theres just a rich history there.

He said the group, and others like it, are focused on carrying on the heritage and traditions that cowboy poetry represents.

When me and my partner sing, we always have someone come up to us and thank us for the memories, he said. They listen to us and it instills in them very fond memories that relate to them and their parents and grandparents.

The Cowboy Poets of Utah group features members as young as 13 and those in their 80s, allowing a wider perspective and range of experiences, Mortensen said.

The program, which costs $5 a ticket, incorporates both poetry and music and will bring them all onto one stage on Saturday.

The program is part of a larger symposium for the Cowboy Poets of Utah, which is accepting new members, that takes place beginning at noon on Saturday. In addition to handling the organizations regular business, they will be having a workshop and dinner provided by Maglebys in Springville and Mountain View Hospital.
Employee of Penitentiary charged with robbery

The RA Special Investigative Service, conducting preliminary investigation, proved that Arman Ghazaryan, who worked in the Department of Custody of the "Hospital for Convicts" Penitentiary of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Armenia, until December 8, 2017, illegally entered a house in Parakar, Armavir region, and secretly plundered a large amount of money. Thus, the preliminary investigation revealed that on November 10, 2017, Arman Ghazaryan, an employee of the "Hospital for Convicts" Penitentiary, taking advantage of the fact that the doors of the car belonging to Norayr Nikoghosyan, a resident of Armavir region, took the keys of Norayr Nikoghosyan's house, aiming at robbing him. Then, he illegally entered Nikoghosyan's house, situated in Parakar, and stole AMD 1,200,000, USD 1105, equivalent to AMD 538,455 and 50 euros, equivalent to AMD 28,404, causing a large amount of property damage to the landlord For execution of this criminal act A. Ghazaryan was charged under Point 1.1 of Part 3 of Article 177 of the RA Criminal Code. The preliminary investigation of the criminal case is over. The case has been handed over to the prosecuting authority to verify it and send it to the court. Notification:a person, that is suspected or accused of an alleged crime, is considered innocent until his/her guilt is proved by a court judgement that has come into legal effect pursuant to the procedure determined by RA Criminal Procedure Code.
Anna Gevorgyan: The Iranian society is more feminist than the Armenian one (video)

The western press called strange women's involvement in recent anti-government protests in Iran. Particularly, a video was spread out where a woman takes off her kerchief and is swinging it. It became a symbol of the demonstrations. Iranian expert Anna Gevorgyan said that the woman's action was not made during those demonstrations. "She did it the day before the events began. It is a movement that was initiated by an Iranian journalist from Great Britain. The latter called on Iranian women to take pictures without wearing kerchiefs and place them on the internet." Iranianologist Anna Gevorgyan, emphasized that that was not the first case when the Western media tried to distort many Iranian or Middle East events. "Whenever anti-government protests, demonstrations are happening, it seems that at the moment all the issues that are important for the Western world, are brought forward," said Anna Gevorgyan. \Women's participation in protests in Iran has a history of centuries.Even women in harems were protesting for different issues. The Iraniologist mentioned that women's participation in the latest demonstrations was not accidental. "We do not know that there is not any month during which teachers, engineers, workers organize protest for this or that problem, we do not know that among them a large number are women; we do not know that the majority of directors are women, etc." Women in the ranks of the harem have even raised their voices of protest during various problems. The Iranianologist states that women's participation in recent protests is not accidental. "We do not hear that there is almost a month in Iran that teachers, engineers, workers, and some women make protests and do not listen to the fact that there are a lot of directors in the country and women's directors." Although Iran is a long-time neighbor of Armenia and there is almost no lack of contacts between the two nations, there are misinterpretations of the Iranian society, customs, Islam and especially the status of women in the Armenian society. According to Iranian expert,The Iraniologist said that the Iranian society was more feminist than the Armenian one, and we could be proved by the fact that in the Armenian community of Iran there was a woman deacon.
(JTA)-On Easter Sunday in 1959, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. rose in the pulpit of his Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama, to deliver a sermon that focused on his just-completed visit, with his wife, Coretta, to Jerusalem and its holy sites.

King's trip that month to eastern Jerusalem and the nearby cities of Bethlehem, Hebron, Nablus and Jericho, all of which were then part of Jordan, came at the end of a month-long visit to India that he wrote about extensively later in his autobiography.

However, little remains to us from his visit to Jerusalem, except for an audio recording and transcript of that late March sermon nearly six decades ago, which he titled "Pilgrimage to Non-Violence" and spoke movingly of walking in the footsteps of his two greatest inspirations, Mahatma Gandhi and Jesus. The sermon speaks of the deep impact of walking on the Via Dolorosa in the Old City, where Jesus was mocked and tormented, and how profoundly he connected Jesus' vision of peace, love and justice with his own struggle for justice for African-Americans.

King opened his sermon by lamenting that the two sides of Jerusalem-the Jordanian eastern part and the Israeli western part-were sealed off from each other and therefore he was unable to cross to the Israeli side.

"This city has been divided," King said. "And if on your visa it is revealed that you are going into any Arab nation, you can only go to Israel without being able to... go back to an Arab country... So this was a strange feeling to go to the ancient city of God and see the tragedies of man's hate and his evil, which causes him to fight and live in conflict."

King told his congregants that when he came to the spot on the Via Dolorosa where Jesus stumbled under the weight of the cross, "The thing that I thought about at that moment was that ... it was a black man that picked it up for him and said, 'I will help you,' and took it on up to Calvary." Simon of Cyrene, who carried the cross, is often depicted as a black man.

"And I think we know today there is a struggle, a desperate struggle, going on in this world. Two-thirds of the people of the world are colored people ... There is a struggle on the part of these people today to gain freedom and human dignity. And I think (that) one day, God will remember that it was a black man that helped His son in the darkest and most desolate moment of his life."

Invoking the parlous condition of African-Americans, most of whom were then still suffering under a regime of strict segregation and dire poverty, King said, "And so, this morning, let us not be disillusioned. Let us not lose faith. So often we've been crucified. We've been buried in numerous graves- the grave of economic insecurity, the grave of exploitation, the grave of oppression. We've watched justice trampled over and truth crucified. But I'm here to tell you this morning, Easter reminds us that it won't be like that all the way. It reminds us that God has a light that can shine amid all of the darkness."

King concluded, "Know that God has the universe in His hands. And because of that, segregation will die one day. Because of that, all of the lands of Africa will be free one day."

The civil rights leader never got the chance to visit Israel, including West Jerusalem and the Christian holy sites of Galilee. He was in the process of planning such a trip, with the strong support of the government of Israel, in 1967, but canceled in the wake of the Six-Day War. King was assassinated the following year.

Nevertheless, we can take solace that King's powerful experience in 1959 gave him spiritual fortitude that helped sustain his leadership of the civil rights movement during the climactic struggles of the 1960s. Those struggles liberated African-Americans from more than 300 years of slavery and segregation, and finally changed America into a country that began to live up to the promise of its founding documents.

On this Martin Luther King Day 2018, let us-Jews, Christians, Muslims and all people of conscience-reflect upon King's only visit to Jerusalem in 1959.

Rabbi Marc Schneier is president of the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding and is the author of "Shared Dreams: Martin Luther King Jr. and the Jewish Community."
The wilderness therapy program will draw upon the support, strength and guidance that the Jewish tradition offers to those seeking to overcome adversity.

When Jory Hanselman was a high school student, she found herself struggling on multiple fronts. A family member was wrestling with addiction and mental illness. And two friends died suddenly, one from suicide and another from an overdose.

"I was in a place where I was really struggling to deal with that loss along with taking into consideration the secondary trauma of living in a home where mental illness and addiction were playing out in a very real way," Hanselman said.

To help her cope, her parents sent her to Utah to a program in wilderness therapy. The program employed an outdoors adventure-based approach to aid those facing a range of personal challenges, including substance abuse, addiction and mental illness.

"My identity as a Jew was really central to how I experienced that program," Hanselman recalled. "I was there over Passover. And while I was there I really was impacted by this idea of leaving oppression, leaving these things that were holding me back and finding a path forward to my own self-liberation and being in a healthier, stronger place."

Beginning in late January, Hanselman will begin to offer other young Jewish adults the opportunity to address significant life challenges using the same strategies, albeit in a Jewish framework.

Hanselman is the director of BaMidbar Wilderness Therapy, a new program that its backers say will be the first Jewish one in the country and is one of only a handful of such programs that are not for profit. The program will be housed at Camp Ramah in the Rockies, an outdoor adventure Jewish summer camp located on a 360-acre ranch in a national forest 90 minutes from Denver.

"When you go out into the wilderness, you just become open to all sorts of change," said Rabbi Eliav Bock, director of Ramah of the Rockies. "When you go into the wildness, you strip away a lot of the noise we have around us-family, drugs, bad influences. You take somebody out of normal circumstances and force them to confront who they are as a person, what their core values are."

Participants in BaMidbar Wilderness Therapy will spend about half their time at the camp's base facility, where they will sleep in canvas tents and have access to trained therapists who will work with them on treatment plans. Base camp is also where the group will spend Shabbat.

The other half of their time at BaMidbar will be spent on excursions in the surrounding forests. The outings will include several hours of hiking per day, morning prayer focused on mindfulness and meditation, preparing meals by an open fire, and the daily setting up and breaking down of camp sites. Participants will learn primitive skills like starting a fire from nothing but natural materials or making a flute out of aspen wood And they will have time to work on their individual therapy assignments.

The Jewish component of BaMidbar Wilderness Therapy will bring elements of Jewish wisdom to bear on the challenges facing individuals in their own lives. Family relationships, for example, may be addressed through stories in Genesis, Hanselman said, like the conflict between Joseph and his brothers. The story of Nachshon ben Aminadav, the biblical figure who led the Jewish people into the Red Sea during the Exodus, is used to teach courage in the face of the unknown.

"This is a story that's really central to the philosophy behind the program, this idea that it's challenging to leave a difficult situation," Hanselman said. "For our students, it's about understanding that it doesn't take a character that's put on a pedestal to always be the one to create change. You have agency over the course of your life. Sometimes it takes walking out into the unknown without knowing what's before you and taking that step to make it where you need to go."

BaMidbar Wilderness Therapy emerged out of a conversation several years ago between Bock and Cliff Stockton, a veteran wilderness educator who teaches at Camp Ramah. A resident of tiny Hagerman, Idaho, Stockton, 60, has spent decades working with troubled youth in wilderness settings and was struck by how many Jewish kids had gone through such programs.

"There are some wilderness programs out there that have almost 40 percent Jewish participation," Stockton said. "This is a huge need We weren't doing anything."

Though some programs have been willing to accommodate Jewish needs around kosher food and avoiding certain activities on Shabbat, that isn't always feasible. More significantly, many of these programs tap into spiritual themes, particularly Native American spirituality, which to those involved in the BaMidbar program seemed like a missed opportunity.

"Wilderness therapy programs rely heavily on Native American metaphor, storytelling and ritual to help students understand their wilderness experience in the context of a vision quest and rite of passage," Hanselman said.

"The Jewish tradition provides such powerful support, strength and guidance," she noted. "Why must we turn to other traditions to find rituals that help us mark and effect change, stories that speak to facing and overcoming adversity, and values that help us define our personal understanding of living well? Judaism speaks to that so strongly already."

Starting in late January, BaMidbar Wilderness Therapy will have 16 slots available for participants aged 18-26; they may stay as long as necessary. The program costs $485 per day, which according to Bock is on the cheaper end of the scale for such programs. With a typical stay in a wilderness therapy program averaging about 60 days, that amounts to approximately $30,000 per residency.

Scholarships of up to $200 per day are available for the Colorado program, which is partially supported by the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation. Bock is a veteran of the Schusterman Fellowship, a leadership program run by the Schusterman Foundation that is designed to help participants use Jewish organizational leadership to create transformational change in the world.

In its first year, BaMidbar Wilderness Therapy will break over the summer while Ramah overnight camp is in session to allow for tweaking and evaluation. But eventually the program will operate year-round, including during the chilly mountain winters that can see nighttime temperatures drop well below zero. Ramah will outfit all participants for the elements, providing heavy duty boots, sub-zero sleeping bags and other essential outdoor gear. In really cold weather, participants will sleep in teepees with a mobile wood stove for heat.

The first participants are scheduled to arrive near the end of January, with more to follow.

This article, sponsored by and produced in partnership with The Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation, is part of a series about how young Jews are transforming Jewish life in the 21st century. This article was produced by JTA's native content team.
Opal Benson, age 95, of Winter Park, passed away peacefully at her residence on Sunday, Jan. 7, 2018, two weeks shy of her 96 birthday. She was a daughter of the late A.E. and Mary Alice Lowe Wilson, of Sarasota, and was born on Jan. 21, 1922. An accomplished and talented pianist, Opal graduated from Florida Southern University with a music major. She was married to the late Morrie Benson for 57 years when he passed away in 2002. For over 30 years Opal and her family traveled the world with her husband as an Air Force wife. While on many of the bases where they were stationed, Opal played the piano and was the director of the womens choir. In 1969, following Morries retirement, they relocated to Winter Park and joined the Congregation of Reform Judaism. At the same time, Opal became the music teacher at Phyllis Wheatley Elementary School for over a dozen years. Listed in Whos Who, she was also a patron of the arts in Central Florida for more than 40 years.

Opal is survived by her children, Boyd Lee Benson of Winter Park and Barbara Ann (William C.) Weaver of Orlando; and her grandson, Alexander M. Benson. She is also survived by her sister, Dorothy Gunn of Brandon.

A funeral service was held at Congregation of Reform Judaism with Rabbi Steven W. Engel and Cantor Jacqueline Rawiszer officiating. Interment followed at Glen Haven Memorial Park, Winter Park. In memory of Opal Claire Benson, the family requests contributions to the charity of your choice.

Arrangements entrusted to Beth Shalom Memorial Chapel, 640 Lee Road, Orlando 32810. 407-599-1180.
NEW YORK (JTA)It wasnt long after Nahum Amir began working for Delta Airlines as a mechanic that he says his manager started calling him the Jewish guy. Then Amir says the manager accused him and other Jews of killing kids in Gaza.

During the same period, Yaron Gilinsky was working as a Delta flight attendant on flights from New York to Tel Aviv. Except, he says, his non-Jewish co-workers would call it Hell Aviv. Gilinsky remembers some, including managers, making fun of haredi Orthodox Jews beards and sidecurls. One non-Jewish fellow attendant called them ugly Jews.

At some point, it makes me feel ashamed and it makes me feel this person doesnt respect me, Gilinsky, 38, told JTA about his co-workers comments. I was brought into this company because I speak Hebrew. I was brought into this company to take care of the clients that support that flight, and here this person is talking very derogatorily and putting down my faith, my people, everything that I grew up on.

Amir, an Israeli-American, and Gilinsky, who was born in Israel and lives in the United States, are each separately suing Delta in federal court for violating the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination based on ethnicity. Gilinsky is in the process of formally joining a suit filed last week by four other Delta employees who also allege anti-Semitic and anti-Israeli discrimination. Amirs suit was filed Monday evening.

I have been subjected to a hostile and threatening environment based on my race and ethnicity, Amir stated in a signed affidavit obtained by JTA.

The manager, whom Amir names as Azeem Narine, continues to make jokes and comments about Jewish people, including about circumcision. He would go to the computer room talking about Jewish people chopping off part of his private areas.

Both suits were filed by Philadelphia lawyer Brian Mildenberg.

In a Jan 3 statement, Delta says it strongly condemns the allegations of discrimination described in this suit and will defend itself vigorously against them. As a global airline that brings people across the world together every day, Delta values diversity in all aspects of its business and has zero tolerance for discrimination.

After six years of hearing anti-Semitic comments, Gilinsky was fired in September because, he says, he made a Jewish friend his travel companion. Flight attendants are allowed to designate a friend or family member as their travel companion, which allows the companion to fly standby at a reduced rate.

Gilinskys travel companion is a friend he had met on a flight to Israel in 2013. Although they live in different statesGilinsky in California, the friend in New Yorkthey stayed in touch and met up in Israel. But Gilinsky says that Delta management, after questioning him about his friend, suspended him without pay and fired him two weeks later.

Our relationship had been very good, and we had good communication with each other, he told JTA. Almost every flight attendant I know has given their pass privileges to someone. Its part of our benefits.

Gilinsky is set to join other plaintiffs, some non-Jewish, who also complain that Delta suspended or fired them because they shared their travel benefits with Jews and Israelis. One plaintiff, Cynthia Fukelman, alleges that Delta fired her because she was an Israeli Jew. The lawsuit says Delta employees derided Jews for praying in-flight and requesting kosher food.

Delta has encouraged and maintained an anti-Jewish, Hebrew and ethnic Israeli attitude among management, the lawsuit says, adding that Delta managers operate under an express assumption that ethnic Jews and Israelis, as employees and passengers, cannot be trusted, are aggressive and inappropriate, and engage in what are deemed to be strange behaviors.

That Delta flight attendants would be anti-Semitic is surprising, said Paula Kraft, the managing partner of the DaVinci Inflight Training Institute, which trains flight staff. Kraft said Delta takes particular care to train its crews in how to handle kosher food and the sensitivities involved in keeping kosher.

Delta has good, specific and detailed training on kosher [food] for the Jewish passengers, Kraft said, adding that the attendants have more understanding of why someone might demand that they have plastic utensils or why theyre not going to eat off of the aircrafts china.

Amir won an award for his performance in 2014, and still works at Delta. He has complained to human resources about the anti-Semitic harassment. But he says management handled the incident inappropriately, asking Amir to recount the story in front of Narine, his manager, and suggest a punishment. He says Delta then refused to reprimand Narine for his statements, instead suggesting that Amir switch terminals.

After a six-month break, Amir says Narine resumed the anti-Semitic slurs, suggesting that haredi mens facial hair is fake and making derogatory comments about circumcision. Amir also claims Narine has subjected him to unsafe work conditions, in one instance demanding that Amir complete a 20-hour job in 90 minutes Another time, Narine sent Amir to work alone in icy conditions.

In another instance, Amir claims Narine sent him to clean up and repair an overflowed toilet on a 777 jet, and said, You have to clean all of the Jewish shit off of these planes.

He was joking around and gyrating his hips, Amir said in the affidavit. I fixed it because it is my job.
Shortly after 8 p.m., the Magen David Adom (MDA) radio received reports of a shooting attack, apparently from the victim, who had served as an MDA volunteer.

Paramedics from the town of Kedumim, a short drive from the scene of the attack, arrived on the scene and evacuated the victim to Meir Medical Centre in Kfar Saba, where his death was confirmed.

I left Kedumim in an MDA ambulance, arriving quickly at the scene. I saw on the side of the road, by the safety railing, a private vehicle with shooting markings on it, said MDA paramedic Elyashiv Reichenberg, the first to arrive on the scene. There was a 35-year-old semi-conscious man in the driver seat with bullet wounds in his upper body.

MK Bezalel Smotrich, a resident of Kedumim, was on Route 60 at the time of the shooting and stopped to administer first aid. He wrote on Twitter, Jewish Blood is not worthless! and called on Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman to put an end to Palestinian terrorism. Instruct our security forces to act with an iron fist! Make it clear to the Palestinians that they will pay a very heavy price for every attack like this.

Opposition Leader Yitzhak Herzog (Zionist Camp) pledged to find and punish the killers and sent condolences to the family of the victim.

To our great sorrow, terrorism does not rest for even a minute. This time, the victim was a paramedic who dedicated his life to helping others, no matter who they were. We will not rest from our fight; we will find and punish [the killers].

Shevach is survived by his wife and six children.

*With additional reporting by Andrew Friedman, Hillel Maeir and Koby Richter.
Coffee Connections at JFS Orlando returns Jan. 25

JFS Orlando invites the community to sip some coffee, nosh on a bagel and see/hear new and exciting developments at the facility. Learn about the positive impact JFS Orlando is having in the community. There are new programs, new building enhancements, and new specialties.

Coffee Connections will be held throughout 2018 on the last Thursday of the month from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. (tour starting promptly at 8:15 a.m.) beginning this month. The tour is free. RSVPs are requested by contacting Amanda Marchese at 407-644-7593,ext.227 or by email to Amanda.marchese@jfsorlando.org

Need to use a computer?

JFS Orlandos Computer Lab, funded in part by the Frances and Joseph Victor Fund at the Central Florida Foundation, is open to the community. Those in need of assistance with a resume, job search, government benefit applications, Microsoft software or any online-based activity, call 407-644-7593 to schedule an appointment.

The Lab always needs volunteers. If interested in volunteering in the computer lab, contact Volunteer Coordinator Amanda Marchese for more information.

Ways to contribute to JFS Orlando

Amazon Smile

Did you know that just by choosing Jewish Family Services of Greater Orlando as your charity beneficiary when making purchases on amazon.com, JFS Orlando will receive .5 percent of the purchase price on eligible items? Go to http://www.smile.amazon.com to learn how you can give the easy way.

JFS Orlando Tribute Cards

For a minimum suggested donation of $18, you can cheer up a neighbor, wish a happy birthday or provide your thanks by sending a customized greeting card.

Monetary Gifts

For every dollar donated, JFS can purchase $6 worth of food or pantry items No donation is too small. Donations can be mailed to The George Wolly Center, 2100 Lee Rd., Ste. A, Winter Park, FL 32789 or by calling 407-644-7593.

Food Donations

JFS Orlando puts food on the table for more than 76,000 Central Floridians each year. Donations of canned and nonperishable groceries that have not expired can be brought to the Pearlman Pantry during pantry hours: Monday-Thursday, 8 a.m. to 4:45 p.m .; and Friday, 9 a.m.-noon.

Centerpieces for Tzedakah

If youre planning a wedding, baby shower, Bar/Bat Mitzvah, or any special event, JFS Orlandos Centerpieces for Tzedakah would be a wonderful addition. Not only would you be enhancing your event and going, green, but you would also be helping those in need. In Modern Hebrew, Tzedakah is the (Jewish) obligation to help those in need in our community. With your support, JFS does this every day by providing food for the hungry.

The centerpieces are very easy to order, and each rental of $200 provides 100 meals to those in need:

Two styles from which to choose:

 Wicker basket

 Trunk (3 available: small, medium or large)

All are filled with a representation of items offered in the JFS Pearlman Food Pantry. The baskets and trunks are wrapped in clear packaging and adorned with ribbon.

 Free pick-up and delivery to local event site

 100% tax-deductible as donation to JFS Orlando

Rental Fees:

 Minimum rental order is $200

 Basket or carts - $25 each

 Trunk - $200

 Value Packages: 5 baskets + trunk - $300; 10 baskets + trunk - $350; 20 baskets + trunk - $500

Please email/call Development Coordinator, Amanda Benedit, with any questions atamanda.benedit@jfsorlando.org or 407-644-7593 x227.
Israels Ministry of Strategic Affairs has published a list of 20 anti-Israel organizations that actively support the BDS (Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions) movement and whose activists will be denied entry into the Jewish state.

These organizations operate consistently against the State of Israel, while putting pressure on other organizations, institutions and countries to boycott Israel, the ministry stated. The organizations activities are carried out through a false propaganda campaign aimed at undermining Israels legitimacy in the world.

Minister of Strategic Affairs Gilad Erdan stated that the consolidation of the list is another step in our struggle against the incitement and lies of the boycott organizations. No country would allow visitors who come to harm the country to enter it, and certainly when the goal is to destroy Israel as a Jewish state.

He added that Israel has moved from defense to offense, the boycott organizations should know that the Jewish state will act against them and will not allow them to enter it to harm its citizens.

These people take advantage of the law and our hospitality to act against Israel and slander the Land. I will act against this in every way,stated Interior Minister Aryeh Deri.

The BDS Movement attempts to delegitimize and isolate Israel in an effort to advance Palestinian interests. Many leaders of the campaign have publicly affirmed that they seek Israels destruction.

In August 2016, Israel established an inter-ministerial team tasked with tracking down and deporting anti-Israel activists who come to the Jewish State for the purpose of harming the country. The team also works to prevent the future entry of activists who operate for the BDS movement.

Israel acted on its new directives for the first time at the end of 2016, denying entry to BDS activist Isabel Phiri, Aassociate general secretary for the World Council of Churches (WCC), because of her efforts to malign Israel and damage it through an economic boycott. Upon making that decision, Deri said that the authority given to him as a minister was intended specifically for dealing with visitors who arrive in Israel under a false pretense with the intention to encourage anti-Israel activity.

Following is the complete list of organizations whose activists will be denied entry to Israel.

Europe

AFPS( (The Association France Palestine Solidarite)

BDS France

BDS Italy

ECCP (The European Coordination of Committees and Associations for Palestine)

FOA (Friends of Al-Aqsa)

IPSC (Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign)

Norge (The Palestine Committee of Norway) Palestinakomitee

PGS (Palestine Solidarity Association in Sweden) Palestinagrupperna i Sverige

PSC (Palestine Solidarity Campaign)

War on Want

BDS Kampagne

United States

AFSC (American Friends Service Committee)

AMP (American Muslims for Palestine)

Code Pink

JVP (Jewish Voice for Peace)

NSJP (National Students for Justice in Palestine)

USCPR (US Campaign for Palestinian Rights)

Latin America

BDS Chile

South Africa

BDS South Africa

International

BNC (BDS National Committee)
Just as it celebrates its 40th anniversary, the Jewish Academy of Orlando will open enrollment to students of all faiths offering the benefits of the independent school's academic and cultural excellence to the broader community.

Beginning in the January 2018-2019 term, enrollment will be open to families of all faiths and who seeks the independent school's STEM-focused initiatives. The Jewish Academy of Orlando is recognized for its service learning culture, smaller classrooms and personalized education.

Discussion about open enrollment began last summer among the school's Board, and for four months the board members talked with parents and community leaders about becoming inclusive.

"We did our homework," said Head of School Alan Rusonik. He further explained that Jewish Day schools across the country have open enrollment and follow either a dual track curriculum, in which students can select a purely academic curriculum, or one track, in which all the students take all the same classes. The board agreed unanimously to be one track.

Rusonik told Heritage that this in no way affects or changes the mission, vision or values of the school. "They will remain the same-to provide academic excellence within a culture of Jewish values. Our goal is to produce excellent students who are filled with self-confidence and are comfortable with their Jewish identities."

"Our approach to education includes passion, mindfulness, pride, connecting and leadership-very clear objectives that are incorporated into our powerful curriculum," said Board member Robyn Eichenholz. "Opening enrollment to all families is inspired by the increasing parental demand we have experienced in recent years. And in this day and age, it just makes sense to be more inclusive."

The Jewish Academy of Orlando has placed significant focus on STEM-initiatives including robotics, coding, and technology-engagement, and in an environment where students have significant hands-on learning from a highly skilled faculty. In addition to the school's dual language curriculum that includes Hebrew, the school has a state of the art television studio and comprehensive media center.

Considered one of Maitland's hidden gems, the Jewish Academy of Orlando is well-known for its high academic standards and student achievements. Two years ago, the school was recognized as one of the first in Orange County to provide kindergarten students with iPads as part of the Academy's sophisticated learning environment. Classes include individually issued laptops to students in fourth and fifth grades, classroom sets of video iPods, and interactive Smart TVs in every classroom. Instructors utilize iPad educational applications to support curriculum in reading, math and science as well as for language instruction including and Hebrew.

"We incorporated academic lessons with advanced technology into the classroom long before any other school because it's critical that students are digital natives. We know it's important to harness that intelligence as early as possible," said Rusonik. "Our curriculum is powerful because it deliberately prepares students to be successful in middle and high school and ultimately their entire learning future."

To learn more about our school, please attend out Open House on Thursday, February 1st at 6:30 p.m.

For more information about the Jewish Academy of Orlando or to arrange a tour, please contact Admissions Coordinator Amy Polacek at apolacek@myjao.org or 407-647-0713.

The Jewish Academy of Orlando is located at 851 N. Maitland Avenue in Maitland Florida. For more information, please visit our website at http://www.jewishacademyorlando.org.
Bro Hassan: We did not understand the Kurdishism that was present in the NA (video)

Representatives of the Yezidi community expressed their gratitude to the initiators of the draft law today, speaking about the genocide bill against the Yezidis adopted by the RA NA. To the observation of "A1+" that the draft convention was included in the agenda of the previous NA but was accepted only by the new NA, ain particular, with the co-authorship of the HHK (Republican Party of Armenia) MPs, Kyaram Sloyan, head of the community of Ararat region, stated that it did not matter to them, due to which political force the bill was adopted. "Of course, we are especially grateful to MP Naira Zohrabyan, but we do not separate any political force. Everyone has been with us, we thank everyone. This project was initiated by Aziz Tamoyan, our community leader. " To the question, whether the presence of the HHK MP Rustam Makhmudyan, their compatriot, in the National Assembly also contributed to the adoption of the bill, he noted that the MP directly maintained the continuity of the process that Aziz Tamoyan had started. "Rustam Makhmudyan's becoming an MP has not changed anything in the community life." Sheikh Bro Hassan, the spiritual leader of the Yezidi community, who participated in the discussion, in his turn said that till that moment the adoption of the bill was just a matter of negativity towards the Yezidi nation. "The previous convocation NA, which was presided by Galust Sahakyan, had a Kurdish affiliation. We did not understand that Kurdishism that was present in the National Assembly, they were talking about Kurds all the time. I want to say that there is no Kurdish nation either in Armenia or in the world, while the past of the Yezidi people was bitter. We do not incite bloodshed. Do you ask what Rustam Makhmudian did for Yezidi people? Only the fact that Yezidi people are insulted in his presence and he does not protest, so, he agrees with that idea. " Koryam Sloyan, in his turn, added that they were not against the idea that one Kurdish person, Knyaz Hasanov, is represented in the National Assembly. However, he said that one should not forget that there was an effort to kurdisise the Yezidis territories in Armenia today. "They teach Kurdish in a number of Yezidi villages. When Knyaz Hasanov got his parliamentary mandate, 20 days later he stated that there were two Kurdish deputies in the National Assembly. He did not clarify who was the 2nd. After this, our representative Rustam Makhmudyan did not react in any way. How can this be interpreted? Only through press we were able to raise these issues, but he did not personally seek to meet us. The National Assembly is guided by the Government. I want to remind you that Aziz Tamoyan, the world-renowned community leader, has 42,000 Yezidis living in Armenia. Only 7 villages in Aragatsotn region are Kurdish and publish textbooks in Kurdish. Now how do we estimate this? For 15 years Alagyaz village has been taken by terrorists. The Kurdish flag are swinging there. What they do not know is that the Yezidis have been massacred by Kurds. No one rises this issue in the National Assambly. "
The Palestinians' head negotiator, Saeb Erekat, announced on Tuesday that any peace talks sponsored by the United States would be rejected until the Americans revoke their Dec. 6 recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

Erekat made these remarks to the Voice of Palestine radio station, reported the Palestinian Authority's (PA) official Wafa news site, referring to any future US-proposed solutions or calls to restart the peace process as "unacceptable to the Palestinian leadership" until US President Donald Trump changes course on the US' Jerusalem declaration.

Erekat's comments are consistent with previous statements issued by PA President Mahmoud Abbas, who shortly after Trump's announcement declared that the US had effectively resigned from its historical role as the primary peace broker in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Abbas has also maintained that he refuses to meet with American officials.

The PA response to the US also included lobbying for a United Nations (UN) vote condemning Trump's move, which was met by threats from the White House to significantly reduce funding for the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which is the primary UN body responsible for pumping aid money into Gaza and Judea and Samaria, among other locations in the Middle East with Palestinian populations.

Erekat explicitly referred to these threats on Tuesday, claiming that the Palestinians will not let the US dictate terms of future negotiations. He also reiterated the oft-cited PA position that any future deal must include Jerusalem, declaring, "There is no value to a Palestinian state without Jerusalem as its capital."
In 2017 alone, the Palestinian Authority (PA) compensated terrorists and their next of kin to the tune of more than $347 million, reported Israel's Defense Ministry to the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Tuesday, according to a report by the Jerusalem Post.

The figures came from the PA's own records, which also revealed a schedule of payments that increase significantly in proportion to the crime committed. Specifically, terrorists sentenced to three to five years in prison receive from the Palestinian government $580 per month, which equals the average Palestinian income. The PA pays terrorists sentenced to 20 years or more in prison over $2,800 per month.

The PA supplements these base salaries with bonus payments for terrorists who also hold Israeli citizenship and those with children and spouses. Each additional box the terrorist can check off earns them an additional $15 to $120 dollars per month.

While Palestinians who commit the most serious crimes, such as murder, can clear around $2,900 per month via their terror salary, the average working Israeli only makes $2,700 in the same time period.

In response to this ongoing Palestinian policy, Knesset member Avigdor Liberman presented a bill to deduct terror salary totals from the funds Israel collects for the PA via various taxes and tariffs.

The bill mirrors US legislation called the Taylor Force Act, which conditions future American aid to the Palestinians on cessation of the terror salary system. The bill is currently working its way through the legislature with bipartisan support, clearing the House of Representatives and awaiting Senate action.

The Israeli version of the bill defines "terrorist" as any individual who has committed a security offense, regardless of whether a conviction was secured in court or whether the terrorist is still alive.
For the past 100 years, Congregation Ohev Shalom has been important in the lives of many Orlando Jews, celebrating their milestones, comforting them when they are sick or in mourning, uplifting their spirits and serving as their community. As the observance of Ohev Shalom's centennial begins, the Centennial committee asked a few longtime or lifelong members what COS has meant to them.

Melanie Berman Gluck

Melanie's paternal grandparents, J. Barney and Thelma Berman, joined COS in the late 1930s and brought up their children there. Both of her parents, Ronald and Marylin Berman, served on the COS Board, and were Men's Club and Sisterhood presidents. Melanie's baby naming was held at COS in 1968, followed over the years by her bat mitzvah and confirmation, and eventually her aufruf and wedding to Jack Gluck. Melanie and Jack have both served as COS trustees. Their three daughters were brought up at COS, and all three were madrichim in the Religious School following their bat mitzvah years.

"My parents were part of the groundbreaking ceremony for the Goddard location. When the Torahs were marched down the street to enter the synagogue, my mom was the first woman to carry a Torah into the synagogue," says Melanie. "I was raised in the synagogue and spent most weekends there, sometimes starting on Friday morning in the kitchen with my mom, then Friday night, Saturday morning, Sunday School-sometimes even Bingo on Sunday night! I always felt it was my 'house.' I remember how I felt when I gave my bat mitzvah speech. I was full of pride. One line in particular was 'Maybe one day we will have a woman president of Ohev Shalom!'

"My mom was the volunteer caterer for many years. I remember the tuna fish molds she made, the egg salad Jewish Stars sprinkled with paprika. Ahhh, the Yom Kippur break fast! Now that was an incredible evening. We'd have these little cans of juices and two different types of herring. Eggs, bagels-all set up in the courtyard. The social hall was used for overflow seating. My dad cooked the Men's Club breakfasts, and he was known as Chef Bermanelli-he made a special omelet sauce for the eggs. He also headed up the installation of the playground.

"Rabbi Adler officiated at my baby naming and all of my other milestones, including my wedding. And then he was there for all my daughters' namings. To have that continuity and connection was incredibly meaningful to me."

Irwin Feldman

Irwin and his wife, Rita, joined COS after moving to Orlando from New York in 1978, when Rabbi Rudolph Adler was the rabbi. They celebrated the bar mitzvah of their youngest son, Steven, at Ohev in 1980. Irwin has served on many committees and chaired several, and also served as the congregation's treasurer; he was honored as Chatan Torah on Simchat Torah in 2013. The couple's eldest son, Kenneth, currently serves on the COS Board of Trustees.

"Rita and I celebrated our 50th anniversary at COS in 2012. The congregation has been very kind to me over the years," Irwin says. "Rabbi Adler inspired me to learn more about Judaism than is found in the Tanakh. In 1991, I enrolled in his Talmud class, which started me on a 13-year journey to explore the complexity, beauty, and nuances of the Talmud. I continue to this day to learn more about our religion by attending classes conducted by Rabbi Rubinger and Rabbi Kay. In 1993, I chaired the 75th Anniversary Committee, which began a 25-year quest to learn more about COS's history. I rummaged through old COS files, meeting minutes, documents, court records, Orlando Jewish histories, newspaper articles, genealogy records, and interviews-which have been compiled, chronologically, and reside in two file cabinets at Ohev."

Denise Ganson

Denise became a COS member at age 13, when she moved to Orlando in 1970 with her parents, Sidney and Adele Prince, and two brothers. Her grandfather, Marcus Prince, moved to Orlando some years later and also joined. Among the milestones she has celebrated at COS were her wedding, bat mitzvah observances for her two daughters, baby namings for her two granddaughters, and her parents' 50th anniversary. For nine years, she served the congregation's youth groups, first as Kadima adviser, then USY adviser, and then youth director.

"The most happy time I spent at Ohev was my time with the youth programs, first as a teenager with USY and then as an adviser," says Denise. "When I moved here, I was in the first graduating class at Lake Brantley, and we had a handful of Jewish students. And I came from New Jersey, so it was very different for me. My parents were great-they drove me to [the former COS location at] Church Street for USY. Going to convention and LTI [Leadership Training Institute, a regional USY program]-those bus trips were the best! We also did a lot of community service, had sleepovers at the J, and so much more. Dances, bowling and car washes are strong memories. It was really special. Many of the kids I knew from USY, I still consider some of my closest friends to this day.

Irwin Feldman

"Then I was involved in Ohev's youth programs for nine years as an adviser and then youth director. My oldest daughter was with me in the groups for about seven of those years. What I loved most about doing that was connecting with the kids. The kids would just come and sit with me and they would talk to me, and I just loved being part of their life. I really felt like I connected with a lot of them, and it was unbelievably special seeing them make the same kind of friendships that had been such an important part of my teens."

Join in the fun for Ohev Shalom's Centennial Gala Weekend

The members of the Centennial Committee invite former members and others who have a warm connection to COS to join in the celebration of this milestone! The festivities begin on Feb. 9th with a Traditional Shabbat Dinner followed by a special Friday Night Service and Oneg Shabbat. The Shabbat Morning Service on Feb. 10th will continue the special tributes and recollections, followed by a delicious Kiddush Lunch. Then Saturday evening, the celebrations will extend in style with a Centennial Gala! Come to any or all of these meaningful events-more information is found on COS's website at OhevShalom.org, or call 407-298-4650.
NEW YORK (JTA)A new study has some troubling news for Israel and its supporters, who have come to rely on the political and financial support of the 25 percent of Americans who identify as evangelical Christians.

Older American evangelicals love Israelbut many younger evangelicals simply dont care, reads the summary of the study released last month by the Nashville-based evangelical research firm LifeWay Research.

And while the summary may overstate the case, the survey, underwritten by Chosen People Ministries (which seeks Jewish converts to Christianity), shows that young evangelicals are less supportive and more ambivalent about the State of Israel than their older counterparts.

Though a majority of respondents aged 18-34 have a positive view of Israel, that number is lower than for all other age groups: 58 percent of millennials view the Jewish state positively, compared to 76 percent of those 65 or older.

The survey, which included 2,000 respondents and had a margin of error of plus or minus 2.7 percent, also found that millennial evangelicals were the most likely to say they are unsure of how they see Israel, at 30 percent. That number was 16 percent for the group 65 and over.

That gap, though not as dramatic as the reports introduction would have it, could have significant policy implications.

With over 3.8 million members, Christians United for Israel is the countrys largest pro-Israel group. And while predominantly Jewish groups such as the American Israel Public Affairs Committee are influential, many liberal American Jews have become more critical of Israel in recent years as its government has turned more to the right and failed to make concessions to non-Orthodox denominations.

In 2012, CUFI noted a decline in support for Israel among younger Christians, said the groups founding director, David Brog.

That change was in part because millennial evangelicals are less likely to take the Bible literally, according to Brog. Evangelical support for Israel is often driven by theology.

Once youre no longer bound to Israel through a literal interpretation of the Bible, that means youre in playyou could be pro-Israel, you could be anti-Israel, depending on your view of the morality of the conflict, he told JTA.

Brog said he also found that there was an industry of taking young Christian leaders on trips to the Middle East, where they were fed a really dishonest view of conflict. In a 2014 article, he cited the Telos Group, the Global Immersion Project and the Holy Land Trust as examples of organizations promoting what he called a pro-Palestinian or biased view of the conflict.

Josh Ahrens, CUFIs millennial outreach coordinator, said millennial support for Israel should not be taken for granted.

We should be concerned by a tendency on the younger generation to be ambivalent toward Israel, and we would be absolutely wrong to assume that as they get older they will just somehow come around to supporting Israel, he said.

Evangelicals support Israel for a variety of reasons, said Stephen Spector, a professor at Stony Brook University who has published a book about Christian Zionism.

Prophecies about Israels role in the end of days play a role for some evangelicals, although it is far from the only reason, according to Spector. Gods promise regarding the Jews in Genesis 12:3 (I will bless those who bless you, and him who curses you I will curse), the belief that Jews are Gods chosen people and the fact that Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East are all central to evangelical support for the Jewish state.

I think for most American evangelicals they just have the impression God loves the Jews, has chosen the Jews and they want to be on Gods side, Spector told JTA.

Younger evangelicals are less likely to base their views of Israel on theology than older generations, said the Rev. Mae Cannon, the executive director of Churches for Middle East Peace, a coalition of 27 mostly liberal church denominations.

While people 55 and older, their view toward Israel may be very theologically founded, if theyre dispensationalists or Christian Zionists, these types of theologies are a little less prevalent or less overt in the millennial generation, Cannon told JTA. Dispensationalists believe that Israel as a nation will embrace Jesus in advance of the Second Coming.

Cannon said that while a zero-sum game attitude regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is common among older evangelicals, younger Christians are more open to nuanced views.

I think millennials are some of the people who have the potential to think outside that framework, she said.

Race also plays a part, said the Rev. Tony Campolo, a leader of the evangelical left and a former spiritual adviser to President Bill Clinton.

Black people often identify with the Palestinians. Namely they see the Palestinians as a group of colored people oppressed by white domination, Campolo told JTA.

Indeed, the survey found that 50 percent of African-American evangelicals had a positive view of Israelthe lowest among all groups.

Many young white Christians are joining mega churches where pastors often preach a pro-Israel narrative, while black evangelical churches are increasingly identifying with the Palestinians over Israel, according to Campolo.

Theres a real split there, he said.

Sixty-two percent of the LifeWay respondents were white, while 20 percent were black, 13 percent were Hispanic and 5 percent belonged to a different group Many other surveys on evangelicals tend to poll white evangelicals as a separate group, noted Spector, saying that including non-whites may result in lower levels of support for Israel.

In 2014, CUFI launched the Israel Collective, an initiative targeting young Christians through short videos about Israel and trips to the country. Brog says it has been successful in swaying many young evangelicals.

Some of the worst manifestations of this turn against Israel were quickly neutralized, which is great, he said. But still at the end of the day you have a generation thats approaching the issue differently, that is really saying, before I choose which side Im on, I want to know which side is more moral.
WASHINGTON (JTA)President Donald Trump waived nuclear sanctions against Iran for what the White House said was the final time under the current deal.

By the time the next waiver signing rolls around in 120 days, Trump wants a new deal in place that removes sunset clauses allowing Iran to resume enhanced enrichment of fissile material within a decade, three senior administration officials said Friday. Trump wants the bans to be permanent. He wants to deny Iran access to nuclear weapons forever and not just for 10years, one of the officials said

The officials spoke Friday in a conference call for journalists on the condition they not be named.

The officials said Trump expected Americas European allies who are also parties to the 2015 accord, which swapped sanctions relief for a rollback of Irans nuclear program, to join with him in reworking the deal. He is also demanding a permanent end to Irans enrichment of fissile material at a grade sufficient for weapons use. As it stands, Iran is currently allowed to enrich uranium to low grades unsuitable for weapons use.

In a statement later Friday Trump said those who do not work with him to amend the deal are effectively siding with Iran.

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, he said. 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.

The officials notably did not say that Trump expected the other two nations party to the dealRussia and Chinato join in the revision of the deal. The three European nations that are party to the deal, France, Germany and Britain, have said that they do not want to reopen the deal unless all parties are agreed. Russia and China are adamantly opposed to renegotiating the deal, as is Iran.

Trump first called on the European nations to reopen the deal to modifications in October; there has been no sign that any party to the deal outside Trump is willing to do so. The Europeans have said they are willing to consider enhancing sanctions outside the nuclear deal, for instance targeting Irans missile program and human rights abuses.

Trump, the same day he waived the nuclear sanctions, imposed new sanctions on Iran for its human rights abuses and its military adventurism.

Most prominent among the 14 individuals and entities named in the new sanctions was Sadegh Amoli Larijani, who heads Irans judiciary and who is brother to the speaker of the Iranian parliament. Other sanctions target suppliers of Irans military and Irans cybersecurity sector, which the administration officials said plays a central role in censorship in Iran.

Notably absent from the entities was Irans Central Bank. The nuclear deal removed a number of sanctions on the Central Bank, and there had been reports that Trump would impose new sanctions, albeit not for reasons related to Irans nuclear development. Had he sanctioned the bank, there was speculation that Iran would view the deal as effectively abrogated.

Under U.S. law, U.S. businesses may not deal with Iran. The sanctions, when they are in place, target third parties overseas that deal with Iran and have the effectbecause of the reach of the U.S. dollarof severely inhibiting trade with Iran.

Trump also wants Congress to impose new strictures on dealing with Iran, including a law that would explicitly tie Irans missile programs to its nuclear program. Trump has said that the nuclear deal, which he called the worst deal in history, was flawed in part because it did not address missile development.

Congress has so far shown little interest in using legislation to undercut or change the current Iran nuclear deal.
Some years ago, the French actor Robert Clary appeared on a television interview. He was famous for another television programHogans Heroes, a comical take on a prison camp in Germany during the Second World War. In the interview, Clary, for the first time, told the story of his experience with the Holocaust. How he, as a young Jewish actor in Paris was rounded up along with his Jewish neighbors and Jewish contemporaries by the Paris police and eventually sent to Buchenwald. The rest of his family was also taken to German Concentration Camps where they perished.

Clary said the two most startling things to him in his remembrance of the Holocaust was 1) that it was not the Nazis but French policemen who picked him up and 2) that when he came home and went back to some of his old haunts, the actors and actresses there greeted him warmly but never asked a single question of where he had been for four years. To these other French citizens it was as if the Holocaust never happened.

Statistics tell us that 13 Holocaust Survivors die every day. Clary himself is 91 years old. The wonderful work and incredible impact of The March of the Living leaves an indelible mark on those teenagers who attend. We have two granddaughters whose outlook has been permanently altered by the experience.

There are Holocaust Remembrance Centers all over the country and overseas as well. The Center here in Orlando is outstanding and its educational efforts on all forms of hatred and discrimination are effective and leave a deep impression on anyone who pays attention.

But: With statistics showing that less than 35 percent of our Millennials think of themselves as Jews first, with the loss of the Survivors, the question keeps arising: What is the future of the Jews?

I would guess the first time this question was asked was when Abram left the land of Ur to go to a new land. Certainly it was asked when the exodus to Babylon took place. And again after the Romans, and of course after the Holocaust.

And now, there is this tearing at our fabric by modern life, technologies and the ongoing debate (mostly in Israel) for the definition of JEW. Lets start with this: Most religious organizations are not about the faith of the followers. They are about power. Martin Luther was so upset about the corruption of the Catholic Church he created what became in essence a new group of religions.

Today, that power flexes itself in Israel in the form of political parties. Shasthe strongest of the Ultra Religious parties holds incredible sway over the present government. Israel is a land of multiple political parties. What else would you expect in the land of the Jews.

Therefore a small, well-organized group is enough to create or tear down a government. Not that theres anything wrong with that. It creates the need for coalition to get anything done something that might indeed solve a number of our problems here.

In Israel, what you believe religiously is a political issue. The Orthodox Rabbinate determines who can marry who and remain a Jew. Now, there is a bill floating that would determine who is and who is not a Jew.

If there was ever anything more ridiculous than this billit might be some of the mostly overturned laws that allowed discrimination in the U.S. Who is a Jew? Ladies and gentlemen; members of the Knesset; learned rabbiswho or what is a Jew is predetermined.

Did we forget that we were a people for a thousand years before we became a religion? Our son Adam asked us: A friend of mine had his DNA tested and found out he was 16 percent Jewish. What does that mean?

We explained to him just that: We are a people. We have common DNA with all of the Jewish people. Sure, we have intermarried through the generations. More so now than ever. But in every one of us there is that Pintela Yid that is us no matter what we may say or do.

To all those Millennials that dont celebrate or even may deny their Jewishnessit wont help. You are. And there is much to be proud of there. What a history! What an impact on mankind!

So let the learned rabbis arguetheyve been doing that for thousands of years. But a Jew is a Jew. No law can change that. If it is in your blood, your DNAyou are!

There are people who are Jewishby choice through marriage or conversion. We do not want to argue about conversion techniques. But those of us who carry the DNAwe are Jews no matter what the learned rabbis say. Six million of us perished because we are what we are. You have Jewish DNA? Be damned proud of it.
You know that critics of Israel are getting panicky when they start trotting out the old one state bogeyman.

As a 2-State Solution Loses Steam, a 1-State Plan Gains Traction, a New York Times headline announced on Jan. 5, above an article so palpably absurd that it can only reflect the mad panic among advocates of Palestinian statehood as they see their dream fading away. And the fact that The Times chose to make it page one news says a lot about the fearful mindset among the left-wing news media, Israel-bashing pundits and Jewish peace camp types.

The article was written by David M. Halbfinger, who became The Timess Jerusalem bureau chief six months ago. Before taking up that position, Halbfinger served as one of the newspapers Hollywood correspondents and as its New York City metro political editor. It doesnt sound like those previous posts prepared him very well for understanding Israel and the Palestinians.

On the other hand, sometimes it seems as if the only qualification The Times requires for someone to serve as its Jerusalem correspondent (or bureau chief) is the ability to come up with ways to harangue and smear Israel and to make Palestinians look sympathetic. Thats certainly what Halbfinger seemed to be up to with his one state declaration.

The basic idea is to threaten Israel: If you dont agree to create an independent Palestinian state adjacent to your major cities and airports, then youll really be in trouble, because the Palestinians will demand that they become part of a single state with you Israelis, and then they will outnumber you, and thenpoof!no more Israel.

According to the one state idea that Palestinians are supposedly talking about, thinking about and considering, the Palestinian movement should shift to a struggle for equal civil rights, including the freedom of movement, assembly and speech, and the right to vote in national elections.

What Halbfinger forgot to mention is that Israel already gave the Palestinians all of those thingsits only the Palestinian Authority (PA) that interferes with them. In 1995, then-Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin pulled Israels forces out of the areas where 98 percent of the Palestinians live. As of 1995, Israel no longer determined the Palestinians freedom of movement, assembly, speech or right to vote. They can move, assemble, speak and vote whenever the PA leadership lets them.

In fact, just last May, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians went to 461 polling stations, and chose the members of the 391 municipal and village councils in the PA-controlled portions of Judea and Samaria. A total of 3,489 council members were elected.

The only reason there has not been a Palestinian election for president is that the current occupant of that position, Mahmoud Abbas, wont allow a presidential election. Why doesnt Halbfinger write about Palestinians who are angry not at Israel, but at the fascist dictatorship under which they suffer? I think we all know the answer to that question.

Israelis laugh at the one state talk. Of course they would never accept a demand for one state with an Arab majority. It doesnt matter how many clever slogans the Palestinians invent (with the help of their Western PR firms). It doesnt matter how many critics of Israel shout phony accusations of apartheid, or how many attacks-disguised-as-news Halbfinger writes in The New York Times.

The one state threat is a cheap propaganda exercise whose only purpose is to try to scare Israelis and their American Jewish supporters. The irony is that its The New York Times and J Street who are the ones that are genuinely scared. Theyre scared to death because their dream of setting up a Palestinian state a few miles from Tel Aviv is slipping away.

And they seemed so close! For eight years, they had an American president who really believed a Palestinian state would bring peace in our time. They turned the Democratic Party virtually into an advocate for the Palestinian cause. They pressured Israel to freeze all Jewish construction in the territories for 10 months.

But then democracy intervened. In 2013 and 2015, Israelis chose to re-elect a government that recognizes the deadly dangers of a Palestinian state and nine-miles-wide borders. In 2016, Americans elected a president whose party platform dropped its previous support for Palestinian statehood. The peopleon both sides of the Atlantichave spoken. All that Israels critics are left with is a bunch of stale slogans and pathetic scare tactics.

Stephen M. Flatow, a vice president of the Religious Zionists of America, is an attorney in New Jersey. He is the father of Alisa Flatow, who was murdered in an Iranian-sponsored Palestinian terrorist attack in 1995.
NEW YORK (JTA)Arguably the worlds greatest writer of fiction about the worlds foremost nonfiction atrocity, the Holocaust, died Thursday in Israel. Aharon Appelfeld, a Holocaust survivor himself and one of the icons of Israels first generation, was 85. No writer captured and reclaimed the lost world of European Jewish life with as much imaginative intensity and heartfelt longing.

The author of over 40 books, written in Hebrew and translated around the world, he was the recipient of the State of Israel Prize for Literature in 1983, and a finalist for the Man Booker International Prize in 2013. Like the surreal events that shaped him, however, Appelfeld was a writer of great elusiveness and paradox. While he was known as a Holocaust writer, a label he rejected, he was also a man, and a fiction writer, who was nearly impossible to categorize.

After all, he was orphaned at 8 years old when his mother was murdered by the Nazis and he and his father were sent to a concentration camp in what is now Ukraine. Separated from his father, Appelfeld did not realize until 20 years later that he, too, had survived. They miraculously reunited in Israela reunion he was never able, emotionally, to write about.

Everything else he experienced, however, he reimagined feverishly. No writer who survived the Holocaust, and whose memories inspired their writings, had been dealt such a vividly colorful and yet traumatizing childhood experience. Although a small boy, Appelfeld escaped from the camp and lived in small towns and the forests of the former Austrian-Hungarian Empirecreases in the geography of Romania, Transylvania and Bukovina. He lived among and was helped along by horse thieves, fortune-telling Gypsies, self-described witches and working-girl prostitutes. He became a shepherd and a caretaker of lame horses. Later he worked as a cook for the Soviet army. All this before a bar mitzvah he was still too young to have and, given everything else, God would not have noticed.

A prostitute became his surrogate mother. Each night, he once told me, in a studio flat through the scrim of a hanging bedsheet that separated his tiny bed from the larger one of his caretaker, all made luminous by ambient light, he watched his guardian angel sexually satisfy her drunken clientelethe boy observing through the projected screen, hearing the moans and grunting sounds, seeing shadowy movements that ushered him into accelerated puberty. In the upside-down world of the Nazis, this kindhearted prostitute became his Mother Theresa.

This was the degenerate world that he knew, and that had oddly raised and protected him. He was too young to appreciate that he had been given a choice between a death camp and a madhouse. His life was saved by the latter. Such indelibly sordid memories on the lam provided him with the gift of a grist few writersJewish or otherwisecould ever imagine.

Appelfelds characters live out their days in advance of the oncoming devastation, seemingly oblivious to what lies ahead, naively focusing on trivial details instead of the Nazi menace that would soon nearly erase all of Jewish life in Europe.

His writing was spare and allegorical; he was a teller of tales rather than a chronicler of the ungodly details of murder. He intentionally never wrote about the camps, gas chambers, killing fields or death marches. But he wrote poignantly about the aftermath, the hesitant, halting and improbable recovery of the survivors both in Europe and in Israel.

Arriving in Israel two years before its creation, he quickly learned Hebrew, which added to his survival kit of six other languages. Unlike the other notable Israeli fiction writersA.B. Yehoshua, Amos Oz and David GrossmanAppelfeld wrote mostly about the impending dead and the broken remains of Jewish life before and after the Holocaust. Among Israeli society starting anew and glorifying the bronzed farmers and chiseled soldiers of the IDF, Appelfeld was admired, but regarded as a relic of a time the nation wished to forget, or at least gloss over. This is one of the reasons why he was as widely read in the Diaspora as within Israel itselfa European writer displaced in the new Jewish homeland.

Which all made sense for other reasons of European symmetry. No one would have wished such a childhood on anyone, but fate cares little for whats fair, and Appelfeld was uniquely equipped to make fine use of so rich a legacyand proximity to fellow men of European letters. Although younger by several years, he grew up on the same street in Bukovina as the novelist-essayist Joseph Roth and the German poet Paul Celan, the latter also a Holocaust survivor. What a glittering literary address, an urban incubator of Jewish writing of the highest order. Three men of short stature, but giant Jews with outsized reputations, preordained to recall and retell.

Appelfeld was also linked to Celan in other ways. Along with Elie Wiesel and Imre Kertesz, Appelfeld was among the few writers who survived the Holocaust, wrote about the experience and didnt end his life by suicide. Each of the othersCelan, Primo Levi, Jerzy Kosinski, Piotr Rawicz, Jean Amery, Tadeusz Borowski and even Bruno Bettelheimdid. The only one to live and write in Israel, however, was Appelfeld. Perhaps his contributing role in the resurrection of his people enabled him to look beyond the nightmare and sidestep the trauma.

Over a decade ago, the literary scholar and Holocaust survivor Geoffrey Hartman invited me, Appelfeld and the American novelist E.L. Doctorow to speak at Yale University about the fictional and testimonial elements of Holocaust literature. (Yes, I did feel humbled and outmatched.) Appelfeld spoke about his use of fiction to conceal some truths while revealing perhaps far more profound emotional ones. Doctorow, cagily, approached the lectern and merely recited an inventory of personal artifacts the Nazis had confiscated from Jews as they first entered the concentration camps: shoes, eyeglasses, thimbles, coats, hats, wallets, scarves, prosthetics, teeth...

Simple possessions, emblematic of a lost world. Cruelly taken away and forever gone.

And the more precious: Hartman died last year; Doctorow, the year before. And now Appelfeld, gone, too.

Thane Rosenbaum is a novelist and the author of The Golems of Gotham, Second Hand Smoke, Elijah Visible and, most recently, How Sweet It Is!
The New York Times closed 2017 with a parting shot at Israel.

A Dec. 30 feature (Coming Out in Lebanon) in The Times identifies Lebanon as perhaps the one exception in a region hostile to its gay, lesbian and transgender citizens. The article opens, Throughout the Middle East, gay, lesbian and transgender people face formidable obstacles to living a life of openness and acceptance in conservative societies. But the newspaper insists, If there is one exception, it has been Lebanon.

The article completely ignores Israel, the one Middle Eastern country in which consensual same-sex romantic/sexual activity is legal, according to the World Economic Forum. By every conceivable measure, Israels LGBT citizens enjoy far greater rights and tolerance than their Lebanese counterparts.

Tel Aviv, which hosts an annual gay pride parade that attracts tens of thousands of international tourists, has been recognized as the best city in the world for LGBT individuals. In contrast, Lebanon last year marked its first gay pride week, but there was no parade through the streets. Gays have openly served in Israels military since 1993, and transgender soldiers are also welcome in the IDF.

A Pew Research Center survey unsurprisingly found that Israeli society is the most tolerant towards homosexuality in the Middle East. Forty percent of Israelis surveyed believe society should accept homosexuality; 47 percent disagree. In comparison, just 18 percent of Lebanese respondents favor acceptance of homosexuals, while 80 percent oppose it.

More striking is that Israel ranks an impressive seventh among all the countries in the world on the Gay Happiness Index. Lebanon ranks a dismal 99th. In response to communication from CAMERA (Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America), The Times corrected the story, and the amended piece now accurately refers to Lebanon as the most LGBT tolerant place in the Arab world, as opposed to the Middle East.

Theres no possible journalistic justification for identifying Lebanon as the Middle Easts most LGBT tolerant country while completely ignoring Israel. But the gross misrepresentation is completely consistent with the papers shoddy and biased Israel coverage. Examples from just the last several weeks abound.

For instance, last month, an editorial about President Donald Trumps Jerusalem announcement essentially ratified the 1948 cleansing of Jews from Jerusalems Old City and other formerly Jewish neighborhoods in the capital. East Jerusalem was exclusively Arab in 1967, stated The Times in its criticism of Jewish settlements in Jerusalem, ignoring that Jordan forcibly expelled the areas Jewish residents.

Last November, a Times travel piece whitewashed convicted terrorist Rasmea Odeh, who was found guilty of a 1969 supermarket bombing in Jerusalem in which two students were murdered, describing her merely as a controversial Palestinian activist.

Also last November, a Times piece about the new Louvre Abu Dhabi museums role as a soft power means to promote the capital as a tolerant global city completely ignored the recent Emirati ban on all Israeli symbols at the Grand Slam judo tournament. The paper reduced the government-imposed discrimination, which extended to the playing of the Hatikvah national anthem as medalist Tal Flicker stood at the podium, to the private refusal of a local judo athlete to shake an Israelis hand.

In its year-end campaign, The Times promises readers facts in abundance and urges them to give the gift of understanding, with on the ground reporting from more than 140 countries. When it comes to The Timess Israel coverage, readers should expect neither facts nor understanding.

Tamar Sternthal is director of the Israel office of the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA).

This column was originally published in the Hebrew-language edition of Israel Hayom.
We didnt need the publication of a new book filled with behind-the-scenes gossip to know that Donald Trump is an unconventional and, at times, inappropriate president. His use of Twitter provides many examples of this fact.

But amid another flurry of questionable tweets on Jan. 4, Trump also talked about threatening aid cuts to the Palestinian Authority (PA). Most of the mainstream media treated that idea as being as loopy as the latest exchange of insults with North Koreas dictator. But while its easy to mock Trumps social media habits, this one made sense and showed that, not for the first time, the presidents instinctual distrust of experts and the foreign policy establishment may have served him well.

The minuscule amount of the national budget that goes to foreign nations generally serves American interests. In the case of Israel, which is the largest recipient, almost all of the money it gets is spent in the U.S. Its also part of a strategic alliance in which America receives a great deal back in terms of intelligence and technology.

But not all foreign aid serves U.S. interests. The money sent to the Palestinians illustrates this painfully obvious conclusion. Yet despite the abundant proof that keeping it flowing is counterproductive, the so-called experts seeking to restrain Trump cant seem to grasp this fact.

Aid to the PA is seen as necessary to prop up the only available interlocutor for peace with Israel. Were also told that funding the PA is a necessary part of its security cooperation with Israel.

There are elements of truth to these assertions. If the PA were to collapse, that would likely lead to Israel having to reassert direct control of the West Bank rather than the current situation in which the overwhelming majority of Palestinians are governed by the corrupt Fatah party led by PA leader Mahmoud Abbas. But the PAs need for cash to prop up its kleptocracy is exactly why the U.S. should be using its financial leverage to make it clear to Abbas that a quarter century of his organization holding the U.S. hostage in this manner cant continue. Abbass threats of dissolving the PA are bluffs that should have been called long ago.

The same is true of security cooperation. Abbas relies on Israel to ensure his survival against the plots of his Islamist rivals as much, if not more, than the Israelis rely on the PA to help keep terror under control in the West Bank.

The PA also uses the hundreds of millions of dollars it gets from the U.S. to provide salaries and pensions to terrorists and their families. Congressional efforts to hinge U.S. aid to ending the PAs subsidies via the Taylor Force Act deserve the presidents support.

The same is true about the massive American contributions to UNRWA, the United Nations refugee agency that is solely devoted to the Palestinians. While UNRWA is credited with feeding and educating Palestinians, its main role is in maintaining the Arab refugees as a stateless people to perpetuate an ongoing threat to Israels existence. An equal number of Jews were forced to flee their homes in Arab and Muslim countries after 1948, but they were absorbed in Israel and the West. Yet UNRWA has been part of the effort to prevent Palestinian Arabs from being absorbed elsewhere, thereby allowing them to cling to their dream of destroying the Jewish state.

UNRWAs schools have courses and books that promote hatred of Israel and Jews. Just as outrageous is the fact that UNRWA employees are often involved with Palestinian terror organizations, and its schools and other facilities have been used to store Hamas weapons where they would presumably be safe from Israeli retaliation.

American governments have tolerated this situation because they felt there was no alternative. But whether or not it is because he isnt so versed in policy, and therefore is not burdened with the conventional wisdom that has made destructive programs seem reasonable, Trump appears to be unwilling to keep throwing good money after bad.

You dont have to be supporter of Trump or Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus government to understand that he is right to demand that if the Palestinians want U.S. money they must, at the very least, come back to the negotiating table and cease funding and fomenting terror.

It isnt so much a case of America First to demand that recipients of U.S. largesse cooperate with U.S. policy, as it is one of common sense. Whatever his other faults, Trumps insistence on this is neither foolish nor proof of his being unfit for office.

Jonathan S. Tobin is editor in chief of JNS. Follow him on Twitter at: @jonathans_tobin.
For the first time in nearly a decade, one dares to believe that the Islamist clerics who have ruled Iran since 1979 will not be in power by the time the 40th anniversary of their revolution rolls around in 2019.

The nationwide protests are a direct challenge to the legitimacy of the Islamic Republic, as evidenced in the slogans chanted by the demonstrators. They are also a rude antidote to the thinking of much of the Western establishment, which still clings to the notion that the reformers with whom they negotiated the 2015 nuclear deal are the key to Irans future prosperity.

We are, it seems, a long way from President Barack Obamas Nowruz message of 2009the first time an American leader referred officially to Iran as The Islamic Republic of... and the prelude to his abandonment of the Green Movement one year later. That is ironic, really, because the aspirational politics of the new protest wave in Iran have a distinctly Obama-esque flavor.

The vision being manifested on Irans streets would, in another context at least, sit very comfortably with the worldviews of American progressive Democrats or Europeans on the center-left. The protesters want state revenues to be spent on health, education and public infrastructure. Theyve had enough of corrupt, nepotistic government. They reject foreign wars outrightnot primarily out of sympathy for the victims of the regimes foreign adventures, but because the immediate demands of Hamas in Gaza or Hezbollah in Lebanon have nothing to do with their immediate demands.

Most of all, they are cynical about the promises of their rulers, regarding the categories of hardliners and moderates that are so routine in Western thinking as lazy constructs intended to paper over the evermore visible cracks in the Shia Islamic state and its official doctrine of velayat-e-faqihthe guardianship of the jurists, a concept of the late revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

What is at stake here, therefore, is an entire system of rule. Most tyrantsKhomeini in Iran, Lenin in Russia, Hugo Chavez in Venezuelabelieve themselves to be architects of new civilizations. By the time their revolutionary states start to rotrecent examples suggest their life span is anything from a decade to almost a centurythose founding fathers generally are no longer around to see the full consequences.

And yet, when you consider the near-term options for Iran, it seems far more likely that the mullahs and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps security establishment will push the country onto an even more illiberal, bellicose path than it is that these demonstrations will triumph. Vast numbers of Iraniansthose blurry figures we see whooping and cheering and chanting on the amateur video shared on social mediawish that the Islamic Republic would be buried. Sadly, that alone will not make it so.

Consider the experience of Irans close ally, Venezuela, whose people have made clear their rejection of the Bolivarian socialism instituted by Chavez in the heydays of high oil prices almost 20 years ago.

Chavezs successor, Nicholas Maduro, has imprisoned opposition leaders, attacked the free press, shut down the elected national assembly and replaced it with a tame impostor, and presided over a corruption-stained economic collapse that has resulted in malnutrition among the very same urban poor the Chavistas say they represent.

The depths of the misery that Venezuelans have become mired in were brutally illustrated on Christmas Eve in Caracas, when soldiers shot dead an 18-year-old pregnant woman in front of her husband. The couple had been standing in line with a larger group of people waiting to buy a scarce joint of porka traditional Venezuelan Christmas dishwho were ordered by the soldiers to disperse.

This is how the murderous regime treats the people, Venezuelan opposition lawmaker Delsa Solorzano tweeted after the shooting, expressing a sentiment that could have just as easily come from Iran. The sorrow of this man, whose wife and baby-to-be were killed by a bullet from the state, is Venezuelas sorrow.

Venezuela is instructive for another reasonlike Iran, it is another foreign crisis on which the Trump administration has completely reversed the policies of its predecessor. During the summer, President Donald Trump instituted stringent sanctions against several leading Venezuelan officials, accusing Maduro at the same time of running a dictatorship. Trump even suggested at one point that there might be a U.S. military option against Venezuelathough he later, probably wisely, backed off from that idea.

Venezuela will have reminded Trump and those around him that the overthrow of tyrannies involves much more than targeted sanctions and words of condemnationhowever encouraging those are. More broadly, recent history should also remind him that not every confrontation with tyranny ends in success; the final overthrow of communism in 1990 was preceded by bloody, tragic failuresSoviet troops marching into Budapest and Prague, the repression of the Solidarity labor union in Poland, to name but two such eventsin the decades before. Iran may be in the middle of a similar cycle of history, which is why the handful of world governments who regard the demise of the Islamic Republic as a desirable end need to stay the course, however long it may take.

Ben Cohen writes a weekly column for JNS on Jewish affairs and Middle Eastern politics. His writings have been published in Commentary, the New York Post, Haaretz, The Wall Street Journal and many other publications.
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Activists of fringe groups have threatened to prevent movie theatres in Madhya Pradesh from screening Padmaavat, a controversial film on the legendary Rajput queen, despite the Supreme Court striking down a state-imposed ban.

The Rajput Karni Sena and Maharana Sena have decided to intensify protests against the movie in the coming days. Sanjay Leela Bhansalis Padmaavat will release on January 25.

Maharana Sena leader Rajendra Singh Rana claimed that many Rajput women were willing to commit jauhar  a Hindu custom of mass self-immolation  at Chittorgarh fort in Rajasthan to protest against the movie. The film has hurt the Rajput communitys sentiments by distorting history, he said. Activists of the fringe group then submitted a memorandum demanding re-imposition of the ban to district authorities.

The Supreme Court struck down the ban imposed by four states  Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Haryana  on Thursday, leading to a fresh spate of protests.

Rajput Karni Sena state president Jeevan Singh Rathore said his organisation would hold statewide protests against the movie. We are not happy with the Supreme Court order. It is our right to protest against a movie that has hurt our sentiments by distorting history, he added.

Rathore also echoed the contention about Rajput women planning to committing jauhar at Chittorgarh fort. Their number will only increase in the coming days, and it will become difficult for the authorities to check the tsunami of protest, he said.

Meanwhile, chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said his government will seek legal opinion on the Supreme Court order before taking appropriate action. The document is currently being studied by the advocate general.

Rajput Karni Sena activists allegedly vandalised the St Pauls School in Ratlam district while elementary students were dancing to Ghoomar, a song from Padmaavat, on Monday. Following this, state home minister Bhupendra Singh reportedly said the song should be not be played anywhere in the state.

He retracted the statement after being criticised by opposition parties as well as social media users.
Confirming that his film Pad Man will get pushed to February 9 to avert a clash with Sanjay Leela Bhansalis Padmaavat, Akshay Kumar has told HT that he was left with no choice after Bhansali landed up to meet him today and pleaded for help.

I was rehearsing for my performance at an upcoming awards show when Sanjay Bhansali came to meet me today. He said he is going through a lot of stress and will be in big trouble if Padmaavat will clash with Pad Man. He requested for postponing Pad Man. I have worked with him in two films, and when someone you have worked with requests like this, it is very difficult to say no, says Akshay, whose films Rowdy Rathore (2012) and Gabbar Is Back (2015) were produced by Bhansali.

To make the announcement about the postponement, Akshay Kumar, Director R Balki and Bhansali are holding a press conference in Mumbai.

"Sanjay Leela Bhansali came to meet me while I was rehearsing for a show and requested me to push #Padmans release": Akshay Kumar #Padmavat  Sonal Kalra (@sonalkalra) January 19, 2018

Padmaavat, earlier titled Padmavati, was embroiled in a series of controversies ever since the shooting began. Whether it was death threats from Rajput Karni Sena or some groups raising a bounties on Bhansali and actor Deepika Padukones heads, the film kept making headlines. Originally slated for December 1, 2017, the film is finally releasing on January 25. Akshay Kumars Pad Man, based on menstrual hygiene and sanitation will now release on February 9. The film also stars Sonam Kapoor and Radhika Apte in main roles.

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Bollywood diva Bipasha Basu, who married TV actor Karan Singh Grover in April 2016, is tired of dismissing rumours about her pregnancy. On January 17, she took to Twitter to quell such a rumour and sounded irritated.

She wrote: Amused yet again. I kept a bag on my lap while getting into my car and certain media ppl started my pregnancy speculation again. Guys i am not pregnant. Kinda getting irritating. Stay calm.. it will happen only when we want it.

Amused yet again. I kept a bag on my lap while getting into my car and certain media ppl started my pregnancy speculation againGuys i am not pregnant .Kinda getting irritating Stay calm.. it will happen only when we want it  Bipasha Basu (@bipsluvurself) January 17, 2018

Apparently, this is the second time in her nearly two years of marriage that such a rumour has started doing the rounds. In March 2017 too, the gossip mills were abuzz with her pregnancy news.

The much-in-love couple: Bipasha Basu with her husband Karan Singh Grover. (IANS)

She had written then: The curiosity about me being pregnant...is sweet and a tad annoying. I am sorry to disappoint the ppl who are so eager for this to happen. And continued, We are not planning to have a baby right now.When we do plan..it will be joyous news which we will share with our well wishers then. She ended it by saying, The constant guessing game is tiring..as am more than straightforward person.So pls do not believe anything that gets written.Thank you all.

The curiosity about me being pregnant...is sweet and a tad annoying. I am sorry to disappoint the ppl who are so eager for this to happen.  Bipasha Basu (@bipsluvurself) March 28, 2017

We are not planning to have a baby right now.When we do plan..it will be joyous news which we will share with our well wishers then.  Bipasha Basu (@bipsluvurself) March 28, 2017

The constant guessing game is tiring..as am more than straightforward person.So pls do not believe anything that gets written.Thank you all.  Bipasha Basu (@bipsluvurself) March 28, 2017

Bipasha and Karan got married on April 30, 2016 in a private ceremony in Mumbai, which was a mix of Bengali and Punjabi rituals. For Bipasha, this was her first marriage, while for Karan it was his third one.

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Pyotor Svitalski: I am the last person here who should feel responsible to answer the question (video)

At the ceremony of publication of the agreement between the EU and the civil society of Armenia today, the EU Ambassador to Armenia, the head of the EU delegation Pyotor Svitalski, responding to the question of "A1 +," also spoke about Serzh Sargsyan's nomination of the RA President, the HHK (Republican Party of Armenia) candidate Armen Sargsyan and their further cooperation published. "This is your inner matter, discuss it among yourselves, take into consideration that I am the last person here who should feel responsible to answer the question. Address the question to those here who are citizens of the Republic of Armenia." After the signing of the Armenia-EU agreement, at the end of this month, the Armenian authorities should present a roadmap, but it seems that the RA authorities do not hurry. Will this disappoint the EU? Ambassador Svitalski was optimistic. "We have started a very constructive, good work, opened a new page, and the National Assembly's "Comprehensive and Extended Partnership Agreement" will enable us to start implementing the contract. We start this work. I hope this map will be mutually agreed. In summer we will start the working process." Pyotor Svitalski also spoke about the Armenian government's fight against corruption, noting that the EU had already given 20 million euros for that purpose, but that amount was not all. "We are with you, ready to help. I am glad that the Armenian authorities often pay attention to this issue. It is good that the issue of corruption is not a taboo in Armenia, and there are discussions on the problem. You have already created a great experience. If you approach the issue in a constructive way, I believe you will succeed. The public itself must create an atmosphere of intolerance, otherwise you will not achieve anything. "
Actors Shahana Gowami and Deepika Padukones friendship became the talk of the town when the two worked together in Break Ke Baad (2010). The two often spoke about being off-screen best friends, too. However, with their different work schedules, the actors, at times, lose touch with each other. But, Shahana says that the moment they meet, they pick it from where they had left.

The bond that initiated on the film sets has flourished for years now. And remembering the initial days of their friendship, Shahana says that she and Deepika instantly came close. We still continue to be good friends. Of course, our lives have taken different turns and its hard to be in touch with each others lives constantly, given the amount of travelling and business she has in her life, says the actor.

Shahana has been living in Paris for the last two years, where she is studying and pursuing theatre, and she shares that even her work schedule has been quite packed. Ive travelled a lot both for shooting of films and to attend film festivals. And since I live abroad now, communication has lessened. You cant be in touch with everyone physically also, says Shahana, who was last seen in Tu Hai Mera Sunday (2017).

Actors Shahana Goswami and Deepika Padukone worked in 2010 film Break Ke Baad.

However, the 31-year-old clarifies that she isnt someone who forgets her friends. She says, The nature of every friendship is different and I dont think they die due to the lack of communication. They die with the lack of the right kind of communication. And thankfully, I continue to have that right kind with Deepika. So whenever we meet, we have something to talk about.

Shahana blames the hectic schedules of actors, which includes promotions and shoots, as the primary reason for not being able to squeeze in time for a good social life. A lot depends on figuring out the common time and schedule, which is quite problematic, while planning to meet friends. For me, the quality of a friendship isnt determined by how often you speak to each other. Its more about how relevant your friendship continues to be at any point of time and how you connect with each other, she says

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Historians call Afghanistan the graveyard of empires. In future, they may label it the training ground of Indian statecraft. Avinash Paliwals book on Indian policy towards Afghanistan describes how, despite being dealt a poor hand by geography, military capacity and excessive caution, New Delhi has been able to remain a Great Game player for two decades. If the yardstick is ensuring a pro-Pakistani regime does not rule in Kabul, India can even claim success. However, Paliwals account makes it evident much of this success is due to Washingtons flip-flops, Pakistani bungling and simple luck, factors outside Indias control.

Before the United States overthrew the Taliban regime in 2001, India had a spotty Afghan record. It supported the brutal Soviet invasion, watched Pakistan nearly colonize Afghanistan and redeemed itself only by becoming a Northern Alliance patron. New Delhis pleasure at seeing the Taliban fall was eclipsed at the uneasy but robust Washington- Islamabad military axis that followed. India, having little to contribute to the military campaign in Afghanistan, found itself pushed to the margins.

India was slow to warm-up to the new Afghan president, Hamid Karzai. The uneasiness was mutual. Karzai was prone to thinking that Afghanistan was a victim of India-Pakistan rivalry. By 2004, however, New Delhi was fully committed to the Karzai regime, seeing him as the best bulwark against a return of the Taliban and, therefore, Pakistani influence. India rolled out its largest-ever foreign aid programme for Afghanistan. Yet Karzai shocked India in 2007 when he tried to entice the Taliban with an olive branch. It was a reminder that in a war zone, a determinedly civilian power like India was not a core player.

Things got worse. Indias influence in Afghanistan was reduced to a shadow in the period from 2009 to 2015 as US President Barack Obama moved towards full US military withdrawal. Part of that strategy was to invite the Taliban to Kabul and leave Afghanistan to Pakistans tender mercies.

Just when it looked like the Great Game was over for India, Osama Bin Laden was killed in Pakistan and the Islamic State arrived on the world stage. As the US soured on Pakistan, India saw its star rise again. That didnt stop Karzai from making another overture to the Taliban in 2015. As before, Pakistan-cum-Taliban rejected the offer.

Today, of course, the Trump administration has recommitted US military power to fight back the Taliban and put the Kabul regime in pole position again  much to Indias glee.

To remain relevant amid all these twists and turns, New Delhi has repeatedly diluted its policies. It moved from opposing any sort of Taliban reconciliation to supporting peace talks that limited Pakistans influence. By 2009, India was trying to reach out to the Taliban.

Author Avinash Paliwal (Courtesy HarperCollins)

Paliwal argues Pakistan is loathed, dreaded, hated but also ironically an awe-inspiring neighbour for most Afghans. While polls show India has the highest approval rating of any country among Afghans, they see India as a reluctant and indecisive regional power. Karzai may have disliked Pakistan but the ground reality meant he had to keep trying to strike a deal with them  a viewpoint adopted by his successor President Ashraf Ghani. Indias unwillingness to send troops and inability to provide weapons were a key reason Afghans often ignored its advice on reconciliation. More than anything else, it has been Pakistans curious rejection of repeated Afghan overtures that has kept India in play. Pakistan keeps handing Afghanistan to us on a silver platter, is the refrain among Indian officials.

Paliwal has taken pains to try and trace New Delhis policy back to specific groups of Indian policymakers, many of whom he has interviewed. He argues there are two distinct schools of Afghan policy. One school he calls conciliators who argue India should focus on whoever comes to power in Kabul without fear or favour. The other school he labels partisans, those who measure all things Afghan on the basis of their proximity to Pakistan. Both policies were often practised at the same time. It can also be argued these supposed schools were more tactical responses to shifting geopolitical circumstances.

Read more: Excerpt: My Enemys Enemy by Avinash Paliwal

The most striking lapse in the book is an understanding of Indias deep-seated opposition to the Taliban. Paliwal feels the Taliban regime sought to play a positive role in ending the IC-814 airline hijack. As has been recounted in Who Killed Daniel Pearl? and elsewhere, when the airliner landed in Kandahar the Tailbans actions were dictated by Pakistani intelligence officers. Indian ministers spoke of the jihad machine run jointly by Rawalpindi and the Taliban to sustain Kashmirs violence. India would be more sanguine about some elements of the Taliban coming to power in Kabul today, but the origins of New Delhis hostility are poorly delineated.

The wealth of information in the book will overwhelm some lay readers. But it is worthwhile to wade through its pages. There are many side stories: the Afghan factor in Indias role in Balochistan, how New Delhi encouraged Beijing to become more involved in Afghan peace-making and why Iran opposed India building a dam for the Afghans. Despite flaws, this is the definitive account of Indias contemporary Afghan policy  and a reminder of how hard it is to exert power even a few hundred miles from ones borders.
I first met Anita Rakesh, the widow of the great Hindi writer Mohan Rakesh, more than two years ago. I spent the evening drinking coffee and listening to her, fascinated, as she spoke about Rakesh. As I was leaving, she gave me a 164-page page book to read  Satrein Aur Satrein (Stray Thoughts)

It is the story of her life, written by her, first serialised in the Hindi magazine Sarika, and subsequently published as a book in 2002. I finished it in two sittings  it is a powerful, engrossing account of her life, from the time she came to Delhi with her family, one of thousands of Partition refugees, to her tumultuous years with Rakesh, his early death (he was just 46) and her painful struggle to rebuild her world.

(L-R) Anita Rakesh, daughter Purva and Mohan Rakesh (Photo: Antim Satrein / Radhakrishan Prakashan)

In his short life, Rakesh wrote memorable plays (Aadhe Adhure, Aashadh Ka Ek Din, Lehron Ke Rajhans) and novels (the best is undoubtedly the dark and compelling Andhere Band Kamre, set in Delhi in the early Fifties) along with dozens of highly acclaimed short stories. Indeed, he was part of the celebrated trio of writers  along with Rajendra Yadav and Kamleshwar  who influenced the direction and course of the Hindi short story

This weekend, at the Habitat Centre, as part of a series of literary evenings called Nashist, presented by Impresario Asia, there will be a dramatised reading from Satrein Aur Satrein by actor Kanika Aurora. I was very moved when I read the book, says Kanika, who grew up in Hong Kong, worked in a corporate job, but kept alive a keen interest in Hindi literature instilled in her by her family. It was an unexpected treat. Todays generation is oblivious to these great Hindi writers. For me, its sheer blasphemy if you havent heard of someone like Mohan Rakesh! Nashist aims to set this right by introducing audiences to towering figures in Hindustani literature  after this evening dedicated to Anita and Mohan Rakesh, Kanika will take up Amrita Pritam and Imrozs story for a future performance. But for this weekends performance, apart from Satrein Aur Satrein, Kanika will also read from Rakeshs diary.

Both the books paint a vivid picture of Anita and Rakeshs intense, passionate love story. He was the twice-married brilliant young literary star searching for love. He often told Anita, I want a home, I have got everything in my life, except a home Anita was not yet 21 when she ran away with the 38-year-old Rakesh. It wasnt easy for an inexperienced young girl her to understand a complex man like him.

But she had already showed her mettle in her gritty resolve to love Rakesh despite fierce family opposition. She grew up in a dysfunctional family where she  and her brother  were often the victims of parental violence. Her mother, who was obsessed with Hindi writers and followed their careers avidly, decided to cultivate Rakesh. She began corresponding with him and eventually succeeded in getting him to visit her when the family temporarily moved to Gwalior from Delhi.

It was during these visits that something sparked between Anita and Rakesh. It got to the point when Rakesh said her he loved her and Anita felt she had to tell her mother that she wanted to marry Rakesh. The response was savage. He wont even spit on you and you want to marry him! bit out her mother.

Anita was physically assaulted by her parents  something that continued to happen even when the family moved back to Delhi. But two people in love will find a way to meet each other  every morning Rakesh would travel from his home in Karol Bagh to Chawri Bazaar, where Anita was studying in a college, to spend some time with her. Eventually, a series of events culminated in her running away with Rakesh to Bombay. And that is when their life together really began, only to be cut short nine years later by Rakeshs untimely death.

A dramatised reading from Satrein Aur Satrein by actor Kanika Aurora (Photo courtesy: Kanika Aurora)

This year, Anita has followed up Satrein Aur Satrein with Antim Satrein, which once again gives readers glimpses of her life with Rakesh. Despite their love for each other, the marriage was turbulent. Perhaps it was the age gap; perhaps it was an emotional and intellectual gap. Rakesh was single-mindedly focused on his writing. In Antim Satrein, Anita writes about how, when he was working on a book, he would shut the door to his room and literally shut her out of his life. He would finish his book, but the banishment would take an emotional toll on Anita. She would then find solace with Rakeshs mother, whose loving care would sustain her in those lonely weeks.

When he was not working, Rakesh loved nothing more than to spend long convivial evenings with his group of friends  writers, theatre directors, poets, filmmakers. Hindi poet and critic Ashok Vajpeyi, who was a young man barely out of his teens when Rakesh was at the zenith of his popularity, remembers him as a warm, boisterous Punjabi who enjoyed life and had an uproarious laugh. But where did that leave Anita? She was so young, and she wanted his attention, says Kanika. And he wasnt always able to give her that attention. Mere paas time nahin hai, he would tell her.

Despite his impatience, when Anita was not with him, he would miss her, as would she. On one occasion, Anita decided to go to Shimla and get a B. Ed. Degree. But in no time, she abandoned the idea and came back to Delhi, unable to stay away from her husband and her home for so long. Even their fighting was a kind of love. Anita remembers asking Rakesh one day, Why is it like this Rakesh? Amma [his mother] says that when you fight, the love only increases.

And that is how the love story of Anita and Rakesh unfolded. You can see flashes of it in the weekend performance; you could also read the books and see it in its entirety.
Indias Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) said on Friday that Price Waterhouse can continue to service existing clients whose financial year started on Jan. 1 2018, but it refused to grant a stay on a two-year audit ban ordered by the market regulator.

The markets regulator, Securities and Exchange Board of India, last week barred Price Waterhouse from auditing listed companies in the country for two years, after a probe into a nearly decade-old accounting fraud case in a software services company that became Indias biggest corporate scandal.

It had however allowed Price Waterhouse to continue auditing books for the current fiscal year ending in March. Most Indian companies follow an April-March financial year.

Price Waterhouse had appealed to SAT to lift the SEBI ban, but the Tribunal only agreed to give it a reprieve to permit it to complete audits it had already taken on for the 2018 calendar year.
SoftBank Group Corps expected spin-off of its Japanese telecoms business will lure investors seeking exposure to a solid tech name, but the prospect of tougher competition in a mature industry may turn off those chasing higher returns.

SoftBank shares have risen about 3% this week since it said it was considering what would be the largest IPO by a Japanese company in nearly two decades, a deal that would accelerate the groups transformation into one of the worlds biggest tech investors.

The company aims to sell about 30% of SoftBank Corp, Japans No. 3 wireless carrier, for about 2 trillion yen ($18 billion), the Nikkei newspaper reported. The proceeds would be invested in growth assets such as foreign information technology companies.

While it could provide founder Masayoshi Sons global investment juggernaut with a cash boost, the domestic phone business is facing a concerted attempt by regulators to drive down telco fees and promote new entrants, threatening to crimp profits.

From upstart to incumbent

SoftBank no longer attracts the sympathy of regulators as the young upstart that broke up the telecoms duopoly of NTT DoCoMo Inc and KDDI Corp with lower prices and an initial, exclusive deal to carry Apple Incs iPhone.

The big three wireless firms are earning too much. We want to create a fourth pole, a senior Japanese telecommunications ministry official said on condition of anonymity last month.

Japanese regulators are backing new telecoms entrants such as Rakuten Inc, an e-commerce, streaming and fintech firm that now aims to become the countrys fourth major wireless carrier.

Other government measures to promote competition include the removal of the sim lock from handsets, forcing carriers to alert users when contracts are up for renegotiation, and cracking down on cut-price handset deals that smaller players cannot compete with.

We want to create an environment (for Rakuten) that is as good as or better than in eMobiles time, the official said, a reference to a successful 2007 attempt by upstart eMobile to enter the wireless market offering pocket wifi devices. eMobile gained four million subscribers before SoftBank bought it in 2013.

SoftBank could be hedging the risk of more competition by considering an initial public offering, CLSA analyst Oliver Matthew said in note to clients.

Many analysts have questioned Rakutens proposals.

Jefferies analyst Atul Goyal said the online retailers current spending plans did not appear to pose an immediate threat to incumbents, and noted the high costs of building new telecoms networks.

The entry of an aggressive new player could even tip the whole Japanese telecoms market away from growth, Sanford C Bernstein analyst Chris Lane said in a note to clients.

Hunt for cash

SoftBank has long relied on its domestic telecoms business, which makes up a third of overall sales but two-thirds of profits, as a stable source of cash that can be diverted to its growing number of investments around the world.

A listing would mean a significant cash injection for group CEO Masayoshi Sons vision of a future driven by artificial intelligence, robotics and interconnected devices.

It would also ease the groups financial burden following its investments in tech firms such as Uber and the collapse of talks to merge US wireless unit Sprint Corp with T-Mobile US Inc.

SoftBanks domestic investment needs also are mounting as it looks to the start of 5G services in the mature Japanese market, a senior SoftBank executive said last May.

There are concerns over whether we will be able to continue to invest as we have up until now, the executive said at the time.

SoftBank previously raised funds through the reluctant sale of part of its stake in Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, and by bringing in outside investors such as Saudi Arabia to set up the $93 billion Vision Fund, the worlds largest private equity fund.

Regardless of SoftBanks motives, an IPO would create a clear division for investors between steady returns from the telecoms business and Masayoshi Sons more risky tech ventures, a person with direct knowledge of the matter said.
Almost a quarter century ago, a memoir titled Prozac Nation swept through the United States, referring to the antidepressant pill that helped beat the blues. Now, we are in an age of a global bipolar disorder, with the principal cause of that malady being the 45th President of the United States, Donald J Trump.

Its a year since Trump was inaugurated and became the latest occupant of the Oval Office. In that period, or what appears like an aeon, he has divided the world into those that are tormented by him and those that tolerate him.

His comments on the origin nations of some immigrants have placed him into yet another hole, that, almost certainly he will dig deeper into in the second year of his term. The complaints from the African Union to El Salvador to Haiti are adding to the United Nations roster of Trump-phobia. His predecessor Barack Obama was often  and often justifiably  accused of leading from behind. Trump is leading with affront.

The unfortunate consequence of this strategy based on weaponised Twitter is that even when Trump is supporting the right cause, few want to be seen to be in agreement. Take, for instance, his administrations approach to the protests in Iran, which was worth backing, but many backed away from that, not wanting to be on any Trump bandwagon. That trend has exhibited itself with North Koreas missile rattling, Chinas use of trade and investment as a policy battering ram, and even the partial defunding of the bankrolling of Pakistans bad behaviour.

In fact, the US closest allies are keeping their distance. From Canada suing America in the WTO over lumber barriers, to London turning into a no-go zone for him, he has dug a global hole for America, with or without a prefixed expletive.

India, however, is within the small group of countries that wont be as offended by Washington. From focusing on the Indo-Pacific, to choking Islamabad, there is much for New Delhi to welcome, even as a looming H-1B logjam is on the backburner, at least for now.

So far, though, India has played it smart. Despite the chumminess on the surface between Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, it hasnt booked a passage on the Trump train. The vote against moving the capital of Israel to Jerusalem was evidence of this unwillingness to be railroaded by Washington. That may well be the sane recourse; not to unhinge itself from the traditional path of caution, even if the trajectory of closer cooperation with the US is clear.

That makes India an exception; unlike feelings in the capitals of most countries, where Trumps version of going on the offensive is just that.

This has been a time of strong medicine for the world, prescribed by Trump, and often, dispensed as bitter pills. And thats enough to further the mood swings in the age of Trumphalism.

Anirudh Bhattacharyya is a Toronto-based commentator on American affairs

The views expressed are personal
Sixty government school teachers in Uttarakhand have refused to accept the promotions offered to them in December 2016. Reason: they will have to move out of their respective comfort zones and take up mandatory transfer in the hill areas.

All such teachers, including headmasters of primary and middle schools as well as principals of government inter colleges, now wont be considered for promotion for next three years, a senior education department official said Friday.

The fresh crisis has once again put focus on the shoddy state of affairs plaguing the education system in the mountain state where teachers have often refused to take up posting in the hill areas.

The then Congress government had in December 2016 promoted 575 teachers. The promotions, of course meant, better pay structure and additional perks. The promotions, however, came with a rider. Those accepting promotions would also have to take transfer.

As per the then government order, teachers who were posted in remote hilly areas were transferred to plain areas in state and vice versa. However, some of the teachers in plain areas refused to accept the promotions and serve in the hills.

There are 60 such teachers who have not accepted the promotions. We cannot force them to accept it. We can only exclude them from the promotion system for next three years, said RK Kunwar, director, school education department.

Due to such teachers refusing the promotion, those who were to get postings in their place cant do so. An official in the know of things said that the teachers have the right to deny ad hoc promotions. However, they cannot do so, if the promotion comes via Dynamic Assured Career Progression (DACP) programme, he said, putting the blame on the education department for taking up the promotions through DACP.

After a consultation with chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat, school education minister Arvind Pandey had given such teachers a weeks time (till Saturday) to join their new posting.

The government had during the winter session at Gairsain in December last year passed Uttarakhand Annual Transfer Act, which was also approved by the Governor. Now, rules will be framed as per the need of the respective departments. However, the act mandates that employees or teachers who have served in the accessible areas for more than four years will have to serve in the remote areas too.
In a big boost to tourism, the Centre on Friday included Uttarakhand in its regional air connectivity scheme making air travel to the region affordable for the budget tourist.

The regional connectivity scheme will be operational within the next six months time, chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat said, referring to Udan, the low cost flying scheme for the low income group people.

The ministry of civil aviation has given its approval for the Dehradun-Pantnagar air service. The air service will be operational by February, the CM said, adding that Pithoragarh, Almora, Srinagar, Gauchar and Lansdown airports would be linked with Udan, which would start from the Hindon air force base in Ghaziabad.

Budget tourists would be able to fly to the tourist spots by paying cheap air fares, giving a substantial boost to tourism, additional chief secretary Om Prakash had said. Subsidised air fares will be in the range of Rs 1,400 to Rs 2,000 per person for fixed wing aircraft and Rs 3,000 to Rs 500 per person for helicopter. Heritage Aviation and Deccan Airlines have already approached with offers.

Prakash said affordable regional flights would ensure a quick and hassle free air journey for tourists. They will be spared of the time consuming and tiresome journey by hill roads and also of harassment by taxi operators who fleece customers.

Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board joint director VS Chauhan had listed yet another advantage of low cost flights operating in the state. Such flights would make remote and lesser known destinations easily accessible to tourists, he had said.
In what is being viewed as an attempt to go solo, Kishore Upadhyay, former state Congress president, has been holding a series of programs of late on a variety of issues, away from the Congress headquarters.

On Friday, Upadhyay held Uttarakhand Vimarsh, a consultation with experts on how to save the hill state.

Ever since the partys - and his own - crushing defeat in the 2017 assembly polls, observers say that Upadhyay has been trying to engage in parallel politics by way of raising issues independently, away from the party line.

Upadhyay, however, asserted that such programs had nothing to do with his being a Congressman and that it was an attempt to highlight social issues close to my heart which successive governments have failed to address over the past 17 years of Uttarakhands formation.

I was involved in the statehood formation movement (during the 1990s) so Im really pained at the way things have turned out in Uttarakhand since then. Programs such as these are a medium to scout for ideas and suggestions through which we can help resuscitate the states development, Upadhyay said, refuting rumors that he was trying to establish a parallel identity.

At the daylong consultation, a number of activists, intellectuals and political leaders gathered to brainstorm on pertinent issues facing the state including migration, lack of basic facilities in the hills, issue of making Gairsain (a small town in Chamoli district) the permanent state capital among others.

Social activist Geeta Gairola pointed out how the hill folks have gathered and disengaged several times over the past two decades. What we really need is to unite and fight as a single entity and fight consistently to force the government to sit up and take notice of our demands.

Entrepreneur Jaideep Saklani, whose family was ousted from Tehri due to the construction of Tehri Dam, said, Migration (from the hills) is a natural process, which is bound to happen. Politicians have turned Gairsain into a picnic spot where they go to hold assembly session once a year but theres no serious focus on developing the hills.

B P Maithani, president of RTI Club Uttarakhand, pointed out how chakbandi or consolidation of small agricultural land holdings in the hilly areas was important to ensure welfare of the farmers.
Delhis air quality breached severe mark once again on Friday morning as levels of particulate matter shot up because of low wind speed and high moisture. The capital also saw thick fog in the morning that affected flight schedule. By 10.30am, 25 flights had been cancelled and over 150 were delayed.

The Air Quality Index (AQI)  a measure of pollutants in the air  touched 402 at around 8.30am. On the AQI scale of scale of 0  500, a value between 300 and 400 indicates very poor pollution and levels beyond 400 indicate severe pollution.

This is the third time in January 2018 that pollution level entered the severe category. While in January 2017 there was not a single day in which air pollution was severe, in January 2016 Delhi faced seven such days.

According to the Central Pollution Control Board data, the level of both PM10 and PM2.5  the two dominant pollutants in Delhis air  have shot up close to emergency levels.

The concentration of PM10 was 473ug/m3 at 8am on Friday, which is close to the emergency level of 500. The concentration of ultrafine particles PM2.5 was at 273ug/m3, which is also close to the emergency mark of 300.

According to the Graded Response Action Plan emergency measures  such as shutting down of schools, ban on construction activities and odd-even road rationing  should be rolled out if the air quality remains in the severe zone for at least 48 hours.

Low wind speed and high moisture levels are to be blamed for this. While moisture is responsible for trapping the pollutants that are being locally emitted, the low velocity winds cannot disperse them. Pollutants are accumulating in the air as a result of which air quality is deteriorating, said D Saha head of the air quality laboratory of CPCB.

This also resulted in dense fog in the national capital. While visibility at Safdarjung dropped to around 200m at 8.30am, at Palam it was less than 50m.

The minimum temperature was at 7.4 degrees Celsius on Friday. On Thursday, Met officials said a western disturbance is approaching and that could trigger rain and thunderstorm on Tuesday.

The rain could bring down the mercury by a few degrees. If the disturbance results in snowfall in the hills then there are chances that the chill could return, a senior Met official said.

(With PTI inputs)
Serzh Sargsyan meets with RPA nominee for Presidency Armen Sargsyan (video)

Today, Serzh Sargsyan met with Armen Sargsyan who was named as RPA candidate for presidency at the January 18 sitting of the Executive Board of the HHK (Republican Party of Armenia). On behalf of the majority political force in the National Assembly, Serzh Sargsyan once again presented his vision of the qualitative characteristics of the future President and offered Armen Sargsyan to accept the proposal of being named as a candidate for President of the Republic of Armenia as he met the proposed criteria. Serzh Sargsyan considered it desirable that the fourth President of the Republic of Armenia be elected on the basis of broad parliamentary consensus, and in this respect, he highlighted the meetings of the presidential candidate nominated by the HHK with the coalition partners of the Republican Party and other political forces represented in Parliament. Dear Mr. Sargsyan, As you may know, we have entered a new political cycle. The process of constitutional amendments is nearing completion; we are in the final stage and, of course, the term of office of the President of the Republic of Armenia is coming to an end. Under these circumstances, we must elect a new President - the fourth President of the Republic of Armenia - and these elections should be held in the National Assembly, which means naming the Head of State who must ensure adherence to the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia. The Constitution sets forth criteria and requirements for the President of the Republic, and I would single out the requirement of impartiality. Of course, I have my own ideas about the qualities of the new President of the Republic of Armenia and I have formulated them several times. I think that the fourth President of the Republic of Armenia should be a well-established and vibrant personality, politically prepared and trained, but not politicized. He should be able to maintain the dialogue between different political forces, as well as to ease tensions between different layers of society, if necessary. He must be able to represent the Republic of Armenia abroad in a dignified manner, understand the Diaspora and have the ability to mobilize the Armenians around the globe. Yesterday, we touched upon this question at the meeting of the Executive Board of the Republican Party of Armenia. Considering your abilities and qualifications, I suggested nominating you as the fourth presidential candidate of the Republic of Armenia. You are a well-known scientist, you have been Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia, you have a rich diplomatic experience and that is why we have seriously discussed your candidacy. I am grateful to my colleagues who unanimously backed my proposal. Indeed, it is very much desirable that the fourth President of the Republic of Armenia be elected with broad parliamentary consensus. And taking this into consideration, I think that it would be right for you to meet with our coalition partner, the Dashnaktsutyun, the political forces represented in parliament - Tsarukyan and Yelq factions - and make a decision in the foreseeable future since the presidential election is due to be held in early March. We want the election to be completed in a single round so that at the beginning of March we might have the fourth president of the Republic of Armenia. I would like to have your opinion about the proposal, President Sargsyan said. Armen Sargsyan thanked President Serzh Sargsyan and the Republican Party for the high confidence shown to him. Considering it a great honor for him, Armen Sargsyan assured that if he decides to accept the proposal after meeting with the political forces and the public at large, he will try to live up to the task and the confidence vested in him. Mr. President, First of all, let me express my deepest gratitude to you and the Republican Party for this high trust. I think that Armenia is in fact entering a new era - the period of anticipated big changes  in quest of a more democratic country, a parliamentary republic. In this respect of course, your proposal implies double responsibility and a great honor for me. As you said, it is very important that before making a decision, I meet different political forces and parties both inside and outside the National Assembly. I would also like to meet with representatives of scientific, intellectual, social, charitable organizations, business circles and the public at large. I would certainly like to meet with the leadership of the Republic of Artsakh and representatives of the Armenian Diaspora - organizations or individuals - and then make up my mind. Mr. President, in any case, it is a great honor for me to have you proposal. Thank you once again for confidence. And if I make a decision after these meetings, I will try to honor the duties of the President of the Republic of Armenia and live up to the trust I heard from you, your fellow party friends, and I hope to hear from other citizens and fellow countrymen. Thank you, Mr. President. Please allow me some time to make a final decision, Armen Sargsyan said.
The Election Commission has recommended the disqualification of a group of Aam Aadmi Party legislators for allegedly holding an office of profit, sources said on Friday, a move that may lead to their removal from the Delhi assembly.

The poll panel, however, said the recommendation on the 20 legislators was subjudice, refusing to comment on what it conveyed to President Ram Nath Kovind.

The President is bound to go by the recommendation of the EC. In cases where petitions are made seeking disqualification of lawmakers, the President sends a reference to the poll panel, which decides on the case by sending back its opinion.

In the present case, the petition was made to disqualify 21 MLAs, but one of them  Jarnail Singh  had resigned last year to contest the Punjab elections.

AAP leader Ashutosh lashed out at the poll panel, saying the EC had never touched so low ever.

The EC should not be the letter box of the PMO. But that is the reality today, tweeted the journalist-turned-politician.

It is a recommendation made without hearing the arguments of MLAs on the false allegation of office of profit, said Nagendar Sharma, media advisor to chief minister Arvind Kejriwal.

AAP spokesperson Saurabh Bhardwaj said: Till now, there is no confirmation on the ECs recommendation. Whatever is being run is on the basis of sources. The case is about office-of-profit and none of our MLAs are taking any government benefits or even the salary.

The BJP welcomed the decision and demanded that Kejriwal should quit owing moral responsibility on the issue.

The possible disqualifications of the 20 MLAs  including Delhis transport minister Kailash Gahlot  will not pose an immediate threat to the Kejriwal government, which has 65 legislators including these people in the 70-member House. But the setback is likely to demoralise the party after a string of election losses.

Should the MLAs be disqualified and by-elections called, it will again test the partys grip on the national capital. A poor showing will also weaken Kejriwals hold over the Delhi assembly.

In June last year, the poll panel had said the AAP MLAs did hold de facto the office of parliamentary secretaries. The party reacted then by saying it respected the ruling and hinted that it might challenge it in court.

A parliamentary secretary assists a minister, and the office comes with perks as well as a measure of political influence. Often MLAs who cant be accommodated in the government are appointed to the post.

The controversy dates back to the weeks after the party won a majority in the Delhi assembly elections and appointed the lawmakers as parliament secretaries in March, 2015.

As protests over the appointments grew, the Kejriwal government sought to shield the MLAs by excluding the post of parliamentary secretary from the ambit of office of profit laws.

But former President Pranab Mukherjee refused to approve it, and referred a private petition in the matter to the Election Commission. Separately, reacting to another private petition, the Delhi high court struck down the posts of parliament secretary in September, 2015.

After this, the MLAs petitioned the Election Commission that it shouldnt entertain the office of profit case against them because the Delhi high court had already set aside their appointment as parliamentary secretaries.

List of 20 AAP MLAs facing disqualification S.No. MLA Constituency Ministry/Department 1 Adarsh Shastri Dwarka I&T 2 Alka Lamba Chandni Chowk Tourism 3 Anil Vajpayee Gandhi Nagar Health 4 Avtar Singh Kalkaji Gurdwara elections 5 Kailash Gehilot Najafgarg Law 6 Madan Lal Kasurba Nagar Vigilance 7 Manoj Kumar Kondli Food and Civil Supplies 8 Naresh Yadav Mehrauli Labour 9 Nitin Tyagi Laxmi Nagar Women and Child and Social Welfare 10 Praveen Kumar Jangpura Education 11 Rajesh Gupta Wazirpur Health 12 Rajesh Rishi Janakpuri Health 13 Sanjeev Jha Burari Transport 14 Sarita Singh Rohtas Nagar Employment 15 Som Dutt Sadar Bazar Industries 16 Sharad Kumar Narela Revenue Ministry 17 Shiv Charan Goel Moti Nagar finance 18 Sukhbir Singh Mundka Languages & Welfare of SC/ST/OBC 19 Vijendar Garg Rajinder Nagar PWD 20 Jarnail Singh Tilak Nagar Development (With agency inputs)
If the space we inhabit is contested or divided, how do we change its character? How does one make art so that it breathes politics and forces the viewer to return the gesture -- with an act of seeing? At the Art Heritage gallery this weekend, a group show of nine artists, mostly from Kerala, offer diverse perspectives.

Gigi Scaria, GR Iranna, Baiju Parthan, Jyothi Basu, KP Reji, NN Rimzon, Pooja Iranna, Sumedh Rajendran and TV Santhoshs works form the second edition of the exhibition Negotiation in Contested Space  Part 1. Conceptualised by Renuka Sawhney, a writer who works in New York, it was first held in Mumbai in 2017. Veteran stage and costume designer and director, Art Heritage, Amal Allana has curated it for the Delhi edition.

As in India today, Contested Space is about the different pulls that are dividing up the space or the ground we stand on, says Allana while pointing out to an artwork that illustrates this. KP Rejis Moving the Mountain is a startling image of what seems to be dead bodies wrapped in cloths of bright yellow hoisted atop a vehicle with no exit  no door or window  pulled from both sides by hooks.

KP Rejis Moving the Mountain (Photo courtesy: KP Reji)

Its almost as if an entire culture is being moved or trundled away by an armoured vehicle. The image does not identify the source of the threat but signifies that by the introduction of the curled hook, says Allana.

In another of Rejis works, Fishes Under the Broken Bridge, children are seen at various stages of play in a semi-rural setting framed by coconut palms and hovering seagulls, while in the backdrop a plane crashes seemingly out of nowhere and men, unperturbed, keep standing on a bridge holding up their rods waiting for fish. The picture is rife with a sense of unease  the fishing rods seen from a particular angle seem like raised swords just before a strike.

Gigi Scaria, Under the Water (Photo courtesy: Gigi Scaria)

Pooja Iranna, Gates to yet another Spectacular World (Photo courtesy: Pooja Iranna)

The theme of imminent danger, catastrophe or sudden collapse runs through all the art-works at the exhibition. Pooja Irannas Gates to Yet Another Spectacular World is an installation built with staple pins. As Sawhney writes in the catalogue, she uses the conformity and mundaneness of her material to create a double illusion. Stacked together, individual staples create a formidable sculpture or structure. But should one staple fall out or move out of place, the whole edifice may come apart. This mirrors the tentativeness and the instability of existence, adds Allana.

Sumedh Rajendrans mixed media collage on grey, robotic workers marching to office as if they were soldiers, add another strand  that of precarity of urban existence  to the exhibition. Some of them are torso-less and headless and yet they seem to move automaton-like forward; to stop or pause in such circumstances would be unthinkable. The work alludes to the desperate and daily departure of human beings to fixed spaces such as the office, explains Allana.

GR Irannas (untitled) work portraying a bundle of old journals with a flower sprouting from a corner is the only image of promise and expectation in this bleak, though striking exhibition. The paper may seem used and discarded but out of the Book of Knowledge springs hope, says Allana. And what can be more symbolic than that?

Details: Till March 2, Art Heritage, 205, Tansen Marg, Triveni Kala Sangam. 11 am-7 pm, Sundays closed. Nearest metro station: Mandi House
F Lalmalsawma, a sub-divisional agriculture officer from Mizoram,seemed out of place sharing the stage with around 12 children at the Indian Council of Children Welfare.

He was also the only one holding a portrait  one of his 17-year-old son. His son, F Lalchhandama, had lost his life while trying to save his friend from drowning in a river.

Lalmalsawma, who never once betrayed his emotions, said that once while they were watching a martyr come home on TV, his son had asked him how he would react if he ever died.

I had told him then that if he lost his life for the country, or helping a friend or saving anyone, I would not cry. I would salute him, said the stoic-faced father.

A total of 18 such salute-worthy children  seven girls and 11 boys  have been selected for the National Bravery Awards this year. They were invited to an event at Indian Council for Child Welfare and will receive their awards from the Prime Minister on the eve of the Republic Day. Three of these children are being awarded posthumously.

Nazia, an 18-year-old aspiring IAS officer from Agra, has been awarded the highest prize, the Bharat Award of 50,000, for collecting evidence against and reporting a gambling and betting ring operating out of a house next to hers, despite threats to the lives of her family.

She is not new to such bravery awards. In 2015, when she was in Class 10, she saw two men abduct a young girl on their motorcycle from the Sadarbhatti area.

I chased them, and tried knocking one off his bike by grabbing his collar. I caught on to the girls frock and never let go. Finally I was able to pull her off. I even dropped her home. I got the Rani Laxmibai Bravery Award from our state government. The people in my locality come to me when they have a problem. Even with the gambling and betting racket, others from the locality had come and asked me to help, said the woman now pursuing a BA degree.

The Geeta Chopra Award and Sanjay Chopra Award, both worth 40,000 each, are being awarded to Karnatakas Netravati M Chavan posthumously, for saving a drowning 10-year-old and Karanbeer Singh, who saved 15 children from his school bus that had toppled into an open drain, respectively.

F Lalmalsawma, father of F Lalchhandama, had lost his life while trying to save his friend from drowning in a river. (Mohd Zakir/HT PHOTO)

Three children  14-year-old Betshwajohn Peinlang from Meghalaya, seven-year-old Mamata Dalai from Odisha, and 13-year-old Sebastian Vincent from Kerala  will get the Bapu Gadhianvi Award worth 25,000. While Betshwajohn had saved his younger sibling from a burning hut, Mamata had saved her older sister from the jaws of a crocodile. Vincent had rescued a friend who had been stuck under his overturned bicycle on a railway track with a train headed towards them.

The others, including Lalchhandama, will receive a 20,000 prize. However, their stories are no less inspiring. Laxmi Yadav, when she was 15, foiled the plans of three men who had abducted her with the intention of sexually assaulting her. She pushed them away, and escaped to a police station. The three men were arrested.

Girls should not be scared. If we are harassed, we need to raise the loudest voices. If we keep silent, they (the perpetrators) will feel emboldened, she said.

Each one of the children is testament to the fact that age is just a number, and courage can come in all sizes. In split second decisions, each one chose fight over flight.

I was not sacred, even when I saw the train coming towards me. I was just concentrating on saving my friend. It is only now, when I think back, I realise how scary it all was, said Sebastian.

Nazia, an 18-year-old aspiring IAS officer from Agra, has been awarded the highest prize, the Bharat Award of 50,000, for collecting evidence against and reporting a gambling and betting ring operating out of a house next to hers, despite threats to the lives of her family. (Mohd Zakir/HT PHOTO)
On January 4, for the first time in 45 years, a Kashmiri feature film shot and produced entirely in the Valley was released in cinemas outside Kashmir. Directed by actor and filmmaker, Hussein Khan, the plot of Kashmir Daily explores the themes of drug addiction and unemployment through the eyes of an investigative reporter, played by Mir Sarwar. Most of the film has been shot in Srinagar with a cast of 15 local actors. It released at PVR Sangam in South Delhi and Mumbais Infiniti Malad PVR, other than in smaller cities such as Udaipur in Rajasthan. In the bigger metropolises, it was part of a platform for new filmmakers in which once the movie is screened, its longevity at the theatre is decided by demand from moviegoers. But it got a full theatrical release in Jammu on January 19.

Unfortunately, film aficionados in Kashmir wont be able to watch it since no cinema in the Valley has been functional for nearly two decades. In light of the spike in militancy and separatist violence in the region in the 1990s, the curtain came down on 19 cinemas in Kashmir, including nine in Srinagar. The precincts of many other cinemas have today turned into hospitals or flour mills. In 1999, three of them  Regal, Neelam and Broadway  reopened. But in September 1999, a grenade attack at Regal left one moviegoer killed and several injured.

The audience in the Valley has been starved of home-grown cinema all these years. Although Kashmir has provided the backdrop to many Bollywood blockbusters, cinema lovers in the Valley have to rely on pirated DVDs to watch films shot in the states picturesque locations. The release of Kashmir Daily could be a step towards nurturing Kashmirs extinct filmmaking industry. With luck, it will pave the way for movies with bigger budgets, better production values and layered storylines. A greater number of local productions may also help break the stereotypical portrayal of Kashmiris in films. The magic of cinema may not immediately return to the Valley, but this at least could be seen as some sort of a start.
As Britain appoints the worlds first ever minister for loneliness, a case can be made for similar focus on the issue everywhere else in the world. Loneliness has become almost the defining emotion of our times. As the world has become more connected, it has also created islands out of human beings; who have become used to a life of technologically-mediated connectedness that is not quite the sort of interpersonal connection that has defined humanity so far. This is as much a health concern as a sociological one. Loneliness has been known to cause depression, social isolation and even trigger anti-social behaviour.

It has been estimated that there are more than nine million people in Britain who always or often feel lonely. The most vulnerable groups identified are the elderly, 17 to 25-year-olds, migrants and refugees. In India, the World Health Organization in 2017 reported that 4.5% of the total population suffered from depressive disorders. The National Sample Survey Office had indicated in 2004 that 1.23 million men and 3.68 million women in India were living alone and suffered from loneliness. There is evidence to suggest that the numbers have only increased in the ensuing years.

In both urban and rural settings, families are becoming nuclear, senior citizens are living alone, more and more young people are migrating from homes for work, and living alone has become the new normal. In such a situation, focusing on mental health must become a government priority. There is still some social stigma associated with mental disorders, and seeking help for issues of depression, isolation and loneliness is still considered taboo. Awareness programmes and a government thrust on mental health will go a long way in changing that mindset and improving the life of millions of citizens. India would do well to emulate Britains example and take the issue of loneliness seriously enough to include it in its healthcare framework.
The India Meteorological Departments (IMD) draft climate summary says that 2017 was the fourth warmest year on trot after 2016, 2015, and 2014. The average temperature across the country last year was 0.71 degrees C above the 1971-2001 average, the summary said.

The post-monsoon period from October to December in 2017 was the third warmest since 1901, according to data from the department.

Hottest Years 2016: (0.87 C above the 1971-2000 average) 2009 (0.85) 2010 (0.82) 2017 (0.71) 2015 (0.59) 2006(0.56) 2002(0.45) 2007 (0.417) 2014(0.415) 1998(0.41)

The IMD considers January and February as winter months because temperatures in these two months have been historically cooler, according to D S Pai, a scientist at IMD.

In popular perception, however, winter starts from November and lasts till February.

Warming of temperatures has been a global phenomenon, with the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) on Thursday declaring 2017 as one of the three hottest years on record.

2016 still holds the global record, whilst 2017 was the warmest year without an El Nino, which can boost global annual temperatures, the world body said.

The year 2016 remains the hottest year on record , with temperatures 1.2 degrees Celsius above preindustrial era. Global average temperatures in 2017 and 2015 were both 1.1degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.The two years are virtually indistinguishable because the difference is less than one hundredth of a degree, which is less than the statistical margin of error, WMO said.

However, according to meteorologists, in the absence of an El Nino, an unusual warming of Pacific Ocean surface that contributes to warmer temperatures, 2017 is the hottest year on record.

The greatest departures in temperatures in 2017 were in the January-February period. The trend is likely to continue this winter, as the IMD says the weather would be warmer than usual.

Our analysis of 117 years of temperature data clearly indicates rapid warming of winter months. In 2017, the average temperature in winter was close to three degrees higher than the baseline of 1900-1930, Chandra Bhushan, deputy director general of Centre for Science and Environment, said.

Literature tells us that such rapid temperature rise has huge implications on our environment, especially agriculture and water. But we are neither studying nor preparing for these impacts, he stressed.

The IMD had forecast that the November-February months will be less colder in most states of India, with maximum temperatures to be higher by almost one degree Celsius.

In India, yearly mean temperatures rose by 0.66 degrees Celsius every hundred years during 1901-2017, with maximum temperatures rising faster than the minimum.
Family members of a 55-year-old man, who died in a private hospital in the city, have accused the hospital authorities of medical negligence. A complaint has been filed at Palam Vihar police station.

Ramphal, a resident of Pataudi, was suffering from diarrhoea and was admitted to the hospital, his son Sukhinder told the police.

My father was admitted to a private hospital in Palam Vihar on Thursday around 12pm. The doctors asked us to leave and assured us that they will take good care of him, Sukhinder said.

In the complaint, he alleged that his father died because of medical negligence and action should be initiated against the doctors.

Read I Gurgaon: Six doctors of Artemis hospital booked for medical negligence

The Palam Vihar Police has lodged the case under section 304 A (causing death by negligence) and 34 (act done by several persons in furtherance of common intention of Indian Penal Code.

We will send all the documents concerning the case to the health department for verification. We have received a complaint and investigation is on, Vikam Nehra, station house officer, Palam Vihar police station, said.
The statue of Guru Dronacharya, after whom the city was renamed as Gurugram ( the abode of the guru), as well those of his disciples, the Pandavas, have disappeared from the park near Rajiv Chowk, but the authorities are clueless about where they went. Some civic officials have even claimed that they they have never seen statue at the park before.

Although residents claim that the statues were removed to construct the underpass, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), the agency constructing the underpass, has no information about the statues whereabouts.

According to residents, the six-foot-tall statue of Guru Dronacharya and the smaller statues of the Pandavas were placed in the park over a decade ago. According to Hindu mythology, Gurgaon area was gifted by the Pandavas to their master Guru Dronacharya as a teachers fee.

Ansul Gupta, a resident who works at an office in Civil Lines, said, I have seen the statues and they were taken down and wrapped in sheets by some workers a few months ago. I believe the agency (NHAI) which is constructing the underpasses has removed them.

Another resident, DN Mangala, who live near the park, said, The statues were placed in the park in 1990 and were in a dilapidated condition. The civic bodies never bothered to maintained them.

The Municipal Corporation Gurugram (MCG) officials said they are not aware of any statues in the park.

We have not shifted any statues from any park. We have not seen any statues there, said Sudhir Chouhan, Senior Town Planner, MCG.

Read I Gurgaon: Residents blame authorities for parking woes in city

The NHAI also expressed ignorance about the issue. JS Suhag, advisor technical, NHAI, said, We have not removed any statue from the park.

Subject experts, however, deny that the statues had any historical importance.

We do not have any data related to the statues at the park. The story of Guru Dronacharya and Gurgaon is a myth. There is no evidence that the city was a gift to the mythological character by his students, said Atul Dev, coordinator, INTACHs Gurgaon chapter.

Kripal Chand Yadav, a historian, said, The statues might have been placed in the park recently, thus there is no information regarding them. However, historically, we do not have any confirmation that the city had any link with Guru Dronacharya.
The Union law ministry has given formal sanction to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to file an appeal in the 2G case wherein all the accused were acquitted by the trial court.

A ministry official confirmed the agency can now file an appeal in Delhi high court against the acquittal. We cleared the file on Thursday, he said. A CBI official said the agency is yet to receive the communication of formal sanction from the government.

On December 21 last year, a special CBI court, presided over by judge OP Saini, acquitted all 16 accused, including former telecom minister A Raja and DMK MP Kanimozhi.

The agency announced that it prima facie examined the order and it appears that the evidence adduced to substantiate the charges by the prosecution has not been appreciated in its proper perspective by the court.

An agency spokesperson then said the CBI would take the necessary legal remedies and file an appeal in the case.

Not only this case but judge Saini had also thrown out charges of money laundering filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) against all 19 accused persons and entities in the matter. The ED also announced it will file an appeal against the order.

As per Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), the government of India is the final authority in allowing any central prosecuting agency to file an appeal in the higher court, said ML Sharma, a former CBI special director.

NR Wasan, another former CBI official who retired as chief of the Bureau of Police Research and Development, said sub-section 2 of the section 377 of CrPC deals with appeals filed by CBI and it says the central government may direct the public prosecutor to present an appeal to the high court against the sentence on the ground of its inadequacy.

Before filing an appeal, the investigating and supervisory officers of the case, including CBI chief and its director of prosecution, give their recommendation for filing the appeal and then the matter is referred to the ministry of personnel, which is the administrative ministry of CBI. It then sends the file to the law ministry, which gives the final approval for an appeal, said Wasan.
The Haryana Police in the last four days have busted five gangs who after laying a honeytrap lodged false rape cases against men to extort money from them.

As many as 15 people, including a couple and a brother-sister duo, were arrested from five districts in this connection.

Incidentally, the series of alleged false cases has come to the fore at a time when the state has been witnessing a spate of crimes against women and minor girls, with cases of gang-rapes and murders reported from Jind, Panipat, Faridabad, Hisar, Fatehabad and other districts in the last few days.

Senior police officials said while they were trying to ensure that crimes against women were properly addressed, they have also issued instructions to cops to identify women lodging false cases so they can be booked under the provisions of the Indian Penal Code for framing innocent men, wasting polices time and bringing disrepute to the state.

In one such case, the Jhajjar police on Wednesday arrested a gang of three women and one man who had been threatening a Najafgarh youth of lodging a false rape case against him if he failed to give them 1.5 lakh. The police said the victim had filed a complaint that he was befriended recently by one of the accused women and she called him to her residence in Jhajjar on the pretext of some work. At her house, she was joined by two other women and a man who forcefully made his obscene video and demanded 1.5 lakh from him.

Jhajjar superintendent of police (SP) B Satheesh Balan said they prepared a raiding team that caught the accused red-handed while the victim was handing them money.

In Rohtak district, the police arrested a brother-sister duo on Wednesday for demanding 95 lakh from a city-based contractor to withdraw a false case they had filed against 19 members of his family. The accused duo, Ravi and Shalu, were trying to cash in on contractor Mahenders illicit relationship with their sister Meenakshi.

On Tuesday, the Bhiwani police had arrested a woman and a man who were demanding 6.5 lakh and a 150-square yard plot from Suresh of Tosham to withdraw the false rape case they had filed against him. The accused had on January 9 lodged a case of rape and violence under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act against Suresh. Acting on Sureshs complaint, the police caught the two red-handed while accepting the money.

In yet another case, the Sirsa police had on Monday arrested five members of a gang, including two women, who were demanding 10 lakh from a person after making his obscene video.

The Jind police had on Sunday arrested a Punjab couple who was demanding 25 lakh from Narwana village youth to withdraw a rape case against him, under which he was lodged in jail from past two months.

While data shows crime against women is on a rise in Haryana, a police study analyzing the crime incidents of a particular period found that every 3 in 10 rape cases registered in the state turn out to be false during investigation.

BOXX: False rape and extortion

Jan 17, Jhajjar: 3 women among 4 held for making obscene video of youth, demanding Rs 1.5 lakh

Jan 17, Rohtak: Brother-sister duo held for demanding Rs 95 lakh from contractor to withdraw false case

Jan 16, Bhiwani: Woman among 2 arrested for demanding Rs 6.5 lakh and 150 sq yard plot to withdraw false rape case

Jan 15, Sirsa: 2 women among 5 arrested for making obscene video of man, demanding Rs 10 lakh

Jan 14, Jind: Punjab couple arrested for demanding Rs 25 lakh from youth to withdraw false rape case
Majority of citizens do not recognize Armen Sargsyan

The Republican Party nominated the fourth Presidential candidate of Armenia. He is Armen Sargsyan, the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Armenia to the Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, who ran the office of the Prime Minister of Armenia from December, 1996, until February , 1997. The estimates of Armen Sargsyan on the internet are different, the majority of people describe him as a rich, intelligent and experienced person. But people do not forget to mention that his name is linked to the Amulsar controversial program. Armenian parliament to elect Armenian parliament in early March The president must receive at least 79 votes. The Republican has 65 MPs, together with the ARF Dashnaktsutyun, that is, the ruling coalition needs another 14 votes. The exit has already presented his candidate, in the person of Artak Zeynalyan. In other words, the Republicans will expect support from the Tsarukyan faction. The latter has not yet expressed his position on Armen Sargsyan. The Armenian Parliament will elect the new President at the beginning of March. The President must receive at least 79 percent votes. The Republican Party has 65 MPs, together with the Dashnaktsutyun Party, that is, the ruling coalition needs another 14 votes. The Yelk(Way out) has already presented its candidate - Artak Zeynalyan. Thus, the Republican party will expect support mainly from the Tsarukyan Alliance. The latter has not expressed any opinion about Armen Sargsyan. And what is the opinion of citizens about Armen Sargsyan, do our compatriots recognize the next Presidential candidate? Details are available in the video
Pakistan said on Thursday Indias confrontational attitude may lead to a strategic miscalculation and warned of befitting response to any misadventure following statements by the Indian Army chief.

Indian Army chief Gen Bipin Rawat said last week that the force was ready to call Pakistans nuclear bluff and cross the border if the government asked them to.

Such irresponsible and provocative statements by the Indian Army chief are regrettable and reflect the jingoistic mindset of India, which can further exacerbate the already vitiated environment, Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson Mohammad Faisal said at the weekly media briefing.

He said Pakistan has no desire to escalate the situation and has reacted with maximum restraint.

The Indian confrontational attitude is a threat to regional peace and security and may lead to a strategic miscalculation. Pakistan is fully capable of giving a befitting response to any misadventure, Faisal said.

Indias mistaken belief and irresponsible rhetoric are fraught with unforeseen dangers in an already volatile strategic environment, he said.

He also claimed that the situation on the Line of Control has been deteriorating due to use of heavy weapons by India.

The situation on the LoC and the Working Boundary is deteriorating with each passing day. Heavy weapons, including Mortars, are frequently being used by the Indian forces on the Pakistani side of the LoC and the Working Boundary, he said.

He said that LoC firings were in clear violation of the 2003 Ceasefire Arrangement.

He alleged that India deliberately escalated tensions at the LoC and the Working Boundary in order to try to divert the attention of the international community from Kashmir.

Faisal said Pakistan had shared concerns on Kashmir with the international community and was also engaged with the UN Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP).

India maintains that UNMOGIP has outlived its utility and is irrelevant after the Simla Agreement and the consequent establishment of the Line of Control.

To a question about reports that al Qaeda has set up a new branch for its activities in the subcontinent and also appointed an Indian national Asim Umar as its chief, Faisal said it indicated an extension of the AQ network in India and the likelihood of increased Indian recruitment.

He also alleged that India had developed a nexus with militant groups in Afghanistan and was using them to orchestrate terrorist attacks in Pakistan.
Former Gujarat chief minister Anandiben Patel has been appointed as the next governor of BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh.

The President of India is pleased to appoint Smt Anandiben Patel to be the Governor of Madhya Pradesh, with effect from the date she assumes charge of her office, Rashtrapati Bhavan said in a tweet.

Patel succeeded Narendra Modi when the latter resigned from the Gujarat assembly to become the Prime Minister in 2014. Her tenure as the chief minister of Gujarat, however, didnt last beyond two years and Vijay Rupani took over from her in August 2016 and retained charge after BJPs victory in last years assembly elections .

The current governor of Madhya Pradesh, Om Prakash Kohli, also holds charge of Gujarat since 2016. After Patels appointment, Kohli will continue with that responsibility.

As a chief minister of Gujarat, a crucial state for the BJP, Patel faced a key challenge during the Patidar agitation within a year of her assuming office. As her administration failed to curb the agitation, the BJP paid a heavy price in the local body elections.

Later, her administration was accused of wasting time in taking action in the Una incident where Dalit boys were flogged in public.. Adding to her woes were accusations of her daughters business partners getting undue favours in a huge land deal.
Two persons, including a nine-year-old school kid, were killed and more than 10 injured in clashes and gun-battle allegedly between two factions of Trinamool Congress at Basanti in South 24 Parganas district of West Bengal on Thursday afternoon.

Riyazul Mollah (9) reportedly suffered a bullet shot on his chest after being caught in the crossfire between the two factions while he was returning home from school on Thursday afternoon.

Trinamool activist, Hasan Laskar (35) has also been reportedly killed after being shot, although his body is yet to be recovered till Friday morning.

Police have arrested seven persons so far in this connection. Huge police contingent has been deployed in the area to prevent recurrence of violence, said additional director general ((law & order), Anuj Sharma.

Another police officer, deployed in the area, said that around 400 rounds of used cartridges have been recovered from the area where the clash took place on Thursday evening.

On Friday morning, the situation continued to be tense. Most of the shops, schools and other offices remained shut. Some locals also staged a protest, demanding immediate arrest and action against those who caused the killing of the boy.

While top Trinamool leaders were tight-lipped, locals claimed that Thursdays violence was a fallout of the infighting between Trinamool factions of Canning (East) MLA, Saokat Mollah and Gosaba MLA, Jayanta Naskar.

Both Naskar and Mollah denied involvement in the clash.

Mollah described the incident as power tussle between two groups of anti-socials who had no connection with Trinamool.

However, Naskar blatantly blamed Mollah for the violence. It is Mollah and Mollah alone who is the root of the trouble, Naskar said. However, despite repeated attempts by this correspondent, Trinamool MLA from Basanti, Gobinda Naskar could not be reached as his mobile was switched off.

The incident is a clear indication that repeated warnings by Trinamool supremo and state chief minister, Mamata Banerjee, that she would not tolerate factionalism and infighting, has gone unheeded by party leaders who are eager to establish their supremacy in their localities.

Trinamool secretary general and state education minister, Partha Chatterjee, said a probe has been ordered into the matter on Mamatas orders.

If anyone within the party is involved, he will not be spared and the party will not hesitate to take strong disciplinary action against him, he said.
The law ministry has given a go-ahead to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to appeal against the acquittal of dentist couple Rajesh and Nupur Talwar over the murders of their daughter Aarushi and domestic help Hemraj in a Noida flat in 2008.

A person familiar with the matter said that the law ministry has advised the CBI to file a Special Leave Petition (SLP) in the Supreme Court.

An SLP can be filed against any decree or order of any high court.

There is already an appeal pending against the acquittal in the top court, filed last December by Hemrajs wife Khumkala Bandaje.

The Talwars were convicted by a Ghaziabad court in November 2013 and handed life terms. But last October, the Allahabad high court overturned the order saying there was insufficient evidence against the couple. The court pulled up the CBI for its shoddy investigation.

The couple walked out of prison on October 16, 2017.

Aarushi was found murdered in her bedroom at their Jalvayu Vihar home in Noidas Sector 25 on May 16, 2008. Hemraj was the polices initial suspect.

Hemrajs body was found on the terrace of the house the next day. Soon after, the Uttar Pradesh Police accused Rajesh Talwar of killing his daughter in a fit of rage and arrested him . On May 31, 2008, the CBI took over the investigation . On June 13, the agency officials arrested Krishna  a compounder in the Talwars clinic. They also arrested Raj Kumar and Vijay Mandal  two other domestic helps -- but later freed them for lack of evidence.

The CBI filed a closure report before a Ghaziabad trial court in December 2010. Although the agency did not name the dentist couple as the accused, it pointed to their possible involvement.

On February 9, 2011, a special judicial magistrate rejected the CBIs closure report. The Talwar couple was accused for murder and destruction of evidence. Their appeals against the magistrates orders were rejected.

The couple was held guilty by on November 26, 2013. In his order, Judge Shyam Lal said that commission of crime inside the house by the dentist-couple was possible, as no outsider could be involved. But the Allahabad high court acquitted the Talwars saying that the prosecution failed to prove its case beyond all reasonable doubt.
About six months ago, not many had heard of UP Shia Central Waqf Board chairman Waseem Rizvi. He has been making headlines in the for his statements on various issues  be it his support to the construction of a Ram temple in Ayodhya or his claim that some madarsas breed terrorists. Speaking to M Tariq Khan, Rizvi, 48, spoke about his stand on several issues. Excerpts:

Q: What prompted you to write to the PM and UP CM on madarsas?

A: You have to visit a madarsa to understand what I am trying to say. It was in August last year when I happened to visit a madarsa in Shahjahanpur. I asked a 10-year-old boy to recite English alphabets. He couldnt do so. I am being hounded by the clerics because I have hit them where it hurts the most.

Q: Was it a move for publicity?

A: No. Running madarsas has become a dhanda (money-making venture). A lot of money is given by way of donations and grants, both from within the country and abroad. Ironically, those running madarsas send their own children to convent schools but want poor Muslim children to study here.

Q: If education was the focus why raise the terror-link issue...?

A: I did not say all madarsas are breeding ground for terrorists. I referred to only a few institutions in West Bengal and Kerala. Terrorists emerge from colleges and universities too. I raised 27 points in my reports about teachings in madarsas but only one point  the terror angle  was highlighted by the Muslim clergy. My remarks were twisted and used out of context...

Q: The UP CM said there is a need to modernise and not shut down madarsas. Comments?

A: I am grateful that he has taken cognisance of the issue which affects the entire minority community. The issue has been greatly emphasised by justice Rajinder Sachar in his report on educational and economic backwardness of Muslims.

Q: You never uttered a word in support of a Ram temple in Ayodhya before. Why are you speaking on the issue now?

A: I submitted an affidavit to the Supreme Court in the Ayodhya case in July last year when the court suggested that efforts should be made for an out-of-court settlement. I tried to convince the Sunni Waqf Board for a compromise but they refused.

Q: Your appeal to Muslims to give up their claim on the disputed site is being seen as an attempt to save your position as there are charges of corruption against you.

A: The CB-CID is investigating charges against me, most of which are politically-motivated... I am sure I would be exonerated. So far as Ram temple is concerned I have met religious leaders and litigants from both the sides and presented a formula.

Q: After Ram temple you sought demolition of Humayuns Tomb to make a graveyard and then you urged the Centre to increase the jail term for triple talaq offenders.

A: It is a democratic country and I have every right to express my opinion.
A Delhi-Imphal Air India flight carrying 178 passengers, including Manipur chief minister Nongthombam Biren Singh, had a close shave when it was hit by a bird over Guwahati on Friday afternoon.

Though the plane (AI-889) was damaged, the pilots managed to land it safely at the Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi Airport. The flights onward journey was cancelled after the mishap, which occurred around 3.45 pm, airport officials said.

Singh said the aircraft suffered the bird-hit moments before landing. There was a loud noise, and the plane shook briefly just as the flight was descending. I was later told that the bird had caused a hole on the right side of the cockpit, he added.

The chief minister took to Twitter to complain about Air Indias alleged lack of concern for the stranded passengers. They did not provide the passengers with any food. Some passengers were asked to check into a hotel, but the hotel management said it was not intimated in this regard. So I asked the hotel management to book rooms for the passengers in my name, Singh tweeted.

Singh said he had a chat with civil aviation minister P Ashok Gajapathi Raju, but was told that a flight can be arranged only by Saturday because the Imphal airport lacks night-landing facilities.

We are taking good care of the passengers, an official at the local Air India office said.
The central committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) will go into a huddle over general secretary Sitaram Yechurys proposal to allow political adjustment with the Congress.

The four-day meet started in Kolkata on Friday.

Yechurys demand to tweak the partys current political-tactical line has been opposed by his predecessor Prakash Karat, who enjoys the support of the powerful Kerala lobby within the party.

Yechury has argued that CPI(M) should be open to a United Progressive Alliance-1 like political adjustment. The CPI(M) provided issue-based support to the Congress-led government between 2004 and 2008.

The party will also take stock of its preparedness for the assembly elections in Tripuraone of the two states where the CPI(M) is in power.

It expects a bigger challenge from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Trinamool Congressboth trying to expand their footprint in the landlocked state where the Left has been in power since 1993.

The issue of changing the political tactical line will certainly be an important part of our discussions, said a politburo member.

The Yechury camp is looking at a possibility to make adjustments with the Congress in 2019 to oust the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance government from power.

According to this section of the CPI(M), the BJP poses a greater threat than the Congress at this time and so there is a need for secular forces to come together.

Ironically, a day before the meeting started, Kerala chief minister Pinarai Vijayan ruled out any electoral truck with the Congress.

Vijayan maintained that both the BJP and the Congress follows the same path of neoliberal policies as he accused the BJP of aggressively pushing the Congress model of pro-corporate economic policies.
Eight policemen were injured after suspected militants hurled a grenade at Tehsil office in south Kashmirs Pulwama town on Friday evening, police said.

In a press statement, a police spokesperson called it acowardly act and said the injuries were minor.

The injured were shifted to District Hospital Pulwama for treatment where from two of them ASI Mohammad Shafi and HC Ghulam Nabi were shifted to 92 Base hospital Badami Bagh for further treatment, the statement added.

Earlier this week, five militants of he Jaish-e-Mohammed were gunned down as they were trying to infiltrate through the LoC at Uri in north Kashmir.
After a series of rape and murder incidents sparked outrage across the state, Haryana Womens Commission has proposed capital punishment for those convicted of raping minors.

Addressing a press conference at the PWD rest house in Hisar after a meeting with the administration and police, Suman Bedi, a member of the Commission, said: Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan governments have the provision of capital punishment for raping a minor. We have sought to implement the same in Haryana as the increasing number of rape and murder cases have become a growing concern.

She said a proposal on the same has been sent to the Haryana government and a meeting with chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar would be held in the coming week.

I am here to take details of the three-year-old who was allegedly raped by a 14-year-old neighbour in Hisar. I have also directed the police to intensify patrolling in the city to ensure safety of girls, Bedi said.

Pointing out that the police officers in the respective jurisdiction should also be held accountable, Bedi said: We are also considering action against police officers in charge of the area where a crime takes place. The Womens Commission is also developing a mobile application through which girls can send SOS alerts.

On allegations of honey trap incidents, Bedi said police must investigate all cases and ensure action against those involved.

Over the last four days, the state has seen a number of such case, with the Haryana Police having busted five gangs that lodged false rape cases against men to extort money from them.
Peepli Live co-director Mahmood Farooqui on Friday got a major relief from the Supreme Court which dismissed an American womans plea challenging a Delhi High Court verdict acquitting him in a rape case.

The top court said they were good friends and she had even expressed her love to him after the alleged incident.

It also said the woman appeared to have responded in a positive manner when they had met on the day of alleged incident and it was a case of relationship in which they have known each other.

The apex court referred to the e-mail communications between the 30-year-old woman and Farooqui and asked her counsel how could the woman say I love you in her mail to the accused after the alleged 2015 incident, which she later termed as rape.

A bench comprising Justices S A Bobde and L Nageswara Rao observed that the high courts verdict of September 25 last year acquitting Farooqui was a well written judgement warranting no interference.

We are not satisfied (with her arguments). We will not interfere with the high court verdict. It is a well-written judgement, the bench told advocate Vrinda Grover, who was representing the woman.

Farooqui was earlier convicted and sentenced to 7-year jail term by a trial court here in August 2016. However, the high court had acquitted him in the case last year.

The Delhi Police had on June 19, 2015, lodged an FIR against Farooqui on the womans complaint.

The police had filed a charge sheet against him alleging he had raped the research scholar from Columbia University at his Sukhdev Vihar house in South Delhi on March 28, 2015. Farooqui had denied all the allegations.

During the hearing, the top court asked her counsel, How many rape cases you have gone through where the prosecutrix (woman) has said I love you to the alleged accused much after the alleged incident.

However, Grover told the bench that the matter related to forced oral sex and the woman had not given her consent.

She said that the argument of alleged consensual relation was advanced by Farooquis lawyer before the high court for the first time and claimed that this issue was not raised before the lower court during the trial.

But the bench observed that it was not a case where strangers came, met and did something as both Farooqui and the woman were known to each other.

It is a case of relationship. They were known to each other, the bench said, adding, This is a very hard case. We would like to say that it has been decided extremely well (by the high court). It is not a case which can be decided easily.

When the counsel said both the woman and Farooqui were known to each other, the bench asked, according to her evidence, they had drinks together. The point is they knew each other, had drinks together and did many other things together.

Referring to the high courts verdict, Grover said the judgement said she was a sterling witness and the issue was of consent. She also argued that the woman had said no to Farooquis advance towards her.

But initially yes. There appeared to be a positive response by her which according to her was faked. People give false smiles. How would the other person know it is a false response. This is very difficult to understand, the bench said, adding that the high court had also observed that it was not reflected that she was saying no.

However, her counsel claimed in the court that during the alleged incident, the woman was afraid that something bad would happen with her as he had become forceful.

The bench then referred to the e-mail exchanged between the woman and Farooqui and said the records showed they were very good friends.

The court also asked the counsel as to how many times the woman had visited Farooquis house and had drinks together.

It, however, clarified that the top court was not at all saying that if somebody visits the house of another regularly, then such act amounts to waiver of right to be protected against offence like rape.

The court also referred to a document in which the woman had said that she and Farooqui had exchanged kiss. This does not happen between friends, the bench said.

The lawyer said it was prior to the alleged incident and added, consent must be appreciated in terms of the incident in question and not prior intimacy.

She also argued that refusal was clear in this case.

The bench, while dismissing the plea, said it was not satisfied and would not interfere with the high courts judgement and no question of law was involved in the matter.

The high court had acquitted Farooqui saying it remained doubtful whether any such incident took place. It had asked Tihar jail authorities to release Farooqui who was in custody following the trial courts order.

The high court had said in the order that the testimony of the victim is not reliable and there are discrepancies.

The high court had, however, brushed aside her contention and noted that what the appellant has been communicated is, even though wrongly and mistakenly, that the prosecutrix is okay with it and has participated in the act.

The trial court, which on July 30, 2016 had held Farooqui guilty of raping the woman in 2015 in a drunken state, had also imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 on him.
An Islamic State (IS) recruit from Kannur district has been killed in Syria, Kerala police said on Friday.

A senior police official said family members received the news of Abdul Manafs death on January 17 through Telegram messenger app.

The 30-year-old IS fighters friend Kayyum, who is also fighting for the extremist group in Syria, sent the message to the Valapattinam family, deputy superintendent of police PP Sadanandan said.

Involved in the murder of a CPI(M) worker in 2009, Manaf was a local leader of the Kerala-based Popular Front India. He had also worked as the office secretary of the outfit in Delhi for some time before joining the IS, he said.

About 15 people from Kannur district have so far joined the terrorist outfit.

Of them, six, including Manaf, have been killed in Syria. At least five were arrested and handed over to the NIA for investigation, Sadanandan said.

The remaining four are in Syria fighting for the IS, which has lost ground in the face of an onslaught by US-backed forces.
A city resident has filed a police complaint against her husband for uttering instant triple talaq, which was scrapped by the Supreme Court last year.

The complaint was lodged with the Mahila police station on Thursday.

Police said they are treating the case with caution as it was borne out of a family dispute.

Shamshina Naz, a resident of Azadnagar locality, alleged that her husband, Manzur Hussain, had given her instant triple talaq after a family dispute.

She has sought justice and legal action against him, along with her in-laws.

The woman has alleged that her husband gave her triple talaq on December 22, 2017.

We got married in October 2007 and have a son. After a small family dispute, I was driven away from home in presence of my in-laws by uttering triple talaq. I am currently living at my mothers home, she said.

Officer-in-charge of Mahila police station in Sakchi, Sima Kumari, said the couple had a family dispute but the allegation of triple talaq is yet to be verified.

The couples family members were supposed to visit the police station on Friday to furnish their side of the incident but they did not appear.

The issue is a domestic dispute and we are trying to solve it at the police station level. The husband and the other in-laws will visit the police station on Saturday to put forth their arguments, Kumari said.

The complainant said that she had moved the Emarat-e-sharia (body of Muslim clergy to deal with such issues) but did not get justice.

Hence, I had no option but to approach police, Naz said.
A 45-year-old woman, said to be mentally unstable, was on Thursday arrested after admitting that she had killed her 15-year-old son for allegedly teasing her, police said.

Jayamol, a housewife who was detained for questioning on Wednesday, on Thursday said she had killed her son Jeethu Job by first pushing him down in the kitchen and then strangled him with a shawl, said police. She then tried to conceal her crime by setting the body on fire.

The woman had, three days back, approached the local police stating that her son was missing but it was only on Wednesday that police located Jeethus half-burned body near their house in a rubber estate.

Later, police found that Jayamol had burns on her hand, and after further questioning, she admitted of having done the crime.

Her husband Job V. John told the media that she was mentally unstable and she did the extreme step after she was teased by the boy.

The last rite of the boy were conducted on Thursday evening at their local church, after the autopsy was conducted.

Later when Jayamol was brought to the house as part of the investigation, she was booed by the local residents.

Police however said that they are looking into all possible angles to see if there is more to than what she has said.
Its not a warlike situation, its a war. We are running for our lives. While we have managed to flee, there are many hiding inside their houses because Pakistan is raining bombs, said 47-year old Darshan Lal. Along with his family of five, Lal was seen scampering past a bridge that connects Arnia town with the mainland.

Reluctant to talk a lot, Lal said that life has become a living hell for him and thousands of villagers who live close to the border with Pakistan.

He said, Sitting in comfort zones thousands of miles away from the border, it is very easy for politicians to give a war cry because they are not in the line of direct fire.

A total of 457 villages with a population of 4,51,856 are located on the International Border (IB) and the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu, Samba, Kathua, Rajouri, and Poonch districts of Jammu region.

Some of the villages in Arnia  the epicentre of the skirmishes since Wednesday  are virtually in the line of Pakistani weapons. One of them is Allah, located barely two to three kilometres away from the zero line.

Hari Singh of Chachwal village said that Pakistan has not only ruined their lives but also that of their children.

Their schooling is constantly being hampered because of firing and shelling. A chill runs down the spine at the thought of losing your child but there are families on border who have lost their kith and kin. The pain and agony of losing a family member haunts you for the rest of your life, he said.

People with their belongings on a vehicle as shelling intensify from the Pakistani side at Arnia sector, in Jammu, on January 19. (Nitin Kanotra /HT Photo)

Deafening sounds of mortar explosions and machine gun fire, with a deserted Arnia town and villages, bore testimony to the fact that things had turned ugly since Wednesday.

Harried villagers were seen running to safer places with their children and daily belongings.

Beaso Devi of Korotana said, Farming, schooling and cattle rearingeverything on which we survive comes to a halt during such flare-ups. We lose family members, crops, cattle and houses to Pakistan firing but who is bothered?

Beaso Devi added that people from villages in safer areas are hesitant to marry off their daughters to our sons because they see border villages as death traps.

Kartar Singh, a septuagenarian from Arnia, said, On either side of the border, a poor man and his family gets killed. It should stop. For how long will hapless and poor villagers keep dying like this?

Singh said that all his life he had not witnessed any serious effort by governments to end their miseries. Now they say that bunkers in houses will be constructed. I hope and pray bunkers are constructed on a war footing. At least people can save their lives, he added.

A majority of the people also complained about inadequate medical facilities, ambulances, doctors and paramedical staff, and bulletproof vehicles to treat and evacuate them at the time of contingency.
Uncertainty increased over who in the Supreme Court (SC) will hear the Loya case after the Chief Justice of India, Dipak Misra on Friday ordered that the matter be put up before an appropriate bench as per roster.

This bench will hear the two public interest litigations demanding an independent probe into the death of special CBI court judge BH Loya who died in 2014.

It isnt clear who will be on the appropriate bench. The CJIs directive comes three days after a bench of Justices Arun Misra and MM Shantagoudar hearing the case ordered its listing before an appropriate bench, triggering speculation that they would withdraw from hearing it.

The Loya case is seen as the trigger for the top four SC judges to go public with their criticism of CJI Misra for allocating sensitive cases to junior judges.

Judge Loya, who was presiding over the Sohrabuddin Sheikh encounter case, died in Nagpur on December 1, 2014.

Current BJP President Amit Shah was named in the case, although, in late December the same year, the court discharged him.

Fridays order by the CJI was issued after Tehseen Poonawala and Mumbai-based journalist BR Lone mentioned the matter before the CJI. Lones advocate Anita Shenoy said she went to the CJIs court to apprise him about the last order in the case and seek a date for hearing.

On January 16 Justice Arun Misra had said the matter should be listed before an appropriate bench after a week. It was, therefore, mentioned to the chief who said the case would be now be heard by the bench as per roster, Shenoy explained. The court had asked Maharashtra government to provide copy of its report to the petitioners, saying they should know everything about the case.

According to the present system in the court, a PIL is usually heard by the CJI. But he is always at a liberty to mark it to another bench of his choice, an official from the SC registry said. Therefore, it is possible that the CJI might hear the PILs in Loya case.

In the SC, a roster system is followed to mark cases to benches. Each bench has two judges. The roster is notified by the SC registry after the CJI approves it. However, the roster is not made public and even lawyers are unaware of the same. When a sensitive matter or PIL is filed the SC registry brings it to the notice of the CJI who then takes a call on who will hear it. Justice Arun Misras January 16 order, fuelling apprehensions over his hearing the case again, came a day after he broke down at a morning tea meet where he expressed his anguish at being collateral damage in the fight between the four senior judges and the CJI because their allegations cast aspersions on his conduct.
Members of a House panel on consumer affairs want domestic airlines to automatically upgrade members of Parliament to business class on flights that have vacant seats in the premium cabin, a person familiar with the proceedings said on Thursday.

At the meeting of the standing committee on food, consumer affairs and public distribution, panel chairman JC Divakar Reddy, a Telugu Desam Party MP, asked civil aviation secretary Rajiv Nayan Choubey to issue a circular issuing these guidelines to all domestic airlines. Air India, Jet Airways and Vistara are the only airlines that offer business class seats in domestic flights. Airlines such as Spice Jet and Indigo have seats with extra leg space that are sold at a premium.

Why dont you send a circular saying that, on identification, if there is a seat vacant in the business class, MPs should be provided a seat? Reddy told Choubey in the meeting. Another member, Samajwadi Partys Ravi Prakash Verma, suggested that the civil aviation ministry should issue an order and send a copy to the panel.

A member of the House panel explained the rationale behind the demand. We received specific complaints about MPs being denied business class seats despite vacancies. Once, there was a complaint that even after issuing a business class boarding class, the airline asked the MP at the last moment to sit in the economy section, said the member, who asked not to be named.

An MP is entitled to 34 free air journeys in a year, can be accompanied by a companion, and can travel business class . If a member doesnt utilise all 34 tickets, the remaining ones are carried over to the next year. MPs, however, travel much more during a year and often they require to fly for political engagements or personal work, said a member of the Lok Sabha, supporting the demand.

CPI(M)s Lok Sabha MP Md Salim, however, countered the members suggestions, and said, A Parliament panel should work steadfastly for the service of the people, and not self-service for MPs.

The question of MPs being allotted vacant business class seats had first cropped up last year at a meeting of the parliamentary panel on civil aviation. In March last year, Shiv Senas Lok Sabha member from Osmanabad, Ravindra Gaikwad, was accused of assaulting a 60-year-old duty manager of Air India because he had to travel economy class though he had an open business class ticket. The flight he was on only had an economy class cabin. Gaikwad was temporarily barred from flying by all domestic carriers.

Air India, Vistara and Jet Airways did not respond to requests for comments by the time of going to print.
In 2014, even as the chief minister of Gujarat was preparing to be the Prime Minister of India, in the opposite corner of the country, the chief minister of Nagaland felt he wanted to be a Union minister. And for that, despite all pleas by his party to stick to the state and drop ambitions for the Centre, Neiphiu Rio decided to contest the Lok Sabha polls.

Rio won without much fuss and left the seat of power in Kohima, where he had been CM since 2003.

But the man from Gujarat, Narendra Modi, did not make the man Rio a cabinet minister. Since then, while remaining an MP, Rios eyes have been firmly set back on state politics. This moment in 2014 sparked a chain of events in Nagaland that will shape the state elections next month.

Rio constituted one element in a complex triangular political establishment that is the Naga Peoples Front (NPF), the ruling party of the state. Its two other leaders are the party president, Shurhozelie Liezietsu, and chief minister TR Zeliang.

All conversations around Nagalands electoral politics has at its heart this dominant party, the ambitions of these three men, and the shifting dynamics between them.

Kohimas favourite guessing game has been which of the two stood together against the third at what point. It has divided, enthralled and agitated NPF; it has opposition parties both on tenterhooks and sniffing opportunities; it has created both political instability and a major constitutional dispute in the past three years; it has spawned newer parties; it has kept the BJP  a rising force in the state  alert.

And understanding even the contours of elections in the state was difficult till the power battle between the three took a decisive turn late on Wednesday, January 17 evening.

This is when Rio quit NPF, and moved to a newly-created party  the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP)  and opened up the states political landscape. But irrespective of what the pre-poll dynamics look like, all actors in Nagaland acknowledge that alignments after the results may look entirely different.

The triangular dance

Up a slope, next to Hotel Japfu in Kohima, is the office of the NPF. On the first floor, S Akho Leyri, a general secretary of the party, is sitting with a few colleagues.

He explains how the feud in the party evolved.

After Rio left for Delhi, a majority of NPF MLAs supported Zeliang as chief minister. In January 2015, though, 23 MLAs  under the influence of Rio, Leyri suggests  sought to change the chief minister. They did not succeed. But there was internal rift within the party. Eventually, under the instruction of the Election Commission, a special convention of the NPF was called. It was decided that Shurhozelie would remain party president and Zeliang the chief minister. Round 1: the president and chief minister were united at this moment.

The next round of instability was in 2017, when we had to hold urban local body elections in February. The chief minister supported 33% reservation for women. But there was a backlash. Houses were burnt. Two young people were shot dead (by police). And the Zeliang had to resign, says Leyri.

This paved the way for Shurhozelie to take over as chief minster. Zeliang agreed, viewing it as a temporary option. Since Shurhozelie was not an MLA, he would have to leave office in six months, and Zeliang thought he could come back. Round 2: the party president became chief minister, with the conditional support of the former chief minister.

Equations shifted rapidly when Shurhozelie began consolidating his position and wanted to continue as CM. Zeliang wanted the chief ministership back and he was supported by Rio. In July, the Governor dismissed Shurhozelie and re-appointed Zeliang  on the grounds that the former had lost the confidence of the house.

Shurhozelie, as party president, dismissed the legislators of the Zeliang camp; and Zeliangs camp acted against Shurhozelies MLAs and claimed to be the rightful torch bearer of the NPF. They went to court against each other, despite still belonging to the same party. Zeliang, however, remained chief minister, with the support of a majority of NPF MLAs, BJP and independents. Round 3: Zeliang had the support of Rio, who was made interim president of this faction of NPF, against Shurhozelie.

But through December-January, party circles have been abuzz that Zeliang and Shurhozelie gradually moved closer to each other in order to keep out Rio, who was seeing the elections as a comeback opportunity.

We have gone through a difficult period, but I can assure you that that there is now reconciliation in the party. The CM and the party president are together again, Leyri says.

Two party leaders  one close to the CM and one to Shurhozelie  said that the reconciliation was based on five assumptions: Zeliang will be the partys chief minister face; Shurhozelie will remain the party president till 2020; both sides will withdraw cases against each other; suspended members from the Zeliang faction will be brought back in the party fold; and Rio will not be given a ticket for the assembly polls.

A Kikon, the NPF spokesperson, says, We have a party resolution that those elected to Parliament -- either Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha -- must complete their terms before they can come back to the state. And so there is no question he (Rio) can come back. He is our national leader and should remain in Delhi. And so, if the current moment is Round 4, Zeliang and Shurhozelie are back together again.

The 2018 battle

With Shurhozelie and Zeliang working together, Rio was left out. It is an open secret in Nagaland that Rio had, while being in NPF, helped create a new party, the NDPP. The NDPP is home to a number of high-profile former bureaucrats. Rio, on paper, had disassociated himself from it. Then he formally quit NPF to join the NDPP.

The state thus now has three key actors. The NPF of Shurhozelie and Zeliang; the BJP  which has steadily expanded its presence across all districts, is formally an ally of NPF but is contemplating contesting independently to capitalise on anti- incumbency against the NPF; and the Rio-led NDPP. The Congress, which used to dominate the state till 2003, saw all its MLAs in the last assembly merge into NPF, and is now at its weakest.

But there remains a strong buzz that Shurhozelie and Zeliangs alliance may not last. And Zeliang has kept his options open by engaging with the National Peoples Party of the late PA Sangma, now led by his son Conrad.

NPP is an important player in Meghalaya, is in government with the BJP in Manipur and is trying to make inroads in Nagaland. NPP leaders confirm that Zeliang and the party have been in contact. If he switches, the election could turn four-cornered, with the additional presence of independents in several seats.

All of this means that the outcome could be fragmented and real political play for government formation will happen once the results are known.

A BJP strategist says, All options in Nagaland remain open. It will depend on who has what strength post polls. We are confident we will grow. And we can ally with whichever regional party or combination of regional parties possesses the numbers.

Given that the regional party which emerges strong will want to be on the right side of the central government, the BJPs presence in the next government is the only certainty about the Nagaland polls.
Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Friday threatened to move the Supreme Court against the Bharatiya Janata Party-led NDA government for not fulfilling the promises made in the reorganisation act.

Naidu, also the Telugu Desam Partys president, said his government would explore the option of moving the top court with regard to the implementation of some of the important issues mentioned in the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014, by the Centre.

We are not asking any additional favours from the Centre. All that we have been requesting it is to fulfil the promises made in the act, he said during the second-day of the Collectors Conference in Amaravati.

Though everybody at the Centre admits that injustice was done to Andhra Pradesh due to the unscientific bifurcation of the combined state, they are trying to pass the buck when it comes to doing justice to the state, he said.

The chief minister said he would continue to pursue the pending issues with the Centre.

If there is no proper response, I have to explore the option of knocking the doors of the highest authority of justice. I told (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi also the same thing during our meeting recently, Naidu said.

He also disputed National Institution for Transforming India or NITI Aayog vice-chairperson Rajiv Kumars observation that Andhra Pradesh might not require any handholding support or special category status to overcome the problems caused by the bifurcation.

It is true that AP has the highest GSDP (Gross State Domestic Product) contribution in the country indicating the high economic growth, the main problem is that it has the low revenue base. The Centre should give handholding till a level-playing field is established as AP hasnt yet recovered from the effects of bifurcation, he said.

The chief minister took serious exception to the comments made by his Telangana counterpart K Chandrasekhar Rao at a meeting on Thursday that there was no comparison between the two states and Telangana was far ahead of Andhra Pradesh in terms of development.

He pointed out that people of 13 districts of Andhra Pradesh had made an immense contribution to the development of Telangana during the combined regime.

The revenue surplus in Telangana is only because of the contribution of Hyderabad, which had witnessed rapid development after 1995 during the TDP regime, he said.

The opposition parties lashed out at Naidu for threatening to move the Supreme Court against the Centre.

It is shameful on his part to threaten the NDA now while sharing power with it at the Centre. It was only recently that he had met Modi and projected it as a great achievement. If you are not happy with the Centre, why cant your party come out of the NDA? AP Congress Committee spokesperson C Ramachandraiah asked.

YSR Congress Party spokesperson Ambati Rambabu also found fault with Naidu in blaming the Centre to cover up his own incompetence.

Is it not ridiculous to move the court against the government in which his party is a part? he asked.
A day after the Supreme Court paved the way for nationwide release of Padmaavat, Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Friday said the advocate general has been asked to study the order before taking a decision on its screening in the state.

We have told the state advocate general to study the Supreme Court order. After this, we will see if we have to say something in the honourable apex court. We have not taken any decision so far, Chouhan told reporters.

On Thursday, the apex court stayed the orders and notifications issued by the Rajasthan and Gujarat governments prohibiting the screening of the controversial movie, clearing the decks for a nationwide release.

The Sanjay Leela Bhansali film, starring Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh and Shahid Kapoor, is scheduled for release on January 25. It ran into controversy as Hindu groups protested against its release, saying it distorts history and presents the Rajput community in a poor light.

The SC bench headed by chief justice Dipak Misra also restrained other states from issuing such notifications or orders prohibiting the exhibition of the film. The bench, also comprising justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud, observed that the states are obliged to maintain law and order.

We direct that there shall be a stay of operation on the notification and orders issued and we also restrain other states from issuing such notifications or orders in this matter, the SC bench said in its interim order.

No formal order prohibiting the release of the film were issued by the Madhya Pradesh government.

However, Chouhan had recently indicated that the film Padmaavat will not be allowed to be released in his state.
There are no plans of a bilateral meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting at Davos next week, the external affairs ministry said on Friday.

The annual meet of the WEF would be beginning on January 22. Modi would address the opening plenary on January 23.

There will not be any meeting between Modi and the US President Donald Trump either.

As far as I am concerned there are no plans for meeting with the Pakistan Prime Minister, Secretary (Economic Relations) at the External Affairs Ministry Vijay Gokhale said.

When asked whether Modi would be meeting US President Donald Trump, Gokhale said the two leaders will not be there on the same day.

This would be Modis first visit to Davos and the last Indian Prime Minister to attend the WEF was H D Deve Gowda in 1997. In case of Trump, he would be the first US President to attend since Bill Clinton in 2000.

To a question on whether Modi is sending a message by not meeting Trump at the event, which has the theme of Creating a Shared Future in a Fractured World, Gokhale said there were never any plans for the two leaders to meet.

Announcing details of Modis visit to the Swiss resort for the World Economic Forum (WEF), Secretary (Economic Relations) in the External Affairs Ministry, Vijay Gokhale said, it will be a 24 hour visit but a very focused one.

Our economy has expanded significantly since the last time an Indian prime minister went to Davos and therefore this visit is very important, Gokhale said.

In addition to the keynote address, Modi will also have bilateral meeting with Swiss President Alain Berset. Besides, there will be scope for pull asides, details of which are being worked out, he said.

This will be a very significant visit and will give a message about our engagements with the world, he said.

The focus will be on prime ministers vision about Indias economys at the domestic as well as global level.
The Election Commission (EC) on Friday recommended the disqualification of 20 Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) legislators for holding offices of profit as parliamentary secretaries -- a move that could lead to fresh elections for these seats and test the popularity of the Arvind Kejriwal government less then three years into its five-year term.

The poll panel sent its recommendation to President Ram Nath Kovind, said an official, adding that the ECs view was binding. A Rashtrapati Bhawan official confirmed the President had received the recommendation and was yet to send his reply.

Chief minister Kejriwal responded on Twitter by declaring that truth would prevail. When you are walking on the path of honesty and truth you face a lot of hurdles. It is natural. But all the visible and invisible powers in the world help you on your path. God is with you. Because you are not working for yourself, but for the society. History is witness to the fact that ultimately honesty triumphs, he said.

Six AAP legislators approached the Delhi high court to get a stay on their disqualification, but Justice Rekha Palli declined immediate relief as the EC was unable to make a statement on whether it has forwarded a final opinion to the President. The matter will next be heard on Monday.

The AAP, which has 66 legislators in the 70-member assembly will be brought down to 46 MLAs if the decision holds -- enough to run the government but with its brute majority in the House under threat.

The BJP and the Congress welcomed the ECs decision and demanded Kejriwals resignation on moral grounds. Many of the Kejriwal cabinet members had to resign. Fifteen of their MLAs have cases against them and 12 were arrested under different charges. In this scenario, the biggest question before the people is whether the Arvind Kejriwal government has any moral right to remain in power, BJP spokesman Sambit Patra said.

Delhi Congress chief Ajay Maken echoed his sentiments. Kejriwal has no right to continue on his post. He should resign, he said. The Congress is planning to hold a protest demonstration at the Delhi secretariat on January 22 to demand that Kejriwal quit.

But the AAP leaders attacked the poll panel, suggesting that its decision was influenced by the NDA government at the Centre. The AAP MLAs were not even given a chance to present their case during the hearing. Whatever we have come to know is through sources. It is a clear case where chief election commissioner is acting at the behest of BJP government, said party spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj.

The case against the MLAs dates back to March 2015, when lawyer Prashant Patel complained to the then president, Pranab Mukherjee, that 21 of the AAP legislators were occupying offices of profit. One of them  Jarnail Singh  resigned last year to contest the Punjab assembly elections.

Mukherjee referred the complaint to the EC, which said last June that the MLAs did hold de-facto the office of parliamentary secretaries. A parliamentary secretary assists a minister, and the office comes with perks similar to those that ministers get.

As protests grew, the Kejriwal government sought to pass a bill excluding the post of parliamentary secretary from the ambit of the office of profit law. But Mukherjee refused to approve it. Meanwhile, reacting to another private petition, the Delhi high court struck down the post of parliament secretary entirely in September 2015.

(With inputs from Sweta Goswami and Ashish Mishra)
Recreating the viral Oscar selfie, which featured several Hollywood stars in one picture, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu posed with Bollywood superstars as a sign of the great friendship between India and Israel on Thursday night.

Netanyahu was at Shalom Bollywood event in Mumbai, where top stars from the industry were present, including Amitabh Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai, Abhishek Bachchan, and filmmaker Karan Johar.

I want everyone in Indian and Israel to know about the phenomenal friendship between our countries. So Ive an idea. One of the most viral pictures took place at the Oscars where several celebrities took a selfie together, Netanyahu said.

So I want all the Bollywood actors, directors, producers present here to join me right now for a selfie so millions of people can see the great friendship between the two countries, he added.

Posing for the selfie were Bollywood guests such as Bachchan and his family, Johar, Randhir Kapoor, Vivek Oberoi, Sara Ali Khan, filmmaker Imtiaz Ali, Madhur Bhandarkar, Nikkhil Advani, Abhishek Kapoor, Subhash Ghai, lyricist Prasoon Joshi among others.

Aishwarya along with producer Ronnie Screwvala welcomed the Prime Minister and the first lady, Sara Netanyahu.

Karan Johars production Drive became the first Bollywood film to be shot in Israel for which Johar along with Dharma Productions CEO Apoorva Mehta were felicitated by Netanyahu.

At the event, Bachchan gave the keynote address where he spoke about how, from a time when acting in films was looked down upon, today Bollywood has become a parallel culture.

Bachchan, 75, said when we as a community watch films in a darkened hall, we never ask the caste or creed, or colour or religion of the person sitting next to us. We enjoy the same film, laugh at the same joke, cry at the same emotion. In a world where we see humanity disintegrating in front of us, cinema is perhaps (among) the few yet prominent entities that bring people together.

Netanyahu in his address quipped that Bachchan has 30 million more followers than me on Twitter and stressed how if India and Israel come together, magic will happen.

Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis was also present at the event.

Choreographer Terence Lewis along with his group brought the curtain down with a dance medley.
Terming the controversy-hit Bollywood film Padmaavat as bakwas (rubbish), AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi asked Muslims not to waste their time watching it.

Dont go. God has not created you to watch a two-hour film, the Hyderabad Lok Sabha member said on Wednesday night while addressing a public meeting in Warangal district.

Mr (Narendra) Modi (Prime Minister) has formed a 12- member committee for that film; take out what you can...(but) nobody was consulted when law (to end triple talaq) was being made against us, he said.

The film is bakwas and bad...The Muslim community has to learn from Rajputs, who are united in not letting the film release, he said.

The Supreme Court on Thursday cleared the decks for the all-India release of Padmaavat on January 25 and stayed notifications and orders issued by Rajasthan and Gujarat prohibiting exhibition of the film in their states.

The Karni Sena has opposed the Sanjay Leela Bhansali- directed film, alleging it distorts historical facts and hurts sentiments of the Rajput community. The set of the movie was vandalised twice in Jaipur and Kolhapur, while Bhansali was roughed up by members of the Karni Sena last year.
Pakistan summoned Indian Deputy High Commissioner JP Singh on Friday for the second time in two days over the alleged unprovoked ceasefire violations by the Indian forces that killed Pakistani citizens.

Director General (South Asia & SAARC) Mohammad Faisal summoned Singh for unprovoked ceasefire violations by the Indian occupation forces along the Working Boundary on 19th January in Sialkot Sector, the Foreign Office said.

He said the firing resulted in the death of a 24-year-old civilian and injured nine others in village Harpal.

Singh was summoned on Friday after two women died in the alleged unprovoked ceasefire violations.

The Indian forces along the Working Boundary are continuously engaged in indiscriminate and unprovoked firing with heavy mortars and automatic weapons on the civilian populated villages, since the last 2 days, Faisal said.

He said despite calls for restraint, India continues to indulge in ceasefire violations.

In 2018, the Indian forces have carried out more than 125 ceasefire violations along the Line of Control and the Working Boundary in just 19 days, resulting in the killing of 4 innocent civilians, while injuring 20 others.

This unprecedented escalation in ceasefire violations by India is continuing from the year 2017 when the Indian forces committed more than 1,900 ceasefire violations, he said.

Faisal also said that the deliberate targeting of civilian populated areas is indeed deplorable and contrary to human dignity, international human rights and humanitarian laws.

The ceasefire violations by India are a threat to regional peace and security and may lead to a strategic miscalculation, he asserted.

Faisal urged India to respect the 2003 ceasefire arrangement, investigate the ceasefire violations and instruct the forces to respect the ceasefire in letter to spirit and maintain peace on the LoC and the Working Boundary.

He urged that the Indian side should permit UN Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) to play its mandated role as per the UN Security Council resolutions.
More co-operation in cyber security and counter-terrorism initiatives and facilitating more investment in Indias infrastructure sector will top Prime Minister Narendra Modis agenda when he visits the UAE next month, said an official familiar with the plans on condition of anonymity.

Modi is likely to visit the Gulf nation on February 10 and 11. He will also visit Palestine en route to the UAE, home to 2.8 million Indian passport holders. Modis visit to Palestine will come shortly after the visit of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to India. Modi was the first Indian PM to visit Israel last year, de-hyphenating its relationship with the two countries.

India and the UAE have put together an ambitious agenda to mark the second visit of Modi to the UAE, with which India has a comprehensive strategic partnership aimed at further strengthening their security and business ties.

Cyber security is one area both countries have identified for stepping up cooperation, said the official. New Delhi would like to collaborate with the UAE in setting up a cyber security centre in India. The UAE has had a cyber security centre since 2014 that acts as a nodal agency for protecting data, telecom networks, and which works with similar bodies around the world, the official pointed out.

Cyber security has emerged as a key area of our bilateral cooperation with other countries. The UAE has some best practices and a centre in this field and the cooperation could be mutually beneficial, said another official.

The two sides are also looking at stepping up efforts to disrupt terrorist networks, their financing and movements. In this context, India would like the UAE to help track the properties of people in its wanted list. Facilitating more UAE investment to India remains another focus. The two countries plan to step up the proposed $ 75 billion target for UAE investments in Indias infrastructure development.
Congress chief Rahul Gandhi asked Narendra Modi to spell out his plans for generating employment, taking Chinese out of Doklam and stopping rapes in Haryana.

Gandhis question to Modi came after the PM asked people to pitch ideas for the next Mann ki Baat programme to be aired on January 28, the first one this year.

Dear Narendra Modi, since youve requested some ideas for your MannKiBaat monologue, tell us about how you plan to: 1. Get our youth JOBS. 2. Get the Chinese out of DHOKA-LAM. 3. Stop the RAPES in Haryana, he wrote on Twitter.

Dear @narendramodi, since you've requested some ideas for your #MannKiBaat monologue, tell us about how you plan to:



1. Get our youth JOBS

2. Get the Chinese out of DHOKA-LAM

3. Stop the RAPES in Haryana. pic.twitter.com/pwexqxKrTQ  Office of RG (@OfficeOfRG) January 19, 2018

The Haryana government has come under severe criticism over the horrific spate of sexual violence in the state.

Earlier in the day, Modi tweeted: It is always a delight to read your insightful ideas and inputs for Mann ki Baat. What are your suggestions for 2018s first Mann ki Baat on 28th January. Let me know on the NM Mobile App.
Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday said there was no need for saints to demand anything since everything would happen on its own.

His remark appeared to be a possible reference to construction of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya. Saints have been raising this demand, especially now that the BJP has governments at the Centre and in UP. Adityanath hinted at the fulfilment of the saints demand. He added that all that the seers needed to do was bless him and his government.

Adityanath was speaking at the Sant Sammelan organised by Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) at the Parade ground in Allahabad. He took part in the event in his capacity as mahant (chief priest) of Gorakhnath temple. Temple construction was among the core issues on the sammelan agenda.

Accepting that were some hurdles in the temple construction, he said all would be overcome with the blessings of saints.
The Supreme Court rejected on Friday an appeal challenging a Delhi high court order that acquitted Peepli Live director Mahmood Farooqui in a rape case.

The apex court refused to acknowledge that the victim in the case gave no consent, pointing out the high courts judgment was well-written. The SC also said such cases were very hard to decide.

The HC, in its judgment in September 2017, said there were doubts whether such an incident took place in the manner alleged by the woman concerned. And even if it did occur, (there is lack of clarity on) whether it was without the consent/will of the prosecutrix, it added, ruling in favour of Farooqui.

The court recorded that the appellant had no idea that the prosecutrix was unwilling, and there are instances when a feeble no on the part of a woman may mean yes during the course of a sexual act. In cases where the parties are known to each other, it could be really difficult to decipher whether a feeble no  (accompanied by) little or no resistance  actually amounts to denial of consent.

The Delhi Police had lodged an FIR against Farooqui on June 19, 2015, after an American citizen of Indian origin accused him of rape. The chargesheet stated that Farooqui had raped the complainant, a research scholar from Columbia University, at his Sukhdev Vihar residence in south Delhi on March 28, 2015.

The trial began on September 9, 2015, and the woman appeared in a sessions court on September 14 to record her statement. The lower court held Farooqui guilty of rape on July 30, 2016, and awarded him seven years in jail with a fine of Rs 50,000.
The Supreme Court on Friday decided to hear on Monday the pleas seeking an independent probe into the alleged mysterious death of special CBI judge BH Loya.

The top court fixed January 22 for the hearing and directed listing of petitions before an appropriate bench.

A bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud said an appropriate bench of the apex court would hear the petitions filed by Congress leader Tehseen Poonawalla and Maharashtra journalist BS Lone.

Advocate Varinder Kumar Sharma, appearing for Poonawalla, said they wanted clarification on the date of hearing of the petition in the wake of the order passed by a bench of Justices Arun Mishra and M M Shantanagoudar.

List the matters on January 22, 2018, before the appropriate bench as per the roster, the CJIs bench said.

A bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra had on January 16, ordered the matters to be listed before an appropriate bench and had not fixed any specific date for hearing.

It had left it to the Maharashtra government to decide which documents, relating to Loyas death, could be handed over to the petitioners.

The state government, which had filed documents in a sealed cover relating to Loyas death, had during the hearing opposed the petitioners demand that the entire material should be handed over to them for perusal.

The apex court, in its January 16, order said, Let the documents be placed on record within seven days and if it is considered appropriate, copies be furnished to the petitioners. Put up before the appropriate bench.

The case, whose assignment to the bench hearing the PILs was a bone of contention of the unprecedented press conference by four senior-most judges of the apex court on January 12.

Loya, who was hearing the sensitive Sohrabuddin Sheikh encounter case, had allegedly died of cardiac arrest in Nagpur on December 1, 2014, when he had gone to attend the wedding of a colleagues daughter.

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.

The issue of Loyas death had come under the spotlight inhiNovember last year after media reports quoting js sister had fuelled suspicion about the circumstances surrounding his death and its link to the Sohrabuddin case.

However, Loyas son had on January 14 said in Mumbai that his father died of natural causes and not under suspicious circumstances.

The court had earlier termed as serious matter the issue of Loyas death and had asked Maharashtra government to file certain documents, including the autopsy report.

Poonawallas counsel had told the court that this was a case of alleged mysterious death of a judge, who was hearing a sensitive case, and an independent probe was required.

In his plea, he had claimed that circumstances revolving around the death of the judge were questionable, mysterious and contradicting.

The other plea filed by the journalist has submitted that a fair probe was needed into the mysterious death of Loya, who was hearing the Sohrabuddin encounter case in which various police officers and BJP president Amit Shah were named as parties.

A PIL seeking probe into the judges death was also filed before the Bombay High Court on January 8 by the Bombay Lawyers Association.

The Indian judiciary was thrown into a turmoil on January 12, when four senior apex court judges, Justices J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, M B Lokur and Kurian Joseph, had convened an unprecedented press conference raising some issues, including selective allocation of cases by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra. The cases indicated by them included this case.
Six people, including three children, have been killed over the last 24 hours in Bihar with the opposition mounting an attack on Friday on the Nitish Kumar-led government for failing to check the spiralling lawlessness in the state.

The goriest incident was the abduction and murder of 16-year-old Raunak Kumar, the son of a property dealer, whose body was found on Friday in Patnas downtown Kumhrar locality under Agamkuan police station area.

The Class 9 student was abducted while he was on his way to school on Wednesday and the kidnappers demanded Rs. 25 lakh ransom from his parents. When the family expressed their inability to meet the demand, the abductors killed him.

Three suspects, one of them the victims neighbour, Vickey, have been held in connection with the incident.

Sudhir Kumar, Raunaks father, said he informed the police soon after he got the call for ransom from the kidnappers.

The city SP (superintendent of police) kept assuring us that Raunak is safe and they would rescue him safely. Today, they handed us his body, the wailing father, who fainted after seeing his sons body, said.

Police kept us in dark all through the last 48 hours, he said.

As the police found the boys body from a shop in the nearby locality and handed it to his family members after an autopsy, people in Kumhrar and adjoining areas reacted angrily to the alleged police slackness.

We tried our best to rescue the child from abductors... But before we could reach the abductors hideout, they had killed the boy. We cracked the case within 24 hours and arrested three culprits involved in the gruesome incident, Patna city SP (East) Vishal Sharma said.

The others who were killed have been identified as five-year-old Adarsh Kumar and 52-year-old priest Ravi Das from Sasaram and traders son Prem Lal Shah, 38, and a government employees 29-year-old son Rajendra Rai from Muzaffarpur.

Seven-year-old Veer Kumar Singh from Bettiah was also killed. Veer, the son of a farmer, had gone missing on Thursday and his body was later found from a water tank. West Champaran SP Jayant Kant said the child was sodomised before he was killed.

Opposition leaders pulled up the government as they equated the prevailing situation as jungle raj or the law of the jungle in Bihar - a phrase used to describe the incidents of lawlessness during the tenure of Lalu Prasad Yadavs Rashtriya Janata Dal from 1990 to 2005.

The government seems to have completely lost control of law and order situation in the state, Bihar Congress acting president Kaukab Quadri said.

Former deputy chief minister and leader of opposition Tejaswi Prasad visited Raunaks family. The RJD leader criticised the government for failing to check the murders and kidnappings in the state.

He later said in a tweet that criminals are ruling the roost in Bihar while the government is maintaining a stoic silence.

Official records show that since January 1 this year, at least 35 people have been killed in Bihar and three of them were victims of kidnapping.

Similarly, six people were abducted and killed in January 2017 and 14 people were abducted for ransom and murdered during the same time in 2016.
Yamini Karunagaran was on the bus to work in Bengaluru when a man sat in a women-only seat where he leered at her, and then followed her when she disembarked.

Almost as disturbing as the incident itself were reactions from many of those she related it to.

It angered me that so many people later asked me what I was wearing, Karunagaran told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

That attitude is almost as common as harassment and assault, which affect almost four out of every five women in India, according to a 2016 survey by non-profit ActionAid UK.

Rather than hold perpetrators accountable, many people shift blame to the victim, accusing her of inviting attention by wearing revealing clothes or laughing too loudly.

In protest, Karunagaran decided to donate the clothes she was wearing at the time to Blank Noise.

The advocacy group started the I never ask for it campaign, which has become part of a nationwide conversation about harassment.

Blank Noise travels to different cities collecting clothes women were harassed in and putting them on display in spaces where they hold healing circles and other events.

Some have brought their ageing aunts clothes, while others have drawn the dress they were wearing when they were abused as a child, said founder Jasmeen Patheja.

Women told us how they had tucked away their garment in the corner of their cupboards, she said. It was a memory that didnt quite go away.

Karunagaran was traditionally clad when she was harassed. Her orange leggings and kurta, a loose knee-length shirt, now hang on racks alongside outfits of all styles.

They include the pants, pink tank top and pink shirt that twenty-six-year-old fashion designer Eeshita Kapadiya was wearing when she was harassed.

Garments help people see it as it was and realise that it doesnt matter what you are wearing when you are harassed or abused, said Kapadiya, who declined to give details of the harassment she suffered.

The ActionAid survey found that almost 80% of women in India are subject to harassment and assault that ranges from staring, insults and wolf-whistling, to being followed, groped or even raped.

It occurs on the street, in parks, at community events, on college campuses and on public transport, campaigners say.

Sameera Khan, co-author of Why Loiter?, a book about the risks for women on Mumbais streets, said that Blank Noise, as well as women like Kapadiya and Karunagaran, are making a powerful and long overdue statement.

Campaigns like this firmly put the blame back on the perpetrators, she said.
The BJP has inched closer towards an alliance with the tribal outfit, Indigenous Peoples Front of Tripura (IPFT), ahead of next months assembly polls in the Left-ruled northeastern state, a party leader said.

The BJP is also in talks with another outfit, Indigenous Nationalist Party of Twipra (INPT).

Yes it was a very long meeting. @BJP4India and IPFT are now inching closer towards a formal electoral alliance in Tripura, Assam minister Himanta Biswa Sarma tweeted after the meeting between two parties.

Sarma is chairman of the BJP-led North East Democratic Alliance , a conglomerate of several parties of the region.

Despite its late entry, the BJP has expanded rapidly in the region since 2014 and is in power in at least four states , either on its own or in alliance -- Assam, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland.

The CPM has been in power in Tripura since since 1993 and controls 18 out of 20 Scheduled Tribe reserved seats where the IPTF and INPT have significant influence. Another leftist party, the CPI, has its MLA in another of these seats.

Tripura assembly has 60 seats and the CPM-CPI combine won 50 of them in 2013.

We except to finalise the talks over the next week, BJP general secretary Ram Madhav said.

The IPFT has been demanding a separate Tipraland, but the BJP does not subscribe to it.

Negotiations between the two parties, so far, hint that the BJP will agree to any demand for more autonomy to the tribal-dominated areas of Tripura, but will not accede to the demand for a separate state.

The INPT, which is also negotiating with the Congress, too, has its channel of communication open with the BJP.

The BJP is hoping to put up a strong fight to the CPM and improve its vote share manifold.

The BJP got a meagre 1.15 lakh out of over 20 lakh votes polled in the 2014 Lok Sabha seats, as compared to CPM tally of about 13 lakh.

Since then six Trinamool Congress MLAs have joined the BJP making it the second-largest party in the state. Trinamool polled about 2 lakh votes in the Lok Sabha election of 2014. The Congresss figure was a little over 3 lakhs.

Madhav said the CPM was a facing strong anti-incumbency and the popularity of the prime minister Narendra Modi and BJPs organisational strength will help the party win the election.

Today, many senior Congress leaders are with the BJP. Trinamool Congress MLAs have joined us. We have worked extensively over the last 3-4 months to increase our base, Madhav said.

Home minister Rajnath Singh will launch the BJPs campaign in Tripura next week and the Prime Minister will address two rallies.
A Border Security Force (BSF) jawan and two civilians were killed in a ceasefire violation by Pakistan forces along the international border in Jammu region on Friday, taking the total death toll to five since hostilities began around two days ago.

Officials familiar with the development said at least six villagers were also injured when Pakistan Rangers opened fire at villages and military installations along the Arnia, RS Pura, Ramgarh and Hiranagar sub-sectors of Jammu, Samba and Kathua districts around 6.30 am.

Samba deputy commissioner Sheetal Nanda confirmed that the jawan, head constable Jagpal Singh of the BSFs 176th battalion posted near the Chillyari border outpost in Samba sector, was killed in the military offensive. Singh hailed from Rajasthan.

As many as 23 people  including two BSF personnel  have been injured in enemy fire so far. The injured security personnel were identified as head constables Sat Paul Singh and Adarsh SS.

Troubled Kashmir Two hundred and thirteen militants, 51 civilians died in militancy-related incidents last year, according to J&K government. Three hundred and twenty weapons, including 213 AK rifles, 101 pistols and revolvers, four RPGs, one each sniper rifle and 303 rifle were recovered in 2017. On January 18, three civilians and a soldier died during gunfire in Kashmir. According to Pakistans foreign ministry, Indian forces committed more than 1,900 ceasefire violations.

A BSF head constable, A Suresh, and a 17-year-old girl, Neelam, were initially killed when shelling by Pakistan forces began on the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday. The other two civilians killed in the crossfire have been identified as Bachno Devi (50) and Sahil Kumar (25).

Seven civilians in Hiranagar, four in Samba and 12 in Jammu districts have been injured so far.

Meanwhile, reports of the Pakistan army shelling Indian posts along the line of control (LoC) in Jhangar area in Rajouris Nowshera sector emerged on Friday afternoon. An alert was sounded after heavy shelling was reported there, said Rajouri deputy commissioner Dr Shahid Iqbal Choudhary.

Schools in affected areas have been closed as a precautionary measure.

The Pakistan army had also resorted to heavy shelling in Balakote sector along the LoC in Poonch district around 10.15 pm on Thursday.

The flare-up along the international border, which has now extended up to the LoC in Jhangar area, originated from a sniping incident that occurred in Samba district on January 3. India had retaliated less than two weeks later, killing seven Pakistan soldiers at Jandrot in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir on January 15.

BSF officials said they were retaliating to Pakistan shelling in Ramgarh sub-sector of Samba.
China on Friday justified its construction of roads and infrastructure at Doklam near the Sikkim border, saying the area is under its effective jurisdiction and the work is aimed at improving conditions for troops based in its own territory.

However, the external affairs ministry insisted the status quo at the site of last years face-off between Indian and Chinese troops had not been altered. It said it was keeping a constant vigil on the situation in Doklam and that two sides have used established mechanisms to resolve any misunderstanding.

Beijings strong reaction came two days after the Indian media reported that the People Liberation Army (PLA) is building a military complex, complete with helipads and trenches, close to the area where border troops from the two countries were locked in a stand-off for 73 days.

Donglang (Doklam) always belonged to China and (was) always under Chinas effective jurisdiction. There is no dispute in this regard, foreign ministry spokesperson Lu Kang told a news briefing.

In order to patrol the border and improve the production and lives of border troops and residents, China has constructed infrastructure, including roads in the Donglang area. China is exercising sovereignty in its own territory.

Lu suggested India should not comment on Chinas construction activities.

Just as China will not make comments on Indias construction of infrastructure on Indias territory, we hope other countries will not make comments on Chinas construction of infrastructure in its own territory, he said.

Lu was responding to questions on the reports of a massive build-up by Chinese troops in Doklam region, which have triggered fears of another stand-off. The Indian media reports cited satellite imagery of the build-up, including the construction of a military complex.

Asked about the satellite imagery, Lu said, I have also noted the relevant report. I dont know who offers such kind of photos. At the same time, he added that he did not have detailed information on this issue.

Responding to questions on the reported Chinese military build-up at a news briefing in New Delhi, external affairs ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar referred to the ministrys statement on Thursday that had said the status quo at the face-off site has not been altered. Any suggestion to the contrary is inaccurate and mischievous.

Kumar said, We are of course keeping a constant vigil on developments which have a bearing on Indias national security and take all necessary steps to safeguard it. The two sides do have, and have used, established mechanisms to resolve any misunderstanding.

He refused to comment on Indian Army chief Gen Bipin Rawats remarks that the Chinese had carried out some temporary infrastructure development at Doklam.

Chinese spokesperson Lu referred to Rawats comments that Doklam is a territory disputed between China and Bhutan, and said: The Indian senior military officer has recognised that it was the Indian border troops who crossed the border.

This incident has put bilateral relations to undergo a severe test. We hope the Indian side can learn lessons from this and avoid the incident to happen again (sic), he said.

Recalling the summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Brics Summit in Xiamen in September, Lu said the two leaders reached some consensus on improving bilateral relations and chartering the course for future development during that meeting.

We hope relevant parties can earnestly follow through on the consensus reached by the two leaders, move in the same direction and jointly uphold the peace and stability of the border areas and stay committed for the comprehensive development of bilateral relations, he added.
Prime Minister Narendra Modis delegation to the World Economic Forum at Davos will offer yoga classes on the icy slopes, the foreign ministry said on Friday, the latest high-profile attempt to promote Indias traditions abroad.

India aims to showcase its potential as a driver of global economic growth, after China, as well as its soft power, reflected in the popularity of yoga as well as its cuisine.

Two yoga teachers from India will hold daily classes next week at the summit, which has attracted 70 heads of state and government, including US President Donald Trump as well as celebrities, chief executives and top bankers.

PM Modi will be the first Indian prime minister to attend the WEF in 21 years, since when the economy has more than doubled to $2.3 trillion and become the worlds seventh largest.

He will deliver the keynote address at the plenary session.

Providing details of Indian engagement in Davos, Ramesh Abhishek, head of the department of industrial policy and promotion (DIPP), said we will offer yoga classes everyday.

DIPP is also hosting a welcome reception for the WEF members on January 22 where 1,500 people are expected to come.

We will showcase Indias progress while also giving a taste of our exquisite cuisine and Indian culture and heritage, Abhishek said.

We will also set up an India Lounge in Davos, Abhishek added.

Desi cuisine and yoga will mark the start of the five-day annual jamboree of the rich and powerful from across the world in the snow-laden Swiss ski resort town of Davos. This is the first time India will host the welcome reception at the summit.

The Indian presence is set to be the largest-ever with as many as six Union ministers, two chief ministers, several top government officials and over 100 CEOs, figuring among the registered participants.

The official sessions at the WEF will also have special India-focused discussions including one on Indias role in the world, how it is rethinking economics with the use of big data in policymaking and the countrys role in securing peace and stability in the Asian century.

PM Modi will be in Davos only for a day but will meet the heads and top officials of about 60 companies, Abhishek said, adding that these included Airbus, Hitachi, IBM , BAE Systems and the Carlyle Group.
More than a million solar panels, installed on an arid stretch spread over 45 sq km in Jodhpur district, will fuel Rajasthans ambitious plan to generate 7,000 MW of solar energy by 2019 end. Once fully operational, the Bhadla solar park will generate 2,255 MW, making it the largest solar park in the world.

The park, being developed in four phases, is currently generating 746 MW and phase 3 of 1,000 MW is under implementation, a senior official said.

Apart from the Bhadla solar park, Rajasthan has already commissioned solar projects of 1,592 MW over the past four years. Besides, a 750 MW project being developed by Essel Infra at Pokhran, a 1,500 MW project is being jointly set up by Adani group and Rajasthan government at Jaisalmer and a 1,000 MW project is under construction by RRECL at Nokh in Jaisalmer. All these projects are expected to be commissioned by 2019 end.

Rajasthan is on course to triple its solar power generation capacity in next two years to 7,000 MW from 2,246 MW at present, Rajasthan Renewable Energy Corporation Ltd (RRECL) managing director BK Dosi said. A major contributor will be worlds largest solar park at Bhadla, which will have a total capacity of 2,255 MW, and we expect it to be fully commissioned by March 2019, he added.

At present, the 1,000 MW Kurnool Ultra Solar Park in Andhra Pradesh is the worlds largest single location solar project and Pavagada Solar Park in Karnataka aims to generate 2,700 MW once fully commissioned.

The Bhadla solar park already has two phases in operation, producing 746 MW of power, with big names in the business such as the Adani and IL&FS among the developers. RRECL has implemented phase I and phase II of Bhadla solar park. Under phase I (75 MW), five projects of 60 MW have been commissioned, and under phase II (680 MW) all the 10 projects of total capacity of 680 MW have been commissioned.

The third phase (1,000 MW) is being developed by Saurya Urja Company of Rajasthan Ltd, which is a joint venture of Rajasthan government and IL&FS. Out of 1,000 MW, projects of 500 MW capacity have been awarded at a tariff of 2.44 and 2.45 per unit.

These projects are likely to be commissioned by September 2018, Dosi said.

For remaining 500 MW capacity, an online e-auction was held on December 12, 2017 and tariff determined at 2.46 and 2.47 per unit. These projects are likely to be commissioned by March 2019, he said. The fourth phase (500 MW) is being developed by Adani Renewable Energy Park Rajasthan Ltd, a joint venture of Rajasthan government and Adani Enterprises.

Until the solar park was established, Bhadla on the fringes of the Thar Desert, about 200 km from Jodhpur, only made headlines for extreme heat with temperatures crossing 50 degrees in the summer. However, the sunny and arid region is now not only generating clean energy but also helping change the lives of people by providing employment and business opportunities.

A report released in October 2017 by the International Energy Agency (IEA) has stated that Indias renewable energy capacity will more than double by 2022. The union government has an ambitious target of raising it to 175 GW by 2022 including 100 GW of solar and 60 GW of wind energy.
The Rajasthan high court on Friday set aside a Rajasthan government order renaming the Rajiv Gandhi Seva Kendra as Atal Seva Kendra.

A single bench of justice MN Bhandari passed the order in a petition filed by Congress leader Sanyam Lodha. The court directed the state panchayati raj and rural development department to pass orders to ensure that such a situation did not arise again.

The court also suggested that institutions be named after freedom fighters to avoid controversies in future.

The Congress welcomed the decision, saying it was a slap on the face of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Terming the court order as historic, state Congress chief Sachin Pilot said the court had held up the mirror to the BJPs narrow-mindedness.

Renaming of the Rajiv Gandhi Seva Kendras showed the political vendetta of the BJP, he said.

The BJP government was only renaming schemes started by the previous UPA government and trying to win appreciation of the people.

Lodha, who had filed a petition in the high court, pleading that the order was unconstitutional and an insult to late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandh, said the order was not only unconstitutional but also showed the petty politics the BJP indulged in.

There are so many schemes the state government has started named after Deendayal Upadhyay. Any of those could have been named after Atal ji.

The BJP government had passed an order on December 28, 2014 renaming the Rajiv Gandhi Seva Kendras as Atal Seva Kendra.

Lodhas counsel Puneet Singhvi contended in court that the order passed by the state government was against the basic tenets of law.

Singhvi said the Centre had passed an order saying that the name of the Rajiv Gandhi Seva Kendra would not be changed.

The Rajasthan government, however, had taken a decision to change the name of the centres as the chief minister wanted to honour former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on the occasion of his birthday.

The decision had been taken through an administrative order passed in December 2014, Singhvi said.

The petition had initially been filed before a single bench of justice Bela M Trivedi, who had taken the petition to be a public interest litigation and sent it to a division bench. The division bench, however, had returned the petition to a single bench.

The court had heard the case in December and reserved the judgement, which was pronounced on Friday.

Advocate general NM Lodha appeared for the state government in the case.
The Shri Rajput Karni Sena on Friday said it will not allow Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) chief Prasoon Joshi to enter Rajasthan and attend the Jaipur Literature Festival (JLF) which begins on January 25.

Joshi is one of the speakers at JLF  one of the most acclaimed literary events worldwide.

On Friday, the Supreme Court had rejected a plea seeking an urgent hearing on a fresh PIL that sought cancellation of CBFCs certificate granted to the controversial film, Padmaavat. The PIL, filed by lawyer ML Sharma, questioned the Censor Boards certificate to the film and claimed there could be violence if the film is released.

A mail sent to the JLF organisers remained unanswered at the time of going to the press. Calls and text messages, too, remained unanswered.

We dont want to hear his lecture. He has put the pride of Rajasthan at stake. How can he deliver a lecture here after humiliating us? People of Rajasthan dont want such lectures. We will protest against him, president of the group Mahipal Singh Makrana said.

In a video released on Fridday, Rashtriya Karni Sena, another fringe group, leader Sukhdev Singh Gogamedi said that Joshi has misguided the Supreme Court, who has ordered to stay the ban on the release of the controversial film Padmavaat in the four states - Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan and Gujarat.

We have not received SCs decision as yet but as soon as we get it, we will go to the President. The court does not give a hearing date before six months, I wonder how Joshi got the date within 12 hours. I am sure he has misled the court, added Singh.

In the video, Gogamedi is heard saying that the Prime Minister who asks for votes in name of Hindutva should step in and the Centre should ban the movie. He also demanded the resignation of Union information and broadcasting minister Smirti Irani.

Those supporting release of the film or saying anything in support of the film will never be allowed to get into Jaipur, Gogamedi in the video.

Gogamedi had on Thursday declared that thousands of women would perform jauhar (self-immolation) in Chittorgarh on January 24 to protest against the movie. He has also threatened that cinema halls will be vandalized and Rajputs will be out on the streets if the movie is allowed to release.

The governments of Haryana, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan have declared that they will not allow screening of the movie, which stars Deepika Padukone, Shahid Kapoor and Ranveer Singh in lead roles.

The film, based on the legend of Rani Padmini, a 13th century Hindu Rajput queen, mentioned in Padmavat, an Avadhi poem written by Sufi poet Malik Muhammad Jayasi in 1540, has been facing protests from various groups, for allegedly tampering with historical facts.
Police data of last year suggests that Bikaner is safer than any other place in Rajasthan. Bikaner police range witnessed a drop of 13.06 percent in crime cases in 2017 and the district topped among all 44 police districts, recording 18.85 percent reduction in crime that invite action under provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Cases of women atrocities also registered a sharp decline of 23.11 percent, in Bikaner range, making it the highest in state. Rajasthan recorded a drop of 8.93 percent in 2016 in major crimes but this year it stands at 5.80%., according to police data.

Major cognizable offences -- murder, attempt to murder, loot, theft and kidnapping  have also witnessed a significant decline, police data reveals. A total of 1, 69,943 crime cases were registered in 2017, compared to 1, 80,398 cases in 2016.

Inspector general of police, Bikaner range, Bipin Kumar Pandey, said, The rise in cases under local and special acts indicate better policing, as many people arrested under these acts were real troublemakers.

In 2016, Bikaner police registered 4,468 cases under the provisions of IPC and the numbers have dropped to 3,626 in 2017.

SP Bikaner Swai Singh Godara said, If we see an increase in local and special acts, it reflects a corresponding decrease in the cases of major IPC crimes which means that there has been a positive impact and the crime graph has seen a significant fall. Crimes against women have been on the rise in 2016 despite the women safety measures. 3,813 cases of women atrocities were reported in 2016, which has dropped to 2,932 this year.
A 12-year-old girl accused of stabbing a Class 1 student of her school in Lucknow had fled home twice last year, pointing to psychological issues she may have, police officials involved in the investigations said on Friday.

The juvenile accuseds father, however, dismissed the insinuation but admitted to her fleeing home  once after he scolded him and later due to taunting by a neighbour.

The girl, now in a juvenile remand home, allegedly stabbed the six-year-old on Tuesday in the school toilet, in an incident similar to the killing of a Class 2 student by a senior student at a Gurgaon school last year.

The girl allegedly wanted the school to close early.

Last year, the girl ran away from the house on two occasions. The first time, it was on September 29 and the second time was November 11, said Brijesh Singh, station officer of Aliganj.

Another police official investigating the case said a minor girl absconding twice from home in quick succession raises serious doubt over her behaviour that could be erratic.

The juvenile suspect could also have a psychological problem, the official added.

According to police, after she fled on September 29, the girl was found in the waiting room at Charbagh railway station two days later.

On November 11, she boarded a Punjab-bound train and got down at Saharanpur. The girl was tracked down on November 16, after local people informed police about a minor girl roaming alone.

A staff member of the girls school claimed the girl was not good in her studies.

The girls academic record is not good. She often used to hide note books and text books before tests, said the staff, who did not wish to be named. The girl was not regular in class. She often used to remain absent.

However, the girls father refuted the allegations.

I have questioned my daughter many times. She has denied all allegations, he said.

He also contradicted the schools assertion that the girl was not good in academics.

My daughter was regular in school and is good in academics, he added.

On her running away from home, the father said: She ran away from the house after I had scolded her over a trivial issue.

He held a neighbour, who used to taunt the girl, responsible for the second instance of his daughter fleeing.

The neighbour was working as a maid in the school where the suspect was studying. But now, she neither works with the school nor stays near the girls house.

After the first incident, my neighbour used to past sarcastic comments on my daughter. One day, she got fed up due to the constant taunting and left the house again, said the father.

The suspects neighbours and other residents of the colony expressed surprise over the incident.

I came to know about the incident through newspapers on Thursday morning. I could not believe it. It was only after cops and school staff started arriving at the girls house that we came to know that the suspect lives in our colony, said a neighbour.

For a woman living a few metres away from the suspects house, the revelation was nothing less than a shock.

I cannot imagine even in my dreams that the girl whom I used to meet everyday could do such an act, said a neighbour.

Some of the neighbours also drew parallels between the incident and the Gurgaon killing.
Four policemen, including two sub-inspectors, were suspended in connection with the death of an eight-year-old boy in cross-firing between police and criminals in a Mathura village on Wednesday, even as district magistrate Sarvagya Ram Mishra ordered a magisterial inquiry into the case.

Chief minister Yogi Adityanath had announced an ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh, which was handed over to the aggrieved family on Thursday.

The boy, Madhav Bhardwaj, had got trapped in the crossfire while he was playing with his friends.

Inspector general, Agra range, Raja Srivastava reached the Aduki Mohanpur village of Mathura on Thursday to investigate the matter.

On the basis of Srivastavas inquiry report, sub-inspectors Virendra Singh Yadav and Saurabh Sharma and constables Subhash Chandra and Udham Singh were suspended for dereliction in duty.

They are among the six policemen who had reached the village on Wednesday evening on getting information about the presence of suspects involved in a loot case in Mathura.

Senior superintendent of police, Mathura, Swapnil Mamgain who also visited the village on Thursday, said Dy SP Rakesh Singh would carry out the police investigation.

A case has been registered at the highway police station against four unidentified people on the basis of the complaint lodged by the boys father, Mamgain said.

Prime facie it appears that S-I Yadav did not act in a thoughtful manner. A bullet accidently hit an innocent boy. Further investigations are on, the SSP said.

Three other police officers, including sub-inspector Sharma, were found guilty of not taking the injured child to hospital and leaving him and his relatives midway. They have been suspended for their insensitive approach, he said.

The post-mortem report has revealed bullet injury as the reason for the childs death but it is yet to be ascertained as to who fired the shot. Bomb disposal squad and forensic team searched for the bullet but it could not be found, he said.

Mathura DM Sarvagya Ram Mishra said a magisterial inquiry had been ordered. A report will be submitted to the state government within two weeks, he said.

He said S-I Yadav had gone to the village with a team without informing the station officer or circle officer.

Meanwhile, the last rites of the boy were performed in the village amidst the presence of senior police and district officials.

The victims grandfather Shiv Shankar said the policemen were sitting in the field and when asked, they told the villagers not to bother about them.

Thereafter, they were seen moving while firing but no one else was seen. My eight-year-old grandson Madhav suddenly fell down after a bullet hit him in the head while his friends were seen crying, he said.

The cops called for a vehicle and agreed to accompany the family to hospital but at Navada they told the family to take the boy to hospital as they had to go and fetch more force for the encounter. The boy was admitted to hospital where he died, he said.
Healthcity Hospital and Trauma Centre had planned to extend its experts advice to other districts via telemedicine, said hospitals director Dr Sandeep Kapoor on Thursday.

In several incidents, patients lose their case due to lack of knowledge and delay in required medical advice. Keeping this in view, we are planning to bring telemedicine to rescue of such patients, said Dr Kapoor on the occasion of the hospitals second anniversary.

As doctors in many districts hardly get an opportunity to go for refresher courses, their knowledge remains basic while advances in surgical skills happen every year, says Dr Sandip Garg, senior orthopaedic surgeon at Healthcity.

A roadmap to the telemedicine initiative will soon be prepared based upon our experience of handling complicated cases, said Dr Kapoor, an eminent joint replacement surgeon.

He added that sharing of knowledge would not only ensure quality service across state but would also avoid situations where patients had to rush from one place to another.

Cabinet minister (urban development) Suresh Khanna was the chief guest on the occasion. In his address, Khanna said that high standards of discipline had to be maintained to deliver quality healthcare services.

The programme was coordinated by Dr KB Jain and Dr Vaibhav Khanna, director of Smile Train. Private sector can perform better with the support of the state government and with the present government extending support, we hope to improve our quality of service, said Dr Vaibhav Khanna.

The newly named Healthcity Road (erstwhile known as Ujariyaon road) was also inaugurated at the event. A van donated under Smile Train project to transport cleft lip and palate patients was also launched. Certificate of appreciation was also distributed to the achievers under the Smile Train project including Suchit Seth and Rakesh Kumar Sharma.
Angry over the stabbing incident and concerned over childrens safety on the campus, hundreds of parents gathered outside Brightland School here on Thursday and shouted slogans against the school management, accusing them of negligence.

COPS FAVOURING SUSPECT, ALLEGE PARENTS Some parents even alleged that the police were favouring the suspect girl and registering FIR under minor charges. In the incident, the FIR was registered under IPC sections 324 for voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means and 325 for voluntarily causing grievous hurt. However, some parents stated why police did not include Section 307 of the IPC for attempt to murder.

The protest lasted for many hours and ended after the polices assurance that appropriate action would be taken against the management.

The parents started gathering at the school since morning, but slogan shouting started when the school got over for the day. In retaliation, some students of senior classes started shouting slogans in favour of the school. At this, parents accused the school administration of using students in their favour.

Reena Manas, director, Brightland School, later addressed the parents and assured them of their childrens safety on the school campus. She said the school management was cooperating with the police in the investigation.

She said after the incident, the injured boy was immediately rushed to the hospital only because of the school staffs alertness. The suspect girl was also identified immediately by the management, added Reena Manas.

The director said the school management would increase the number of close circuit television cameras on the premises. Though cameras were installed at multiple places in the school, more would be installed at other places that were so far not under video surveillance, she emphasised.

Kamlesh Rajput, a parent, said his two children were studying in this school and he was scared after reading the entire episode in newspapers on Thursday morning. He said he could not stop himself from visiting the institution.

Another parent Anil Kumar said the schools theory that a Class 7 girl stabbed the Class 1 boy just because of getting the school closed did not seem to be very genuine. He said the school administration was hiding some facts.
A day after the school stabbing shocker, educators in Lucknow said positive parenting was the need of the hour.

Its high time we start positive parenting. We are going to organise classes for the parents where they will be taught positive parenting and its benefits, said Urvashi Sahni, an educationist.

Sahni, who is the founder and chief executive of Study Hall Education Foundation, said parents should also be more watchful. We need to understand the psychology of the students before its too late.

A few educators also stressed on the need for changes in the location of toilets and installation of CCTV cameras on the entrances of such places.

Why cant we install CCTV cameras at the entrance of the toilet? We have installed cameras at the entrances of our schools toilet and have also deployed one male and female staff to man the toilet, said Mala Mehra, principal, Hoerner College.

She also said that the toilets should not be at secluded places. Instead, they should be at central locations in the buildings so that regular vigil is possible on such places to avert such incidents.

Mehra was of the view that the media should broadcast news (like stabbing incident) in such a way that it doesnt leave a strong impact on childrens mind.

A few educators also blamed the fast diminishing moral values for such incidents (stabbing). I believe moral values are missing. Its time to take strict measures. Schools and parents should jointly take a stand in order to check occurrences of such incidents in future. Besides, school should also work on the ways to ease the stress level of students that are at alarming levels, said RP Mishra, retired principal, Queens Inter College and state secretary, UP Madhyamik Shikshak Sangh.
The Lucknow incident may have triggered a debate on the security of children on campuses. But for Hiralal Yadav, a native of Sarai Bhadi gram in Azamgarh, it is a chilling reminder of a horrific incident wherein his six-year-old son, Krishna, was stabbed to death on the school premises in 2016.

SEEKING JUSTICE Hiralal Yadav, 38, a farmer, staged demonstrations, squatted before the school and even went on a hunger strike, but failed to bring justice to his deceased son. He also made several attempts to meet the DM and other top officials to seek unbiased probe into the matter. Yadav alleged that the police had a lethargic approach towards the case as the father of the suspect was a pradhan and an influential person.

The only difference is that my Krishna is no more and in Lucknow the victim is hospitalised, said Hiralal Yadav, 38, a farmer.

Yadav was once a happy man whose dream was to see his son becoming an IAS officer. And perhaps for the same reason, he withdrew his son from a local primary school and got him enrolled in Ram Kunvar Singh College in Singhpur Bazaar, Azamgarh.

I met the school manager and requested him to enroll my son. He showed me the CCTV cameras, big screens and freshly painted classrooms and big playground. And I got impressed, he added.

Seeing his son Krishna speaking English was no less than a pleasure for Yadav who was a happy man until January 27, 2016  the fateful day when the news of his sons murder came in.

On that day, my son went to school as usual, but never came back. I still remember the day. I was watering the field when a person came shouting, saying my son met with an accident, he added.

He rushed to the school, from where he was asked to go to the post- mortem house. I reached the post-mortem house, where I found my sons body wrapped and sealed in a white cloth. I couldnt believe my eyes, said Yadav.

But that was the truth. My Krishna, who was a student of LKG, was stabbed to death with a knife and was dumped in the backyard of the school, barely 50 metres behind the main premises of the school, he said.

Hiralal Yadav said the evidences and circumstances suggested that a 14-year-old boy, a student of Class 4 of the same school, took along my son and stabbed him to death.

The deceaseds father staged demonstrations, squatted before the school and even went on a hunger strike, but failed to bring justice to his deceased son. Yadav also ran from pillar to post and made several attempts to meet the district magistrate and other top officials to seek unbiased probe into the matter. He alleged that the police had a lethargic approach towards the case as the father of the suspect was a pradhan and an influential person.

That was not all. Yadav also chased the fleet of former chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, demanding an unbiased probe into his sons case.

I came to know that Akhilesh bhaiyya is coming to Jaunpur for a function. I reached there and came to know that he is coming to Badlapur for a function. I also managed to reach Badlapur to meet him but the security personnel stopped me. Then I chased his fleet, just to convey him my plea, but I was detained for eight hours, he lamented.

Hiralal Yadav said his sons case was in court, but he didnt have enough money to pursue it. On my sons second death anniversary (January 27), I will organise a hawan for the peace of the departed soul, added Yadav.
The death of yet another man in a tiger attack near the Pilibhit Tiger Reserve (PTR) on January 16 has once again swung the spotlight on the growing problem of man-animal conflicts in the region.

The Pilibhit forest area, situated on the Nepal border, was declared as a tiger reserve by the then Samajwadi Party government in 2014. Tiger attacks have claimed at least 22 lives in the region since then.

Theres nothing worse than being killed by a tiger. It is neither an accident nor a murder. Your disfigured dead body is the last memory your family will have of you, said Durga Prasad, a close relative of 50-year-old Mathura Prasad, whose remains were recovered from a spot near the PTR on Tuesday. A post-mortem report confirmed that he was killed a tiger.

A day before the incident, a 28-year-old man  identified as Rajesh Kumar  was killed by another tiger in a sugarcane field six kilometres away from the place where Prasads body was found. Forest officials confirmed that two different cats were involved in the attacks.

It is a sad incident. It seems like the victim simply happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, an official said.

Lack of buffer zone

Three people were killed in tiger attacks between October and December 2016, two years after the PTR was inaugurated.

Forest officials blamed the deaths on man-animal conflicts due to the absence of a reliable buffer zone along the core area of the reserve. At some places, people have agricultural farms hardly five metres away from the boundary of the reserve, said PTR divisional forest officer Kailash Prakash. This, along with the non-fenced 670-kilometre-long boundary of the tiger reserve interspersed by 275 villages, increases the chances of man-animal conflicts.

Assurances, no action

The state government has failed to come up with a practical solution to the problem despite frequent protests by local residents.

Union minister for women and child welfare Maneka Gandhi, who is also the member of Parliament from Pilibhit, had announced last August that the forest would be fenced off. Though the forest department received Rs 50 lakh for the purpose, work is yet to begin.

Chief minister Yogi Adityanath held a meeting with local forest and district administration officials on the issue when he visited Pilibhit last year, but no concrete plan was chalked out. Even experts seem to have shunned the reserve.

Not a single study has been carried out on the forests ecosystem since the time it was declared a tiger reserve. The forest department had announced one such project in 2017, but it is yet to begin, said forest conservator VK Singh.
After the Supreme Court order staying the ban by four-BJP ruled states on the release of Sanjay Leela Bhansalis Padmaavat, the Yogi government is gearing up for the films January 25 release despite continuing opposition from Rajput bodies.

In fact, the All India Kshatriya Mahasabha led by its chief Harivansh Singh, a Rajput MP from Pratapgarh, has convened a meeting on Friday to discuss Thursdays interim order of the apex court.

Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Haryana governments had banned the screening of the movie in their states.

Senior UP government officials, who had in August 2011 seen apex court striking down the state governments two month ban on the screening of Prakash Jhas Aarakhshan, admit that Thursdays order leaves no room for any doubt on the release of the movie.

The films December 1 release had to be stalled after angry Rajput bodies started announcing bounties on the filmmaker and actors of the movie.

UP chief minister Adityanath, whose government was among the first few to write to the Centre to defer the films previous release, had later in a terse comment declared Bhansali as guilty as those issuing threats.

UPs deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya had then said the film wont be screened in UP without cuts.

But now, the film in its revised avatar has a changed title Padmaavat from the original Padmavati and several cuts.

The state can only ban a film if its release creates a law and order issue. But, then the law and order clearly is a state subject and the state government wouldnt like to be seen as pandering to the demands of a particular community because it then sets a bad precedent, an official said.

The Rajput groups, many of whom had initially found ready support from the BJP governments in many states, admit that the Thursdays court order might leave the government with little option.

There is none beyond the Supreme Court but we continue to believe that the film shouldnt be screened. Youths of our community are agitated. Many are making it appear as a Rajput issue but it is about Hindu pride. We are meeting tomorrow after which we would make our decision public, Harivansh Singh said.

Another office-bearer of the Rajput body said while they did not want to put the Yogi government in a moral dilemma, they would like the theatre owners to consider peoples sentiments and voluntarily decide against screening the movie.

While UPs principal secretary, home, Arvind Kumar didnt respond to calls and messages, the states acting director general of police Anand Kumar said the police would fully implement law and order.

We would provide security to theatre owners screening the film. If there are protests, we would talk to the protestors and persuade them. In a democracy, everyone has a right to air their views within limits, he said.

Efforts to get a government version, including that of deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya, on the issue proved futile.

Prior to the courts order, a body Hindu Sena had threatened to demonstrate outside theatres screening the film and some youths had burnt an effigy of Bhansali.

Its the job of the state to provide protection. We are confident of a great opening, a cinema hall owner said.
Darkest Hour

Director - Joe Wright

Cast - Gary Oldman, Kristin Scott Thomas, Lily James, Ben Mendelsohn

Rating - 3/5

By the time this is over, you will remember the name Bruno Delbonnel. Hes the man who shot Darkest Hour. Chances are, youve seen his work before.

You might have subconsciously appreciated his work in a couple of films by Jean-Pierre Jeunet (Amelie and A Very Long Engagement), and a couple by Alexander Sokurov. You mightve been struck by the distinct palette he brought to the Coen Brothers Inside Llewyn Davis, and if youre a fan of the Harry Potter series, you might remember that he is responsible for the series only Oscar nomination for Best Cinematography for his work on the most expensive  and my personal favourite  of the lot, The Half Blood Prince. Most recently, however, he has found greater fame as the cinematographer of choice for Tim Burton.

Together with star Gary Oldman, Bruno Delbonnel is the most outstanding voice in Darkest Hour. His presence is felt, like the great actors, in virtually every frame of the film  through every smoky war room, and through every dingy corridor, through every close-up of Oldmans unnervingly unrecognizable face to every overhead shot of land ravaged by war. And since a disproportionate amount of the conversation about this movie is going to revolve around Oldmans transformative performance, Im going to take this opportunity to talk about someone whose contribution is just as strong, but will hardly receive the same level of applause.

Dont worry: Gary Oldman (and his cigar) will be discussed, but not before we talk about the real reason that Darkest Hour succeeds  because without them, it would certainly not warrant a recommendation.

Darkest Hour is a film that works infinitely better on a technical level than story-wise  in addition to the stunning visuals, it is also immaculately scored by Dario Marianelli, designed by Sarah Greenwood and costumed by Jacqueline Durran.

Surprisingly, the movie it reminded me of the most was Steven Spielbergs Lincoln. Both films are about rather flamboyant political figures  to this day seen as among the finest men their respective countries have ever had the good fortune of being led by  but more to the point, both movies focus on a very brief moment in their lives. In Lincoln, Spielberg concentrated on the Presidents efforts to pass the Thirteenth Amendment, the law that would abolish slavery. In Darkest Hour, director Joe Wright narrows the plot down to basically a month, May of 1940, when Winston Churchill was first elected Prime Minister of Great Britain.

In that month, Churchill had to establish himself as a leader, all the while battling the disdain of his peers, and the King (George VI, most memorably played by Colin Firth in The Kings Speech, and most recently by Jared Harris in Netflixs The Crown); he had to decide whether or not to strike a peace deal with Adolf Hitlers rapidly expanding Nazi empire, and strategise a plan of evacuation for the more than 300,000 troops trapped on the beaches of Dunkirk.

It was perhaps the most difficult predicament possible for him to have been thrust into, but as the eminently quotable man once said, Success is not final, failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts.

The first time we see him, Churchill is plonked on his bed, in his bathrobe, having a hearty breakfast of eggs, bacon and a peg of scotch. His cigar, which I cannot recall him ever being separated from in the film, establishes itself as a permanent fixture in his mouth. He barks and mumbles the first of the many speeches he would deliver to a hassled secretary, our surrogate in this world, played by Lily James. Churchills words  his delivery of them, and his roundabout and frankly chaotic way of coming up with them  play a significant role in Darkest Hour. Of course, it all concludes with the most famous of them all, We shall fight on the beaches

And as delivered by Gary Oldman, its tremendously moving. Worth mentioning, though, is the fact that it arrives in the films final scene, which was strangely spoiled in the trailer. Its a suitably rousing moment in a movie that should ideally have had nothing but fist-pumping moments of patriotism. But thats not the case, because for most of its two hours, Darkest Hours feels rather inert, dramatically. Were it not for Oldmans performance, delivered from under the same three inches of makeup previously slapped on Anthony Hopkins face in Hitchcock, the ebbs and flows of Anthony McCartens overly expository script  the sort that feels the need to explain the significance of white handkerchiefs in the House of Commons, and feels compelled to address characters by their official titles lest we forget whos who  would have been quite the impatient experience.

But then again, I had Bruno Delbonnels visuals to keep me distracted. Through his lens, Darkest Hour takes the appearance of an Expressionistic painting; the chiaroscuro lighting (prominent shafts of light creating high contrast shadows) recalls the works of Caravaggio and Rembrandt, as strange as it may sound. Joe Wright was already a rather flashy director  who can forget that 7-minute single take tracking shot from Atonement, or that parking lot fight sequence from Hanna? And for him to pair up with someone whose style is just as instantly recognisable as any prominent filmmakers sounded risky  what with clashing voices and all  but its the best thing about this film.

Darkest Hour, together with Christopher Nolans Dunkirk and the pleasantly surprising Their Finest, is the third movie of 2017 that features Operation Dynamo as a prominent plot point. It is also, keeping aside The Crown, the second film of 2017 about Winston Churchill. Simply based on the sheer amount of alternatives available, it isnt up to the mark. But remember, neither of those films have Gary Oldman positively begging for an Oscar either. He did, however, deserve a better film with which to win it.

Watch the Darkest Hour trailer here

Follow @htshowbiz for more

The author tweets @RohanNaahar

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12 STRONG Direction: Nicolai Fugisig Actors: Chris Hemsworth, Navid Degahban Rating: 2 / 5

This is an earnest but curiously uninvolving account of a previously classified mission in which an elite American special forces team was deployed to Afghanistan in response to the terror attacks of 9/11.

Under the leadership of a gung-ho captain (Chris Hemsworth), the titular dozen was tasked with wiping out a Taliban stronghold and disrupting the operations of their al-Qaeda allies.

There are a couple of perfunctory family farewells and then the soldiers fly off into the desolate terrain. (Interestingly, locations in New Mexico stood in very credibly for the conflict zone).

Although some of the action scenes are photographed with genuine flair, none of the actors make an impression.

The US unit is working with an Uzbek warlord (Navid Degahban) and quickly adjusts to the new conditions. They confront their common adversary riding on horseback alongside Afghan rebels.

Danish director Nicolai Fugisig offers nothing that hasnt been said more engagingly in other war films. Jingoistic posturing coupled with a thunderous soundtrack inure the viewer to the ceaseless carnage.

To be fair, some of the action scenes are photographed with genuine flair, but none of the actors make an impression. Not even Trevante Rhodes. Youd be better off watching his previous outing, Moonlight, instead.

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A 60-year-old woman died while two of her family members suffered injuries after the car they were travelling in toppled owing to tyre burst on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway on Friday.

The accident took place near Khalapur, around 30 km from Panvel. The four occupants,including the driver, were returning from Pune to their home in Mumbra.

According to the police, the Honda City was coming from Pune. As it was crossing Mahadik village around 8.30 am, one of the tyres exploded.

The driver lost control of the vehicle. The car toppled after hitting the divider and careened over to the opposite lane. Thankfully, there were no vehicles in that lane, said SB Thakur, sub-inspector of Khalapur police station.

Three people suffered severe injuries and were taken to MGM hospital in Kamothe. Sayibida Abdul Shaikh, 60, a resident of Mumbra, succumber to her injuries.

The injured have been identified as Sayibidas husband, Abdul Hamid Shaikh, 75; and Rizwan Shaikh, 32. They are being treated, Thakur said.

Sayibidas body was handed over to the family after post-mortem in a civic hospital at Panvel.

According to experts, apart from tyre bursts, human error is one of the major reasons for accidents on the expressway. Hemant Sharma, socio-legal head of Sahayak NGO and a road expert, said, The explosion occurs when friction heat expands the tyre. Nitrogen gas can help in keeping the tyres cool during friction. It is available at almost all petrol pumps.

Most motorists do not check tyres properly before undertaking a long journey. This factor is contributing to more tyre bursts, he said.
A member of the National Institution for Transforming India or NITI Aayog Ramesh Chand, while fighting for country-wide implementation of the Bhavantar Bhugtan Yojana, has said farm loan waivers cannot be an answer to the agrarian crisis and farmers suicides.

Chand, who was on the Maharashtra tour, said on Thursday that the funds spent on creating the infrastructure for agriculture will prove beneficial and help reduce suicides. He said that only 60% of the farmers take loan for the agricultural purpose. While 50% of them take it from the institutional credit chain, the remaining get it from private lenders. A major share of farmers remain out of the gamut of the benefits of the waiver, he added.

This has been experienced even during the loan waiver announced by the earlier government in 2008-09. Every 4 to 5 years, the farmers demand a loan waiver. They end up being indebted very next year of the announcement of the loan waiver. It is time to think if we want to spend the funds to repay the loan taken by the farmers or we want to help them lift their financial level to be in a position to pay loans on their own, he said.

The Maharahstra government has announced the loan waiver of Rs34,022 crore touting to benefit about 89 lakh farmers. It has released about Rs23,000 crore to 46 lakh farmers so far.

Chand said that the NITI Aayog is advocating compensating the state government for 40% of losses sustained while procuring agricultural produce from farmers at Minimum Support Price (MSP). The scheme on the lines of Bhavantar Bhugatan Yojana, the initiative implemented by the Madhya Pradesh government, should be implemented across the country to encourage state governments to procure the farm produce at MSP. With funding from Centre, the state governments will be in a position to support farmers in recovering production cost due to falling prices, he said.

Chand, who was interacting with the media at Mantralaya, was accompanied by Pasha Patel, president of state commission for agriculture and prices. Patel said he has asked the Centre to regulate future marketing as it exploits farmers.
A Palghar fisherman dived into mid-sea to save an injured flamingo. The incident took place at 7.30 am on Friday. The rescued bird is being treated at the Wildlife Conservation and Animal Welfare Association (WCAWA) Dahanu.

Rajen Tare, whose boat is used by the fisheries department, was part of the team patrolling the area off the Edwan coast in Palghar for fishermen using purse seine nets when he spotted a flamingo trying to stay afloat.

I asked my colleague steer the boat and jumped into the sea to save the bird. The flamingo was exhausted and had damaged its wings. To makes matters worse, it was bleeding profusely. I fed the bird some water and informed the forest department. It is a miracle that it wasnt eaten by big fish in the sea, saidTare.

The forest department officials collected the bird at Satpati coast and rushed it to the WCAWA centre in Dahanu. Dr Dinesh Vinherkar, a veterinarian at the centre, said the bird is in critical condition and both the wings have sustained grievous injuries.

It seems to be a case of mid-air collision. However, there are no fractures. The bird will be looked after at the centre until it is fit for release, he said.
A fire broke out in a building inside the industrial estate located in Todi Mills compound, Lower Parel, around 1am on Friday. The dilapidated building, which used to house Navrang Studio, was unoccupied, fire officials said.

One fireman, Dinesh Patil from Worli fire station, suffered minor injuries on his leg while fighting the blaze, and has been admitted to Nair hospital.

Todi Mills is located bang opposite Kamala Mills, where three weeks ago, a fire broke out in a bistro and spread rapidly, killing 14 customers.

The fire started on the top floor of the ground plus four-storey building, and was raging by 2 am. Fifteen fire tenders and an ambulance were rushed to the spot, and it took the firemen more than four hours to subdue the fire. It was brought under control by 5.35 am.

The fire was confined to the industrial estate. As the building is old, we fought the fire from the adjacent building, said chief fire officer PS Rahangdale. A small section of the top of the building had collapsed, and it looked risky to enter the building, said another fire official, who did not wish to be named, explaining the decision not to enter the structure.

Officials are now trying to ascertain what set off a fire in the old structure which has been lying unoccupied since a few years.

Since December, Mumbai has seen several fires, with four of the incidents claiming a total of 31 lives.

Twelve workers were killed when a fire broke out in a farsan shop in Saki Naka while they were fast asleep, on December 18.

On December 29, 14 people were killed after a fire broke out in an upscale pub in Kamala Mills compound and spread.

On January 4, four members of a family, including two children, died and five others were injured after short circuit triggered a fire in a flat in Marol, Andheri (East).



A 20-year-old man, who worked for a television serial production unit, was killed in a fire at the Cinevista film studio in Kanjurmarg on January 6.
The state government is likely to start an awareness drive for the proposed plastic ban soon, to make it more effective.

State environment minister Ramdas Kadam, on Friday, held a meeting of senior officials asking them to focus more on creating awareness. They were also asked to prepare a road map for the same.

We want to reach out to the last person of the society before the ban comes in force. For this, we are focusing more on creating awareness. This will be done by means of advertising, making attractive slogans, street plays and more, said Kadam.

The state government intends to ban all kinds of plastic bags irrespective of their thickness, disposable containers made of plastic and thermocol that are being used by hotels, plastic flags, flex material, banners and non-woven polypropylene bags, from March.

It also includes disposable plastic bowls, spoons and plates.

The environment minister has already conducted region-wise meetings, covering areas such as Konkan, Aurangabad, western Maharashtra, northern Maharashtra, Nagpur and Amravati  with senior officials of all the local bodies and public representatives as part of the preparations for implementing the ban.

Kadam said that he has got many good suggestions from the officers of the local bodies. I have asked the department to check the practicality of these suggestions so that they can be implemented, he added.

The state environment department is also drafting a notification which will be the official announcement of the ban, stating the items.The notification is likely to be issued by the end of this month.

The implementation of the ban would be a major challenge for the state that had already imposed a ban on plastic bags thinner than 50 microns in 2006 to prevent drains from clogging, in the aftermath of 2005 Mumbai deluge. However, in its order to the local bodies issued on January 2, 2018, the state environment department admitted that the impact of the previous ban was not visible.
The civic administrations efforts to send its chief municipal auditor Suresh Bansode back to the state government failed after the general body of elected representatives in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) rejected the proposal on Thursday.

The Shiv Sena, which was first irked by chief minister Devendra Fadnavis move to appoint Bansode, opposed the proposal, whereas the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was the only party to support it.

Bansode termed the proposal unfair. There is no concrete reason behind it. The allegations were made to disturb my audit work, which I have been doing efficiently. I want to thank the councillors for having faith in me, he said.

Bansodes appointment in June 2016 was considered as the BJPs attempt to corner the Shiv Sena ahead of the civic polls. He was meant to audit civic departmental work, as scores of irregularities in roads and desilting work were reported.

Last year, he was accused of sending two non-civic employees posing as staff to collect a file containing information about the Colaba sewage treatment plan. The two clicked photographs of the file, which raised suspicion.

Following this, civic chief Ajoy Mehta had written to the state government, seeking that Bansode be sent back. Mehta initiated an inquiry against him, after which he tabled a proposal at the general body meeting.

Bansode is accused of impropriety in carrying out audits. How can we have such an auditor on board? asked Manoj Kotak, BJP leader.

A senior civic official said the civic administration would ask the government to set aside the resolution passed by the general body. There is already an ongoing inquiry against Bansode, he said.
While the hospitality sector is thrilled that the rooftop policy, which allows restaurants to operate on terraces, has been approved finally, activists are appalled and point out that it is less than one month since the Kamala Mills fire, which claimed 14 lives.

One of the two restaurants that caught fire at Kamala Mills was located on the terrace.

Activists called the decision, taken by the general body of elected representatives (corporators) in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation on Thursday, a blunder. It is surprising how the policy gets a green signal even after a horrific incident such as the Kamala Mills fire, said Ashraf Khan, president, Youth Voice. Majority of the buildings in the city have narrow entrances to terraces, and any unfortunate incident will have disastrous consequences again, he warned.

Restaurant owners argue that Mumbai needs such rooftop restaurants. There are rooftop restaurants across the world and Mumbai is a world-class city, so it needs them, said Gurbaxish Singh Kohli, senior vice-president, Hotels and Restaurant Association of Western India (HRAWI).

Suneet Chadha, owner of Kosmic Group, which runs four restaurants in the city, shares the same sentiment. The ambience and the view of the city skyline will make rooftop restaurants a fine-dining place. It will work wonders for tourism, he said.

Chadha, however, said its important that safety is not compromised at any cost. The safety rules are strict, and restaurant owners do take precautions as it concerns our property and our people, he claimed.

As per the policy, which had been notified by municipal commissioner Ajoy Mehta in November 2017, all existing malls and hotels can have restaurants on the terrace or rooftop. However, the permission will be given subject to certain conditions. There can be no residential building within 10 metres. The kitchens of terrace restaurants should use appliances such as microwave ovens or induction stoves, not LPG stoves or open flame. And the restaurants should not disturb the neighbourhood.

The policy also restricts using pocket terraces that are designated as refuge areas. Hoteliers have to get compulsory no-objection certificates from the citys chief fire officer.
Scientists have found a new factor that influences the Indian monsoon. A study by Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC) has found a phase that was not understood previously of the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD)  a climatic phenomenon used to forecast rains  which influences the southwest monsoon.

The IOD is an ocean-atmosphere phenomenon in the tropical Indian Ocean characterised by a difference in sea-surface temperatures.

The study, analysed the Indian Summer Monsoon Rainfall (ISMR) in the months of June and September between 1982 and 2016 and found that negative phases of IOD result in good rainfall over different regions  similar to positive IOD. Scientists so far have perceived that opposite phases of the IOD have opposite effects on the ISMR.

Scientists said the study will improve prediction of rainfall patterns, helping seasonal forecasters, planners and social sectors dependent on monsoon rains particularly agriculture, water management and disaster management.

Rainfall triggered by the Indian Ocean Dipole phenomenon over the Indian landmass is not uniform. Based on the study findings, if we can correctly incorporate the teleconnections between the IOD and ISMR into our climate models, we will be able to give better monsoon predictions. Phase two of the monsoon mission will include this aspect. Right now, we are not getting this teleconnection right in the models, said Suryachandra A Rao, associate director, Monsoon Mission which is under the ministry of earth sciences (MoES), who was not involved in the study.

In a positive IOD, moisture from the sea strengthens the monsoon trough, resulting in abundant rainfall around the monsoon trough region, but below normal rainfall south and north of the trough. In a negative IOD, fluctuations in monsoon winds and moisture distribution, plus air circulation over the South China Sea, results in above normal rainfall on the western part and below normal on the eastern part.

The general insight was that the ISMR is below normal during a negative IOD, which was based on a perception of the monsoons positive response during a positive IOD, said Swadhin Behera, director, Application Laboratory, JAMSTEC, in an email interview. Our study has clearly demonstrated that the ISMR responses to the opposite phases of the IOD are not necessarily opposite to each other.

The study analysed eight positive IOD years  1982, 1994, 1997, 2003, 2007, 2008, 2012, 2015, and five negative IOD years: 1992, 1996, 1998, 2013, and 2016. The team found good rainfall in different regions during both positive and negative IOD phases. The spatial distinction arises from the differences in the atmospheric responses and moisture transports to the region during contrasting phases of the IOD, said Behera.

Results show that the western half of India receives above normal rainfall covering a wider region from south to north during a negative IOD and below normal rainfall over the eastern half of the country. On the other hand, a positive IOD caused above normal rainfall in central parts of India stretching from western to eastern states, and below normal rainfall to the north and south of this region. North-eastern states however suffer from below normal rainfall during both phases of IOD.

The central-western part of India, the region of seasonal monsoon trough, records above normal rainfall in both phases of the IOD. It is however not the same case to the south and the east of the monsoon trough region. These similar and dissimilar responses arise due to the relationship between weather or climate patterns at two widely separated locations, and moisture distributions over India during the opposite phases of the IOD, states the study.

This distinction in the spatial pattern of the precipitation (rainfall) distribution in response to negative IOD will help planners to prepare for flooding or drought events over the affected regions, said JV Ratnam, senior scientist, JAMSTEC.

The study Quasi-asymmetric response of the Indian summer monsoon rainfall to opposite phases of the IOD was published in Nature Scientific Reports on January 9. The MoES has a collaboration with the Japanese national research institute.

Relationship between El Nino Southern Oscillation, Indian Ocean Dipole and Indian Summer Monsoon Rainfall

The Indian Ocean Dipole phenomenon is understood to be similar to the El Nino Southern Oscillation cycle in tropical Pacific Ocean, which is the dominating mode of climate variability and historically linked with good and bad years of Indian summer monsoon. The warming of the Pacific Ocean (El Nino) results in deficient monsoon in India, while cool sea surface temperatures (La Nina) ensue above normal rainfall over the country.

However, this historical association between ENSO and ISMR has changed in recent years owing to frequent occurrences of IOD. IOD often reduces the effect of ENSO on the Indian monsoon when both IOD and ENSO occur together, said Swadhin Behera, director, Application Laboratory, JAMSTEC.

In 1997, the monsoon remained close to normal when positive IOD coincided with a record breaking El Nino year even though rainfall was predicted to be below normal.
The Naya Nagar slum in Oshiwara, Andheri (West), where recurring cases of mangrove burning have been reported over the past month, used to be a mangrove forest prior to 2005.

In a letter to the district collector and Borivli revenue officer (tehsildar), the state mangrove cell said that the one-hectare slum, which has 500 shanties, used to be a mangrove forest and need to cleared of the encroachments.

HT had reported on December 27 and January 3 that residents of the area had been shooting video footages of encroachers systematically destroyed the mangrove forest adjacent to Bhagat Singh slums by burning trees and dumping debris on the charred vegetation.

After a detailed survey was undertaken at this site, we found that while the municipal corporation was collecting waste from the Bhagat Singh slums regularly. Residents of Navy Nagar slums were dumping their garbage less than 50 metres into the mangrove patch, where it is regularly being burnt, said Prashant Deshmukh, range forest officer, western region, Mumbai Mangrove Conservation Unit.

Destruction of mangroves is illegal under the Environment Protection Act, 1986. The Bombay High Court banned destruction of mangrove forests across the state and construction within 50m of mangrove areas in 2005.

He added, When we tallied current satellite images with those from before 2005, a clear distinction was visible. Mangroves were clearly seen at the patch before 2005, which have been destroyed over the years.

Senior mangrove cell officers confirmed the survey report. This is a largescale violation that has gone unchecked. The collectors office needs to take immediate action and remove these slums or else the remaining mangrove patch can be wiped out, said Makarand Ghodke, assistant conservator of forest, state mangrove cell.

Officials from the district administration said they had already initiated action regarding the alleged violation. We are verifying the report submitted by the mangrove cell, and once this is complete, immediate action will be taken. We will instruct the police to file a first-information-report (FIR), and remove illegal structures less than 50m from the mangrove patch, said Deependra Singh Kushwa, Mumbai suburban collector.

The residents said there was no effort to control the destruction and recurring fires continued at the mangrove patch.

Rather than caring about who the land belongs to (whether it is private or government land), authorities need to come together and safeguard whats left of this patch before it is completely lost, said Dhaval Shah from Lokhandwala Oshiwara Citizens Association (LOCA) who filed the first complaint in the matter.
Even as Mumbaiites lost their lives to open manholes, potholes and fires in 2017, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is sitting on Rs70,000 crore in deposits.

Part of the cash pile will be used to fund mega projects instead such as Coastal Road and Goregaon-Mulund Link Road.

The BMC earned close to Rs10,000 crore in interests and other revenues last year.

Despite losing money after octroi, its biggest source of income, was scrapped owing to rollout of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), the BMCs revenue has grown. The BMCs massive fixed deposits parked in more than 30 nationalised banks earn it Rs2,000 crore to Rs4,000 crore in interests annually.

But, there has been little evidence that the countrys richest civic body is using the money to make peoples life comfortable.

The ongoing road and desilting scams have shown that Mumbai can never compete with other global metros vis-a-vis infrastructure, say experts.

James John, coordinator with NGO AGNI, said, Though the BMC has managed to earn huge interests, it has failed to utilise the amount for basic civic facilities. What is the use of having such huge deposits when the city continues to deal with bad roads, poor civic hospitals, unattended garbage, contaminated water and so on? The deposits have a provision for infrastructure projects; however, the crumbling infrastructure and lax supervision say it all.

The cash pile includes money earmarked for infrastructure projects, besides provident and pension funds of municipal employees as well as earnest money deposits taken from contractors. For instance, Rs18, 916 crore was reserved for the employee funds last year.

Civic chief Ajoy Mehta said, Our revenue is around Rs24, 000 crore. From the reserves, we have Rs8,000 crore to Rs10,000 crore which adds up to our annual budget of nearly Rs35,000 crore. We withdraw adequate amount for infrastructure projects in accordance with the fund allocated.

A senior official from the finance department said, Once the amount to be used for infrastructure projects is budgeted, it first gets sanctioned by the standing committee and then the corporation. So, we use these funds for infrastructure.

The fixed deposits are generally reserved for various funds; namely, Infrastructure Development Fund, Roads and Bridges Construction and Development Fund, Land Acquisition and Development Fund, Asset Replacement and Rehabilitation Fund. They are also used to meet liabilities such as pension funds.

Godfrey Pimenta, citizen activist, said, Despite such huge deposits, the promise made by political leaders to exempt the property tax for flats having an area below 500 square feet has not been fulfilled. The civic body expects citizens to pay their taxes, but does not want to utilise them to improvise basic civic amenities. They just want to increase their amount of fixed deposits to sustain their title of the richest corporation in the country.

The state government pays the BMC Rs7,200 crore annually as compensation for the loss of octroi. The state has agreed to pay this annual amount at the growth of 8% per annum that the civic body would have collected through octroi.
The city, which had competed in the Smart City race the fourth time, failed to figure in the list of nine smart cities released by the Union ministry of housing and urban affairs on Friday. The list included three cities from Uttar PradeshBareilly, Moradabad and Saharanpur.

We have come to know that the name of one city is still on hold. We are hopeful that it would be Ghaziabad. This was the fourth time we have competed in the Smart City challenge. If the city fails to find a place this time, we may not be able to compete further, municipal commissioner CP Singh said.

According to officials of the Ghaziabad municipal corporation, this time they had submitted a Smart City proposal of nearly 2,240 crore. In its latest Smart City Proposal (SCP), the officials had submitted a layout of 1,615 crore for area-based development, and another 625 crore under the pan-area development plan.

The officials were asked to suggest ways in the SCP to improve the conditions of industries apart from suggestion of new activities, such as incubation centres. They were also asked to explain smart mobility, which includes revamping parking lots, amusement parks, affordable housing and new multi-modal parking facilities.

According to officials, they had made qualitative and quantitative additions to the SCP laying stress on solid waste management, pollution control measures, like deploying electric buses, increased usage of solar energy and developing more green belts. The SCP had also detailed certain spaces near Metro stations for pedestrian pathways and for use of electric vehicles. The SCP had also laid stress on housing for all and start-ups.

Under the area-based development plan, the officials this time chose areas near Sahibabad vegetable market, Vasundhara and Sahibabad Site IV Industrial area.

Ghaziabads SCP also included features such as intelligent traffic management system and use of surveillance cameras, footpaths, cycle tracks and provisions of e-bicycles.

The state government had recommended names of Bareilly, Moradabad, Saharanpur, Rampur and Ghaziabad to be developed as smart cities.
The Ghaziabad police on Friday arrested two men for their alleged involvement in the abduction and murder of a 19-year-old man whose body was found near a canal in Chhiroli village under the Badalpur police station area of Gautam Budh Nagar district on January 15.

The police on Friday arrested prime accused Rakesh Saini and Rakesh Jatav. Both the accused are from the Dasna locality of Ghaziabad. According to the police, the accused and the victim, Suraj who also lived in the same locality, were friends.

The accused, during interrogation, revealed that they planned to murder Suraj because he was in a relationship with a 22-year-old married woman, who was also in an extramarital relationship with Saini.

Saini was having an affair with a married woman from his locality. When Suraj got to know about this, he asked Saini to introduce him to the woman. Soon, the woman became friendly with Suraj, and they developed a relationship, superintendent of police (rural) AK Maurya said.

When Saini came to know about their relationship, he decided to get rid of Suraj and took help from their common friend Jatav, Maurya said.

According to the police, Saini and Jatav called Suraj on the evening of January 15 and drove to an isolated area of Badalpur. Saini had purchased a new car, but did not get it transferred in his name, the police said.

There, the three men consumed alcohol. Once, Suraj became heavily inebriated, the two men attacked him with an iron meat cleaver. After the brutal attack, they waited at the scene of crime till the victim died, Maurya said.

The police have also recovered the car in which Suraj was murdered, and the murder weapon. The latter was recovered from near a cemetery in Dasna.

Earlier, the victims family had told the police that Saini had beaten up Suraj two days before his murder.
Police on Thursday arrested a person in Greater Noida with 100 psychotropic tablets that are prohibited for sale without prescription .

A team of Eco Tech 3 police station nabbed Shahrukh (27), of Niwadi, Ghaziabad, on Thursday near Jalpura, Eco Tech 3 in Greater Noida.

Shahrukh was staying in a rented flat in Jalpura, Greater Noida, and according to police, he was peddling drugs. Police recovered 100 diazepam tablets from Shahrukh based on a tip-off.

We received information from our informer that a certain person in our area has been selling diazepam tablets to young people at dirt cheap prices. We nabbed Shahrukh outside his house and found him in possession of 100 diazepam tablets. He was arrested immediately under the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, said KK Rana, station house officer, Eco Tech 3 police station.

Diazepam is a medication that is primarily used to calm people and induce sleep. It is usually given to patients to suffering from anxiety disorders and alcohol withdrawal symptoms. Its consumption induces a feeling of tranquillity in the user, police said.

This substance is listed as a psychotropic substance under the NDPS Act and its various combinations with other chemicals are also banned by the Union ministry of health and family welfare. It is difficult to evaluate the price of 100 diazepam tablets as their price in black market fluctuates according to demand.

According to Anoop Khanna, president of district chemists association, Gautam Budh Nagar, sale/purchase of diazepam without a medical prescription is illegal.

Even chemists have to maintain a monthly record of sale and purchase of diazepam tablets and we have to submit a report to the district drugs office. Against medical prescription, the value of one diazepam tablet is only Rs 1.20. A person can be charged under the NDPS Act if they are found with a large quantity of diazepam tablets without prescription, Khanna said.

Police say Shahrukh has been working as a peddler In Greater Noida and was providing these tablets to his customers, including young men and women.

Our interrogation has revealed that Shahrukh used to sell these tablets to people who used it as a recreational drug. We have booked him under Section 8/21 of the NDPS Act. He has been produced before the magistrate and sent to jail, Rana said.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has filed a third case against Yadav Sigh, the former chief maintenance engineer of the Noida authority. In two of the previous cases lodged, Singh has already been chargesheeted and is presently lodged in judicial custody at Dasna jail in Ghaziabad.

In the third case on January 17, the CBI named Singh, Javed Ahmed, the proprietor of Gul Engineers Company, Sai Raju, Manish Kumar and Prem Pradeep, all directors of SMP Technology, Kumar Saurav, a director of Abu Infracon, Sanjay Kumar Gupta, the proprietor of Sanjay Electricals and Sanjay Kumar Sharma, the proprietor of Shakambhari Projects, as accused.

The FIR also mentioned unknown officials of the Noida authority and private persons.

The case was lodged under provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act and IPC sections of criminal conspiracy.

This case was registered on the basis of the findings of a preliminary inquiry and the basis of inputs received from investigations in two cases against Yadav Singh, a CBI spokesperson said.

The two previous cases were lodged against Singh and others on July 30, 2015, in compliance with orders issued by the Allahabad high courts Lucknow Bench on July 16, 2015. Singh was arrested in February 2016.

According to the FIR, it is alleged that five companies/firms of associates and friends of Singh were allegedly favoured by him, in a conspiracy with officials of the Noida authority and private persons, in getting several contracts in Noida, in gross violation of norms and procedures.

In the FIR, the CBI alleged that M/s Gul Engineers Co did not fulfil the eligibility criteria in terms of work experience but was found to be engaged in cartelisation of the bidders. It is alleged that Singh had favoured the firm by awarding 31 contracts of electrical works amounting to Rs37.99 crore from 2007-2012. Its proprietor, Javed Ahmad, is stated to be a friend of Singhs.

In connection with M/s SMP Technology Pvt Ltd, it is alleged that Singh awarded five projects of computerised water billing in Noida to the company. It is stated that the directors of the company were classmates of Singhs son.

It is also alleged that the company had hired premises in Sector 63 belonging to M/s Kusum Garments Pvt Ltd, a company of Kusum Lata, wife of Yadav Singh. Lata was also chargesheeted in the previous two cases but has failed to appear before the CBI court in Ghaziabad. The court has proceeded with the attachment of her property after issuing non-bailable warrants.

The FIR also alleges that 16 projects of water, electrical and maintenance works were awarded to M/s Abu Infracon Pvt Ltd from 2011 to 2014. It is alleged that Yadav allegedly misused his official position for awarding contracts in violation of norms.

It is also alleged that Singh allegedly misused his official position and flouted tender norms in awarding 37 electrical projects to M/s Sanjay Electricals.

In the FIR, it has been alleged that M/s Shakambhari Projects, Ranchi, was awarded one project in 2014 for cleaning drains on the Noida expressway, allegedly in violation of norms.

The agency is conducting searches at eight places including Delhi, Noida and Ranchi. The investigation is continuing in the case, the spokesperson said.
Tragedy was averted when three teenagers, who spotted a 30-year-old man removing fish plates from the Ghaziabad-Meerut railway track near Murad Nagar railway station, handed him over to the police around 8.30am on Friday.

The Mumbai-Dehradun Express was scheduled to cross this section at 8.55am.

The train was halted at the station for 40 minutes and allowed to move after the track was repaired.

Officials of the Government Railway Police (GRP) said that the boysShiva, Tushar and Sachin Kumarsaw the suspect, Furkan, removing fish plates.

Furkan is being questioned about his intention behind damaging the track. We have called the local intelligence units. We have also informed the UP anti-terrorism squad. So far, we have not been able to ascertain any ulterior motive on Furkans part, SC Dubey, superintendent of police, GRP Moradabad, said, adding that the man has been booked for damaging property.

If anything serious is revealed, we will consider booking Furkan under more stringent sections. The man said he removed the fish plates to buy wheat flour, Dubey said.

The three teenagers spotted Furkan at the railway tracks, nearly 800 metres ahead of the Murad Nagar railway station. They said he was sitting on the tracks and asked them for their mobile phone to make a call. But, the boys refused to give him their phones. When they saw the fish plates he had removed from the tracks, they beat him up and brought him to the railway station where he was handed over to the GRP and the Railway Protection Force (RPF) officials.

The suspect hails from Bulandshahr district and is currently residing at the Idgah locality in Murad Nagar.
Gurgaons meteoric success over two decades has been made possible by a remarkable economic vibrancy, attracting investment and growth to rapidly outshine rival extensions of Delhi  Faridabad, Noida, and Ghaziabad.

This gold-rush of blue-chip companies has been spurred by Gurgaons strategic spatial advantages, right along the Delhi-Mumbai National Highway 8, against the Northern Railways line, and in closest proximity to Delhis International Airport.

Unfortunately, the investments have been largely lopsided, NH8 becoming the purab-paschim line that divides Gurgaon spatially, economically, culturally and administratively. The consequence has been the rise of private gates and public ghettos. The asymmetry in investment extends to the provision of public services: Private borewells for water, gensets for power, guards for security, the first private fire station in the country, even the first privately-funded metro in the world.

Such self-serving investments are short-sighted: Beyond the gates of private paradises, the city forces all residents to confront a common nightmare of traffic congestion, potholed roads, high pollution, monsoon flooding, overflowing sewage and piles of garbage. Gurgaons millennial magic is fast melting into misery. From being hailed as a success model, Gurgaon is now a case study of a failing city on the brink.

I believe that all is not lost.

Global cities such as New York and London have experienced many such challenges. It is in the crucibles of crisis that urgent and innovative responses have emerged, with partnerships of cooperative federalism forged across tiers of government, and deep engagement with external stakeholders.

At the heart of Gurgaons failure is its masterplan. The Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) has used its sweeping power to accelerate plan approvals and building sanctions, manipulating the masterplan to maximise profit  laissez-faire economic forces conspiring with a laissez-faire State.

The irony is that the masterplan (i.e. a well-designed one) is, in fact, the crux of the answer, the primary blueprint around which all solutions should be designed and implemented. An enlightened revision to the 2031 masterplan is, therefore, the need of the hour.

Of highest priority is ensuring that the problems of Gurgaon are not compounded. The Gurgaon planning area is 466 sqkm, of which developed land occupies 375 sqkm. Before HUDAs machete slices up and distributes the remaining 100 sqkm, the state government must re-assess the merits of the current masterplan.

A revised masterplan must frame the key networked infrastructure requirements  connected hierarchy of road networks, metro and bus transport routes, water supply, drainage, sewerage  along with land reserves for civic infrastructure such as power stations, treatment plants, landfill sites, etc. Only upon clear articulation of such a spatial framework can progressive zoning be detailed, for the conservation of land, transit-oriented development, mixed-use, affordable housing, parks, police stations, and playgrounds.

What will well-planned infrastructure based on such a masterplan cost?

Rough estimates suggest Rs 50,000 crore of investment over the next 10 years. This seems staggeringly large, until one considers that Gurgaon could account for close to 1% of Indias GDP (Delhis is 4%), or about Rs 1,25,000 crore per annum. The revised masterplan can also contribute towards public infrastructure financing in two ways: By facilitating careful unlocking of land values; and providing credible and concrete goals to harness private capital with transparent instruments, for example, a local municipal bond with tax benefits. Corporates with large investments in Gurgaon could be given an opportunity to invest in such bonds, as can the residents of Gurgaon  the greater such local participation, the greater the accountability of such funds when they are deployed. The structure of such instruments will need to be coordinated with both state and central governments.

Pulling Gurgaon back from the brink requires state leadership, resources and technical competencies. The exit of HUDA and the developers at this juncture smacks of desertion in the aftermath of a disaster. The Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon is simply not equipped to set right the wrongs of the plan. Addressing the technical and institutional gaps will require the Haryana government to play the leadership role  if for no other reason than to atone for the sins of omission and commission that have created Gurgaons woes in the first place.

The masterplan is not an overnight panacea for all of Gurgaons woes. However, for those who care about Gurgaon, it can be the spark of hope for a seemingly doomed city.

Swati Ramanathan is chairperson, Jana Urban Space Foundation, and co-founder of Jana Group

The views expressed are personal
The bank account of Bihpur block office in Bhagalpur district is richer by Rs 15.72 lakh, not from interest accrued on the deposit, but through amount credited by undisclosed sources.

An audit report of the bank account in the Bhagalpur branch of Bank of Baroda (BOB) has revealed that the amount refunded into it  Rs 2.5 crore  was in excess of that fraudulently transferred from it allegedly by Srijan Mahila Vikas Sahyog Samiti.

Suspecting fraud, Bihpur block development officer Satyendra Kumar Singh, who is authorised to operate the account, has written to the Bhagalpur Kotwali police station SHO for lodging an FIR against a former and the present manager of the banks branch, apart from office-bearers of Srijan.

However, the FIR is yet to be registered. Bhagalpur senior superintendent of police (SSP) Manoj Kumar said it would be done after getting some additional information concerning audit findings from block authorities.

This is the first such case the district audit team has come across while verifying government department accounts following the detection of the Srijan scam.

The Srijan Mahila Vikas Sahyog Samiti, a womens cooperative society based at Sabour in Bhagalpur district, 240 km east of Patna, has been identified as the beneficiary of the more than Rs 1,400-crore government fund transfer scam. A CBI probe into the scam is already underway.

The Bihpur block account, opened with BOB at Bhagalpur for handling Indira Awas Yojana funds, was operational between July 21, 2008 and July 24, 2009, district officials said.

After the scam came to light, Bhagalpur district magistrate (DM) Adesh T ordered an audit of the account which was initiated in August last year.

The audit team, on verification of cash book, passbook and bank statement of Bihpur blocks account detected that Rs 2.34 crore was credited into it by Srijan Samiti.

The transaction details showed that another Rs 15.72 lakh was credited by undisclosed sources even after the account was suspended in December 2009, they said.

The bank passbook and block cash book entries have confirmed the deposits, the officers said.

They said the amount deposited when the account was operational, was subsequently transferred to Srijan. After rotating the money, it was deposited into the account again, the officers said.

The Srijan scam came to light when a Bhagalpur district urban development authority (DUDA) cheque for Rs 10.32 crore, issued by the district magistrate under the Mukahyamantri Shaheri Vikas Yojana, bounced due to lack of funds.

An initial probe revealed that the cooperative society allegedly used to procure cheque books from banks and forge signature of the district magistrate to issue cheques in its own favour, transferring huge funds to its account. The probe also pointed to involvement of nationalised banks, government officials and employees in the fraudulent withdrawal of government funds in three districts of Bhagalpur, Banka and Saharsa.

The size and scope of the scam has been increasing by the day and so far, diversion of more than Rs 1,400-crore fund from various departments in Bhagalpur, Banka and Saharsa districts to the Srijan has been detected.
Seventeen-year-old Karanbeer Singh from Amritsar, who rescued 15 children from a school bus that had plunged into a drain, will be among the 18 children to receive the National Bravery Awards this year.

Singh, who was also in the bus and injured, showed great courage and helped other children to come out of the water-filled bus.

He (driver) was driving rashly. I had warned him about the narrow bridge ahead that doesnt have railings but he didnt listen. Suddenly the front tyres were in the air and we landed in the drain, said Karanbir.

He added that doors were jammed and he had to smash a window glass to come out and rescue the students.

A rashly driven school van had fallen into a drain from a bridge at Muhawa village, 35 km from Amritsar, killing seven children on September 20, 2016. The van was taking students back home from DAV Public School, Neshta, when the accident took place five km from the school.

The awards, divided into five categories  Bharat Award, Geeta Chopra Award, Sanjay Chopra Award, Bapu Gaidhani Award, and General National Bravery Awards  will be given away by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 24. Karanbeer will receive the Sanjay Chopra award.

President Ramnath Kovind will host a reception for the awardees  seven girls and 11 boys  who will also be participating in the Republic Day parade on January 26.

18-year-old Nazia from Uttar Pradesh, who helped local police capture perpetrators of an illegal business of gambling and betting will be given the most coveted Bharat Award.

(with agency inputs)
A grim looking scientist-poet-filmmaker, whose face bore an expression that he cannot be silenced, Gauhar Raza recited his politically-charged poems to a quiet, receptive audience of around two hundred. Quoting Bertolt Brecht, he said that one who says that he has nothing to do with politics, is a very ashamed man.

"It is after 70 years that our constitutional rights are asserting themselves, when men, women and dalits are raising their voices. The biggest attack right now is on these rights," said Raza during his talk at Panjab University on Wednesday.

He added, "The biggest responsibility of the youth at this juncture, I feel, is to save these constitutional rights."

Born at a time when India was still less than a decade old, Raza would often hear stories of the freedom struggle, at his home and outside. He said, "I remember when Pandit Nehru came to my school and my only complaint was that he picked up my sister but not me. Bade naam aam janta ka hissa hua karte the (Big names used to be a part of the common crowd). However, now we barely see our Prime Minister."

The dream continues to remain the same

Looking back on his childhood he said "We were dreaming of an India where everyone will be treated equally, every child will go to school, everyone will have food and a home, where there will be no nuclear bombs and no wars. We named it 'socialism'."

He said that today, youth yearn for the same but worry when they think about the riots (1984, 1992, and 2002) in the name of religion.

He mentioned Judge BH Loya's son and family saying that at times, people start losing hope. "However, it is the responsibility of the youth to stand up and save democracy, which has been created by us."

"Me and others like me haven't done much. We have just tried to fulfil the commitment of taking this dream forward for future generations," said Raza.

Raza continued to provide a background while reciting his poems. Before reciting 'Naya Libas', pointing to LK Advani and others, he said, "Kuch logon ne ek rath chalaya jo Hindustan ki har mariyada ko raundta hua Dilli tak pohncha."

Exigency of raising ones voice

Speaking about the current environment of fear in the country, and mentioning the second World War, he recited,"Europe jis vehshat se ab bhi sehma sehma rehta hai/ Khatra hai woh vehshat mere mulk mein aag lgayegi."

He further recited the title poem of his new volume 'Khamoshi', which dwells on the 'exigency of raising ones voice' at this time.

'Inquilab', a documentary film made by Raza on Bhagat Singh, was also screened at the Evening Studies auditorium, Panjab University. The film depicted major events in Bhagat Singh's life through the use of voiceover, newspaper cuttings, archival documents and reconstruction of incidents.

Raza concluded on a note of hope, saying, "Even Hitler could not make all Germans nationalists in the way he wished to. Log likhenge, Paash paida honge (People will continue to write, Paash will be born again and again)."
It never ends, does it? Looks like Indias very own Harvey Weinsteins are finally popping out and leading the charge is a host of spunky South Indian actors. After Malayalam actors Parvathy and Rima Kallingal, now it is the turn of Kannada actor Sruthi Hariharan to talk about the harassment she faced in her career.

She spoke about her casting couch experience. Sruthi, who was part of the recent Kannada hit Humble Politician Nograj, recalled an incident when an influential producer threatened to exchange her with five other men, reports Indian Express.

Speaking at the India Today conclaves discussion titled Sexism in Cinema, she recalled, One of the leading producers in Tamil Cinema bought the rights to my Kannada film and offered me the same role in the Tamil remake. He said, and Im quoting him verbatim, We are five producers and we will exchange you however we want. I retorted by saying that I carry a slipper with me in my hand.

Sruthi Hariharan in a shot from the Kannada film Tesla.

Post that incident, she stopped getting good offers in Tamil cinema as the word got around that she was difficult to work with. Many producers who knew this man asked me if I actually said what I said. Since then, I have not received good projects from Tamil.

This is going to be long . But below is my stand on what transpired at the #SouthConclave18 last evening. #TimesUp . Just for the record a lot of inspiring women have come forward to speak their truth .

Huge respect to all of them . pic.twitter.com/DHT8tVJDOD  sruthihariharan (@sruthihariharan) January 19, 2018

She went on to say how this particular incident wasnt the first time she was sexually harassed at the workplace. Her first brush with casting couch was as an 18-year-old when she acted in her first Kannada film. I have had a casting couch (harassment) experience when I was 18 and on my first Kannada film. It did leave me so scared and petrified that I remember crying. When I told my dance choreographer about what happened, he told me that if I didnt know how to handle this, I should leave, she was quoted by Indian Express as saying.

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Her maiden Telugu film with superstar Mahesh Babu is yet to release, but actor Kiara Advani is already making waves in Tollywood as she has signed her second Telugu film which will see her pair with Ram Charan. To be directed by Boyapati Sreenu, the project was officially launched with a puja. The regular shooting will commence from next month. While the rest of the cast and crew are yet to be finalized, it is being speculated that Vivek Oberoi has landed a pivotal role in the film.

Ram Charan was last seen in a rural avatar in Rangasthalam.

After playing the antagonist in Ajiths Vivegam earlier this year, it turns out Viveks work has impressed a few southern filmmakers who are keen to rope him in. Its not yet known if he will play the baddie, but itll be really interesting to see him take up another interesting role. Vivek is well known among Telugu audiences thanks to his association with Ram Gopal Varma, with whom he has worked in some really good films. Their last outing was Rakht Charitra, about the rise and fall of factionist-turned-politician Paritala Ravi. The makers have approached Vivek, but its still unknown whether hes signed on the dotted line, a source told Hindustan Times.

After going fully rural for Rangasthalam, Ram Charan will be seen in a full-length commercial avatar in Boyapati film which is most likely to hit the screens for Diwali.

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In Thaana Serndha Koottam (TSK), Suriya delivers this dialogue, It is not important how tall you are, but how high you have reached in life. This was his response to every meme and troll out there who have been making fun of the actors height. Two VJs who host the segment Franka Sollata (Shall I be honest?) were talking about Suriyas upcoming movie with KV Anand. One of them begins by giving the audience information about the film and mentions that Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan was approached for to play a part in the film.

The second anchor smirks and asks is there no one in Kollywood who can play the role? She also says how Suriya would have to use a stool to talk to Bachchan or the entire shoot would have to be done while Big B was seated. This left many in the industry shocked over what is considered humour today. Actor Vishal shared the video and tweeted, Funny !! ???? Absolutely not. How unethical in the name of sense of humour. Totally senseless.

Funny !! ???? Absolutely not. How unethical in the name of sense of humour. Totally senseless. pic.twitter.com/0e4netQd6s  Vishal (@VishalKOfficial) January 18, 2018

The director of Thaana Serndha Koottam, Vignesh Shivn tweeted, These days..Film industry has becum such a soft target for every1. There is no respect for such a dignified man somethin needs to be done (sic).

These days..Film industry has becum such a soft target for every1

There is no respect for such a dignified man& somethin needs to be done:( https://t.co/jMHWR6vhXb  Vignesh ShivN (@VigneshShivN) January 18, 2018

As the industry stands up for one of the biggest stars in the industry, we wonder if this brand of humour has been propagated by the films that stars the same actors? Body-shaming has become a fodder for comedians in films today. Case in point, TSK where jokes on comedian Yogi Babus looks are used to elicit laughter from the audience. In essence, a man here is being body-shamed for some laughs. It is not just Yogi Babu, but comediennes like Vidyu Raman have also been the butt of such jokes. If one were to argue that they were just jokes, why are people pointing fingers at the VJs? For, it is the same sort of jokes.

Popular for his 2 minute reviews, Kishen Das, tweeted, You think his height matters? Look at his filmography, hes done a mixture of amazing off beat and commercially successful films. If height ever mattered then he wouldnt be one of our biggest stars. Very very cheap.

You think his height matters? Look at his filmography, hes done a mixture of amazing off beat and commercially successful films. If height ever mattered then he wouldnt be one of our biggest stars.



Very very cheap. https://t.co/QR33fsnviO  Kishen das (@kishen_das) January 18, 2018

Mock an actor for his acting. Mock someone for something they do.



Dont body shame. People made fun of surya Sir during Anjaam for selecting such a script. That was something he couldve controlled. How someone looks or how tall they are is beyond control. Stop body shaming. https://t.co/mCPPn3jeyw  Kishen das (@kishen_das) January 18, 2018

He also adds that one should mock an actor for his acting, and not mock him for his appearance. Mock an actor for his acting. Mock someone for something they do. Dont body shame. People made fun of Surya Sir during Anjaam for selecting such a script. That was something he couldve controlled. How someone looks or how tall they are is beyond control. Stop body shaming.

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A California couple has pleaded not guilty to allegations they tortured a dozen of their children, kept them chained to beds for months and starved them so much that their growth was stunted and their muscles atrophied.

David Allen Turpin and his wife, Louise Anna, were arrested on Sunday after authorities found the malnourished children in their home in Riverside County. They appeared in court on Thursday and were each held on $12 million bail. Their attorneys said they were still reviewing the serious allegations and declined to comment on specific allegations.

Here are some key things to know about the case:

THE PARENTS

David and Louise Turpin were both born in West Virginia. They were married in 1985 in Pearisburg, Virginia, when she was 16 years old and he was 23. They lived in Fort Worth and Rio Vista, Texas, and moved to Murrieta, California in 2010. They moved into their current home in Perris, about 70 miles from Los Angeles, in 2014.

Investigators are still examining the couples finances, but David Turpin had worked as an engineer for both Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman. Louise Turpin identified herself as a housewife in a 2011 bankruptcy filing.

The couple renewed their vows at least three times  in 2011, 2013 and 2015  in services presided over by an Elvis impersonator in Las Vegas. They brought their children to at least two of those ceremonies.

THE CHILDREN

The Turpins have 13 children between two and 29 years old. Seven of them are adults. Investigators said the siblings had been so malnourished that the older ones still looked like children. The oldest, a 29-year-old woman, weighed just 82 pounds, prosecutors said. A 12-year-old appeared to be the size of an average seven-year-old.

Their 17-year-old daughter had been planning an escape with several other siblings for two years, Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin said. On Sunday, the girl jumped out of a window and escaped with another sibling, who got scared and eventually went back home. But the 17-year-old used a deactivated cellphone to call 911.

When deputies arrived at their home, the Turpins rushed to free two of their children  an 11-year-old and 13-year-old  from their chains as the deputies stood at the door, Hestrin said. Inside the house, they found a 22-year-old chained to a bed, he said.

Most of the Turpin children were home-schooled but one of the older boys was allowed to attend classes at a local college, Hestrin said. His mother would drive him there, stay outside in the hallway during the class and then take him back home as soon as the class ended, he said.

Riverside County district attorney Mike Hestrin announces charges against David Turpin and Louise Turpin in Riverside, California, on Thursday. (Reuters)

THE ALLEGATIONS

Prosecutors said the abuse of their children dated back years, to when the couple lived in Texas and appeared to intensify over time.

Years ago, they would tie up their children with ropes and at least one of the children had been hog-tied but after that child escaped from the ropes, they started to use chains and padlocks, Hestrin said.

Some of the children would be chained for weeks or months at a time and wouldnt be freed to use the bathroom, he said. Their punishments included frequent beatings and strangulation, the district attorney said.

The children were only allowed to shower once a year, Hestrin said. When washing their hands, if they washed above their wrists, they would be accused of playing in the water and would be chained up, he said.

When they werent chained up, the siblings were locked in different rooms in the house and fed very little on a schedule, Hestrin said.

Neighbours stand and watch news crews outside the home of David Allen and Louise Anna Turpin in Perris, California. (Reuters)

THE HOME

From the outside, the brown-and-beige four-bedroom home in a quiet residential neighbourhood looked fairly orderly. Neighbours said they were not close with the Turpins and rarely remembered seeing all the children at once.

Prosecutors said David and Louise Turpin would buy food for themselves but did not allow their children to eat it. They placed apple and pumpkin pies on the table, let their children look at the food but would not let them eat any of it, Hestrin said. The couple also purchased a lot of toys they never opened, he said.

Prosecutors said the entire family would go to sleep around 4 am, sleep through the day and would be up all night. They said the children were allowed to write in journals and investigators are reviewing hundreds of journals they seized from the home.

David Turpin had been home schooling his children at the residence, which he called the Sandcastle Day School. In the 2016-17 school year, it had an enrolment of six  all his children.

Private schools in California are not licensed by the state education department and no agency regulates or oversees them. They are, however, subject to an annual inspection by the local fire marshal.
Chelsea Manning has officially filed to run for the US Senate in the 2018 Maryland Democratic primary.

The state elections board website says Manning filed Thursday in Montgomery County. Manning also tweeted a photo Thursday evening saying she is officially on the ballot.

The transgender woman, known as Bradley Manning when she was convicted in 2013 of leaking more than 700,000 classified documents, was released from military prison in May after a 35-year sentence was commuted. Then-US President Barack Obama commuted her sentence to time served plus 120 days in the final days of his administration.

US Senator Ben Cardin told The Associated Press on Tuesday that he looks forward to a strong campaign against Manning or any other contenders. Cardin won his seat in an open race in 2006.
Beijing authorities on Friday took outspoken rights lawyer Yu Wensheng into custody as he was taking his child to school, his wife told Reuters, days after Yu said he was stripped of his legal license for criticising President Xi Jinping.

Yu, a Beijing-based lawyer and activist, has repeatedly criticised the ruling Communist Party over a sweeping crackdown on rights lawyers and activists, which has seen hundreds detained and dozens arrested in recent years.

The authorities revoked Yus license on Monday, citing rules requiring he be employed at a registered firm, but Yu told Reuters he believed the decision was in part reprisal for an open letter he wrote criticising Xis totalitarian rule.

Early on Friday morning, as Yu was taking his child to school, he was stopped by a squad of four police vehicles and over 10 officers, and taken into custody, Yus wife Xu Yan told Reuters.

I have not received any legal document about his detention and dont even know what crime he is suspected of committing, she said.

Xu added that she is in the process of searching for a lawyer to defend Yu if necessary, but many of those lawyers she knows in Beijing also have problems with their licenses.

It is unclear where Yu is being held and if he has been charged with any crime. Chinas ministry of public security did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

On Thursday, Yu released another open letter calling for changes to Chinas state constitution to make elections fairer, reduce military power and delete a preamble that gives the Communist Party primacy in national leadership.

Yu had been involved in a number of high-profile and politically sensitive cases, including defending fellow veteran human rights lawyer Wang Yu, following her detention in the summer of 2016.

Yu was detained briefly in October 2017 during a meeting of Chinas top leadership after he wrote a letter in which he said Xi was unsuited to rule China and calling for his replacement.

Most recently, Yu had been attempting to defend another detained rights lawyer, Wang Quanzhang, but the authorities have barred him from meeting Wang.

Wang was detained 920 days ago and his case has yet to come to trial. Neither his wife or any of the lawyers that she has asked to defend Wang, including Yu, have been able to meet with him since.

Xi has increasingly stifled civil society since taking office in 2012, targeting everyone from activists to human rights lawyers and teachers to celebrity gossip bloggers.

More than 200 Chinese human rights lawyers and activists were detained or questioned in a police sweep in 2015 that rights groups called unprecedented.

Last year, democracy activist and Nobel peace prize laureate Liu Xiaobo died of liver cancer while still in custody as authorities rejected his request to seek treatment abroad.

A veteran of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, Liu was sentenced to 11 years in jail in 2009 for subversion after pushing for democratic reforms.
As influential voices within the US business community warn China that US President Donald Trump is serious about tough action over Beijings trade practices, there is little sense of a crisis in the Chinese capital, where officials think he is bluffing.

In Beijing, many experts think Washington is unwilling to pay the heavy economic price needed to upset prevailing trade dynamics between the worlds two largest economies.

Hanging over trade relations are several inquiries into whether steel and aluminium imports - including those from China - are harming US national security, possible tariffs on imported solar panels, as well as an investigation into potential Chinese abuse of intellectual property.

I think this might be a threat to ask for deals from China, said He Weiwen, a senior fellow at the Center for China and Globalization, a government-affiliated research organisation in Beijing.

Results in most, if not all, of the investigations are seen as imminent. Trump warned in an interview with Reuters on Wednesday of potentially big damages against China as a result of the intellectual property inquiry under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974.

People in the US business community say this growing gulf in expectations between Washington and Beijing is fuelled in part by the dwindling frequency of talks on commercial issues. The resulting vacuum could set the two governments on a collision course over trade.

Dialogue is a shadow, a shell, a trickle of what it was, particularly on the economic and commercial issues, said one US industry source who accompanied a business delegation to Beijing last week to warn senior Chinese officials that time was running out.

US President Donald Trump and first lady Melania arrive for the state dinner with China's President Xi Jinping and China's first lady Peng Liyuan at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, November 9, 2017. (REUTERS)

The bipartisan group of mostly former senior US officials, including George W Bush administration veterans Stephen Hadley and Carlos Gutierrez, met with Wang Yang, a member of Chinas ruling seven-man Politburo Standing Committee, and Liu He, an economist and ally of President Xi Jinping, among other senior Chinese leaders, the person said.

They delivered a message that trade frictions are not under control and that there was a high likelihood of significant actions coming soon, according the person who was present at the meetings.

We hear everything from: both sides will lose, to youll lose more, the person said, characterizing the reception the delegation received from Chinese leaders.

RESILIENT TO A TRADE WAR

US businesses operating in China have long chafed at government policies they see as intended to assimilate and supplant foreign technology.

At stake is who controls intellectual property, and how you protect it, said Tim Adams, former US Treasury undersecretary for international affairs in the Bush administration.

The question is, how do you use a scalpel to respond to it, and does the scalpel actually change behaviour because its a scalpel and not a sledgehammer, said Adams, who now leads the Washington-based Institute of International Finance.

He said China would probably retaliate by weighing whether the actions were in line with World Trade Organization rules before slowly ratcheting up pressure on US businesses, for example by buying from a European company such as Airbus instead of Boeing.

Meanwhile, Chinas 2017 trade surplus with the United States reached an all-time high of $275.81 billion, Chinese Customs data showed last week.

The growing likelihood of US trade remedies against China comes amid a bipartisan push in Washington to tighten national security reviews of Chinese companies efforts to scoop up US technology firms, often in industries closed to US companies in China.

But many in China see such efforts as sure to backfire.

Politically, the administration of President Donald Trump cant afford to see China-US economic and trade ties become strained. China is more resilient to a trade war, Chinas state-run Global Times said on Sunday.

Chinas Ministry of Commerce did not comment on the US business delegation or the risk of major trade friction. But it said last week that China would take all necessary measures to defend itself.

KIBBLES AND BITS

Beijing suspects that even if Trump implements targeted tariffs, as some in the US tech sector expect, they would likely amount to just a few percentage points of the more than $600 billion annual goods and services trade, Chinese experts have said.

For local governments in export-dependent areas, the threat is more worrying. One official in the export powerhouse of Zhejiang province expressed concern to Reuters about Trumps possible actions, but declined to speak on the record.

The government in Beijing, however, remains stoic.

Are Chinese officials getting nervous now amid a coming US-China trade war? I dont think so, said Wang Jiangyu, a trade expert at the National University of Singapore.

The country has negotiated its way out of previous Section 301 investigations, including in 1992 and 1995.

And a person close to Chinas Commerce Ministry, who asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the matter, said tariffs from the Section 301 case would be self-defeating, and urged negotiation instead.

We should sit down and discuss this. If their demands are reasonable, we dont want to go to the WTO, the person said.

That inclination to fall back on talks and the WTO to resolve frictions may be Chinas miscalculation this time, people in the US business community say.

What the Chinese government doesnt understand is that the Trump administration is deadly serious, the member of the US business delegation said. They arent going to settle for kibbles and bits.
A semi-official news agency in Iran reported that authorities have amputated the hand of a convicted thief in a prison in the countrys northeast.

The report from the ISNA news agency says one hand of the 34-year-old convict  identified only as Ali  was cut off by guillotine in a prison in Mashhad, some 900 km northeast of the capital Tehran.

It said the convict was immediately sent to a hospital for treatment.

Thursdays report said Ali was detained in 2011 for allegedly stealing sheep, jewellery and motorbikes.

Irans judiciary uses a strict interpretation of Islamic law in handing down such sentences. Cutting off the hands of thieves, however, has been rare in the recent years. Critics say amputations, public executions and floggings hurt Irans image.
James Comey, the former Federal Bureau of Investigation director who was fired last year by US President Donald Trump, will teach a course on ethical leadership at the College of William & Mary in Virginia, the school said on Friday.

Comey has been by turns castigated and lionized by both Democrats and Republicans for overseeing high-stakes FBI investigations that overshadowed the election campaigns of Trump and his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, in 2016.

Ethical leaders lead by seeing above the short term, above the urgent or the partisan, and with a higher loyalty to lasting values, most importantly the truth, Comey said in a statement released by the college, the countrys second oldest.

Comey graduated from William & Mary in 1984 with a double major in chemistry and religion, and will teach for a full academic year beginning this fall.

The schools president, Taylor Reveley, praised his abiding commitment to ethical behavior in a statement.

Trump fired him last May, citing a memorandum by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein that criticized Comey for his handling of the criminal investigation into Clintons use of an unauthorized private email server while US secretary of state.

At the time, Comey was also overseeing a counterintelligence investigation into possible Russian government efforts to influence the US election and whether Russian officials had inappropriate contacts with Trump campaign officials.

Trump has also been highly critical of that investigation, calling it a witch hunt against him. Comey has pointed to such comments as the real reason he was fired.

Comeys firing forced Rosenstein to appoint Robert Mueller, another former FBI director, as special counsel overseeing the Russia investigation, which is ongoing. Mueller has since charged four people who worked for Trumps campaign or in his White House for lying to the FBI and money laundering.

Clinton has said she partly blames Comey for her loss to Trump in the 2016 election.

Comey oversaw the investigation into the mishandling of classified government secrets by her and her staff on the email server kept in her New York home.

In July 2016, four months before the presidential election, Comey made a public announcement closing the investigation, in breach of usual FBI practices, a step he said was necessary to maintain public faith in the investigations integrity.

He said Clinton and her staff were extremely careless in handling classified information and that there was evidence they may have unknowingly broken laws, but recommended against prosecution.
A French woman dubbed the Black Widow of the Riviera was jailed for 22-years Thursday for poisoning four wealthy elderly men, two of whom died.

Patricia Dagorn, 57, was convicted of killing two men found dead in 2011 on the Cote dAzur and of drugging two others. Prosecutors say she attempted to enrich herself by seducing older men she met mostly through a dating agency.

The Black Widow, who denied all the charges against her, did not flinch as the verdict was handed down.

Dagorn is already serving a five-year prison term for theft, fraud and sequestration involving an octogenarian in the French Alps in 2012 who had agreed to let her live with him in exchange for sexual relations.

One of the men she poisoned, 91-year-old widower Robert Vaux, told reporters at the courthouse on Monday that Dagorn was like a ray of sunshine in winter. When you are with a younger woman you know it wont last but you dont deny yourself the moment unless youre a masochist.

The prosecution team called her a perverted narcissist while the defence spoke of a victim of loneliness.

Attorney General Annie Brunet-Fuster described Dagorn as not psychotic but psychopathic.

Police began suspecting Dagorn after the body of Michel Kneffel, a man in his 60s with whom she had been living at a residential hotel in Nice, was discovered in July 2011.

No charges were filed at the time, but the investigation was reopened the following year after police found vials of Valium and personal documents belonging to about a dozen different men among her belongings.

The documents included IDs, bank account details and health insurance cards.

Investigators then followed the trail to another suspected murder case, that of Francesco Filippone, 85, whose body was found in his bathtub in an advanced state of decomposition in Mouans-Sartoux, outside Cannes, in February 2011.

Dagorn had earlier cashed a cheque from Filippone for 21,000 euros ($25,600), money which she said was a gift to help her open a jewellery shop.

- Quick and easy money -

Police now think Dagorn may have met at least 20 men, after arriving on the French Riviera in 2011, mainly via a matchmaking agency.

Vaux, comfortably retired but lonely since the death of his wife, brought Dagorn to live with him in early 2012 in the coastal town of Frejus.

When he was at his lowest ebb, Dagorn wrote to his solicitor, asking to be written into his will, according to Vaux.

He and another man whom Dagorn is accused of trying to poison, Ange Pisciotta, 82, joined the case as civil plaintiffs.

Dagorn, who has a law degree, had already been handed a one-year suspended prison term in a case involving her ex-husband who was found guilty of fraud.

In 2013, her youngest son told a local newspaper that he was not surprised by the accusations against his mother.

She has always been obsessed with quick and easy money, the son, identified only as Guilhem, told Nice Matin daily.
A German rapper turned Islamic State fighter who reportedly married the FBI translator hired to spy on him has been killed in an airstrike in Syria, a US-based monitoring group has said.

Denis Cuspert, who performed under the stage name Deso Dogg, became one of the extremist groups most famous Western fighters, appearing in numerous propaganda videos including one that apparently pictured him with a mans severed head.

The German-Ghanaian was killed on Wednesday during an airstrike in the town of Gharanij in Syrias Deir Ezzor province, said a statement from the pro-IS Wafa Media Foundation translated into English by the SITE monitoring group.

The jihadist group also posted eight graphic photographs on the Telegram messaging app that it said were of his bloody corpse, SITE said.

Cusperts death has been reported before, including by the Pentagon which announced he had been killed in an airstrike in Syria in October 2015. It later acknowledged he appeared to have survived the attack.

Jihadist sources in April 2014 also said Cuspert had been killed in Syria but they later retracted the claim.

Daniela Greene, an FBI translator with top secret security clearance, allegedly sneaked off to Syria in June 2014 to marry Cuspert after she grew attracted to the extremist while spying on him, according to US court documents.

Greene, who was arrested on her return to the US less than two months after travelling to Syria, pleaded guilty to making false statements involving international terrorism and served a two-year prison sentence.

Cuspert had pledged an oath of loyalty to IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and was a chief recruiter of German fighters.

US officials have said Cuspert had made threats against former US President Barack Obama and US and German citizens, and had also encouraged Western Muslims to carry out IS-inspired attacks.
India will commit itself to a 70-day deadline to verify and confirm the identity of individuals alleged by Britain to be illegal migrants, according to a memorandum of understanding to be signed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit here in April.

The text of the MoU was finalised and initialled by minister of state for home Kiren Rijiju and UK minister for immigration Caroline Nokes in London last week. The sensitive issue is linked to Britain improving its visa offer for Indian nationals, expected to be announced during Modis visit.

The issue of repatriating illegal Indians is one of key elements in the bilateral relationship. The returns have so far been plagued by delays in confirming the Indian nationality of suspects, though the 70-day deadline is expected to speed up the process.

As Prime Minister Theresa May said during her November 2016 visit to India: (The) UK will consider further improvements to our visa offer if at the same time we can step up the speed and volume of returns of Indians with no right to remain in the UK.

The MoU divides Indian citizens without a legal basis to be in the UK into two categories - those whose passports and other details are available from their applications for British visas, and those whose documents are not available but acknowledge being Indians.

The verification process of the first group  after Britain submits documents to India  is to be completed within 15 days, while the identity of individuals in the second group  a more complicated process  will need to be confirmed within 70 days.

The MoU adds: Where a person declines to cooperate with the nationality verification process by refusing to provide a signature and where the requesting party confirms the persons non-compliance and provides additional information to enable the requested party to verify nationality, the requested party shall on a case to case basis take steps to verify the persons nationality.

No figures for suspected illegal Indians are released but the Home Office assesses that Indian citizens are among the top nationalities remaining in the UK Illegally. A Home Office official said: A major barrier for removal is the current process for obtaining travel documentation for those without a current passport.

In the past, the verification process in India, after documents are sent from London, took months, but Indian officials hope the speedier timeline in the MoU will enable Britain to consider better visa conditions for legal migration.

Since address verification for Indian passports is usually completed in 21 days, officials believe the 70-day deadline will be sufficient for police authorities to complete the process.

Illegal migration should not be a barrier to legal migration, said Indias deputy high commissioner Dinesh Patnaik.

May had unveiled plans to roll out the registered traveller scheme for Indian business leaders during her India visit, but it has not been announced so far. It will enable business travellers expedited clearance at Heathrow and other ports.

There is also a demand that Britain extend to India an ongoing pilot scheme in China offering cheaper and longer duration visas, and Indian representatives hope British authorities will have three months to consider such plans before Modis visit in April.
He once called himself pro-choice. But a year into his presidency, Donald Trump is stepping to the forefront of his administrations efforts to roll back abortion rights.

And though his record is mixed and a midterm election looms, abortion opponents say they have not felt so optimistic in at least a decade.

I dont think anybody thinks that the White House is a perfectly regimented and orderly family ... but that doesnt change their commitment to the issue, said Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B Anthony List, which is expanding its door-knocking operation across states with Senate incumbents who have voted for abortion rights.

With a Republican-controlled Congress at his back on this issue, Trump is cementing his turnaround on abortion with a video address Friday to the annual March to Life. Thats a symbolic change from last year, when vice-president Mike Pence  in practical terms, the leader of the anti-abortion movement in the United States  addressed the group in Trumps absence.

In one short year, President Donald Trump has made a difference for life, Pence told march leaders Thursday night.

Trump has given anti-abortion activists a few key victories.

Chief among them: the confirmation of conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court. Trump also has revived and expanded a ban on sending US aid to groups overseas that provide abortion counselling. And he signed legislation allowing states to withhold federal family planning dollars from clinics that provide abortion services. The administration has made its priorities clear in other ways, too  including appointments to key government posts and a new mission statement for the Department of Health and Human Services. The agency announced it is dedicated to supporting Americans at every stage of life, beginning at conception.

On Thursday, the administration announced the creation of a new office to protect the religious rights of medical providers, including those who oppose abortion. Supporters of abortion rights say it adds up to a president doing administratively what hes often failed to accomplish through Congress.

Time and again, we have seen this administration radically redefine religious freedom to impose one set of ultra-conservative beliefs on all Americans, said Sarah Hutchinson Ratcliffe, vice-president of Catholics for Choice.

Trump has failed to deliver on promises to strip Planned Parenthood of federal funding or permanently ban taxpayer dollars from being used for abortions. The effort to de-fund Planned Parenthood, for example, failed with the Republican effort to repeal President Barack Obamas healthcare law.

Behind the mixed record is Trumps complicated personal history on abortion. White House counsellor Kellyanne Conway says his transformation from supporting to opposing abortion rights dates back to at least 2011. And while she says he has shown his commitment to the anti-abortion movement early and often, he has at times seemed uncomfortable with the issue.

Dannenfelser recalls her struggle in 2016 after the SBA List told GOP primary voters in Iowa and elsewhere that Trump could not be trusted on the issue. But Trumps pro-choice Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton, made the choice easy, Dannenfelser recalled. One wobble came in October, when the Access Hollywood recording was released with Trumps voice boasting of assaulting women. He denied having done so; and a conversation with an aide to Pence helped Dannenfelser stay aboard.

Anti-abortion demonstrators arrive on Capitol Hill in Washington during the March for Life, marking the anniversary of the 1973 Supreme Court decision legalising abortion. (AP File Photo)

A year into Trumps term, abortion opponents see the stall of anti-abortion legislation as a product of the slim Republican majority in the Senate. So, theyre focusing on the midterm elections. Conway says abortion is a key part of discussions with prospective GOP candidates. And groups like the SBA List are boosting their ground games in an effort to turn out people who want to roll back abortions, including Hispanics, but dont tend to vote in non-presidential election years.

The groups band of door-knockers, who make about $10 an hour, are among about 220 canvassers on the ground targeting Democratic Senate incumbents in Ohio, Indiana, Florida, Missouri and North Dakota. A spokesperson said the group is aiming to quadruple the number of paid canvassers in 2018 and expand its operations into Senate races in West Virginia, Wisconsin and likely Minnesota.

In Madeira, Ohio, on a recent chilly Sunday, Alison Pavlicek led a band of six women down Miami Hills Drive, to homes suggested by an app that tracks voter information. They knocked and asked people who answered if they were aware of Sen. Sherrod Browns voting history. Pavlicek said she sometimes looks for statues of the Virgin Mary in front of homes  signals in stone of residents friendly to the anti-abortion cause.

People are really receptive now, she said.

Polling shows Americans have complicated feelings on the divisive issue of abortion nearly 45 years after the Supreme Court legalised it in the Roe v. Wade decision. A recent poll by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that just over a third of Americans think abortion should be illegal in most or all cases. That includes a majority of Republicans and about 20% of Democrats and 4 in 10 Hispanics.

More than 6 in 10 say abortion should usually be legal, though that includes just a quarter of Americans who think it should be legal under all circumstances.

Overall, 62% of Americans say they disapprove of how Trump is handling the abortion issue.

But the anti-abortion movement is facing challenges. Groups that favour abortion rights, such as Emilys List, dwarf their anti-abortion counterparts when it comes to raising campaign cash or spending on lobbying, according to OpenSecrets.org.

And traditionally, the presidents party loses seats in the midterm elections, especially when his approval rating is below 50%, according to Gallup. Trumps overall rating has never risen that high.

Madeira, Ohio, resident Ginger Ittenbach isnt so sure the Trump administration is to be trusted, and that makes her a key persuadable voter in the eyes of anti-abortion activists. She says she is very much pro-life  but voted for Clinton.

There were enough other red flags with Donald Trump just in how he treated women, Ittenbach, 52, said after talking with the canvassers.
Twelve years after the Pakistan government launched an ambitious plan to renovate the historic Katas Raj temple complex, the shrines sacred pond is at risk of running dry because of excessive groundwater use by nearby factories.

A series of pipes carrying water from a nearby source have helped fill up the Amrit Kund or main pond at the temple complex located in the Kallar Kahar range of the Potohar plateau, some three hours south of Islamabad. But experts say this is, at best, a temporary solution to a much larger problem.

Three cement factories located in the vicinity of the temple complex have reduced the groundwater level to a point where it is almost impossible for most residents in the area to find water even after digging deep wells. The well at one side of the Katas Raj complex has run dry and, in the summer of 2017, the sacred pond itself was on the brink of running dry. The water level had fallen drastically in 2012 too.

Senior BJP leader LK Advani had inaugurated renovation works at the temple complex  believed to be more than 2,300 years old and linked to the epic Mahabharat  during a visit to Pakistan in June 2005. Despite the allocation of several crores of Pakistani rupees by successive governments, the work was never completed.

According to Hindu mythology, the sacred pond at Katas Raj was formed by a tear that fell from the eyes of Lord Shiva after the death of his wife Sati. A second tear created a pond at Ajmer, Rajasthan. It is also believed that the Pandavas spent several years at Katas Raj during their 14 years in exile.

It was only after Pakistans Supreme Court intervened over the poor upkeep of the temple complex last year that the Punjab government tried to fix the problem by laying pipes to bring water from a source to the pond.

But even this source could run dry in summer, putting the sacred pond in danger, local residents said.

The sacred pond at the Katas Raj temple complex has been temporarily filled with water from a nearby source. (HT Photo)

There are a handful of Hindus who look after the temple complex and for them, the priority now is to try and attract more Hindus to visit the site.

Vikas, who is the temples pujari, said the number of Hindus visiting the complex over the years has increased: The number of those coming from India has gone down but those from other parts of Pakistan, particularly Sindh province, has gone up.

Politician Bhagwandas Chawla from Sindh regularly sponsors visits but these last only a few days. Much more needs to be done, Vikas said.

The government of Punjab province, with the help of the archaeology department and the Evacuee Trust Property Board  which is responsible for the upkeep of shrines of minorities  has cleaned up the temple complex and also built walkways for tourists.

But more needs to be done to stabilise a number of structures that are crumbling. Attacks by local students in 1992, in retaliation for the demolition of the Babri Masjid in India, affected some buildings. A number of murtis or idols were removed and still have not been traced.

The priest at the Katas Raj temple complex. (HT Photo)

Muhammad Ali, who conducts visits to this temple complex, said many murtis were damaged in the 1992 attacks while others were stolen. They are not in the custody of the archaeology department as some people assume, he said.

For several years now, the Katas Raj administration has been trying to persuade Indian yatris to bring some murtis from India but without success. For us to start regular prayer services, we have to have enough murtis, said Vikas.

The local government has ambitious plans to attract visitors. A huge structure to accommodate visitors is being built on one side of the complex. This will cater not only to Hindu yatris but also to others who come to visit the complex.

But there are also plans to build a waterfall-like feature, much to the horror of historians and well-wishers. It seems they want to convert this into an amusement complex, remarked a historian who didnt want to be named.
Pakistani authorities on Friday shut down the operations of Radio Mashaal, part of the US-funded Radio Free Europe network, and closed its office in Islamabad after the ISI spy agency concluded its programmes were against the countrys interests.

The interior ministry issued an order terminating the activities of Radio Mashaal, which broadcasts in Pashto and has a sizeable number of listeners in the countrys northwest and the tribal belt bordering Afghanistan.

The move comes against the backdrop of Pakistan-US ties falling to a new low after Washington suspended nearly $2 billion in security-related aid over Islamabads counter-terrorism efforts.

A notification issued by the interior ministry said the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency had reported that Radio Mashaals programmes were against the interests of Pakistan and in line with hostile intelligence agencys agenda.

The notification further said the four main themes of programmes aired by the station are portraying Pakistan as a hub of terrorism and safe haven for militant groups, propagating Pakistan as a failed state in terms of providing security to its people, specially minorities and Pashtoons, showing Pashtoon population of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP)/Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) and Balochistan (as being) disenchanted with the state (and) distorting facts to incite the target population against the state and its institutions.

Pakistan shuts U.S-funded Radio Mashaal and sealed its office in Islamabad, a gov't notification says. pic.twitter.com/vQD65GfLUS  Tahir Khan (@taahir_khan) January 19, 2018

The ministry directed the chief commissioner of Islamabad to close down the radio stations office in the city and terminate its activities.

Radio Free Europe broadcasts news in 23 countries where a free press is not fully established or banned by the government. The Prague-based network launched its Pashto service in 2010 with the aim of providing an alternative to extremist propaganda in Pakistans tribal regions, according to Radio Mashaals website.

Pakistan is consistently ranked among the most dangerous countries for journalists, who have been detained, kidnapped and subject to physical violence and threats. Radio Mashaal and its correspondents have been named in fatwas attributed to the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and were directly threatened by slain Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud.

The service provides local and international news and in-depth reporting featuring local authorities and tribal elders. In 2016, Radio Mashaal launched a weekly feature programme to raise awareness about the approximately 10-million religious minorities in Pakistan.
A Palestinian family in the Gaza Strip said on Friday it had killed a relative they said had helped Israel track down and kill three senior Hamas militants, including one of the mans own kinsmen.

In a statement, the family of Ahmed Barhoum said it had shot him in the city of Rafah after they were told by a militant group that he had provided information to Israel. This, the statement said, guided an Israeli air strike during the 2014 Gaza war that targeted the Hamas militants.

In light of our religious and moral commitment we have executed the collaborator Ahmed Barhoum after he was handed over by the resistance factions, the statement said, without giving the name of the militant group that had caught him.

The family said they had listened to their relatives confession and saw the evidence against him. The Barhoums are one of Rafahs largest families and well known for their closeness to Palestinian militant groups at odds with Israel.

Hamas, the Islamist movement that dominates the small, impoverished enclave, issued a statement praising the Barhoum familys action as illustrating its nobleness and deep affiliation with the (anti-Israel) resistance.

The Israeli military declined to comment.

Over the years, Israel has established a network of contacts in the Palestinian territories, using a combination of pressure and sweeteners to entice Palestinians to divulge intelligence.

Hamas has sentenced 109 people to death and executed at least 25 in Gaza since 2007. Palestinian and international human rights groups have repeatedly condemned such use of the death penalty, and urged Hamas and its Western-backed rival based in the West Bank, the Palestinian Authority, to abolish it.

Israel withdrew soldiers and settlers from Gaza in 2005, leading to a Hamas takeover two years later, but continues to expand settlements in the occupied West Bank.
The US military has put countering China and Russia at the heart of a new national defence strategy unveiled on Friday, the latest sign of shifting American priorities after more than a decade and a half of focusing on the fight against Islamist militants.

The strategy document, the first of its kind since at least 2014, sets priorities for the US Defence Department that are expected to be reflected in future defence spending requests. The Pentagon released an unclassified, 11-page version of the document on Friday.

The so-called National Defence Strategy represents the latest sign of hardening resolve by President Donald Trumps administration to address challenges from Russia and China, despite Trumps calls for improved ties with Moscow and Beijing.

We face growing threats from revisionist powers as different as China and Russia, nations that seek to create a world consistent with their authoritarian models, defence secretary Jim Mattis said in a speech presenting the document.

Elbridge Colby, deputy assistant secretary of defence for strategy and force development, said at a briefing with reporters that Russia was far more brazen than China in its use of military power.

Russia annexed Ukraines Crimean peninsula in 2014 and intervened militarily in Syria to support its ally, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Still, Moscow was limited by its economic resources, Colby said.

China, on the other hand, was described as economically and militarily ascendant by the document. It has embarked on far-reaching military modernization that Colby said was in deep contravention to our interests.

This strategy really represents a fundamental shift to say, look, we have to get back, in a sense, to the basics of the potential for war and this strategy says the focus will be on prioritizing preparedness for war, in particular major power war, he added.

The document also listed North Korea among the Pentagons top priorities, citing the need to focus US missile defences against the threat from Pyongyang, which beyond its nuclear weapons has also amassed an arsenal of biological, chemical, and conventional arms.

It said that while state actors would have to be countered, non-state actors like Islamist militants would continue to pose a threat.

The document said that international alliances would be critical for the US military, by far the worlds best-resourced. But it also stressed a need for burden-sharing, an apparent nod to Trumps public criticism of allies who he says unfairly take advantage of U.S. security guarantees.

Mattis said that the US militarys competitive edge has eroded in every domain of warfare and blamed that partly on spending caps and congressional budget dysfunction.

As hard as the last 16 years of war have been, no enemy in the field has done more to harm the readiness of the U.S. military than the combined impact of the caps and short-term funding.

In sheer spending terms, the United States military outlay per year is still far more than China and Russia, the rivals cited by Mattis. The United States is spending $587.8 billion per year on its military, China $161.7 billion and Russia $44.6 billion.
As bad as American President Donald Trump describes US-Pakistani ties today, they can get far worse.

Over 16 years that included hundreds of deadly US drone strikes  Osama bin Ladens killing on Pakistani soil and accusations Pakistan helps insurgents that kill Americans  the reluctant allies never reached one point of no return: Pakistan closing the air routes to Afghanistan.

Its an action that could all but cripple the US-backed military fight against the Taliban. It could also be tantamount to Pakistan going to war with the United States.

Even if such a step is seen as unlikely by most officials and observers, Pakistans ability to shape the destiny of Americas longest war is a reminder of how much leverage the country maintains at a time Trump is suspending hundreds of millions of dollars in military assistance.

Dont have all the cards

Theres some suggestion that we have all of the cards in our hands, said Richard Olson, a former US ambassador to Pakistan. But we dont. The leverage is strong on the Pakistan side as well and arguably stronger than our side.

Trumps re-commitment of US forces to the fight in Afghanistan makes the stakes high for his administration. The top US diplomat for South Asia, Alice Wells, made a low-key visit to Islamabad this week, suggesting both sides want to prevent a breach in ties. Pakistans cooperation is needed not only to reduce violence in its northern neighbour. Its also critical to any hope of a political settlement with the Afghan Taliban after decades of conflict.

US defence secretary Jim Mattis has said the US doesnt expect Pakistan to cut off supply routes. Even so, the US is seeking out alternatives, a senior administration official said, without elaborating on what those routes might be. The Pentagon wouldnt discuss the issue, citing operational security, other than to say military planners develop multiple supply chain contingencies to sustain their mission.

The administration official, who wasnt authorised to comment by name and demanded anonymity, said it would be very difficult but not impossible for the US to get military equipment into Afghanistan if the Pakistan route is shut down. Restrictions limit what types of supplies can flow through the Northern Distribution Network in Central Asia, set up during the Obama administration amid concerns about relying solely on Pakistan.

When Pakistan cut access

Pakistan has cut overland access before. When a US airstrike killed 24 Pakistani soldiers at the Afghan-Pakistan frontier in late 2011, months after the US commando raid that killed bin Laden, Pakistan blocked border crossings into Afghanistan.

The decision sunk US-Pakistani relations to a post-9/11 low point. Supply trucks that trundle across the desert into Afghanistans southern Kandahar province or into Nangarhar via the mountainous Khyber Pass ground to a halt. Hundreds of containers shipped from the US or the Gulf were left stranded in the Pakistani port of Karachi until mid-2012.

For the US, truck and rail costs inflated by about 50%, said David Sedney, a former Pentagon official who organised the alternative northern routes. He said deliveries by air cost three times as much or more.

But the saga, resolved through a US apology, also exposed the limits of Pakistans leverage, Sedney said. Pakistans own economy was hurt, notably the military-dominated trucking industry. And the Afghan war effort, which was then supporting more than 70,000 US troops, compared with around 16,000 now, endured.

That was perhaps the result of Pakistan never closing the air corridor into Afghanistan, which US pilots call the boulevard. Its essential for ferrying ammunition and weapons for US and Afghan forces, and waging war. US intelligence flights and combat missions use it when taking off from US bases in the Persian Gulf or from aircraft carriers in the Indian Ocean.

Since closing Pakistans airspace would hinder Americas ability to defend its forces in Afghanistan, Olson, the former ambassador, said the US might regard such action as a casus belli, or grounds for war. Other former US officials echoed that assessment.

From what I can tell we dont actually have any serious alternative, said Daniel Markey, a South Asia expert at the John Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.

Sedney said the Northern Distribution Network, which fell out of use after most US forces were withdrawn from Afghanistan by late 2014, could be restored with astute US diplomacy. Nations such as Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan all have been used before for transporting mostly non-lethal supplies. Poor US relations with Russia could make the task trickier, however. Moscow wields significant influence over these former Soviet states.

What next

Pakistan is weighing options carefully. The suspension of around $1.2 billion in assistance and Trumps accusations of Pakistani lies and deceit for allowing Taliban havens have stirred anger and demands from opposition party leader Imran Khan for both land and air links to be cut.

Pakistans ambassador in Washington, Aizaz Chaudhry, indicated such steps werent imminent, urging greater US cooperation on counterterrorism. But he warned that further downward spiraling in US-Pakistani ties could create a situation in which everything will be on table.

Chaudhry cited Pakistans long-standing complaints that its efforts have been unappreciated, claiming that most leaders of the Haqqani network  which the US hopes to eradicate  have fled to Afghanistan. Critics say Pakistans military only targets insurgents threatening Pakistan itself.

The problem is we have a porous open border and its like a revolving door, said Chaudhry. These elements tend to come back, and travel back and forth, but there is no organised presence or safe havens inside Pakistan.

Republicans and Democrats in America arent sold. Lawmakers have urged targeted financial sanctions against Pakistani intelligence officials linked to militants, and for Pakistan to lose its non-NATO ally status that offers preferential access to US military technology. Zalmay Khalilzad, a former US ambassador in Kabul, is among hawks advocating Pakistan be declared a state sponsor of terrorism, unless it cooperates.

But others whove worked with the Pakistanis fear coercion could backfire at a time theyre hedging their bets, unsure America will win in Afghanistan.

A tacit Pakistani alliance with the Taliban will appear more important to them than ever as we turn once again from an ally into an adversary, said Ryan Crocker, who was US ambassador in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
A legislation to keep the US federal government funded for a few weeks was passed by the House of Representatives on Thursday, but faced an uncertain fate in the Senate, where Democrats could block it for not guaranteeing Dreamers protection from deportation.

The Senate was scheduled to vote on Friday, and if President Donald Trump is unable to sign the funding bill by 12.01 am on Saturday, it would result in the partial shutdown of the government. Negotiations, however, could resume next week if a resolution was still elusive.

Trump put off an upcoming trip to Mar-a-Lago to see through the negotiations and pressed Democrats to see the bill through, putting the onus for its passage on them.

Government Funding Bill past last night in the House of Representatives. Now Democrats are needed if it is to pass in the Senate - but they want illegal immigration and weak borders. Shutdown coming? We need more Republican victories in 2018! he tweeted.

The bill was passed in the House along party lines, and Republicans control the Senate. However, some Republican senators are expected to vote against it, making its passage incumbent upon Democrats.

Democrats believe they have Republicans on the defensive and are hoping to press for as many concessions as they can, especially about the fate of nearly 700,000 undocumented immigrants brought to America as children, around 8,000 of whom are from India. Their protection from deportation  an Obama-era regulation  expires in March, as ordered by Trump.
The Christmas and holiday season is almost over and it is time for British tax authorities to warn the errant not to miss the January 31 deadline to file their returns, and no excuses will save them from penalties.

Every year, the taxman compiles a list of quirky excuses Britons give to miss the deadline  from broken kitchen appliances, hungry pets and arguments that last five years. Some people will stop at nothing to pass the blame for their tardy timekeeping.

The excuses released on Wednesday include:

I couldnt file my return on time as my wife has been seeing aliens and wont let me enter the house.

Ive been far too busy touring the country with my one-man play.

My ex-wife left my tax return upstairs, but I suffer from vertigo and cant go upstairs to retrieve it.

My business doesnt really do anything.

I spilt coffee on it.

Some of the more imaginative and intriguing excuses have been:

My tax return was on my yachtwhich caught fire.

A wasp in my car caused me to have an accident and my tax return, which was inside, was destroyed.

My dog ate my tax returnand all of the reminders.

My husband told me the deadline was the March 31.

My internet connection failed.

The postman doesnt deliver to my house.

My tax papers were left in the shed and the rat ate them.

Im not a paperwork orientated person  I always relied on my sister to complete my returns but we have now fallen out.

I had an argument with my wife and went to Italy for five years.

Angela MacDonald of HM Revenue and Customs said: Each year were making it easier and more intuitive for our customers to complete their tax return, but each year we still come across some questionable excuses, whether thats blaming a busy touring schedule or seeing aliens.

We also receive absurd expense claims from vet fees for a rabbit to room service at a hotel. It is unfair to make honest taxpayers pick up the bill for other peoples spurious claims, so HMRC will only accept sincere claims such as legitimate expenses for a job.
A sheriff and a lawyer had a brief run-in during a town picnic in July 1861, but a month later they ran into each other againwith deadly results.

In 1861 Sheriff John B. York and Archibald Y. Fowler, a lawyer as adept with a bowie knife as he was with an argument, resided in Fort Worth, a humble village on the north Texas frontier 35 miles from civilization, as defined by Dallasites. Fort Worth was part of Tarrant County, organized a decade earlier yet still mostly empty. Bad blood surfaced between the two on July 20 during a public barbecue at the Cold Spring, just over a mile northeast of the public square. Eight local militia companies were putting on a full-dress review before marching off to join Confederate service, and most residents were on hand.

It was an especially hot, dry summer. Liquor flowed freely that day, and thirsty folks also formed a long line to drink from the spring. A livestock fence around the spring controlled access. York was keeping an eye on things when Fowler grew tired of waiting and jumped the fence. The sheriff ordered him to the back of the line. The feisty lawyer took exception, whereupon York picked him up and deposited him in a mudhole. Fowler scrambled out, madder than a hornet, and others intervened to keep the men from coming to blows. Fowlers friends persuaded him to leave, but he would brood over the incident in the weeks ahead. The insult grew all out of proportion in his head, and that meant bigger trouble when Fowler encountered York in the public square that August trouble so big it cost the sheriff his life.

The killing of Tarrant County Sheriff John York was no honorable affair. It might properly be termed A Tale of Two Cities. But it was equally a tale of two families: the York-Gilmores of Fort Worth and the Peak-Fowlers of Dallas. No, it was not Archibald Fowler who shot the sheriff, although he did come at York repeatedly with his bowie knife that day. York was able to get off one well-aimed shot during the bloody confrontation, and Fowler, like his adversary, did not live to tell the tale.

Like many early Texans, John York came from Tennessee; he was born there in 1827. His parents had followed the westward star, moving the family to Missouri, where John grew to manhood and married Julia Ann Gilmore. She gave birth to a son in late 1847. Six months later, the York and Gilmore families settled in north Texas on land belonging to the Peters Colony, out of which Tarrant County would soon be carved. John built a snug cabin on his 640- acre headright adjoining the property of his in-laws. In 1848 the Yorks son died in infancy and was buried in a plot that would become Fort Worths first cemetery. In July 1849, following the birth of a second son, the Yorks, the Gilmores and other homesteaders welcomed the arrival of Major Ripley A. Arnold and a 2nd Dragoon company. Fort Worth represented the edge of settlement in north Texas for the next few years.

In 1850 John York won election as Tarrant Countys first constable. The state constitution described the position as the conservator of peace throughout the county, but a constable was actually more of a process server than a lawman. However, it did serve as a springboard to higher office, and in 1852 York became sheriff, the countys second. Being the son-in-law of Seabourne Gilmore, the countys first judge, didnt hurt. The position was part-time, as there was no red-light district to police or bank to protect, Indians thereabouts were peaceful enough, and the Army (Fort Worth was literally a fort until September 1853) handled most of the peacekeeping. But that was fine with John, who was civicminded and a leader but not particularly passionate about law enforcement. Big and solidly built, York could intimidate smaller men and keep his old Colt revolver holstered. He was no gunfighter. York remained a full-time farmer while serving as sheriff. In the 1850s, he and Julia had four more children, and she was expecting again in the summer of 1861.

Yorks first two-year term as sheriff passed quickly, and he was reelected in 1854. William Bonaparte Tucker, scion of another First Family of Fort Worth, won the 1856 election, but Bony moved on to bigger things, and John reclaimed the badge in 1858. York oversaw the construction of the first county jail (a one-room log cabin used for 20 years) and helped raise a $10,000 bond toward construction of a county courthouse. The biggest trouble during his tenure was a bitter fight between Fort Worth and Birdville over which one should be designated the county seat. Forth Worth, thanks to bogus votes and plenty of election-day liquor, won the 1856 election, but it took a second election in 1860 to settle the matter for keeps, and not before two men were killed.

In 1860 Tarrant County voters elected William O. Yantes sheriff, but when he joined the Confederacy the following spring, York served out the term. Everything went smoothly as York carried out his everyday duties in the rough-and-tumble town. Even the physical confrontation with Archibald Fowler at the July barbecue didnt amount to much. At least the sheriff didnt think so. Little did he know how much brooding the 36-year-old lawyer was doing.

Archibald Young Fowler, born in South Carolina in 1825, came to Texas after his father died and first hung out his law shingle in Austin. Passing the bar was not a requirement in early Texas; just calling oneself a lawyer made it so. A few years later, Fowler was practicing law in Dallas as A.Y. Fowler, Esq. and was a member of Mason Lodge No. 148. In 1859 he married 19-year-old Juliette Peak, daughter of one of Dallas most prominent families. (Among her brothers were Carroll Peak, Fort Worths first civilian physician, and Junius Peak, future Dallas lawman and legendary Texas Ranger.) The newlyweds moved that year the 30 miles to Fort Worth, which was on the frontiers edge and was regularly visited by buffalo hunters. Men, said one resident, went about wearing pistols and bowie knives openly, and it was a common thing to hear of a man being shot without any notice being taken of it by the authorities. One such authority in 1859 was Sheriff York.

How much crime actually beset Fort Worth is debatable, but the town certainly held boundless opportunity for Fowler, who opened a law office off the public square. He soon launched a second career as a general land agent, and he and his brother-in-law became local agents for the Dallas Herald. Archibald bought Juliette a nice house in town, and she gave birth to their first child in February 1860. The girl died of unknown causes nine months later, but Juliette was pregnant again by the summer of 1861.

Fort Worth was Fowlers kind of town. He ingratiated himself with the town fathers and mentored future mayor and beloved civic figure John Peter Smith. Although not a slave owner, Fowler lined up with Southern fire-eaters who defended the institution and despised abolitionists. In July 1860, he was among the regulators who strung up William H. Crawford, a recent Missouri transplant accused of being an agent of the underground railroad. Fowler then sat on the coroners jury that called it an unsolved crime committed by persons unknown. York was sheriff at the time, but it is not known how he felt about the lynching in his jurisdiction. That fall Fowler was on a committee that drew up a petition supporting secession, though when other secessionists marched off to fight after Fort Sumter, Fowler stayed behind.

Not that Fowler was one to avoid a fight. He could not forget being manhandled by York at the July 1861 barbecue, and he did not try to sidestep a further confrontation. In any case, in a small town like Fort Worth, with one main street, avoiding anyone was a challenge. On August 24, on the public square at the north end of town, Fowler and York had what seems to have been a chance encounter. Fowler was with his teenage nephew Willie at the time. There is no record of words being exchanged, but at one point, according to some accounts, the lawyer sprang on York and began stabbing the sheriff with his bowie knife. The badly wounded York managed to pull his revolver and shoot his assailant, killing him on the spot. Nephew Willie then produced a gun and shot the sheriff, who would cling to life another hour and a half before succumbing to his wounds. By that time, Willie was with his uncle, Dr. Carroll Peak, laying low until it was safe to slip out of town. As Fort Worths resident physician, Peak would have tended to both victims even as he involved himself as an accomplice to murder after the fact. But then, not everyone agreed who was the actual murderer that day.

Willie eventually fled to Missouri, where he joined the Confederate Army. He died during the war. John York was buried in the same family plot as his infant son, and Juliette Fowler took her husbands body back to Dallas, where Archibald received a proper burial in the old Masonic Cemetery (todays Pioneer Memorial Park). Fort Worth did not hold a memorial service for its departed lawyer. No court or jury ever considered the case. The two principals were dead, and Willie had fled. Newspapers apparently overlooked the double killing. Fort Worths only newspaper had suspended publication at the outbreak of the war. The tale lived on in local lore and family history. One good man had been killed, but exactly who was the good man and who was the murderer depended on which side of the Trinity River you hailed from and which family account you favored, the York-Gilmores or the Peak-Fowlers.

The double killing might have touched off one of those Texas blood feuds. Julia Yorks father, Judge Seabourne Gilmore, was known as a man of courage handy with a rifle, while Juliette Fowlers brother Junius Peak was a good gun hand who made a career as a lawman. Fortunately, both sides confined their feuding to the historical record. Not counting a long oral tradition on either side of the Trinity, four first-person versions of the shooting survive from the Fort Worth side, two from the Dallas side, although not one comes from an actual eyewitness (see sidebar, P. 53).

The two pregnant women who became widows on August 24, 1861, faced a difficult road ahead. A few months after burying her husband, Julia York gave birth to their seventh child, Mary. Julia never remarried, so the six York children who reached adulthood grew up without a father. Judge Gilmore took in his daughter and her children, and they continued to live in Tarrant County. Julia eventually moved in with her married oldest son, William, who for some inexplicable reason named his own first son William Archibald York.

Juliette Fowler could not get back to Dallas fast enough after her husbands death. Relatives took her in, and that December she gave birth to Archibald Young Fowler Jr., but he died before reaching his first birthday. Juliette, too, never remarried, but she did adopt a child. Her health was always fragile, and she died at age 52 while visiting New York City in 1889. Her body was returned to Dallas and buried beside her husband and two children in the Masonic Cemetery. In her will, Juliette left 15 acres and a munificent bequest to establish a home for Dallas widows and orphans. To later generations, memories of Archibald Fowler have benefited from his having been married to Juliette.

Of the dozen Tarrant County sheriffs between 1850 and 1876 (when legendary Longhair Jim Courtright took over), only John B. York left a mark on history. All the others were Reconstruction-era appointees or nonentities, forgotten as soon as they left office. For that matter, John York is only remembered because he died in a sensational double killing. He is the only sheriff to die in office in more than 150 years of Tarrant County historythough whether he died in the line of duty remains a question of family loyalties.

Texas author Richard F. Selcers 2009 book Fort Worth Characters (reviewed in this issue) is recommended for further reading, as are his two earlier books about Fort Worth.

Originally published in the June 2010 issue of Wild West. To subscribe, click here.
Tybo sits on the eastern slope of the Hot Creek Range in Nye County, Nevada. Shoshone Indians alerted whites to canyon-side silver veins in 1866. In 1870 James W. Gally and M.V.B. Gillett claimed the main silver lode, which became the Two-G Mine. The boom began in 1874, officials platted a town and buildings sprang up.

The post office also arrived in 1874. By 1876 the young town boasted five stores, two blacksmith shops, numerous saloons and 1,000 inhabitants. At least 16 mule-drawn outfits moved freight from Eureka to Tybo and returned with lead and silver bullion. More than 250 tons of bullion left Tybo monthly in 1877, making it the nations top lead-producing district.

Tybo was divided geographically Upper, Middle and Lower Tybo occupied different elevations astride the steep canyonand ethnically, with strife between the Irish, Cornish, Central Europeans and Swiss-Italians. Still, all children attended the redbrick schoolhouse.

In 1877 the Eureka Daily Sentinel reported: Among the mining properties gaining a prominent position in mining circles can be numbered that of the Tybo Consolidated Company.Two smelting furnaces have been erected, a refinery, where the bullion is separated, is also in successful operation, and within the past year a 20-stamp mill has been set up.

Local kilns burned pinon pinewood to produce the charcoal that fueled the smelting furnaces (see related story, P. 26). The Daily Sentinel noted, The company, owning large tracts of woodland in the vicinity of its mines and near Hot Creek, [has] started to do its own burning and making coalby the use of brick kilns, built circular, 22 feet in width and 25 feet high. Today more than a dozen charcoal kilns exist near Tybo.

Tybo was the site of Nevadas 1876 Chinese War, when a labor shortage prompted the hiring of Chinese woodcutters at wages equal to those paid white workers. The Workingmens Protective Union, including some Swiss-Italian carbonari, fortified with liquor, stormed the Chinese camp at midnight and put the workers to flight. The labor contractors men prevailed in bringing them back, despite a roadside standoff with a dozen armed union men. The opponents exchanged ultimatums, and bloodshed seemed likely. The Chinese themselves ended the ugly incident, offering to leave in exchange for stage fare to Eureka, which the Anti-Asiatic League of Tybo provided.

The Belmont Courier recorded Tybos first murder in 1877: A fatal shooting affray occurred in Tybo at about 5 oclock last Tuesday evening in Events & Kinds Saloon. [It] commenced in a playful way between StewartMart Tupper and some other parties, but it soon became personal in its nature and resulted in Stewart stabbing Tupper while he was sitting in a chair. Tupper immediately got up from the chair and started for the front door. Stewart followed him up; Tupper drew a pistol and fired three shots, the second and third taking effect and causing almost instant death. It is the general opinion that Tupper was justified in the shooting of Stewart. Tupper died of his own wounds five days later.

Another 1877 Courier article told of the discovery in our midst of a man possessed of a devil. An attempt would likely have been made to exorcise the evil spirit by subjecting the possessor to a coat of tar and feathers and possibly severer treatment had the latter not made a rapid and sudden exit from the town on foot. This human fiend, G. Roycroftwas apprehended in making suggestions and proposals to the schoolgirls of Tybo by means of a letter [of] so foul and obscene a nature that the severest penalties of the law would be mild punishment.

In 1879 the company closed the smelters, putting 400 men out of work, and adopted the new process of crushing and roasting the ore. Tybo became less profitable as silver-rich surface ore at the Two-G yielded to greater proportions of zinc and lead. The Treadwell-Yukon Company revived operations in 1929, but the post office closed for good in October 1937. Few buildings but plenty of foundations survive, and Tybo still claims a few residents.

The dirt road to Tybo off U.S. 6 bisects Basecamp Airfield, a U.S. Air Force strip that UFO enthusiasts believe is a backup runway for Area 51. The base was built to support the Project Faultless underground nuclear test in 1968.

Robert H. Wynn operates the Web site Ghost Town Seekers [www.robertwynn.com]. Thomas J. Straka is a forestry and natural resources professor at Clemson University.

Originally published in the June 2010 issue of Wild West. To subscribe, click here.
This revolver is often regarded as the black sheep of old Colts.

When Sam Colt invented the first American revolver that worked when it was supposed to, one of the keys to its success was that its single-action, cap-and-ball mechanism had only four moving parts. Although Colt had experimented with double-action (i.e., self-cocking) revolvers, he died on January 10, 1862, without ever having put one into production. His logic was simple. First, a double-action revolver required more moving parts, which increased production costs. Second, more moving parts meant a greater chance a part could break or fail, and that could prove fatal to a frontiersman who staked his life on the dependability of his six-shooter.

Before a shooter can fire a single-action revolver, he must manually cock the hammer, which also revolves the cylinder; a squeeze of the trigger then releases the hammer and fires the gun. Just squeezing the trigger will not fire a single-action revolver. On the other hand, a squeeze on the trigger of a double-action revolver revolves the cylinder, cocks the hammer, releases the hammer and fires the gun all at onceno manual cocking required.

Due to Sam Colts negativity regarding double-action revolvers, the Colt factory didnt produce one until 1877, well into the cartridge era. Its first double-action revolver was the small-framed, six-shot Lightningin .32 and .38 calibers, as well as a .41-caliber version, also marketed as the Thunderer. But the need out West for bigger-caliber, man-stopping weapons prompted Colt to create the Model 1878 Frontier Double-Action. Colt revamped the Lightning into a larger-framed, six-shot, double-action revolver that utilized the same barrel, ejector housing and cylinder as the widely popular Colt Single-Action Army model. The result was an ugly-looking, birds headgripped Colt with a European look and feel that drew complaints from veteran gun handlers on the frontier. Worse, because of its weak mainspring, the Model 1878 sometimes misfired, leaving its owner very dead after a gunfight. Furthermore, as with the Lightning, when the Model 1878s fragile locking-bolt spring broke, gunsmiths threw fits trying to put its mechanism back together. Despite these problems, the Model 1878 earned plenty of early praise, especially from U.S. Army officers who used them as personal sidearms during the Indian wars of the Southwest.

The Model 1878 was available in almost any caliber or barrel length, though .45 and .44-40 calibers were the most popular, and 4 -, 5- and 7 -inch barrel lengths were standard. The standard finish was blue, and the standard stocks were of hard rubber. Other types of finishes, all styles of engraving and pearl or ivory grips (plain or carved) were optional and cost extra. B. Kittredge & Co. of Cincinnati, one of Colts biggest dealers, nicknamed the Model 1878 the Omnipotent to boost its sales appeal.

The Model 1878 is seldom mentioned in 19th-century gunfight accounts, in part because newspaper reporters didnt know the proper terminology to describe it. For example, when Doc Holliday shot and wounded saloon owner Milt Joyce and his partner in Tombstone, Arizona Territory, on October 10, 1880, newspapers only described Docs revolver as a self-cocker. Not knowing about the Model 1878, many historians assume Docs gun was a Lightning, and it could have been. But it also could have been a Model 1878 or a European double action.

Thanks to the dedicated research of both Don Wilkerson (Colts Double-Action Revolver, Model of 1878) and Charles Worman (Gunsmoke and Saddle Leather: Firearms in the 19th-Century American West), the names of some Old West characters who bought or carried the Model 1878 have come to light. In late 1878, U.S. Marshal Daniel P. Upham, stationed at Fort Smith, Ark., bought one in .45 caliber with ivory grips, and the next summer he bought seven more .45s. George Maledon, hangman for Isaac the Hanging Judge Parker, carried a Model 1878, now on display at Fort Smith. Other Model 1878 owners included gambler Rowdy Joe Lowe, Captain Jack the Poet Scout Crawford and Apache-campaign scouts Tom Horn and Al Sieber. Worman writes: Buffalo Bill Cody special ordered two .45s with a nonstandard 9-inch barrel in 1888, and gun dealer J.P. Lower of Denver advertised a variation of the M1878 with a 4-inch barrel, which he designated as the Sports Pet. Famed Arizona lawman Jeff Milton apparently sometimes carried an M1878 .44 with a 4-inch barrel in a hip pocket leather holster.

In the early 1880s, Deputy U.S. Marshal W.R. McFarland of Austin, Texas, bought two silver-plated Model 1878s, one in .45 caliber with ivory grips and the other in .41 caliber with pearl grips. Codys Wild West show partner Gordon Pawnee Bill Lillie special ordered two Model 1878 Colts in 1893. Les Snow, a Wyoming deputy sheriff who helped convict hired killer Tom Horn, owned an engraved Model 1878, now on display at the University of Wyoming in Laramie. Two Army officers who carried Model 1878s on the Southwestern frontier1st Lt. Marion Perry Maus and Captain Francis Safford Dodge received the Medal of Honor for most distinguished gallantry. And a Model 1878 recently turned up with an inlaid silver plaque on its left grip that reads, PRESENTED TO BOB SPECK, SHERIFF, SPOKANE CO., BY LOU HUNT. Speck was a deputy sheriff and acting sheriff in Missoula, Montana Territory, in the early 1880s and sheriff of Spokane County in Washington Territory in 189899.

Besides mechanical problems, one other factor rang the death knell for the Model 1878 Colt. In those early days when double-action revolvers were still a novelty, most gunmen were accustomed to rapid firing their single-action revolvers by fanning the hammer while keeping steady pressure on the trigger. But with the Model 1878, a shooter had to completely release the trigger after each shot, then squeeze it again to reengage the double-action mechanism, revolve the cylinder and cock the hammer for another shot. If a man who lived by the gun didnt retrain himself to release the trigger of the Model 1878 before squeezing off his next shot, his first shot would be his last, giving him but a split second to wonder why his new six-gun had failed him.

Colt rolled out some 51,200 Model 1878s before throwing in the towel and ceasing production in 1905 in favor of its big New Service Model 1898 swingout-cylinder revolvers. Ever since, the Model 1878 has remained the black sheep of Colt revolvers from the shoot- em-up period of the Old West.

Originally published in the June 2010 issue of Wild West. To subscribe, click here.
In 1565 Jean de la Valette and the Knights of St. John defended the isolated Mediterranean stronghold from an Ottoman siege using gunpowder, steel, bare hands and bloody resolve

Jean de la Valette, grand master of the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St. John, looked across Maltas Grand Harbor at the charred, crumbling walls of Fort St. Elmo. He knew well the fort was doomed, but the longer its garrison held out, the greater the orders chances of survival. By night Valette had sent fresh troops across the harbor and had the wounded evacuated. Even so he was astonished St. Elmos few defenders had held out for so long, that mortal men still drew breath within that cataclysm of fire.

Turkish forces had besieged the small fort for nearly a month, blasting its stout walls with cannons and regularly sweeping the battlements with harquebus fire. Thousands of fanatical Muslim troops then hurled themselves toward the ramparts, only to be beaten back again and again by the increasingly exhausted Christian knights. The defenders poured cauldrons of boiling pitch on the Turks and tossed down flaming cloth-wrapped hoops and incendiary bombs to set the attackers robes and ladders ablaze. Shattered and scorched corpses filled the ditches beneath the forts outer walls. The knights remained coiled within, creatures of flame and smoke and steel. At the last they stepped into the breaches blasted in the walls to meet their enemies with sword, battle-ax and pike.

All but a handful of Fort St. Elmos defenders would perish, but not before exacting a terrible toll on their enemy and giving their brother knights time to rally.

In 1565 the small Mediterranean dominion of Malta became a flash point in the centuries-long contest between Christianity and Islam for the soul of Europe. Fifty miles south of Sicily, the archipelago served as a strategic gateway between East and West. Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent had sent his fleet to Malta to destroy the military Order of St. John and thus secure a stepping-stone for the invasion of Italy.

The appearance of the Ottoman fleet off Malta came as no surprise to Valette. Elevated to his position in 1557, the 71-year-old grand master had made every effort to speed preparations for the inevitable invasion. The same age as Suleiman and a veteran of many clashes with the Turkshaving even served a year as a slave on a Barbary Coast galleyValette possessed deep insight into the conflict, comprehending both the implacable enmity between the servants of the rival faiths and the strategic importance of Malta to control of the Mediterranean and the conquest of southern Europe. On sighting the approaching Turkish flotilla, Valette dispatched an Italian knight in a small boat to carry a succinct message to Sicilian Viceroy Don Garcia de Toledo in Messina. The siege has begun, Valette wrote. We await your help. But the grand master put little faith in reinforcementonly the strength and determination of the knights themselves would see them through the coming storm.

The battle for Malta had deep historical roots. The Order of St. John (aka Knights Hospitaller) had been a thorn in the side of Islam for hundreds of years. Banding together after the Christian reconquest of Jerusalem in 1099 during the First Crusade, the knights were both religious and military in nature, and in league with the Knights Templar they served as the backbone of the Christian armies in the Holy Land. When Muslims took the last major Christian stronghold at Acre in 1291, the Order of St. John withdrew first to Cyprus and then to Rhodes, where it remained for two centuries. Aided by the experienced Rhodian sailors, the Hospitallers turned to the sea, evolving from traditional knights into Christian corsairs who continually harassed Muslim merchant ships, disrupting their trade routes. The raids ultimately spurred their enemies to launch two assaults against the knights in the 15th centuryone by the sultan of Egypt in 1444, the other by Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II in 1480. The magnificent fortifications the knights had built on Rhodes endured both attacks, but a six-month siege by Suleimans forces in 1522 finally broke their defenses. In recognition of their valor, the sultan allowed survivors to withdraw. The order again went in search of a new home.

In 1530 Holy Roman Emperor Charles V offered the Knights of St. John the Libyan stronghold of Tripoli and the Mediterranean archipelago comprising Gozo, Comino and Malta. While the islands were rocky, barren and bleak, Malta boasted two fine, large harbors and was the seafaring linchpin of the Mediterranean. The Hospitallers would command the east-west trade routeseverything crossing between Malta and Sicily or North Africa would be at their mercy. Indeed, their heavily armed galleys soon posed more of a nuisance to Turkish shipping than they had at Rhodes. In 1564 an aging Suleiman, exasperated beyond endurance and regretting his decision to have spared those sons of dogs 42 years earlier, resolved to deploy the full military might of the Ottoman fleet to crush the order and sweep it into the sea.

The Turkish armada that hove to off Malta on May 18, 1565, was enormous. Nearly 200 ships carried upward of 30,000 troops, the deadliest of whom were the sultans 6,000 Janissaries, elite harquebusiers famed for their discipline and order. The main body of the force comprised 9,000 Sipahis armed with swords, bows, crossbows and matchlock muskets. Joining them were some 4,000 fearsome Iayalars, religious fanatics who dressed in animal skins and feathers, smoked hashish before battle and charged in heedless of casualties. Rounding out the force were levies, support troops and sailors. The Turks brought at least 50 major pieces of artilleryincluding 8-pounders, 60-pound culverins and at least two massive basilisks, firing immense stone balls weighing 160 poundsas well as 80,000 rounds of shot, thousands of pounds of gunpowder and supreme confidence no foe could withstand their might.

At first glance their confidence seemed well founded. Malta17 miles long by 9 miles widewas weakly garrisoned and had been hastily fortified. At the outset of the siege Valette had 600 knights and servants-at-arms, about 1,000 Spanish foot soldiers and harquebusiers, and a few thousand Maltese militia and irregulars under his command. He had distributed the troops in three main positions: Fort St. Angelo on the peninsula of Birgu; Fort St. Michael on the adjacent peninsula of Senglea; and Fort St. Elmo on the central peninsula of Sciberras, which guarded the mouth of Grand Harbor to the south and that of Marsamxett Harbor to the north. A short march west in the interior lay the capital city of Mdina, its once grand defenses old and undermanned. Valette earmarked it as a base from which to launch cavalry raids against the Turks.

Though the knights had considered the barrenness of the archipelago an inconvenience, it now proved an advantage. When besieging Rhodes, the Turks had been able to secure victuals from the nearby Ottoman mainland as well as the lush island itself. But there was little grain on Malta, and farmers had cut that in the spring, well before the siege. Fresh water was also scarce. The main source lay in the Marsa, a low-lying area at the far end of Grand Harbor. But at the first hint of invasion Valette had ordered his men to stockpile water in thousands of clay jars, then to foul Marsas springs and wells with ordure, animal carcasses and bitter herbs. Further, Maltas relative geographic isolation meant the Turks would have to bring everything necessary for a siege with themguns, ammunition, tents, sailcloth, even wood for cooking. Moreover, the attackers would have to capture the island before autumn. If the knights could hold out long enough, Valette knew, the Turks would have to choose between wintering on the ill-provisioned island or departing before rough seas endangered their fleet.

The Turkish fleet anchored in Marsaxlokk Bay, on the south end of Malta, and began to move the main body of the army ashore. While Valette sent his mounted scouting parties to harass the Turkish advance units, he wisely made no attempt to contain the invaders at the beachheada futile operation against such numbers that would have squandered his limited resources. By opting to defend from within the fortifications, the grand master would force Suleiman to sacrifice thousands of his own men in the attempt to breach the walls.

The Turks made several critical errors at the outset of the campaign. First, they failed to take the ill-fortified city of Mdina. Its fall would have not only deprived the knights of a base for their cavalry, but also given the Turks control of the north end of the island, effectively cutting communications with Sicily. Second, they failed to concentrate their attacks on the defenders strongpoints on Birgu and Senglea. Both sat atop low-lying headlands that could be brought under fire from higher ground just to the south. After an initial abortive attack on the bastion of Castile, at the landward end of Birgu, the Turks pulled back to focus instead on Fort St. Elmo. Their irresolution stemmed from a division of command and purpose.

Suleiman had placed Gen. Mustapha Pasha in command of the army and Adm. Piali Pasha over the fleet. The former was fixated on destroying the enemy, while the latter was more concerned with preserving the armada entrusted to him. Pialis first order of business was to find adequate shelter for his ships. With Grand Harbor dominated by the guns of Fort St. Elmo and the bastions on Birgu and Senglea, and sea conditions in the south harbor less than ideal, the Ottoman admiral insisted the fleet must berth in Marsamxett, north of the Sciberras Peninsula. That meant the Turks must first reduce Fort St. Elmo before assaulting the orders main positions

a reasonable scenario, provided the fort were quick to fall.

After establishing their base camp at the Marsa end of Grand Harbor, the Turks moved the bulk of their artillery to the crest of Sciberras, chiseling trenches and gun emplacements into the bare rock. The Ottoman gunners then opened a relentless bombardment of the knights fortress, hurling balls of iron, marble and stone and concentrating on one point at a time. Day and night St. Elmo was wreathed in flame, and by months end its landward walls had begun to crumble. Every dawn that broke on the banner of the Order of St. John, its red-and-white cross waving defiantly from atop the broken fortress, was a surprise to besieger and defender alike.

The siege got its second wind with the arrival of Dragut, the greatest Muslim sailor of his age, who had wrested Tripoli from the knights and scouted Malta in 1551. The sultan ordered all three co-commanders to consult him in all things. Dragut promptly rebuked Mustapha and Piali for their folly in failing to secure the north island and for initiating the unnecessary siege of St. Elmo. To desist at that point would lower morale, however, so Dragut ordered batteries emplaced to the north and south of the fort to bring it under fire from three sides. He was also quick to perceive the garrison had survived so long because it was being supplied and reinforced. From then on Turkish patrol boats scoured Grand Harbor by night, choking off St. Elmo. Its heroic defenders nonetheless held out several more weeks, draining Turkish resources, demoralizing enemy soldiers and buying Valette precious time to strengthen the fortifications in Grand Harbor.

The small bastion held out for 31 days, until June 23, its battered knights resisting to the last. Two maimed Spanish captains, Juan de Guaras and Juan de Miranda, had themselves strapped into chairs and carried to the breach so they could face the enemy. They joined more than 1,500 of their fellow knights in death. But the capture of St. Elmo had cost the attackers four times as many lives. Dragut himself was mortally wounded by artillery, possibly his own. Doubtless more than one Turk turned his eyes toward the much larger bastions on Birgu and Senglea and wondered how much blood would be paid for their capture. In revenge for the Hospitallers stubborn defense, Mustapha had the knights bodies decapitated, crucified and set afloat in Grand Harbor. Valette upped the ante, decapitating all Turkish prisoners held in St. Angelo and ordering their heads fired from his cannons into the Ottoman lines. The exchange was clear. There would be no quarter, no mercy.

By the time Fort St. Elmo fell it was high summer. As Malta simmered in oppressive heat, the whole Turkish army slogged its way around Grand Harbor to begin the offensives on Birgu and Senglea. As he awaited the assault, Valette received welcome news. A small relief force of 600 men and 42 knights from Sicily had managed to sneak through enemy-occupied territory by night and enter Birgu. Their arrival was a great boost to morale, and triumphal church bells echoed across the peninsula. Overestimating the size of the relief force, or perhaps simply growing weary of the overlong and costly struggle, Mustapha offered Valette the same terms the knights had been given at Rhodessafe passage with all the honors of war. The grand master refused, replying that the only territory he would give the Turks was the ditch before the fortress wall, in which to stack their dead.

In early July the Turkish batteries opened fire as Mustapha launched simultaneous attacks on Senglea from the landward side and by sea from the Marsa. In this action the Maltese irregulars, who had erected palisades and placed underwater obstructions all along the peninsula, proved invaluable. Excellent swimmers, they knifed the Turks in their immobilized boats and dragged them into the water to drown them. Soon the shoreline was choked with enemy corpses. Hoping to capitalize on the distraction of these assaults, Mustapha also sent 10 large boats filled with Janissaries to scale the low walls on the other side of Senglea. This attempt, too, was thwarted when a hidden battery at waters edge blew the boats to kindling, sending more than 800 men to the harbor floor.

Realizing his men could not take the fortresses by storm, Mustapha ordered preparatory bombardments to precede a siege of the walls. The island trembled and smoked. The barrages went on for days and could be heard 100 miles away. When the firing finally ceased on August 7, the war cries of thousands of men broke the silence as they rushed the battered walls of Birgu. The Turks managed to breach the main wall, but the knights had prepared well, constructing inner defensive walls that penned in the enemy troops, trapping them in a murderous crossfire. A simultaneous Turkish onslaught on Senglea met with more success, gaining the battlements and a foothold in Fort St. Michael itself. But at that moment, to the amazement of both sides, a trumpet sounded the retreat. Mustapha had received word of a relief force and pulled back his forces to meet the threat. In fact, a small body of horsemen from Mdina had chosen that moment to pilfer and burn the Turkish camp and slay its inhabitants, including all the wounded. When he learned a mere raid had deprived him of victory, Mustapha was furious.

As August wore on, the artillery volleys continued. The Turks were also mining the walls of Senglea and the bastion of Castile. Nervous elders on Birgu pleaded with Valette to withdraw the knights and all able-bodied troops into Fort St. Angelo. The grand master refused, knowing there would be neither safety nor honor in such a retreat. Exposed on the seaward end of the peninsula, St. Angelo would come under withering fire from all points of the compass. Moreover, Valette would never abandon the brave Maltese who had suffered alongside the garrison and played such a heroic part in its defense.

On August 18 a mine exploded beneath the Castile, felling a large section of the bastions main wall, through which the Turks streamed before the dust had even settled. Panic threatened to immobilize the Christian troops, when into the breach strode the 71-year-old grand master himself, wearing a borrowed helmet and wielding a pike. His example heartened the dazed defenders, who rushed forward to engage in a vicious hand-to-hand struggle. Though wounded in the leg by a grenade, Valette refused to withdraw until the Turks were repelled.

As the siege dragged on, dissension between the Turkish commanders increased. Piali kept an anxious eye on the sea, while Mustapha calculated whether he could acquire sufficient supplies from Tripoli, Greece or Constantinople to overwinter his army on Malta. But morale had plummeted, and the final blow to the Turks fighting spirit came with the news a Christian relief force of some 8,000 men had landed on the north island. On September 8, the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Turks called off the siege and began to withdraw. Days later the ragged defenders gazed in wonder at the abandoned siege works and trenches. The island was scarred and scorched, the bastion walls blasted and cracked, the survivors exhausted and bloodybut they had endured.

On Malta in 1565 the Knights of St. John had checked the westward expansion of Turkish power, setting the stage for a concerted pushback from the Christian West. Six years later a fleet of the Holy League severely challenged Ottoman maritime dominance of the Mediterranean when it destroyed a Turkish fleet just outside its naval base of Lepanto in the Ionian Sea. As they had for hundreds of years, the galleys of the Knights of St. John once again sailed against their old enemy.

Justin D. Lyons is an associate professor at Ohios Ashland University. For further reading he recommends The Siege of Malta, 1565, by Francisco Balbi di Correggio, and The Great Siege: Malta 1565, by Ernle Bradford.
The problem was not just to fool the Germans about where the D-Day landings would take place, but to persuade them that Normandy was merely a diversion.

ON JUNE 6, 1944, THE UNITED STATES, BRITAIN, AND CANADA launched the largest force of warships in history across the English Channel. It escorted the largest concentration of troop transport vessels ever assembled, covered by the largest force of fighter and bomber aircraft ever brought together, preceded by a fleet of air transports that had carried tens of thousands of paratroopers and glider-borne troops to Normandy.

Not one German submarine, not one small boat, not one airplane, not one radar set, not one German anywhere detected this movement. As General Walter Warlimont, deputy head of operations of the German Supreme Headquarters, later confessed, on the eve of Overlord the Wehrmacht leaders had not the slightest idea that the decisive event of the war was upon them.

IN WORLD WAR I, SURPRISE ON A GRAND SCALE WAS SELDOM ATTEMPTED and rarely achieved. In World War II, it was always sought and sometimes achievedas with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and the German invasion of Russia, both in 1941, and the German attack in the Ardennes in 1940 and again in 1944. One reason for this difference between the wars was that World War II commanders judged surprise to be more critical to victory than a pre-attack artillery bombardment. In the age of machine guns, other rapid-fire artillery, and land mines, the defenders could make almost any position virtually impregnable, no matter how heavy the pre-attack bombardment. Another reason for the increased emphasis on surprise was that the much greater mobility of World War II armed forces made surprise more feasible and more effective. Because of improvements in and more imaginative use of the internal-combustion engine (especially in tanks and trucks), the geographic area in which the conflict fought was much larger in World War II. The pre-invasion bombardment for Overlord, carried out by aircraft, was spread all across France and Belgium. It may have wasted a lot of bombs, but it also kept the Germans from discerning a pattern that would indicate the invasion site.

None of the surprises achieved in World War II was more complex, more difficult, more important, or more successful than Overlord. To fool Hitler and his generals in the battle of wits that preceded the attack, the Allies had to convince them not only that it was coming where it was not, but also that the real thing was a feint. The first objective could be achieved by attacking in an unexpected, indeed illogical, place, and by maintaining total security about the plan. The second required convincing Hitler that the Allied invasion force was about twice as powerful as it actually was.

That there would be landings in France in the late spring of 1944 was universally known. Exactly where and when were the questions. To learn those secrets, the Germans maintained a huge intelligence organization that included spies inside Britain, air reconnaissance, monitoring of the British press and BBC, radio intercept stations, decoding experts, interrogation of Allied airmen shot down in Germany, research on Allied economies, and more.

The importance of surprise was obvious. In World War I it was judged that to have any chance at success, the attacking force had to outnumber the defenders by at least three to one. But in Overlord the attacking force of 175,000 men would he outnumbered by the Wehrmacht, even at the point of attack, and the overall figures (German troops in Western Europe versus Allied troops in the United Kingdom) showed a two-to-one German advantage. Doctrine in the German army was to meet an attack with an immediate counterattack.

In this case, the Germans could move reinforcements to the battle much faster than the Allies, because they could bring them in by train, by truck, and on foot, while the Allies had to bring them in by ship. The Germans had storage and supply dumps all over France; the Allies had to bring every shell, every bullet, every drop of gasoline, every bandage across the Channel.

Allied intelligence worked up precise tables on the Germans ability to move reinforcements into the battle area. The conclusion was that if the Germans correctly gauged Overlord as the main assault and marched immediately, within a month they could concentrate 31 divisions in the battle area, including nine panzer divisions. The Allies could not match that buildup rate.

In the face of these obstacles, the Allies managed to maintain a deception about their true intentions even after the battle began. How they did so is a remarkable story.

Thousands of men and women were involved, but perhaps the most important, and certainly the most dramatic, were the dozen or so members of BI(a), the counterespionage arm of MI-5, the British internal-security agency. Using a variety of sources, such as code breaking and interrogation of captured agents, the British caught German spies as they parachuted into England or Scotland. Sir John Masterman, head of BI(a), evaluated each spy. Those he considered unsuitable were executed or imprisoned. The others were turnedthat is, made into double agents, who sent messages to German intelligence, the Abwehr, via radio, using Morse code. (Each spy had his own distinctive signature in the way he used the codes dots and dashes, which was immediately recognizable by the German spy master receiving the message.) The British kept the double agents tap-tap-tapping, but only what they were told to send out.

This so-called Double-Cross operation, which had come into being in the dark days of 1940, managed to locate and turn every German spy in the United Kingdom, some two dozen in all. From the beginning the British had decided to aim it exclusively toward the moment when the Allies returned to France. Building up this asset over the years required feeding the Abwehr information through the spies that was authentic, new, and interesting, but either relatively valueless or something the Germans were bound to learn anyway. The idea was to make the agents trustworthy and valuable in the eyes of the Germans, then spring the trap on D-Day, when the double agents would flood the Abwehr with false information.

The first part of the trap was to make the Germans think the attack was coming at the Pas de Calais. Since the Germans already anticipated that this was where the Allies would come ashore, it was necessary only to reinforce their preconceptions. The Pas de Calais was indeed the obvious choice. It was on the direct LondonRuhrBerlin line. It was close to Antwerp, Europes best port. Inland the terrain was flat, with few natural obstacles. At the Pas de Calais the Channel was at its narrowest, giving ships the shortest trip and British-based fighter aircraft much more time over the invasion area.

Because the Pas de Calais was the obvious choice, the Germans had their strongest fixed defenses there, backed up by the Fifteenth Army and a majority of the panzer divisions in France. Whether or not they succeeded in making the position impregnable we will never know, because the supreme Allied commander, Dwight D. Eisenhower, decided not to find out. He chose Normandy instead. Normandy had certain advantages, including the port of Cherbourg, the narrowness of the Cotentin Peninsula, access to the major road network at Caen, and proximity to the English ports of Southampton and Portsmouth. Normandys greatest advantage, however, was that the Germans were certain to consider an attack there highly unlikely, because it would be an attack in the wrong direction: Instead of heading east, toward the German heartland, the Allies would be heading south into central France.

The second part of the trap was to make the Germans think, even after the attack began, that Normandy was a feint. Geography reinforced Eisenhowers choice of Normandy in meeting this requirement, too: If there were major Allied landings at the Pas de Calais, Hitler would not keep troops in Normandy for fear of their being cut off from Germanybut he might be persuaded to keep troops in the Pas de Calais following a landing in Normandy, as they would still stand between the Allied forces and Germany.

The deception plan, code-named Fortitude, was a joint venture, with British and American teams working together; it made full use of the Double-Cross system, dummy armies, fake radio traffic, and elaborate security precautions. In terms of the time, resources, and energy devoted to it, Fortitude was a tremendous undertaking. It had many elements, designed to make the Germans think the attack might come at the Biscay coast or in the Marseilles region or even in the Balkans. Most important were Fortitude North, which set up Norway as a target (the site of Hitlers U-boat bases, essential to his offensive operations), and Fortitude South, with the Pas de Calais as the target.

To get the Germans to look toward Norway, the Allies first had to convince them that Eisenhower had enough resources for a diversion or secondary attack. This was doubly difficult because of Ikes acute shortage of landing craftit was touch and go as to whether there would be enough craft to carry five divisions ashore at Normandy as planned, much less spares for another attack. To make the Germans believe otherwise, the Allies had to create fictitious divisions and landing craft on a grand scale. This was done chiefly with the Double-Cross system and through Allied radio signals.

The British Fourth Army, for example, stationed in Scotland and scheduled to invade Norway in mid-July, existed only on the airwaves. Early in 1944 some two dozen overage British officers were sent to northernmost Scotland, where they spent the next months exchanging radio messages. They filled the air with an exact duplicate of the wireless traffic that accompanies the assembly of a real army, communicating in low-level and thus easily broken cipher. Together the messages created an impression of corps and division headquarters scattered all across Scotland: 80 Div. request 1,800 pairs of crampons, 1,800 pairs of ski bindings, they read, or 7 Corps requests the promised demonstrators in the Bilgeri method of climbing rock faces. There was no 80th Division, no VII Corps.

The turned German spies meanwhile sent encoded radio messages to Hamburg and Berlin describing heavy train traffic in Scotland, new division patches seen on the streets of Edinburgh, and rumors among the troops about going to Norway. Wooden twin-engine bombers began to appear on Scottish airfields. British commandos made some raids on the coast of Norway, pinpointing radar sites, picking up soil samples (ostensibly to test the suitability of beaches to support a landing), and in general trying to look like a pre-invasion force.

The payoff was spectacular. By late spring Hitler had 13 army divisions in Norway (about 130,000 men under the German military system) along with 90,000 naval and 60,000 Luftwaffe personnel. In late May, Field Marshal Erwin Rommel finally persuaded Hitler to move five infantry divisions from Norway to France. They had started to load up and move out when the Abwehr passed on to Hitler another set of intercepted messages about the threat to Norway. He canceled the movement order.

To paraphrase Winston Churchill, never in the history of warfare have so many been immobilized by so few.

Fortitude South was larger and more elaborate. It was based on the First U.S. Army Group (FUSAG), stationed in and around Dover and threatening the Pas de Calais. It included radio traffic; inadequately camouflaged dummy landing craft in the ports of Ramsgate, Dover, and Hastings; fields packed with paper-mache tanks; and full use of the Double-Cross setup. The spies reported intense activity in and around Dover, including construction, troop movements, increased train traffic, and the like. They said that the phony oil dock at Dover, built by stagehands from Hollywood and the British film industry, was open and operating.

The capstone to Fortitude South was Ikes selection of General George S. Patton to command FUSAG. The Germans thought Patton the best commander in the Allied camp (a judgment with which Patton hilly agreed, but which Eisenhower, unbeknownst to the Germans, did not) and expected him to lead the assault. Eisenhower, who was saving Patton for the exploitation phase of the campaign, used Pattons reputation and visibility to strengthen Fortitude South. The spies reported his arrival in England and his movements. FUSAG radio signals told the Germans of Pattons comings and goings and showed that he had taken a firm grip on his new command.

FUSAG contained real as well as notional divisions, corps, and armies. The FUSAG order of battle included the U.S. Third Army, which was real but still in the United States; the British Fourth Army, which was imaginary; and the Canadian First Army, which was real and based in England. There were, in addition, supposedly fifty follow-up divisions in the United States, organized as the U.S. Fourteenth Armywhich was notionalawaiting shipment to the Pas de Calais after FUSAG established its beachhead. Many of the divisions in the Fourteenth Army were real and were actually assigned to General Omar Bradleys U.S. First Army in southwest England.

Fortitudes success was measured by the German estimate of Allied strength. By June 1, the Germans believed that Eisenhowers entire command included 89 divisions (of about 15,000 men each), when in fact he had 47. They also thought he had sufficient landing craft to bring 20 divisions ashore in the first wave, when he would be lucky to manage five. Partly because they credited Ike with so much strength, and partly because it made such good military sense, the Germans believed that the real invasion would be preceded or followed by diversionary attacks and feints.

SECURITY FOR OVERLORD WAS AS IMPORTANT AS DECEPTION. As Ike declared, Success or failure of coming operations depends upon whether the enemy can obtain advance information of an accurate nature. To maintain security, in February he asked Churchill to move all civilians out of southernmost England. He feared there might be an undiscovered spy who could report the truth to the Abwehr. Churchill refused; he felt it was too much to ask of a war-weary population. A British officer on Ikes staff said it was all politics, and growled, If we fail, there wont be any more politics.

Ike sent Churchill an eloquent plea, warning that it would go hard with our consciences if we were to feel, in later years, that by neglecting any security precaution we had compromised the success of these vital operations. In late March, Churchill gave in; the civilians were put out of all coastal and training areas and kept out until months after D-Day.

Eisenhower also persuaded a reluctant Churchill to impose a ban on privileged diplomatic communications from the United Kingdom. Ike said he regarded diplomatic pouches as the gravest risk to the security of our operations and to the lives of our sailors, soldiers, and airmen. When Churchill imposed the ban, on April 17 , foreign governments protested vigorously. This gave Hitler a useful clue to the timing of Overlord. He remarked in early May that the English have taken measures that they can sustain for only six to eight weeks. When a West Point classmate of Ikes declared at the bar in Claridges Hotel that D-Day would be before June 15, and offered to take bets when challenged, Ike reduced him in rank and sent him home in disgrace. There was another flap a week later when a U.S. Navy officer got drunk and revealed details of impending operations, including areas, strength, and dates. Ike wrote Chief of Staff George C. Marshall, I get so angry at the occurrence of such needless and additional hazards that I could cheerfully shoot the offender myself. Instead, Ike sent the officer back to the States.

TO CHECK ON HOW WELL SECURITY AND DECEPTION WERE WORKING, SHAEF (Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force) had another asset, the Ultra system. This involved breaking the German code, Enigma, enabling SHAEF to read German radio signals. Thanks to Ultra, the British Joint Intelligence Committee was able to put together weekly summaries of German Appreciation of Allied Intentions in the West, one- or two-page overviews of where, when, and in what strength the Germans expected the attack. Week after week, the summaries gave Ike exactly the news he wanted to read: that the Germans were anticipating an attack on Norway, diversions in the south of France and in Normandy or the Bay of Biscay, and the main assault, with twenty or more divisions, against the Pas de Calais.

But Fortitude was an edifice built so delicately, precisely, and intricately that the removal of just one supporting column would bring the whole thing crashing down. On May 29, with D-Day only about a week away, the summary included a chilling sentence: The recent trend of movement of German land forces towards the Cherbourg area tends to support the view that the Le HavreCherbourg area is regarded as a likely, and perhaps even the main, point of assault.

Had there been a slip? Had the Germans somehow penetrated Fortitude?

The news got worse. The Germans, in fact, were increasing their defenses everywhere along the French coast. In mid-May the mighty Panzer Lehr Division began moving toward the Cotentin Peninsula, while the 21st Panzer Division, which had been with Rommel in North Africa and was his favorite, moved from Brittany to the Caen areaexactly the site where the British Second Army would be landing. More alarming, Ultra revealed that the German 91st Division, specialists in fighting paratroopers, and the German 6th Parachute Regiment had moved on May 29 into exactly the areas where the American airborne divisions were to land. And the German 352nd Division moved forward from Saint-Lo to the coast, taking up a position overlooking Omaha Beach, where the U.S. 1st Division was going to land.

Ikes air commander, British Air Chief Marshal Sir Trafford Leigh-Mallory, was so upset by this news that he recommended to Ike that the airdrops be canceled. Ike refused, but the German movements and Leigh-Mallorys reaction badly stretched his nerves.

Eisenhower did not, however, give up on Fortitude. At about midnight on June 56, even as Allied transport planes and ships began crossing the Channel for Normandy, the supreme commander played the ultimate note in the Fortitude concert: He had the spy the Germans trusted most, code-named Garboactually a resourceful spy for the British from the startsend a message in Morse code to the Abwehr giving away the secret. Garbo reported that Overlord was on the way, named some of the divisions involved, indicated when they had left Portsmouth, and predicted they would come ashore in Normandy at dawn.

The report had to be deciphered, read, evaluated, re-ciphered, and transmitted to Hitler. Then Hitlers lackeys had to decide whether to wake him with the news. They did, but then the whole encoding and deciphering operation had to be reversed to get the word to the German forces in Normandy. By the time it arrived, the defenders could see for themselves there were 6,000 planes overhead and 5,000 ships off the coast, and the first wave of troops was coming ashore.

In short, Garbos report, the most accurate and important of the entire war, arrived too late to help the Germans. But it surely raised their opinion of Garboand this was vital. For now that Fortitude had helped the Allies get ashore, the question was, could the deception be kept alive long enough to let the Allies win the battle of the buildup that would follow?

Garbo was the key. On June 9 he sent a message to his spy master in Hamburg with a request that it be submitted urgently to the German high command. The present operation, though a large-scale assault, is diversionary in character, Garbo stated flatly. Its object is to establish a strong bridgehead in order to draw the maximum of our [German] reserves into the area of the assault and to retain them there so as to leave another area exposed where the enemy could then attack with some prospect of success. Citing the Allied order of battle as the Germans understood it, Garbo pointed out that Eisenhower had committed only a small number of his divisions and landing craft. He added that no FUSAG unit had taken part in the Normandy attack, nor was Patton there. Furthermore, the constant aerial bombardment which the sector of the Pas de Calais has been undergoing and the disposition of the enemy forces would indicate the imminence of the assault in this region which offers the shortest route to the final objective of the Anglo-Americans, Berlin.

Within half a day, Garbos message was in Hitlers hands. On the basis of it, the fuhrer made a momentous decision, possibly the most important of the war. Rommel had persuaded Hitler to sent two Fifteenth Army panzer divisions to Normandy. The tanks had started their engines, the men were ready to go, when Hitler canceled the order. He wanted the armored units held in the Pas de Calais to defend against the main invasion. He also awarded the Iron Cross (second class) to Garbo. (Garbo, a young Spaniard whom the British, secretly, also honored, ended a long silence about his elaborate and risky activities only in 1985, with the book Operation Garbo.)

The deception went on. On June 13 another spy warned that an attack would take place in two or three days at Dieppe or Abbeville. A third spy reported that airborne divisions (wholly fictitious) would soon drop around Amiens. In late June a fourth agent, code-named Tate, said he had obtained the railway schedule for moving the FUSAG forces from their concentration areas to the embarkation ports, thus reinforcing from a new angle the imminence of the threat to the Pas de Calais. One Abwehr officer considered Tates report so important that he said it could even decide the outcome of the war. He was not far wrong.

The weekly intelligence summary on June 19 read: The Germans still believe the Allies capable of launching another amphibious operation. The Pas de Calais remains the expected area of attack. Fears of landings in Norway have been maintained.

July 10: The enemys fear of large-scale landings between the Seine and the Pas de Calais has not diminished. The second half of July is given as the probable time for this operation.

July 24: There has been no considerable transfer of German forces from the Pas de Calais, which remains strongly garrisoned.

By August 3, when Patton came onto the Continent with his U.S. Third Army, most German officers realized that Normandy was the real thing. By then, of course, it was too late. The Germans had kept hundreds of their best tanks and thousands of their finest fighting men (a total of 15 divisions in France) out of this crucial battle in order to meet a threat that had always been imaginary.

THERE WERE DELICIOUS IRONIES AT THE HEART OF FORTITUDES SUCCESS. Surprise in war often depends on the defenders underestimating the strength of the attacking force, but in Overlord that was reversed: Fortitude made the Germans overestimate Eisenhowers strength. Surprise also usually depends on exploiting the defenders weaknesses, but this, too, got turned around: As in jujitsu, Eisenhower employed German strength to German disadvantage.

The Germans in 1944 held three major conceits as articles of faith. The first was that their spies in the United Kingdom were the best in the world. The second was that their Enigma was the best encoding machine ever developed, literally unbreakable. The third was that their own code breakers were the best available. Fortitude used these German conceits to do the Germans in.

Twenty-two years after the event, in 1966, when the author was interviewing Eisenhower on the subject of Fortitude, the supreme commander explained various parts of the operation, then gave one of his big, gutsy laughs, slapped his knee, and exclaimed, By God, we really fooled them, didnt we?

STEPHEN E. AMBROSE, was a professor of history at the University of New Orleans. He is the author of several books on military history and was a frequent contributor to MHQ.

This article originally appeared in the Summer 1989 issue (Vol. 1, No. 4) of MHQThe Quarterly Journal of Military History with the headline: The Secrets of Overlord

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Europe have announced a Dublin date at The Olympia Theatre in Setpember as part of their Walk The Earth world tour.

The show will feature songs from the new album Walk The Earth as well as all their greatest hits.

Late 2016 saw Europe perform a series of The Final Countdown Anniversary Shows across the continent which gave them their name  culminating in a show at The Roundhouse in London. That performance went on to be immortalised in a July 2017 DVD release The Final Countdown 30th Anniversary Show - Live at the Roundhouse.

Since forming in 1979 Europe have sold over 25 million albums, toured across the world and become one of the greats of modern rock music. The bands all-conquering The Final Countdown album has alone sold over 15 million copies worldwide and the single of the same name was No 1 in 25 countries. Europe are currently touring arenas across the UK, appearing as special guests on the Deep Purple Tour.

Special guests on the night will be Glasgow blues/rock band King King.

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Europe will perform at the Olympia Theatre on September 12.

Tickets 31 including booking and restoration fees go on sale Friday 26 January at 9am
A member of the Oireachtas Committee on the Eighth Amendment has called for the Taoiseach to unequivocally commit to holding a referendum to repeal the Eighth Amendment in the month of May.

Labour Party's Jan OSullivan TD told us: Public statements up to very recently have set May as the intended month for the referendum.

"I am really concerned to hear that change to 'May or early June'. The committee adhered to its timetable and produced its report on December 20th on schedule; the Government should stick to its dates too.

Early June is the start of the Leaving Certificate for thousands of young people of voting age and thousands more adults who have returned to education.

"It is also the time when thirdlevel students head off to work abroad or in parts of Ireland away from their voting address."

She adds: Abortion is an issue that interests young people and they havent had the opportunity to cast a vote on it, in fact nobody under the age of fifty three has had a chance to have their say at the ballot box on the Eighth Amendment.

It appears the suggested cause of delay is the need to get legal advice from the Attorney General. This is perfectly understandable.

"However, there have been extensive legal discussions already, in the public arena, both in the context of the deliberations of the Citizens Assembly and of the Oireachtas Committee.

"The Government has been aware of the Constitutional considerations for some time and I dont see why the Attorney Generals office would not have been able to do preparatory work which would facilitate speedy advice to the Government."

She continues: We simply cannot defer the opportunity to finally let the people decide, after thirty four years, whether the complex issue of abortion should be a matter for a clause in the Constitution or for legislation and medically supervised care.

More than five thousand Irish women every year, from every county, are procuring abortions in another country or by breaking the criminal law through taking pills bought on line.

"This is the reality of Irish abortion. It is a very lonely place for thousands of Irish women and we have been sentencing Irish women to lonely places for long enough.

I believe we cant ignore that reality any more. My view, and it is the proposal I put to the Oireachtas committee and which was agreed, is that the simple question put to the people should be to Repeal Article 40.3.3. of Bunreacht na hEireann. That referendum should be held in May.
The Stunning man has taken action after a change in the site's terms and conditions.

Steve Wall from The Stunning has criticised YouTube for a change in their terms and conditions, which he says will deprive a lot of acts of the revenue they currently derive from the site.

YouTube have just announced they won't pay any money to artists who have received less than 4,000 hours of total watch time within the past twelve months, he states. Artists will also require at least 1,000 subscribers in order to receive the paltry few cents they pay out, so that's the most of us out of that payment stream. I've removed all ads from The Stunning's videos on our channel... might as well give the viewer a better experience. If you have videos on YouTube maybe consider doing the same. They're not going to pay you anyway unless you're reaching the goals. If you are, fair play to you!

YouTube and other streaming sites have also been criticised by the Chairperson of the Irish Music Rights Organisation, Eleanor McEvoy, who before Christmas told Hot Press: "One of the reasons so few musicians are making a proper living from their work is that the tech companies are taking the money. Theyre using your content to draw people in and mining all these people for their data so they can target them later on for advertising. Theyre getting the most fantastic buildings and 24-hour chefs while you guys are suffering. The wealth has been transferred from one group of people to the other. YouTube and Google are great as promotional tools, but you should be paid properly for it too. People look at Apple and say, Jesus, they employ loads of people! The government bends over backwards for them because, great, jobs! Apple, LinkedIn, Facebook and Google combined dont employ as many people here as the Irish music industry does. We bring 700 million into the economy, but the government doesnt consider us to be a proper industry. Whos the Minister with responsibility for it? There isnt one. Were calling for a cross-industry group that can talk to the government as one. Musicians are not great at fighting for themselves; were very fragmented. I look at the film industry and Im so impressed how theyve lobbied the government. I'm fucking angry that artists aren't getting the financial rewards they deserve."
AUSTIN - Not enough people, especially business people, are getting involved in the most important election in Texas: the one that happens in March, not November.

The Republican and Democratic primaries will take place on March 6, with early voting to begin Feb. 20. In a polarized, one-party state like Texas, the most important vote anyone can cast is in the Republican primary, at least until Texas Democrats prove they can compete statewide.

Unfortunately, voter apathy has allowed a small band of extremists to control the Republican primary, and the result has been bad for business.

"It was easy and convenient to make an assumption that if the Republican Party nominated somebody, that was a pro-business person, and we could all just vote one time in the general election," said Jeff Moseley, CEO of the Texas Association of Business. "We know now those days are gone."

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Whether it's eliminating property tax breaks for capital investments, slashing public education, underfunding transportation or heedlessly pandering to social conservatives on LGBT rights, Moseley said business leaders are not making their voices heard when it matters the most, and some Republicans feel free to ignore them.

"The last legislative session demonstrated that the Republican majority really has strong anti-business winds blowing within the majority," he added. "There is real value in alerting the Texas business community about the value of going to the primary."

Speaker Joe Straus, whom business leaders consider a hero for blocking the anti-transgender bathroom bill and stopping the repeal of a key economic incentive program, said business leaders finally stepped up during the 2017 special session. But they need to do more.

"I think there is evidence that a very small, committed group of ideologues can have more influence than they deserve," Straus, who is retiring, told me in an interview. "Some want to keep the primary turnout as low as possible so that they can control the outcome. But I want more voices to be heard, particularly from the business community, but also from other Texans."

RELATED: Texas businesses rallying against bathroom bill

In the 2014 general election, when only a third of registered voters cast ballots, more than 2.7 million Texans elected Republican Greg Abbott as governor in a landslide over Democrat Wendy Davis. Only 1.3 million people, though, voted in the Republican primary that year.

Since Democrats have not won a statewide election since 1994, that means 650,000 Republican primary voters, or just 2.4 percent of Texans, decided who would govern a state of 28 million people.

"A lot of Republicans are not making their voices heard where it means the most," Straus said. "There is no doubt that the conversation in our primaries is too often unbalanced in favor of social issues. The message I get from the business community is that we need to focus more on the challenges that directly relate to the economy of a state that is growing as fast as we are."

The growing pains are severe, and they can't be solved with sloganeering. A growing population needs smart investments in roads, bridges, schools and rail. The state must hire better teachers, educate more doctors and attract more businesses to keep our workforce and economy strong and healthy.

"We're not worried about R's and D's, we're looking for J's and P's: jobs and paychecks," Moseley said. "We have a lot of wonderful Texans, but we need to find a way to give them the skills to get into those jobs. And then we might not have enough, which is why we are supportive of a robust discussion on guest workers."

RELATED: Texas lagging badly in educating workforce

The Texas Association of Business, the statewide chamber of commerce, has launched a scorecard that tracks how lawmakers vote. It has also started what it calls the E-to-E Program to help employers educate employees on business issues and encourage them to vote in the primaries.

"Our members are being shown how to communicate with employees about the core values of entrepreneurship and what a pro-business candidate looks like, without saying this is the person we're endorsing," Moseley said. More information is available at votes.txbiz.org.

The association, like most Texas businesses, is bipartisan and focused on solutions, not ideological purity. Pragmatism is valued in board rooms, and if more people vote in primaries, it will become the watchword again in politics.

Democrats also suffer from their fair share of true believers high-jacking the primaries, which has contributed to the longest statewide losing streak in the nation. Democrats have a difficult time simply assembling a full slate of candidates.

Texas consistently has some of the lowest voter turnouts in the country, with only 7 percent of the voting age population casting ballots in the 2014 primaries. If you want to change the state's politics, the best place to start is in the primary races, beginning now.
LOGAN, W.Va. - A former coal company executive who went to prison for charges stemming from the deadliest U.S. mine disaster in four decades kicked off his U.S. Senate bid Thursday evening, telling an audience he backs President Donald President Trump as a real opportunity for West Virginia.

Ex-Massey Energy boss Don Blankenship received several ovations from more than 100 supporters present at his town hall-styled kickoff event in Logan. But also among those in attendance was the father of a 25-year-old man who died in the mine explosion that led to charges against Blankenship, and he called the Republican contender's Senate bid "a slap" in the face.

In kicking off his campaigning, Blankenship said having a pro-coal president and a Republican-controlled state Legislature gives West Virginia an opportunity to create jobs "that we cannot afford to miss." And he added, it "may never come again."

The onetime coal businessman will face U.S. Rep. Evan Jenkins and West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey in the May 8 GOP primary. Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin is seeking re-election.

The 67-year-old Blankenship was released from a federal prison in California last year after serving a one-year term.

Blankenship was sentenced in 2016 for a misdemeanor conviction of conspiring to violate federal mine safety standards at Massey's Upper Big Branch Mine in southern West Virginia, where 29 workers died in a 2010 explosion.

Blankenship sought to persuade his audience that he was one of them.

"I may leave here tonight in a little fancier car," Blankenship said. "But we come from the same place, and I have not forgotten."

Authorities have long dismissed Blankenship's argument that natural gas caused the explosion. Manchin, who was West Virginia's governor during the time of the explosion, has said he hoped Blankenship would "disappear from the public eye" after his prison release.

Robert Atkins of Racine, whose son, Jason Atkins, died in the explosion, said the meeting has brought up difficult memories for his family and that Blankenship's candidacy "is more of a slap in our face."

The former coal executive was released from a federal prison in California last year. He is currently serving one year of supervised release scheduled to end on May 9 - one day after West Virginia's Senate primary.

Blankenship received approval last August to have his supervised release transferred to federal officials in Nevada, where he has a home in Las Vegas.
The men in hardhats compacting fake stone, pouring concrete and handling other jobs on the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston work site typically are paired up based on experience levels. Thus, a 20-year construction veteran often finds himself working alongside someone with just weeks under his belt.

It's a vivid illustration of what industry leaders say is an ongoing struggle in a city forecasting more commercial and residential building projects this year even as a recovering energy business beckons skilled workers with higher pay. There may be enough skilled construction workers to meet demand this year, but that could change dramatically by early 2019.

As the baby boomers continue to approach retirement and immigration crackdowns continue, firms that procrastinated in building up the next generation to replace them face a 20-year skill gap in their workforce. Meanwhile, an improving economy, corporate tax cuts and Hurricane Harvey reconstruction efforts are putting more jobs on their schedules.

"The fact of the matter is there is a shortage," Jerry Nevlud, president of the Associated General Contractors of Houston, said recently.

Local construction firm McCarthy factored in skilled-labor shortages when preplanning its work on the MFAH expansion, senior project superintendent Shawn Morris said. The less skilled a workforce is, the longer it takes to complete a job. That increases costs and potentially could lead to more workplace injuries.

While the MFAH work is set to conclude on time, some craft services are already seeing delays.

Will Holder, recently retired president of Trendmaker Homes, said cabinet makers are at capacity in Houston right now trying to fill orders for homes damaged by Harvey as well as tending to a pre-existing backlog.

There is an expected uptick in residential construction this year, Holder said, but it won't surpass pre-recession growth rates. Gradual growth is preferred, he added, because the existing skilled labor pool wouldn't be equipped to handle a boom.

On the commercial side, steady growth is expected across the Houston region in private office space, warehouse, K-12 and higher education, as well as the medical and arts sectors.

Local industry leaders attribute much of this commercial demand to recovering oil prices and the subsequent investments made in public construction projects by energy companies.

Yet some are concerned about too much good news in oil and gas.

Russell Hamley, president of Associated Builders and Contractors in Houston, said other commercial sectors cannot match the pay offered by the oil and gas industry. There's worry that whatever skilled workers are available will migrate to oil and gas, leaving other contractors scrambling.

Typically contractors look to other states for workers to fill gaps, risking hiring those without the desired skill level, Hamley said. For others, the alternative lies in hiring an immigrant labor force. Yet this latter option is no longer as guaranteed as it seemed not long ago.

Stan Marek, of Houston construction firm Marek Bros., said immigration policies such as Texas' Senate Bill 4, which allows local law enforcement officers to question a detained person's legal status, have driven immigrant construction workers out of the state.

Then there's the end of Temporary Protected Status for Salvadorans.

Of the 36,300 Salvadoran TPS holders in Texas, 20.9 percent work in the state's construction industry. As their protection from deportation phases out within the next 18 months, their soon to be ineligibility for employment further compounds the industry's existing skilled labor shortage, Marek and others said.

A longer-term solution is increased focus on certification and apprenticeship programs.

At the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 450 office in Dayton, apprentices aged 18 to 52 receive three years of hands-on and classroom training for operating cranes and other heavy machinery.

The program, free to applicants, is an earn-as-you-learn deal with some participants making $85,000 a year as part of their training, union spokesman Brandon Willis said.

Willis noted that training programs have always existed within the construction industry with benefits and high wages, but contractors' investments in them and applicant interest hasn't kept up over several years. He also cited an increased federal push to get more high school students into higher education the last several years.

"Everything is focused right now on going to college after high school when there are plenty of good paying jobs in Houston that don't require a degree," he said.

All workers on McCarthy's MFAH project are enrolled in either the Houston-based Construction Career Collaborative program or McCarthy's internal training program.

Project superintendent Morris said more firms are making such investments, but he estimates it will take at least 10 more years to see widespread increases in construction workforce skills across the board.
The Houston Boat Show this year saw an 18 percent increase in attendees over last year, buoying sales as buyers look to replace vessels damaged by Hurricane Harvey.

More than 81,000 people packed NRG Center Jan. 5 to 14 as hundreds of dealers showcased more than 1,000 boats and campers. Organizers initially expected as many as 75,000 people to attend the 63rd annual expo, billed as the largest indoor boat show in the nation.

Organizers attributed the increased attendance to longer hours of operations. For the past four years, the boat show was forced to suspend the expo for a day due to the Houston Texans playoff games at NRG Stadium. Since there was no playoff game this year, the show was held for the full 10 days.

The attendance bump led to higher sales, said Ken Lovell, president of the boat show. Exact figures were not disclosed, but both boat and RV dealers reported "enthusiastic buyers," Lovell said.

Texas Marine - which has stores in Beaumont, Clear Lake and Conroe - sold almost 200 boats during the show, about a 5 percent increase over last year's show. The boat dealer operated a 33,000-square-foot booth exhibiting 73 boats at the show.

"Our industry is driven by consumer confidence," Jonathan Whitmire, general manager of Texas Marine's Conroe store, said. "People in Houston are doing well financially. They don't mind spending some money on themselves."

Boat sales are rising amid slow-but-steady improvements in the local economy, fueled in large part by stabilizing oil prices. Local dealers saw sales drop as oil prices bottomed out in early 2016, but rising oil prices have elevated consumer confidence and sales in recent months.

An estimated 260,000 new powerboats were sold nationally in 2017, a 6 percent increase over the previous year, according to the National Marine Manufacturers Association. The group expects another 5 to 6 percent increase in boat sales this year, particularly among family fun boats, fishing boats and cruisers.

Houston-area dealers are hopeful sales will increase in the wake of Hurricane Harvey, which damaged or destroyed an estimated 13,500 boats worth $155 million, according to data from the U.S. Boat Owners Association.

Although boat dealers didn't see an immediate uptick in sales after Harvey, many expect replacement sales to rise before the summer boating season.

Whitmire with Texas Marine said many boats were lost on Lake Conroe and Lake Houston due to the hurricane. As Houston recovers from Harvey and the energy downturn, he expects boat sales to pick up. To prepare, Texas Marine has increased its boat inventory, particularly for its most popular boats like the NauticStar bay boats and Avalon pontoons.

"We're gearing up for a big year," Whitmire said.
The Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, starts this weekend and, as usual, it can be a make-or-break event for a young filmmaker. Good reviews and word-of-mouth can lead to widespread publicity and lucrative distribution deals.

Two of those generating buzz this year, Houston's Joseph Kahn and Dallas' Augustine Frizzell, have Lone Star State ties. Kahn's battle-rap hip-hop saga, "Bodied," which played Houston's Cinema Arts Festival in November, has been picked up by You Tube Red for distribution and will be enjoy a sneak screening at Sundance on Sunday.

The film, produced by Eminem, will then be released theatrically later this year and featured on the YouTube Red site. Co-written by former real-life battle rapper Kid Twist (Alex Larsen), it stars a stage's worth of his battle rapper compatriots including Dizaster, Dumbfoundead and Hollow Da Don.

Meanwhile, Frizzell, the wife of Dallas director David Lowery ("A Ghost Story," "Pete's Dragon," "Ain't Them Bodies Saints"), has people talking about her debut, "Never Goin' Back," starring Maia Mitchell ("The Fosters," the upcoming "Hot Summer Nights"), Camila Morrone (the new "Death Wish" remake), Kyle Mooney from "Saturday Night Live" and a bunch of actors from North Texas, where the film was shot.

Described by the Dallas site Central Track as "a gritty 'Superbad' for girls" and by Vanity Fair as a " 'Spring Breakers'-esque tale of two suburban Dallas girls scrambling to get together the money to go on a trip to Galveston," "Never Goin' Back" promises to ring lots of local bells when it opens in Texas. Expect this one to get a deal well before the curtain comes down on this year's Sundance.

Both Kahn and Frizzell are also in Variety magazine's 10 directors to watch of 2018 feature, published in December. They are in good company as the list also includes Greta Gerwig ("Lady Bird") and Samuel Maoz (the acclaimed Israeli film, "Foxtrot").

"Bodied" won the Grolsch People's Choice Midnight Madness Award at last year's Toronto International Film Festival, where it premiered. It would go on to win the audience awards at Fantastic Fest in Austin and AFI Fest in Los Angeles.

If "Bodied" and "Never Goin' Back" generate as much success as anticipated, they could help alter the face of Texas filmmaking just by their presence. With the exception of Robert Rodriguez, the bulk of the well-known directors from or based in Texas -- Richard Linklater, Wes Anderson, Terrence Malick, Mike Judge, Jeff Nichols, for example -- are white men. Kahn, was born in South Korea as Ahn Jun-hee and raised in Northwest Houston (Jersey Village). Meanwhile, Frizzell joins a new generation of up-and-coming female directors like Gerwig, Ava DuVernay ("Selma," "A Wrinkle in Time") and Patti Jenkins ("Wonder Woman").
Ileana Trevino isn't afraid to admit it. She's feeling a little scared these days, but she's also having a lot of fun.

"It's horrifying, terrifying, but also wonderful and exhilarating," said the founder of the newly formed Trevino Consulting Group. "I've always had these big institutions behind me. Here, there's no safety net. It's given me a newfound respect for all of those small businesses that need to get paid on time."

As the Memorial Hermann Foundation's previous executive vice president and CEO, Trevino worked directly alongside the health care system's former president and CEO, Dan Wolterman. Their Memorial City corporate offices were right next to each other. And from the 27th floor, things looked pretty good.

Then in 2016, to coincide with Wolterman's retirement, Trevino struck out on her own. She and daughter Mari Trevino Glass started a two-woman show from a 1,300-square foot space between River Oaks and the Greenway area. The vantage point has changed, though the view has its perks every now and then.

"Whenever I look up at the sky and see a Life Flight helicopter overhead, I say a prayer for whoever's on it," said Trevino, the woman who helped launch those emergency aircrafts off the ground.

Her track record is the stuff of philanthropic legend. She raised $300 million for Memorial Hermann over a 12-year tenure.

But without question, Life Flight's critical air-transport service is her crowning achievement.

"We raised $40 million in 18 months because everyone knew the importance of those helicopters," she said. "Regardless of age, race or status, if you have a traumatic accident and live outside the Loop, you need Life Flight to bring you to the Medical Center."

Dr. Benjamin Chu, who held Wolterman's title from June 2016 to June 2017, asserts that Trevino's second-most significant contribution was a neuroscience campaign, an ambitious undertaking with triple the price tag.

"It was a $120 million campaign that really just transformed that department," Chu said. "Even though we were only together for two months, she really took me under her wing. She knew everyone and could connect a lot of people. That's what you need in a development officer."

As a psychology and romance languages double-major at Boston College, fundraising was not on Trevino's career plan. Even after the Washington, D.C.-native earned a master's degree in counseling psychology from Boston University, she never envisioned that her interest in human behavior would lend itself to the psychology behind philanthropy and what motivates people to give.

"I had been working in human resources - that was my background - specifically, employment law and Equal Employment Opportunity at the U.S. Department of Transportation, Department of Agriculture and National Institutes of Health," Trevino said of her decade in D.C., before she and husband Michael Trevino transferred to Houston for his job with Texaco. "I went to work at the University of Houston as executive director of EEO and affirmative action. It was fabulous."

But she wasn't in that role for long.

Trevino's work ethic and passion caught the attention of former UH President and Chancellor Arthur Smith. When a position opened on his cabinet in 2000, Trevino found herself at the top of a short list.

"He called me into his office one day, sat me down and said, 'I've been watching you,' " she recalled. "I became vice chancellor for advancement, which is all of fundraising, public and media relations and marketing, but development is the biggest piece of all. That's what really catapulted me to the big leagues."

UH is where Trevino experienced her first taste of producing large events and relating to donors.

She excelled at both, and Memorial Hermann took notice. Smith retired in 2004, and the health care system swiftly made her an offer.

"When I was hired, the foundation was only raising $3 or $4 million per year. You need to build a really successful team in-house, and a stronger, more powerful and visible board to get the name out in the community," she said. Her first board chairmen was Gary Petersen, whom Susan Sarofim later succeeded. "Whenever a nonprofit comes to me now and says, 'We can't seem to raise much money or increase our presence,' the first thing I say is, 'Tell me about your board.' "

Trevino applies other lessons learned to her 18-month-old solo venture, too. She emphasizes the culture of philanthropy, image, reputation and engaging community leaders to new clients. Each portfolio has different needs, which range from building a new board of directors from scratch to small tweaks or a brand refresh.

"With Dan's retirement, I saw a real opportunity to have a third act, set up my own shop and help organizations use the knowledge I've acquired over the past 30-plus years," Trevino said. "From transplants and neurology, to the arts and children, there's no shortage of causes. I can't even begin to tell you how gratifying it is."

To best serve their dozen current retainers, including Ben Taub Hospital, the mother-daughter duo recently hired four employees and knocked down an office wall to add more space.

"Now we have 1,800-square feet," Trevino added with a wink.

Her business is booming, though the Trevino Consulting Group's success isn't without challenges.

"My husband said that I would find it liberating. I didn't know what he meant, but now I do," Trevino said. "Everything you do, good or bad, for every client and retainer, including the proposals that don't work out - it's all for you. The wins are very big wins, and the losses  well, we're very philosophical about those."

It's a promising outlook, indeed. Even from the third floor.
This Gray Matters column originally published in January 2018.

Marianne Williamson walked to the middle of the stage, paused for a second, then she asked all the black people to stand.

The New York Times best-selling author, internationally known spiritual teacher and native Houstonian was in town recently for her "Love America Tour" at Unity of Houston. She urged the 200 of us from our seats. She then instructed a white person to hold the hand of a black person standing.

A white woman and a teenage girl who looked to be mother and daughter in the row behind me took my hand and arm.

Williamson then told the white people to repeat after her. She began with, "I apologize ... ."

I was at Williamson's event to celebrate my birthday, January 15, the same as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Each year, I try to attend a talk, lecture or event for my birthday that inspires and uplifts as he did. This year, it was Williamson's sell-out talk at Unity Church with some 700 people in attendance.

Her focus was on racism and politics, saying that until the United States addresses slavery honestly, gets deep about its enduring impact on African Americans and makes amends, we will continue a cycle of hate and racism in this country.

She cited Germany's effort to apologize to Jewish people for the Holocaust and pay out billions in reparations.

According to The New York Times, many Germans are not even aware that their country, after paying $89 billion in compensation mostly to Jewish victims of Nazi crimes over six decades, still meets regularly to revise and expand the guidelines for reparations. The mission is to reach as many of the tens of thousands of elderly survivors who have never received any form of support.

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The U.S. State Department also has paid or approved 90 claims for $11 million in reparations from France to former World War II prisoners who were carried to Nazi death camps in French trains  the first French reparations paid to Holocaust survivors living in the U.S.

Reparations, even the "forty acres and a mule" promised in part by General William Tecumseh Sherman on Jan. 16, 1865, to former slaves, has been an ongoing debate in this country, but that's not really what Williamson focused on.

A black woman stood up and told Williamson, who is Jewish, she was struggling to deal with the hurt and hate in her heart for white people because of racism. Williamson said one of the problems is that many white people are in denial about racism, don't want to talk about it and want black people to "get over it."

Jayme Gershen/Bloomberg

Black people are angry, and it's understandable, she said.

Unfortunately, anger is our Achilles' heel.

A colleague, whom I have tremendous respect for, once asked me why many black people are so angry today. I responded with, "Why aren't you angry?"

She looked at me with a puzzled stare.

I explained that ending racism is just as much a responsibility for her white community to "get it" as it is for my black community to "explain it." Frankly, I said many of us are tired of explaining racist actions and racially insensitive and dismissive messages that permeate our world.

It's time for white people to get it and speak up, too. That's why Williamson's apology to African Americans at Unity was so powerful.

In 2016, she penned, "Prayer of Apology to African Americans," and shared it on Twitter.

"With this prayer I acknowledge the depth of evils that have been perpetrated against black people in America. ... I apologize, please forgive us."

Before she even started, I felt on edge as I often feel when white people say things, like "You don't talk black." Honestly, I was waiting to be offended.

With nearly 200 black people in the audience on their feet, Williamson apologized for slavery, lynching, murders, rapes of black women, destruction of the black family, mass incarceration of black men, being called the N-word and systemic and institutionalized racism and more.

As she continued for what seemed like forever, I felt a rage boiling inside of me that was followed by a Viola Davis ugly cry. (Fans of Davis in ABC's "How to Get Away with Murder" know what I'm talking about.)

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I never thought I needed an apology from white people, but it felt like I was crying for my grandmother, my great-grandmother and all my people who endured and died because of hate in this country.

I cried for all of the times I've felt marginalized, discriminated against and invisible because of the color of my skin, even in my own industry.

I cried for all of the times I've watched black children, especially girls, had their esteem beaten down to nothing because they didn't fit the standard of white beauty.

I cried because I didn't know how deep the hurt was.

I could not stop crying.

I opened my eyes to see everyone around me  white, black, Asian like my friend, Sydney Dao, who is Vietnamese  crying, too. I nearly collapsed to floor from the emotional weight I was feeling.

But the harder I cried, the tighter the white woman and girl held on to me.

There was a white man in the front pew who had turned around to face the entire audience. He had no one black to hold onto, but he seemed to be shouting Williamson's words for me to hear.

It was one of the most powerful spiritual experiences I have ever had.

On my way out, I whispered "thank you" to the white woman and girl who held onto me so tightly. They had kind eyes and thanked me back.

Marianne Williamson is right. We need healing. We need real talk about racism in this country. It's time for white people to get it.

An apology is a start.

GIRL POWER: You go, girls! Authors encourage young readers to be bold

Bookmark Gray Matters. It's a start.
A 21-year-old woman has been charged with murder in the fatal stabbing of her boyfriend at a Westchase apartment Sunday.

Deaira Pitts is accused of fatally stabbing Michael Simmons, 27, multiple times in the back as he argued with a man who was visiting her in their apartment. Pitts, arrested Thursday, is in jail with a bond of $100,000.

Police found Simmons lying dead outside when they responded to a call late Sunday at the Hudson at Westchase apartments, 3131 Hayes Road. Pitts remained at the scene and police took her for an interview with investigators.

According to court records, Pitts told police another man was visiting her Sunday at the apartment she and Simmons shared. When Simmons got home, he pounded on the door and pushed his way inside when it opened, she said. He and the other man argued and pushed each other, and when Simmons pushed the man out the apartment door, Pitts grabbed a knife and stabbed her boyfriend in the back.

She told police she threw the knife into a bush, where investigators later recovered it.

The Harris County District Attorney's office requested a high bond for Pitts because she is considered a "flight risk." Pitts, who moved to Houston from Baltimore, Md., eight months ago, "has more ties to Baltimore than to Houston" and might flee Texas if released on bond, the motion said.

Pitts has no record of criminal charges in Harris County.

Court records show Simmons had a history of family violence, with two criminal charges of assault of a family member. In 2007, he pleaded guilty to assaulting his girlfriend at the time. He was charged with assault of a family member again in 2016, and his wife at the time filed for an emergency protective order. That assault case, a felony, was dismissed when Simmons pleaded guilty to another, unrelated felony.
The Sorbs of Lusatia, Germany, celebrated an ancient winter tradition known as Vogelhochzeit, or the "Bird's Wedding."

Reader Leo Symmank - whose ancestors were among the Sorbs, aka Wends, who immigrated to Texas in the 1850s and founded the town of Serbin near Giddings - wrote to tell me about the tradition.

The Wendish custom had children place plates of seeds outside for the birds on the eve of their wedding.

"We did put out seeds in a can for Vogelhochzeit on the evening of Jan. 24," Symmank wrote. "On the morning of Jan. 25, in some traditions, the children would find pastries and candy in the form of birds, which they were told had been left by birds celebrating their wedding."

A Wends children's song had a thrush as the groom and a blackbird as the bride, while ducks and geese played music for the wedding ceremony.

Here's a stanza:

"The house sparrow is preparing the wedding meal

"And he's eating the best bites himself."

More Information How to ready your backyard for the 'Bird's Wedding' Flush out bird feeders with a garden hose and scrub them with a bottle brush. Fill feeders with fresh seed from bird supply stores or feed stores - old seed may contain the aspergillus fungus that causes a pneumonialike bird infection. Scrub the birdbath and fill it with fresh water - birds may get bacterial diseases like salmonellosis from dirty birdbaths. Remove old nesting material from nest boxes. Attract bluebirds by installing a bluebird nest box and a hanging container of mealworms. Keep hummingbird feeders filled with fresh sugar water - Western species, like rufous hummingbirds, are here during winter, and ruby-throated hummingbirds will arrive soon. See More Collapse

I'll attest to house sparrows cribbing the best bites at my bird feeders, whether or not birds are celebrating a wedding.

Then again, maybe the birds are indeed getting married. Our bluebirds have already been pairing up and will have eggs in the nest box by late February.

A male northern cardinal has been singing his fervent crooning song for days.

Male Carolina Wrens are belting out multiple wooing songs, sometimes more than 50. How can a female wren resist so many upbeat love songs?

Male purple martins will soon show up at our martin house to set up a home for females arriving later.

And those doggone house sparrows will be interlopers in the martin residence.

On the sweeping landscape of the Attwater Prairie Chicken National Wildlife Refuge near Sealy, male prairie chickens are preparing for one of the great mating ceremonies of the bird world.

It begins in March, when males gather on prairie rises called leks, where they do vigorous jumping jacks with frenetic wing flapping while whooping and cackling, all for the sake of importuning a female mate.

The Wends knew that bird courtship and mating in no way replicated human weddings. Yet their longstanding celebration of the Bird's Wedding surely cemented in the minds of children the beauty and joy of birds.

Meanwhile, I'm putting out food for birds on the eve of their wedding. And I'll gladly gobble up pastries they leave for me the next morning.
"It was the worst 24 hours of my life," my 76-year-old friend intoned in a bleak text message. "Now my wife has it."

Earlier in the week he had canceled a lunch date with my husband. His text revealed that he had been ill for 10 days and was only now beginning to again feel human. His symptoms - fever, cough/sore throat/stuffy nose, body aches, headache and fatigue - were all those of influenza.

Within that same week, my son called.

"Mom, tell me if you think I'm a hypochondriac or if I have meningitis."

Immediately, I, the former emergency doc, felt my heartbeat quicken.

"What are your symptoms?" I asked.

"Terrible muscle aches and headache. Haven't been able to get out of bed for a week," he mournfully whispered over the phone.

I relaxed hearing neither of the classic meningitis signs of stiff neck nor worst headache of his life.

"Flu" I told him. "It's epidemic."

This year has had a particularly bad flu season. Texas State Health Department statistics show almost 9,000 verified cases. Harris County rates are high, and Galveston's among the highest in the state. This year's season is tracking with 2014/15, in which more than 36 million persons were thought to become ill from flu; 56,000 Americans died.

Most people know that influenza can be prevented by getting the vaccine. The disease is particularly severe in the elderly. Yet only about two-thirds of whites and Asians age 65 and older are vaccinated; and that percentage drops to just about half of blacks and Hispanics.

Some lesser known facts about flu are these:

Flu virus can be spread up to a week before symptoms start.

What kills elders, who account for three-fourths of all deaths, is not flu but superimposed pneumonia.

Tamiflu, the medication that limits symptoms, is best started in the first 48 hours of the illness.

The rapid flu test is positive in only about 60 percent of confirmed cases.

Vaccines, including the newest, Fluad, are 40-50 percent effective among older adults.

This year, there are not one but four different strains of virus circulating; most are H3N2, an especially nasty bug.

What are the take-home messages from these facts?

Wash your hands often during flu season.

Get a flu vaccine annually in the fall.

Don't assume that you don't have flu if you already had it or if you have a negative rapid test.

Be up-to-date on your pneumococcal vaccinations.

Get to your doctor or call the doctor's office as early as possible after symptoms start to get on Tamiflu.

Last but not least, stay clear of those with symptoms if at all possible. If you must be near, wash your hands after every encounter.

Personally, I can only say I send you my heartfelt sadness if you have already suffered. And if you have no, I wish for you a healthy 2018.
Last September, former CNN host Larry King announced that he'd been treated for lung cancer. Luckily, doctors had caught it at stage 1, after detecting it with a CT scan followed by a PET scan. King underwent surgery to remove the tumor and 20 percent of his lung on July 17. Two weeks later, he was back at work without needing chemotherapy.

Unfortunately, until recently, only 16 percent of lung cancers were diagnosed early. That's one reason lung cancer is up there with digestive cancers as the most lethal.

The great news is that if you're at high risk for lung cancer, you can have a low-dose CT scan and detect the disease early on. That slashes the risk of death from lung cancer by 20 percent! To spread the word, the American Lung Association has launched Saved by the Scan; they urge you to go to lung.org and take a quiz to see if you're a candidate.

What puts you at high risk? Quitting smoking recently is a reason to get tested, especially if you smoked in the past 15 years or smoked one pack per day for 30 years. So is chronic exposure to secondhand smoke or to radon (have your home tested), exposure to certain industrial pollutants (asbestos, chromium, arsenic and nickel) and a family history.

And remember, it's never too late to quit. Go to lung.org to join "Freedom From Smoking" or search for YOU Can Quit at sharecare.com.

Bariatric procedures increase alcohol's impact

A new study reveals that after sleeve gastrectomy, women can become legally intoxicated if they consume half the number of drinks it takes for women who haven't had the surgery to register as drunk. Two drinks have the effect of four or five! And this comes along with research showing similar results for women who've had Roux-en-Y gastric bypass. (This reduced alcohol tolerance probably holds for men, too, because the body's enzymes that process alcohol would be greatly reduced in anyone who's had these operations.)

The American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery estimates that more than half of the 193,000 bariatric procedures in the U.S. annually are sleeve gastrectomies; 80 percent of those patients are women. That's a five-fold increase in the number of these operations from 2010 to 2015.

So, male or female, if you've had weight-loss surgery, ask your doc about changes in digestion of food and alcohol that it causes. Respect the constraints that this operation places on your daily habits, and you'll reap its amazing benefits.

Q: I'm head over heels for my new significant other, but he hates using condoms. I trust him, but with all the STDs going around, I just have to insist on it. How can I make it a better option for him?

Gladys K., Brooklyn, New York

A: The second-best way to protect yourself from sexually transmitted diseases - and practice birth control while you're at it - is for the man to wear a condom. Unfortunately, many guys say that for one reason or another, the prophylactics are uncomfortable: too big, too small, too tight, not tight enough. But that doesn't mean you or he can skip using one!

You are smart to be concerned about STDs. This past year in the U.S., cases of chlamydia increased by 4.7 percent to 1.5 million cases; gonorrhea is up 18.5 percent to more than 460,000 cases; and primary and secondary syphilis is up 17.6 percent to almost 28,000 cases. And we haven't even mentioned human papillomavirus (HPV) - it's virtually universal among sexually active people. Fortunately, there's a new product that might help make condoms a more appealing form of protection.

After getting Food and Drug Administration approval, an American company named ONE has started marketing custom condoms in 60 different sizes, under the brand name myONE Perfect Fit. (They're an extended partner of the U.K.-based company TheyFit, which has 66 different sizes.)

The long and the short of it: The company offers a downloadable measuring kit on their website or you can enter your own numbers if you know them (length and girth). They also provide recommendations. Sources claim that soon after myOne came to market, customers had ordered condoms in all 60 sizes, ranging from 4.9 to 9.4 inches long and 3.5 to 5 inches in circumference.

We hope that helps, and good luck with your new beau.
A Fort Worth man convicted of killing a rival gang member's mother and a 5-year-old girl at a children's birthday party 10 years ago has been given an execution date.

Erick Davila is scheduled to meet his fate in the Huntsville death chamber on April 25 at 6 p.m., according to court papers. A judge signed off on the death date on Wednesday.

"Like that Winston Churchill movie, we shall never surrender and we intend to aggressively fight for Mr. Davila," said Houston defense attorney Seth Kretzer.

EXCLUSIVE: Houston killer facing execution this week admitted to 2 more slayings in morbid hoax

Now Playing: The Supreme Court gave a death row prisoner a second chance because one of the juror's made racist remarks. Veuer's Sam Berman has the full story. Video: Buzz 60

Davila, 30, is on death row for a shooting that killed Annette Stevenson and her granddaughter Queshawn, according to court filings. In April 2008, Davila drove by the Village Creek Townhouses in Fort Worth and opened fire on a rival gang member along with 15 children who were eating ice cream and cake on the front porch at the "Hannah Montana"-themed party.



Court records describe a "chaotic scene" with "blood splattered everywhere." Two other children were wounded in the shooting, but survived.

Since his 2009 conviction, Davila has fought the case in appeals courts, taking his claims of bad lawyering all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court last year. Kretzer, who is co-counsel with Houston-based attorney Jonathan Landers, argued the case.

RELATED GALLERY: Longest serving death row inmates in Texas

In a 5-4 ruling, the justices rejected Kretzer's claims that earlier appellate counsel erred in failing to point out possible missteps made earlier by trial attorneys regarding bad jury instructions.

In addition to signing off on a death date, a Tarrant County judge on Wednesday also slapped down a defense motion to disqualify the local prosecutor's office, as current District Attorney Sharen Wilson was the judge during Davila's 2009 trial and Assistant District Attorney David Richards previously served as Davila's attorney earlier in the appeals process.

"We were surprised and concerned by the trial judge's denial on our motion to recuse," Kretzer said Thursday. "I'm not making up some new legal theory here that there's a conflict."

Davila's death date is the sixth on the calendar in Texas this year. The state's first execution of 2018 is slated for 6 p.m. today, when Houston serial killer Anthony Shore is scheduled to die by lethal injection.
Hector Mejia recalls the depression he felt when he heard of the Trump administration's plan to dismantle a program that provides temporary work permits to young immigrants who came to the United States illegally as children.

Mejia was granted protection from deportation under the program in 2013, five years after he followed his mother from El Salvador and began an arduous path from English-as-a-second-language classes to honor student to lab assistant at Houston Methodist Hospital.

"There's suddenly a great feeling of despair," says Mejia, 26, who is responsible for quality control of blood processing at Methodist's hospital in The Woodlands. "Why did I work so hard for something that could go away in the blink of an eye? My life is at the mercy of the White House."

He now stands to lose both his permit and protection if Congress doesn't agree on what to do with some 800,000 so-called "Dreamers" by March, when President Donald Trump has said the Barack Obama-era program would end. Democrats and some Republican lawmakers had hoped to include protections for such young migrants in a stopgap spending bill that must be passed Friday.

But the prospect faded quickly after a meeting last week at which the president denounced the compromise proposal and used derogatory words to refer to Haiti and some African countries. On Thursday evening, it appeared the government was heading toward a shutdown and that a resolution on the future of the program, known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), was nowhere close.

At stake are more than 124,300 young immigrants in Texas, the state with the most Dreamers after California. Across the nation, such enrollees contribute a net $3.4 billion to the U.S. Treasury annually, according to a study this month by the American Action Forum, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit.

In Houston, some of their biggest contributions are at Methodist, which employs 57 Dreamers throughout the system in positions from lab technicians and nurses to pharmacists.

Diminished health care

DACA workers at healthcare institutions around the country would be at risk of deportation if the program is rescinded. MD Anderson Cancer Center has 46 such employees and Baylor College of Medicine 13, according to spokespersons at the institutions. A number of other major Texas Medical Center's institutions contacted by the Chronicle said they don't track their DACA numbers.

The threat to Methodist's employees prompted Dr. Marc Boom, the system's usually politically reticent president, to write Texas congressional members and U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, last fall and again this week to find a solution to the problem.

More Information By the numbers 35,000 Number of Dreamers living in the Houston area. 124,300 Number of Dreamers living in Texas. See More Collapse

"Patients do not care about the immigration status of their doctors," wrote Boom. "Instead, they ask that their doctor or nurse is well-trained, makes the right medical decisions and treats them with respect and care. Dreamers are an essential part of the nation's health workforce, and federal policies to terminate DACA without a workable solution will only diminish our nation's health."

Boom linked DACA's value to the nationwide shortage of health-care workers, which most prominently involves doctors and nurses but cuts across all manner of hospital technical and support positions. Methodist has a total of 1,071 job openings right now, for instance, 415 for registered nurses, 21 for pharmacy jobs and more than 250 for support jobs.

A number of Methodist's nurses currently have DACA status.

Among them is Susana Rosas, whose mother brought her from Mexico at age 6. They were visiting family on a travel visa, then her mother decided to stay. Rosas breezed through elementary, middle and high school, attaining good grades and engaged in many extracurricular activities before learning her college options were limited without a Social Security number, she said. She enrolled at Houston Community College as a foreign student at three times the tuition, first in general studies, then in an emergency medical technician program that enabled her to find work as a paramedic with small companies.

All the while, Rosas paid taxes.

She became approved for DACA in 2013, which she says opened all sorts of doors for her. Methodist's hospital in Sugar Land hired her as a paramedic, reimbursed tuition costs for a nursing program and ultimately hired her as a nurse. She has a house in Katy, two sons, a life here.

"Trump's plan to terminate the program was shocking, sad," said Rosas. "He says he wants people like us - people who pay taxes and contribute to the community, who aren't a drain on society. I understand the need to fix immigration, but I wouldn't think we'd be the first whose status he'd terminate."

'It seems wrong'

Julia Gelatt, a senior policy analyst at the Migration Policy Institute in Washington, said the statistics bear Rosas out, that DACA enrollees are more likely to work in white-collar or indoor office jobs, such as administrative support or sales or professional jobs, whereas unauthorized immigrants are more likely to work in jobs like grounds keeping or construction.

Some 72 percent of the nation's Top 25 Fortune 500 companies count DACA recipients among their employees, according to a letter nearly 400 executives sent Trump and Congress last week. In U.S. medical schools, there are currently 99 Dreamers enrolled, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges.

Rosas said she is hoping for the best, but preparing for the worst. She says Canada or Europe seem better options than returning to Mexico, given its safety issues and the little pay nurses make.

"The thing is, under the plan to dismantle DACA, the people who won't be deported are the undocumented still behind the curtain, not paying taxes, having lots of children, not taking care of themselves and ending up in the ER," said Rosas, who works in the ER.

"It seems wrong. But if it's my fate to have to leave, I'll come to terms with it. I've faced many challenges, I guess this is just one more."

Lomi Kriel contributed to this story.
Juan Gutierrez was three when he crossed the border illegally from Mexico to Texas in a taxi. He vaguely remembers that his mother asked him to hide on the floor in the back seat of the car, right before passing through a border checkpoint.

Now, 23 and a mechanical engineering student at the University of Houston, Gutierrez is among a throng of youthful immigrants and members of the Houston clergy that sent 20,000 postcards to area legislators on Thursday, demanding a permanent solution for members of the controversial immigration program called DACA.

In the Houston metro area, the program has shielded from deportation about 35,800 so-called dreamers who came to the country illegally when they were minors, providing them with work permits, according to Pew Research. President Donald Trump suspended that executive order signed by his predecessor in September, and heated negotiations between legislators and the White House to reach a deal for a dreamer's bill are stalled.

MORE: Lawmaker sniping derails DACA negotiations

The cards were mailed to U.S. Senators Ted Cruz and John Cornyn, and U.S. Congressmen Pete Olson and Ted Poe, all from the Republican Party, as well as Democratic congressional representatives Sheila Jackson Lee and Gene Green, among others.

The messages demand that they support DACA and "legislation that keeps immigrants together."

The Metropolitan Organization of Houston, part of a nationwide network of community, religious and business organizations, organized the collection of postcards signed by parishioners in congregations located in Houston's areas of the legislators' districts.

Since DACA was suspended, "we have seen the struggles that families face upon the possibility of being separated," said Pastor, Fr. Carmelo Hernandez at the St. Leo the Great Catholic Church in Aldine, where he conducts mass.

Legislators from both parties support a long-term solution to shelter dreamers from deportation.

"I do believe it's important for us to find a solution for these young men and women who now find themselves trapped by the fact that they were brought here underage by their own parents," stated Cornyn, in an email from his office.

That seems to be in line with the general sentiment of Americans. In a new CBS News Poll, 70% said they support allowing DACA beneficiaries to remain in the country legally.

Congress has been working on a bipartisan DACA deal.

EDITORIAL: Pass DACA fix

While the looming deadline is coming, Trump has made clear that he would sign a DACA deal in exchange for Democrats supporting the funding of his promised border wall that comes with an $18 billion price tag.

Information and assistance for DACA Immigrant Rights Hotline: 1-888-507- 2970. Baker-Ripley Neighborhood Center: (713) 273-3731 or online at https://www.bakerripley.org FIELHouston: (713) 364-3435 / www.fielhouston.org Houston Immigration Legal Services Collaborative: www.houstonimmigration.org is asking for donations to help in paying legal fees for immigrants. See More Collapse

However, Democrats are demanding a "clean deal" and could force a government shutdown.

In a tweet on Wednesday, congresswoman Lee supported Jewish activists protesting in the Senate and demanding a fix for dreamers. "I am with them in calling for a clean #DreamActNow," she wrote.

Republicans, from their part, are trying to gain support for a short-term funding bill to circumvent a shutdown and buy more time. They have expressed support for the President on the border wall and lean toward a separate bill to address DACA together with other immigration issues.

"I support a solution for the DACA young adults," said Cornyn's statement. But, he added, "I think this is an opportunity for us to do something we haven't been able to do, which is to deal with border security; deal, as the President gave us the mandate for, with the diversity visa lottery as well as family-based immigration."

Poe has a similar position, which, according to his office, hasn't changed: "It is past time for Congress to act to finally address our broken immigration system, including strengthening our border security, interior enforcement, and giving clarity to the 'Dreamers.'"

MORE: Family migration visas at risk in DACA debate

Meantime, about 800,000 young dreamers nationwide "are becoming hostages of the political quandary," said Father Hernandez. "They are instead using these young people like pieces for their political chess."

"I would like people to understand just one thing about us dreamers," said Angelica Velasquez, a 20-year-old DACA recipient who help to collect postcards from parishioners of the St. Leo the Great Catholic Church that she attends."We are not asking for free things or handouts."

Velasquez who was brought to Houston by her parents to Houston when she was three years old, and the family entered on tourist visas that they overstayed. "All we want is to be able to work and be part of this society; we are not taking anything away from people, we are contributing," she said.

Last week, a federal judge in California granted a temporary order against the termination of DACA, allowing dreamers who are currently registered with the government to apply for renewal. The Trump administration is already fighting the order in what could become a long battle in court, according to professor Geoffrey Hoffman, director of the University of Houston's Immigration Clinic.

"We are taking advantage of the California judge's order and helping many dreamers that are coming to our offices to renew their DACA as soon as possible," said Cesar Espinosa, who directs non-profit FIEL immigrant activist group in Houston.

"What we need is a permanent solution from Congress now that this problem has national attention; we need to end this constant uncertainty of temporary executive orders and court battles," he added.
He knew something was wrong as soon as he saw his 13-year-old daughter.

Even as she struggled with depression at Kingwood Pines psychiatric hospital, she always gave him a hug when he visited.

But that October day in 2015, she sat quietly, withdrawn, and fled to her room only minutes after he arrived.

He flagged down a nurse. What was wrong? Had they changed her medications?

The nurse pulled him aside and lowered her voice: His daughter said she'd been raped by two other patients the night before.

"I wanted the boys and I wanted my daughter out of there," he said, recalling his fury. "That's not a day you want to relive."

The girl was one of two teens assaulted at the hospital that night by two other patients, according to a lawsuit filed recently in Harris County court.

But the allegations were not the only concerns raised in recent years about patient safety at the 116-bed psychiatric hospital in Kingwood and its parent company, the for-profit nationwide chain, Universal Health Services Inc.

MISTAKES AT HOSPITALS: Family looks for answers after son's suicide at The Menninger Clinic

A Houston Chronicle review of medical records, court filings, hospital accreditation reports and records from state and federal regulators, and interviews with parents, portray an understaffed facility that has failed to watch over patients, leaving the most vulnerable among them open to further victimization.

The parents of the two girls agreed to talk to the Chronicle on the condition they be identified by first names only, to protect the privacy of their daughters. The Chronicle does not typically identify the victims of alleged sexual assault.

Hospital Chief Executive Officer Shanti Carter said Kingwood Pines denies the allegations and will fight the case.

"Due to the pendency of litigation and patient confidentiality requirements, we cannot comment further at this time but look forward to defending this case in court," Carter said in an statement emailed to the Chronicle.

"Over the course of many years, Kingwood's dedicated and compassionate clinicians have successfully provided care to tens of thousands of patients, enabling them to live happier, healthier and more productive lives," she wrote. "Our most sacred responsibility is and always will be the wellbeing of our patients. We are committed to our mission of providing high quality treatment programs and services to patients with serious and complex mental health needs who often come to Kingwood during some of the most difficult periods of their lives."

She said Kingwood cooperated fully with state and federal regulators and independent accreditors to comply with all requirements. UHS did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

The lawsuit, filed Jan. 8, argues that hospital administrators acted negligently, "failing to provide a safe and secure environment" for the two patients. It seeks up to $1 million in damages.

"I don't want them operating," said Joe Mathew, the attorney who filed the lawsuit on behalf of the two families. "These are kids."

Scrutiny from regulators

The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has cited the facility for nine separate violations of state rules governing patient care since 2011, including a 2016 incident in which three high-risk adolescent patients escaped from the facility. Investigators concluded the hospital did not have enough staff that weekend to adequately monitor the 23 adolescent patients in its care.

In a separate 2015 incident, the hospital was cited for placing two adolescent patients in the same room, even though one had a documented history of perpetrating sexual abuse and the other had previously been a victim of sexual violence. After an evening alone in their room, the boy who had previously been a victim reported to hospital staff that he and the other boy had engaged in sexual activity.

The hospital failed to impose any disciplinary action against a nurse who falsely claimed hospital staff had been monitoring the boys that evening as required, according to the reports.

Three years earlier, in 2012, the hospital was cited for failing to accurately log how often patients were being observed after two adults were found having sex in a patient room.

Information from The Joint Commission, which accredits and certifies health care organizations and programs in the United States, shows performance issues at Kingwood Pines surfaced during hospitalwide inspections in 2011 and 2014. The hospital corrected the deficiencies and has been in compliance ever since, said Elizabeth Zhani, a Joint Commission spokeswoman.

RELATED: Psychiatric hospital loses Medicaid/Medicare contract

The Joint Commission's Office of Quality and Patient Safety assesses reports of public safety and quality. The commission was not aware of the alleged assault on Oct. 26, 2015, Zhani wrote in an email response to the Chronicle.

The lawsuit is the latest allegation of unsafe conditions in recent years at facilities owned by UHS. Congressional leaders first called for an investigation into UHS in 2015, after reports of unsafe facilities in Massachusetts and Illinois.

Federal regulators have repeatedly faulted UHS hospitals for patient safety lapses and other issues, according to government records. The company operates more than two dozen hospitals in Texas, including four in the Houston area.

Officials from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) in September 2015 wrote they had found 50 serious deficiencies in quality of care or safety since 2012 and eight findings of "immediate jeopardy" non-compliance in 44 UHS hospitals certified to accept Medicare, according to a letter sent to U.S. Rep. Joe Kennedy III of Massachusetts.

Thirty-seven of the 44 facilities subsequently took "appropriate, remedial" action to come into "substantial compliance" with federal requirements, the letter noted.

In October, a 13-year-old girl at Timberlawn Hospital in Dallas reported being raped by another patient, the Dallas Morning News reported. A federal CMS "statement of deficiencies" report concluded the hospital "failed to ensure a safe setting" for the patient, had inadequate training for staff and did not follow national standards for nursing supervision.

The report came after the hospital had faced previous scrutiny  and possible closure  over unsafe conditions in 2015.

Timberlawn recently notified the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services that it plans to voluntarily shut down.

"James Miller, the CEO of Timberlawn, has informed CMS that it intends to close on Feb. 1 or as soon after that as possible," said Bob Moos, spokesman for the CMS Dallas office. "The facility will be expected to safely relocate patients before that occurs."

State regulators, meanwhile, have investigated 50 complaints related to patient care against Kingwood Pines Hospital from 2010 to last fall, substantiating 12 of them, according to Texas health officials.

At UHS's three other Houston-area psychiatric hospitals, regulators have investigated over 100 complaints, substantiating more than 30, the spokesman said. The agency is barred by state law from providing additional information about complaints and investigations against Texas hospitals.

'A devastating impact'

Clint, the father of the 13-year-old, said his daughter was admitted to Kingwood Pines in northeast Harris County in October. She was briefly discharged then readmitted when she continued expressing suicidal thoughts.

Tina, the mother of a 16-year-old who also reported being assaulted that night, said her daughter arrived at the hospital after escalating drug use.

She was assigned to a room with the 13-year-old on a co-ed floor, she said.

"I'm thinking, 'If you have adolescents, with hormones ... why would they even have a co-ed floor?" she asked.

The girls were assaulted on the night of Oct. 26, 2015, according to the lawsuit. Medical records provided to the Chronicle by Mathew show the 13-year-old was taken to Texas Children's Hospital and given a rape kit.

No criminal charges were filed, according to the parents and their lawyer.

The suit accuses the hospital of medical negligence in failing to: provide a safe environment for minors with sufficient staff and supervision; separate male and female patients; and hire, train and supervise competent and experienced employees and contractors.

The hospital owed the teenagers "a duty of care to provide a safe and secure environment where they were protected from others causing harm or threat of harm to them," the suit said.

In 2010, the mother of a 13-year-old patient who said she'd been assaulted in 2008 by her roommate sued Kingwood Pines, when the hospital was owned by Psychiatric Solutions Inc. UHS bought the chain, including Kingwood Pines, in 2010.

According to the lawsuit, the patient, who was at the hospital to receive a psychiatric evaluation, had been a victim of past sexual assault and abuse.

Her mother warned staff to keep her isolated from other patients, but hospital employees placed her in a room with a patient who later sexually assaulted her, according to the suit.

An expert witness for the patient's family said the hospital had failed to ensure the teen's safety and well-being and that the hospital had failed to properly staff or supervise the facility.

"There is no indication that adequate or competent staffing was provided by Kingwood Pines at the time the sexual molestation occurred," wrote Mark Blotcky, a Dallas psychiatrist in a sworn statement filed among the court documents. "Had there been appropriate and competent staffing, there would have been a staff member observing the halls or in the hall, and these girls would not have been allowed together unsupervised, and they certainly would not have been assigned to the same room. ... Certainly the monitoring provided was inadequate because [she] was allowed to be sexually assaulted by a known sexual predator."

Court filings show Kingwood Pines disputed the claim that the hospital or its employees acted negligently.

"All of Defendants and their agents, representatives and employees['] treatment were appropriate and rendered within the applicable standards of care," the hospital lawyers wrote in court documents.

Kingwood Pines ultimately settled the suit, said Norman Straub, the family's attorney. The terms of the settlement prevent him from divulging more details, he said.

"It had a devastating impact on a young girl's life," Straub said. "She continues to suffer from issues related to that incident."

Psychiatric experts said a sexual assault at a psychiatric hospital  or any sexual contact between patients  raises questions about staff supervision.

"A parent has reasonable expectation a hospital supposedly full of trained staff ... knows what they're doing, and knows what they're watching for, and makes diligent efforts to keep everybody safe," said George Santos, a clinical psychiatrist who has managed psychiatric inpatient hospitals in Harris County. "That's extremely egregious ... It suggests a potential failure of the hospital monitoring systems."

Questions remain

Mathew said the girls' stay at Kingwood Pines affected them and their families long after their stay ended.

"Something like this should never have happened," he said. "Unfortunately, nothing will ever ease the pain and the suffering these young girls and their families have endured."

Clint said his daughter is making progress and seems less withdrawn than she did after her parents pulled her out of the hospital.

Tina said her daughter continued to struggle and later moved to Austin, to her father's house.

"It seemed like she just kept spiraling out of control," she said.

A year after she left Kingwood Pines, the girl died in a late-night car crash in the Austin area. She was a passenger in a vehicle driven by a man police charged with intoxication manslaughter.

"I feel like I let my daughter down," Tina said, tearfully. "Being at a place where I thought she was going to get help."

Mike Hixenbaugh contributed to this report.

St. John Barned-Smith covers public safety and major breaking news for the Houston Chronicle. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. Send tips to st.john.smith@chron.com.
About 94 percent of the more than 3,000 Johnson Space Center employees will be placed on an unpaid leave of absence if the government shuts down Friday at midnight, NASA documents show.

And they'll only get retroactive pay for that time if Congress approves it in budget appropriations, another agency document states.

The public also would be impacted by this shutdown. All educational support activities, such as NASA instructors going into schools, would be discontinued. Tours and public educational visits to Johnson would be canceled and NASA's website also would inaccessible.

Congress is careening toward its first government shutdown in four years as lawmakers struggle to come to an agreement of the federal budget. Midnight on Friday is the deadline to keep the lights on in Washington  the third since last September.

NASA officials have posted on their website in recent months details regarding how the space agency would be impacted if this day occurs.

WORK AT JOHNSON AND FIND YOURSELF WORRIED ABOUT FINANCES IF A SHUTDOWN OCCURS? HAVE TRAVEL PLANS THAT MIGHT BE DERAILED? CONTACT ALEX STUCKEY TO SHARE: ALEX.STUCKEY@CHRON.COM

Essentially, the only employees who will continue working have jobs that pose an imminent threat to life and property if suspended for any length of time. At Houston's space center, that means just 173 people will keep working -- and they will not get paid until a budget agreement is reached.

NASA documents show that these employees are hand-picked by each center director, but Johnson officials directed all questions to agency headquarters in Washington, D.C. NASA Headquarters there did not respond to a request for comment.

Operations related to the International Space Station will continue through the shutdown "to protect the life of the crew as well as the assets themselves," as will any satellite operations currently underway, a Nov. 30 document states.

"If a satellite mission has not yet been launched, unfunded work will generally be suspended on that project," the document continued.

At Johnson, 400 workers would be on call in case of an emergency, according to the agency.

Space Center Houston officials said Friday they will remain open even if the government shuts down, but the NASA Tram Tour and Level 9 Tours to Johnson would be halted. If that happens, the public will be alerted via the space center's website and social media, a spokeswoman said.

Alex Stuckey covers NASA and the environment for the Houston Chronicle. You can reach her at alex.stuckey@chron.com or Twitter.com/alexdstuckey.
The first Hispanic woman to go to space  who later went on to log almost 1,000 hours in orbit and become director of NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston  is retiring in May.

A center spokeswoman confirmed Friday that Director Ellen Ochoa informed employees earlier that same morning of her impending retirement during an internal meeting.

Ochoa, a veteran astronaut originally from California, is the 11th director of Johnson and only the second female to run NASA's human space flight hub, which had a budget of $4.5 billion in fiscal year 2017 and employs more than 3,000 people.

In an email to employees, Ochoa said that this year will be her 30th at NASA, and her youngest of two sons turns 18, so it is "a natural point for our family in which to move on to the next phase."

"It's a really tough decision to determine when to make that transition; for me, it comes down to my personal situation," she wrote. "We'll move to Boise, ID, and I intend to be involved with a number of activities that interest me (including getting back to playing flute, which I once considered for a career!)"

Ochoa, now 59, was not available for comment Friday.

In 1988, Ochoa joined NASA as research engineer at Ames Research Center in California and two years later moved to the Houston center when she was selected as an astronaut.

By 1993, she became the first Hispanic woman to go to space. She has flown four times, according to NASA's website, logging almost 1,000 hours in space.

Ochoa became the center's deputy director in 2007, and replaced Michael Coats as center director in 2012. Then-NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said in a statement at the time that "Ellen's enthusiasm, experience and leadership, including her superb job as deputy director, make her a terrific successor to Mike as director of JSC.

Herb Baker, who retired last year from NASA, said Ochoa is one of the best center directors he's worked with in his 42 years at the agency.

"I just think the world of her," Baker said. "She's very accessible and she's very smart -- no surprises there -- and she cared deeply about the people who worked out there" at Johnson.

Baker also called her brave: she made decisions, such as combining the astronaut and mission control offices, that others before her would have been hesitant to do.

Center director "is not easy job, as you might guess. There's a lot of responsibility there," Baker added. "The center director is responsible for people's lives. The decisions they make impact life and death, literally."

As center director, Ochoa oversaw the nation's astronaut corps, the Orion program and mission operations for the International Space Station, among other things.

MORE CONTENT: JSC'S ELLEN OCHOA WILL JOIN ASTRONAUT HALL OF FAME.

Last year, Ochoa was inducted into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame and she has received the Distinguished Service Medal, NASA's highest award. Additionally, five schools, including one in Texas, have been named after her.

The search for her replacement will be conducted by NASA headquarters, but center officials said they do not have a timeline for when that will occur. Ochoa said in her Friday email that more information about center leadership will be announced by acting NASA Administrator Robert Lightfoot "later in the spring."

When Ochoa became center director in 2012, her appointment was announced the same day Coats, her predecessor, announced his retirement.

MORE CONTENT: JOHNSON SPACE CENTER DIRECTOR ANNOUNCES HIS RETIREMENT.

"We're fortunate to have a team of excellent leaders here at JSC, so I know I'll be leaving JSC in good hands," Ochoa wrote to her employees Friday. "I have several months to go as Center Director, and you can count on me to continue to be fully committed to our mission and our people here."

Alex Stuckey covers NASA and the environment for the Houston Chronicle. You can reach her at alex.stuckey@chron.com or Twitter.com/alexdstuckey.
It didn't take long for sparks to fly in one of the hottest congressional battles in the Houston region.

In the Democratic primary to replace retiring U.S. Rep. Gene Green in Congress, Marine veteran and Galena Park High graduate Augustine Reyes used the first debate in the 29th Congressional district to question how wealthy Democratic donor-turned candidate Tahir Javed could represent the area when he just moved to Houston after more than a decade living in Beaumont.

"You're not part of our community either sir," Reyes said during a debate before the Houston Area Pastor Council on Thursday.

Reyes' comments came just minutes after Javed said he could tell most of the well dressed people in the audience were not likely from the 29th Congressional District, which includes more than 700,000 people in parts of east Houston, South Houston and Pasadena. The district is more than 77 percent Latino according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Reyes, an elevator mechanic, said Javed's fancy suits "do not speak well to the people of the 29th Congressional District who make less than $32,000 a year."

Javed fired back later that he would not apologize for living the American dream. He said when he first immigrated from Pakistan to Beaumont in 2001 he came with nothing and worked hard to turn one convenient store into more than 20 businesses, including a hospital in Winnie, Texas.

"Yes I worked hard and made a lot of money," Javed said at the debate held at Houston's First Baptist Church.

But Javed, who now lives in Houston, said he's put that money back in the community building medical centers in underserved communities like in Galena Park.

Javed said he knows what the issues are in the district and how to work to improve access to healthcare.

"I'm a champion for bringing health care to underserved areas," Javed said. "That's what I've done for years and years. And that is what our district needs."

Reyes said as a product of the east side, he feels he can better help the community and the people struggling to make a living.

"I want to be their voice," Reyes said.

Javed and Reyes are among seven Democrats battling in the March 6 primary. Early voting starts on Feb. 20.

Besides Javed and Reyes only businessman Pedro Valencia attended the forum. State Sen. Sylvia Garcia, teacher Hector Morales, attorney Roel Garcia and real estate agent Dominique Michelle Garcia did not attend the event.

Valencia, who has never held office before, said the 29th District needs better representation than it has had. He said sending people with long histories in politics has not worked and the community needs to pick a small businessman like himself this time.

"We don't need no more career politicians coming in here and playing the same game of politics," Valencia said.

Four Republicans running for the seat also attended the forum. Phillip Aronoff, Jaimy Blanco, Carmen Maria Montiel and Robert Schafranek all took turns saying the district needs a Republican voice for a change to represent it in Congress.

Montiel said Republicans need to educate the community on which party can better represent their values.

"Our people have just been duped to believe they are Democrats," Montiel said.

The winner of the seat will get a two-year term in Congress and an annual salary of $174,000 a year.

Green has represented the district since 1992. In the fall, he announced he would not seek re-election.

Jeremy Wallace writes about state politics and government for the Chronicle. Follow him on Twitter at @JeremySWallace.
The White House apparently can't help but spew nonsense when it comes to Texas border cities.

The latest drivel comes courtesy of White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who tweeted on Monday: "Ask El Paso, Texas (now one of America's safest cities) across the border from Juarez, Mexico (one of the world's most dangerous) if a wall works." She linked to a dubious column in the New York Post, and the White House later posted the column on its website.

First, it's nice of the Trump administration to acknowledge that El Paso is one of the nation's safest cities. Trump and his enablers have a habit of portraying our nation's border with Mexico as a post-apocalyptic nightmare.

EDITORIAL: Like rare vagrant birds, most Americans descend from those who strayed from their native habitat

EDITORIAL: A border patrol agent is dead, and Texas deserves answers

PABLOS: The border's changing fortune

EDITORIAL: What's infuriating is that Trump's war against the undocumented is unnecessary

Why the sudden change? To support President Trump's call for the erection of a wall along the Mexican border.

The column promoted by the White House was written by Paul Sperry and claims that border fencing completed in 2010 drove down crime and illegal border crossings in El Paso.

"Before 2010, federal data show the border city was mired in violent crime " Sperry wrote in the column pushed by the White House.

That's false. For years, FBI data has shown that El Paso's violent crime rate is about half the rate for U.S. cities of similar size. The city's crime rate has been in decline since the late 1980s, when El Paso police embraced community policing, relying on improved relationships with the city's residents to deter crime.

It is true, as Sperry reports, that apprehensions of undocumented immigrants have generally been down in the Border Patrol's El Paso sector - which includes the western edge of Texas and all of New Mexico - since 2010. He ignores that the decline is a continuation of a trend that dates to the 1980s. And apprehensions also have plummeted in Border Patrol sectors with little to no fencing.

Contrary to candidate Trump's rhetoric in 2015 and 2016, illegal immigration has been on the decline for years. The reasons for the sharp drop include changes in the U.S. and Mexican economies, a decline in Mexican fertility rates and increased border security. To attribute the decline to border fencing alone is absurd.

Finally, the fencing in El Paso and other border areas bears no resemblance to Trump's fantasy of a "big, beautiful wall" stretching from Brownsville to San Diego. Such a wall is wasteful and inefficient.

Instead of engaging in border paranoia, let's celebrate the success of El Paso and other border cities in building safer communities. The rest of the country has much to learn from them.
It was understood with the surprise election of Donald Trump that enforcement action against immigrants would increase, striking fear within our large undocumented population, the vast majority of whom have lived and worked peacefully in the United States for decades. After all, President Trump commenced his campaign by calling for a wall along the Mexican border and asserting that Mexican emigrants were rapists and murderers. What was not expected has been the new administration's all-out assault on legal immigration and that the president would favor strong anti-immigration hawks for key policy posts. And while passing restrictive immigration policy is unlikely, Trump has not hesitated to wield his executive and regulatory authority to throw up obstacles to legal immigration.

Politicians and opinion makers regularly condemn illegal immigration often are quick to add that prospective immigrants should "get in line" and come in via proper channels. Unfortunately, the few such remaining options are now under attack by many of the same people who say they favor legal immigration.

FOSTER: How long will Texas be the most anti-immigrant state in the nation?

MURILLO, FOSTER: When your home no longer is sanctuary

EDITORIAL: Helping undocumented coming out of the shadows would reflect Houston's values

Trump started his term by banning entry into the United States for citizens of six predominantly Islamic countries, resulting in a raft of litigation in different federal district and appellate courts. The ban now broadly applies to nationals from Chad, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Syria, Venezuela, Yemen and Somalia.

Under Trump's "Buy American, Hire American" executive order, all merit-based employment immigration is viewed as harmful to U.S. workers. Federal agencies are now to issue new rules to step up audits of employers' visa petitions for possible violations. The administration also rescinded the long-standing policy giving deference to priorly approved petitions. Thus, an applicant who already qualified for a work visa is now regularly found to be unqualified when the employer files for an extension based on facts identical to the original approved petition.

The Obama administration's International Entrepreneur Rule designed to provide needed legal options for entrepreneurs to enter this country for up to 30 months to start new businesses was blocked by the administration until enjoined by a U.S. district court. The Trump administration - again viewing all employment-based immigration as a zero-sum game - announced it would have the Justice Department use anti-discrimination provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act to investigate employers legally hiring foreign nationals on the grounds that they may be discriminating against U.S. workers.

The administration also supports the proposed RAISE Act, which would slash legal immigration by half, primarily family reunification-based immigration, in favor of immigration for needed foreign workers - so-called merit-based immigration. In practice the administration has taken extraordinary steps to make immigrating based on job skills more complex, lengthy and unpredictable. Also, foreign nationals entering the United States as tourists or for business who subsequently file for a work or student visa now can be cited for fraud, making them ineligible for future visas.

Individuals who have been lawfully employed for years through DACA status (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) or via Temporary Protected Status have had their status terminated without alternative legal options. Trump promised to support a legal path for DACA beneficiaries but now insists any such legislation include a wish list of restrictionist measures, including border wall funding

Famously, Trump also called for "extreme vetting," implying that visas were being issued without sufficient checks. In fact, all visa applicants were already subject to multiple levels of vetting through every local, state, national and foreign database. If in doubt, consular officers almost always erred on the side of denying visas. Nevertheless, all visa applicants are now required to provide more information, including 15 years of travel, employment and address histories as well as five years of social media profile data, all of which discourages tourists and business travelers.

Trump's policies and rhetoric paint an increasingly inhospitable picture. As a result, universities, medical centers and tourist bureaus across the country are seeing fewer international students, patients and visitors. Extreme scrutiny of applications, travel ban anxiety and diminished legal options for foreign students wanting to remain in the United States after graduation have contributed to this decline.

Meanwhile, Canada has developed its own Global Skills Strategy, which allows skilled foreigners to obtain a work permit in just two weeks.

Unfortunately, unless there is significant push-back in Congress and from industry, we may be seeing just the beginning of restrictions placed on legal immigration. Besides deterring international students, skilled workers and entrepreneurs, cutting off the few viable remaining legal options for entering the United States may actually increase illegal immigration.

We are a nation of immigrants, and immigrants, with their talent, entrepreneurship and energy, continue to reinvigorate our nation. It is not enough for our political leaders to profess support for legal immigration. They must stop placing new limits on our already highly restrictive legal immigration system.

Foster was immigration advisor to Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama. He is past national president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association and chairman of Foster LLP.
In 2017, Houston endured 21 days with unhealthy levels of smog, triggering asthma attacks and missed school days for many of our children and hospitalizations for grandparents.

And, believe it or not, that was an improvement. As this century began, Houston took the unwanted title of America's smog capital from Los Angeles, a sign of the region's growing industries and traffic. Since then, our community, with the help of stronger federal safeguards, has made significant advances in air quality, allowing us to drop to No. 12 in the American Lung Association's latest ranking of most polluted cities.

As the coughing and burning lungs from last year painfully remind us, Houston is still suffering from a public health problem that we cannot pretend is in our rearview mirror. We must face the reality: There is a lot more work to do to bring our air into compliance with health-based standards.

The worst days for ground-level 0zone, or smog, in 2017 followed Hurricane Harvey. People in the flooded neighborhoods throughout Houston worked long hours outdoors despite significant concerns about dirty air. By industry's own estimates, the region's sprawling network of oil refineries and petrochemical plants released more than 2 million pounds of harmful chemicals into the air during and after the storm - the equivalent of six month's worth of unauthorized air pollution in just a few days.

Many industrial plants in Harvey's path released extra pollutants into the air when they shut down in preparation for the storm and when they resumed operations. For example, Chevron Phillips' Cedar Bayou chemical plant in Baytown released roughly 750,000 pounds of excess emissions, including smog-forming volatile organic compounds.

Harvey damaged other facilities, allowing hazardous gases to escape. In Crosby, explosions at a flooded chemical plant filled the air with smoke, triggering an evacuation of nearby residents and sending emergency workers to hospitals. Meanwhile, Houston officials detected alarmingly high concentrations of cancer-causing benzene in Manchester, a neighborhood adjacent to a leaking storage tank at a Valero Energy refinery.

Industry says these pollution releases are rare. In fact, they are common but rarely punished. A recent study found that companies reported 24,839 illegal releases of pollution across Texas between 2011 and 2016, but state regulators imposed penalties for less than 3 percent of these violations.

Here is the bottom line: Houston's stubborn pollution problem is a threat to public health and requires more attention from all levels of government. Yet many people believe the problem has gone away.

To draw more attention to the issue, several local nonprofit groups - Air Alliance Houston, Environmental Defense Fund, Environmental Integrity Project, Environment Texas, Public Citizen and Rice University - are working together on an awareness campaign funded by Houston Endowment.

We are calling it One Breath Partnership. Our goal is clean air for a healthier and more resilient Houston. Through our commitment to scientific evidence, community outreach and better communication, we can inspire people to take action to improve air quality and protect public health.

We engineered the partnership to be a catalyst for information and education. It provides an outlet for residents to share their stories about the harmful effects of air pollution. It also serves to amplify the work of Houston-area scientists, researchers, academics and physicians in order to educate community members about the impact of air quality on their health.

As part of this effort, and in response to the historic problems triggered by Harvey, we have come together to advance smart policies that can reduce the public's exposure to air pollution. These requests include more tools for the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to protect public health and safety, as well as improving the exchange of information between state officials and residents about pollution hazards.

Learn more about clean air and public health. Share your story. Sign our letter to Gov. Greg Abbott that demands stronger protections. Write your representative. Connect on social media. Please join us in this campaign to improve the air we share.

Tresaugue handles the day-to-day coordination and organization of the six-member One Breath Partnership, as well as manages communications for Environmental Defense Fund's air quality work in Houston.
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Mount Greylock Transition Committee Chairman Joe Bergeron and committee member Carolyn Greene both voted to open a superintendent search. Committee members Dan Caplinger and Regina DiLego voted in the minority against a search process. PreviousNext

Mount Greylock School Committee Decides to Post Superintendent Position



Mount Greylock students Jacob Hane and Morgan Pannesco, along with Joshua Duncan, presented the committee with a petition signed by more than 350 Mount Greylock students encouraging it to offer Kimberley Grady the job. WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass.  A divided Mount Greylock Regional School District Transition Committee on Thursday decided to run an "expedited" search for a permanent superintendent.

On a vote of 4-3, the committee decided not to offer the job to interim Superintendent Kimberley Grady, who stepped into the post on short notice when the then-Tri-District abruptly parted ways with Douglas Dias at the start of the second year of his three-year contract.

Although no one on the committee expressed dissatisfaction with Grady's performance, and although the majority of the feedback from public pushed the committee to offer her the job, the majority of the committee decided to honor previous commitments to engage in a search process for a permanent superintendent after voters decided whether to fully regionalize the PreK-through-12 school district.

Transition Committee Chair Joe Bergeron was joined by Carolyn Greene, Steven Miller and Al Terranova in voting to post the position. Dan Caplinger, Regina DiLego and Chris Dodig voted against the step.

In a separate motion, the committee unanimously decided that its advertisement for candidates should include language about the presence of a strong internal candidate.

After the meeting, Bergeron confirmed that Grady has indicated her interest in applying for the position, even if it was opened to a search.

Grady did not attend Thursday's meeting. Bergeron explained at its outset that her absence was because of a previously planned leave "and not for any other reasons."

Two of those voting in the majority to post the positon talked about their struggles with the issues.

"I've tried to look at the positives and negatives of each path, and it's complicated," Bergeron said. "The fear is that, somehow, we lose what we have, which the public has said and we have clearly stated ... is great.

"The other side is, we do an appointment [of Grady] and, six months from now, people are asking, 'How did that happen? How did you hire that person?'

"Where I'm headed is, I don't want whoever is in the superintendent role to have people nipping at their tail saying, 'What's the process? Why did the School Committee do it that way?' I don't want the School Committee to be in a position where people say we didn't do it the right way."

Greene alluded to the advice the Transition Committee received from a representative of the Massachusetts Association of School Committees: that a district in the middle of full regionalization and a building project can benefit from continuity in the corner office.

"I can live going either way," Greene said. "I think a lot of people can't live with us doing the search. Even if we do a limited search, it would cause a lot of agony, and we don't need agony right now. [Dorothy Presser of the MASC] was saying we were in a unique situation.

"Now that we've regionalized, we know we have three million other things to do, and it's all time constrained. ... I don't know that the thing that makes the most sense logically, which for me is the search, makes the most sense holistically."

Greene appeared to be persuaded by Bergeron.

"I have a lot of faith in our administration, and whoever assumes that role of permanent superintendent for many years to come, and in our ability to navitgate that [search] quickly and put this to rest," Bergeron said. "I've definitely seen the volume of the public that says, 'What are you thinking?' But I'd rather have them say [if Grady emerges as the top candidate], 'I told you so' and have us say, 'Aren't you glad we did that and for three years have it not be a question?' "

Three years is the standard length of a contract for a district superintendent.

"Since you're the one most in the trenches, that's good enough for me," Greene said, just before voting with Bergeron on the motion to post the position.
The town had been eyeing the closed station as a possible parking lot for the school.

Adams Loses Out on Gas Station Property Next to School

ADAMS, Mass.  Charles Ransford has purchased the vacant Commercial Street gas station next to Hoosac Valley Elementary.

Selectman Joseph Nowak shared his discontent about the recent purchase of the former O'Connell's gas station at the close of Selectmen's meeting on Wednesday. He wanted the town to purchase to the property to expand congested parking at Hoosac Valley Elementary School.

"I am very disappointed that we didn't get that parcel," Nowak said. "It was sorely needed and now we have a person that owns it that is just not going to do anything with it  we lost an important parcel for the school."

According to Massachusetts Land Records, Ransford purchased the former Mobile Station from O'Connell Oil Associates Inc. on Jan. 5 for $30,000. The property was one of five Berkshire gas stations O'Connell put up for auction in spring 2016 as it sought to exit that part of its business. But the station at 26 Commercial and two others, including one already demolished in North Adams, did not sell.

At first, Nowak was hesitant to mention Ransford's name, but later attributed him to the purchase.

"It's been sold to somebody that isn't a great steward of his property and is well known in this community," Nowak said.

Ransford has a large portfolio of properties in North Berkshire and a mixed record of maintaining them. Although it is unknown if Ransford has any plans for the gas station property, he already has a reputation in town.

Just a few months ago, the town ordered Ransford to demolish an unsafe property on 50 Commercial St. he owns and owes taxes on.

He was given 30 days to demolish it because it was a danger to the public, however, he did not oblige, and housing court gave the town permission to demolish the former automotive garage,

The demolition will be on the town's dime, but a lien will be placed on the property.

Parking at the landlocked school has always been an issue and it becomes especially hectic before school starts and when it closes. Parking often spills into the adjacent McDonald's parking lot and Nowak noted the parcel is often used for students drop off and pick up as it stands now.

Nowak said he mentioned that the property was for sale months ago to then Town Administrator Tony Mazzucco, however, no action was taken. Nowak noted that there was also hesitancy on the board itself with some members concerned with possible remediation costs.

He said he had spoken with O'Connell Oil Associates and the company had offered to gift the parcel to the town or transfer the property for $20,000 and remove the tanks.

Nowak said he was in contact with Interim Town Administrator Donna Cesan who was interested in attaining the property, but it was too late.

"I had Donna's ear and she was very interested in purchasing the property and I went humbly back to the man who owns it. He is a great philanthropist," Nowak said. "The last time I spoke to him, he said the sale was pending but if it fell through he would give it to us."

Selectman John Duval agreed with Nowak that the town should have obtained the property and if the sale does not go through the town should act.

However, Nowak said it seems to be too late.

"We have lost it and I am very disappointed," Nowak said. "It went down to the deed and we lost a good parcel and I am really sorry for us."
Islamic finance

What makes Islamic finance different from conventional finance?

A common misconception is that Islamic finance is just banking without charging interest. Islamic finance however is concerned with the very nature of money and how it is used. Since US President Nixons decision to cut the link between gold and currency in 1972, it has become commonplace for money to be made out of money. Since the 1945 Bretton Woods agreement was reversed under Nixon, countries budget deficits have ballooned to unthinkable levels. Under Islamic finance, in a similar way to convention previous to 1972, Islamic transactions have to be underpinned by an asset. In the Islamic model, money is merely a medium of exchange and a measure of value of real goods and services.

One of the biggest differences is that Islamic finance has ethics very much at its forefront. It aims to prioritise transparency, certainty of outcome and protection of investors liabilities. It also does not allow investment in gambling, pornography or alcohol, among other things.

There are a multitude of different structures used in Islamic finance. Among the most common is murabaha, which is generally considered to be the Islamic framework for a conventional loan and is regarded as the most straightforward to structure. An ijara structure is the equivalent of a lease while mudarabah is like a shared investment venture. The wakala structure can be compared to an agency agreement, where the principal appoints an agent to carry out a task.

Gateway partner Harris Irfan said English law perfectly complements these structures. It often appears superficially that there is a conflict between English and Sharia law but this is not true, he said. Most Islamic finance contracts are governed by English law precisely because it is so compatible with sharia.

Al Rayan Bank treasurer Amir Firdaus said the first step is about identifying a structure that works with English law. For example, debt structuring already exists in English law so you need to look at the Islamic structure that complements it best, he said. Thankfully, a lot of English law complements Islamic finance well. It is more about the processes you tend to go for.

What is a sukuk?

Sukuk are widely thought to be Islamic bonds. But unlike a conventional bond, which is effectively a debt instrument, a sukuk is a trust certificate where there is no element of debt financing. It can be structured on an asset base or be asset backed. Sukuk are growing in popularity across Europe, the US and many jurisdictions in Asia and the Middle East. The UK government issued its first sukuk in 2014, becoming the first country outside of Muslim nations to do so and to underline the demand for these assets, the 200 million ($276.5 million) issuance receiving orders totalling 2.3 billion. The UK plans to reissue a sukuk in 2019, a move believed to be a signal that investment in this area will be accelerated after Brexit.

While countries across Europe are behind the UK, a report from Malaysias RHB Bank suggested that Germany is planning a $1 billion sukuk issuance in the near future. Al Rayan Bank, the first UK-based Islamic bank to receive a credit rating from Moodys, estimates a third of its customers are not from the Muslim faith. The entire industry is expected to grow to $3.5 trillion by 2021 and western countries will have a big role to play if the industry grows to this level.

Irfan says that the structure of sukuk is particularly attractive to conventional investors. Fixed income investors generally prefer unsecured debt obligations like a conventional bond, and most sukuk are structured this way, he said. As a result, they remain compatible with sharia but perhaps might not be in keeping with the true spirit of the Islamic economic model.

Firdaus says that sukuk are particularly attractive because they tend to offer higher yields than conventional bonds and are secured. The challenges come with explaining the structure to an investor and processing the large amount of documentation involved.

The understanding of it takes time and it is often about explaining the similarities to the conventional bond, he said. A conventional transaction normally has one contract that encapsulates everything. In Islamic finance there is often several contracts, because there are more than one transaction happening at the same time.

The state of Islamic finance

Total sukuk issuances are falling, however. According to an S&P Global report, total issuances fell from just below $140 billion in 2012 to just over $60 billion in 2015. Firdaus attributes this fall to the decrease in oil prices and complacency on the part of Islamic banks which are not offering enough products to the market. It may also be due to the lack of global standards used to certify sukuk are sharia-compliant  several jurisdictions such as Malaysia, Indonesia and the Middle East dominate in terms of issuance though they dont necessarily share the same approach when it comes to structuring and issuing sukuk.

Irfan agrees with these views, but does not believe this is an issue that cannot be corrected. I think Islamic finance has stagnated, growth rates are not increasing as they should, he said. Its future lies with disruptive technologies and if we can combine Islamic finance with these, then I believe we will see a return to the exponential growth rates of the early 2000s.

The problems mainly lie in a misunderstanding of the purpose of Islamic finance and as a result, opportunities are not being exploited. Much of the Islamic finance industry is dominated by conventional bankers, who do not typically hold any ideological affinity to the Islamic economic model, he said.

Because of this approach he says some people are sceptical about Islamic finance, merely seeing it as interest with another name and not truly sharia-compliant. Irfan says: The banking industry has not done enough to convince them otherwise.

The legal state of Islamic finance

Much of this is yet to be legally tested in the UK, but as time goes on, legal precedents are expected to become commonplace. Dana Gas, an Abu Dhabi energy firm, recently declared $700 million worth of sukuk non-sharia compliant and therefore concluded it was not obliged to repay its debt. A court case was adjourned on December 25, but everyone is the industry is keen to see whether the mudarabah contracts associated with the sukuk will be determined valid. IFLR understands that a resolution is close in favour of the debtholders.

In 2010 the Investment Dar Company (TID) refused to pay Blom Developments Bank because it did not believe the wakala agreement was sharia-compliant in the first place. The decision to allow TIDs appeal created quite a problem in the industry because people became worried that they would not follow through with their agreement.

In the previous year, Dubai real estate developer Nakheel delayed many of its projects and was unable to repay its sukuk obligations after its holding company Dubai World restructured $26 billion of debt. Bondholders were concerned that the company may have to default, but declared itself debt free in 2016 and fully repaid the sukuk when it matured.

Other than these high-profile deals, Islamic finance has largely avoided legal uncertainty though the shadow of the Dana Gas case does loom at present. It is beyond doubt that Islamic finance is becoming more common in the west, but improvements need to be made if it is to truly flourish as a mainstream financial tool outside the Middle East.

Glossary

Ijarah: A lease contract that binds both parties.

Mudharabah: Investment management partnership. One party contributes financially, the other provides expertise and all profits and losses are shared.

Murabaha: Referred to as a cost plus contract. A financial institution purchases an asset and sells it to a customer on a deferred basis.

Musharakah: An investment partnership where all profits or losses are shared.

Qard: A loan equivalent which is required to be repaid at a pre-agreed time.

Sharia: Islamic teachings based on the Quran and other approved sources of the Sharia.

Sukuk: Certificates that represent a beneficial ownership interest in an underlying asset.

Takaful: Members contribute funds into a pool to secure against loss.

Wakalah: Agency contract. A customer appoints an agent to carry out business for them.

See also

Unlocking sukuk(IFLR magazine, March 2017)

DEAL: first Malaysian sukuk to monetise real estate project billings

Dana sukuk: why the market is overreacting

The three principles of Islamic finance explained

 2021 Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC. For help please see our FAQs.

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Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Le Thi Thu Hang at a regular press conference in Hanoi on January 18th (Photo: VNA)



She made the remark at a regular press conference in Hanoi on January 18th in response to the Vietnam News Agencys question about Vietnams viewpoint on some partners having shown interest in the countrys promotion and protection of human rights recently.

She said: Human rights are the common value of mankind, yet there are differences in approaches to and priorities on human rights due to differences in history, culture, political regimes and development levels. This is a normal fact in international relations, but the important thing is that we need to be ready to cooperate and dialogue in cooperative and constructive spirit and with mutual respect.

Vietnam is maintaining dialogues on human rights with some countries and partners to enhance mutual understanding, share experience, and open up bilateral cooperation opportunities in terms of human rights, Hang noted.

The spokesperson said Vietnam has made important progress in promoting human rights. In the time ahead, it will continue perfecting the legal system to better ensure peoples fundamental rights on the basis of the 2013 Constitution and the countrys commitments to the international community.

The country is going to bolster socio-economic development to improve conditions and resources for reducing poverty and promoting peoples material and spiritual life. It will work to boost peoples access to social welfares and improve the quality of education, including education on human rights to raise public awareness of the issue and improve law enforcement agencies capacity in the field.

Vietnam will also push ahead with promoting gender equality as this is an important factor in creating strong human resources and boosting the quality of life of each person, each family, and the whole society, Spokesperson Hang noted.

She said another priority is public health care towards a healthy society that has access to both physical and mental healthcare services.

Meanwhile, the country will also intensify cooperation with all countries, mechanisms, and specialised organisations relating to human rights in the region and the world, Hang added.

Also on January 18th, the Foreign Ministry released the book Protection and Promotion of Human Rights in Vietnam written in Vietnamese, English and French.

With four chapters, the book provides updated information about Vietnams law, policies, efforts, and achievements in human rights, along with relevant challenges and priorities./.
Number of Chinese tourists to Da Nang increases sharply. (Credit: info.net)

Currently, the central coastal city has 12 FDI projects from China, and Da Nang has 17 direct air routes connecting with big provinces and cities of China.

In recent years, Da Nang has played an important role in economic, cultural-social and political relations between Vietnam and China. The hub has established cooperative relations with four localities of China, including: Shandong, Jiangsu, special administrative region of Macau and Kunming.

Deputy Chairman of the Da Nang Peoples Committee Nguyen Ngoc Tuan said since China opened its Consulate General in Da Nang in October 2017, the number of Chinese tourist to the city increased sharply.

He hoped that the Consulate General and Ms. Xi Hui would continue to promote their role as a bridge to enhance exchange and cooperation between the two sides; helping to promote Da Nang to Chinese businesspeople to study and invest in the city, as well as introduce a beautiful, peaceful and worth-living city to Chinese tourists./.
It is not a bad thing for us, that the route known as the Goldene Strae or the Golden Road as we will get to know it- has escaped the attention of so many. It has been spared being overrun by hordes of tourists and as you will discover
The start of the hearing of Ukraine's appeal against the decision of the High Court of Justice in London on Russia's lawsuit regarding the debt for $3 billion eurobonds is scheduled for January 22, 2018, the press service of the Finance Ministry of Ukraine has told Interfax-Ukraine.

The ministry said that it is expected that the appeal would be heard for four or five days. The jury could consist of Lady Justice Gloster, Lord Justice David Richards and Lord Justice Sales.

The hearing will begin no earlier than 10:30 London time. It is expected that the lawsuit will be heard in an open court session.

As reported, in December 2015, Ukraine defaulted on $3 billion in eurobonds the country had bought from Russia shortly before a change in government in Kyiv, along with $75 million in the final coupon payment. Ukraine proposed that Moscow accept the same debt restructuring terms reached with Ukraine's major commercial creditors, but Russia rejected the idea, insisting that the bond was sovereign debt. Ukraine was to clear the debt before January 1, 2016. However, Kyiv imposed a moratorium on servicing this debt in December 2015 and failed to pay a total of $3.075 billion before January 1, 2016 toward servicing and clearing the eurobonds belonging to Russia.

After that, the Russian Finance Ministry filed a lawsuit in High Court on February 17, 2016, seeking to secure repayment of the debt. The High Court ruled on March 29, 2017 to endorse a quick procedure for hearing the suit, in fact rejecting Ukraine's principal objections and agreeing that it had a debt on eurobonds. The court recognized that the transaction was a standard one, even though it was concluded in unusual circumstances. However Russia is unable to collect debt on the $3 billion eurobond until a decision is pronounced on an appeal lodged by Ukraine.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is providing $50 million guarantee to UkrSibbank (Kyiv) for corporate clients lending, UkrSibbank has reported on its website.

According to the report, the agreement signed on December 22, 2017 will support business lending in Ukraine.

According to this agreement, the risk sharing total amount should not be more that 40% of the total lending amount or $ 50 million.

The Risk Sharing Facility signed with the EBRD would allow increasing of Ukrainian companies financing primarily involved to the agriculture industry.

"The EBRD and UkrSibbank will now cooperate under the Risk Sharing Facility and this is good news for many local corporates, especially in the agribusiness sector. This project will stimulate real sector lending and contribute to the development of financial services in the country," EBRD Director for Ukraine Sevki Acuner said.

UkrSibbank was founded in 1990. BNP Paribas S.A (France) owned 59.9996% of the bank's charter capital as of the beginning of January 2017, while the EBRD held 40%.

The bank ranked 7th among 88 operating banks as of October 1, 2017, in terms of total assets worth UAH 42.977 billion, according to the National Bank of Ukraine.
The financial plan of national joint-stock company Naftogaz Ukrainy does not take into account the possibility of buying gas from Russia's Gazprom, Ukrainian Energy and Coal Industry Minister Ihor Nasalyk said in parliament on Friday.

"Regarding the statement of the Naftogaz head about the possibility of buying gas from the Russian Federation... Point one: Naftogaz is not in the sphere of management of the energy ministry. Point two: the head of Naftogaz did not synchronize his statement with the ministry that forms the state policy. Point three: the government approving the Naftogaz's financial plan did not consider the possibility of buying Russian gas," he said.

The minister said that by increasing gas production by PJSC Ukrgazvydobuvannia the government plans to nullify any gas imports to cover the needs of households.

"Ukraine succeeded in one year and a half to reduce the imports of gas to 0.9 billion cubic meters for PSO [public service obligations]. And we, developing Ukrgazvydobuvannia, generally consider the possibility that by the end of the year this deficit of 0.9 billion cubic meters will be absent. When setting the price of gas for households ... we will not consider import parity - for PSO we will not need imported gas, and let the commercial structures buy gas where they consider it necessary," he said.
Ukraine in talks with Latvia, Estonia on inclusion of these countries in list of offshore zones

Ukraine is holding negotiations at the level of embassies and finance ministries due to the decision by the Ukrainian government to include Estonia and Latvia in the list of offshore zones, Ukrainian Finance Minister Oleksandr Danyliuk has said.

"Yes, such a decision was made, and we already had a conversation with the ambassadors of Estonia and Latvia. This is due to the fact that the mechanism for taxing profit on withdrawn capital was introduced in these two countries - in Estonia for several years already, and in Latvia since January 1 this year. It means that profit is not taxed until it is distributed in the form of dividends, for example, but we have legislative requirements... There is some conflict with the law, but this is not a conflict with friendly states," he said, while answering in parliament a question from People's Front MP Oleksandr Kodola.

He noted that the Finance Ministry was working to resolve this issue given that Ukraine intends to launch a model of tax on withdrawn capital in 2019.

"We are in contact with both the embassies and the finance ministries of these countries," he said.

"Work is being conducted at the level of the embassies and finance ministers of these countries," First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Economic Development and Trade Stepan Kubiv said.

As reported, in late 2017, the Ukrainian government included Estonia, Latvia, Iran, Cuba, Laos, Lebanon, Malta, Morocco, Monaco, the UAE, Singapore, Georgia and Hungary in the list of countries the list of countries whose transactions with contractors are subject to control under the Transfer Pricing Law. The list also included Guadeloupe, Guatemala, French Guiana, the Commonwealth of Dominica, the Dominican Republic, Mauritius, and the Independent State of Samoa. The total number of the countries for the monitoring increased from 65 to 85.

According to Estonian Ambassador to Ukraine Gert Antsu, the official reason for including Estonia in the list is that Ukraine is considering the Estonian profit tax rate as zero rate because of the exemption of reinvested profit from taxes (according to the Estonian tax on withdrawn capital). At the same time, profit is taxed in Estonia with the withdrawal of dividends, and the system does not allow avoiding taxation.

"Therefore, we believe that we were included in the list by mistake," he said.

Antsu noted that the decision concerns all entrepreneurs engaged in exports to Ukraine. In 2016, there were 402 such firms.
A serviceman of the State Guard Department of Ukraine, Viktor Riznychenko, who was guarding former President Viktor Yanukovych, does not have information about any threats to the life of the former president in the winter of 2014.

During his interrogation as a witness in the Yanukovych treason case in the Obolonsky District Court of Kyiv on Thursday, January 18, he said that on February 21, 2014, the ex-president was first in his administration and in the afternoon, at about 17.00, he left for his residence in Mezhyhiria. At about 22.00, Riznychenko heard over the radio that Yanukovych had left his residence and a few hours later he had been ordered to leave for Kharkiv. For this purpose, employees of the State Guard Department met on the Kyiv-Kharkiv highway.

The witness said that early on February 22, he was already in Kharkiv, where there was also the former president who gave an interview to the media and was to participate in a Party of Regions congress, which had later been canceled.

"In the afternoon of February 22, in the presidential motorcade, I left for Kharkiv airport, where there were two helicopters with several security guards, in one of which there was Yanukovych, and in the other there was his family and several other security officers," Riznychenko said.

According to him, about an hour after departure, State Guar Department employees were informed that an Ukraerorukh dispatcher had contacted them and proposed returning to Kharkiv. Riznychenko said that "it was Turchynov's order." However, since there was not enough fuel to return to Kharkiv, helicopters landed at Donetsk airport.

The witness noted that immediately after arrival in Donetsk, the then head of the security service of the Ukrainian president, Kostiantyn Kobzar, had given an order to board two Falcon-type aircraft. However, the staff of the State Border Service of Ukraine approached them and said that they were forbidden to fly due to the fact that some documents had not been filed.

Then Yanukovych and his entourage moved to cars and proceeded to a "big house" in Donetsk. Later, answering the questions of lawyers, Riznychenko said that staying in this house, together with Yanukovych, were also his son, Oleksandr, and businessman Rinat Akhmetov.

He said that on February 22, the motorcade of the ex-president and his companions left for Crimea. According to him, they stopped in a field near Berdiansk, where three Mi-8 helicopters landed.

Riznychenko showed that there were red stars on the fuselages of helicopters and that pilots were in special equipment.

"I think that these were helicopters of the Russian Federation," he said.

Yanukovych and those who accompanied him flew on these helicopters in an unknown direction and flew "over the sea."

"After a certain period of time, we landed on the airfield, where we were met by Russian servicemen. We stayed until the morning in trailers on the airfield," the witness said.

On February 23, the ex-president and his security guards and a "group of unknown armed men" flew farther on an An-26 military transport plane and then landed on another unknown airfield, because "it was impossible to continue flying for technical reasons."

They stayed there for about an hour and a half and, according to the witness, he saw a technical vehicle with the inscription "Anapa" on the airfield.

"I assume that it was the city of Anapa in the Russian Federation," Riznychenko.

Then there was a flight on another plane to another airport, where they were met again by Russian military and their vehicles. In the future, the witness realized that he was in Crimea.

"We came to Yalta, to a sanatorium or a recreation center, which most likely belonged to the Russian Federation," he said.

He noted that on the evening of February 23, they left for Sevastopol and arrived at a Russian military unit. They were addressed by Yanukovych, who proposed that security guards make a choice "to move with him further" or stay if anyone does not want to move. He said that at about 23.00, the ex-president went further with his companions.

Riznychenko and other security guards who did not follow Yanukovych passed their weapons to the State Guard Department branch in Miskhor and left for Kyiv by train the next morning.
An observer of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) was killed in an accident in Kramatorsk (Donetsk region) on Thursday morning, the press service of the Mission told Interfax-Ukraine.

"SMM confirms that this morning one of our observers became a participant in an accident. The observer was going along Kramatorsk by taxi. As a result of an accident, he was killed on the scene," the press service told the agency on Thursday.

Earlier, Russian media reported referring to Luhansk, that representative of the OSCE SMM in Ukraine, Vitaliy Zara, had been tragically killed in Kramatorsk.
Despite mutual adherence to the ceasefire regime throughout the day, at night, illegal armed groups fired at the positions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces two times; one soldier was wounded as a result of conducting engineering work, the press center of the ATO headquarters has reported.

"In general, over the past day, the enemy twice violated the cease fire regime. In both cases the Ukrainian military didn't open fire," the ATO press centre said on Facebook.

In the Luhansk sector, the enemy fired 82mm mortars at the Ukrainian fortified positions near the town of Schastia.

As a result of the shelling, no Ukrainian soldier was killed or wounded. At the same time, during the engineering work in Donetsk sector one serviceman of the Armed Forces was wounded. He was promptly taken to the military hospital and provided the necessary medical assistance. The life of the Ukrainian soldier is not threatened. Military physicians characterize the state of his health as satisfactory.
The European Union supports the provision of full access to international experts for the protection of human rights to the annexed Crimea and expects the speedy release of all Ukrainians who are illegally detained on the peninsula and in Russia, the EU press secretary said in a statement.

According to the statement, which was made public on Friday on the page of the EU Delegation to Ukraine on Facebook, on 16 January 2018, Volodymyr Balukh, known to have opposed the illegal annexation of the Crimean peninsula by the Russian Federation, was sentenced to three years and seven months in a penal colony by a court in the peninsula, whose jurisdiction the EU does not recognize.

On the other hand, Crimean Tatar activist Bekir Dehermendzhy was detained on 23 November last year in Simferopol on dubious charges. "In view of the critical medical condition he suffers, it is essential that he is immediately granted access to appropriate medical care," the statement reads.

The EU insists on providing "full, free and unhindered access" to the peninsula for international experts for the protection of human rights. "The European Union expects all illegally-detained Ukrainian citizens in the illegally-annexed Crimean peninsula and in Russia to be released as swiftly as possible. The European Union remains committed to fully implementing its policy of non-recognition of the illegal annexation of Crimea and Sevastopol," it reads.
Observers of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) have recorded a 70% increase in the number of violations of the ceasefire regime in the Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO) zone over the past week.

Over the past week, the security situation has worsened. Our observers recorded almost 6,500 violations of the ceasefire, which is 70% more than the previous week. And the number of heavy weapons used by the Minsk agreements was increased by 371 against six during the previous week, first deputy of the OSCE SMM Alexander Hug said at a briefing in Kyiv on Friday.
Saakashvili to keep visiting Ukraine's regions, but with power generator, candles to prevent disruptions

Former Georgian president and Movement of New Forces leader Mikheil Saakashvili is planning to continue his visits to Ukraine's regions to meet with activists.

"I would like to announce that our visits throughout Ukraine and our meetings will continue. I'm planning to visit Lviv and several other cities next. I've learned my lesson, I will go everywhere with a [power] generator and candles and schedule a meeting at five places at the same time. And we will still reach people, because this is not going to work without that," he told reporters at Kyiv's Court of Appeal on Friday.

Saakashvili held a meeting in Dnipro on January 15 and visited Odesa on January 18.

There were difficulties at the politician's meeting with activists in Odesa. The meeting had originally been scheduled for the Black Sea Hotel, but the administration of the hotel canceled it, citing difficult weather conditions.

The meeting was moved to the Gagarin Plaza Hotel, where a film about Ukraine and the changes Saakashvili has proposed was presented.

The power went out during his speech, and later, there were issues with the sound.

A supporter said that the power was turned off on demand of the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU).
Law enforcers are continuing a special operation in Odesa after a shootout as a result of which three officers were injured and a gunman killed, Ukraine's national police chief Serhiy Kniazev said.

"At 3.30 p.m. criminal investigation officers in Odesa were apprehending a wanted criminal who offered armed resistance, injuring three policemen. When a police patrol team arrived to the rescue and exchanged fire with the criminal, the gunman was rendered safe," Kniazev wrote on his Facebook page.

Currently the operation continues, he said. "Police are storming the premises where the criminal had been hiding and which lead directly to the Odesa catacombs," Kniazev said.

Medics are fighting for the officers' lives.

Odesa police chief Ruslan Forostiak said earlier that three officers had been injured during a skirmish with a gunman with the city center. One of the injured was in critical condition, the criminal had been killed, Forostiak said.
On Tuesday, January 23, at 13.00, the Interfax-Ukraine News Agency's press center will host a press conference "Attacks on First in Ukraine Shelter for Animals 'SOS' Continue." In November-December 2017 and early 2018, the shelter animals were repeatedly fired upon by unknown persons; the police do not respond to appeals in connection with these events. The participants will include president of the Society for the Protection of Animals 'SOS' Tamara Tarnavska; Director of the Urban Improvement and Environment Department Andriy Fischuk; deputy general director of the municipal enterprise Kyiv Investment Agency Bohdan Chorniy (8/5a Reitarska Street). Registration requires press accreditation. Details by phone: (063) 630 6081 (Tamara Tarnavska).
Agrohub will present opportunities for Ukrainian agribusiness for international investors during the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos

Agrohub will take part in the first in the history Ukraine House in Davos, in Switzerland, and hold an open discussion panel for international investors during the 48th Annual meeting of the World Economic Forum.

Discussion panel "Europe's Agro Superpower: Ukraine, Powered by Tech and Innovation" will be held on January 23, at 17.00, in the Ukraine House.

The purpose of the event is to attract the attention of world players to Ukraine, to present the opportunities of Ukrainian agribusiness and to introduce Ukraine into the pool of world innovators.

The discussion is designed to answer the following questions:

 How does Agritech successfully change global trends in agriculture and food markets in Ukraine and other countries?

 What are the opportunities and risks for world investors and innovators in Ukraine today?

 Are Ukrainian agroholdings open to new technologies?

 Who are included in the new ecosystem of Ukrainian agricultural investment?

 How did the values of the innovative economy become embodied in agricultural practice in 2017-2018?

Moderator of the discussion  Alex Lissitsa (Ukraine) - General Director of the agroholding IMC, public figure, president of the Association "Ukrainian Club of Agrarian Business".

The speakers of discussion:

Yuri Kosyuk (Ukraine) - Founder and Head of the MHP (PJSC "Myronivsky Hliboprodukt"), one of the leading agroholdings in Ukraine, specializing in the production of poultry meat and growing cereals.

Julia Poroshenko (Ukraine) - founder and project manager of Agrohub, co-founder of the technology cluster Radar Tech

Tobias Menne, (Germany) - Global Head Digital Farming Bayer AG

Michael Horsch (Germany) - co-founder and manager of Horsch Machines, a leading European producer of agricultural tillage and seeding equipment.

"There is a stereotype that the agrarian sector of Ukraine is not modern and not receptive to innovation. We want to challenge this myth in the world arena and present new and successful projects for international investors. Ukraine is a unique platform for new technologies, we have the largest holdings, advanced and open to cooperation, a strong human resources base for technical specialists, interesting and successful startups, and, of course, a positive development of the Agritech industry. We intend to show all this to the international community and start a dialogue with investors," said Yulia Poroshenko.

Discussion panel will be held on January 23, at 17.00, in the Ukraine House in Davos, Promenade, 73.

Free admission.

Accreditation for media: start@agrohub.org

For information:

Agrohub is a project for the development of agro innovation. Its mission is to increase the efficiency of agricultural sector through the introduction of innovations and technologies, enabling talents to realize their potential.

To this end, Agrohub accumulates information, builds relationships and becomes a catalyst for the dealings between agro-companies and technology developers, experts, academic institutions, media and international communities.

Agrohub trains managers of agricultural companies of philosophy and innovation practice, and also popularizes the culture of innovation in the agricultural sector through educational programs and media.

In the fall of 2017, Agrohub, in partnership with the Myronivsky Hliboproduct company and the technological cluster Radar Tech, has launched the accelerator of agrarian innovations MHP Accelerator.

Ukraine House in Davos  multi-format venue the Ukraine House will work in Davos (Switzerland) during the 48th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF). Under the theme Ukraine: Creativity, Innovation, Opportunity, this multi-format space will showcase investment opportunities in Ukraines IT and Innovation sector to global business, technology and investment leaders. Ukraine House is a unique opportunity to highlight the vibrant, energetic European country and society that is Ukraine.

Ukraine House will operate January 22-26, 2018 and is organized by the Ukrainian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (UVCA) in partnership with Western NIS Enterprise Fund (WNISEF) and Victor Pinchuk Foundation.

Ukraine House will take place alongside multiple sideline events of WEFs Annual Meeting. It will attract business and society leaders to a series of panel discussions and social events. Ukraine House will discuss global economic trends including in the tech industry where Ukraine will be seamlessly intertwined in the global context. It will also host meet ups between startups and venture capitalists from across the globe.

Interfax-Ukraine is info- partner of discussion panel "Europe's Agro Superpower: Ukraine, Powered by Tech and Innovation"
At a reception for Speaker of the Indonesian Regional Representatives Council (upper house) Oesman Sapta Odang in Hanoi on January 18, the Party leader highly valued the fruitful development of the Vietnam-Indonesia strategic partnership.

He believed that Oesmans visit to Vietnam to attend the 26th Annual Meeting of the Asia-Pacific Parliamentary Forum (APPF-26) will contribute towards the enhancement of the friendship and cooperation between the legislatures as well as between Vietnam and Indonesia.

Oesman applauded Vietnams strong development and expressed his delight at the development of the Vietnam-Indonesia relationship, especially after the visit to Indonesia by Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong in August 2017.

Indonesia wants to strengthen the friendly and cooperative ties with Vietnam in various areas, including maritime cooperation in order to maintain peace and stability, in accordance with international law, as well as interests of the two countries and the region at large, he said.

The same day, President Tran Dai Quang also hosted a reception for Oesman, of which durring the President expressed his belief that legislative ties between Vietnam and Indonesia, including relations between their friendship parliamentarians groups, will be further tightened, contributing to the enhancement of the Vietnam-Indonesia strategic partnership.

President Tran Dai Quang (R) and Speaker of the Indonesian Regional Representatives Council (upper house) Oesman Sapta Odang. (Source: VNA)

The leader noted with pleasure the strong development of the traditional friendship and cooperation between Vietnam and Indonesia.

President Tran Dai Quang asked the Speaker to convey his thanks to President JokoWidodo for his attendance in the APEC Economic Leaders Meeting in central Da Nang city in November last year, as well as his invitation to the Indonesian leader to soon pay an official visit to Vietnam.

The President spoke highly of Indonesias cooperation in economy, trade, investment and national defence-security as well as its coordination in handling issues relating to Vietnamese fishermen in the spirit of friendship, humanity and solidarity within ASEAN, and in line with the bilateral strategic partnership.

President Tran Dai Quang suggested that the two countries work out measures to soon bring the bilateral trade from more than US$6.5 billion in 2017 to US$ 10 million in the time ahead, explaining that they still boast a lot of potential to further their trade and investment ties.

He also urged the early signing of cooperation documents between the Vietnamese and Indonesian Ministries of Industry and Trade in economy and trade, as well as between management agencies in trade safeguard and fisheries, along with mutual recognition agreements on standards in potential areas such as oil and gas, food industry and chemicals.

Oesman affirmed Indonesias determination to elevate the strategic partnership to a new height by enhancing cooperation through state and parliament channels, and between ministries, agencies and localities of the two countries.

The two leaders shared a view that member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in particular and the international community in general should step up the collaboration and address common challenges.

As ASEAN members, Vietnam and Indonesia need to continue their close ties while working with other member countries to increase the intra-bloc cooperation, solidarity and unity, and maintain a peaceful, stable and cooperative environment, they said.
NA Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan made this remark at the opening ceremony of the 26th Annual Meeting of the Asia-Pacific Parliamentary Forum (APPF-26), which was held in Hanoi on January 18 evening.

The top legislator said that the APPF-26 takes place amid rapid and complex global changes that challenge sustainable development and living quality of each nation in the region.

She added that the context presents new tasks, making the building of the APPFs new vision for the upcoming period after 25 years of development a major target of this annual meeting.

She said the vision must be based on effective parliamentary partnerships, which require stronger commitments to improving cooperative mechanisms within the APPF, and between the APPF and other regional institutions for peace, security, and inclusive and sustainable growth.

Joining the APPF in 1995, Vietnam has been always a proactive member and considered the forum an important channel to build trust and promote dialogues on political, security and cooperation matters in the Asia-Pacific, she noted.

NA Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan said the hosting of the APPF-26 will contribute to introducing an active and dynamic image of the Vietnamese National Assembly. The event will mark a new development stage of the forum in carrying out a new vision on the Asia-Pacific parliamentary partnership for a peaceful and innovative APPF that is adaptable to regional and global changes, she added.

Addressing the ceremony, Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang stressed that the APPF has proved itself as a special mechanism for parliaments of the member states in promoting the trend of dialogue and cooperation in the region and the world on the basis of equality, mutual respect, and benefits and in line with international principles and laws.

It has promoted multilateral and multi-layered cooperation to solve common challenges, particularly the implementation of commitments with the United Nations in sustainable development and in response to climate change, he said.

The APPF members have supported the APECs efforts in fostering free trade and investment and regional comprehensive connectivity, the leader stressed. The APPF has promoted the Asia-Pacific as a hub of innovation and creativity and a pioneer in developing renewable energy and new-generation trade and investment deals that have brought practical benefits to their people and business communities and has lifted hundreds of millions people out of poverty.

President Tran Dai Quang outlined numerous challenges the region is facing, including growing protectionism, slower regional connectivity in some areas, wars and conflicts, poverty and impacts of climate change.

The President called on the forum to further foster multilateral partnership and build a common future for the Asia-Pacific, which can only be achieved by building a responsible parliamentary cooperation towards peace and sustainable development.

The APPF must also give top priority to maintaining peace and stability in the region and the world, accelerating dialogues and trust building and settling conflicts via peaceful means on the basis of international laws and standards, he said.

It should also focus on training skilled human resources, ensuring food, water and energy security, enhancing women business empowerment, supporting micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises, engaging deeper in the global market and developing self-reliant and inclusive communities, President Quang stressed.

The APPF-26, themed Parliamentary partnership for peace, innovation and sustainable development, will enter the second working day on January 19 with two plenary sessions on politics-security and economics-trade matters.

The APPF was officially formed in Tokyo, Japan, in 1993. The forum now gathers 27 members. It is a mechanism that enables parliamentarians to discuss issues of common concern, and to deepen their understanding of the region and the interests and experience of its diverse members. The forums proceedings address political, security, economic, social and cultural issues, thus furthering regional cooperation and building relations among parliamentarians from the Asia-Pacific region.
He lauded the APPF-26 theme of promoting parliamentary partnership for peace, innovation and sustainable development, saying that it reflects the priorities of the region, while meeting the aspirations of the regional people.

Informing the delegates of Vietnams reform, development orientations and foreign policy, the Party chief affirmed that Vietnam is consistently pursuing a policy of peace, independence, self-reliance, cooperation and development, while being a friend of all nations and a responsible member of the international community.

He extended his thanks to the parliaments, governments and people of the regional nations for the support they have provided for Vietnam over the past years, adding that Vietnam hopes to continue strengthening the friendship and cooperation with all of them.

General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong (centre) poses for a photo with international guests.

The guests expressed their admiration for Vietnams economic achievements and the improvements in its peoples living conditions, and praised the sound leadership of the CPV as well as Vietnams position in the international arena.

They expressed their delight at the fruitful cooperation with Vietnam over recent years, hoping for enhanced bilateral relations with Vietnam in the future.
He made the remarks while meeting with NA Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan in Hanoi, on January 19.

Sengnouane Sayalat said that it is an honor for him to attend the APPF-26, noting that the collaboration between the two countries has been intensively promoted with practical results.

He highly valued the cooperation and support that the Vietnamese NA has provided for its Lao counterpart, affirming that the Lao people always remember the valuable assistance offered by the Vietnamese Party, State and people.

For her part, the senior Vietnamese legislator said that the Lao delegations participation in the APPF-26 manifests its great support for the Vietnamese National Assembly, expressing her belief that this would contribute to the meetings success.

Sen. Lieut. Gen. Sengnouane Sayalat highly values the cooperation and support that the Vietnamese NA has provided for its Lao counterpart.

She recalled the State visit to Vietnam made by Lao General Secrectary and President Bounnhang Vorachith last December, saying that it was an important milestone in the bilateral relations.

The success of the Vietnam-Laos, Laos-Vietnam Friendship and Solidarity Year in 2017 contributed to further bolstering the traditional friendship, special solidarity and comprehensive between the two nations, she added.

Regarding the project to build the Lao National Assembly House, NA Chairwoman Ngan affirmed that the Vietnamese NA will work closely with the Lao side on the construction of the project since it is a symbol of the Vietnam-Laos friendship and special solidarity.
He and the Vice President of the Moroccan House of Representatives Amina Maelainine were received by Chairwoman of the National Assembly (NA) of Vietnam Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan in Hanoi, on January 19.

The top Vietnamese legislator welcomed the Moroccan delegates, who are attending the 26th Annual Meeting of the Asia-Pacific Parliamentary Forum (APPF-26) and congratulated Morocco on its election as Vice President of the 72nd Session of the United Nations General Assembly.

She said that the two-way trade value of US$190 million in 2016 was modest and below expectations therefore the two countries should step up their economic and trade cooperation and bolster links between their business communities and trade associations in trade, tourism, finance, renewable energy and bilateral investment.

For his part, Mohammed Ouzzine highly valued Vietnams organisation of the APPF-26.

With similarities in history and thriving political ties, Vietnam and Morocco will assume significant roles in connecting the African Union and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), he added.

Ouzzine stressed that the cooperation agreement signed by the two countries during the Moroccan House of Representatives Presidents trip to Vietnam in last December would serve as an important legal basis for future bilateral collaboration.
Under the agreement, ANRS will provide scientific and financial support to collaborative research facilities in the country, known as "ANRSs Vietnamese research sites." These facilities will promote joint activities in experience exchanges, technology transfer and training, as well as implementing common research projects related to the characteristics of the disease in Vietnam.

The Vietnam Administration for HIV/AIDS Control is responsible to coordinate the cooperation activities with ANRS in Vietnam.

Prof. Dr. Nguyen Thanh Long, Deputy Minister of Health, emphasised that the cooperation between the MOH and ANRS resulted in an HIV/AIDS research site in Southeast Asia in 2001. It lays a foundation for establishing a collaborative research centre in the region and facilitating international collaboration in the research and prevention of HIV/AIDS and related diseases.

In the future, the Ho Chi Minh City Pasteur Institute, as well as Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi and Hai Phong, will continue to maintain ANRS-supported research in both technical and financial terms, Long said, adding that new research directions in the field would help Vietnam to actively respond to HIV/AIDS and hepatitis virus.

Since 2001, technologies transferred by the French side have been applied effectively in Vietnam. Local PhDs and masters have been provided with training in France, contributing to the integration of Vietnams scientific research into the world and improving the quality of care and treatment for HIV patients.
In a radio interview after the conclusion of the eighth round of talks between Mexico and the EU, Mexico's deputy economy minister, Juan Carlos Baker, said negotiations will resume in the week beginning February 5, with a quick end in sight.

"We're working to get this done within the next few weeks," he said.

The two parties are aiming to update their 2000 trade accord, which covers industrial products, by adding farm produce, government procurement and investment.

They also want to demonstrate their embrace of open markets as the United States turns inwards under President Donald Trump.

For Mexico, a deal with the European Union would be part of a strategy to reduce its reliance on the United States, the destination for nearly 80 percent of its exports. This has become even more urgent given Trump's threat to scrap the North American Free Trade Agreement.
The commitment was made during talks between Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe in Tokyo on January 18.

The trade pact replaces the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement after President Donald Trump withdrew the US from the TPP in January 2017.

In his speech following the talks, Turnbull said: "Our strong preference is for all 11 countries to join the first wave but our focus is on bringing a new TPP agreement into force as soon as possible with those who are ready to move."

"We are consciously setting it up to enable and encourage the United States to dock in should it choose to do so in the future," he added. Eleven countries met at the APEC Economic Leaders Week in Da Nang city of Vietnam in November 2017 to keep alive the deal after the US withdrew. Negotiators will meet in Tokyo next week in the hope of smoothing out obstacles to the CPTPP.
Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), addresses the second plenary session of the 19th Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) of the CPC in Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 11, 2018. (Xinhua/Xie Huanchi)

BEIJING, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, on Thursday called for more anti-corruption efforts to "fundamentally improve the political ecosystem of the Party."

Xi, also Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks at the second plenary session of the 19th Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) of the CPC.

"All-round efforts should see the Party's political building enhanced, its theory strengthened, its organizations consolidated, its conduct improved, and its discipline enforced, with institution building incorporated into every aspect of Party building," Xi said. "Socialism with Chinese characteristics has entered a new era, and the CPC's leadership is a must for the country to advance its great cause."

"FIGHTING SPIRIT"

Xi said that "the Party itself and its members have gone through essential and profound changes," which required higher quality of Party management and enhanced political and organizational functions of Party organs.

"We should push forward the campaign with heroism, and takes the bull by the horns with a fighting spirit that never steps aside in face of an enemy," he said.

"Senior Party members should be subject to higher and more rigorous standards and placed under tighter scrutiny, though all Party members should follow the rules," he said.

Noting that senior officials should fulfill their duties fully and responsibly, Xi stressed that they should show strong commitment in bearing their political responsibilities and will be held accountable if failing them.

LOYALTY

Xi asked CPC officials to remain loyal to the Party "at any time, and under any circumstance."

Xi said Party officials should "always be reliable, align themselves to the Party's central leadership in thinking and deeds, follow the Party's instructions and fulfil their responsibilities."

"Decisions and plans made by the CPC Central Committee should be implemented in full, by each and every Party organization," Xi said.

VIGILANCE ON HEDONISM, EXTRAVAGANCE

Xi warned against the resurfacing of undesirable work styles -- formalities for formalities' sake, bureaucratism, hedonism and extravagance.

He demanded close monitoring to spot hedonism and extravagance in new forms and asked heads of Party committees and governments at each level to assume overall responsibility for correcting the behaviors of formalities for formalities' sake and bureaucratism.

To maintain close ties with the people, Xi said Party officials should "resolutely oppose privilege-seeking and work with and among the people to resolve their pressing concerns."

SWEEPING VICTORY AGAINST GRAFT

Xi required measures to address both the symptoms and root causes of corruption to secure a "sweeping victory in the fight against corruption."

"Measures targeting the root causes must be consolidated while those to cure the symptoms must be vigorously wielded," Xi said.

He said strict Party governance should be expanded to the grassroots level and work should be done together with the crackdown on gang crime to uproot both the gangs and the "protective umbrellas" above them.

He also called for more international cooperation in the anti-corruption field.

"Those who work in disciplinary agencies must discipline themselves first," Xi stressed.

He urged all discipline inspection and supervision organs to follow higher standards and stricter discipline, and called on their staff to be loyal, resolute, responsible and maintain discipline and law, ensuring that the power bestowed by the Party and the people would not be abused.

Members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee Li Zhanshu, Wang Yang, Wang Huning and Han Zheng also attended the plenary session.

Zhao Leji, head of the CCDI and member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, presided over the conference and delivered a work report on behalf of the CCDI standing committee.
The China-developed twin-engine regional jet ARJ21 has just received its first order from Africa, according to Chinese news site ThePaper.cn.

As the first customer of the aircraft in Africa, the Republic of Congo sent a delegation of seven officials to China at the invitation of Civil Aviation Administration of China, in a bid to promote bilateral cooperation of civil aviation between the two countries.

The group, led by Congo Republics Minister of Transport, Civil Aviation and the Merchant Marine Fidele Dimou, arrived at Chengdu, southwestern Chinas Sichuan province, to experience the performance of ARJ21 on a test flight flown by Chengdu Airlines.

Dimou said to experience the flight is the best way to examine the reliability and comfort of the plane.

He noted to accelerate the aviation industry is a national will of the Congo Republic. And he believes in the quality of Chinese products, so the country did not hesitate at all before signing the deal.

I hope Chengdu Airlines could carry out cooperation with their counterparts in Congo Republic, and help us to better operate the ARJ21 aircraft through its experiences and expertise, Dimou said.

We are the first African customer of ARJ21. But Im sure that Chinese regional jets will receive more orders in the future, Dimou remarked.

Dimou's wishes to the ARJ 21 jet
Construction of a resort project at Riyue Bay, or Sun Moon Bay, in Wanning, Hainan province, has been halted. The Sun Moon Island project covers a reclamation area of 97 hectares, and construction on Moon Island, 49.1 hectares, began without proper permits. LUO YUNFEI / CHINA NEWS SERVICE

BEIJING, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) -- China has introduced its toughest regulation on land reclamation along the country's coastline, vowing to demolish illegally reclaimed land and stop approving general reclamation projects.

The State Oceanic Administration (SOA) said Wednesday that it would demolish or shut down all illegally reclaimed land and illegally established waste discharge outlets that damage the marine environment.

Lin Shanqing, deputy director of the SOA, said at a press conference that reclamation projects that did not concern the national economy and people's livelihoods would not be approved in future.

"Reclamation projects that have been approved but have not started and do not comply with the current policy will all be stopped," Lin said, adding that the administration would also stop giving annual land reclamation quota to provinces.

"Using reclaimed land for commercial real estate development is prohibited and all reclamation activities in the Bohai Sea area will be banned," Lin said. "Reclaimed land that has remain deserted for a long time will be confiscated."

The power of granting administrative approval for land reclamation projects must not be delegated to lower authorities and administrators, who have behaved improperly in project approval, and supervision will be held accountable.

Since the law on administration of maritime space use was put into use in 2002, China legally approved a total of 158,000 hectares of land reclamation by the end of 2017, accounting for about 12 percent of the newly added construction land area in coastal areas over the same period.

Gross ocean production accounts for 9.5 percent of China's GDP, statistics show.

Last year, the SOA dispatched inspectors to 11 coastal provinces, municipalities and regions. The first six, Fujian, Guangxi, Hebei, Hainan, Jiangsu and Liaoning, were cautioned over reclamation projects and coastal pollution.

Also on Wednesday, the SOA disclosed the findings of a nationwide survey on land-based sources of marine pollution, identifying a total of some 9,600 such sources, including about 740 rivers, 7,500 sewage outlets and 1,350 emergency flood outlets.

Among the sewage outlets, only 8 percent were licensed, and about one-quarter were established in ecologically sensitive areas.

The SOA found that the marine environment near more than 80 percent of sewage outlets failed to meet standards. About 80 percent of the marine ecosystem under watch was rated unhealthy or sub-healthy.

To address the issue, the SOA will monitor sources of pollution and introduce real-time monitoring.
Google, the US tech giant, is opening an office in Shenzhen, South China's Guangdong Province, one month after its move to set up the first artificial intelligence lab in China.

File photo

Located in Shenzhen, which borders Hong Kong and is famous for being a global hardware center, the new office will offer assistance to its Google staff to communicate with local clients, reported thepaper.cn.

"We recently signed a lease for a serviced office in Shenzhen. The space opened this week and is now up and running. We're hopeful this will provide Googlers with a comfortable base to work from in the area," reads the email Google sent to its staff.

Shenzhen. (Photo: VCG)

Google has increasingly employed Chinese engineers in developing new products, and Shenzhen has a thriving maker community, which includes global hardware accelerator program HAX.

Shenzhen, which is home to Tencent, one of the three leading Internet companies in China, and Huawei, a leading telecom company in China, is dubbed "Asia's Silicon Valley" by Financial Times.
China on Wednesday reiterated that its stance over maintaining peace and stability on a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula, following a US-led meeting of pro-South Korean countries in Vancouver, Canada.

The peninsula issue should be resolved through dialogue and consultation,Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said at a regular press conference on Wednesday.

Canada and the US convened countries of the "United Nations Army" of the Korean War (1950-53) and co-sponsored a foreign ministers' meeting on the Korean nuclear issue in Vancouver. The meeting called for theinternational communityto exert utmost pressure on North Korea.

We have said many times that the essence of the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue is security. Only through dialogue and a balanced solution to the legitimate security concerns of all parties can we find an effective way to peacefully resolve the peninsula issue, Lu said.

To this end, China has put forward thetwo-track parallelismmentality and the "double suspension" initiative.

The DPRK and Republic of Korea are gradually resuming dialogue, and the situation on the peninsula remains very complicated and sensitive. All parties should cherish the rare easing situation that has emerged in the current situation in the Korean Peninsula, support the Koreas in their efforts to improve their relations, and work hard to ease the situation and promote dialogue. Practice has proved that blindly pressured and isolated practices will only be counterproductive, Lu added.

As we all know, the United Nations military was a product of the Cold War and is outdated. The US and Canada, as sponsors of the conference, will apparently be thinking of the Cold War in the name of the so-called UN military and will only create divisions in the international community and undermine the joint efforts to promote proper resolution of the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue,Lu said.
Chinas airlines have started Wi-Fi service on planes after the countrys aviation authority issued a new document to standardize the use of Personal Equipment Data (PED) devices.

China Eastern Airlines and Hainan Airlines, two giant airlines in China, announced that the use of PEDs will be allowed in flight starting Thursday. Spring Airlines, a low-cost carrier in China, said it plans to allow the use of smartphones on airplane mode on its domestic and international flights starting Feb. 1, according to Peoples Daily.

PEDs refer to portable electronic devices such as personal computers, tablets, smartphones, and e-readers. Traditionally, the use of such devices was not permitted in flight for fear that they could influence the planes communication and navigation systems. But now, passengers can switch to airplane mode and stay connected on the free Wi-Fi service.

This means passengers are now able to use their favorite social networks such as Weibo or WeChat, have a video chat, pay for tax-free products or souvenirs by mobile, or just surf the internet.

The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) issued the guidance to provide more detailed information for evaluation and management. Electronic devices without an airplane mode feature are still not allowed to be used in flight. In addition, PEDs larger than the permitted size are only allowed to be used when there is no turbulence.

Some passengers on the China Eastern Airlines flight complained about the slow internet speed. A crew member responded that the wireless network is still in a trial phase, ThePaper.cn reported. The number of Wi-Fi users is also limited to one hundred.
U.S. solar energy industry urges Trump not to impose tariffs on imports

WASHINGTON, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) on Wednesday urged President Donald Trump not to impose high tariffs on solar imports so as to preserve tens of thousands of jobs in the sector.

"A decision to impose high tariffs in line with the International Trade Commission's recommendation will lead to the layoff of tens of thousands of workers, cause companies to stop investing in the United States and bring an American economic engine screeching to a halt," Abigail Ross Hopper, president and CEO of the SEIA, wrote in a letter to Trump.

"Raising solar prices, as these tariffs would do, would reduce demand for those downstream products and kill manufacturing jobs," he said.

Hopper's warning comes as Trump will make a final decision whether to restrict solar imports to protect the U.S. industry before Jan. 26.

After taking office, the Trump administration has repeatedly promised to revive coal-fired power plants and bolster the country's coal industry. But the move against sustainable development trend was widely criticised by environmental organizations across the world.

The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) last October recommended the president putting quota and tariff restrictions on imported crystalline-silicon solar products.

But trade experts and local media have warned that slapping high tariffs on imported solar products is likely to kill far more American jobs than it saves.

While the tariffs could protect hundreds of jobs in the two American solar manufacturers, the assembly and installation sector could risk losing as many as 88,000 workers, the USA Today editorial board warned in an op-ed on Tuesday, adding tariffs would also "stifle a rising sector generating the cleanest of energies."
BEIJING, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- A spokesman for China's Ministry of Commerce said Thursday that economic and trade cooperation between China and Britain had huge room for development.

"Britain is an important economic and trade partner of China in Europe," spokesman Gao Feng said at a press conference.

In 2017, bilateral trade rose 6.2 percent to 79.03 billion U.S. dollars, with China's exports to Britain up 1.8 percent, while its imports from Britain surged 19.4 percent.

British investment in China reached 1.5 billion U.S. dollars, and China's non-financial investment in Britain reached 1.53 billion U.S. dollars.

"We are now pushing for the creation of a committee of entrepreneurs from China and Britain," Gao said, adding that a trade work group meeting has been held to explore for expanding trade and investment opportunities.

"Both sides will also seek to make new achievements in corporate cooperation in the financial, innovation, telecom, new energy and other fields," Gao said.

He made the remarks in response to a question about possible outcomes from a reported China visit by British Prime Minister Theresa May later this month, which will focus on trade issues.
The Pakistani embassy on Wednesday launched a food extravaganza in Beijing, in an effort to deepen the two nations communication and cooperation, as well as providing Chinese citizens a chance to enjoy Pakistani culture.

Masood Khalid, the Pakistani ambassador, made a keynote speech during the opening ceremony of the food extravaganza, attaching great importance to people connectivity and cultural bonds.

The food festival is a catalyst for enhancing the cultural cooperation between the two nations, serving as a great opportunity for [Chinese guests] to experience Pakistani food with its trademark aroma and spices, said the ambassador, who expressed his gratitude to the Chinese government for providing support to the festival.

In addition to the welcoming speech, the ambassador also sent wishes to Chinese citizens for the upcoming Spring Festival, highlighting the importance of the profound friendship between people from both nations.

Were happy if our Chinese friends are happy. On behalf of Pakistan and the Pakistani people, I wish to extend warm congratulations to our Chinese friends for the upcoming Spring festival, the ambassador told Peoples Daily Online.
China to take multiple measures to expand consumption in 2018

China will take multiple measures to expand consumption in 2018, with information technology-related products and services being the major area, said Chinese newspaper Economic Information Daily on Jan. 18.

The information consumption of China is expected to reach 6 trillion RMB ($933 billion) in 2020, with an average annual growth of over 11%. The sector will also be responsible for an output of 15 trillion RMB of related industries.

Information products are not only a major growth point of general consumption, but will also drive the development of the digital economy, said Gao Hongbing, president of Ali Research, an institute under Alibaba Group. It will be a major driving force of Chinas future economy, he added.

With the expansion of this sector, more tax sources and jobs will be created, Gao told Economic Information Daily.

According to national departments, including the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), practical policies will be rolled out this year to further spur consumption on information products and services.

For instance, the government will encourage the promotion of digital home appliances such as smart TV, smart speakers, and smart security systems, accelerating the establishment of universal specifications.

In addition, the country will accelerate the digitalization and utilization of cultural resources, including the establishment of high-quality digital cultural services and the in-depth integration of traditional and emerging media.

Apart from the expansion of the information consumption, China will also maintain the tax reduction policies for new-energy vehicles, remove restrictions on used-car registration, and promote new forms of consumption such as shared bikes in a bid to enlarge total consumption.
Travelling will rise to one of the hottest choices for Chinese to celebrate the approaching week-long Lunar New Year holiday, Chinanews.com reported Wednesday, quoting a forecast report by a travel authority.

The report, co-released by China Association of Travel Services and Tuniu, a traveling service provider, forecast the trend of traveling during the 2018 Spring Festival holiday and revealed that more Chinese citizens would celebrate the traditional Chinese New Year by travel.

Warmer places including cities and islands at low latitudes are gaining popularity, said the report. South Chinas Hainan, Yunnan, Guangdong, and Fujian provinces are expected to attract more visitors during the holidays, owing to their warm climate and rich traveling resources.

For those who prefer outbound tours, Thailand, Japan, United States, Australia, and parts of Southeast Asia are the most popular destinations, while short trips to tropical islands such as Phuket Island, Bali Island, Saipan Island, and other warm-weather getaways received the largest number of reservations.
Spokesperson Lu Kang (Photo source:fmprc.gov.cn)

BEIJING, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- China supports the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the Republic of Korea (ROK) in fostering trust, building consensus, and finding solutions through dialogue, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Thursday.

Media reported that the DPRK and ROK Wednesday agreed to let their athletes march together under the unified flag of the Korean Peninsula at the opening ceremony of the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics next month.

The agreement was reached at vice ministerial-level talks between the two countries, which were held Wednesday at Peace House, a building on the South Korean side of Panmunjom which straddles the heavily guarded border.

Meanwhile, ROK Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha said the ROK will push forward dialogue for the peaceful resolution of the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula.

Spokesperson Lu Kang said the two countries on the Korean Peninsula had reached important consensus on cooperation at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics and improving their relations, reflecting constructive efforts on easing the situation on the peninsula.

"We hope the DPRK and the ROK can keep the positive momentum of their interactions and find the greatest common factor, in order to realize denuclearization and achieve permanent peace on the Korean Peninsula," Lu said.

He stressed all parties in the Korean Peninsula issue should cherish the current situation, and the international community should seize the opportunity to actively promote peace rather than stir up trouble, as well as making concrete efforts to resolve the issue.
Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era will be included in China's senior high school textbooks after the country's education authorities highlighted the thought in its latest reform plan, an expert said Thursday.

The thought will be fully included in the teaching plan to implement the spirit of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), read the plan that sets standards for high school teaching curriculum.

The plan, released by the Ministry of Educationon its website on Tuesday, also said that students should understand the importance of the "Party's leadership over every work."

The inclusion is of great significance and necaessity as high school students are expected to be the main mainstay and backbone to accomplish the periodical goals set in the CPC national congress in 2035 and 2050, said Su Wei, a professor at the CPC Chongqing Committee's Party School.

The revised standard for high school textbooks was printed at the end of 2017, read the plan.

Apart from changes on textbooks and teaching arrangements to include Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, the thought will also be tested in gaokao, or national college entrance examination, said Su.

Research centers of the Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era have been established in universities across China, including the Tsinghua University and National Defence University of the People's Liberation Army.

The thought was unveiled during CPC's twice-a-decade national congress in October, 2017 and was listed as a part of the guiding ideology for the CPC in its amended Constitution.
Xinjiang's Party committee has vowed to clean up "malignant ideological influences" in all fields and is "determined to win the ideological battle" in the coming year to maintain stability.

At a meeting on Tuesday, Party officials of Northwest China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region said its publicity work should focus on ideology this year, and should ensure the absolute safety of ideology work, Xinjiang Daily reported Wednesday.

The report said that the government vowed to "clean up malignant ideological influences in all fields," and to uncover these "two-faced" people.

Those who need to be cleaned up are people who do not firmly believe in socialism and communism, and "two-faced" people refers to those who appear to believe in socialism but secretly sympathize or even support separatism, Xiong Kunxin, a professor at Beijing's Minzu University of China, told the Global Times Thursday.

He noted that in order to win the ideological battle, the Party must regulate media, especially websites, which are a hotbed for separatists.

In February 2017, the Xinjiang government busted seven instances of individuals spreading extremism and illegal content online after receiving tips, Xinjiang-based news site ts.cn reported.

The region's official also said it will use the internet as a tool to help instill the correct ideology.

The report said that last year, the government stressed the importance of publicizing the spirit of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC); the activities that help grass-roots Xinjiang villagers bond with the local governments, and supervision over publications.

In December 2017, officials and government employees in Xinjiang were required to live and study with a local foster family whom officials were told to consider and treat as "relatives."

About a million government officials and employees took part in the unity week campaign, launched in December by the Xinjiang government to enhance ethnic unity and practice the spirit of the 19th CPC National Congress, the Xinjiang Daily reported in early January.
ABC/Randy HolmesAdam Levine's wife Behati Prinsloo is expecting their second child very soon, but let's hope the birth isn't quite as painful this time around...for Adam, we mean.

Appearing on Jimmy Kimmel Live! Thursday night, Adam told a long and embarrassing story about what happened during the birth of their first child, his daughter Dusty Rose. According to Adam, Carson Daly advised him to make sure and eat while Behati was in labor, so he wouldn't faint from hunger.

Adam took his advice, but ended up stuffing himself silly while waiting for Behati's contractions to get serious.

"By the time we get to the hospital, I've put back, like, an unbelievable amount of food," he told Jimmy. "Like, I'm bursting at the seams, I'm gonna s*** my pants."

As the audience roared, Adam continued, "But also, my wife is in labor! So it's the lamest thing to be, when your wife is having a baby, and you're like, 'I gotta take a s***.'" That's not, like, in any way a viable complaint!"

Adam didn't want to answer the call of nature because he was afraid that if he did, the baby would arrive while he was gone. "So, I waited, doubled over in pain and finally the baby came," Adam said.

He continued, "It was beautiful, and it was amazing, and then the second the coast was clear...I took one of the nurses aside and I was like, 'Look...you gotta find me a bathroom!'"

But when the nurse pointed to the bathroom at the foot of his wife's bed, Adam immediately rejected it...for obvious reasons.

(Video contains censored profanity)

Copyright  2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
Iran appreciates China for its efforts to search the missing Iranian sailors aboard the oil tanker Sanchi, Iranian Minister of Labor, Cooperatives and Social Welfare Ali Rabiei has said.

In a signed letter of thanks sent Wednesday to Chinese Ambassador to Iran Pang Sen, Rabiei said that China has made great efforts to rescue the crew aboard Sanchi and put out the fire on the tanker.

"As representative of the Iranian president and president of the Iranian investigation committee of the incident, I, in the name of the Iranian government and people, extend sincerest gratitude to the Chinese government and people, especially to the Chinese personnel who have risked their life to make every effort to rescue the tanker under the threat of toxic gas and explosion," Rabiei said.

The Panama-registered oil tanker Sanchi, carrying 136,000 tonnes of light crude oil from Iran, collided with the CF Crystal, a Hong Kong-registered bulk freighter, about 300 km east of the Yangtze estuary on Jan. 6.

Thirty-two crew members of the tanker -- 30 Iranians and two Bangladeshis -- were lost.

The minister regretted over the loss of crew members, saying that the support and humanitarian aid the Chinese government and people offered to Iran will be remembered forever by the Iranian people.
Blown away: Chinese gun tourists in the US

For Chinese visiting the US, gun laws are more of a privilege than a problem. And gun tourism is breathing new life into cities who offer shooting experiences above the industry standard.

Businesses like Battlefield Vegas, Stripgun Club, and Machine Gun America are frontrunners in the gun tourism market in Las Vegas.

Machine Gun America opened the countrys first machine gun theme park in Florida a few years ago.

The companys website advertises helicopter rides where passengers can shoot a belt-fed machine gun while flying through the air.

It was reported that gun tourism generated roughly $20 million in one year for Sin City.

Gun ranges typically provide safe and educational shooting experiences, but accidents happen.

Last month, while an employee at a shooting range in Texas was cleaning a rifle, it accidentally discharged. The bullet went through a wall and hit a man in his head while he was in the shooting ranges parking lot just as he had gotten out of his car.

A man from Singapore, a country with some of the harshest gun laws in the world was accidentally killed at a gun range in California last year.

A professional hunting guide based in China has taken Chinese on hunting trips to Africa and Alaska, to name a few destinations.

He said after spending an entire day hunting, Chinese still want to go out at night and ride around in a jeep with a spotlight and shoot rabbits.

PORK MADNESS

Wild boars devouring food crops in Texas have been a threat to the states agriculture and food industry for over decade.

In addressing pig depredation needs, in 2011, Texas passed what is referred to as the Pork Chopper Bill, making it legal to shoot the animals from the sky.

Texas entrepreneurs came up win-win idea in an effort to address the crisis while making some money along the way, and HeliBacon was born.

To you give you a better idea of just how overrun parts of Texas are with wild boars, it was reported that HeliBacon had culled 10,000 hogs in an 18-month period, hardly putting a dent in the wild boar population.

In the gun tourism industr,y its been referred to as sky culling. And its a hit with Chinese gun enthusiasts.

For $4,000 a person can shoot wild boar for two hours while riding in a helicopter.

And as reckless and unsafe as it may sound, it isnt. Today, roughly 150 companies in Texas offer the experience, and I couldnt find any reports of major accidents or fatalities stemming from aerial depredation activities. But I did hear concerns regarding a few Chinese who had problems following basic safety rules.

Shooting over targets just to see what you might hit is a bad idea. Also, trying to kill animals that youre not supposed to is against the law.

Furthermore, using the language barrier as an excuse for negligent behavior doesnt go over well at any ranch or gun range. If a gun instructor says you need to be fluent in English before you can hunt or shoot on their premises, and you dont speak English, then be honest about it.

Next year, Desoto, Florida will have a five-star gun resort dedicated to Chinese gun enthusiasts. It is expected to draw some 5,000 visitors from China during its first year of operations.

Theres no doubt safety will be the highest of priorities, lets just hope that the rules are taken seriously.

(The author is a senior staff writer with People's Daily app.)
File Photo

London (People's Daily)  Britains House of Commons on Wednesday passed the Brexit bill, 324 to 295, after a tedious debate, which aims to end the supremacy of EU law in Britain after Brexit.

The move means the bill will be elevated to the House of Lords.

David Davis, Brexit Secretary, was quoted by Sky News as saying, We are pleased that the bill has successfully completed this stage of its passage through Parliament.

We are looking forward to working with peers as the bill enters its next stage of scrutiny in the House of Lords at the end of this month.

However, the Labour Party announced its opposition as shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer said the Bill is not fit for the purpose.

Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said that Brexit was a betrayal of those who fought for European democracy during the war.

If the bill is successfully passed by the House of Lords, it would receive royal assent and become law.
(File photo)

Chinese scientists have developed a new rice variety that tastes good and produces high yields by combining the genes in different rice varieties that determine those two qualities, China News Agency reported on Jan. 18.

After analyzing the key genes in two foreign rice varieties, the scientists hybridized the high-efficiency genes and then used ion-beam irradiation to cause a gene mutation in them to create a new rice variety called Kefugeng 9.

The new variety is expected to satisfy the need for high yields and good taste, said Liu Binmei, with the Department of Chemistry at the University of Science and Technology of China in Hefei, eastern China.

The Kefugeng 9 could be widely planted in places south of the Huaihe River, including Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces and Shanghai, after three-plus-years of trials and preliminary tests in the market.

About 20,000 mu (1,333 hectares) of land will be used to grow such rice, according to a five-year plan set for the new variety.
[File photo]

With 630,000 fewer babies born in 2017 than the year before, China, the worlds most populous country, is facing a gloomy demographic situation, with many experts doubting the efficacy of the countrys two-child policy.

Chinas National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reported that a total of 17.23 million babies were born in 2017, declining from 17.86 in 2016, while the birth rate has also dropped from 12.95 percent to 12.43 percent. The unsatisfying data has fallen short of government estimates, which predicted that the countrys population would rise from 1.39 to 1.45 billion by 2030.

The declining birth rate in 2017 indicates the end of the baby boom brought by Chinas two-child policy. Its possible that the countrys birth rate will continue to decline over the next few years, He Yafu, a demographic researcher in China, told Beijing News.

China ended its decades-long one-child policy in 2015, allowing all families to have two children, in an effort to tackle the countrys degrading demographic issues, including a ballooning elderly population and severe gender imbalances. The new policy brought an increased birth rate of 7.9 percent in 2016; the highest this century, but since has been dropping steadily, leading to heated debate among the public and scholars.

The dividend of the second-child policy has largely been used up in the past two years. As Chinas young population continues to decline, and the level of the countrys urbanization keeps improving in recent years, fewer babies can be expected to be born in the future, said He.

He also noted that Chinas birth rate wont be dramatically affected by the second-child policy, since many modern women are more concerned about careers than having a large family.

According to NBS, about 45 percent of the babies born in 2016 were to families who already had one child, while the age of first marriage and first childbearing have grown significantly in recent years.

The cost of raising children is also a factor that dampens young peoples willingness to have kids. According to Caixin.com, the average annual cost of raising one child ranges from 20,000 ($3,115) to 30,000 yuan in major cities, which is unbearable for many low-income families.

Experts suggest that the government implement more practical policies encouraging childbearing, including tax incentives or direct subsidies to couples.

Childbearing subsidies should be provided to young couples as early as possible. Once the aging population becomes unbearably large, it will be too late to boost the birth rate, Liang Jianzhang, a professor at Peking University, told Caixin.com.
The bilateral relations and cooperation between China and South Africa have seen great progress since the two nations established diplomatic ties in 1998, and are expected to blossom at all levels in the future, said Dolana Msimang, South African ambassador to China.

The remarks were made on Thursday during a commemoration held in Beijing, which marked the milestone year of the diplomatic relations established between the two nations on January 1, 1998.

Our relations have since continued to grow from strength-to-strength, blossoming at all levels from trade and investment to education, science and research, as well as close political ties, Msimang told Peoples Daily Online.

[File photo]

Such solid ties not only provide a platform for continuing diplomatic engagement with one of our most important trade partners, but are also the key to broader engagement between our two countries, strengthening relations on every front, she added.

In addition to the 20th anniversary of the two nations diplomatic ties, Msimang emphasized that the year of 2018 also marks the centennial anniversary of the life and legacy of the father of modern South Africa, Nelson Mandela, as well as the 40th anniversary of Chinas opening-up policy.

Dolana Msimang, South African ambassador to China. [People's Daily Online]

During a difficult period, [the authorities] have to take a tough stance to ensure things run smoothly in the country first, and once the country becomes more established, it is time to open up more. This is what weve learned from the opening-up policy, and I believe it is very important for South Africa, said Msimang.

The outcome of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China proves the success of the opening up policy, and is very educating for both South Africa and the whole world. China is sort of becoming a world leader now, so all of us hold positive attitudes toward the two nations future relationship, she added.

The cooperation between China and African countries eyed a skyrocketing growth in 2017. According to statistics from the South African Embassy in Beijing, bilateral trade between South Africa and China has grown exponentially from only ZAR 1.8 billion in 1994 to ZAR 299 billion in 2016, and China has been South Africas largest single country trading partner since 2009. Two-way investment increased astronomically from ZAR 245 million in 2003 to ZAR 66 billion in 2014.
Mixed feelings over U.S. economy after Trump presidency one year later

(Xinhua file photo)

WASHINGTON, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- Stimulated by deregulation and tax cuts promises made by President Donald Trump, who took office one year ago, the U.S. economy gained steam in 2017 and the growth momentum is widely expected to continue this year.

However, concerns about the long-term outlook of the U.S. economy began to loom large, as experts worry that the tax cut bill passed in December last year could further worsen fiscal strength and external balances of the world's largest economy.

OPTIMISTIC NEAR-TERM OUTLOOK

With the Trump administration's deregulation efforts and pushes for tax cuts, business and consumer confidence remained at historic highs over the last year.

Grant Kimberley, an Iowa farmer, told Xinhua that the regulatory burden on farm families has lessened a great deal since Trump took office. Kimberley also thinks the tax cut bill will benefit agriculture.

According to data from the White House's Office of Budget and Management, the administration has eliminated, delayed or streamlined 1,579 regulatory actions since January last year.

The strong business and consumer confidence shored up business investment and consumer spending last year, which are likely to transfer into stronger economic growth.

The U.S. economy is widely expected to grow about 2.5 percent in 2017, a large improvement from the 1.5 percent growth in 2016.

This strong growth momentum is expected to continue in 2018.

William Dudley, president of the New York Federal Reserve Bank, recently raised his forecast for U.S. growth in 2018 by 0.5 to 0.75 percentage point to a range from 2.5 percent to 2.75 percent.

"About one-third of this upward revision reflects the firmer momentum of the economy going into 2018 and about two-thirds the stimulative impact of the tax legislation," said Dudley.

The World Bank also expected the tax bill to boost corporate investment because of the low corporate tax rate.

With stronger private investment, the U.S. economy is estimated to grow 2.3 percent in 2017. The growth is expected to accelerate to 2.5 percent in 2018 and then moderate to an average of 2.1 percent in 2019 and 2020.

LONG-TERM GROWTH IN SHADOW

Despite the stronger near-term growth, economists worry that the weakening U.S. fiscal strength and the government's restrictive trade orientation would cast a shadow over the long-term outlook of the U.S. economy.

Dudley named the risk of overheating and the long-term fiscal position as the two major concerns for the U.S. economy.

"This suggests that the Federal Reserve may have to press harder on the brakes at some point over the next few years," said Dudley. "If that happens, the risk of a hard landing will increase," he added.

Another concern for the U.S. economy is the worsening of the U.S. fiscal strength, Dudley said.

The budget deficit was 3.5 percent of GDPin fiscal 2017, up from 1.1 percent in 2007. The figure will further grow thanks to the recently passed tax bill.

It is estimated that the tax bill will add 1 trillion U.S. dollars of budget deficit over the next 10 years.

The United Statesneeds to get its fiscal house in order for the long run, said Dudley.

"The longer that task is deferred, the greater the risk for financial markets and the economy, and the harder it will be for the Federal Reserve to keep the economy on an even keel," he said.

The World Bank also warned that low labor participation and weak productivity trends remain the most significant drag on the U.S. growth over the longer term.
Chinese equipment, featuring lower prices and better quality, are gaining popularity among the oil producers in the Middle East, the main source of crude oil, Chinanews.com reported Thursday.

China Petroleum Pipeline Engineering Co. Ltd (CPP), which specializes in pipeline project construction, has cemented its market in the Middle East with an increasing number of construction projects, said Xue Feng, deputy general manager of CPP, adding that the company has been promoting Chinese brands and now over 60 percent of the equipment for many of the regions projects (and even up to 80 percent) are made in China.

CPP started to explore the Saudi Arabian market in 2016. Its automated welding machines and X-ray crawlers made its name by improving welding efficiency and advancing the pipeline inspection process for Arabian American Oil Company, an oil producer with one of the worlds largest reserves. Another two projects from the same client were awarded to CPP last year, showing recognition of Chinas automated welding equipment.

In addition to Saudi Arabia, CPP has established cooperation with its counterparts in Iraq, another crude oil producer, and also introduced Chinese brands including Baosteel and some domestic steel pipe companies to the local petroleum companies.

CPP has helped save the procurement costs for Middle East companies, and also sold Chinese brands to this region, said Xue Feng.

Photo: Made-in-China welding equipment working at a construction site in Saudi Arabia/ Chinanews.com
Power Construction Corporation of China, one of the countrys largest hydro and thermal power project providers, said on Wednesday via its WeChat account that it has completed the second phase of a solar plant with worlds largest single-unit capacity in Morocco.

The phase II project was completed on Jan. 10. With this clean energy technology, Morocco is expected to grow from an energy-poor country to an energy-rich one. This project is the result of our sincerity and long-term dedication, the company said.

The second phase of the project will have an installed capacity of 200 megawatts, and the whole solar plant will have a total installed capacity of 510 megawatts once it is completely finished.

Morocco gets long hours of sunlight a year, but as a country with poor fossil fuel reserves, it has to spend $6 billion on electricity imports per year.

The Noor Solar Complex will play a key role in Moroccos ambitious solar energy development program, which aims to expand solar power to half of the countrys total power projects by 2030.

The project will satisfy the electricity need of over a million households, and cut 760,000 tons of carbon emissions per year.

The project has created nearly 4,000 jobs for locals. A local construction worker, who has worked on the project for more than one year, said the Chinese workers have helped him to improve his skills. By following them, I have not only mastered skills, but also gained new ones, the young man said.

The project is also hailed by foreign experts as a great work, because it has created a longer industry chain. The Guardian said it will light up Africas path of clean energy development.

The State-owned enterprise signed an engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contract for phases II-III of the project with the Moroccan government in 2015. EPC contracts are a common form of contracting in the construction industry.
How would you like to pay for your watch in... How would you like to pay...

It can be hard to tell the difference between a trend and a fad. Which of these applies to Bitcoin, and the ability to buy a watch with... It can be hard to tell the difference...
Maurice Lacroix launches #CHASEYOURWATCH, a world-wide treasure hunt, spread over 3 continents and 4 cities. The final stage of this massive, online and real-world game will take place during Baselworld 2018.

The goal? To locate a mystery black and yellow box.

The contents? The material needed to reach Basel and access the final, most challenging phase of #CHASEYOURWATCH.

The prize? The very first unit of a major Maurice Lacroix 2018 launch, the AIKON Automatic Chronograph Limited Edition.

#CHASEYOURWATCH is a unique, unheard-of campaign.

Announced during the SIHH Geneva watch fair by means of a black and yellow shipping container, Maurice Lacroix has launched a worldwide, open-to-all, interactive treasure hunt. It will take place in 4 major cities, which will be individually announced only a few days prior to the beginning of this large-scale competition. 4 boxes to be found In each city, a series of four clues will be revealed through the Maurice Lacroix Facebook and Instagram pages, thus engaging thrill-seekers from all walks of life. Solving the mystery will lead them to a secret location, where they'll come upon a black & yellow box. Inside each box are a plane ticket and a stay in the town of Basel, during the 2018 Baselworld watch fair.

The mysterious yellow box  Maurice Lacroix

At this international gathering, all four winners of the preliminary events will participate in the final step of the #CHASEYOURWATCH experience. An ultimate round of mystery, clues and puzzle awaits these fine detective minds. The final game Maurice Lacroix embraces a simple fact of today. Everyone is a gamer. So the final challenge of #CHASEYOURWATCH is an escape room. On March 22nd, 6pm UTC+1, it shall take place inside the same black container that travelled throughout the world. Situated on the Maurice Lacroix Baselworld booth, it acts as a common thread throughout the treasure hunt. Gathered inside that small space, the contestants will act as a team. They'll win together, or loose together. They'll have 20 minutes to find the solution of a full-scale, immersive mystery in order to break out.

Their performance will be broadcast live. All we can say now is it involves a certain level of understanding of watchmaking and of Maurice Lacroixs unique approach. The trophy If they win, the team will receive the four first pieces of the AIKON Automatic Chronograph Limited Edition. This 500-piece series is an e-retail exclusive, black-PVD, 44 mm timepiece, further details of which will be revealed during Baselworld 2018.

The AIKON Automatic Chronograph Limited Edition, the winning treasure  Maurice Lacroix

The expertise This is the first time a Swiss watchmaking brand undertakes such a large scale, high-stake venture. Engaging a worldwide audience through major social media platforms, Maurice Lacroix thus asserts its pioneering position as a leading player of the social media era. Exploring new means to communicate and reach a global and connected audience, Maurice Lacroix has built a unique expertise in disruptive, ground-breaking, guerrilla-type communication. Millennials, geeks, watch amateurs, treasure hunters, everyone is invited to connect to #CHASEYOURWATCH and rake their brain around a Maurice Lacroix mystery. After the winner is announced, the escape room challenge will be open to journalists, suppliers and visitors alike. Because Maurice Lacroix firmly believes that the more the merrier.

www.chaseyourwatch.mauricelacroix.com
Eritrean President Isaias Afwerkis visit to Cairo last week was a sign of how the crises in the Middle East and the conflict over Nile waters shape alliances in the Horn of Africa.

In the Middle East, Qatar and Turkey are clearly aligned on one side and Egypt, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain are aligned on the other. Other countries have diverse and varying relations with the members of both camps.

Syria and Iraq are close to Egypt which supports their efforts in the war against terrorism, while Saudi Arabia has softened its rhetoric against the Bashar Al-Assad regime in Damascus and the ruling Shia forces in Baghdad in an effort to lure them away from their powerful Iranian ally. The Yemeni position remains uncertain, mired as that country is in a military and political standstill while deteriorating humanitarian conditions have brought it to the brink of famine.

In the Nile Valley Basin, tensions are rising between Egypt and Ethiopia over technical issues related to the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). Negotiations have stalled and Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukris recent visit to Addis Ababa failed to break the deadlock.

Ethiopia, the largest country in the Horn of Africa, is worried by a number of issues. Prime among them is the success of Eritrea, Addiss sworn enemy, at breaking through the isolation that it had suffered since its independence from Ethiopia in 1991. Asmara had taken advantage of the war in Yemen, turning away from its former allies, the Houthis, and granting Arab coalition forces access to its military base at Assab, which it has leased to the UAE. Asmara has also relinquished its support for the terrorist Al-Shabaab Al-Mujahideen movement in Somalia in exchange for joining the bloc of countries that have declared an embargo against Qatar. This has opened the doors to Egyptian and Gulf arms, according to the Europe Centre for Foreign Policy Advice.

To the east and south, Addis is worried, on the one hand, by the fact that Al-Shabaab in Somalia remains undefeated and, on the other hand, by Mogadishus inclination towards both the Eritrean enemy and Egyptian rival.

Developments in Somaliland also make Ethiopia uneasy. Somaliland, which seceded from Mogadishu in 1991 but remains unrecognised by the rest of the African and international communities, now leans towards the UAE which has poured in investment, in order to develop the strategic Berbera port for the purposes of the war in Yemen.

The UAE and Saudi Arabia are the key partners in the Arab coalition which has been fighting in Yemen since 2015 against the Ansar Allah Houthi movement, which Abu Dhabi and Riyadh claim is backed by Iran.

The $442 million Berbera port development project is being carried out by the Dubai-based development firm DP World. The revamped port is expected to generate some $1 billion in investment for the development and modernisation of Somalilands infrastructure, according to the International Crisis Group which noted the trip made by Somaliland President Ahmed Mohamed Mohamoud Silanyo to the UAE in order to strengthen relations between the two countries. However, Somalia still claims sovereignty over Somaliland which may cast a shadow over the legitimacy of the agreement over the port.

Ethiopia is also concerned by the increasing Arab presence in the Horn of Africa. The International Crisis Group observed that Somaliland and DP World offered Addis a 19 per cent commercial stake in the Berbera port but this did not assuage Ethiopias fears.

With regard to Mogadishu, Egypt and Saudi Arabia are keen to lure Somalia in view of its strategic importance and so as to be better poised to take measures to avert the spread of terrorism to other countries. Although Mogadishu has declared itself neutral in the conflict involving the embargo against Qatar, it agreed to the construction of a Turkish military base. The $500 million base will accommodate 200 Turkish soldiers and train 10,000 Somali soldiers.

This has rekindled Ethiopian fears that the Somalis might stage a repeat of former Somali president Siad Barres bid to seize control of the Ogaden region in Ethiopia. As Martin Plaut, head of the Horn of Africa Department at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies at the University of London, suggested, such an attempt would bring a particularly lethal brew of conventional warfare and terrorism.

With regard to Sudan, Ethiopia has nothing to fear, according to the Europe Centre for Foreign Policy Advice. Sudan is too preoccupied by its own concerns. Khartoum lost two-thirds of its hard currency income due to the independence of the oil rich South Sudan. As a consequence, it lifted fuel, food and medicine subsidies triggering demonstrations to which Khartoum responded by extending the state of emergency in (central west) Kordofan and (eastern) Kassala.

It then deployed armed forces supported by militias in Kassala at the border with Eritrea on the grounds that it had intelligence of a possible Egyptian-Eritrean attack. Khartoum subsequently retracted this claim.

On the day of Afwerkis visit to Cairo, Sudanese Army Chief-of-Staff Lieutenant General Emadeddin Adawi arrived in Addis Ababa to meet with Ethiopian Prime Minster Hailemariam Desalegn. There were signs, here, of an alliance in the making.

While a number of Sudanese opposition members believe that the government in Khartoum could embark on a war against its Eritrean neighbour, it would be the first time since President Omar Al-Bashir came to power, in 1989, that Sudan fought a war outside its boundaries.

Haidar Ibrahim, a professor of political science, observed that the regime in Khartoum is fascist and, accordingly, likes to project a militaristic spirit. However, if it suffered any defeat abroad, it could find itself unseated by popular uprisings or armed insurrection.

As for Eritrea, it is one of the most insular countries in the continent, to the extent that it has been called the African North Korea. But its regime has been struggling to emerge from isolation and, as mentioned above, its use of the Arab coalitions war in Yemen has worked to open doors and attract some investments into ports, mining and livestock exports.

The Gulf-Egyptian alliance has also helped strengthen the Eritrean position vis-a-vis Ethiopia and Djibouti, especially with the withdrawal of Qatari peacekeeping forces from the border islands that are under dispute between Asmara and Djibouti.

Nevertheless, any war between neighbours could destroy the fragile economy and send the country back to square one. For this reason, Eritrea needs perpetuation of the status quo more than its neighbours. This said, it appears that all three countries  Sudan, Ethiopia and Eritrea  are very nervous about the rising tensions for fear of the spectre of a war that would decimate their economies and wreak untold human and material losses.

*This story was first published at Al-Ahram Weekly.

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Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi announced on Friday his intention to run for a second term in the 2018 presidential elections.

The president made the announcement during the third and final day of the 'Story of a Nation' event in Cairo, where he has been presenting a balance sheet of the achievements made by his administration over the past four years.

The vote for the presidential elections is set to take place on 26 to 28 March, with candidates required to submit all necessary papers to Egypts National Elections Authority (NEA) between 20 and 29 January.

Besides El-Sisi, the presidential hopefuls who have announced their intention to run are leftist human rights lawyer Khaled Ali; Zamalek club chairman, lawyer and parliament member Mortada Mansour; and former Army Chief-of-Staff Sami Anan.

El-Sisi won the last elections in 2014 with 96 percent of the vote, assuming office in June after defeating his sole competitor, leftist politician and leader of the Egyptian Popular Current Hamdeen Sabahi.

If no other candidate runs against El-Sisi, Article 36 of the law regulating the presidential elections says that a vote will still be held, requiring a yes vote from only 5 percent of voters. If the candidate fails to obtain the required number of votes, the NEA should set a new date for elections within 15 days of the announcement of the poll results.

According to the constitution, the Egyptian president can serve for a maximum of two four-year terms.

The upcoming presidential elections are Egypt's third since the January 25 revolution.

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On the third and final day of the Story of a Nation event, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi continued with his presentation of a balance sheet of his administrations achievements over the past four years, covering foreign affairs, development and counterterrorism.

The Story of a Nation event, which started on Wednesday and is set to end on Friday evening, is being held at Cairo Masa Hotel under the auspices of the president.

El-Sisi said that EGP 250 billion worth of developments have been implemented in Sinai.

On the war against terrorism, the president said that the state has not destroyed any houses in North Sinai from where shots have been fired at security forces, and that if someone falls by mistake, we compensate, even though there can be no compensation for a life."

Egypt has been fighting for several years against Islamist terrorism in North Sinai, where hundreds of security personnel have been killed in terrorist attacks.

El-Sisi said that El-Arish Airport must be operational and that the state should return to Sinai, adding that a safe zone will be established around the airport, addressing the residents of Sinai by saying "you will help us, or you will help us."

The president added that although he understands what our families in Sinai have had to face under the war against terrorism, what can we do? We have to use brute force."

El-Sisi also said that the state is currently providing aid to 13,000 citizens who have been injured in terrorist attacks.

On foreign relations, the president said that Egypt had suffered isolation  referring to the suspension of the countrys membership in the African Union after the ousting of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in 2013  and that "we needed to restore our role in Africa and resume our relations with Europe; this was the people's will."

El-Sisi added that Egypt had witnessed interference by outside organisations during the period from 2011 to 2013, adding that preserving the state has been one of his most important targets.

He also said that Egypts military capabilities are not what they were five years ago, though he stressed that this is not to threaten anyone, but to preserve peace."

On the building of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, over which Egypt and Ethiopia have experienced tensions, the president said that the East African country is entitled to development and electricity, but our share of water will not be touched.

On the domestic front, El-Sisi said that any accusations of inefficiency directed at parliament, which was put into place through free elections, is "improper."

The president also stressed the importance of having stable state institutions, which were almost lost during recent revolutions.

"State institutions, if destroyed, cannot be rebuilt," the president said.

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While presenting the Syrian National Dialogue Conference that Russia is planning to host in the resort city of Sochi, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on 10 January that the conference would contribute to the parallel UN-sponsored talks on Syria in Geneva. It would also teach a lesson to the Syrian opposition that has been demanding the removal of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad, he said.

Lavrov made his comments during talks with his Iranian counterpart Mohamed Javad Zarif, and both Russia and Iran are allies of the Al-Assad regime. His comments on the Syrian opposition, the first direct threat by a senior Russian official, were a watershed since Moscow has tried to pose as an impartial mediator between the regime and opposition despite its clear support for the regime.

It has also imposed itself as a guarantor of truce agreements and hosted conferences in Moscow and Astana to bring all sides in the conflict closer together, under the pretense that it is an honest broker in the conflict whose goal is to prevent the fragmentation of Syria and its collapse into a failed state.

The Russian threat came after several leading opposition figures refused to attend the Sochi Conference, including figures from military and political factions. This has angered the Russian authorities as Russian President Vladimir Putin has personally invested in the conference. The Russian Defence Ministry has the responsibility to make it a success, and invitations have been sent in the Defence Ministrys name rather than by the Russian Foreign Ministry.

The Sochi Conference is important for Putin in that he needs a success on the foreign-policy front before Russias upcoming presidential elections in order to pose as a leading figure abroad. Russia is suffering from economic troubles at home that Putin has been unable to resolve while in power.

The Russian threats are aimed at the moderate opposition military factions that have already announced they will boycott the Sochi Conference. They are also levelled against grassroots forces inside and outside the country, such as law associations, the judiciary, journalists, womens groups and others.

All of these have rejected the Sochi Conference, saying that anyone from the opposition who does attend will be subject at least to ostracism as this would be an act hostile to the Syrian Revolution. The Russian threats are also aimed at key political forces recognised internationally such as the Alliance of Revolutionary and Opposition Forces, which has officially declared it will oppose the conference.

The opposition has many reasons for not going to Sochi, including that Russia is suspected of wanting to launch a new negotiations track to replace the Geneva Conferences that are supported by the UN and have guaranteed the political transition in Syria.

The opposition believes Moscow is focused on holding a conference attended by 1,500 Syrian figures who do not have anything in common  one third are from the regime and another third make up a miscellaneous group hardly representative of most Syrians  and that does not have a clear agenda or planned outcome.

This means that discussions at Sochi will be futile, the opposition says, the conference being simply designed to keep Al-Assad in power.

Various Western countries also oppose the Sochi Conference, among them France and the US. UN special envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura has said that Russia must put pressure on the Syrian regime to reach a peace agreement and not waste time on further discussion.

He said that achieving peace in Syria requires pushing the regime to accept a new constitution and new elections under UN supervision, another way of emphasising that the UN-sponsored Geneva track remains the main course for the negotiations.

Lavrov only threatened to teach a lesson to the opposition and not all those demanding Al-Assads departure, as this would logically also include many regional countries, major powers and the UN. Moscow is trying hard to reach a solution in Syria that is compatible with its interests, and since its direct military intervention to shore up the regime in September 2015 it has relied on heavy airstrikes, long-range missiles, and allegedly even banned weapons such as phosphorous weapons to force the opposition to surrender.

Russia has not complied with international rules of engagement, and it has bombed civilian targets including schools, according to Syrian and international monitors. It has destroyed 119 medical facilities and bombed aid convoys and residential areas. It has provided political cover for the regime at the UN by vetoing UN Security Council Resolutions.

The regime has made considerable concessions to the Russians in return for keeping it in power. Opposition figure Abdel-Basset Sida, a member of the opposition coalition and former chair of the Syrian National Council, said there is pressure on Russia to hold the Sochi Conference, and it will encourage regional countries backing the opposition to attend. Russia wants to take advantage of the circumstances and come up with a solution based on what it has been doing in Syria for the past three years.

It wants a constituent assembly in Syria to draft a superficial constitution for an intelligence-military regime that will have the last word on all decisions. There could also be a committee for local, parliamentary and presidential elections that paves the way for legitimising Al-Assads rule, Sida said.

Russia has not been shy about making direct verbal threats to the opposition, and it has not been shy about testing its weapons in what it has described as real war conditions in Syria. Chair of the Russian Armed Forces Scientific Committee Igor Makuchev said the Russian military had tested weapons in Syria and had modified plans to develop them further.

Moscow has always claimed it has been targeting the Islamic State (IS) group in Syria and not the opposition to the regime, but Lavrovs recent threats reveal the opposite. Russia is a fully-fledged partner of the regime in the war in Syria, and as such it can never be an impartial mediator.

Reacting to the Russian pressure, the opposition Higher Negotiations Commission has said it may change its mind about attending the Sochi Conference even though military groups still insist they will boycott the meeting. Civil society groups have also said they will stay away, a rare indication of opposition currents and forces uniting on a single platform.

In the absence of such groups, the Sochi Conference cannot be anything other than a failure, perhaps forcing the Russian position towards international guarantees and the Geneva process.

In the meantime, Lavrov has made Russias position in Syria more difficult by so starkly allying it to the regime. Most opposition figures now see Russia as the enemy and a partner in the Al-Assad regimes war crimes and crimes against humanity.

*This story was first published at Al-Ahram Weekly.

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Iraqs efforts to rebuild cities destroyed by the war against Islamic State (IS) group militants will receive significant international attention next month as representatives from some 70 countries and international organisations gather in Kuwait to launch post-conflict reconstruction plans.

But whether the rebuilding will promote deep changes in the way things are done in this graft-ridden and politically and ethnically divided nation rests largely on whether the reconstruction efforts sink into Iraqs swamp of corrupt bureaucrats and incompetent politicians.

Iraqs previous reconstruction efforts following the US-led invasion in 2003 began with billions of dollars and high hopes and ended in abysmal failure mired in graft, fraud and mismanagement.

Kuwait has said it will host an international conference on reconstruction in the parts of Iraq devastated by the war against IS. Donor countries and international organisations are expected to announce a package of financial contributions at the meeting to be held from 12 to 14 February.

Hard-hit by sharp drops in oil prices, Iraq is seeking external support to repair the economic and infrastructure damage caused by battles with IS insurgents. The government has announced that it needs $100 billion to reconstruct the conflict-affected areas over a ten-year period.

Iraqi Minister of Planning Salman Al-Jumaili has said the government has adopted a two-phase reconstruction plan. The first is set to begin in 2018 and end in 2022, and the second is set for the period between 2022 and 2028.

The Iraqi government has said in a statement that funding for the reconstruction will come largely from the United Nations, foreign organisations, international loans, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the private sector.

The government has not provided detailed accounts of the financial losses to Iraqi infrastructure inflicted by the war on IS, but it estimates the cost of reconstruction and rehabilitation of damaged cities to be $100 billion.

Some 200 urban centres in Iraq are believed to have been affected by the war.

Some aid agencies have estimated that military operations in the country since 2014 have resulted in damage to between 30 to 90 per cent of areas in the war-torn cities, depending on the severity of battles.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar Al-Abadi, who declared final victory in December marking the end of IS in the countrys major cities, said his government would now focus on rebuilding areas devastated by the war, largely seen as vital for political stability and national reconciliation.

On the humanitarian level, the battles for the cities have taken a heavy toll on some five million civilians who have lost their homes and been displaced or trapped in neighbourhoods that have been destroyed or severely damaged by fighting.

Ahead of the donors meeting, foreign governments and development agencies have pledged funding to help Iraq in rebuilding, but the aid promises fall short of Iraqs declared needs for its reconstruction programme.

Various reports have suggested that the United Nations has budgeted $1 billion for the stabilisation of Iraqi cities regained from IS. The World Bank has reportedly approved a $400 million financial assistance package to support the recovery, reconstruction and rehabilitation of priority infrastructure and restore the delivery of public services in areas of Iraq newly liberated from IS.

The United States has announced that it will double its reconstruction and stabilisation aid to the Iraqi government in 2018 to $150 million.

The European Union has signed an agreement with Iraq to provide 60.4 million euros to restore stability in the country and to begin reconstruction of areas liberated from IS.

Another agreement, worth 50.4 million euros, is intended to contribute to the restoration of basic services and public infrastructure, as well as economic life by providing financial assistance to small business.

Several other countries have made pledges to provide millions of dollars in financial aid to support displaced persons in Iraq and promote stability in the country over the next few years.

Iraqis are eager to see the outcome of the Kuwait conference, but media reports have quoted officials as saying that Kuwait expects to gather only $18 billion, or a small fraction of the required funding.

Iraq needs reconstruction projects in several key sectors, primarily water and electricity supplies, health, transport and municipal services, education, agriculture and other urban service needs of communities in the recaptured areas.

Given Iraqs record of corruption and government incompetence, many in Iraq and the international community believe it is of the utmost importance that clear principles be established for the provision of aid for reconstruction.

One key concern is that the government has failed to lay out comprehensive plans for the reconstruction of the liberated territories. Much more detailed work is needed to develop proper plans for each city.

Al-Abadi, meanwhile, is accused of paying lip service to the reconstruction and reconciliation with the countrys Sunnis. Critics say he is showing little haste in making the war-damaged cities habitable once more.

Reconstruction in most of the newly liberated cities such as Mosul, Fallujah, Baiji and Hawja is being either neglected or is proceeding slowly, hampering the return of hundreds of thousands of their displaced populations.

Critics say the issue is not all about the money needed to rebuild the Iraqi cities and how much the international community will promise to help, but could be due to Iraqs politics, which remain in disarray.

Iraq is preparing for general elections in May, and politicians are eager to see aid money directed towards their constituents. While efforts are needed to apportion aid between the countrys various needs, Shia groups are trying to muster support for their candidates by promising to allocate some international funding to their areas.

The Shia-dominated Iraqi parliament last week endorsed a resolution sponsored by Shia members to allocate money for the reconstruction of the southern port city of Basra which they say was badly affected by Saddams wars.

Another problem is that the government will need to assure donors of its commitment to transparency and that political divisions and bureaucracy will not hamper efforts to rebuild on a sufficient scale and speed.

A longer-term policy challenge is the provision of finance through provincial and local governments, which remains inadequately addressed. Fears are high about aid money being used to buy favours to influence local politics, hampering reconstruction efforts.

Whether the reconstruction efforts promote deep changes in the way things are done in Iraq rests largely on the central governments powers of leadership, efficiency and transparency.

Scepticism abounds that the government will make sure that the aid money ends up where it is supposed to. Corruption, misuse, fraud, theft and kickbacks are rampant, and the government will need to work closely with the aid agencies in order to ensure that money donated is not stolen.

Any failure to fix these problems will be detrimental to the reconstruction efforts. The government needs to show the countrys Sunni Arabs that they have a stake in Iraqs future, when any failure to rebuild their cities could be very consequential, including the return of IS militants.

*This story was first published at Al-Ahram Weekly.

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Iran will dominate many of U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's conversations in Europe next week, when he is visiting London, Paris, Warsaw and Davos, Switzerland, a senior U.S. State Department official said on Friday.

"Inevitably, Iran will dominate a lot of the conversations that the secretary has with our NATO allies and partners in Europe," the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told reporters. "We really emphasize close coordination with the British, in particular, and the French in our efforts to close the gaps (in the Iran nuclear deal) and in next steps on how we curtain Iranian malign influence in the (Middle East) region, so I think that will be a very high priority of his conversation."

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Catalonia's former leader Carles Puigdemont will not become the Spanish region's chief again, government spokesman Inigo Mendez de Vigo said in an interview, adding that the government would continue to directly rule Catalonia as long as necessary.

"He won't be president," Mendez de Vigo, who is also minister of education, culture and sport, told Reuters in an interview.

Asked if Puigdemont could carry out with his plans to be elected Catalonia president remotely from Brussels and rule from there while the government continued to officially rule the country's wealthiest region, based on the article 155 of the constitution, he said:

"It won't happen. The only legitimacy is that of article 155.

Mendez de Vigo said that if the situation remained stuck as it is, there would be fresh regional elections in Catalonia. "This is not what we want but that's what will happen if they (nationalists) act outside the law."

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The Libyan reconciliation process continues to spin in place, despite the determined efforts of the head of the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), Ghassan Salame, who is trying to kickstart the stalled political process with a plan focused on amending some articles of the Libyan Political Accord (LPS), originally signed on 17 December 2015 in Skhirat, Morocco.

In addition to the amendments to the LPA, the UN envoys plan calls for a comprehensive and inclusive reconciliation conference, the referendum on the constitution, followed by general and presidential elections.

At each stage the process must inevitably run up against formidable challenges as it is intrinsically contingent on the complex realities on the ground.

Due to the political composition of the Libyan factions and the positions of the militia groups, the implementation of the agreement is contingent on the ability of each faction to reach a consensus on their stance toward the PLA and Salames proposed amendments.

But consensus is what lacks among most of the parties in the Libyan crisis. Each side actually consists of a kind of ideological-regional-military coalition whose sole cementing force is enmity towards the other side. They do not share a common vision on how to manage the state.

Moreover, some of the ideologies, especially the Islamist one, oppose the very concept of the nation state -- and its adherents refuse to share power with others.

To complicate the situation further, most of the factions are linked with regional powers that use them against each other in a competition over their regional interests.

Accordingly, most of the factions see the prospect of amending the LPA as a means to eliminate their adversary or, at least, to marginalise it, especially now that the main factions have overcome the legitimacy crisis and have imposed their de facto authority over the areas that they control.

It is important here to note that, although Salame has has called for general and presidential elections, he simultaneously made it quite possible for them not to be held.

He set two conditions. First, the various effective parties had to formally announce that they were prepared to accept the results and, secondly, that they would not use the elections to create a new problem.

This begs the question as to how serious the international community is in its desire to resolve the Libyan crisis. If it lacks a means to pressure or a power to force the factions to accept the results and surrender power to the winning team, how will it compel them to commit to the implementation of the LPA?

This problem has augmented the fear that many Libyans will refuse to turn out for elections -- the results of which might not be recognised by the losing side, especially since most factions have already begun to question the integrity of the electoral process and suggest that the polls will not be fair.

The General Commander of the Libyan Armed Forces, Field Marshal Khalifa Hiftar, indicated that he entertains such suspicions when he demanded that the headquarters of the Supreme Electoral Commission be moved out of Tripoli and that its and administrative composition changed.

Indeed, he was explicit: The people have the right to decide and to realise what they want. The blood of martyrs and their sacrifices will not be allowed to go in vain in elections manipulated by the Muslim Brotherhood and the Islamist trend in general.

To hold elections, the Libyans will first need to reach a political agreement on the electoral process. The factions will have to come together to work out the principles, conditions and regulations and incorporate these -- and a body of electoral law that explains them clearly.

There must also be international guarantees that pressure will be asserted on all parties to compel them to accept and abide by the results of the elections and not to use militia force or other organised violence in the elections.

In spite of all the aforementioned, I believe that the solution to the Libyan crisis begins with the need to immunise the capital Tripoli against the influence of any type of militia force, regardless of its affiliation.

If any attempt to establish the state and rebuild its institutions is to succeed, efforts most focus on safeguarding the capital. Towards this end, steps need to be taken toward reactivating and strengthening the military establishment and police and, simultaneously, toward weakening and reducing the militias and forcing them back to the areas they came from.

The capital needs to be purged of all militia presences. This is an utmost priority. How can the government or sponsors of national initiatives persuade the militias in any part of Libya to the east, west or south to lay down their arms when the government and its institutions and vital facilities in the capital are hostage to militias and warlords?

This is the dilemma that plagues the Government of National Accord (GNA) headed by Fayez al-Sarraj. It has failed to make any concrete positive change in this situation whether at the level of security arrangements and reactivating the army and police or at the level of handling the services and the crises of individual citizens, even within the scope of the capital.

In other words, the crux of the Libyan crisis resides in the ongoing failure to fully activate government institutions in the capital. The absence of a model for effective government institutions in the capital is the real crisis that plagues Libya.

People in the cities, towns and villages throughout Libya would be naturally and more immediately inspired to catch up with the capital and demand government institutions modelled on those in Tripoli rather than the reverse.

Making this possible might require some limited military strikes against the strongholds of some militias in and around Tripoli so as to shift the balance, diminish the influence of such groups and to lend impetus to the political process.

But this depends on how serious the international community is in supporting the implementation of the Libyan Political Accord, which requires some limited military action in order to implement LPAs security arrangements.

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The lanky, bespectacled man walked into a bank in a strip mall on Tucsons northern edge with a gun, demanded that a teller hand over an undisclosed amount of cash and made his escape on foot.

Experts say the heist on Friday at the Pyramid Federal Credit Union branch represents a rarity in the world of bank robbery: The suspect, who was arrested the next day, is 80 years old.

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And as it turns out, suspect Robert Francis Krebs has a decades-old criminal record for stealing from banks, including a 1981 robbery in Florida in which a branch manager and a teller were handcuffed and left in a vault.

Robert Francis Krebs served more than 30 years in prison for the bank robbery near Orlando and has a 1966 conviction in Chicago for embezzling $72,000 from a bank where he worked as a teller. He also did time for theft and armed robbery convictions from Arizona dating back to 1980.

He was released from prison in Florida last summer and has since been found to have violated his probation because he didnt disclose his whereabouts to authorities, according to the Florida Department of Corrections. Krebs, who is jailed on a $50,000 bond, was booked on suspicion of armed robbery in the Tucson, Arizona, robbery. Its unclear whether Krebs has yet been assigned an attorney.

Tucson police spokesman Officer Chris Hawkins said investigators are trying to determine the motive behind Fridays robbery.

William J. Rehder, a retired FBI bank robbery expert who isnt involved in Krebs case, said its unusual for elderly people to carry out robberies. Typically, bank robbers are in their 20s.

Rehder said Krebs motivations are likely two-fold: He misses the thrill of pulling off a bank job and needs money, given that hes an octogenarian with little potential to earn money after spending decades in prison. This guy sounds more like he is hooked on the action, Rehder said. Krebs isnt the oldest bank robbery suspect.

Rehder pointed out the case of J.L. Hunter Red Rountree, who had been dubbed Americas oldest bank robber. Rountree was convicted of committing robberies at banks during the late 1990s and early 2000s in Mississippi, Florida and Texas. He committed two robberies in his mid-80s and was 91 at the time of his last heist. He died in federal prison a few months before his 93rd birthday.

In the Tucson robbery, Krebs was arrested after a hotel employee, who had refused to give him a room because he didnt have a credit card, later recognized him from surveillance photos that were posted on social media. Officers then went to other nearby hotels and eventually located him.

Tucson Police Department

The Tucson Police Department, which arrested Krebs, and the FBI have declined to confirm that Krebs had prior convictions for robberies. But The Associated Press confirmed Krebs convictions by matching his birth date to prison records in Florida, information given by prison officials and news clippings from his criminal cases.

In the 1981 robbery in Florida, Krebs stole $8,300 from a bank near Longwood, Florida. The branch manager and teller had tripped a silent alarm and were later put into the bank vault, according to news accounts by The Orlando Sentinel.

Krebs, who was arrested when walked into the banks parking lot, was disguised in a red wig, had cotton in his cheeks and varnished his fingertips to leave no fingerprints. Investigators discovered three getaway cars parked along his escape route, according to the newspaper.

Prison officials confirmed that Krebs had theft and armed robbery convictions in Arizona, but no records were available that would provide specifics in the cases.

A few months before the Florida robbery, Krebs was considered a suspect in an April 1981 robbery at a bank in Tucson in which four men stole $3.3 million. But the Sentinel noted in a 1988 news story that Krebs was no longer considered to be a suspect.

Months before the Tucson robbery, a man helped Krebs escape from the custody of the Pima County Sheriffs Office after he was arrested for driving a stolen car. Krebs associate drew a gun and held two sheriffs deputies at bay while Krebs escaped, according to an AP story on the 1981 robbery in Tucson.
A technician from State Grid Shanghai Municipal Electric Power Co inspects the charging piles, or power ports, in a parking lot before they are put into operation.

Broader coverage to boost benefits of going electric

By the end of 2017, China had more than 440,000 charging piles, or power ports, for electric vehicles, meaning there are roughly four EVs for every pile in the country, according to a report by the China Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Promotion Alliance.

Last week, the alliance's report showed that in 2017, there were roughly 214,000 public charging piles. The number of private charging piles, which are installed when a car is purchased, totaled 232,000. Given that there are 1.72 million EVs on the country's roads, the ratio of China's EVs to charging piles is 3.8 to 1.

"I can easily find a charging pile in Beijing. However, it is still not very convenient when I drive to other cities or the suburbs, where there are fewer public charging piles," said Wang Xiaoying, a 28-year-old Beijing citizen who has owned an EV for two and a half years.

"I have a private charging pile at home, where I usually charge my car. It saves me a lot of time as I don't need to go to the gas station. I can also find charging facilities when I go to shopping malls or supermarkets. Some charging stations are even offered with a free parking space.

"Also, traveling by EV is less expensive, because for the same distance, charging costs about one sixth of what using fuel would cost. In winter, the cost might be a little higher, because of how the cold affects the battery," he added.

Because of the convenience and lower costs, many EV consumers, like Wang, said they enjoy driving in the city. However, they find it difficult to charge their cars outside urban areas, and as a result, most of them do not attempt long-distance road trips in their EVs.

"There is still much work to do to improve EV charging infrastructure construction in China," said Li Li, energy research director at ICIS China, a consultancy that specializes in the energy market.

She said: "Although consumers usually charge their EVs at home, sometimes there is an emergency and they need to charge their cars somewhere else. The layout of a city's public charging piles determines the convenience of driving an EV. The denser the distribution is, the more convenient it will be.

"At present, in major cities, such as Beijing, Shenzhen and Taiyuan, drivers can easily access charging facilities, while in other cities, there is still much room for improvement."

Large pile operators in China are springing into action to tackle the issue.

State Grid Corp of China, the country's main power supplier, has vowed to install 120,000 public charging piles by 2020, further expanding and upgrading the country's EV infrastructure network.

According to the State Grid, the infrastructure network will cover the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, Shandong province and the Yangtze River Delta, as well as major cities in other regions, enabling smoother intercity travel for EVs in China.

According to Jiang Bing, chairman of the State Grid EV Service Co, the State Grid's intelligent-vehicle online platform is connected to 19 pile operators, including China Southern Power Grid Co, Qingdao Teld New Energy Co Ltd, China Potevio Co Ltd, Wanbang Charge Facility Co Ltd-Star Charge and Shenzhen Clou Electronics Co Ltd.

At present, up to 170,000 charging facilities are connected to the online platform, serving more than 800,000 users, Jiang said.

"We aim to link 3 million charging piles to the platform by 2020," he added.

Meanwhile, the public is also getting more and more involved. Thanks to the government's favorable policies, EV consumers are becoming increasingly motivated to install private charging piles when buying a car. The report from the China Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Promotion Alliance showed that from July 2016 to December 2017, the installation ratio of private charging piles in China increased from 77 percent to 88 percent.

"With the government's effective guidance, as well as the joint efforts of companies and the public, I am confident that EV charging infrastructure construction in China will improve over the next 20 years," said Li.
Construction workers celebrate the completion of the Samdrubling Tunnel, part of the Sichuan-Tibet Railway, in Sangri county, Tibet autonomous region, on Wednesday.

The Sichuan-Tibet Railway's first tunnelthat runs more than 16 kilometers along the canyon area of the plateaumanaged to cut through on Wednesday under extremely high temperatures, Xinhua News Agency reported.

The 16.4-km Samdrubling Tunnel in Sangri county of the Tibet autonomous region, which passes through the Yarlung Zangbo Grand Canyon, is an important section on the railway that will link Lhasa and Chengdu, according to China Railway Corp.

More than 1,200 workers had toiled on the project since December 2014. They had to overcome many difficulties and dangers, including rock burstsviolent and spontaneous fracturing of the rock.

The highest air temperature within the tunnel was 56 C. Workers could not stay for more than two hours in the tunnel, and in order to cool it down a wind machine, water system and ice blocks were set up, Zhu Xuren, manager of the project from China Railways No 5 Engineering Group Co, told Xinhua.

The rock burst zone in the tunnel covered 9.5 km and rock outbursts happened about 16,000 times during the construction, Li Chuanghai, an engineer of the project, told Xinhua.

"Like earthquakes, the rock bursts happened without any signs at all. The rock slices or rock pieces shoot off in a certain direction or collapse suddenly," worker Cheng Yingbin told Xinhua.

Working deep underground also increased the difficulty of construction. Emergency rescue stations were deployed to guarantee safety.

Yang Hao, a railway professor at Beijing Jiaotong University, said that the tunnel cut through a complicated geographical area of the Tibetan Plateau and needed to be carried out extremely carefully.

"It is a very challenging project for railway construction in China. The tunnel is quite long, so the ventilation and lighting systems are also very important to guarantee safety," Yang said.

As the second railway connecting Tibet with the rest of the country, the Sichuan-Tibet Railway is expected to be completed in 2025, and will reduce the travel time from Chengdu to Lhasa to about 13 hours from about 36 hours.
Recent moves harming Chinese firms' confidence

The Chinese government and domestic enterprises have strengthened efforts to protect intellectual property rights (IPR) and hope that this can help address bilateral disputes with the U.S., a Chinese trade official said Thursday.

The comment came after the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) on January 12 put nine Chinese online and brick-and-mortar markets on its blacklist of companies suspected of selling counterfeit products.

In its report, the USTR used phrases like "according to local media reports" and "rights holders said," which indicates a lack of solid evidence and statistics, Gao Feng, spokesperson for the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM), said at a regular press conference held in Beijing. "We have to doubt the objectivity and reliability of the U.S. report," he said

The report said that "it does not constitute a legal finding of a violation or an analysis of the general IP protection and enforcement environment in any affiliated country or economy," noted Gao.

The Chinese government has been giving high priority to IPR protection and related domestic firms and markets have made great efforts to deal with the situation, with active and universally recognized progress, the spokesman said.

In the first three quarters of 2017, Chinese authorities cracked down on more than 9,800 IPR infringement cases, according to MOFCOM data.

The Chinese government will urge the U.S. to evaluate these IPR protection efforts in a comprehensive, objective and fair way, in the hope that the two nations can strengthen IPR cooperation to properly address disputes and advance common development, Gao said.

On January 9, the U.S. Congress proposed a bill that would prohibit any government agency from working with Chinese telecommunications firms.

The bill sends the "wrong signal" to the market, and is not conducive for cooperation between the telecommunications industries of the two countries, Gao said. The Chinese government hopes that the U.S. could consider the consumers' perspective, treat Chinese companies and products fairly and try to create a more open, impartial and transparent market environment, said MOFCOM.
Police show incomplete and finished counterfeit money seized in raids in five cities  Shanwei, Zhongshan, Guangzhou, Shaoguan and Jieyang - of South China's Guangdong Province, Jan. 16, 2017.

Police in south China's Guangdong Province have cracked a banknote counterfeiting gang, seizing 14 suspects, local authorities said.

Police netted fake banknotes with a face value of 214 million yuan (around 33 million U.S. dollars), raiding a money-making plant and a storage house, according to the Guangdong Public Security Department.

The investigation began last March when officers obtained information about the counterfeiting ring. Eight suspects were caught in a raid in Shanwei City for allegedly trading fake banknotes with a face value of 24 million yuan.

The police later raided a storage house for fake money and found counterfeit notes worth 170 million yuan. Another six suspects were caught in a flat in Zhongshan City, where police seized semi-finished fake banknotes with a value of 20.25 million yuan.

"We've caught all suspects in the ring and stopped the fake notes from circulating on the market," said a police officer with the department.

Guangdong police are encouraging the public to provide information about counterfeit banknotes. Police will offer a reward for any information leading to the arrest of suspects.
An increasing number of Chinese airlines are allowing the use of smartphones and other devices during flights, after China's top civil aviation regulator left airlines to make their own decisions regarding onboard portable electronic device services.

The moves could help carriers attract more passengers and generate new sources of revenue such as internet services and e-commerce sales, as the country's fast-expanding network of high-speed rail lines increasingly squeezes airlines' customer base, according to experts and media reports.

On Thursday, China Southern Airlines and Xiamen Airlines announced that they would allow passengers to use smartphones and other devices during flights starting Friday.

Spring Airlines also announced Thursday that it will permit device usage under the condition that passengers switch to airplane mode, but it will start the practice on February 1, ahead of the Chinese Lunar New Year.

Two other major Chinese airlines, Hainan Airlines and China Eastern Airlines, began allowing device use on Thursday. The two airlines also offered Wi-Fi services, but only under the condition that devices were switched to airplane mode.

The announcements came after a guideline from the Civil Aviation Administration of China, released on Tuesday, stated that individual airlines can decide whether to permit device usage on their flights.

The guideline said that cabin crew have the right to tell passengers to turn off their devices if suspected interference is detected.

"The new guideline are of great significance, because China has always given safety top priority. The decision shows the improvement of China's safety management skills," Li Xiaojin, a professor at the Tianjin-based Civil Aviation University of China, told the Global Times on Thursday.

Li said the move to allow devices on board is a reaction to the expansion of high-speed rail services. Allowing passengers to use devices while in flight could help airlines in the competition.

"The new rules will of course generate a huge market. Take for example in-flight shopping. Just imagine shopping online in the air, with your items waiting for you on arrival," Li noted.

The new rules could bring profits for retailers, equipment producers and advertisers, the China Securities Journal said in a report on Thursday.

According to a joint research conducted by British telecom company Inmarsat and the London School of Economics, by 2035, planes with in-flight internet services will be operating all over the world, creating a new market worth billion.

Li said that more airlines will allow devices in the future and services would be improved.

And services do need to be improved, according to media reports.

Some passengers who were on China Eastern's first flight from Shanghai to Beijing on Thursday with Wi-Fi services were quick to complain about how slow the service was, saying they had to fight for connections, according to news website thepaper.cn on Thursday.
Giant pandas, male Hua Bao and female Jin Bao Bao, are placed to a truck during their arrival at the airport in Vantaa, Finland on January 18, 2018.

Snowflakes swirled around the Helsinki-Vantaa International Airport on Thursday morning, as a crowd welcomed a pair of Chinese giant pandas eating bamboo inside two transparent glass boxes.

The boxes were drawn by a vehicle with 60 reporters and photographers documenting the proceedings as they were loaded onto a container truck to be transported 300 km further north to the Ahtari Zoo, where the couple will stay for 15 years.

The male, Hua Bao, and the female, Jin Baobao, are the first pair of Chinese giant pandas arriving in the Nordics. Jukka Salo, an expert of giant pandas from the Ahtari Zoo, said the zoo had made special preparations for the newcomers, including an installation that brings more sunshine during the long dark winter time.

Salo said he was relieved when he saw Hua Bao and Jin Baobao were in good condition after arriving at the airport. "What was the male doing? He was just eating bamboo happily," said Salo, adding that the female one was actively looking around, which is "always a good sign."

Salo was optimistic that the couple would quickly adapt to the zoo, which he believed is "the best place for giant pandas to live in the world" after their original habitat in China.

Finns have given the two Chinese guests Finnish nicknames "Pyry" and "Lumi", which mean "heavy snowfall" and "snow".

Coincidentally, heavy snow fell in Scandinavia prior to the arrival of the pandas, which "seems like a sign of welcome," said Chinese Ambassador to Finland Chen Li.

"Although Chinese people have seen giant pandas in their life, it is rare to see pandas playing with the snow, and pandas in snow will become a unique scene in the Ahtari Zoo," said Chen, adding that the arrival of the giant pandas would promote exchange of knowledge and ideas between the two peoples.

The fact that Finland received the first pair of giant pandas in the Nordic area signifies that mutual understanding between Finland and China has reached a very high level, said Finnish Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Jari Leppa.

Leppa said he hoped cooperative research on giant pandas at the Ahtari Zoo would foster more scientific, economic and cultural cooperation between experts, institutes and enterprises of Finland and China.

Representing the Chinese Forest Administration, its chief engineer Ma Guangren said more countries in the world were working with Chinese authorities on the protection and research of giant pandas.

Thanks to the efforts made in China and worldwide, the habitat of giant pandas in China has expanded to a size of 2.58 million hectares. Currently, a total of 1,864 giant pandas live in the wild and 518 are raised in captivity in China, he said.

Negotiations over the giant pandas between Finland and China started in 2015 and made good progress, said the Finnish Agriculture and Forest Ministry in a press release. Documents about the joint research on giant pandas in the Ahtari Zoo were confirmed in April 2017 when Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Finland.

An enormous panda house, spanning 10,000 sqm was built in 11 months in the Ahtari zoo to accommodate the animals. They will meet the public in late February during the Chinese spring festival.

It is anticipated that Hua Bao and Jin Baobao, both young and robust, will bear babies in the Finnish zoo. Any offspring will be sent back to China, according to the agreement between the two nations.
A recent Taobao recruitment advertisement promising good pay for "senior square dancers" in an upcoming online product has gone viral in China.

Taobao said it had received more than 1,000 applications as of Thursday and will screen applicants as soon as possible, Sun Hanjie, a Taobao public relations staff member, told the Global Times on Thursday.

Alibaba released the recruitment notice on Tuesday, in which it said it was seeking two user experience specialists for Taobao.

Key Opinion Leaders (KOL) among square dancers or members of local community committees will be given preference for the position, which also requires applicants to be aged over 60 and have at least one year of online shopping experience.

The position has been designated for a product that specifically targets middle-aged and senior groups, which is expected to be released at the end of January, said Sun, declining to explain further.

Square dancing is a popular exercise performed to music in public squares, plazas, and parks by middle-aged and retired people in China.

Having square dancing or local community committee experience and being a KOL usually means they can better present the features and demands of the group, Sun explained.

The annual salary of the position ranges from 350,000 yuan (,372) to 400,000 yuan. Successful applicants will work for Taobao in Hangzhou.

The oldest applicant is 83 years old, 70 percent of applicants are women and over half of the applicants have university degrees, Sun said.

The prospective senior employee will be asked to try out new products aimed at middle-aged and senior groups, share their feedback and discuss them in working groups.

They will be required to organize workshops regularly and determine consumer demand through questionnaires and interviews.

The market for middle-aged and senior groups has barely been tapped in China but has a great potential, Lu Zhenwang, founder of Shanghai Wanqing Commerce Consulting told the Global Times on Thursday.

A report by the China International Electronic Commerce Center and jd.com showed that online consumption by seniors on shopping site jd.com increased by 78 percent year on year in the first half of 2017.

Seniors tend to shop for their children and friends online, and have a preference for healthcare products, cosmetics and China-made products.

Taobao has over 30 million users that are aged over 50, Sun said.
 The suspension of a Beijing university professor came after weeks of united calls and reports about his constant sexual harassment.

 Yet numerous other sexual harassment cases in China are being neglected or mishandled by authorities.

Upon hearing the recent news that Chen Xiaowu, a professor at Beihang University (previously known as Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics) (BUAA), was finally disqualified by school authorities due to numerous sexual assault charges made against him, Luo Xixi could finally breathe again.

The Chinese woman, who now lives in the U.S., revealed last October how Chen had sexually assaulted her 12 years ago, when she was a student in Beijing. Together with others with similar complaints (who chose to remain anonymous), Luo pushed for his expulsion for over four months.

Following the uproar, China's Ministry of Education declared that authorities will look into a mechanism that prevents sexual assault on campuses. However, this is only one battle won in a larger war against sexual harassment at Chinese schools. Even though such cases are in fact quite common in China, most victims choose not to expose their harassers, and the few who do often find their voices quickly squelched in the process.

"Me too"

It all began on the morning of October 13, 2017, just as Luo was leaving for work, her husband asked her whether she had read the big news about Hollywood. She picked up her phone and found out that legendary movie producer Harvey Weinstein had been accused of sexual harassment by multiple actresses. Soon after, American actress Alyssa Milano launched the "#metoo" hashtag movement on social media.

"I told myself, 'Me too!' then I took a deep breath," Luo later wrote on China's Twitter-like microblog Weibo. That same day, she also happened to read an anonymous post online saying Beijing university professor Chen Xiaowu had been accused of sexually assaulting students. She couldn't believe that, after all these years, somebody was brave enough to expose him.

Two days later, Luo wrote about her own experience with Chen and posted it online. In 2004, while a student, Chen had asked her to his home under the pretense of taking care of his flowers. After locking the door behind her, Chen told Luo he had a tense relationship with his wife. The professor then attempted to rape Luo. She began to cry, which then made Chen stop.

Over the next few years at school, Luo was treated terribly under Chen and was put on medication by doctors after suffering from depression.

Sexual harassment is quite common on Chinese campuses. In 2016, Wei Tingting, founder of the Guangzhou Gender and Sexuality Education Center, wrote a report about sexual harassment in Chinese colleges, based on an online survey collected over one month among 6,592 respondents. The results showed that 68 percent of students had encountered degrees of sexual harassment at various levels.

After posting her story, Luo began receiving messages from other current or former BUAA students who claimed to also have been harassed by Chen. One said that Chen had called her his "girlfriend," and another said Chen forced students in his team to go out drinking with him.

Luo soon created a WeChat group called "Hard Candy," taking the name from a 2005 American movie starring Ellen Page as a girl who takes bloody revenge against a pedophile. So began Luo's journey to uphold justice. But it has been an arduous path, as many refused to stand up alongside her out of fear of retaliation from the accused or, even worse, mistreatment from school authorities.

Swept under the rug

Luo assembled mobile phone screenshots and recordings she received from other victims proving Chen's sexual harassment and also got in touch with members of the disciplinary committee at BUAA. She felt relieved.
A pair of parents living in Southern California face up to life in prison for starving and torturing their 13 children, prosecutors said Thursday.

At a press conference Thursday morning, Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin disclosed some scary details of the case, in which 57-year-old David Allen Turpin and 49-year-old Louise Anna Turpin were charged with committing years of torture and abuse to their children.

According to a notification released Monday by the Riverside County Sheriff's Department, the couple who both live in Perris, a town 100 kilometers east of Los Angeles, were arrested Sunday after a 17-year-old girl fled from the suspects' residence and used a mobile phone to call 911, reporting that her 12 brothers and sisters were imprisoned within the home.

Local police and deputies from the sheriff's department went to the reported residence and were shocked by the scene which Hestrin described at the conference as "depraved."

Hestrin said the parents used chains and padlocks to shackle their children up, seven of whom are actually adults ranging in age from 18 to 29, as a kind of punishment, which usually lasted from weeks to months at a time.

The victims weren't released from their chains even to go to the bathroom, and they were not allowed to shower more than once a year, he said, adding that the girl fled out Sunday plotted her escape for two years.

"The children lacked even basic knowledge of life. Many of the children didn't know what a police officer was," Hestrin said.

Hestrin also said the parents would buy food including pies and "leave it on the counter, let the children look at it, but not eat the food."

All the victims are severely malnourished when investigators found them. The eldest victim, a 29-year-old woman, weighs only 82 pounds (37.2 kilograms) and another 12-year-old child has the weight of an average 7-year-old.
More than 90% of Chinese parents talk with their children about study, but nearly 32% of them never tell their children how to make friends and one fourth of the parents never teach children how to use money, found a survey conducted by the China National Children's Center and Social Sciences Academic Press.

The survey covers 8,847 students from primary and middle schools in seven cities, including both big and small cities located in different areas of the country.

The report shows that nearly 30% of pupils have to spend more than two hours daily doing homework and the proportion among middle and high school students reaches 54.6% and 72.4% respectively.

More than half of the students surveyed have no time to play with friends after school, says the report, because most of their time was spent on extracurricular classes.

48.9% of students take extra classes after school and more than one fourth of the students have to attend more than two classes.

Due to the great study pressure, the social communication of students is limited among classmates, says the survey. It shows that nearly 95% of the students have good friends in their class, but only one third of them talk with their peers living in the neighborhood.
ANKARA, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- Turkish army dispatched nine reinforcement tanks to its southern border province Hatay on Thursday as preparation of a possible military action into Syria's Afrin, state-run Anadolu Agency reported.

The army has ordered troops on the border for highest-level measures for a possible Afrin offensive which will target Syrian Kurdish militia here.

Turkish Armed Forces have retaliated to attacks made by the Kurdish militia in northern Syria in early Thursday.

The National Security Council convened on Wednesday and decided to take "all necessary precautions" against the U.S. backed Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) in northern Syria, an official statement said.

Ankara considers the YPG a terrorist group for its links to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

Turkey has long been warning for a military incursion in Afrin, but it has taken serious measures as a preparation for a military operation after Washington said it would help the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), led by the YPG militia, set up a new 30,000-strong border force.
ANKARA, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- Turkish top general and intelligence chief met their Russian counterparts in Moscow on Thursday as Ankara seeks Russian support for opening Syrian airspace to Turkish military jets, as well as coordination with Russian troops in Turkey's potential military intervention against Kurdish militia in Syria's northern province of Afrin.

"We are talking with both Iran and Russia for the use of the (Syrian) airspace. We have to be in coordination with them for an aerial operation," Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said in a televised interview on Thursday.

"There are a few Russian troops in Afrin. We should be coordinated when we intervene so that the Russian monitoring troops are not negatively affected or confronted," he noted.

There are "various countries and players in the Syrian theater," therefore good coordination is needed to avoid confrontation, Cavusoglu explained.

Chief of Turkish General Staff Hulusi Akar and Turkish National Intelligence Organization Chief Hakan Fidan travelled to Moscow to discuss the issues, the minister said.

The discussion about a possible military operation against Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) elements in Afrin came a day after the National Security Council of Turkey convened and decided to take "all necessary precautions" against the YPG.

Ankara considers the YPG in Syria a terrorist group for its links to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

The Turkish government hopes Moscow will remain silent about Turkey's operation in Afrin, and expects Moscow to persuade Damascus to open airspace to Turkish jets in northern Syria, a Turkish official told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

Turkish-backed Syrian opposition group Free Syrian Army (FSA) will launch a ground offensive, while Turkish jets will back them and the armed forces in Syria will hit the YPG targets with artillery fire, said the official.

The Turkish army reinforced its troops in the Syrian border since last week, and the military has started to hit YPG targets in the Afrin district since Sunday.

Turkey has long been preparing for a military incursion in Afrin, but Washington has said it would help the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), led by the YPG militia, set up a new 30,000-strong border force.

On Jan. 13, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his country will not allow a "terror army" along its borders and any venture in the region "has no chance of success" if Turkey has no consent to it, referring to the Syrian Kurds' advances as an autonomous entity in Syria's northern regions.

Erdogan's government has for long opposed the growing influence of the Kurds in northern Syria, fearing that any separatist sentiment could inspire Turkey's 14 million Kurds.

In a bid to calm down Ankara's anger, the Pentagon on Wednesday said the SDF force is not a new "army" or conventional "border guard" force.

"We are keenly aware of the security concerns of Turkey, our coalition partner and NATO ally. Turkey's security concerns are legitimate," U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said.

"Some people misspoke. We are not creating a border security force at all," Tillerson added.

Asked if a planned operation in northern Syria was delayed after the U.S. statements, Foreign Minister Cavusoglu on Thursday said "no," and vowed that Turkey "will intervene in Afrin."

On Aug. 24, 2016, Turkish troops, artillery and tanks were surprisingly deployed in northern Syria.

"Operation Euphrates Shield" in Syria was a military movement to clear the Azaz-Jarablus line of its border with Syria from the threat of Islamic State (IS) and to prevent the Syrian Kurdish militia merging in Afrin and Kobane regions from establishing a "Kurdish belt."

The offensive took 216 days and ended on March 29, 2017, and Turkey lost 67 soldiers, along with nearly 600 rebels from the Free Syrian Army (FSA).
China is likely to use an electromagnetic catapult for fighter jets on its third aircraft carrier, experts said on Thursday.

The world's leading electromagnetic catapult technology was developed by a team led by Ma Weiming, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, a Beijing-based expert, who asked for anonymity, told the Global Times on Thursday.

The technology will likely be used on China's third aircraft carrier - and second domestically made carrier - to revitalize the army through science and technology, he said.

The expert also said that the Central Military Commission has sent signals to adopt scientific achievements to enhance the military's combat capabilities and narrow the gap between China and other powers.

Li Jie, a Beijing-based naval expert, told the Global Times that security is the main concern for those who prefer steam-driven to electromagnetic catapults.

Globally, carriers launch aircraft via three basic methods: steam-driven catapult, electromagnetic catapult or ski jump.

China's first aircraft carrier, Liaoning, adopted the ski jump approach. Ten of 11 US aircraft carriers use steam catapults.

The USS Gerald R Ford is the only aircraft carrier that uses an electromagnetic catapult, experts said. The new catapult is believed to be more efficient and less damaging to planes.

Ma told media his team had conducted successful tests on the technology and are confident about its practical use.

As China has overcome the core technological problems of electromagnetic catapults, the technological advantage should be used to enhance combat capability, Li said.


Spokesperson Lu Kang (Photo source:fmprc.gov.cn)

BEIJING, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- China supports the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the Republic of Korea (ROK) in fostering trust, building consensus, and finding solutions through dialogue, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Thursday.

Media reported that the DPRK and ROK Wednesday agreed to let their athletes march together under the unified flag of the Korean Peninsula at the opening ceremony of the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics next month.

The agreement was reached at vice ministerial-level talks between the two countries, which were held Wednesday at Peace House, a building on the South Korean side of Panmunjom which straddles the heavily guarded border.

Meanwhile, ROK Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha said the ROK will push forward dialogue for the peaceful resolution of the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula.

Spokesperson Lu Kang said the two countries on the Korean Peninsula had reached important consensus on cooperation at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics and improving their relations, reflecting constructive efforts on easing the situation on the peninsula.

"We hope the DPRK and the ROK can keep the positive momentum of their interactions and find the greatest common factor, in order to realize denuclearization and achieve permanent peace on the Korean Peninsula," Lu said.

He stressed all parties in the Korean Peninsula issue should cherish the current situation, and the international community should seize the opportunity to actively promote peace rather than stir up trouble, as well as making concrete efforts to resolve the issue.
UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said here on Thursday that preserving the international agreement on Iran's nuclear program was important, as failure of the deal would send "an alarming message for the entire international security architecture."

Speaking at the Security Council, Lavrov said the overwhelming majority of the international community recognizes that the 2015 agreement between Iran and the six world powers of Britain, China, France, Russia, the United States plus Germany is making a tangible contribution to strengthening the nuclear non-proliferation regime and to the maintenance of international peace and security.

"We cannot for the benefit of political agendas of certain countries abandon a genuine achievement of international diplomacy," he said.

"The failure of JCPOA, especially as a result of one of the parties of the P5+1, would be an alarming message for the entire international security architecture, including the prospects for dealing with the nuclear problem on the Korean Peninsula," said Lavrov. JCPOA (The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) refers to the Iran nuclear deal that was signed in July 2015.

Lavrov was clearly referring to threats from Washington that it might pull out of the deal unless it is to be "fixed."

U.S. President Donald Trump last Friday waived nuclear sanctions against Iran, but warned that he would not do it again unless the deal is modified. Tehran has said it will not renegotiate the deal, under which Iran agreed to limit its nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of international sanctions.
India's latest test of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), allegedly nuclear capable, poses a direct threat to China's security as well as a big challenge to the global efforts of nuclear-nonproliferation, a Chinese missile expert warned Thursday.

"We have successfully launched nuclear capable ballistic missile Agni-V today," the Times of India quoted Defense Minister Nirmala Sitharaman as saying. There was no further comment on whether the missile had met all the parameters for the test, the report said.

After the test, the missile would be finalized and produced in large scale, and will become a fighting force in the coming years, Song Zhongping, a military expert and TV commentator, told the Global Times on Thursday.

Though the report said the Agni-V can "reach the northernmost parts of China with its strike range of over 5,000-kilometers," Chinese experts expressed skepticism.

"Though the missile could theoretically hit Beijing, India's missile technique is far below the standard," Hu Zhiyong, a research fellow at the Institute of International Relations of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Thursday.

Nevertheless, China should be on the alert and further upgrade its anti-missile techniques, Hu added.

Aside from the missile, India is developing various kinds of weapons to compete with China, and its development of nuclear weapons shows that India is engaging in a nuclear arms race with China, Song said.

"It is also a big challenge to the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty as India owns such a big nuclear arsenal," he said.

The missile test is being dubbed as another step toward its eventual inclusion into the Strategic Forces Command (SFC). A few more tests remain to be conducted before the 50-ton missile is produced in adequate numbers, the Xinhua News Agency reported on Thursday.

The tri-service SFC was established in 2003 to manage India's nuclear arsenal, Xinhua reported.

Aside from the shorter-range missiles "Prithvi" and "Dhanush," the SFC has already included the "Agni-I," "Agni-II" and "Agni-III" missiles in its arsenal, Xinhua reported.

Thursday's test comes a day after India's joint sea drills with Japan in the Indian Ocean. India hopes to enhance cooperation with Japan as a way of restraining China, Japan's public broadcaster NHK reported, citing unnamed experts.

"India is trying to build a military system with Australia, Japan and the US in order to keep a closer watch on China, which poses a direct threat to China," Song said.

China should keep increasing its economic as well as defense capability, Song added.

Song also said that since the Indian Ocean is a "must enter" region for the Belt and Road initiative as well as the national strategy of building China into a maritime power, China should also enhance its military and economic presence in the Indian Ocean.
The head of the U.S. military's Pacific command called China a disruptive power in the Indo-Pacific region on Thursday and urged countries in the area to build capabilities and work together to ensure free and open seas.

Admiral Harry Harris, known for his combative views on Beijings South China Sea expansion, was speaking at a security conference sponsored by the Indian government, where he was joined by the chief of staff, joint staff of Japan and the head of the Indian navy.

The three countries -- the United States, Japan and India -- have grown increasingly concerned about China's assertive military posture in the region and sought to draw closer, with Australia, in a "quad" of liberal democracies.

"I believe the reality is that China is a disruptive transitional force in the Indo-Pacific, they are owner of the 'trust deficit' that we all have spent the last hour talking about," Harris said referring to the discussions of the panel.
The chairs of the center-left People's Party and the center-right Bareun Party in an ad-hoc press conference on Thursday announced they will form a new party.

The decision comes just weeks after the two minor parties launched a joint task force to act as bridge for integration, which drew some ire from lawmakers in both camps who see no common ground.

"The People's Party and the Bareun Party will come together to create a new unified reformist party that will pave the way for a better world and a hopeful future," Bareun Party chair Yoo Seung-min said. He said the new party will bring together reform-minded conservatives and rational centrists to meet the people's hopes of political reform.


U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday weighed into a growing trade spat with Korea over punitive duties on Korean washing machines.

Trump told Reuters that Korean firms are dumping washers into the U.S. and vowed to impose safeguards.

Korea has asked the World Trade Organization to take sanctions against the U.S. over what it says are unfair punitive duties.

Thrum claimed Korea "is destroying what was once a good job-producing business" in the U.S. He made his remarks ahead of the Feb. 2 deadline for his final decision to impose safeguards on washing machines made by Samsung and LG.

Last November, the U.S. International Trade Commission recommended a 50-percent tariff on Samsung and LG washing machines in America.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy here believes that Trump will increase trade protectionism to coincide with the first anniversary of his inauguration on Saturday and his State of the Union address on Jan. 30.

Trump spent a lot of time on the stump fulminating against foreign countries that allegedly damage American business and frequently singled out Korea.
Volvo Ocean Race debuts in Hong Kong

By:Pan Chenxiao | From:english.eastday.com | 2018-01-19 09:57

Volvo Ocean Race [Photo/ Chinanews.com]

The Volvo Ocean Race is for the first time held in Hong Kong on January 17-31. This 15-day sailing carnival is free to the public.

The race across world's four oceans with a 46,000-nautical mile course is recognized as the most difficult global offshore sailing race worldwide. Seven participating fleets will dock at the ports in 12 cities, including China's Dongfeng Team.

Tang Yisheng, president of Hong Kong Sailing Federation said the contestants need to overcome a variety of difficult situations. For instance, it will be about zero to several degrees Celsius with strong wind during the voyage from Cape Town, South Africa to Melbourne, Australia while the sailing boatmen need to rely on dry food in 2-3 weeks.

Apart from arrival and departure, there are two scoring competitions in Hong Kong - a short-distance race valuing speed on the afternoon of January 27 and a race around the island in the morning the day after.
52 Uzbeks killed in bus fire in Kazakhstan

From:Xinhua | 2018-01-18 16:18

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Photo taken on Jan. 18, 2018 shows a burnt bus in northwest Kazakhstan's Aktobe Region. At least 52 people were killed after the bus caught fire in northwest Kazakhstan, media reported Thursday. (Xinhua)

ASTANA, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- At least 52 Uzbek citizens were killed after a bus caught fire in northwest Kazakhstan, media reported Thursday, citing emergency officials and police.

Five people managed to escape the burning bus and are hospitalized.

The incident happened at around 10:30 a.m. local time (0430 GMT) in the Aktau region. The cause of the tragedy remains unclear.

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Photo taken on Jan. 18, 2018 shows a burnt bus in northwest Kazakhstan's Aktobe Region. At least 52 people were killed after the bus caught fire in northwest Kazakhstan, media reported Thursday. (Xinhua)

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Photo taken on Jan. 18, 2018 shows a burnt bus in northwest Kazakhstan's Aktobe Region. At least 52 people were killed after the bus caught fire in northwest Kazakhstan, media reported Thursday. (Xinhua)

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Photo taken on Jan. 18, 2018 shows a burnt bus in northwest Kazakhstan's Aktobe Region. At least 52 people were killed after the bus caught fire in northwest Kazakhstan, media reported Thursday. (Xinhua)

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Further, the students from Kerala currently in Karnataka will face restrictions on their return journey until the end of October.
ABC/Image Group LA Miranda Lamberts already adopted eight rescue dogs herself, and shell continue her animal activism on her new Livin Like Hippies Tour.

At the entrance to each venue on the trek, her Little Red Wagon will be set up to accept dog food, treats, supplies and donations to benefit a local shelter, through her MuttNation Foundation non-profit. Fans who participate will be rewarded with the chance to win a meet-and-greet with the reigning CMA Female Vocalist of the Year.

I always try to combine my two passions, which are music and mutts, Miranda says. Ive gotten to meet some amazing people that run shelters in the communities where we perform, and I always love connecting with other dog-loving fans.

Jon Pardi joins Miranda on her 2018 trek, which covers Greenville, SC; Orlando, FL; and Atlanta, GA on its first weekend, before heading to the Northwest the first of February.

Copyright  2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
#stocks-summary Seoul stocks slump amid U.S. tapering uncertainties South Korean stocks retreated Tuesday amid lack of major market-moving events as investors still assess weak U.S. job data and its impact on the Federal Reserve's timeline for tape...
B00Mer said:



Anyone hear about this before?!



Toronto man, 66, charged in the murders of two gay men So a month after dismissing rumors of a serial killer preying on Toronto's gay community, @TorontoPolice have arrested a suspected serial killer who preyed on Toronto's gay community. Thanks for the reporting @Justin_Ling, cases like this demonstrate the importance of the mediaAnyone hear about this before?! Click to expand...

Yes the gays were having a hissy fit that the Cops wouldn't tell them who they had as a suspect and at what stage they were at in the investigation.Of course the cops should have told them everything they had and who was a suspect........Toronto landscaper Bruce McArthur now faces three additional counts of first-degree murder, bringing the total to five in what police are calling a serial killing case that the city has never seen before.Det.-Sgt Hank Idsinga said Monday that investigators have reason to believe McArthur killed Majeed Kayhan, Soroush Mahmudi and Dean Lisowick."What kind of case is this?" Idsinga asked rhetorically at a news conference. "It's a serial killer."
Warner Music NashvilleNewcomer Ashley McBrydes Warner Nashville debut, Girl Going Nowhere, is set to arrive March 30.

The album takes its title from a track the Arkansas native performed during her Grand Ole Opry debut, one inspired by a bad experience in high school algebra class.

We were going around the room saying what we wanted to do when we grew up, Ashley recalls. When it got to me, I said, Im going to move to Nashville and write songs, and theyre going to be on the radio. The teacher looked at me and said, That wont happen and you better have a good backup plan.

It didnt put the fire out, it just added to it, the Little Dive Bar in Dahlonega hitmaker explains.

Girl Going Nowheres lead single is one of four tracks available to stream or download now, including the just-released American Scandal. You can check out the songs new music video on YouTube.

Ashleys set to make her TV debut Tuesday when she plays Late Night with Seth Meyers, which airs at 12:35 a.m. ET on NBC. From there, she hits the road with Luke Combs on his Dont Tempt Me with a Good Time Tour, while also squeezing in some March dates on Miranda Lamberts Livin Like Hippies World Tour.



Heres the complete track listing for Ashley McBrydes Girl Going Nowhere:

Girl Goin Nowhere

Radioland

American Scandal

Southern Babylon

The Jacket

Livin Next to Leroy

A Little Dive Bar in Dahlonega

Andy (I Cant Live Without You)

El Dorado

Tired of Being Happy

Home Sweet Highway

Copyright  2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
BELLEVUE, Wash., Jan. 18, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- 5G Americas will engage with five leading global organizations committed to bringing 5G technology successfully to their country or region while offering collaboration and cooperation in a public symposium hosted for the first time in the Americas.



5G Americas announced today that registration is open for 5G New Horizons Wireless Symposium, the 5th Global 5G Event focusing on worldwide progress of the 5th Generation of wireless technologies. The event is co-located with both 5G North America and BCE at the Austin Convention Center in Austin, Texas from May 16-17, 2018 and will have limited capacity.

The symposium will host about 50 expert panelists and speakers including business leaders, inventors, engineers, professors, technical experts and policymakers from around the world representing the leading 5G organizations. The sessions are mindfully curated to stimulate the continued progress on 5G technology worldwide and focus on government policies, promotions, services, trial projects and other industrial convergence opportunities.

The Global 5G Event series was developed in the interest of efficiency and building global consensus on 5G, and was announced in October 2015 by the following parties of a Memorandum of Understanding: 5G Americas, (Americas), the Fifth Generation Mobile Communications Promotion Forum (5GMF) (Japan), 5G Forum (Republic of Korea), IMT-2020 (5G) Promotion Group (China) and the 5G Infrastructure Association (5G IA) (Europe). In May 2017, Brazil (Telebrasil/Projecto 5G Brasil) joined the partners on the Global 5G Event to support multi-lateral collaboration on 5G systems across continents and countries.

Registration offers an early-bird discount or package pricing with the co-located events. Media and operators will have free access with pre-registration. Confirmed speakers and panelists will be announced in February.

Chris Pearson, President, 5G Americas said, We are at the point in time where 5G is truly visible on the horizon, and yet there remains further discussion and planning for the successful rollout of many new technology, regulatory, business and spectrum concepts. 5G Americas is pleased to offer this global event with strong representation by the leading international organizations that are fostering this development for a truly connected society.

DongKu Kim, Chair of Executive Committee, 5G Forum stated, The 5th Global 5G Event at Austin will be a great opportunity to share the on-going development of 5G activities and trials in key regions and drive ever ascending attention from ICT and a wide range of other industries eco-system as well.

Dr. Colin Willcock, Chair of the 5G Infrastructure Association (5G IA) said, A unique opportunity to understand 5G developments with a global dimension. The event that brings the key regions of the world together to present and discuss 5G status, activities and future plans

Susumu Yoshida, Chair of the 5th Generation Mobile Communications Promotion Forum (5GMF) commented, The 5th Global 5G Event in Austin will be expected to further accelerate crossover collaboration on the relationship with vertical industries and harmonization on the regulation towards the 5G realization in 2020.

Jose Marcos C. Brito, General Secretary of 5G Brasil stated, The 5th Global 5G Event in Austin is timed ideally due to the recent conclusion of the phase one standards for 5G technology by 3GPP. This makes the important discussions and collaboration on global progress, trials and regulatory policy even more relevant and realistic. 5G is truly on the horizon and this symposium provides the opportunity to see it more clearly.

Ms. Zhiqin Wang, Chair of IMT-2020 PG said, As we approach 5G commercialization, it is essential for governments and industries to jointly discuss 5G development policy, technology, industry roadmap and industrial applications cultivation, for which the 5th Global 5G Event provides an ideal platform.

For more information on the program and Symposium, visit 5G New Horizons.

About the Global 5G Event:

The Global 5G Event is an event where the worlds leading 5G organizations discuss the latest research and development achievements and views on 5G technologies, spectrum, standardization, field trials, applications, the future roadmap and global collaboration. The series of events is based on a Multi-Lateral MoU to cooperate on building global consensus on 5G with the worlds 5G promotion organizations: The Fifth Generation Mobile Communications Promotion Forum (5GMF, Japan), 5G Forum (Republic of Korea), 5G Americas (Americas), IMT-2020 (5G) Promotion Group (China), 5G Infrastructure Association (5G-IA, Europe) and Telebrasil  Projecto 5G Brasil (Brasil). The event is held twice a year in rotation.

About 5G Americas: The Voice of 5G and LTE for the Americas:

5G Americas is an industry trade organization composed of leading telecommunications service providers and manufacturers. The organization's mission is to advocate for and foster the advancement and full capabilities of LTE wireless technologies and their evolution to 5G, throughout the ecosystem's networks, services, applications and wirelessly connected devices in the Americas. 5G Americas is invested in developing a connected wireless community while leading 5G development for all the Americas. 5G Americas is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington. More information is available at www.5gamericas.org or Twitter @5GAmericas.

About IMT- 2020 PG:

The IMT- 2020 (5G) Promotion Group was established in February 2013, with the support of three ministries of China (the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the National Development and Reform Commission, and the Ministry of Science and Technology), based on the original IMT- Advanced Promotion Group. It is the major platform to promote the research and development of 5G in China. Its members include the leading operators, vendors, universities, and research institutes in the field of mobile communications. More information is available at http://www.imt-2020.cn/en

About 5GMF:

The Fifth Generation Mobile Communications Promotion Forum (5GMF) was founded on September 30 2014. 5GMF has been conducting research and development concerning 5G (the Fifth Generation Mobile Communications Systems) including the standardization thereof, along with liaison and coordination with related organizations, the collection of information, and the dissemination and enlightenment of activities. Towards 5G realization by 2020, these activities will contribute to the sound development of the 5G eco-society. More information is available at http://5gmf.jp/en/

About the 5G Forum:

The 5G Forum is a public-private organization founded on May 30 2013. Its members consist of public and private sectors, including mobile telecommunication carriers, manufacturers, institutes, and academia. The goal of the 5G Forum is to promote 5G services and technologies in 2020 and beyond in the context of the 4th industrial revolution. 5G Forum has been running six committees, three industry convergence task forces, and C-V2X promotion council with multiple fora and ministries to work on the cooperation on 5G with other industries, harmonization among industries and multiple ministries, spectrum issues, small and medium-size enterprises (SME) promotion and global harmonization. More information is available at https://www.5gforum.org/eng

About the 5G Public-Private Partnership (5G PPP) and the 5G Infrastructure Association (5G IA):

The 5G Public Private Partnership (5G PPP) is the 5G collaborative research program that is organized as part of the European Commissions Horizon 2020 program  The European Union Program for Research and Innovation. It is aimed at fostering industry-driven research, monitored by business-related, technological performance and societal KPIs. The 5G PPP will deliver solutions, architectures, technologies and standards for ubiquitous next-generation communication infrastructure over the coming decade.



In the 5G PPP, the 5G Infrastructure Association (5G IA) represents the private side and the European Commission the public side. The 5G IA is committed to the advancement of 5G in Europe and to building global consensus on 5G. To this aim, the Association brings together a global industry community of telecoms and digital actors, such as operators, manufacturers, research institutes, universities, verticals and small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs). The 5G IA carries out a wide range of activities in strategic areas including standardization, frequency spectrum, R&D projects, technology skills, collaboration with key vertical industry sectors, notably for the development of trials, and international cooperation.More information is available at https://5g-ppp.eu/ Twitter: @5GPPP

About 5G Brasil

The main objective of the 5G Brasil project is to foster the development of the 5G ecosystem in Brazil and contribute to the global definition of this technology. The 5G Brasil Project has 22 associates (including operators, manufacturers, research institutes, universities, and companies associations) involving more than 120 professionals. The activities of 5G Brasil are performed by a Steering Committee and by five thematic commissions: Research and Use Cases, PreStandards, Backhaul Infrastructure, Future Frequencies Bands, Verticals Regulatory Actions and Market Actions. The 5G Brasil Project advocates the inclusion of a fourth scenario for 5G networks: 5G for remote areas.

Contacts:

Vicki Livingston

5G Americas

Cell: +1 414 688 9000

Mail to: vicki.livingston@5gamericas.org

Po HU

IMT-2020 (5G) Promotion Group

Phone: +86-10-62300159

hupo@caict.ac.cn

Alessandro Bedeschi

5G Infrastructure Association

alessandro.bedeschi@5g-ppp.eu

Jaewon HEO

5G Forum

jwheo@kani.or.kr

Yoshinori Ohmura

5GMF

Phone: +81-3-5510-8594

y-ohmura@arib.or.jp

Jose Marcos C. Brito

5G Brasil

brito@inatel.br




NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION, DISTRIBUTION OR DISSEMINATION DIRECTLY, OR INDIRECTLY, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, IN OR INTO THE UNITED STATES.





DENVER, Jan. 18, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pure Energy Minerals Limited (TSX-V:PE) (OTCQB:PEMIF) (the Company or Pure Energy) announces that, as a result of a review by the British Columbia Securities Commission, this news release is being issued to clarify the Companys disclosure regarding the most recent technical report for the Companys Clayton Valley lithium project. The review of the Companys technical disclosure was commenced in November 2017 at the Companys request pursuant to British Columbia Securities Commission Policy BCN 2009-09 in connection with a short form prospectus offering that the Company was then considering.

On August 10, 2017, the Company filed on SEDAR a technical report dated August 8, 2017 with respect to its Clayton Valley lithium project (the Clayton Valley Technical Report). The Clayton Valley Technical Report does not fully comply with National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. As a consequence, the Clayton Valley Technical Report should not be relied upon. The Company is currently revising the Clayton Valley Technical Report and expects a revised report to be refiled in the near future.

The revised Clayton Valley Technical Report will provide more details of the risks associated with the Companys intended use of technologies in a process flow sheet that have not been previously used on a commercial scale for lithium processing and the Companys proposal to build a pilot plant to mitigate those risks as recommended by the independent qualified professionals advising the Company. It will also discuss in greater detail the basis upon which the Company has concluded that there are reasonable prospects for eventual economic extraction of the resources at the Clayton Valley Project. Information that currently appears in the Appendices of the Clayton Valley Technical Report will be moved to the body of the report. A number of other technical changes will also be made to the Clayton Valley Technical Report.

The certificates of the qualified persons who authored the Clayton Valley Technical Report will also be revised and refiled when the report is refiled on SEDAR.

The Company does not anticipate that it will modify the mineral resource estimate or the economic analysis contained in the current Clayton Valley Technical Report.

Quality Assurance

Patrick Highsmith, Certified Professional Geologist (AIPG CPG # 11702), is a qualified person as defined by NI 43-101, and has supervised the preparation of the scientific and technical information in this news release. Mr. Highsmith is not independent of the Company as he is an officer and director.

About Pure Energy Minerals Limited

Pure Energy Minerals is a lithium resource developer that is driven to become a low-cost supplier for the growing lithium battery industry. The Company is developing the Clayton Valley Project (CV Project) in Clayton Valley, Nevada. The Company is also exploring a major new lithium brine project in the Lithium Triangle of South America, the Terra Cotta Project (TCP). The TCP is located on Pocitos Salar in Salta, Argentina, where it enjoys some of the best infrastructure and access of any lithium brine exploration project in Argentina.

On behalf of the Board of Directors,

Patrick Highsmith

Chief Executive Officer

CONTACT:

Pure Energy Minerals Limited (www.pureenergyminerals.com)

Email: info@pureenergyminerals.com

Telephone  604 608 6611, ext 5

Cautionary Statements and Forward-Looking Information

The information in this news release contains forward looking statements that are subject to a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated in our forward looking statements. Factors that could cause such differences include: the timing for filing a revised Clayton Valley Technical Report and the nature of the changes that will be made, changes in world commodity markets, equity markets, costs and supply of materials relevant to the mining industry, change in government and changes to regulations affecting the mining industry. Forward-looking statements in this release may include, successful development of a new lithium process, and future exploration on the CV Project and the TC Project. Although we believe the expectations reflected in our forward looking statements are reasonable, results may vary, and we cannot guarantee future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements.

The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except as required by applicable laws.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
SAN DIEGO, Jan. 18, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- National substance abuse and mental health news provider announces new informational pages to be built for New Jersey cities. The Recover known for their numerous resource pages are completing city specific posts for New Jersey drug addiction help.



Finding drug addiction news in a particular city can be difficult, and for drug addicts and family members finding the right information is imperative. The Recover has a team of writers researching all the drug and alcohol statistics for each city in New Jersey and posting it for readers to review. The drug news source is also providing information about receiving help for addiction or mental health within the state.

The drug epidemic in New Jersey continues to hammer residents with overdoses and drug related crimes. The state of New Jersey ranks one of the highest among states suffering from substance abuse. Inpatient drug rehabs in New Jersey offer treatment for those fortunate enough to enter into a rehab. But, many suffer with little or no options due to lack of insurance or no insurance with no ability to pay.

The new pages for New Jersey will outline options for those who have insurance as well as resources for those looking for state funded facilities. In addition, information about clean needle locations are listed if available, to reduce the increased risk of contracting and spreading fatal blood-borne diseases. New Jersey syringe exchange programs will be provided with phone number and location.

Family members searching for loved ones want to know how to find the best rehab centers in NJ, and how much they cost. The pages will provide the amenities of each center located in the city, as well as the cost associated with treatment. Often times insurance can cover most if not all of the treatment needed for recovery.

Author: Kevin Leonard

Organization: TheRecover.com

Address: 27420 Jefferson Avenue #101a, Temecula, CA 92590

Phone: 888-510-3898

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/fa3a7654-cbed-4ad2-b897-cac45ca88012
English Dutch German

Zwolle - 19th January 2018

On 29 December 2017, the company announced that Philip Nijenhuis will step down as advisor to the company as of 31 December 2017.

All outstanding financial obligations to Philip Nijenhuis have been approved by mutual agreement. The liabilities, totalling EUR 400,000 gross, will be paid to Philip Nijenhuis in two instalments, the first in January 2018 and the second in January 2019.

The financial impact for the company will be lower when compared with the information on page 95 of the 2016 annual report.

The payments to Philip Nijenhuis will be made from the existing cash resources, and no additional financing is required.

The outstanding options of Philip Nijenhuis will remain valid until 1 July 2019.

About RoodMicrotec

With more than 45 years' experience as an independent value-added service provider in the area of micro and optoelectronics, RoodMicrotec offers Fabless Companies, OEMs and other companies a one-stop shop proposition. With its powerful solutions RoodMicrotec has built up a strong position in Europe.

Our services comply with the industrial and quality requirements of the high reliability/space, automotive, telecommunications, medical, industrial and electronics sectors.

Our integrated quality management system is based on international DIN EN ISO 9001:2015 standards. In addition, our quality management is broadly consistent with the Automotive Specification ISO/TS 16949. The company also has an accredited laboratory for test activities and qualification to the ISO/IEC 17025 standard.

Its value-added services include (eXtended) supply chain management and total manufacturing solutions with partners, failure & technology analysis, qualification & burn-in, test & product engineering, production test (including device programming and end-of-line service), ESD/ESDFOS assessment & training and quality & reliability consulting.

RoodMicrotec has branches in Germany (Dresden, Nordlingen, Stuttgart), United Kingdom (Bath) and the Netherlands (Zwolle).

For more information visit https://www.roodmicrotec.com

This press release is published in English, Dutch and German. In case of conflict between these versions the English version shall prevail.
During the Annual General Meeting to be held on 18 April 2018, it will be proposed to appoint Mrs. Lucrece Foufopoulos - De Ridder as a member of the Supervisory Board as per that date. Lucrece has broad international experience within prime multinationals across a broad range of industries including 21 years within the chemical industry.

This press release contains inside information as meant in clause 7 of the Market Abuse Regulation.

Profile Vopak

Royal Vopak is the world's leading independent tank storage company. Vopak operates a global network of terminals located at strategic locations along major trade routes. With a 400-year history and a strong focus on safety and sustainability, Vopak ensures efficient, safe and clean storage and handling of bulk liquid products and gases for its customers. By doing so, Vopak enables the delivery of products that are vital to our economy and daily lives, ranging from oil, chemicals, gases and LNG to biofuels and vegoils. Vopak is listed on the Euronext Amsterdam stock exchange and is headquartered in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Including its joint ventures and associates, Vopak employs an international workforce of over 5,500 people. As of 19 January 2018, Vopak operates 66 terminals in 25 countries with a combined storage capacity of 35.9 million cbm, with another 3.1 million cbm under development, to be added before the end of 2019. www.vopak.com

Liesbeth Lans, Manager External Communication,Telephone : +31 (0)10 4002777, e-mail: global.communication@vopak.comAnil Acardag, Manager Investor RelationsTelephone : +31 (0)10 4002770, e-mail: investor.relations@vopak.com
FLOW TRADERS NOMINATES TWO ADDITIONAL BOARD MEMBERS

Amsterdam, the Netherlands, January 19th 2018 - The Supervisory Board of Flow Traders N.V. ("Flow Traders") (Euronext: FLOW) intends to nominate Folkert Joling and Thomas Wolff as additional members of the Management Board of Flow Traders. The Dutch Central Bank granted regulatory approval. Flow Traders will propose the appointment to its shareholders at the upcoming AGM, scheduled for 26 April 2018.

Folkert Joling is nominated as Chief Trading Officer. He joined Flow Traders in 2006 as a Trader. He became Head of Trading in 2011 and joined the Management Board of Flow Traders B.V. in 2016.

Thomas Wolff is nominated as Chief Technology Officer. He joined Flow Traders in 2009, became Global Head of Technology in 2013 and joined the Management Board of Flow Traders B.V. in 2016. Before joining Flow Traders, Thomas Wolff worked for 9 years at an independent trading software vendor.

Eric Drok, Chairman of the Supervisory Board said: "Flow Traders has grown tremendously in the last couple of years. Given our strong focus on Technology and Trading, it is important to promote growth and a thorough understanding of these essential areas. That is why we are pleased to announce our intention to extend the Management Board to 5 members, with a Chief Technology Officer and a Chief Trading Officer. This ensures that all key disciplines within Flow Traders are well represented in the Management Board."

Further details will be announced in the Convening Notice for the upcoming AGM.

ENDS

Contact Details

Flow Traders N.V.

Serge Enneman / Investor Relations Officer

Phone: +31 20 7996799

Email: Investor.relations@flowtraders.com

Important legal information

This press release is prepared by Flow Traders N.V. and is for information purposes only. It is not a recommendation to engage in investment activities and you must not rely on the content of this document when making any investment decisions. The information in this document does not constitute legal, tax, or investment advice and is not to be regarded as investor marketing or marketing of any security or financial instrument, or as an offer to buy or sell, or as a solicitation of any offer to buy or sell, securities or financial instruments.



The information and materials contained in this press release are provided 'as is' and Flow Traders N.V. or any of its affiliates ("Flow Traders") do not warrant the accuracy, adequacy or completeness of the information and materials and expressly disclaim liability for any errors or omissions. This press release is not intended to be, and shall not constitute in any way a binding or legal agreement, or impose any legal obligation on Flow Traders. All intellectual property rights, including trademarks, are those of their respective owners. All rights reserved. All proprietary rights and interest in or connected with this publication shall vest in Flow Traders. No part of it may be redistributed or reproduced without the prior written permission of Flow Traders.



By accepting this document you agree to the terms set out above. If you do not agree with the terms set out above please notify legal.amsterdam@nl.flowtraders.com immediately and delete or destroy this document.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Jan. 19, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Cruz Cobalt Corp. (TSXV:CUZ) (OTCBB:BKTPF) (FSE:A2DMG8) ("Cruz" or the "Company") wishes to announce that the airborne data gathered on Cruzs BC Cobalt properties has shown strong magnetic features within the cobalt prospects. A ground follow up is being formulated to tighten up the data with the plan to be drilling as soon as possible. Recently Cruz tripled its land holdings surrounding the War Eagle cobalt prospect in BC. Cruz has now increased the acreage on the War Eagle cobalt prospect from 4,935 acres to now be 15,219 acres.



James Nelson, President of Cruz states, We are very encouraged to encounter these anomalies from the airborne. We plan to get boots on the ground as soon as possible to tighten up the highest priority drill targets. Cobalt prices are trading at 10 year highs as demand is increasing and very little new supply has come on line. Recently, Ford announced plans to invest $11 billion in Electrified Vehicles by 2022. Additionally Volkswagen said in November it would spend $40 billion on electric cars, autonomous driving and new mobility services by the end of 2022. The world is going electric and we feel the battery metals will see a significant increase in demand in the coming years. We have positioned the company to take advantage of this battery metals explosion. We plan to be active on both of the USA Cobalt projects in 2018 and are currently active in Canada. We are very optimistic about 2018 as we enter the year with more cash in the bank than any other time and cobalt prices at ten year highs.

Cruz currently has nine cobalt projects located throughout North America, comprising of four in Ontario, three in British Columbia, one in Idaho and one in Montana. Cruz's four separate Ontario cobalt prospects are all located in the vicinity of the town of Cobalt making Cruz one of the largest landholders in this emerging cobalt district. Cruz's Ontario projects include the 1,265 acre Coleman cobalt prospect, the 900 acre Johnson cobalt prospect, the 4,980 acre Hector cobalt prospect and the 1,580 acre Bucke cobalt prospect. The company's 15,219 acre War Eagle cobalt prospect in British Columbia. Cruzs USA projects include the 1,940 acre Chicken Hawk prospect in Montana and the 880 acre Idaho Star prospect.

The technical contents of this release were approved by Greg Thomson, PGeo, a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101.

If you would like to be added to Cruzs email list please send an email to info@cruzcobaltcorp.com or twitter @CruzCobalt

James Nelson

President

604.899.9150

Toll free 1.855.599.9150

www.cruzcobaltcorp.com

twitter @CruzCobalt
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Jan. 19, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Stamper Oil & Gas Corp. (TSX-V:STMP) (FSE:TMP2) (OTCQB:STMGF) (Stamper or the Company), is pleased to provide an update to its current and prospective Stamper Shareholders regarding the Companys activities and milestones from 2017.



Stamper has experienced tremendous activity over the past six months and Shareholders have responded positively to our continued efforts to build a diversified portfolio of oil assets for Stamper. The Company has successfully raised multiple rounds of capital to support the various projects that we are developing in Africa, including those in Sudan, and beyond.

Stamper CEO David Greenway stated, The last six months were formative for Stamper and we look forward to press forward with expansion plans in both Africa, and Latin America in 2018. The Board and I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our Shareholders and supporters for helping us reach this next level of our business plan. We look forward to your continued support of Stamper Oil & Gas Corp. in the year ahead.

State Oil Company MOU

In October, Stamper entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (the MOU) with State Oil Corporation (State) to acquire 100% of the issued and outstanding shares of State. State is a closely held private corporation. State had previously signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Sudapet Company Ltd. (Sudapet), the national oil company of Sudan, pursuant to which State will farm-in to acquire a 50% interest and rights in a certain Sudapet exploration and production project in Sudan.

Block 25 Activities

The Block 25 project in Sudan has had previous work done as follows, including completion of 6,700 km of 2D seismic and 432 sq. km of 3D seismic and subsequently have also indicated a number of new potential locations for drilling. The project area for exploration and production comprises 26,000 sq. km where the previous operator successfully drilled 3 discovery wells and 7 development wells.

A third party analysis report indicates, based on the TOC/ Rock Eval data at disposal, excellent oil prone lacustrine source rocks (Type I) were penetrated in the two discovery wells located in the Central Sub-basin. In the Eastern Sub-basin, a source rock was encountered near TD in the lower oil prone formation, Campanian in age.

Revocation of Sanctions in Sudan

In October, Stamper was encouraged when it was announced by the US State Departments announcement on the amendment of the Executive Order 13761 on Recognizing Positive Actions by the Government of Sudan and Providing for the Revocation of Certain Sudan-Related Sanctions which have been in place since 1997.

Chapman Technical Report

In December, the Company announced that Stamper has engaged Chapman Petroleum Engineering Ltd. (Chapman) to prepare a technical report in accordance with National Instrument 51-101  Standards for Disclosure for Oil and Gas Activities (NI 51-101) standards and protocols which will be provided to the Company as part of the contract conditions to the pending transaction in Sudan. The report will be available to review on SEDAR very shortly.

Chapman will use the previous data and work completed by previous operators including data collected from a 6,700 km of 2D seismic and 432 sq. km of 3D seismic. The project area for exploration and production comprises 26,000 sq. km where the previous operator successfully drilled 3 discovery wells and 7 development wells.

Advisory and Technical Board Members

In August, the Company appointed of Dr. Qamar M. Malik MSc., Ph.D., as the Companys new Qualified Person (QP). Dr. Malik is an experienced petroleum professional with a multi-faceted skillset wearing many hats over the span of 20 plus years in the petroleum industry, seeking to make a positive lasting, distinctive, and sizable impact to client performance, as well as seeking to help achieve organizations strategic goals.

In October, the Company announced it has established a highly accomplished and veteran Advisory Board for its business development activities with the addition of Mr. Eric Schjelderup. Mr. Schjelderup resides in London, England, and has over 30 years of expertise, specializing in consultation with public companies, including strategy, structuring, financings, regulatory requirements, private placements, raising seed capital and general public relations. He is currently the president of Port Mercantile Capital Ltd. and in his career Eric has raised over $965 million for banking, technology, and oil & gas companies on three continents.

Frankfurt Listing

In April, the Company announced that it has been accepted to list its common shares for trading on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (FSE) under the Symbol TMP2.

New US Symbol

In August, the Company announced that it has received approval from Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, (FINRA) on a new ticker symbol STMGF. The symbol change coincides with the Companys ongoing efforts to support its existing U.S. shareholder base, and to facilitate trading in the OTC markets.

New Board Members

In December, Stamper announced the appointment to the Board of Directors of the Company, the Honourable Harbance Singh (Herb) Dhaliwal, P.C., B.Comm. The Hon. Herb Dhaliwal served in Ottawa as a Canadian Member of Parliament for over ten years. He served as minister in several portfolios in the Federal Cabinet under Prime Minister Jean Chretien including Minister of Natural Resources, Minister of National Revenue and Minister of Fisheries and Oceans

In November, Stamper announced the appointment of Mr. Alexander (Alex) Polevoy to its board of directors. Mr. Polevoy has held leading positions in international companies and is a seasoned financial accountant, oil & gas executive and an active investor in both private and public companies. Mr. Polevoy is currently Board Member of Basin Logistics, located in New York and Tonga Petroleum Corp, headquartered in Calgary, Alberta.

In April, the Company announced the appointment of Mr. Sasko (Sashko) Despotovski to its board of directors. Mr. Despotovski is a seasoned investment banker and an active investor in both private and public companies. He is a Canadian national living in the Nordics, with international corporate finance experience in the energy, real estate, and technology sectors. Mr. Despotovski until recently was an M&A Director at one of the Big Four, and currently serves a Special Advisor to the firm, focusing on cross border transactions. His specialties are fundraising and fund dissemination.

About Stamper Oil & Gas

Stamper Oil & Gas Corp. is a publicly traded junior development stage international oil and gas company. The Company is engaged in the acquisition, exploration and evaluation of conventional and unconventional oil and natural gas properties with the current focus on Africa and Latin America. The Companys strategy is centred on generating sustainable long term shareholder value by exploring and developing cost effective growth of light oil reserves.

For further information on Stamper Oil & Gas please visit www.stamperoilandgas.com or under our profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

Qualified Person

The scientific and technical information contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Qamar M. Malik, MSc., Ph.D., Petroleum Engineering, who is a Qualified Person as such term is defined under National Instrument 51-101 (NI 51-101) and Canadian Oil and Gas Evaluation (COGE) Handbook.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

David C. Greenway

President & Director

For further information, please contact:

Stamper Investor Relations

Phone: (604) 684-2401

Email: info@stamperoilandgas.com

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.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking" statements. Forward looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects", "plans", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "projects", "potential" and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "could" or "should" occur. Although Stamper Oil & Gas Corp. believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results may differ materially from those in forward looking statements. Forward looking statements are based on the beliefs, estimates and opinions of Stamper Oil & Gas Corp. management on the date the statements are made. Except as required by law, Stamper Oil & Gas Corp undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements in the event that management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change.
FORM 8.3

PUBLIC OPENING POSITION DISCLOSURE/DEALING DISCLOSURE BY

A PERSON WITH INTERESTS IN RELEVANT SECURITIES REPRESENTING 1% OR MORE

Rule 8.3 of the Takeover Code (the "Code")

1. KEY INFORMATION

(a) Full name of discloser: Jupiter Asset Management Ltd (b) Owner or controller of interests and short positions disclosed, if different from 1(a):

The naming of nominee or vehicle companies is insufficient. For a trust, the trustee(s), settlor and beneficiaries must be named. (c) Name of offeror /offeree in relation to whose relevant securities this form relates:

Use a separate form for each offeror/offeree Ladbrokes Coral Group PLC (d) If an exempt fund manager connected with an offeror/offeree, state this and specify identity of offeror/offeree: (e) Date position held /dealing undertaken:

For an opening position disclosure, state the latest practicable date prior to the disclosure 18th January 2018 (f) In addition to the company in 1(c) above, is the discloser making disclosures in respect of any other party to the offer?

If it is a cash offer or possible cash offer, state "N/A" No

2. POSITIONS OF THE PERSON MAKING THE DISCLOSURE

If there are positions or rights to subscribe to disclose in more than one class of relevant securities of the offeror or offeree named in 1(c), copy table 2(a) or (b) (as appropriate) for each additional class of relevant security.

(a) Interests and short positions in the relevant securities of the offeror or offeree to which the disclosure relates following the dealing (if any)

Class of relevant security:



28 1/3p Ordinary



Interests Short positions Number % Number % (1) Relevant securities owned and/or controlled: 95,204,800 4.96 (2) Cash-settled derivatives:



(3) Stock-settled derivatives (including options) and agreements to purchase/sell:



TOTAL: 95,204,800 4.96

All interests and all short positions should be disclosed.

Details of any open stock-settled derivative positions (including traded options), or agreements to purchase or sell relevant securities, should be given on a Supplemental Form 8 (Open Positions).

(b) Rights to subscribe for new securities (including directors' and other employee options)

Class of relevant security in relation to which subscription right exists: None Details, including nature of the rights concerned and relevant percentages: None

3. DEALINGS (IF ANY) BY THE PERSON MAKING THE DISCLOSURE

Where there have been dealings in more than one class of relevant securities of the offeror or offeree named in 1(c), copy table 3(a), (b), (c) or (d) (as appropriate) for each additional class of relevant security dealt in.

The currency of all prices and other monetary amounts should be stated.

(a) Purchases and sales

Class of relevant security Purchase/sale



Number of securities Price per unit 28 1/3p Ordinary Sell 141,423 1.812187 28 1/3p Ordinary Sell 2,845,808 1.812187

(b) Cash-settled derivative transactions

Class of relevant security Product description

e.g. CFD Nature of dealing

e.g. opening/closing a long/short position, increasing/reducing a long/short position Number of reference securities Price per unit NONE





(c) Stock-settled derivative transactions (including options)

(i) Writing, selling, purchasing or varying

Class of relevant security Product description e.g. call option Writing, purchasing, selling, varying etc. Number of securities to which option relates Exercise price per unit Type

e.g. American, European etc. Expiry date Option money paid/ received per unit NONE

(ii) Exercise

Class of relevant security Product description

e.g. call option Exercising/ exercised against Number of securities Exercise price per unit NONE





(d) Other dealings (including subscribing for new securities)

Class of relevant security Nature of dealing

e.g. subscription, conversion Details Price per unit (if applicable) NONE





4. OTHER INFORMATION

(a) Indemnity and other dealing arrangements

Details of any indemnity or option arrangement, or any agreement or understanding, formal or informal, relating to relevant securities which may be an inducement to deal or refrain from dealing entered into by the person making the disclosure and any party to the offer or any person acting in concert with a party to the offer:

Irrevocable commitments and letters of intent should not be included. If there are no such agreements, arrangements or understandings, state "none"



NONE





(b) Agreements, arrangements or understandings relating to options or derivatives

Details of any agreement, arrangement or understanding, formal or informal, between the person making the disclosure and any other person relating to:

(i) the voting rights of any relevant securities under any option; or

(ii) the voting rights or future acquisition or disposal of any relevant securities to which any derivative is referenced:

If there are no such agreements, arrangements or understandings, state "none"



NONE





(c) Attachments

Is a Supplemental Form 8 (Open Positions) attached? NO

Date of disclosure: 19th January 2018 Contact name: Nabeel Ashraf Telephone number: 0203 817 1407

Public disclosures under Rule 8 of the Code must be made to a Regulatory Information Service.

The Panel's Market Surveillance Unit is available for consultation in relation to the Code's disclosure requirements on +44 (0)20 7638 0129.

The Code can be viewed on the Panel's website at www.thetakeoverpanel.org.uk.
TORONTO, Jan. 19, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Honey Badger Exploration Inc. (TSX-V:TUF) (Honey Badger or the Company) has staked an additional 6 mining claims around its existing land package near the historic Silver Mountain and Mink mines (Figure 1). The additional claims were staked to optimize the coverage of structures interpreted by the Company to control polymetallic silver mineralization in the area.



About the Thunder Bay Silver District

Honey Badger has now secured a strategic land position in the under-explored Thunder Bay Silver District that shares many similarities with the Cobalt District. The geological controls and host environment of the polymetallic silver occurrences and mines of the Thunder Bay District compare well to the geological controls on mineralization and host geological environment of the polymetallic silver veins of the Cobalt District (Figure 2).

Similar to the Thunder Bay Silver District, the polymetallic silver mineralization in the Cobalt District formed in a sedimentary sequence capping an Archean basement, and occurred in spatial association with diabase sills emplaced in an extensional setting (see Potter, 2009 for the geological history of the Cobalt District). Cobalt-rich silver mineralization found in the historic Silver Islet Mine and the 3A mine, suggests that there is potential to discover similar veins in the region.

The group of properties controlled or optioned by Honey Badger covers some of the most productive veins of the Thunder Bay Silver District, including the Beaver Silver Mine (Franklin et al., 1986). The reported silver grades at the Beaver Mine, between 1884 and 1891, averaged 0.25% Ag with zones grading up to 3.42% Ag (Ingall, 1889). This indicates the prospect and high-grade tenor of the polymetallic silver veins of the district. The reported grades of the Beaver Mine are supported by grab samples taken in the mine by the Geological Survey of Canada in 1887 that contain up to 1.15% silver. Ingall (1889) also reported that the grade of the main ore shoots in the Silver Mountain Mine, located 400m north of Honey Badgers Silver Mountain Property, contained up to 5.7% silver.

The geological attributes of the Thunder Bay area and the spatial distribution of the polymetallic silver mines, showings and occurrences over approximately 100 kilometres suggest a good potential to discover additional high-grade polymetallic silver veins, some of which could be potentially cobalt-bearing.

Qualified Person

Q. Yarie, P.Geo., is the qualified person in regard to the technical data contained within this news release and has approved the scientific and technical content of this news release.

About Honey Badger Exploration Inc.

Honey Badger Exploration is a gold and base-metals exploration company headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada with properties in Quebec and Ontario. The Company's common shares trade on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol TUF.

The Company has secured a large land package in the historic Thunder Bay Silver District. Honey Badgers three properties, collectively known as the Thunder Bay Silver/Cobalt Camp are prospective for cobalt-rich silver mineralization similar to that of the Cobalt District. All properties are ideally located close to roads, power lines, infrastructure, and skilled labour force.

The Company has initiated exploration of the Thunder Bay Silver/Cobalt Camp and is currently conducing an airborne magnetic and electromagnetic geophysical survey. A diamond drilling program is planned this winter following geophysical analysis, geochemical analysis and historical data compilation.

For more information, please visit our website at http://www.honeybadgerexp.com.

Or contact:

Quentin Yarie, President & CEO, (416) 364-7029, qyarie@honeybadgerexp.com

or

Mia Boiridy, Investor Relations, (416) 364-7029, mboiridy@honeybadgerexp.com

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

This News Release contains forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as may, should, expects, plans, anticipates, believes, estimates, predicts, potential or continue or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. These statements are only predictions and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our or our industrys actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements.

Although the Company believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing the forward-looking information in this news release are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information, which only applies as of the date of this news release. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, other than as required by law.

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at

http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/d3170a4b-1ce4-4c94-8d8c-6581f763e919

http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/1371ef39-0698-402c-a482-37f2093add19
ANN ARBOR, Mich., Jan. 19, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kraig Biocraft Laboratories, Inc. (OTCQB:KBLB) (Company), the leading developer of spider silk based fibers, today announced that the Company succeeded in creating a new hybrid transgenic silkworm at its Michigan production facility. This is the first hybrid silkworm created at the new Michigan facility, which recently opened in October of 2017.



This is the first new hybrid line developed in conjunction with the Companys US Army contract and is the next step in its program to expand its commercial recombinant spider silk offerings. The new recombinant spider silk strain combines properties from one of the Companys best performing transgenics with a large commercial silkworm line, to produce larger cocoons and even stronger silk.

Creating our first hybrid in the new facility is a great moment for the Company, said Jon Rice, COO. The transgenic line that we used, as the base for this new hybrid, has been under development for some time. We are very eager to review the test results for this new line, as they come in. The opportunity to soon analyze its capabilities, once transformed into a commercial line, are very exciting.

To view the most recent edition of Kraigs Spider Sense quarterly newsletter and/or to sign up for Company alerts, please go to www.KraigLabs.com/newsletter.

About Kraig Biocraft Laboratories, Inc.

Kraig Biocraft Laboratories, Inc. (w), a fully reporting biotechnology company is the leading developer of genetically engineered spider silk based fiber technologies. The Company has achieved a series of scientific breakthroughs in the area of spider silk technology with implications for the global textile industry.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward Looking Information

Statements in this press release about the Companys future and expectations other than historical facts are forward-looking statements. These statements are made on the basis of managements current views and assumptions. As a result, there can be no assurance that managements expectations will necessarily come to pass. These forward-looking statements generally can be identified by phrases such as believes, plans, expects, anticipates, foresees, estimated, hopes, if, develops, researching, research, pilot, potential, could or other words or phrases of similar import. Forward looking statements include descriptions of the Companys business strategy, outlook, objectives, plans, intentions and goals. All such forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any security.



Ben Hansel, Hansel Capital, LLC

(720) 288-8495

ir@KraigLabs.com
Dublin, Jan. 19, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Growth Opportunities in the Global 3D Printer Market" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



The global 3D printer market is expected to reach an estimated $4.2 billion by 2022, and it is forecast to grow at a CAGR of 12.8% from 2017 to 2022.



The future of the global 3D printer market looks promising with opportunities in consumer products, healthcare, automotive, and aerospace industries. The major drivers for the growth of this market are ease in development of customized parts, prototyping, product designing, and concept modeling.



Emerging trends which have a direct impact on the dynamics of the industry include increasing use of multi-material and multi-color printers, use of delta configuration in printers, and adoption of 3D printing technology in architectural models.



A total of 124 figures / charts and 98 tables are provided in this 183-page report to help in your business decisions.



The study includes the 3D printer market size and forecast for the global 3D printer market through 2022 by product type, technology, end use, and region, as follows:



3D Printer Market by Product Type [Value ($ Million) from 2011 to 2022]:

Desktop/Personal Printers

Industrial/Professional Printers

3D Printer Market by Technology [Value ($ Million) from 2011 to 2022]:

Stereolithography

Selective Laser Sintering

Electron Beam Melting

Fused Deposition Modeling

Laminated Object Manufacturing

Others

3D Printer Market by End Use [Value ($ Million) from 2011 to 2022]:

Consumer Products

Healthcare

Automotive

Aerospace

Others

Stratasys, EOS GmbH, 3D Systems, SLM, and Voxeljet are among the major suppliers of 3D printers.



On the basis of comprehensive research, the researcher forecasts that the industrial/professional printer segment is expected to show above average growth during the forecast period.



Within the global 3D printer market, the industrial/professional printers segment is expected to remain the largest segment. Higher efficiency of industrial/professional printers in terms of time and cost is expected to result in significant growth of the industrial/professional printer segment.



North America is expected to remain the largest market during the forecast period mainly due to its well-developed industrial infrastructure and technological advancement in various applications such as automotive, consumer products, aerospace, and healthcare industries.



Key Topics Covered:



1. Executive Summary



2. Market Background and Classifications

2.1: Introduction, Background, and Classifications

2.2: Supply Chain

2.3: Industry Drivers and Challenges



3. Market Trends and Forecast Analysis from 2011 to 2022

3.1: Macroeconomic Trends and Forecast

3.2: Global 3D Printer Market Trends and Forecast

3.3: Global 3D Printer Market by Type

3.3.1: Desktop/Personal Printers

3.3.2: Industrial/Professional Printers

3.4: Global 3D Printer Market by Technology

3.4.1: Stereolithography

3.4.2: Selective Laser Sintering

3.4.3: Electron Beam Melting

3.4.4: Fused Deposition Modeling

3.4.5: Laminated Object Manufacturing

3.4.6: Others

3.5: Global 3D Printer Market by End Use

3.5.1: Consumer Products

3.5.2: Healthcare

3.5.3: Automotive

3.5.4: Aerospace

3.5.5: Others



4. Market Trends and Forecast Analysis by Region from 2011 to 2022

4.1: Global 3D Printer Market by Region

4.2: North American 3D Printer Market

4.2.1: Market by Type: Desktop/Personal and Industrial/Professional 3D Printers

4.2.2: Market by Technology: Stereolithography, Selective Laser Sintering, Electron Beam Melting, Fused Deposition Modeling, Laminated Object Manufacturing, and Others

4.2.3: Market by End Use: Consumer Products, Healthcare, Automotive, Aerospace, and Others

4.2.4: The United States 3D Printer Market

4.2.5: The Canadian 3D Printer Market

4.2.6: The Mexican 3D Printer Market

4.3: European 3D Printer Market

4.3.1: Market by Type: Desktop/Personal and Industrial/Professional 3D Printers

4.3.2: Market by Technology: Stereolithography, Selective Laser Sintering, Electron Beam Melting, Fused Deposition Modeling, Laminated Object Manufacturing, and Others

4.3.3: Market by End Use: Consumer Products, Healthcare, Automotive, Aerospace, and Others.

4.3.4: The German 3D Printer Market

4.3.5: The French 3D Printer Market

4.3.6: 3D Printer Market of the United Kingdom

4.3.7: The Italian 3D Printer Market

4.3.8: The Spanish 3D Printer Market

4.4: APAC 3D Printer Market

4.4.1: Market by Type: Desktop/Personal and Industrial/Professional 3D Printers

4.4.2: Market by Technology: Stereolithography, Selective Laser Sintering, Electron Beam Melting, Fused Deposition Modeling, Laminated Object Manufacturing, and Others

4.4.3: Market by End Use: Consumer Products, Healthcare, Automotive, Aerospace, and Others

4.4.4: Japanese 3D Printer Market

4.4.5: The Chinese 3D Printer Market

4.4.6: Indian 3D Printer Market

4.5: ROW 3D Printer Market

4.5.1: Market by Type: Desktop/Personal and Industrial/Professional 3D Printers

4.5.2: Market by Technology: Stereolithography, Selective Laser Sintering, Electron Beam Melting, Fused Deposition Modeling, Laminated Object Manufacturing, and Others

4.5.3: Market by End Use: Consumer Products, Healthcare, Automotive, Aerospace, and Others

4.5.4: Brazilian 3D Printer Market



5. Competitor Analysis

5.1: Product Portfolio Analysis

5.2: Market Share Analysis

5.3: Operational Integration

5.4: Geographical Reach

5.5: Porter's Five Forces Analysis



6. Cost Structure Analysis

6.1: Cost of Goods Sold

6.2: SG&A

6.3: EBITDA Margin



7. Growth Opportunities and Strategic Analysis

7.1: Growth Opportunity Analysis

7.1.1: Growth Opportunities for the Global 3D Printer Market by Type

7.1.2: Growth Opportunities for the Global 3D Printer Market by Technology

7.1.3: Growth Opportunities for the Global 3D Printer Market by End Use

7.1.4: Growth Opportunities for the Global 3D Printer Market by Region

7.2: Emerging Trends in the Global 3D Printer Market

7.3: Strategic Analysis

7.3.1: New Product Development

7.3.2: Capacity Expansions in the Global 3D Printer Market

7.3.3: Mergers, Acquisitions and Joint Ventures in the Global 3D Printer Market

7.3.4: Certification and Licensing

7.3.5: Technology Development



8. Company Profiles of Leading Players

8.1: 3D Systems

8.2: Stratasys

8.3: ExOne Co.

8.4: Hewlett-Packard

8.5: EOS GmbH

8.6: Arcam AB

8.7: SLM Solutions



For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/m3x6xd/global_3d_printer?w=12




CALGARY, Alberta, Jan. 19, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Technology innovators, industry leaders and experts from around the world will come together to attend INVENTURE$ June 6 to 8, 2018 in Calgary. The inaugural innovation event takes place at the Calgary Telus Convention Centre and is an initiative of Alberta Innovates (AI) the provinces largest research and innovation agency.

More than 150 speakers and industry leaders in big data, lean start-up and global research will contribute their expertise in research, innovation, commercialization, capital access, and entrepreneurship. Confirmed speakers to date include:

Dr. Alan Bernstein President & CEO of CIFAR and Officer of the Order of Canada, a recipient of the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame award, and recipient of the 2017 Henry Friesen International Prize in Health Research

Andrew Hyde founder of Startup Weekend which has reached half a million participants and 162 countries around the world

Adam Berk a faculty member with Lean Startup Co. and a lead mentor and external board member of Google Launchpad Accelerator

Cathy Han CEO & Co-founder of 42 Technologies, a Y Combinator-backed big data company

Laura Kilcrease CEO of Alberta Innovates and widely recognized as one of the key figures in changing Austins economic landscape from one struggling with the economic ups and downs that come with oil dependence to a high-tech environment

Hubert Zajicek CEO & Co-founder of Health Wildcatters, a nationally ranked healthcare seed fund & accelerator

Jonathan Gottfried co-founder of Major League Hacking, the official student hackathon league

Sean Sheppard is the #2 ranked sales influencer as co-founder of Silicon Valley based Seed-Stage Venture Capital Fund and Market Development Accelerator GrowthX and GrowthX Academy

Greg Horowitt  Best-selling author, Director of Innovation at the University of California and Managing Partner at Kai Capital. 25+ years working in startups, venture capital, and is one of the pioneers in the field of innovation ecosystems.

Dr. Robyn Metcalfe, Visiting Scholar and Lecturer in the College of Natural Science at The University of Texas at Austin is also the Director of Food+City, an innovative project that explores the future of our food system.

Randy Thompson, Chairman and CEO of Valhalla Private Capital, active in the start-up venture space for 25 years as a builder of companies, angel investor, angel group leader and fund manager.

Brian Lang and Energizing Health connect early stage health startups with large, established healthcare organizations

Charlie Key CEO of Losant who has helped some of the world's largest companies evolve their IoT strategies

Guenter Clar a consultant who has worked with academia, industry, government and international organisations in research and innovation, economic strategies, policies, and investments

Chris Shipley a technology industry journalist, analyst, event producer and startup mentor.

Backgrounder INVENTURE$ 2018



INVENTURE$ will bring research, innovation, capital access, commercialization, experiential learning and entrepreneurial communities together. The unique conference experience will attract venture capitalists, angel investors, early adopters, startups, business educators, service providers and more from Alberta and around the world. Themes for INVENTURE$ include: health, clean energy (emissions reductions, water), food and fiber (forestry, agriculture, biotech), sensoring, artificial intelligence, Internet of Things (IoT), construction building, autonomous vehicles, gaming/software/ICT, nanotechnology and omics (genomics, etc.). The Main Stage component will feature high-profile keynotes, executive panel discussions and major announcements. Interactive Break-out Sessions will provide opportunities to connect one-on-one and collaborate with like-minded influencers. An Innovator Showcase will host live pitch events and a Youth Entrepreneurs Showcase will display the best in student innovation, technology and business success.

Media inquiries may be directed to:

Bruce Marpole

Communications and Marketing

Alberta Innovates

780-490-8907

bruce.marpole[at]albertainnovates.ca



Alberta Innovates



Alberta Innovates is a provincially-funded Corporation with a mandate to deliver 21st century solutions for the most compelling challenges facing Albertans. We do this by building on our provinces research and technology development strengths in the core sectors of health, environment, energy, food and fibre and platforms such as artificial intelligence, nanotechnology, and omics. We are working with our partners to diversify Albertas economy, improve our environmental performance and enhance our well-being through research and innovation.
English Finnish

SATO Corporation, Press release, 19th Jan 2018 at 2:00 pm

SATO sells all the shares in SATO HotelHome Ltd to Majoituspalvelu Forenom Oy. There are a total of 195 furnished SATO HotelHome apartments, with most of these in central locations in Helsinki's Kamppi and Kruununhaka districts and in Tapiola, Espoo. The parties aim for the transaction to be closed on 1 February 2018.

According to SATO President and CEO Saku Sipola, as the accommodation service market leader Forenom is excellently equipped to achieve growth in the HotelHome business.

- HotelHome has been an interesting business area for us, but it has, however, remained rather small. Major efforts would be required to increase and develop the operations. We compared the various options available and decided that the best solution is to find such a new owner for the HotelHome business that specialises in shorter-term accommodation services. The HotelHome buildings will remain in SATO's ownership and will be rented by Forenom under long-term lease agreements. I believe our cooperation with Forenom will also grow in the future, says Sipola.

Following the transaction, SATO will focus on developing its rental housing provision as well as diverse housing solutions and new housing services for consumers in growing cities.

Forenom CEO Johannes Kangas points out that the demand for furnished apartments is supported by current trends as people are increasingly mobile and the need for flexible solutions adaptable to a variety of situations is growing.

- We're excited and proud of the confidence placed in us. SATO's HotelHome is a well-managed business and SATO's excellent housing stock enables us to serve our customers even more flexibly and extensively. An added plus is that six solid property business professionals will be joining our company, says Kangas.

For more information please contact:

SATO Corporation

Saku Sipola, President and CEO

Phone: +358 40 551 5953, saku.sipola@sato.fi



Majoituspalvelu Forenom Oy

Johannes Kangas, CEO

Phone: +358 40 5721421, johannes.kangas@forenom.fi

SATO Corporation is one of Finland's leading rental housing providers. SATO aims to offer a comprehensive choice of rental housing and an excellent customer experience. At year-end 2016 SATO owned around 25,300 apartments in Finland's largest growth centres and in St Petersburg.

We promote sustainable development and initiative through our operations and work in open interaction with our stakeholders to generate added value. We operate profitably and with a long-term view. We increase the value of our housing assets through investments, divestments and repairs.

In accordance with the new reporting practice*, the SATO Group's net sales in 2016 were EUR 263.0 million, operating profit EUR 267.2 million and profit before taxes EUR 219.4 million. The value of SATO's investment assets is roughly 3.4 billion. *Net sales have been adjusted in accordance with the new reporting practice.

Established in 2000 in Finland, Majoituspalvelu Forenom Oy is the Nordic region's leading corporate housing provider. Forenom's offering includes more than 5,000 furnished apartments and aparthotel and hostel rooms around the Nordic countries.
TORONTO, Jan. 19, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Over 50 protests are taking place today at Tim Hortons locations across the country as part of a National Day of Action Against the Cuts. The national protests are in response to Tim Hortons clawing back workers benefits, paid breaks and other perks as a result of the minimum wage increase in Ontario.



The actions are organized by advocacy group Leadnow and the Fight for $15 & Fairness Campaign. They are calling on Tim Hortons parent company Restaurant Brands International (RBI) to take whatever steps necessary to reverse the cuts and ensure the wages and working conditions of Tim Hortons employees are fully protected.

Its shameful that Tim Hortons has done nothing to stop the attacks on the workers that have made the company billions of dollars, said Fair Economy Campaigner Brittany Smith. The outrage on the streets today is a warning to Tim Hortons: step in to protect your workers or say goodbye to your customers."

After the cuts facing Tim Hortons workers were revealed, Leadnow launched a petition calling for workers protections, which has almost 20,000 signatures so far. The Fight for $15 & Fairness quickly mobilized actions at Tim Hortons locations across Ontario last week and on Monday, staged a flash mob outside of RBIs headquarters in Oakville, ON. Now, the two groups have harnessed national outrage stretching from Halifax to Vancouver with snap actions in most major towns and cities.

Restaurant Brands International publicly denounced the clawbacks to workers, but Leadnow and the Fight for $15 & Fairness say thats nowhere near enough  they want to see concrete action taken.

The changes in Ontarios labour laws were intended to make life a bit better for workers, said Deena Ladd, Coordinator of the Workers Action Centre. That this wildly profitable company would rather squeeze workers than share a small portion of their massive profit is sickening. We simply cant stand by and let this happen. Our movement is growing and we wont stop until Tim Hortons makes it right.

You can find the full list of actions here: https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/2016.leadnow.ca/National+Event+List.pdf

Media opportunities on-site with Leadnows Fair Economy Campaigner, Brittany Smith and Deena Ladd from Fight for $15 and Fairness are available at 700 University Ave, Toronto starting at 1 p.m.

Media contacts:

Brittany Smith, Fair Economy Campaigner, Leadnow

brittany@leadnow.ca

416-841-4325

or

Nil Sendil, Communications Coordinator, Fight for $15 & Fairness

info@15andfairness.org

647-710-5795

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/f661a7ac-0ff8-414b-bb9e-4b731f8f0929
TORONTO, Jan. 19, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- BlackRock Asset Management Canada Limited (BlackRock Canada), an indirect, wholly-owned subsidiary of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK), today announced the January 2018 cash distributions for the iShares ETFs listed on the TSX which pay on a monthly basis. Unitholders of record of a fund on January 26, 2018 will receive cash distributions payable in respect of that fund on January 31, 2018.

Details regarding the per unit distribution amounts are as follows:

Fund Name Fund Ticker Cash Distribution Per Unit ($) iShares Balanced Income CorePortfolio Index ETF CBD 0.061 CBD.A 0.040 iShares 1-10 Year Laddered Corporate Bond Index ETF CBH 0.058 CBH.A 0.049 iShares Balanced Growth CorePortfolio Index ETF CBN 0.037 CBN.A 0.019 iShares 1-5 Year Laddered Corporate Bond Index ETF CBO 0.042 CBO.A 0.033 iShares S&P/TSX Canadian Dividend Aristocrats Index ETF CDZ 0.075 CDZ.A 0.054 iShares Equal Weight Banc & Lifeco ETF CEW 0.027 CEW.A 0.0325 iShares U.S. High Yield Fixed Income Index ETF (CAD-Hedged) CHB 0.090 CHB.A 0.080 iShares 1-5 Year Laddered Government Bond Index ETF CLF 0.040 CLF.A 0.032 iShares 1-10 Year Laddered Government Bond Index ETF CLG 0.047 CLG.A 0.038 iShares S&P/TSX Canadian Preferred Share Index ETF CPD 0.051 CPD.A 0.045 iShares Short Duration High Income ETF (CAD-Hedged) CSD 0.076 CSD.A 0.067 iShares US Dividend Growers Index ETF (CAD-Hedged) CUD 0.059 CUD.A 0.031 iShares Convertible Bond Index ETF CVD 0.074 CVD.A 0.064 iShares Global Monthly Dividend Index ETF (CAD-Hedged) CYH 0.053 CYH.A 0.041 Dynamic iShares Active Tactical Bond ETF DXB 0.042 Dynamic iShares Active Canadian Dividend ETF DXC 0.040 Dynamic iShares Active Crossover Bond ETF DXO 0.057 Dynamic iShares Active Preferred Shares ETF DXP 0.072 iShares Canadian Financial Monthly Income ETF FIE 0.040 FIE.A 0.040 iShares Core Canadian Universe Bond Index ETF XBB 0.074 iShares Canadian Corporate Bond Index ETF XCB 0.054 iShares Core MSCI Global Quality Dividend Index ETF XDG 0.045 iShares Core MSCI Global Quality Dividend Index ETF (CAD-Hedged) XDGH 0.045 iShares Core MSCI Canadian Quality Dividend Index ETF XDIV 0.077 iShares Core MSCI US Quality Dividend Index ETF XDU 0.044 iShares Core MSCI US Quality Dividend Index ETF (CAD-Hedged) XDUH 0.047 iShares Canadian Select Dividend Index ETF XDV 0.084 iShares J.P. Morgan USD Emerging Markets Bond Index ETF (CAD-Hedged) XEB 0.067 iShares S&P/TSX Composite High Dividend Index ETF XEI 0.082 iShares S&P/TSX Capped Financials Index ETF XFN 0.093 iShares Floating Rate Index ETF XFR 0.022 iShares Canadian Government Bond Index ETF XGB 0.042 iShares Canadian HYBrid Corporate Bond Index ETF XHB 0.069 iShares U.S. High Dividend Equity Index ETF (CAD-Hedged) XHD 0.065 iShares U.S. High Dividend Equity Index ETF XHU 0.052 iShares U.S. High Yield Bond Index ETF (CAD-Hedged) XHY 0.089 iShares U.S. IG Corporate Bond Index ETF (CAD-Hedged) XIG 0.055 iShares Core Canadian Long Term Bond Index ETF XLB 0.069 iShares S&P/TSX North American Preferred Stock Index ETF (CAD-Hedged) XPF 0.070 iShares High Quality Canadian Bond Index ETF XQB 0.043 XQB.A 0.033 iShares S&P/TSX Capped REIT Index ETF XRE 0.068 iShares Core Canadian Short Term Bond Index ETF XSB 0.054 iShares Conservative Short Term Strategic Fixed Income ETF XSC 0.044 iShares Conservative Strategic Fixed Income ETF XSE 0.053 iShares Core Canadian Short Term Corporate + Maple Bond Index ETF XSH 0.046 iShares Short Term Strategic Fixed Income ETF XSI 0.049 iShares Short Term High Quality Canadian Bond Index ETF XSQ 0.033 iShares Diversified Monthly Income ETF XTR 0.050 iShares S&P/TSX Capped Utilities Index ETF XUT 0.075

Estimated January Cash Distributions for the iShares Premium Money Market ETF

The January cash distributions per unit for the iShares Premium Money Market ETF are estimated to be as follows:

Fund Name Fund Ticker Estimated Cash Distribution Per Unit ($) iShares Premium Money Market ETF CMR 0.037 CMR.A 0.026

BlackRock Canada expects to issue a press release on or about January 25, 2018, which will provide the final amounts for the iShares Premium Money Market ETF.

Further information on the iShares Funds can be found at http://www.blackrock.com/ca .

About BlackRock

BlackRock helps investors build better financial futures. As a fiduciary to our clients, we provide the investment and technology solutions they need when planning for their most important goals. As of December 31, 2017, the firm manages approximately US$6.288 trillion in assets on behalf of investors worldwide. For additional information on BlackRock, please visit www.blackrock.com/ca | Twitter: @BlackRockCA | Blog: www.blackrockblog.com/can

About iShares ETFs

iShares is a global leader in exchange-traded funds (ETFs), with more than a decade of expertise and commitment to individual and institutional investors of all sizes. With over 800 funds globally across multiple asset classes and strategies and more than US$1.5 trillion in assets under management as of December 31, 2017, iShares helps clients around the world build the core of their portfolios, meet specific investment goals and implement market views. iShares funds are powered by the expert portfolio and risk management of BlackRock, trusted to manage more money than any other investment firm1.

1 Based on US$6.288 trillion in AUM as of 12/31/17

iShares ETFs are managed by BlackRock Asset Management Canada Limited.

Commissions, trailing commissions, management fees and expenses all may be associated with investing in iShares ETFs. Please read the relevant prospectus before investing. The funds are not guaranteed, their values change frequently and past performance may not be repeated. Tax, investment and all other decisions should be made, as appropriate, only with guidance from a qualified professional.

Contact for Media:

Julia Koene

T  416-643-4010

Email: Julia.Koene@blackrock.com
WILMINGTON, Del., Jan. 19, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Acorn Energy, Inc. (OTCQB:ACFN), announced today that it has reached an agreement to sell its remaining 41.15% interest in DSIT Solutions Ltd. for $5.8 million, before fees and taxes, to an Israeli investor group. The sale of the DSIT stake represents one of the final steps in refocusing Acorn on the long-term growth potential of its OmniMetrix wireless remote monitoring and control services for gas pipelines and stand-by generators for cell towers, medical facilities, data centers, public transportation systems and other facilities. The transaction is expected to close within about 30 days, subject to specific closing conditions, including approval of the Israeli Antitrust Authority.

DSIT Solutions provides underwater sonar and acoustic detection systems and is 50% owned by Israel-based Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd. DSIT generated revenues of $17.9 million in the latest-twelve-month period ended September 30, 2017.

Acorn CEO Jan Loeb commented, Concluding a two-year restructuring effort, we have executed an agreement to complete Acorns transformation from an undercapitalized, diversified holding company with negative operating cash flow, to a focused leader in the growing market for the remote monitoring and control of industrial assets with a solid balance sheet.

Proceeds from the sale will be used to eliminate Acorns debt, satisfy liabilities and provide working capital. Following the transaction, we expect to have approximately $2 million of cash, which we believe is sufficient to fund the operations of Acorn and OmniMetrix for the foreseeable future. We plan to update our shareholders in greater detail on our financial positon and growth strategy following the closing of the DSIT sale.

About Acorn ( www.acornenergy.com )

Acorn Energy, Inc. is a holding company with investments in two portfolio companies:

OmniMetrix, Inc. ( www.omnimetrix.net ) - is a leader and pioneer in machine-to-machine (M2M) and Internet of Things (IoT) wireless remote monitoring and control for stand-by generators, gas pipelines, cell towers, medical facilities, data centers, public transportation systems, and other critical equipment, including at federal, state and municipal government facilities. OmniMetrix is a proven solution for making critical systems more reliable with thousands of monitored assets and many Fortune 500 customers. Acorn has an 80% equity stake in OmniMetrix and consolidates its assets, liabilities and results of operations.

DSIT Solutions Ltd. ( www.dsit.co.il ) - develops and produces sonar applications for defense, HLS, energy and commercial markets. DSIT employs a world-class multi-disciplinary professional team skilled in the latest sonar and real-time technologies. Products include: The Shield family of Diver Detection Sonars, Anti-Submarine Warfare and Hull Mounted Sonar systems, Portable Acoustic Ranges, Underwater Acoustic Signal Analysis applications and sonar simulators and trainers. Acorn has a 41.15% equity stake in DSIT that it accounts for under the equity method.

Safe Harbor Statement

This press release includes forward-looking statements, which are subject to risks and uncertainties. There is no assurance that Acorn will be successful in completing this transaction; growing its business; reaching profitability; or maximizing the value of its operating companies and other assets. A complete discussion of the risks and uncertainties, which may affect Acorn Energys business, including the businesses of its subsidiaries is included in Risk Factors in the Companys most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K as filed by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Investor Relations Contacts:

William Jones, 267-987-2082

David Collins, 212-924-9800

Catalyst IR

acfn@catalyst-ir.com
New York, Jan. 19, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Management Files Second Quarter Results and Files New Corporate Presentation

Hispanica International, Inc. (OTCQB: HISP) (the Company), a brand accelerator focused on exotic brands in the alternative beverage and snack industry, has released its latest Corporate Presentation and CEOs Letter to Shareholders. Below are some of the highlights:

During 2017, Hispanica International, Inc. (HISP), dba Hispanica International Delights of America, Inc, achieved the following milestones:

Paid off two Convertible Debt Notes with institutional investors, and prevented dilution from convertibility, which would have otherwise occurred. Acquired the Victorias Kitchen Brand, a SharkTank featured company, to enhance our product offerings to a higher end segment. Generated over $1M in the first quarter of our current fiscal year, our highest quarter to date. Showed a 17% gain in revenues in the recent second quarter from the comparable quarter a year ago. Signed a purchase agreement to acquire The Giant Beverage Company, Inc. in our home territory of New York City. The final stages of the Giant audit are being completed. Our goal with the Giant acquisition is to double the size of our business and provide additional growth opportunities. Engaged a new marketing team to finalize our current product developments as well as revamping our social media outlets, including our website.

HISP will continue its efforts to seek the best opportunities to enhance shareholder value by driving more revenues through our existing businesses as well as striving to achieve a positive EBIDTA within the current calendar year.

For more information, please read the 8K filed with the SEC on January 19, 2018 or download the New Corporate Presentation at https://www.hispanicainternational.com/pages/investor-relations

About Hispanica International, Inc.

Hispanic International, Inc. (HISP) is a public company founded in 2013. Formed as an ethnic food and beverage company, HISP has leveraged innovation to re-shift its focus into a brand accelerator with the goal of expanding its portfolio of all-natural exotic flavored beverage and snack brands. The HISP accelerator backs beverage/snack companies, which it can acquire, by building a proprietary distribution platform to enhance its own brands and position them for mass market entry.

Based in New York, HISP plans to continue investing in companies focused primarily in the beverage sector, while adding snacks to their portfolio over time. HISP will continue to focus on all-natural exotic flavors, as well as health and wellness-related products, consumer snacking, grocery and health trends. HISP will continue to accelerate beverage and snack companies at different stages, from start-ups to established brands.

HISP is also committed in building long-term relationships with its consumers by offering superior, high quality products at competitive prices. HISP is headquartered in New York and currently has distribution operations in New York City Tri-State Region, Washington DC Metro Area, as well as in Los Angeles and the Northern California Region.

For more information on Hispanica International, Inc. please visit

https://www.hispanicainternational.com

SAFE HARBOR ACT

Forward-Looking Statements: This release contains statements that constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These statements appear in a number of places in this release and include all statements that are not statements of historical fact. The words may, would, will, expect, estimate, can, believe, potential and similar expressions and variations thereof are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned that any such forward-looking, are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the Companys ability to control, and actual results may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors. No information in this press release or the Corporate Presentation should be construed in any way whatsoever as an indication of Hispanicas future revenues, financial performance or stock price. More information about the potential factors that could affect the business and financial results is and will be included in the Companys filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission at www.sec.gov.

Investors and Corporate Relations

Please Contact: corporaterelations@hidainc.com

info@hida.com

1(866) 928-5070
CALGARY, Alberta, Jan. 19, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Serinus Energy Inc. (Serinus, SEN or the Company) (TSX:SEN)(WARSAW:SEN), announces that Mr. Trevor Rath has tendered his resignation as VP, Operations of the Company to pursue other opportunities. The resignation is effective immediately. The Company thanks Mr. Rath for his service and wishes him success in his future endeavours.



About Serinus

Serinus is an international upstream oil and gas exploration and production company that owns and operates projects in Tunisia and Romania.

For further information, please refer to the Serinus website ( www.serinusenergy.com ) or contact the following:

Serinus Energy Inc.

Calvin Brackman

Vice President, External Relations & Strategy

Tel.: +1-403-264-8877

cbrackman@serinusenergy.com Serinus Energy Inc.

Jeffrey Auld

Chief Executive Officer

Tel.: +1-403-264-8877

jauld@serinusenergy.com

Translation: This news release has been translated into Polish from the English original.
LONDON, Jan. 19, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Mooreland Partners (www.moorelandpartners.com), the leading independent investment bank providing M&A and private capital advisory services to the global technology industry, today announced that it acted as the exclusive financial advisor to Hungary-based Balabit in its sale to leading Texas-based security software vendor One Identity, a Quest Software business. The transaction was publicly announced and closed on January 17, 2018.

"This transaction is yet another example of how technology leaders are scanning the globe for best-in-class people and products, said Peter Globokar, Managing Director at Mooreland Partners. Mooreland brought in its deep domain expertise in information security as well as tried and tested transatlantic transaction execution skills to make this transaction happen," added Brad Topchik, co-head of Mooreland Partners global Enterprise Software banking practice.

Balabit is a leading provider of Privileged Access Management (PAM) and Log Management solutions that help businesses reduce the risk of data breaches associated with privileged accounts. Solutions include Privileged Session Management, Privileged Account Analytics and Log Management, which together help organizations prevent, detect and respond to cyber attacks involving privileged accounts, including both insider threats and external attacks using hijacked credentials. Balabits global customer base of more than 600 organizations spans over 90 countries and more than 1,000,000 corporate users.

Founded in 2000, Balabit is a privately-held company backed notably by C5 Capital, a leading venture and private equity investor in the European cybersecurity and wider software ecosystem. The company, based in Budapest, Hungary, also has operations in the United States, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, and Luxembourg. More information at www.balabit.com

One Identity, a Quest Software business headquartered in Austin, Texas, offers a broad portfolio of identity and access management (IAM) solutions including identity governance, access management, privileged management, and identity as a service. More than 7,500 customers worldwide use One Identity solutions to manage more than 125 million identities, enhancing organizational agility and efficiency while securing access to data -- wherever it might reside. More information at www.oneidentity.com

Quest Software, backed by global investor Francisco Partners, is one the worlds most recognizable brands in IT Management and security software with solutions spanning information management, data protection, endpoint systems management, identity and access management, and Microsoft platform management. More than 100,000 customers globally rely on Quest to manage and protect critical IT functions. www.quest.com

ABOUT MOORELAND PARTNERS

Founded in 2002, Mooreland Partners is a leading independent investment bank providing M&A and private capital advisory services to the global technology industry, serving clients from its offices in London, New York, and Silicon Valley. Mooreland's team of over 50 professionals delivers industry domain and transaction expertise across all major technology sectors including industrial technology and electronics, enterprise software, mobile, digital media, consumer, e-commerce and fintech. Learn more at www.moorelandpartners.com; read our blog.

All trademarks contained herein are the property of their respective owners.

Attachments:

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/747ef84b-9cdd-4ad5-874e-6c7f7b59c7ac

Attachments:

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/f0df6baa-22ae-446f-a913-1f4cb8263745
TORONTO, Jan. 19, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today, across Canada, rallies are being held at more than 40 Tim Hortons locations from Nova Scotia to Vancouver to tell RBI Inc., the parent company of Tim Hortons, that it must take action to guarantee fair work for its employees.



Following widespread revelations that Tim Hortons workers were losing paid breaks and benefits in response Ontarios increase to the minimum wage, the labour movement, community organizations, and the broader public mobilized to protest the rollbacks.

This National Day of Action in support of Tim Hortons workers is organized by the Ontario Federation of Labour, which represents 54 unions across Ontario, the Canadian Labour Congress representing unions across Canada, and the Fight for $15 and Fairness, a community, faith, student, and labour-based network that launched the fight for a $15 minimum wage and other improvements in employment law.

Whether a job is in Vancouver or Edmonton or Toronto, there needs to be fairness in the workplace. RBI can regulate everything from its royalty fees to the price of sugar. They can certainly make it company policy to offer paid breaks and restore the other rollbacks, said Ontario Federation of Labour President Chris Buckley, Communities across Canada are sending the message that the labour movement stands with these workers.

The message from Tim Hortons seems to be that workers have no choice but to accept unfair wages, and if they or anyone tries to change that theyll be punished, said Canadian Labour Congress President Hassan Yussuff. Canadas unions have their own message for all employers: If your business model depends on your workers living in poverty, you need a new business model.

When the government agreed to raise the minimum wage and improve employment standards in this province, the intent was to ensure that workers in precarious employment would be better off. It is a cruel tactic indeed to implement clawbacks that leave workers worse off financially, said Deena Ladd, coordinator of the Workers Action Centre. "We will not stop until Tim Hortons does right by its employees.

Daniel Schwartz, CEO of Tim Hortons parent company (Restaurant Brands International), pockets more than $6 million annually in salary and perks. Over $350 million was dished out to shareholders last year.



To find a rally near you please click here.

For chants and more location information click here.

The CLC is the largest labour organization in Canada, bringing together 55 national and international unions, provincial and territorial federations of labour and community-based labour councils to represent 3.3 million workers.

The OFL represents 54 unions and one million workers in Ontario. For information, visit www.OFL.ca and follow @OFLabour on Facebook and Twitter.

The Fight for $15 & Fairness is a campaign supported by community, labour, health, student, and faith groups across Ontario, calling for sweeping reform to employment and labour laws. Central in the campaign is the demand for a $15 minimum wage for all workers, regardless of age, student status, job or area of work. For more information, visit 15andfairness.org or follow @fairwagesnow.

For further information:

Meagan Perry, Director of Communications, Ontario Federation of Labour

mperry@ofl.ca, 416-948-5720

Nil Sendil, Communications Coordinator, Fight for $15 & Fairness

info@15andfairness.org l 647-710-5795

Kerry Pither, National Director of Communications, Canadian Labour Congress

1-613-294-2203
NEW YORK, Jan. 19, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via OTC PR WIRE--On4 Communications, Inc. (OTC:ONCI) today announced it has signed an exclusive distribution contract with Cataclean Corp for all of Great Britain and Ireland for BsafeMobile.



CEO Steve Berman states, We are pleased to announce that we have signed a contract with Cataclean Corp to represent Bsafe Mobile Bfound Mobile and all other products we create in Great Britain and Ireland. Cataclean sells products to every auto parts store and every auto dealer in Great Britain and Ireland.. Cataclean is also a major sponsor of Motorsport in Europe. This contract is expected to bring in well over $1 million annually.

We are also pleased to announce that we have signed a contract with Penn Auto in New York. Penn is one of the highest rated Toyota dealers in New York Penn will take 65 units per month at $250 for a total of $16,250 per month and $195,000 per year.

As I have stated before we are in the perfect storm of the business cycle as our brands get more and more recognition. Everything is falling into place for 2018 and we now are truly a global company.

Along with additional major updates I will post the Cataclean contract next week, CEO Steve Berman concludes.

About On4 Communications

On4 is a holdings company with an aggressive focus of acquiring proven and profitable businesses. Our first project is focusing on businesses operating in the $1.7 trillion U.S. healthcare industry. Our newest targeted businesses are operating in the trillion-dollar mobile App space. Our first acquisition in the mobile App space is FMS Marketing a global creator and distributor of mobile Apps for Android and Iphones. We are also targeting businesses to acquire and joint venture with in the medical marijuana and emerging MJ ancillary products space.

Forward-Looking Statement

This release includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. All statements regarding our expected future financial position, results of operations, cash flows, financing plans, business strategy, products and services, competitive positions, growth opportunities, plans and objectives of management for future operations, as well as statements that include words such as "anticipate," "if," \"believe," "plan," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "could," "should," "will," and other similar expressions are forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements involve risks, uncertainties and contingencies, many of which are beyond our control, which may cause actual results, performance, or achievements, as described in our reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission which are available for review at www.sec.gov, to differ materially from anticipated results, performance, or achievements. We are under no obligation to (and expressly disclaim any such obligation to) update or alter our forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Steve Berman CEO



On4Company@gmail.com



(323) 487-0389
WESTCHESTER, Ill., January 19, 2018 - Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR), a leading global providerof ingredient solutions to diversified industries,has been named one of the World's Most Admired Companies for 2018 by FORTUNE Magazine. The list is a ranking of the world's most respected and reputable companies, as ranked by peers in their industry.

This marks the ninth consecutive year Ingredion has been included on the list; the Company ranks third in the food production category. The list of most admired companies is posted on FORTUNE's website and appears in the February print edition of FORTUNE Magazine, which will be available at newsstands on January 22.

"We are extremely proud to be listed among the world's most admired companies for the ninth year in a row. It's a great honor. We strive to be the company of choice for investors, customers and employees alike, and this recognition acknowledges our efforts," said Jim Zallie, chief executive officer of Ingredion. "We are grateful to all of our stakeholders, especially our employees, for their role and support that enables us to achieve this special recognition and for their contributions to our success," Zallie added.

To determine the best-regarded companies in 52 industries Korn Ferry, FORTUNE's partner, asked executives, directors, and analysts to rate enterprises in their own industry on nine criteria, from investment value and quality of management and products to social responsibility and ability to attract talent. A company's score must rank in the top half of its industry survey to be listed.

ABOUT THE COMPANY

Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE: INGR) is a leading global ingredient solutions provider. We turn grains, fruits, vegetables and other plant materials into value-added ingredients and biomaterial solutions for the food, beverage, paper and corrugating, brewing and other industries. Serving customers in over 100 countries, our ingredients make crackers crunchy, yogurts creamy, candy sweet, paper stronger and add fiber to nutrition bars. Visit Ingredion.com to learn more.

###

CONTACT:

Investors: Heather Kos, 708-551-2592

Media: Claire Regan, 708-551-2602
English French

OTTAWA, Jan. 19, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL), Canadas premier nuclear science and technology organization, and the Foundation for Student Science and Technology (FSST) are joining forces to launch a new series of national programs targeted to exceptional young people pursuing innovative careers in science, technology, engineering, arts, and math (STEAM). The goal is to help cultivate an innovative workforce essential for meeting the countrys economic needs for years to come.



It is widely recognized that future Canadian growth and prosperity will heavily depend on our ability to create and innovate, said Mark Lesinski, President and CEO, CNL. If we are to continue to compete and succeed globally, and maintain the quality and way of life to which we are accustomed, it is essential to build and grow a strong, capable STEAM-based workforce. The programs that we are launching are intended to help do just that.

These new programs will challenge our young people and provide some much needed support and encouragement as they consider career options in science, technology and innovation, said Jacques Guerette, Executive Director, FSST. In particular, they will help draw out and develop leadership qualities absolutely essential to future success.

Under the new partnership, two new programs are launching immediately.

The first program is a new publication that will inform, inspire and spark discussion aimed at encouraging women to pursue and sustain careers in science, technology and innovation. It will accomplish this by helping young women establish and build peer networks of support, encouragement and information and by serving as a compendium of formal and informal scientific and social research, development programs, and other work in this area.

Codenamed Project W, two issues are planned for the first year with the publishing frequency increasing in subsequent years. The inaugural issue of Project W will launch in the spring of 2018 and will be available in print and electronic formats. More details about the publication will be released later.

The career challenges for women in STEAM-disciplines are many, varied and reasonably well recognized, said Guerette. Project W is trying to help women tackle some of these challenges by creating a new platform that offers encouraging and pragmatic information, research and other useful resources.

Women are central to the global clean energy revolution. We will do better when women are fully represented in leadership roles - bringing cleaner, renewable energy onto the grid, accelerating innovation in clean energy technologies, encouraging energy efficiency and increasing our resilience to climate change, said the Honourable Jim Carr, Canadas Minister of Natural resources.

The second program - called The Grand Challenge for Discovery and Innovation - is a national competition intended to stretch and showcase the imagination and ingenuity of future leaders in science, technology and innovation. High school students (individuals or teams) from across the country will submit research proposals to a competitive, professional peer-review process designed to evaluate the quality of the research work.

Students with the highest-scoring proposals will have the opportunity to complete their research projects using the full range of facilities at CNLs Chalk River campus in Ontario and to formally publish their results in the Foundations peer-reviewed Journal of Student Science and Technology. From this pool, the highest-scoring individual or team will be awarded a significant scholarship to a Canadian university.

"Deep River, as the proud hometown of CNL, is looking forward to working with FSST and CNL as a partner in education. These new and exciting education opportunities will ensure inclusivity for young women, and encourage youth to explore, discover and pursue their passion for innovation and creativity. This really is an investment in developing our future leaders in science and innovation, adds Joan Lougheed, Mayor of Deep River.

Details of the Grand Challenge for Discovery and Innovation - including timelines, application process, evaluation criteria, research themes, and more  will be announced later.

About FSST

The Foundation for Student Science and Technology is a national not-for-profit organization dedicated to developing the career potential of exceptional high school, college and university students for leadership roles in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). The Foundation aims to cultivate tomorrows STEM leaders by advancing their early knowledge of career demands and challenges.

Programs include the award-winning Journal of Student Science and Technology, the Student Science and Technology Online Research Co-op, a national Ambassador Program, and more.

For more information, please visit www.fsst.ca or contact info@fsst.ca.

About CNL

Canadian Nuclear Laboratories is a world leader in nuclear science and technology offering unique capabilities and solutions across a wide range of industries. Actively involved with industry-driven research and development in nuclear, transportation, clean technology, energy, defence, security and life sciences, we provide solutions to keep these sectors competitive internationally.

With ongoing investments in new facilities and a focused mandate, Canadian Nuclear Laboratories is well positioned for the future. A new performance standard reinforced with a strong safety culture underscores every activity.

For more information on the complete range of Canadian Nuclear Laboratories services, please visit http://www.cnl.ca or contact communications@cnl.ca.

Contacts:



FSST CNL Jacques Guerette Patrick Quinn Executive Director Director, Corporate Communications 613 621-1044 1-866-886-2325 jacques.guerette@fsst.ca communications@cnl.ca

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/0ebadf03-6058-44c9-89ee-436c84eb5851
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M., Jan. 19, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Western Dermatology Consultants invites new CoolSculpting patients to an exclusive event to ring in the new year and educate patients on how they can achieve their body goals with a little help from CoolSculpting at its Albuquerque, NM, practice. The event will run from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Jan. 25, 2018.



At the New YearNew You! event, new patients can to learn more about the fat-freezing treatment and view a live demonstration of the procedure. While everyone is welcome to visit the practice, those who request an appointment for the day of the event will receive free consultations and VIP pricing on CoolSculpting treatment packages. Plus, everyone who receives a consultation will also be entered to win a free CoolSculpting cycle.

During each personalized consultation, the practices Body Sculptors, who are certified by CoolSculpting University, will discuss aesthetic goals before determining which treatments can best achieve them.

The practice prides itself on providing customized packages for each patient, rather than standardized, cookie-cutter approaches. Its providers recommend only those treatments they believe will yield the best possible results. As its spa is a medical-grade facility supervised by board-certified dermatologists, it offers much higher standards in treatment effectiveness than traditional or non-physician-supervised locations  without compromising safety or comfort.

In 2010, Western Dermatology became one of the first in the region to offer CoolSculpting from certified providers. Since then, its Body Sculptors have performed hundreds of successful treatments with high patient satisfaction.

Recognizing that everyone is shaped differently, Western Dermatologys providers can treat nearly any body part, as the practice owns every CoolSculpting applicator. Each is a different size and shape, to sculpt treatment zones proportionately and efficiently.

FDA-cleared areas for fat reduction include:

Abdomen

Flanks

Upper arms

Inner and outer thighs

Back (including bra fat)

Submentum, or chin and neck area

Banana rolls under the buttocks

At the end of 2017, the FDA also cleared CoolSculpting for tightening lax tissue while reducing fat in the submentum, making it one of the only FDA-cleared devices on the market that can do both.

The appearance of a double chin, which is said to concern about two-thirds of the American population, is caused by either fat deposits or lax, sagging skin  or even both, depending on individual patient genetics, weight fluctuations, or aging.

To attend the New YearNew You! event and book a free consultation, contact the practice online or by phone at 505-855-9267.

CONTACT

The Spa at Western Dermatology Consultants

http://www.westerndermatology.com/

505-855-9267

10151 Montgomery Blvd. NE, Suite A, Bldg. 1

Albuquerque, NM 87111
LOS ANGELES, CA, Jan. 19, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --

A nonprofit organization, working to develop a City-designated historic site in tribute to Japanese, Italian, German and other immigrants unjustly imprisoned during World War II, is pushing back against efforts to relocate their planned memorial.



The Tuna Canyon Detention Station Coalition (TCDSC) today issued a statement opposing a petition calling for the memorial to be moved from its historic location to an area across the street. Coalition spokesperson Nancy Oda emphasized that the proposed alternate location has no meaningful connection to the people and events that shape the Tuna Canyon Detention Station story. The developer Snowball West is trying to relocate our planned memorial and place it across the street, so that they can build 229 houses on the Tuna Canyon site. This recent petition is being circulated by a lobbyist in Little Tokyo and the Japanese community, stated June Berk, secretary and Board member of TCDSC.

In June 2013, the Los Angeles City Council unanimously voted to designate a one-acre parcel, distinguished by a grove of mature oak trees, as Historic Cultural Landmark No. 1039. In addition to a memorial plaque, the Coalition is considering the installation of hiking trail markers, other educational amenities, and perhaps a regional park intended to raise awareness about the areas historical significance.

When completed, Tuna Canyon will join other local, state, and federally designated World War II landmark sites, such as Manzanar, Tule Lake, Crystal City, Santa Fe, Ft. Missoula, and others in helping to transmit the lessons embodied in the preservation, interpretation, and education made possible through the power of place, according to Oda.

Oda points out that the Coalition has logged several accomplishments since it was formed nearly five years ago, among them:

Recognition by the National Park Service with two Japanese American Confinement Sites grants. Development and mounting of Only the Oaks Remain, a museum-quality, traveling exhibit bringing to light the treatment during World War II of Japanese, German and Italian immigrants, Japanese brought to the U.S. from Peru, and others. Establishment of The Legacy Project, a video collection designed to record and preserve the stories of Tuna Canyon prisoners through their descendants. Extensive, scholarly research including but not limited to the National Archives in Washington, D.C. to chronicle the archival records and events that helped shape the Tuna Canyon story.

STATEMENT BY TUNA CANYON DETENTION STATION COALITION

The Tuna Canyon Detention Station Coalition has recently learned that a group calling itself the Tuna Canyon Memorial Partnership is circulating a petition calling for a Tuna Canyon memorial to be located across the street from the actual site of the detention station. Please be aware that our organization is NOT connected to, and does NOT support, this petition in any way, shape or form. This petition is being circulated by someone working for the 229-unit housing project proposed for the historic site and not by any organization that is genuinely working on plans for an ON-SITE memorial and other public amenities in a regional park that would benefit the community and the City of Los Angeles. We are hoping that the owner will discuss selling the land at a fair market price to a public agency for these purposes.

In designating Tuna Canyon as an Historic-Cultural Monument (HCM) in 2013, the City Council asked for and fully intended that there be public access to the HCM site on La Tuna Canyon Road. They mandated the formation of a working group and instructed it through the Office of City Planning to...."explore appropriate ways to commemorate the historical and cultural significance of the site and strategies to secure resources to support the development of appropriate on-site interpretive displays, signage, markers and/or exhibits." The working group included representatives of the landowner and the community. They reached a consensus that there would be a publicly-accessible memorial on the site where the original detention station was located and that included the grove of oak trees, which existed at the time that the detention station was in operation.

The Tuna Canyon Detention Station Coalition continues to support this decision and believes this is the only appropriate site where a memorial should be located.

As June Berk, a TCDSC board member, has said: There is every reason why we should have a memorial on the ACTUAL site. It is the RIGHTFUL place to commemorate the men and women who suffered on these grounds. Just as the Manzanar Memorial was not built across the highway, or Heart Mountain, or Tule Lake built in a place close to or across the street, so too we believe that Tuna Canyon Historic-Cultural Monument needs to be built in its rightful place. That place is on the grounds where the men and women who suffered there looked out through the barbed wire to their visiting families. Those incarcerated there could not go outside the barbed wire to walk across the street. This is the rightful place to build a memorial park that will teach people that the indignities inflicted on the Japanese, Germans, and Italian immigrants, as well as Peruvians of Japanese descent and others, should never be repeated or forgotten.

In addition, James Okazaki, another TCDSC board member, has stated: The trees are living things. And they were witnesses to what happened at Tuna Canyon. The trees were there to see and hear the people who were detained at Tuna Canyon, and the trees heard the cries of family members who came to see them there. Therefore, those oak trees are part of and an important element of a Living Memorial about the history and legacy of the Tuna Canyon Detention Station. Thus, the Memorial must be on-site and not off-site, across the street.

The Tuna Canyon Detention Station Coalition is a nonprofit organization, established in 2013, to preserve the story of Tuna Canyon, and especially of the Japanese, German and Italian immigrants, Japanese taken from Peru, and others who were held there during World War II. It is the winner of two National Park Service Japanese American Confinement Sites grants, one to tell the story of Tuna Canyon through a traveling museum exhibit, Only the Oaks Remain, and the other to preserve the video histories of Tuna Canyon descendants through our The Legacy Project. The Tuna Canyon Detention Station Coalition has also undertaken extensive research on Tuna Canyon at the National Archives in Washington, D.C. and elsewhere.

We urge you NOT to SIGN this misleading Tuna Canyon Memorial Partnership petition, and we appreciate your continued support to preserve the history of Tuna Canyon at its rightful location.

DONT BE FOOLED!






Boulder City, Nevada, Jan. 19, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Department of the Interior's Bureau of Reclamation issued a notice that they are interested in replacing a cylinder gate stem in one intake tower at the Hoover Dam. The agency anticipates that the work will last about ten months and cost between $1 million and $5 million. Although, they are not prepared to award a contract at this time, they have a deadline of January 23, 2018 for capable businesses to declare their interest.

The Hoover Dam has four intake towers that control two cylinder gates each. The 360+ ft tall intake towers draw in the water from Lake Mead and the cylinder gates control the opening and closing of these towers. The gate stems undergo visual inspections on a rotating, yearly, basis however a recent, indepth inspection has not been conducted to determine the structural integrity of the components that make up the cylinder gates and gate stems.

To submit a declaration of interest in this solicitation businesses should be able to provide specific information to the agency. They would like to know the lead time to manufacture a new stem gate and see a presentation of the firms experience in similar projects (providing tubing diameters at least 200 ft in total assembly length. The actual length for this project would be greater than 300 ft.) They would also like to see a plan to verify the straightness of the completed gate stem. In addition to answering these questions, businesses should be properly registered in the governments database of contractors.

To become registered as a government contractor, businesses must complete the System for Award Management (SAM) registration. Proper North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code designation on the registration must match the NAICS code on the solicitation. Specific information, such as points of contact, DUNS number and any small-business classification if applicable must also be filled in on the SAM registration.

US Federal Contractor Registration (USFCR), the worlds largest third-party government registration firm, assists companies who would like to submit bids to the government. USFCRs expert case managers register companies on their behalf in SAM. This is a valuable tool for businesses who are capable of performing, but lack the resources for quick and accurate registration. USFCR keeps SAM registration compliant throughout the year and provides contract support so that a strong capability statement can be written and posed to a government-formatted website. Since this phase of the Hoover Dam solicitation is all about capability statements, USFCR can help businesses strongly declare interest in the work.
ATLANTA, Jan. 19, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- WestRock Company (NYSE:WRK) announced today that it has been named to FORTUNE magazines annual list of Worlds Most Admired Companies for the third consecutive year.



WestRock ranked second among companies in the packaging and container industry, up two spots from 2017.

The Worlds Most Admired Companies survey measures nine attributes considered critical to a companys global success, from investment value and quality of management and products to social responsibility and ability to attract talent. A companys score must rank in the top half of its industry survey to be listed. The list, widely considered to be the definitive report card on corporate reputation, is based on company surveys and peer ratings from senior executives, directors and analysts.

WestRock is honored to be recognized by FORTUNE as one of the worlds most admired companies for the third consecutive year, said Steve Voorhees, WestRock chief executive officer. This ranking is a testament to the dedication and commitment of our 45,000 team members to partnering with our customers and delivering value for our customers and stockholders.

The full list appears in the February 1, 2018 issue of FORTUNE, available now at www.fortune.com/worlds-most-admired-companies and on newsstands January 22, 2018.

About WestRock

WestRock (NYSE:WRK) partners with our customers to provide differentiated paper and packaging solutions that help them win in the marketplace. WestRocks 45,000 team members support customers around the world from more than 300 operating and business locations spanning North America, South America, Europe, Asia and Australia. Learn more at www.westrock.com.

WestRock

Investors:

James Armstrong, 470-328-6327

Vice President  Investor Relations

james.armstrong@westrock.com

John Stakel, 678-291-7901

Senior Vice President  Treasurer

john.stakel@westrock.com

Media:

John Pensec, 470-328-6397

Director, Corporate Communications

mediainquiries@westrock.com
English French

Press Release

Source: Sanofi (EURONEXT: SAN) (NYSE: SNY)



Sanofi Appoints Dominique Carouge Executive Vice President Head of Business Transformation and Member of the Executive Committee



Paris, France - January 19, 2018 - Sanofi has appointed Dominique Carouge as Executive Vice President Head of Business Transformation, effective February 15, 2018. In this role, Mr. Carouge will be in charge of accelerating the transformation of the Company and will be a member of the Executive Committee. He has served as Deputy CFO and Head of Finance Operations and Group Controlling since January 1st, 2016.

Mr. Carouge previously served as Vice-President, Administration & Management for Global R&D since 2011. Prior to that, Mr. Carouge held the role of VP, Chief Strategy and Finance Officer for Sanofi Pasteur since 2009.

Mr. Carouge started his career in 1985 as an external auditor at Ernst & Young (EY) both in France (Paris) and in the US (Philadelphia). He joined Sanofi in 1991. Since then and for the past 27 years, he held various finance positions of increasing responsibility and leadership across Australia, New Zealand, Germany and France.

A citizen of France, Mr. Carouge graduated from "Ecole Superieure de Commerce de Reims". He also holds a CPA degree in France, as well as a Corporate Governance and Board management certificate from Sciences Po (Certificat d'Administrateur de Societes).
For immediate release - 19 January 2018, 19.20 hrs CET



BINCKBANK AND FLOW TRADERS ANNOUNCE SALE OF THINK ETF ASSET MANAGEMENT B.V.





AMSTERDAM, The Netherlands - BinckBank N.V. (60%), Flow Traders N.V (24%) and Think ETF's management (16%) together announce the sale of their stakes in Think ETF Asset Management B.V. to Van Eck Associates Corporation. Van Eck will receive almost full ownership of Think ETF's, only management of Think ETF's will retain a small stake. Financial details of the transaction will not be disclosed at this stage.

Vincent Germyns, CEO of BinckBank:

"From our perspective Think ETF's has done a great job in realising a breakthrough on ETFs for Dutch retail investors. Their first class ETF-products have been awarded many times and are regarded as 'best in class'. They are highly valued by our customers and therefore Think ETF's remains a preferred issuer for BinckBank. However to take advantage of the next growth phase we think Think ETF's is better positioned being part of a global partner in order to obtain the scale needed for tomorrows financial environment. We thank the management of Think ETF's for their tremendous efforts and are convinced they will be able to flourish under Van Eck."

Dennis Dijkstra, co-CEO of Flow Traders:

"We are pleased to see that with this transaction, Think ETF's will have a solid platform to propel their proposition to a wider audience and can find the support it needs to further grow their business. Flow Traders is proud to have been part of the development of Think ETF's to where it is today. Management of Think ETF's has done a great job and will now guide the company into a new phase. With its network and knowledge, Van Eck will be able to support Think ETF's' development to become an even more complete ETF platform for investors. Flow Traders will remain committed to Think ETF's as a leading liquidity provider in their products."

Think ETF's' management has committed itself to the strategy of Van Eck and is confident about the increased growth potential.



Following this sale, BinckBank's Vincent Germyns and Flow Traders' Dennis Dijkstra will step down from Think ETF's' Supervisory Board. The transaction is subject to approval from the Dutch Central Bank (DNB) and is expected to be closed by 1Q 2018.

Berkshire Capital and Loyens Loeff advised the sellers in this transaction.

More information about Think ETFs can be found on www.thinketfs.nl.

END

Contact details

About BinckBank N.V.

BinckBank is the largest independent Dutch online bank for investors and savers. BinckBank offers services to retail investors and independent asset managers in terms of savings (Saving) Investing (Investing) and trading (Trading), via its European ICT-basis platform. BinckBank is listed on Euronext Amsterdam as an independent online bank with offices in the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Italy and Spain. BinckBank serves more than 614,000 account holders with assets under administration of  22.7 billion and assets under management of  1.3 billion by December 31, 2016. BinckBank was founded in 2000 and employs 642 FTEs.



Contact

BinckBank N.V.

Harmen van der Schoor/ Investor relations

+31 20 522 03 78

ir@binck.com



About Flow Traders N.V.

Flow Traders is a leading global technology-enabled liquidity provider specializing in exchange traded products (ETPs). Flow Traders provides continuous liquidity in ETP markets, while seeking to stay market neutral at all times and without having directional opinions. Investors benefit from our activities due to increased liquidity, higher execution quality and lower overall trading costs. As such, we contribute to more efficient and transparent securities markets. Flow Traders provides liquidity in over 5,000 ETP listings across the globe, tracking all underlying asset classes, including equities, fixed income, commodities and currencies with access to 104 trading venues in 36 countries. Flow Traders has been named Europe's number one ETF Market Maker at the Annual Global ETF Awards for the last ten consecutive years - 2007 until 2016, and Asia-Pacific's number one ETF Market Maker for five out of the last six years - 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015 and 2016. Flow Traders is headquartered in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, with trading offices in Hong Kong, Singapore and New York, covering all time zones. Flow Traders' shares are listed on Euronext Amsterdam. For more information, please visit: www.flowtraders.com .



Contact

Flow Traders N.V.

Serge Enneman / Investor Relations Officer

+31 20 7996799

investor.relations@flowtraders.com
English French

NOT FOR PUBLICATION, DISTRIBUTION OR RELEASE, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, AUSTRALIA, CANADA OR JAPAN

This press release does not constitute a solicitation to purchase or an offer of the Bonds or the Shares (as defined below and together, the "Securities") in the United States of America or to, or for the account or benefit of, U.S. Persons (as defined in Regulation S under the US Securities Act of 1933, as amended). The Securities may not be offered or sold in the United States of America or to, or for the account or benefit of, U.S. Persons unless they are registered or exempt from registration under the US Securities Act of 1933, as amended. Michelin does not intend to register all or any portion of the offering in the United States of America or to conduct a public offering of the Securities in the United States of America. The Securities may not be offered or sold or otherwise made available to retail investors (no key information document under PRIIPS Regulation will be prepared).

Clermont-Ferrand, January 19, 2018

Determination of the initial conversion price of the non-dilutive cash-settled convertible bonds due 2023

Following the placement on January 5, 2018 by Michelin of USD 600 million non-dilutive cash-settled convertible bonds due 2023 (the "Bonds"):

the initial conversion price of the Bonds has been set at EUR 167.4083;

the reference FX rate (EUR/USD) has been determined to be equal to 1.21225;

the exercise price has been determined to be equal to EUR 164,982.4706 (rounded in accordance with the conditions of the Bonds); and

the initial conversion ratio has been determined to be equal to 985.5095 per USD 200,000 principal amount of the Bonds (rounded in accordance with the conditions of the Bonds.

The initial conversion price represents a premium of 30 % over the share reference price for the Michelin share of EUR 128.7756, which was determined in the manner described in the press announcements released on January 5, 2018.

Settlement and delivery of the Bonds took place on January 10, 2018.

Investor Relations







Valerie Magloire



+33 (0) 1 78 76 45 37



+33 (0) 6 76 21 88 12 (cell)



valerie.magloire@michelin.com







Edouard de Peufeilhoux



+33 (0) 4 73 32 74 47



+33 (0) 6 89 71 93 73 (cell)



edouard.de-peufeilhoux@michelin.com







Matthieu Dewavrin



+33 (0) 4 73 32 18 02



+33 (0) 6 71 14 17 05 (cell)



matthieu.dewavrin@michelin.com







Humbert de Feydeau



+33 (0) 4 73 32 68 39



+33 (0) 6 82 22 39 78 (cell)



humbert.de-feydeau@fr.michelin.com



Media Relations







Corinne Meutey



+33 (0) 1 78 76 45 27



+33 (0) 6 08 00 13 85 (cell)



corinne.meutey@michelin.com















Individual Shareholders



Jacques Engasser



+33 (0) 4 73 98 59 08



jacques.engasser@michelin.com





DISCLAIMER

Available information

The issue of the Bonds was not subject to a prospectus approved by the French Financial Market Authority (Autorite des marches financiers) (the "AMF"). Detailed information on Michelin, including its Shares, business, results, prospects and related risk factors are described in Michelin's registration document, the French version of which was filed with the AMF on March 8, 2017 under number D.17-0131 (the "Reference Document"). The Reference Document and Michelin's interim financial report as at June 30, 2017, are available together with all the press releases and other regulated information about Michelin, on Michelin's website (https://www.michelin.com).

Important information

This press release may not be published, distributed or released directly or indirectly in the United States of America, Australia, Canada or Japan. The distribution of this press release may be restricted by law in certain jurisdictions and persons into whose possession any document or other information referred to herein comes, should inform themselves about and observe any such restriction. Any failure to comply with these restrictions may constitute a violation of the securities laws of any such jurisdiction.

No communication or information relating to the offering may be transmitted to the public in a country where there is a registration obligation or where an approval is required. No action has been or will be taken in any country in which such registration or approval would be required. The issuance or the subscription of the Bonds may be subject to legal and regulatory restrictions in certain jurisdictions; none of Michelin and the Joint Bookrunners assumes any liability in connection with the breach by any person of such restrictions.

This press release is an advertisement and not a prospectus within the meaning of Directive 2003/71/EC of the European Parliament and the Council of November 4, 2003 as amended (the "Prospectus Directive").

The Bonds will be offered only by way of a private placement in France to persons referred to in Article L.411-2-II of the French monetary and financial code (Code monetaire et financier) and outside France (excluding the United States of America, Australia, Canada and Japan), and there will be no public offering in any country (including France). This press release does not constitute a recommendation concerning the issue of the Bonds. The value of the Bonds and the Shares can decrease as well as increase. Potential investors should consult a professional adviser as to the suitability of the Bonds for the person concerned.

Prohibition of sales to European Economic Area retail investors

No action has been undertaken or will be undertaken to make available any Bonds to any retail investor in the European Economic Area. For the purposes of this provision:

the expression "retail investor" means a person who is one (or more) of the following:

a retail client as defined in point (11) of Article 4(1) of Directive 2014/65/EU (as amended, "MiFID II"); or

a customer within the meaning of Directive 2002/92/EC (as amended, the "Insurance Mediation Directive"), where that customer would not qualify as a professional client as defined in point (10) of Article 4(1) of MiFID II; or

not a qualified investor as defined in the Prospectus Directive; and

the expression "offer" includes the communication in any form and by any means of sufficient information on the terms of the offer and the Bonds to be offered so as to enable an investor to decide to purchase or subscribe the Bonds.

Consequently no key information document required by Regulation (EU) No 1286/2014 (as amended, the "PRIIPs Regulation") for offering or selling the Bonds or otherwise making them available to retail investors in the EEA has been prepared and therefore offering or selling the Bonds or otherwise making them available to any retail investor in the EEA may be unlawful under the PRIIPS Regulation.

France

The Bonds have not been and will not be offered or sold or cause to be offered or sold, directly or indirectly, to the public in France. Any offer or sale of the Bonds and distribution of any offering material relating to the Bonds have been and will be made in France only to (a) persons providing investment services relating to portfolio management for the account of third parties (personnes fournissant le service d'investissement de gestion de portefeuille pour compte de tiers), and/or (b) qualified investors (investisseurs qualifies) acting for their own account, as defined in, and in accordance with, Articles L.411-1, L.411-2 and D. 411-1 of the French monetary and financial Code (Code monetaire et financier).

United Kingdom

This press release is addressed and directed only (i) to persons located outside the United Kingdom, (ii) to investment professionals as defined in Article 19(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005 (the "Order"), (iii) to people designated by Article 49(2) (a) to (d) of the Order or (iv) to any other person to whom this press release could be addressed pursuant to applicable law (the persons mentioned in paragraphs (i), (ii), (iii) and (iv) all deemed relevant persons ("Relevant Persons")). The Bonds are intended only for Relevant Persons and any invitation, offer of contract related to the subscription, tender, or acquisition of the Bonds may be addressed and/or concluded only with Relevant Persons. All persons other than Relevant Persons must abstain from using or relying on this document and all information contained therein.

This press release is not a prospectus which has been approved by the Financial Conduct Authority or any other United Kingdom regulatory authority for the purposes of Section 85 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000.

United States of America

This press release may not be published, distributed or transmitted in the United States of America (including its territories and dependencies, any State of the United States of America and the District of Columbia). This press release does not constitute or form a part of any offer or solicitation to purchase for securities in the United States of America or to, or for the account or benefit of, U.S. Persons (as defined in Regulation S under the US Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"). The securities mentioned herein have not been, and will not be, registered under the Securities Act, the law of any state of the United States of America and may not be offered or sold in the United States of America or to, or for the account or benefit of, U.S. Persons, except pursuant to an exemption from, or a transaction not subject to, the registration requirements of the Securities Act or the law of the above states. The Bonds will be offered or sold only to non-U.S. persons in offshore transactions outside of the United States of America, in accordance with Regulation S of the Securities Act. Michelin does not

intend to register any portion of the proposed offering in the United States of America and no public offering will be made in the United States of America.

Australia, Canada and Japan

The Bonds may not and will not be offered, sold or purchased in Australia, Canada or Japan. The information contained in this press release does not constitute an offer of securities for sale in Australia, Canada or Japan.

The distribution of this press release in certain countries may constitute a breach of applicable law.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Jan. 19, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- At the request of IIROC (Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada), Nevada Exploration Inc. (NGE or the Company) is pleased to clarify and provide additional information related to its January 16, 2018, news release regarding the Companys results at its Kelly Creek Project (the Original Press Release).



Geologic context of nearby deposits

The Company wishes to clarify the information provided about the nearby Lone Tree and Marigold deposits, the sizes of which were rounded to the nearest million ounces and presented simply as 5 Moz and 8 Moz respectively, in the Original Press Release:

Lone Tree produced 4.60 Moz of gold from 1991 to 2015; and



Marigold produced 3.24 Moz of gold from 1989 up to and including 2016; and at December 31, 2016, SSR Mining published a 4.98 Moz Indicated Mineral Resource (348.30 Mt at 0.45 g/t).

Disclosure of an Exploration Target

The disclosure of the potential for Kelly Creek to host a 5 to 10 Moz gold deposit constitutes disclosure of an exploration target, and thus is subject to NI 43-101, 2.3(2)  Restricted Disclosure. As a result, the Company wishes to provide additional cautionary language with respect to the statements: Our results at Kelly Creek combine all the critical components necessary to source a world-class gold deposit., and NGE believes that these results confirm that all the critical components needed to host a world-class 5 - 10 Moz deposit are present at the Kelly Creek Project. NGE is both required and desires to highlight for its stakeholders that at this stage of exploration, the Kelly Creek Project remains a target for which the potential quantity and grade is still conceptual in nature. There has been insufficient exploration to define a mineral resource, and it is uncertain if further exploration will result in the target being delineated as a mineral resource.

NGE Management Experience

The Company wishes to clarify the statement that NGEs management has been involved with the discovery of 30 Moz gold in Nevada. Due to the uncertainty associated with characterizing each of the historic resources in terms of their resource and reserve categories, NGE wishes to retract the reference to the number of ounces associated with these discoveries.

For further information, please contact:

Investor Relations

Nevada Exploration Inc.

Email: info@nevadaexploration.com

Tel: +1 (604) 601 2006

Website: www.nevadaexploration.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.

Wade A. Hodges, CEO & Director, Nevada Exploration Inc., is the Qualified Person, as defined in National Instrument 43-101, and has prepared the technical and scientific information contained in this News Release.

Cautionary Statement on Forward-Looking Information:

This news release contains forward-looking information and forward-looking statements (collectively, forward-looking information) within the meaning of applicable securities laws, including, without limitation, expectations, beliefs, plans, and objectives regarding projects, potential transactions, and ventures discussed in this release.

In connection with the forward-looking information contained in this news release, the Company has made numerous assumptions, regarding, among other things, the assumption the Company will continue as a going concern and will continue to be able to access the capital required to advance its projects and continue operations. While the Company considers these assumptions to be reasonable, these assumptions are inherently subject to significant uncertainties and contingencies.

In addition, there are known and unknown risk factors which could cause the Companys actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information contained herein. Among the important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements are the risks inherent in mineral exploration, the need to obtain additional financing, environmental permits, the availability of needed personnel and equipment for exploration and development, fluctuations in the price of minerals, and general economic conditions.

A more complete discussion of the risks and uncertainties facing the Company is disclosed in the Companys continuous disclosure filings with Canadian securities regulatory authorities at www.sedar.com. All forward-looking information herein is qualified in its entirety by this cautionary statement, and the Company disclaims any obligation to revise or update any such forward-looking information or to publicly announce the result of any revisions to any of the forward-looking information contained herein to reflect future results, events or developments, except as required by law.
San Francisco, Jan. 19, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- FollowAnalytics, a leading mobile business acceleration platform for marketers, today announced the launch of its new Mobile Data Wallet feature, helping brands to become fully compliant with The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), a regulation that requires businesses to protect the personal data and privacy of European Union (EU) citizens for transactions that occur within EU member states.



On January 18, 2018, FollowAnalytics hosted an event, Mobile Acceleration and Data Privacy, a one day event in Paris that brought together some of the best and brightest minds in mobile marketing to help marketers tackles the challenges and opportunities GDPR and other current mobile marketing topics present to them and their respective businesses. Speakers included Olivier Derrien and Kamel Khelil of Salesforce, Thomas Husson of Forrester, Beatrice Oeuvrard of Microsoft, Yvan Delegue of Orange, and many more.

FollowAnalytics Data Wallet is intended for companies to identify the data collected by FollowAnalytics and any other digital systems, and to make the information available in all their digital channels while also enabling users to quickly and easily understand their data collection, transfer and remove their data.



With GDPR, companies are challenged to put systems and processes in place to comply with GDPR in a fairly short timeline, said Samir Addamine, founder of FollowAnalytics. As expected, the new strict rules and standards are creating a fair amount of fear, confusion and new expectations among companies that collect data on citizens in EU countries.



Addamine continued, At FollowAnalytics, its our mission to make every business a successful mobile business. We are committed to helping organizations solve the mobile marketing challenges they face in order to meet all of the GDPR official requirements so they can focus more time on building their businesses.



The Mobile Data Wallet will provide custom alerts and insight into data usage:



- Which data are collected?

- Why are they collected?

- For whom?

- For how long?

- How are they secured?



FollowAnalytics Mobile Data Wallet pulls from digital sources including iOS, Android, Connected Watch, Web Mobile, and the desktop web.



According to an Ovum report, about two-thirds of U.S. companies believe that the GDPR will require them to rethink their strategy in Europe. Even more (85 percent) see the GDPR putting them at a competitive disadvantage with European companies.

About FollowAnalytics

FollowAnalytics is an enterprise-class mobile marketing platform that makes it easy for marketers to boost engagement through their mobile apps by creating personalized customer journeys. Trusted by brands including, Wells Fargo, KFC, Michelin, Sanofi, Cartier, Louis Vuitton, Allianz, AXA and BNP Paribas, FollowAnalytics is headquartered in San Francisco, with offices in New York, Montreal and Paris. Investors include Salesforce Ventures, Aspect Ventures, Zetta Venture Partners, Sapphire Ventures, Cathay Innovation and Orange Digital Ventures. www.followanalytics.com










MONACO, Jan. 19, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Safe Bulkers, Inc. (Safe Bulkers) (NYSE:SB), an international provider of marine drybulk transportation services, announced today that it is calling for redemption (the Redemption) of all outstanding 8.00% Series B Cumulative Redeemable Perpetual Preferred Shares, par value $0.01 per share, liquidation preference $25.00 per share (the Series B Preferred Shares). There are currently 379,514 issued and outstanding Series B Preferred Shares.



The Series B Preferred Shares will be redeemed on February 20, 2018 (the Redemption Date) at a redemption price of $25.00 per Series B Preferred Share plus all accumulated and unpaid dividends to, but excluding, the Redemption Date (the Redemption Price). From and after the Redemption Date, all distributions on the Series B Preferred Shares will cease to accumulate, such Series B Preferred Shares shall no longer be deemed outstanding, and all rights of the holders of such shares will terminate, except for the right to receive the Redemption Price, without interest thereon. As previously announced, a quarterly cash dividend of $0.50 per share on the Series B Preferred Shares for the period from October 30, 2017 to January 29, 2018 is payable on January 30, 2018 to shareholders of record of Series B Preferred Shares as of January 23, 2018.

The notice of redemption specifying the terms, conditions and procedures for the Redemption (the Redemption Notice) will be mailed to holders of record of Series B Preferred Shares, and is available by contacting American Stock Transfer & Trust Company, LLC (AST), the transfer and paying agent for the Series B Preferred Shares, by mail at 6201 15th Avenue Brooklyn, NY 11219 Attention: Corporate Actions, (877) 248-6417 or (718) 921-8317. Questions regarding the Redemption of the Series B Preferred Shares, including the contents of the Redemption Notice, may be directed to AST.

This press release does not constitute a notice of redemption under the Statement of Designation governing the Series B Preferred Shares and is qualified in its entirety by reference to the Redemption Notice issued by Safe Bulkers.

About Safe Bulkers, Inc.

Safe Bulkers is an international provider of marine drybulk transportation services, transporting bulk cargoes, particularly coal, grain and iron ore, along worldwide shipping routes for some of the worlds largest users of marine drybulk transportation services. Safe Bulkers common stock, Series B preferred stock, Series C preferred stock and Series D preferred stock are listed on the NYSE, where they trade under the symbols SB, SBPRB, SBPRC and SBPRD, respectively.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements (as defined in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and in the Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended) concerning future events, Safe Bulkers growth strategy and measures to implement such strategy, including expected vessel acquisitions and entering into further time charters. Words such as expects, intends, plans, believes, anticipates, hopes, estimates and variations of such words and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Although Safe Bulkers believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, no assurance can be given that such expectations will prove to have been correct. These statements involve known and unknown risks and are based upon a number of assumptions and estimates which are inherently subject to significant uncertainties and contingencies, many of which are beyond the control of Safe Bulkers. Actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include, but are not limited to, changes in the demand for drybulk vessels, competitive factors in the market in which Safe Bulkers operates, risks associated with operations outside the United States and other factors listed from time to time in Safe Bulkers filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Safe Bulkers expressly disclaims any obligations or undertaking to release any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect any change in its expectations with respect thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any statement is based.

For further information please contact:

Company Contact:

Dr. Loukas Barmparis

President

Safe Bulkers, Inc.

Tel.: +30 2 111 888 400

+357 25 887 200

E-Mail: directors@safebulkers.com

Investor Relations / Media Contact:

Nicolas Bornozis, President

Capital Link, Inc.

230 Park Avenue, Suite 1536

New York, N.Y. 10169

Tel.: (212) 661-7566

Fax: (212) 661-7526

E-Mail: safebulkers@capitallink.com
Posted Thursday, January 18, 2018 12:00 pm

Service: 10 a.m. Friday, Jan. 19, at Coffman Funeral Home of Harrison, with burial at Milam Cemetery; Visitation: 1-5 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 18, at the funeral home.

Jerry Leon Goodwin, 75 of Harrison, passed away Tuesday, Jan. 16 (2018) at North Arkansas Regional Medical Center in Harrison.

The son of Julius and Rachel (Hoffard) Goodwin was born April 15, 1942, at Midlothian, Texas.

Jerry retired from the U.S. Navy after serving for over 20 years. While in the Navy, he worked as a Medic and was also a veteran of the Vietnam War.

A longtime resident of Harrison, he was also a member of Deep Waters Church. He enjoyed working on race cars and putting model cars together in his later years. Jerry was a gentleman and a loving husband.

He was preceded in death by his parents; his first wife, Wilma Goodwin; and his sister.

He is survived by his wife, Ruth Goodwin; his stepchildren, Sheila and David; seven grandchildren; six great-grandchildren; and a host of friends who will miss him.

Service will be held at 10 a.m. Friday, Jan. 19, at Coffman Funeral Home Chapel in Harrison. Burial with military honors will follow at Milam Cemetery on Silver Valley Road in Harrison. Visitation will be open from 1-5 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 18, at the funeral home.

In lieu of flowers, memorials can be made to St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital.

Online condolences may be left at www.coffmanfh.com .
Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan today met with his probable replacement, Armen Sargsyan (no relation), who was selected as a candidate for the job by the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (RPA).

The RPA unanimously nominated Armen Sargsyan at a special executive session on January 18.

President Sargsyans term in office ends this year and according to recent changes to the constitution, the new president will be selected by the countrys parliament, and not by popular vote. The powers of the presidency have also been weakened in favor of the prime minister.

Armen Sargsyan thanked the president and the Republican Party of Armenia for the trust placed in him, and agreed with the president that Armenia was entering a new political stage in parliamentary rule that will ultimately lead to democracy.

Armen Sargsyan said he would like to meet with representatives of all political forces, both in and out of the parliament, civic and charitable groups, Artsakh government officials, and diaspora representatives.

Armen Sargsyan served as Prime Minister of Armenia from November 1996 to March 1997. Prior to that, he served as Armenias ambassador to Great Britain. He is also the founding President of Eurasia House International in London.

Photo (from left): Armen Sargsyan, Serzh Sargsyan
Amazon's criteria includes the site being a metropolitan area with a population greater than one million and the ability to attract and keep strong technical talent.

CHICAGO - Chicago made the list of 20 finalists where Amazon could build their next headquarters, the company announced Thursday. The winning city could get up to 50,000 high-paying jobs and $5 billion in investment.

The other metro areas making the cut are: Atlanta; Austin, Texas; Boston; Columbus, Ohio; Dallas; Denver; Indianapolis; Los Angeles; Miami; Montgomery County, Md.; Nashville; Newark, N.J.; New York City; Northern Virginia; Philadelphia; Pittsburgh; Raleigh, N.C.; Toronto; Washington D.C.

We are delighted to be among the competitors in the next stage of Amazons HQ2 search, Rauner said in a statement. We are ready to show the company why we believe the Chicago area is their best option.

Mayor Emanuel was also delighted with the news. He's trying to lure the company to Chicago with a $2.5 billion incentive package - a possibly more if Amazon were to pick as their site the Thompson Building or the now-closed Michael Reese Hospital.

But not everyone is so excited about Amazon coming to Chicago. The transportation system would be overloaded with 50,000 more on an already overworked Metra system, one Metra board member said at a recent forum at the Technology & Manufacturing Association in Schaumburg.

And the Chicago education system has failed many that would be excellent workforce prospects, two manufacturers said.

Between those factors, Amazon would put quite a burden on an already creaking system, they said.
Gov. Bruce Rauner listened at a south suburban roundtable Thursday as people talked of struggling to hold on to their homes and businesses while paying some of the highest property taxes in the nation, and he vowed systemic change, a press release from the governor's office says.

Madigan, who has been Speaker of the Illinois House for over 30 years, is co-founder and partner in a six-attorney law firm that specializes in property tax appeals. His company, Madigan & Getzendanner, represents some of the Chicago Loop's most prominent buildings in their appeals.

COUNTRY CLUB HILLS  During a public discussion about Illinois' exceptionally high property taxes, Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner called for legislation that would ban state lawmakers from also acting as property-tax appeals lawyers - a direct attack on Rauner's arch political rival, House Speaker Mike Madigan.

Lawmakers that gain income from the status quo have little incentive to tackle meaningful property-tax reform, Rauner said. He is calling for legislators to make it illegal for state lawmakers to also act as property-tax appeals lawyers, profiting from a property-tax assessment system that many have decried as fundamentally unfair.

Legislation will be introduced when the General Assembly returns later this month.

The bill has zero chance of moving through the Democrat-dominated General Assembly. Speaker Madigan not only rules the Illinois House with an "iron fist," observers say, he has been chairman of the Illinois Democrat Party since the early 1990s. No Democrat would dare to allow the measure to be heard even in committee, much less on the Illinois House floor.

Rauner promised he would issue an executive order, which would be effective immediately, directing members of the Illinois Property Tax Appeals Board to prohibit state legislators from participating in appeals coming before them.

The system is rigged so that only those with clout have the resources to fight it, Rauner said. Property taxes are through the roof here. Its unfair, its unjust. Its forcing people to move, forcing small businesses to leave  Weve got to change the system.

Legislators already are restricted from professionally representing individuals before the Workers Compensation Commission and the Court of Claims. This proposal simply adds the Property Tax Appeals Board and local government bodies to the list.

People frequently cite property taxes as a top reason for leaving the state. Illinois population declined by an estimated 33,700 in 2017, dropping from the fifth-largest to the sixth-largest state.

Several business and homeowners that attended Thursdays roundtable spoke of inequities and financial duress they have faced.

Glenwood homeowner Adam Winston said he bought his home 10 years ago for $170,000. Today, he said, it is worth $120,000, and his annual property tax bill totals $8,000.

Charles Higgins of Dolton pays $4,800 in property taxes on his home valued at $48,000, he said. Three homes on his block are abandoned; former neighbors have said they are walking away from their homes and mortgages because the property taxes have rendered them unaffordable.

Christine Wilson of Flossmoor bought her home in 2011 for $257,000. It is now worth $190,000, she said, according to a recent appraisal Wilson requested. The Cook County Assessors Office, however, says it is worth between $290,000 and $300,000, and her property taxes are $12,698.

We have the third-highest property tax burden in the U.S., and more mortgages under water due to crushing taxes than in 48 other states, Rauner said. Illinois has too many terrific assets  a tremendous workforce, world-class educational institutions and an unparalleled transportation hub, to name a few  to allow high taxes to continue to drain our economy.

Its time to change this story, Rauner said. A big key to that is restoring public trust and taking politics out of the equation.
The writers participation in March for Life Chicago, January 14th, 2018, began when she boarded a Midwest bus that departed from Marytown , 1600 W. Park Ave., Libertyville, Illinois, which was arranged by the Lake County Right to Life . Bonnie Quirke is president of the Lake County Right to Life.

Boarding the 55-seat deluxe passenger bus were folks from nearby Lakewood Presbyterian Church PCA, all eager to experience the joy and the excitement upon reaching the site of the rally at Federal Plaza, 50 W. Adams St., Chicago, IL. There those on the bus joined the estimated 6,000 participants that had gathered by the start of the 2:00 p.m. rally, which included people of all ages braving the below-freezing weather to decry abortion.

Before joining other anti-abortion supporters who were already assembled in Federal Plaza from all across the Midwest, it was with sadness that we had to first walk past a rather small gathering of pro-abortion (baby killers), who let us know they did not respect life or its sanctity before we could cross over the street to Federal Plaza.





Finding a place near the erected stage for the occasion in Federal Plaza, my group of participants had a good view of the fine speakers selected to inform and to set the mood for the jubilant pro-life march that was to follow, where participants from all walks of life had one thing in common, as expressed by March for Life Chicago Board of Directors President Dawn Fitzpatrick, Knowing that Love Saves Lives" -- the theme of this year's March for Life -- "and that abortion is one of our culture's gravest ill."

Every speaker had uplifting and important remarks to share with the assembled 6,000 participants. Check here to see a listing of featured speakers.







Comments by Speakers

The pre-march rally was emceed by Relevant Radio talk show host Sheila Liaugminas.

Although not listed as one of the official speaker, Republican State Representative Jeanne Ives, now challenging incumbent Republican governor Bruce Rauner in the Illinois Primary election on March 15, 2018, was greeted with much enthusiasm as she focused on the large number of assembled young adults and teenagers. Notable is that Jeanne Ives's niece and 17 others from South Dakota came to join and support Ives, who hails originally from Vermilion, South Dakota.All participated in the post-rally march. Video here: http://illinoisreview.typepad.com/illinoisreview/2018/01/ives-at-march-for-life-2018-your-political-leaders-have-betrayed-you-video.html

Another legislator of note to speak was Republican congressman Peter Roskam, who spoke of the legacy left by Henry Hyde, who because of his strong faith was the motivation behind the long standing federal protections against abortion as provided by the Hyde Amendment.

Pat McCaskey, co-owner of the Chicago Bears, was well received having been a regular attendee at Chicago's March for Life over the event's 13-year history, which was patterned after the National March for Life that has been taking place in Washington, D.C., since 1974. McCaskey warmed up the crowd with a short, clever poetic ode addressed to all his March for Life friends. Emphasized was how God shows us the way. That is "to follow natural life from conception to natural death." McCaskey mused that given science that has proven that a fetus is not just a piece of tissue, how after 45 year of legal abortion, abortion would have decreased with a realization that every life has an intended dignity.

I was impressed by what Pastor Ed Stetzer had to say, Interim Teaching Pastor at Moody Church and Executive Director of the Billy Graham Center at Wheaton College, who pronounced that "We must speak for those who cannot, because they cannot speak for themselves."

Cardinal Blase J. Cupich, Archbishop of Chicago, also spoke representing Catholics throughout Chicago. Cardinal Cupich lamented upon how abortion denies lives and dreams from being realized; however, in reflecting upon the large attendance, Cupich then commented, "We have not and have not grown weak after 45 years of legalized abortion." Cupich then suggested that there was far better use of taxpayer money here in Illinois than to fund abortions. In closing Cupich proclaimed us as the "Magi of our time."

The March Begins

Following the last speaker, it was time for the march to begin. Participants walked proudly and joyfully with signs held high through the downtown area of Chicago, several blocks long in length, before returning to the Federal Plaza with wonderful memories to take back home with them, hopefully with a renewed and fervent desire to further share with others in their communities and with their state and federal representatives that "we love life because it changes lives."

Leading the march were the bright yellow-clad Crusaders for Life group under a cloud of yellow balloons imprinted with large black letters spelling out LIFE. Also impressive was the music provided by the Carmel High School Marching Drum Band from Mundelein High School, IL.

Next Monday is the 45th anniversary of the Roe vs Wade decision legalizing abortion in January 2:, 1973. The National March For Life is Friday, January 19, 2018 in Washingtons DC. President Donald Trump has just announced he will address the March for Life via live stream on Friday becoming the president to do so. More information at http://marchforlife.org/march-life-2018/rally-march-info/
Guilt plays a huge part in the indoctrination process as emphasis is on the group, not the individual. This is necessary so future generations will be prepared to work together in their communities and follow instructions which may oppose those in power. Individual thinking will be carefully controlled. In addition, in many schools today the children are required to fill a certain number of hours of community service so as to qualify for their diploma. In a Sustainable world, proper attitude is at least as important as scholarship.

Children in our public schools are being pummeled with political correctness. Specific assignments and class discussions are designed purposely to promote specific political viewpoints which may seriously oppose that of their parents. This new political correctness is carefully woven through textbooks and classroom assignment s t arting in Kindergarten and reaches its apex in college.

To understand why social engineering in our public schools is happening, it is necessary to be aware of Agenda 21 and Sustainable Development and how the implementation of these United Nation authored programs is being felt in many areas of our life.

Earth Summit of 1992 and Agenda 21

Sustainable Development was first conceived by the Brundland Comissiion, chaired by Gro Harlem Brundtland, the Vice President of the World Socialist Society. The term was first brought to the Secretary General of the United Nations, Maurice Strong, a staunch supporter of Communist China, but it was the 1992 Earth Summit which resulted in Agenda 21 and a drastic new strategy for sustainable development. It was signed by 178 world leaders including President George H. W. Bush. Agenda 21 proposes an array of actions within the U.N.'s 1,000-page report, and strategy for sustainable development, which are intended to be implemented by every person on Earth, and which calls for specific changes in the activities of all people, especially those in the United States. The proposed changes will be realized by most every American and will be applied to most every aspect of our lives.

The Agenda 21 educational curriculum, to ensure proper citizenship, is known as Common Core and is intended to be life-long. Read here to see the U.N Agenda 21 priorities for elementary classroom curriculum. Quite telling is Priority 3, "Foster Global Citizenship, which is explained as follows:

The world faces global challenges, which require global solutions. These interconnected global challenges call for far-reaching changes in how we think and act for the dignity of fellow human beings. It is not enough for education to produce individuals who can read, write and count. Education must be transformative and bring shared values to life. It must cultivate an active care for the world and for those with whom we share it.

Accordingly, an emphasis on Social Justice is being taught in schools to foster the Global goal of Agenda 21. Thus, Social Justice has become an integral part of how children are being taught to think and act as outlined in Common Core curriculum.

What is Social Justice?

Social justice can be described as the right and opportunity for all people to benefit equally from the resources afforded us by society and the environment. But life doesnt pretend to be fair. If it were there would not be some born with inferior intelligence, financial instability, or with an unappealing physical appearance.Those who are among the most fortunate are those born in America, where all are given equal opportunities and success is based on work ethics and perseverance.

An article by Selwyn Duke in the New America dated Wednesday, December 27, 2017, exposed a Middle school in Wisconsin that was caught brainwashing students with a "Privilege Test." The article relates how, after reading To Kill a Mockingbird, 150 eighth-graders at West Bends Badger Middle School (an area primarily blue collar), were asked to check boxes next to statements that applied to them, such as I feel comfortable in the gender I was born in, I never doubted my parents acceptance of my sexuality, I have never been called a derogatory term for a homosexual, I have never been told that Im attractive for my race," and I have never been called a terrorist. Although the school has discontinued the survey, it didn't exactly issue a mea culpa, although it had been using this survey for years.

American Thinker's Thomas Lipson offered these reflections for the lack of contrition by Badger Middle School Principal Dave Uelman:

The educrats believe it is their duty to enlighten the vulnerable young minds whose care has been entrusted to them by the state  and who otherwise would be subject to the guidance of only their yahoo parents.

Lifson continues, Adolescence is a time of identity formation for adulthood, and is full of insecurity and pain, hard enough without being pushed into thinking of yourself as the guilty victimizer of people youve never met. Guilt is the operative word; this school exercise is merely a reflection of white privilege theory, which in recent years has swept academia.

Teacher as purveyors of culture and tolerance?

Michele Hernandez, author of Social Justice Projects in the Classroom | Edutopia, stated in her article the belief that vulnerable young minds should be entrusted to teachers as educators:

"As educators, we're charged with preparing our students to be successful in life and productive members of society. But with all the focus on standardized tests and core curriculum, we've forgotten that the concept of literacy should also include culture and tolerance of diverse people and backgrounds."

"One of the best ways to develop cultural literacy and help our students understand these goals is through social justice processes and projects, activities that develop a mindset of concern for our society's inequity in wealth, education, and privilege. These projects empower our students to effect change through awareness, advocacy, activism, and aid.

Although these statements sound appealing, and it would be wonderful if everyone could experience success, everyone will not do so, because we are not robots that can be programmed for a desired outcome. Also, each of us is uniquely different and that fact must be celebrated, rather than obscured.

Should Schools be Involved in Social Engineering?

Parents must investigate whether social engineering exists in their schools. They can discover this in various ways, without asking directly the teacher or authorities, most of whom are either unwilling or prohibited from answering. The following are suggestions for parents:

Is the school using Common Core material? If so, there is likely cause for concern. Carefully check homework assignments for material you find unusual or different than you experienced. Ask your young child if the teacher spends a great deal of time talking about harmony, fairness, and equality.

Common Core curriculum often consists of material that challenges childrens actions and beliefs, without concern if they conflict with their familys opinions on such matters. The emphasis is on the World rather than our own country, and thus patriotism is not only under emphasized, it is often discouraged. Common Core material emphasis all that is global rather than American. It is a precursor to a one-World-government.

Social-engineering schemes are largely foisted upon our children? Is this really the school's domain, when they should be teaching children the skills needed to function in society and ultimately be successful in a job. Skills such as reading and writing are not given the same amount of time previous generations enjoyed, as these new concepts are emphasized instead. .

Parents are now asking important questions, previous generations never considered. Why are more students graduating from high school today but not ready for college? Why are many students testing below average in their ability to read and write? Are teachers qualified to teach the difference between right and wrong? Isn't this more the responsibility of parents, rather than the state that has been seduced into following the dictates of the U.N. in its goal of establishing a "one world government?" It is time for parents and the public to ask these questions with the expectation of receiving honest answers.

Sadly, the one place we thought our children would be safe to grow and prosper may be the very place which demands more careful investigation for usurping the role of parents.
dmg events Middle East, Asia & Africa has acquired five exhibitions, and an associated publication, focused on the construction and transport infrastructure sectors from South African media company Hypenica.

These latest acquisitions join a series of purchases and launches as dmg events continues to expand its activities in the African market. The companys events already taking place on the continent include Big 5 branded construction events in Kenya, Morocco and Egypt and SAITEX, AB7 and Coatings for Africa held in Johannesburg.

"We know Africa is a key geography for the future growth of our business, as well as those of our exhibitors and visitors," said Matt Denton, President  dmg events Middle East, Asia & Africa. "Adding these five events and the accompanying respected trade media to our portfolio is an excellent way to expand our regional reach, enabling us to leverage our sector expertise in new markets."

According to dmg events, the acquisition of African Construction Expo, Cape Construction Expo and KZN Construction Expo are a natural fit within dmg events existing construction portfolio. African Ports Evolution Forum and African Ports Evolution Forum  West Africa add a complementary transport element that has a natural affinity with the companys existing customer base across industries such as construction, mining, power and logistics. Finally, Concrete Trends and its digital platform www.concrete.tv gives dmg events an established channel through which to support the events as well as deliver content and up to date business information all year round.

"Africa is a hugely important market to us so its only natural that we will continue to look for ways to invest across the continent, either by geo-adapting existing brands, or making astute acquisitions from capable, successful businesses just like Hypenica," said Denton.

KZN Construction Expo will be the first event to take place under new ownership, with the exhibition set to kick off in Durban, South Africa, on February 7 2018, followed swiftly by the African Construction Expo in Johannesburg in May.

"It is great that we have the opportunity to see the brands weve worked so hard to create get taken to the next level by a great operator like dmg events," said Devi Paulsen-Abbott, CEO of Hypenica. "The companys approach to doing business suits our own company culture and the obvious synergy between our events will have a huge impact on the benefits the events offer to exhibitors and visitors alike."
Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images(NEW YORK) -- A new report states that right-wing extremists were responsible for the majority of extremist murders in the U.S. in 2017.



Jewish group the Anti-Defamation League compiled the report, noting how the murders committed by white supremacists included some linked to the "alt-right" -- shorthand for the "alternative right" -- which it states expanded its operations in 2017 from the internet into the physical world.



The report includes white supremacists and individuals who identify with the alt-right movement as part of its "right-wing" classification.



Energized by the 2016 election and the media attention given to the movement, alt-right adherents  increasingly involved themselves in the real world as well as the virtual realm, the report states.



Of the 34 murders in 2017 that the ADL examined in the report, 20 were committed by people who have ties to far-right extremism, including white supremacists.



There were a number of other high-profile fatal incidents, but the parameters of the report mean that some of the most deadly incidents from 2017 were not included.



For instance, the Las Vegas country music festival shooting and the church shooting in Sutherland Springs, Texas, were not included in the report because there was not confirmed evidence of a connection to any specific extremist group or ideology in either of those incidents. The report notes that extremist-related killings only make up a small fraction of the number of homicides in the U.S. in a given year.



John Cohen, a former counterterrorism coordinator for the Department of Homeland Security and current ABC News consultant, said that the report is valuable but needs to be put in context.



"In one respect, the ADL report confirms what law enforcement leaders have known for months -- that when it comes to ideologically motivated violence, the primary threat comes not from immigrants but from individuals who reside legally or were born here in the United States," Cohen said. "On another respect, the report understates the threat facing the U.S. in that it doesn't include non-ideologically motivated mass casualty attacks such as those that occurred in Las Vegas and Sutherland Springs."



Among the high-profile homicides that were included are two vehicular-based attacks: the attack by a white supremacist in Charlottesville, Virginia, at the Unite the Right protest that left counter-protester Heather Heyer dead, and the truck-ramming incident on a bike path in New York City that left eight people dead. Sayfullo Saipov, an Uzbek national who police said was inspired by ISIS, has been charged in the New York case. The bike path attack was the single deadliest extremist incident in 2017, the report states. The report also notes that 2017 was the second year in a row with deadly attacks by black nationalists.



In spite of the deadliest death toll stemming from an incident involving an Islamic extremist, it still marks a significantly smaller portion of the extremist death count from the previous year, since 2016 included the Pulse nightclub attack, which killed 49 people and was carried out by a self-professed ISIS supporter.



By contrast, the 20 far-right extremist homicides mark a dramatic uptick from the year prior, with 59 percent of this years total being attributed to that category as opposed to only 20 percent in 2016. This doesnt surprise experts at the ADL, however.



Increased real-world activity by the alt-right could result in more alliances or crossover between the alt-right supporters and other elements of the white supremacist movement, said Oren Segal, the director of the ADLs Center on Extremism. Violence is very widely accepted, ideologically and culturally, within the white supremacist movement and therefore any increase in real-world activity by the alt-right could also result in more real-world violence by its adherents.



Heidi Beirich, the director of the Intelligence Project at the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), said that the ADL report is "reinforcing a broad trend: that right-wing extremism remains very deadly."



She cited a 2015 SPLC report which stated that a right-wing terrorist attack had either been attempted or succeeded every 34 days between 2010 and 2015.



Right-wing extremism is "an important issue, one that has been largely ignored ... and shouldn't be because it's deadly just like all forms of terrorism," Beirich said.



"White supremacy is indigenous [in the U.S.] It's been here since the founding of our country," she said, contrasting it to foreign extremism like the attackers responsible for the Sept. 11 attacks.



"If you don't keep your eye on that ball, that's the one that's not going anywhere unfortunately," Beirich said.



Copyright  2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
This blog generally follows traditional journalistic standards. It's not about opinions, though you may read one here occasionally. It's about facts that we think will be useful to rural journalists, non-rural journalists who do rural stories, and others interested in rural issues. We don't try to be provocative, so we don't generate as many comments as most blogs with the level of traffic we have, but we certainly invite comments -- and contributions, to

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REPUBLICATION
10k tonnes of organic fertiliser unutilised

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A remittance corridor

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Govt to set up orange zone up in Jajarkot

The government has set up an Orange Zone Implementation Unit in Khalanga, Jajarkot in a bid to raise production of the citrus fruit. Jajarkot is a district in Province 6 in mid-western Nepal.
Health Minister draws flak over DG appointment

Health Minister Deepak Bohoras decision to swap Director General at the Department of Health Services has run into controversy after the ousted DG tendered his resignation claiming that there has been an anomaly in the appointment. Despite having around one and a half year left on his tenure,
Maoist leader asks govt to investigate Sumargis case

CPN (Maoist Centre) Spokesperson Pampha Bhusal has called on the government to launch an investigation into the property of Ajeya Raj Sumargi.
Media persons barred from covering swearing-in at Sheetal Niwas

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NEA close to selecting firm for laying cables

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Nepali embassy in Msia urges illegal workers to join 3-plus-1 scheme

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Oli hints at replacing governors

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PJ Club condemns restriction on media at Sheetal Niwas

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Protests erupt over provincial centres

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Quick sand

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CPN-UML, Maoist Centre agree to share 29, 14 seats in National Assembly

CPN-UML Chairman KP Oli and CPN (Maoist Centre) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal have endorsed the proposal prepared by a joint taskforce on sharing candidates for National Assembly election.
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iStock/Thinkstock(PHOENIX) -- The man accused of committing nine murders in just three weeks in Arizona is an "aspiring music star" who has spent nearly half of his young life in prison, according to police.



Cleophus Cooksey Jr., 35, has been in custody since the last of the nine alleged killings on Dec. 17, when police say he shot and killed his mother and stepfather.



The nine homicides spanned from Nov. 27 to Dec. 17 in Phoenix and nearby Avondale and Glendale, police said. Four of the nine murders happened within 2 square miles, police said.



Cooksey had been in prison for about 16 years after being involved in an armed robbery, police said. After his release from prison, he was in and out of jail, police said.



Police described him as an "aspiring music star," and some of his YouTube videos -- posted between November 2015 and January 2016 -- had haunting lyrics, like, "Thats the mentality of a killa," and, "I chopped all the best of 'em / murdered all the rest of 'em / nothing left of 'em."



Phoenix Police Sgt. Jonathan Howard called the crimes "disturbing" and told ABC News only three of the nine victims were not known to Cooksey.



Cooksey is accused of stealing a gun from one of the victims and using that weapon in the following six killings, Howard said.



Police believe there is a "distinct possibility" of more victims and Howard said they are being flooded with calls from people helping them find possible connections.



Here is the timeline of crimes, according to police:



Nov. 27:



Two men -- Andrew Remillard and Parker Smith -- were found dead in a car in a parking lot. They were each shot once in the head, according to court documents.



Dec. 2:



A man identified as Salim Richards was in a "physical struggle with the suspect during the shooting" that left him dead, according to court documents. A gun and a necklace were taken from the victim, and on Dec. 3 Cooksey posted a Facebook video showing him wearing a similar necklace, according to court documents. Cooksey was also wearing a similar necklace when he was arrested weeks later, according to court documents.



Cooksey stole the gun from Richards, a security guard, and used it in the following six murders, according to Howard.



Dec. 11:



Cooksey allegedly killed his girlfriend's brother hours after the girlfriend apparently broke up with him, according to court documents.



On Dec. 11 between 8 a.m. and 11 a.m., Cooksey went into an apartment and used a stolen gun to fatally shoot Jesus Real two times in the face at close range while Real was lying down, apparently sleeping, according to court documents.



Real's sister was dating Cooksey, and Cooksey stayed over at this Avondale apartment where the family lived several nights a week, according to court documents. Real's sister told police Cooksey was her ex and they broke up the night before, and he left the house around 7 a.m. on Dec. 11, court documents say.



Dec. 13:



On Dec. 13, a man named Latorrie Beckford was found shot dead on the ground next to an apartment complex parking lot with two gunshot wounds to his head.



Witnesses told police they heard two gunshots and "when they approached they observed a dark-skinned black male walking from close proximity to where the victim was lying," court documents state.



"Witnesses reported the black male pulled out a black semi-auto handgun after being seen by them," the court documents say.



Witnesses said earlier in the day, Beckford was in an altercation with two other men, court documents state. A photo of Cooksey was later shown to one of the witnesses who said the photo was very close to the man she saw in an altercation with Beckford. That assault reportedly took place about three hours before the shooting, the court documents states.



Witnesses said Cooksey was known as "Playboy" at the apartment complex, and in an interview in January, Cooksey admitted to investigators "he goes by the nickname 'Playboy' because of how good he is with women," court documents say.



Dec. 15:



A man named Kristopher Cameron was shot in the neck and abdomen at an apartment complex, court documents say.



When officers arrived at the west entry gate, a man told police "my cousin has been shot" and he directed officers to where the shooting victim was, according to court documents.



Witnesses said "a black male was observed removing the victim's backpack from him then leaving on foot," court documents say.



After Cooksey was identified as the suspect, that first responding officer "was interviewed and shown a photo of the person he spoke with at the west entry gate. That confirmed Cooksey was the person he spoke with who told him 'my cousin has been shot,'" court documents state.



Cameron was hospitalized and later died. Authorities said Cameron had met Cooksey for a drug deal.



Dec. 15:



Also on Dec. 15, Cooksey was seen on surveillance cameras going into an apartment complex, court documents say. Victim Maria Villanueva was seen parking her car that apartment complex, where she was headed to visit her boyfriend, documents state. The suspect is seen going to her car and watching her, and after several minutes, interacting with her, documents state; at one point, they drive away together. Authorities said she was sexually assaulted. She was found shot to death in an alley, naked from the waist down, documents say.



Cooksey later told police "he did not know how she was killed which he also said about all of the other victims related to these crimes," the documents say.



Dec. 17:



Cooksey's mother and stepfather, Rene Cooksey and Edward Nunn, were shot dead at a home. When police responded, Cleophus Cooksey opened the door and said nothing was going on and no one else was home, according to court documents.



Cleophus Cooksey came outside with blood on him, and when an officer tried to detain him, "he yelled out to the officer he controlled the gun, would slit the officer's throat, he was the strongest man alive, and he took care of the snitches for Donald Trump," according to the court documents.



Cleophus Cooksey was arrested that night and has been jailed since.

Copyright  2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
Kendallville, IN (46755)

Today

Partial cloudiness early, with scattered showers and thunderstorms during the afternoon. Gusty winds and small hail are possible. High 83F. Winds SW at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 50%..

Tonight

Partly to mostly cloudy skies with scattered thunderstorms during the evening. Low 58F. Winds WSW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 60%.
President Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan today addressed the UN Security Council meeting in New York themed "Non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD): confidence-building measures", Kazinform reports.





At the meeting, President Nazarbayev emphasized that stakeholders certainly must revive political trust and systematic dialogue in the international community.





From the 47th session of the UN General Assembly I proposed the establishment the regional structure for security and confidence-building measures in Asia. Following diplomatic efforts, this mechanism was established. Presently, the CICA is successfully operating and bringing together 26 states of the region.





A quarter of a century has elapsed and now once again I address the United Nations on behalf of Kazakhstan, now, as a non-permanent member of the Security Council. However, it behooves me to note that the question of increasing mutual confidence both among some countries and at the global level remains urgent and acute and is becoming all the more relevant," the Kazakh President said.





Nazarbayev went on by saying that confidence-building measures should remain on the agenda as the most important element in the maintenance of the global security architecture and the strengthening of peace throughout the planet. "Why is this so? Firstly, confidence-building measures have justified themselves throughout the process of preventing the threat of total destruction during the second half of the 21st century when humankind stood at the brink of a major large-scale war. The United Nations Charter states that our main goal is to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war. Over a quarter of a century at the United Nations my country has made a sweeping transition from an owner of the world's fourth largest nuclear arsenal to a leader in global non-proliferation at the same time closing the largest nuclear site in Semipalatinsk," the Head of State pointed out.





The Kazakh leader underscored the renunciation of nuclear weapons and nuclear power status was Kazakhstan's deliberate and sincere choice of voluntary initiative supported by all the people of Kazakhstan and duly appreciated by the international community. Presently, Kazakhstan is a party to all fundamental international treaties in the arena of nuclear security and it has legally enshrined its nuclear-weapons-free status.





Secondly, the atmosphere of mutual trust may facilitate the creation of a new model for international cooperation. A shining example and practical embodiment of such cooperation is the opening last year of the IAEA Low-Enriched Uranium Bank. With this Kazakhstan has made yet another contribution towards strengthening the non-proliferation regime and the safe use of uranium for peaceful purposes. Thirdly, the nuclear-free status of Kazakhstan may serve as an example and as a practical guidance for other countries. And, I state this based on our own example, we have both built and strengthened our independent country. We have achieved a high international standing specifically by renouncing nuclear weapons and securing non-aggression safeguards from nuclear powers. We call upon all other states to follow our example. Now we call upon North Korea to do so," the President of Kazakhstan noted.





Fourthly, current possibilities of science and technological progress and the realities of globalization make the task of WMD non-proliferation a matter of survival for humanity. The increase in a number of countries possessing WMDs is posing a risk of nuclear, chemical, biological and radiological weapons falling into the hands of destructive forces. The present-day legal framework for nuclear security has failed to prevent the expansion of the nuclear powers club in the late 20th century. I believe that such a much necessary need for nuclear non-proliferation underpinned by the Non-Proliferation Treaty shall require profound shifts in mentality and new multilateral political solutions," Nazarbayev declared.





The Kazakh President proposed the following measures to enhance confidence in non-proliferation: making withdrawal from the NPT more difficult; crafting a special UN Security Council resolution setting forth clear implications for those countries who breach the treaty and these would include sanctions measures and other coercive measures.





Nazarbayev reminded that some countries, for example India and Pakistan, despite the NPT continued to seek to possess nuclear weapons.





The Head of State also suggested developing a truly effective mechanism for applying stringent measures against the acquisition and proliferation of WMDs. Such multilateral treaties shall be approved by UN Security Council resolutions.





As a main measure to remove incentives for the possession of WMDs President Nazarbayev deems it necessary to develop a legally binding system of safeguards by nuclear powers to those states who would voluntarily renounce the possession of nuclear weapons as well as to the states with non-nuclear status.





According to the Kazakh leader, the global community should leave behind the division of countries into military blocs or alliances.





Nursultan Nazarbayev stressed that it is certainly necessary to revive political trust and systematic dialogue. In his words, the North Korean nuclear problem can be resolved through restoration of trust among the United States, Russia and China. Kazakhstan advocates the Nuclear 5 granting security guarantees to the DPRK. Kazakhstan stands ready to engage in mediation providing its platform for negotiations, should the need arise among stakeholders.









Photo: Kazinform News Agency





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